8 years ago, Shane and I lived on the Gold Coast in Queensland. That being our first experience in Australia, we have very fond memories and were looking forward to spending some time there again during our current stay in Australia. The anticipation of this trip had been mounting as we looked forward to catching up with old friends as well as sharing our old life with our two kids. We were so excited to show Alexis and Reid where we lived, where we worked and what life was like for us so many years ago.

We flew from Melbourne to the Gold Coast airport and the strangely familiar humidity immediately hit us as we stepped out of the plane onto the tarmac. We picked up our rental car and made our way to a holiday park in Tweed Heads. Alexis was excited to have landed in Queensland and then, having driven only two minutes from the airport, we were in New South Wales. For Shane and I, it took us a day to figure out that there was also an hour time change between states (Queensland doesn’t have daylight savings).

We stayed in a cabin in a holiday park that had a billabong, inhabited by sting rays and other sorts of pond life and a trampoline in the centre. For the sake of the kids, I did swim in the scary, dark water to the trampolines, praying that nothing would touch me and that I would make it without panicking! The park also had several water slides, a pool, a jumping pillow and a fantastic camp kitchen with seating overlooking the billabong. This place was a gem, great amenities, close to the airport and set in among the beautiful water ways that make up this part of the coast.

We spent our first afternoon at the holiday park, taking advantage of the wonderful amenities, more specifically, the much anticipated water slides. The kids had an absolute blast as they were able to go on any and all of the slides by themselves. Later that evening, we made use of the camp kitchen for dinner. While many of the Aussies around us were cooking the standard sausage and bread, Shane had the grill filled with steak, shrimp and roast potatoes. Needless to say, we had a feast that night.

The next day, we were excited to visit the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. Years earlier, Shane and I had been there and we were looking forward to sharing it with our kids this time around. Some of the highlights of the day were the birds of prey show, holding a possum and a baby crocodile, feeding the kangaroos and riding on the train through the park.

The following day, we left the holiday park and took a drive along the scenic coast from Tweed Heads to admire the stunning coastline.

We eventually made our way to Brisbane, where we spent the next two days with Alisa and James VanHekken. Alisa was presenting in Brisbane for the week, which is why we decided to come to Queensland at this time, in the first place! How very exciting that Alisa’s work would bring her to this side of the world while we happen to be living here! We spent some time on the South Bank in Brisbane together, enjoy food and fellowship together, admiring how lovely and livable Brisbane is.

The following day, all six of us piled into our rental car and attempted to find our way to the Port of Brisbane to board a boat that would take us to Moreton Island. With James as our navigator and the help of a map on a pathetic mobile phone, and Shane driving, we miraculously made it to the boat on time. While on the boat, we introduced James and Alisa to the iconic sausage roll and meat pie in attempt to share some Aussie culture with them.

The boat brought us to Moreton Island, a place to enjoy the beautiful beaches and turquoise water that is Australia. We spent the day enjoying the pristine, white sand beaches and snorkeling around the shipwrecks that were only a couple hundred metres off shore. We also enjoyed watching tourists that appeared to be snorkeling and kayaking for, perhaps, the first time, seemingly ill-prepared for a day on the beach. We also found some sea stars which the kids desperately wanted to bring home as pets. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset on the boat on our way back to the mainland which seemed to be a perfect way to end such a fantastic day out.

The next day, we left Alisa and James in Brisbane and made our way back to the Gold Coast. We settled into our apartment at the Chevron Renaissance Towers in Surfers Paradise. We were very excited about staying here due to the fact that we used to live in this exact building eight years ago with Jeff and Tracey Leung. It was just as we remembered it, right down to the pay phone and the smells in the lobby!

We spent a couple of days enjoying Surfers, wandering around, reminiscing about days gone by, using the hotel’s fabulous outdoor pool and catching up with old friends.

That evening, we met up with Lisa and her daughter, Stella (who we had never met), and had dinner together and a swim in the pool at the Chevron Renaissance. Shane worked with Lisa at Flight Centre Broadbeach when we lived here years ago. During that time, we had spent a lot of time with her and her family, one of the best times being the Easter weekend on a house boat.

