Treat Mama like a Queen day (End of the World)

My daughter proclaimed that the public holiday we call Queen's birthday will be now Treat Mum like a Queen day. :)

We planned to go for a drive and we took a good friend with us. (On this day I had actually a great sleep, sleeping all night, woke at a reasonable hour, did some laundry and went food shopping and made a dip and sandwiches all before the sleepy head J awoke!)
It was a lot of fun and very relaxed. We drove down to Rye and had a picnic lunch. The kids loved playing on the beach, rocks and pier.

We arrived in Portsea at about 5 so it was too late to visit the National Park so we just went down to the Pier.

Not quite the end of the World, but the end of Victoria.

Merimbula family holiday Day 3

Pancake breakfast on the day we left Merimbula.

The big boys had one each, J had at least one on his own and our girl got another one which she graciously shared with her Dad who would easily had many more!

It was such lovely weather in Merimbula. I brought along jackets and blankets which we did not need. Though the big boys wore their jackets?! My big boy got this jacket for an early birthday present. It is so cool (spot the Rickenbacker bass). Kids have the coolest things these days.

Anyway, it was better weather than I could have hoped for. Not too cold or windy or wet and not too hot either.
We headed back home via Canberra.

The trip took longer because there were several roadworks happening on the mountains and so it was stop start and then we stopped in Canberra for lunch but had to stop early for a toilet break. We stopped at the DFO and my big boy spotted shoes he liked and for $5 I thought it would be fine. Then of course Av wanted a pair too. They didn't have his size so he settled for socks. Actually he was very rapt with the socks. He wore a pair and carried the other!

We stopped in Gundagai and planned to stop in Albury for dinner but then moved on to Wangaratta for a quick dinner.

We had to stop often for power naps, the travel fatigue was an issue. What a trip!

Back to Melbourne

We headed back in the late afternoon on Monday with hubby not too keen on returning. We took our time. J was still not very happy with being in the car. He slept a little, cried and shreiked so we breaked often. Of course J being very happy to get out of the car seat as if he never was upset!

We had dinner in Albury which was very salty and unpleasant.


We stayed at a place where hubby unintentionally broke the flowerpot with the van. The bed was small and very uncomfortable and sleep was barely possible with J keeping us up for almost 2 hours in the early morning. This is not like him at all.
We filled up on the continental breakfast and headed slowly back to Melbourne.



In Benalla we had another salty lunch and had a long break there.

Thankfully J slept better on the way home. Finally got home in the late afternoon.

Roadtrip to the Nation's Capital

We left Melbourne in the morning at about 8am on Sunday. My sisiter in law happily cared for the big kids and for that I am grateful. My husband drove and I occupied the less than impressed J.

We stopped in Albury presumably for lunch but we weren't very hungry so just had cuddles and walk around then headed to Holbrook for another break.


We had a late lunch in Yass and before long we were in Canberra. We were actually staying on the border.

We had a Father's Day dinner in Canberra. Quick and polite and nice food.

The latex matress was nice to sleep on and we had a single and double bed together for more space.
It was raining on Monday but we attended the Rally (other blog post) without a second thought for the wet.

Roadtrip (Nowra - Lakes Entrance - home)

J enjoys his first interstate roadtrip.
Its a good thing our kids enjoy long car trips like their parents.



We stopped in Bega for lunch and a break.







Pambula Beach and Eden are two beautiful places.
We didn't visit this time unfortunately.



We had a break just before the border.



We were almost home.

As it was getting late we decided to stay in Lakes Entrance. This is a place we visit often since we first went there in 2004.



We left early. I mean, earlier than usual! 9 instead of the usual 10.



I enjoy a good roadtrip but I also like coming home.



We got back in the early afternoon.

Roadtrip (Wollongong- Nowra)

Sydney is crazy busy. It is the biggiest city in Australia with the strangest roads! They have many one way roads as well as narrow streets. We headed to Wollongong, thinking it would be quieter there.



I was surprised at the sheer volume of trees in the area.
We had a look at Sublime Point.







It was just as busy in Wollongong too.



We had lunch where we could find parking then headed to Nowra.



Another deserved sleep.

I should mention we didn't plan this trip much at all yet we were always able to get a place to sleep even though we had to ask at a few places. We originally planned to go through Canberra like we have before but decided to go down the coast intead.

Roadtrip

Our roadtrip started at 10pm on Wednesday. Our daughter has just started St Johns cadets so we picked her up and headed towards Sydney.



The kids slept most of the way though we stopped at Albury and Yass.




The big kids remember Sydney for the monorail and ferry.
We last went in 2006 when Av was just 4 months.



We lost Av at Paddy markets. It was the scariest 10 minutes of our parenting life. We used to lose our big boy often when he was about 3. But Sydney is scary! We searched until I noticed a sign to the office then a message over the speaker. I was so relieved to hear the description of my son. "We have a 3 year old with knitted jumper, red beanie...." That's our boy! *sigh of relief*



We ate our dinner at Market City (mmm noodles).



Then to Harbour City.



We jumped on the ferry just as it was getting dark.





J slept through our travels.





The kids gave a mime a couple dollars and she gave them balloons and lollipops.



Even though it was raining in Sydney, it certainly wasn't cold.
Melbourne is super freezing in comparison.



We waited for the scary noisy 3 decker train at Circular Quay.
At least it wasn't as noisy as one we took last time we were in Sydney.
Av screamed in fear that time.



We were impressed with the artwork which seemed to be in abundance in a few places.



We had a much needed sleep in Sydney then moved on....