A very Australian weekend saw the Carter/Darling family engaged in all manner of social, ecological, and tourist-like adventures.
On Saturday morning Colin drove off early to a birthday party of rock-climbing with his friends Campbell and Caelin. Mom, dad, and Alex hung lazily back for more coffee and cartoons until Alex and Linton went off to gymanstics. James then managed to drag himself around our local park's running oval to the tune of over 10kms! I don't think I have done that since my high school days and never willingly! Quite proud of myself actually - though 48 hours later I am still walking funny.
Colin returned safely from scaling cliffs in time for a very exciting lunch. It was a beautiful day and we decided to eat lunch on our back patio. No sooner had we started in to the bagels and such when Colin claimed he had spotted something "shiny" or "slimy" under the water heater - which is outside in Australia. Of course, dad had a look, saw nothing, and claimed officially there was no such thing. Yet, not 5 minutes later - out slinked a skink!! A blue-tongued skink for that matter and much to the surprise of Linton. He seemed quite undeterred by our presence and proceeded to do a lap or two of the garden, seemingly in search of some prime tanning rays. Though at one point he seemed determined to make himself at home - in our home. Apparently harmless and in fact, endangered in Victoria, this skink was about 18 inches long and certainly the largest lizard I have ever had knock on my back door.
Saturday was another fun dinner at the home of Simon and Alex Davies. We brought the beer and chips (Moosehead - in fact!) which is very much our speed. They cooked another wonderful meal - real comfort food including lamb sausage - which we only too happily devoured along with some lovely wine and great conversation. The boys were great playing "Kick the ball over the fence" and "Throw sand in you hair" with Sophie and Jess and Linton really enjoyed feeding baby Thomas his bottle. Linton and the boys managed to drag James away far too early but we found a new, much faster route home on the City Loop train which avoided 30 minutes of tramming. Yeah! We are very grateful for the food and friendship Alex and Simon continue to send our way. Now, if only we could cook, we could have them over to our place!
We had to get home early in order to get some rest and to get ready for our second big bus tour of the trip! Bright and early Sunday, we were booked to head out to the Dandenongs - a nearby mountain range just east of Melbourne and then...well I won't go on, because when we got to the tour office we were told our trip was cancelled and would we like to tour the Great Ocean Road instead? Well, after a bit of shock and few deep breaths we decided to do the Great Ocean Road and see some of the places we are planning to visit in January with Peter and Jane. It was a great trip except for a little bit of motion sickness...
We were on a double decker bus which was quite cool - a first for all - and it allowed us a great view of the incredible scenery speeding by our window. Some of that scenery included Geelong, Torquay (where Rip Curl was founded) and the surfers at Bell's Beach, Lorne, beautiful Appollo Bay, the 12 Apostles, Port Campbell, Lord Aurd Gorge, London Bridge, and of course the incredible Great Ocean Road itself. The only problem with our vantage point, the itinerary, and the road itself was that it was tough on one's inner year. Especially if one is six years old!
I think all parents have a bit of a Spidey-sense when it comes to their own child's well-being though with Alex and nausea it's not particularly rocket science. Having had a few motion related issues in the past (one very memorable one comes to mind in the back of a one hour old Ford Focus)- Linton and I know that when all goes quiet and pale - then get ready with mop and pail! Such was the case half way along the Great Ocean Road and at the back top part of our double decker bus. After about 300 turns and dips and rolls - the poor guy is too short to ever see the relief of a distant horizon - Alex's stomach decided to take into its own hands what his mind was having trouble dealing with. Fortunately, he managed to wait until we had stopped for a picture break - though I don't think anyone was eager to get that display on film!
Linton was heroic in her ability to sense his timing and unfortunately after lunch (I know - what were we thinking!?) Alex woke on the bus again to see and feel the pitch and yaw of our winding way and was again forced to purge the contents of his stomach. However, with cat-like reflexes and a conveniently placed barf bag, mom was able to catch all without anyone sitting around us being any the wiser. Five minutes later he was smiling and churbling away - surely happy he had his mom by his side. Ahhh, who says there is no art to parenting? We were finally home by 8:00 pm - falling into bed by 9:00 - with barely the energy for a paragraph of Harry Potter or a comforting, stomach-friendly bowl of chicken noodle soup.
We saw some amazing things and this truly is a great ocean road. We look forward to coming back here in the summer to explore Apollo Bay, Lorne, Torquay, and all of the other amazingly beautiful places we passed through. We were reminded at times of the Sea to Sky highway from Vancouver to Whistler, or the drive to Tofino, or that great drive toward Cavendish in PEI...Again, the mind's eye continues to see and compare, to quantify and create, a perception and a place for all we are taking in...With this busy weekend, it may take a while to find a place for it all.
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