We also caught up with Nathan and his family, who used to be Shane’s boss at Flight Centre Broadbeach. Nathan and Cindy’s two children had never met our kids. However, over 6 years ago, we had sent them a birth announcement when Alexis was born and their daughter Anais, showed us that she still has it hanging in her room to this day. The kids became fast friends and had a blast together. We spent some time together at their house, enjoying a meal, a swim and a cuddle with their many pets. Reid was especially interested in the blue tongue lizard that frequently visits their home.

The next day, we went to Sea World in Southport. The highlights of the day were the dolphin show, the seal lion show and feeding the string rays. We also enjoyed the shark viewing and the fairy penguins. The kids learned a lot about the work that Sea World does in rescuing injured animals as well as what we can do to help. It was a great day out.

That evening, we left Surfers Paradise to stay with Hamish and Aileen in Hope Island. It was so exciting to see them again and reintroduce our kids to each other. Their two children are about the same age as Alexis and Reid and got on really well together. We enjoyed catching up that evening and as an added surprise, Sally came over for dinner as well! It really felt as if no time had passed at all, except now there were four noisy kids in the background!

The following days, we went to Movie World and Wet n Wild, the infamous theme parks on the Gold Coast. To my surprise, the parks turned out to be better than expected. The kids had a fantastic time on the rides and in the waterpark. While at Movie World, we met up with Duane and Liz Mootoo and their kids, and enjoyed catching up with them.

At the end of the week, I went back to Brisbane to see Alisa and James again before they flew back to the States. Alisa had spent the week presenting in Townsville and Brisbane and was scheduled to leave on Saturday morning. So, leaving Shane and the kids in the Gold Coast, I spend the evening with Alisa and James, enjoying St. Patrick’s Day along the waterfront at Eagle Street Pier in Brisbane, as well as taking the City Hopper water taxi along the river and ending up in South Bank. What a great way to end our time in Queensland.

After saying goodbye to Alisa and James, I returned to the Gold Coast and spent our last day with Hamish and Aileen, enjoying their beautiful home on the canal, swimming in the pool and soaking up the sun. That evening, all 9 of us (including Sally!) went to Springbrook National Park to view the glow worms at the Natural Bridge at night. The kids had a great time using their torches to light the way and then discovered the hundreds of glow worms on the cave walls, which looked like tiny little fairy lights above our heads. What an incredible sight!

As we made our way to the airport to return to Melbourne, we couldn’t help but feel sad that we had to leave so soon. We had such wonderful memories of the Gold Coast and felt like we made many more on this trip. It was so wonderful to see and catch up with old friends as if no time had passed at all! The Gold Coast has always had a special place in our hearts and it always will.

The end of an era or the beginning of a new chapter, depends on how you look at it. For me, it was an end of an era. School has started again for Alexis and kinder, or preschool, has begun for Reid. This is Reid’s first school experience and he is 4 1/2 years old. I am excited for him to experience new adventures and make new friends but selfishly, I am very sad that I no longer have him to myself to enjoy! This past 2 years, I have had the pleasure of staying at home with him, spending loads of one-on-one time with him, playing endless games of  ball, baseball, cricket, soccer, ping pong, hockey with a baseball bat, feeding the ducks at the pond, mailing letters at the post office, going for bike rides, getting books from the library, digging holes at the beach, playing at the park and going to the café for coffee and bubbacinos. I have enjoyed every minute of it, including his every attempt to stop me from talking to anyone I know or meeting up with friends for a play or a coffee. Reid’s perfect world would include him and I, interacting without no one else but each other and playing some form of ball together.

On January 31, 2017, Alexis started grade 1 at Torquay College with a few of her classmates from Prep, as most of them were distributed among the six grade 1 classes. She was nervous about her new class and her new teacher as she did not have a very good impression on one-up day last year. But willing to give it a chance, she put on a brave face and we walked to school. Reid, on the other hand, was not at all happy that he would be losing his best playmate after 6 weeks of playing house, doctor and teacher with her.

When we picked Alexis up after her first day, she was smiling and thrilled with how the day went. She thought her teacher was really nice and that the day’s activities seemed much more interesting and challenging than Prep.

The next day, February 1, 2017 was Reid’s first day of kinder. He too, was nervous about his first day but excited as well because he had an orientation day earlier in December to meet his teachers, Stuart, Tamba and Shandelle. With his backpack organized and his new lunchbox packed, we started off to his new kinder class called the Galahs.

After signing in, Reid and I entered his new classroom with excitement and apprehension. He quickly scanned the room, looking for an activity to do. He painted a picture, made a lego tower, tried out some of the toys on the tables and drew a picture. Today was just an hour and a half session where the kids play and parents meet with the teachers. So all went very well today.

The next three weeks that followed did not go so well…in fact, I am not sure they could have gone worse. Reid’s kinder schedule is 2 full kinder days on Mondays and Wednesdays and then bush/beach kinder on Tuesday mornings. Bush kinder takes place in Bellbrae where the kids have the opportunity to play and explore in an outdoor bush environment. On beach kinder days, the kids spend the morning at the beach to enjoy outdoor play.

The second day of kinder was meant to a 3 hour session where parents drop off their kids. I stayed with Reid for about 10 minutes and then attempted to leave him but he was not having it. He stood at the door, banging on it, crying and screaming for me. I told him he had to stay for 10 minutes and then I would come back. The teacher came out to get me from the hall after 5 minutes. I ended up staying with him for the remainder of the session with one more attempt to leave for 10 minutes with little success. The following weeks got progressively worse. Reid became very creative and clever with the excuses of why he could not go to kinder. He tried everything he could think of to convince me not to take him there. He pleaded with me, he ate his breakfast very slowly hoping he would miss kinder, he ran away, he hid under couches, he hid in his room and told me not to come in until kinder was over, he said he was too tired, and it went on and on. As the days went on, it became increasingly harder to physically get him to kinder. It was heart-breaking to see him so upset and I felt awful bringing him to kinder when he was begging me not to. Kinder itself was not the problem, the teachers were not the problem, in fact, they were fantastic and went above and beyond to try and engage him. The problem with kinder, according to Reid, was that I was not there. We tried making special bracelets where we could talk to each other while he was at kinder, he had a picture of me in his bag, he brought his sleeper with him in his pocket, he brought some special toys…but nothing worked. Reid would not allow himself to enjoy kinder, he would not interact with anyone and would not let anyone interact with him. He refused to sit with the rest of the class, he would not use the toilet and he passed up on his lunch. For most days, he spent his time crying while sitting under a table or by the door, waiting for me to come back.

We persevered and after 3 weeks, Reid made it through an entire day of kinder on his own, and even got out from under the table during the day to participate in some of the activities in the classroom. We celebrated with pizza and ice cream, of course!

To say this past month has been difficult would be an understatement. My heart hurts for Reid that he has to go through this tough life lesson and my heart breaks knowing that all he wants is to be with me. I know this year will be a great year for Reid, he will learn many new things, he will make loads of new friends and he will gain confidence in himself. I look forward to celebrating these things with him but at the moment, it’s hard to see how we are going to get there.

We are now finishing off the fourth week of school and although there are crocodile tears at drop off, we have had one (what I would call) successful day at kinder. He willingly walked to kinder and there was no running away or need for physical restraint at drop off. I think he has finally accepted that this is a place he has to go and we are not going to change our minds about that fact. Hopefully this is the beginning of a new and exciting chapter for him.

When I think of Australia, sun, sand, surf and slang comes to mind.

Living in Torquay, we have mastered the sun and sand part. We have spent countless days at the beach, just down the road from our house. We have enjoyed days at the beach; days in the middle of winter when no one else is around and summer days, when it is wall to wall umbrellas.

We have spent afternoons at the beach, right after school for a couple hours before dinner, digging, burying and creating villages and landscapes in the sand.

We have spent mornings at the beach playing sports with friends. Our Saturday morning soccer club (turned little nippers, turned beach cricket) was lots of fun. Breakfast and coffee at Bomboras afterwards was just as enjoyable!

We have mastered the sun and sand here and have made the most of living so close to such stunning and beautiful beaches like Whites, Fisho’s, Cosy Corner, Surf Beach, Jan Juc, Bells Beach, Pt. Addis, and the list goes on and on.

Surfing. Shane and I have tried surfing while we have been here. Considering the number of people that surf here, I was sure that it couldn’t be that difficult of a sport to learn. I was also very curious as to what the hype is all about…it turns out that it is a lot harder than it looks! Alexis was also interested in trying it out so we signed her up for lessons during the summer holidays. As it turns out, it’s a lot easier to surf if you are 6! She loved it and did really well, so well that we got a surfboard for her so that she could continue surfing after the lessons were over.

Slang…or maybe just the Australian language, but the Aussies are masters when it comes to words and language. First, let’s address the accent. Alexis and I had trouble doing her grade 1 homework because of the accent! She had to put words that have the vowel ‘a’ in it in one of three columns, depending on the sound the ‘a’ makes in that word. There are three sounds that ‘a’ makes in the Aussie language. (For those of you that are curious…cat, fast, make, make up the 3 sounds of ‘a’).

Second, these Aussies have a way with words. They have sayings for any and all situations, millions of them and they roll right off their tongues. They also have shortened words or slang for many words in the English language. I will share some of my favourites…

• she’ll be right (sounds like: she’ll be rot): everything’s going to be ok
• slab: case of beer
• sook: sulk
• ta: thank you
• togs, bathers, swimmers, boardies, cozzie: swimsuit
• ute: pickup truck
• fag: cigarette
• bogan: redneck
• ambo: ambulance/driver
• firies: fire fighters
• Macca’s: McDonald’s
• arvo: afternoon
• bikkie: cookie (short for biscuit)
• boot: trunk of a car
• bonnet: hood of a car
• brekkie: breakfast
• bub, bubba: baby
• chook: chicken
• cook top: stove
• cuppa: a hot drink
• doona: duvet
• esky: cooler
• fairy floss: cotton candy
• feral: wild or uncontrollable
• flat out: very busy
• petrol: gas
• gas: propane
• knackered: tired, exhausted
• mozzies: mosquitoes
• icy pole: popsicle
• postie: postal worker
• prezzie: presesnt
• Chrissie: Christmas
• reckon: figure, think, assume
• rego: vehicle registration
• rock up: show up, arrive
• rugged up: bundled up
• Salvo: Salvation army
• barbie: bbq
• snag: sausage
• stubbie: bottle of beer
• sunnies: sunglasses
• tinny: small aluminum boat
• torch: flashlight
• tradie: tradesperson
• trolley: shopping cart
• Straya: Australia
• woop woop: in the middle of nowhere
• grommet: young surfer
• pash: kiss
• ripper: great

The longer we live here, the more we learn about what is typical Australian and in particular, typical Victorian. One weekend in Melbourne, we checked out Puffing Billy, a place every Aussie child goes to at least once. Puffing Billy is a century old steam train that takes tourists along its original mountain railway track between Belgrave and Gembrook through the magnificent Dandenong Ranges. The railway was built in 1900 to serve the local community that lived in the hills, carrying passengers as well as goods such as timber, vegetables and plants. Today, tourists can dangle their legs over the side of the open carriages while admiring the forests, fern gullies and farmlands of the beautiful Dandenong Ranges.

We boarded the train at Belgrave station. Alexis was thrilled to be able to sit with her legs over the edge of the train. Reid was a little more cautious.

We got off the train at Lakeside with the intention to have a picnic, enjoy the park and some of the water activities on the lake there. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and it rained while we were there. Shortly after, we boarded the train again to return to Belgrave. The lush forest and fern gullies were filled with statuesque trees, huge umbrella-like ferns and endless greenery. The scenery was absolutely beautiful!

At some point on the journey back to Belgrave, Reid was brave enough to dangle his legs over the edge of the train as well. What a thrilling feeling!

I can see why Puffing Billy is Australia’s favourite steam train. It was great fun to sit in the open carriages and take in the amazing scenery of the Dandenong Ranges. What an excellent day out!

While in Melbourne for the weekend, we also decided to check out another Victorian icon, Healesville Sanctuary. Located on the traditional land of the Wurundjeri people, this bushland is a haven for Australian wildlife. We wandered the trails through the sanctuary to meet some of the iconic Austrailian animals such as cassowaries, koalas, kangaroos,  platypus, enchidnas, dingoes, wombats and emus.

The highlight of the day was definitely the bird show and the platypus show.

It is said that when in Rome, do as the Romans do…well, here in Oz, we are doing as the Aussies do, well minus the accent maybe…for Shane and I, Alexis and Reid are picking it up…I try but just sound ridiculous! We are loving it here, enjoying all things Aussie, especially the sun, sand, surf and slang.

It’s the end of December and school is finished for the year. Alexis has completed her first year of school here in Australia and is moving on to grade 1 in February. But first, it’s time for 6 weeks of summer holidays! This summer holidays, we spent most of our time in Torquay. Having the beach at our doorstep, it seemed logical to stay here for the summer and enjoy every minute of it!

We did take a one short holiday away, a few days in Warrnambool with Shane, while he worked at his shop there. Alexis and Reid have watched the movie ‘Oddball’ several times and love it. This movie takes place in Warrnambool and is based on a true story about a Maremma dog who protects the fairy penguins that live on Middle Island from hungry foxes. While we were in Warrnambool for a few days, we had the opportunity to meet the next generation of Maremma dogs, Eudi and Tula, who are the current guard dogs working on Middle Island. The two people who care for the dogs and work on the penguin project, took us on a tour to Middle Island so we could see where the dogs work and what they do. We were hoping to see some fairy penguins as well but because we were there at midday, most of the penguins would have been out at sea.

To get to the island, we wore life jackets and hiked up our pants as we had to walk through a little bit of water to get there. At low tide, it is possible to walk to Middle Island in water about ankle deep. The tide wasn’t quite at its lowest when we walked over to Middle Island and Reid and Alexis ended up waist-deep in water.

Eudi and Tula, the guard dogs, spend 5 out of 7 days a week on the island, wandering back and forth on the boardwalk that has been built for them. The dogs stay on the boardwalk so they do not disturb the hundreds of burrows and nests that have been built by the penguins and birds on the island. The dogs spend their days off on a farm just outside of Warrnambool.

Since the dogs have been introduced to the island, there have been no penguins attacks by foxes. The program has been a tremendous success and the number of penguins has gone from 10 at its lowest point, to over 150 penguins today. The project is training up the next generation of Maremma dogs, a boy and a girl, to be ready to take over for Eudi and Tula when they retire.

On our second day in Warrnambool, we visited Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve. Tower Hill’s location boasts of an ancient crater and other volcanic features with an abundance of wildlife. There are five self-guided walks there, each with a different theme. We decided to tackle two of the five walks; the Peak Climb, a 30 minute steep hike to the top of Tower Hill with stunning views of the surrounding area and the Lava Tongue Boardwalk, a 30 minute hike along a boardwalk through the wetlands to admire the wildlife living there.

As we were making our way back to the carpark, we spotted a koala in a tree. We watched it for a while and to our surprise, the koala climbed down the tree and wandered off to find a new tree to climb. We followed the koala, from a safe distance of course, and watched him move from one tree to another and then go to sleep again!

After Warrnambool, the excitement of Christmas came and went and we started to look forward to some of the other activities we had planned for the summer holidays. During the first and second weeks of January, a group of teenagers made their way to Torquay to run a camp called Beach Mission, a free, Christian-based camp for kids age prep to year 9. Alexis and Reid were excited to be involved this year and attended everyday. Reid was hesitant to participate on his own, but after 5 days, he forgot I was even there! This was a major break through for him. He even stood front and centre on stage when the Beach Mission group led the songs at church on Sunday!

Later in January, Alexis and Reid both enrolled in VicSwim, an open water swimming program where they learned some important skills and knowledge about water safety in and around the ocean. Although the weather wasn’t great, Alexis still enjoyed her lessons. Reid, on the other hand, required an enormous amount of encouragement to participate.

Playing at the beach for the remainder of the morning after the lessons, was more fun than the lessons themselves!

Summer by the Sea is program offered to kids all over the Surfcoast and Bellarine area, focusing on learning about our beautiful beaches, the creatures that live there and how to care for them. Reid and Alexis joined a Beach Detectives session where they had to solve a murder case. A penguin had died and they needed to figure out how and why. The lesson to learn was to pick up your own rubbish as well as take three pieces with you every time you go to the beach, it can save the lives of many marine animals.

No summer is complete without an evening at the Nightjar festival, a vibrant, colourful and eclectic mix of a night market, music festival, food stalls and showcase for local artists. In the month of January, the Nightjar went on every Thursday night in Torquay.

Finally, a summer would not be complete without a trip to the strawberry farm. We went to Tuckerberry Hill Farm to pick our own strawberries and blueberries. After a very successful harvest, and a costly one, we had plenty of strawberries to eat and make jam with as well as loads of blueberries to enjoy.

This was our second Christmas in Torquay so we knew what to expect this year. It still did not feel like Christmas because of the long hot summer days but we enjoyed the time nonetheless. This year, Alexis was in school right up until a couple of days before Christmas so we didn’t participate in as many Christmas activities as we did last year.

We began our Christmas celebrations with Oma, Opa and Allison when they were here in the beginning of December. We went to Carols by the Bay in Geelong to enjoy some traditional and non-traditional Christmas carols. We also had our BBQ Christmas dinner with them, complete with all the fixings, Christmas crackers, decorations and Christmas apparel too!

Similar to last year, Alexis and Reid entered into the gingerbread house competition at the RACV. With the help of Oma and Allison, they made two beautiful houses, decorated with all kinds of yummy chocolates and lollies.

This year, Alexis was part of the choir at her school. This gave her the opportunity to sing at Carols by the Sea in Torquay. She was really excited to be a part of the show and did an excellent job singing!

This year, Alexis and Reid seemed to have an ever-changing, always-growing wish list for Santa. When we visited him at the Geelong carrousel this year, Reid asked for a boy baby doll and a basketball and Alexis asked for a telescope and a camera. Both Alexis and Reid were quite happy to sit with Santa and have a chat with him this year, a big change from years past.

On Christmas Eve, Santa made his way around Torquay with the Fire Brigade to visit the children one last time before his trek around the world.  While here in Australia, it has become custom for us to have finger food and open presents on Christmas eve, very slowly in an attempt to make it last as long as possible. And finally, we left out some cookies and milk for Santa along with a note from Alexis.

Christmas morning, Santa came with a sack full of presents and a stocking full of goodies for both Alexis and Reid.

After the presents had been opened and a special breakfast was enjoyed, we went to church to celebrate the real reason for Christmas, the birth of Christ. For the afternoon, we went to the beach and enjoyed the beautiful blue sunny skies with a refreshing swim in the ocean. What a great way to spend Christmas together as a family here in Australia.

Alexis had the opportunity to start school in Australia as a ‘Preppie’. The Prep year is the first year in school and most students are 5 years old. We enrolled Alexis into Torquay College, the local primary school within walking distance of our house. After we moved to Torquay, Alexis had six months before school started. We spent that time getting settled into our new life and meeting new friends. When Alexis started prep, she was ready and excited. There were no tears and she confidently walked into her classroom and got to work. Alexis met and made friends quickly and enjoyed her new teacher, Mr. Brown. It was definitely a much better experience than her first year at school in Canada!

Reid and I (especially Reid) missed Alexis everyday while she was at school but because we were at home, we had the opportunity to be involved in her school life as much as possible. I joined the Parent and Carer group, I volunteered in her classroom and read with the students, I went on excursions with her class-and when I say ‘I’, I actually mean Reid and I because we always come as a pair these days! We also joined in the special events that went on around the school.

Being awarded Student of the Week:

Be a character from a book day:

Olympics day (her class represented Canada!):

Preppie dance:

Diorama presentation day (it’s a butterfly):

Alexis’ class ran the weekly assembly this week:

Crazy hair day:

Prep athletics day (Alexis won the 50m dash!):

Choir performance at Carols by the Sea:

Last day of school and break up class party:

It has been an incredible year of excitement, learning and personal growth for Alexis. We have missed having her with us but I am so thrilled and excited to have watched her grow and become more confident in herself. She has gone from a little girl who would speak to no one, clinging to my leg to a young school girl who helps her classmates, volunteers to speak at assemblies, organizes games at recess time and enjoys being a leader amongst her peers. What an incredible priviledge for me to be able to be involved in her school life this year. What an amazing year she has had and wonderful experiences she has endured this year!

The Grampians National Park seems to be a popular place for Victorians to visit, vacation, camp and hike. We decided to see for ourselves what the Grampians are all about. We had spent some time in a town called Hamilton because we had tagged along with Shane for work. From Hamilton, we drove to a small tourist village called Halls Gap, situated in the heart of The Grampians National Park. As we were driving towards our destination, it was impossible to miss this majestic island of mountain and forest rising out of the flat farmland all around it. The Grampians are home to a vast array of native animals and plants as well as a rich Aboriginal history. It is said that the Aboriginal people have been connected to this place for over 22,000 years.

With limited time, we decided to head for Halls Gap as a base to explore and admire the awe-inspiring landscapes. While in the Grampians, Victorians, first of all, camp and from there, there are endless treks to tackle, treks along rugged cliffs and cascading waterfalls. There is plenty of fishing and canoeing on the lakes amongst the mountains as well as getting up close to the inquisitive native animals such as koalas, kangaroos and emus.

The first trek we decided to tackle was a fairly short and easy one, Mackenzie Falls. Mackenzie Falls is one of Victoria’s largest waterfalls and flows year round. The trek was more of an easy stroll through the bush where we saw the effects of a major forest fire from several years ago. It was amazing to see how life has been rebuilt in the forest and how green it is amongst the blackened tree trunks. The waterfall was beautiful and because of the rain in the past few days, it was full and fast flowing.

The second trek we attempted was one that reached The Pinnacle. The Pinnacle is one of the best vantage points in the Grampians for fantastic scenic views that stretch over a vast expanse of the park and surrounding country. This trek was considered to be more strenuous than the previous one. It was a 4.2km return walk that included some small water crossings and rock-hopping as well as some slippery boulders to climb over. We left the carpark feeling very optimistic and excited to enjoy the view of The Grampians from the spectacular vantage point of The Pinnacle. However, part way through the trek, it began to get slippery because of the rainy mist we had been having throughout the day. The rock-hopping proved challenging not only for the kids, but for Shane and I as well. Alexis and Reid were troopers and made it all the way to The Pinnacle. When we reached the top, it was so windy and rainy that it was difficult to even look out to admire the view. Bound and determined to make it, we only took a few photos at the top as we feared that we may blow off the cliff top! To our surprise and absolute delight, a rainbow appeared as we were standing there. It made the trek worth every bit of effort it took. The way back down to the car was more challenging as the kids knew the obstacles that lay ahead. The backup pack of M&Ms in my pocket was the motivation we needed to get back to the carpark.

In late October, we had some very special guests come and visit us. Oma, Opa and Auntie Allison flew around the world for a second time within a year, to visit us, but for 6 weeks this time! There was a lot of anticipation for this visit as we had many exciting plans for the time that they would be here. Alexis and Reid counted down the months, then weeks and then days until their arrival and finally, on October 26, 2016, they arrived!

After a few days of getting adjusted to the time change, we began our highly anticipated caravan trip in Queensland. We decided to experience a true Australian holiday by renting a caravan and driving close to 2000kms from Brisbane to Cairns. We were looking forward to seeing what caravanning/camping was all about in this country and why it is such a popular way to travel.

We flew from Melbourne to Brisbane on November 1 and spent the night in a hotel in preparation for picking up the caravan the next morning.

The next morning, Opa and I picked up our new home for the next 10 days…

We rented a 6 berth motorhome and planned to drive from Brisbane to Cairns, somewhere around 2000kms in all. This is how the Aussies do! Opa and I took turns driving (Opa did most of it) and Alexis and Reid sat across a table from Allison, which turned out to be a really great way to travel. It was nice to have access to a kitchen for snacks and lunch on the go, while on the road. It was great to be able to come and go as we pleased, on our own time schedule and stop where we wanted to stop.

After we figured out how to get out of the city, we left Brisbane and headed towards Noosa, on the Sunshine Coast. On the way, we stopped at The Big Pineapple for lunch. The Big Pineapple is one of the ‘big things’ in Australia. While we were there, we saw pineapple fields and learned how they are grown and harvested. We rode on a train through the farm and saw some Australian animals and many different type of fruit trees.

After lunch, we continued driving north towards Noosa. Noosa is a favourite resort town for many Australians, with stunning natural landscapes and beautiful beaches. In the middle of it all is Hastings Street, which is lined with designer boutiques and delicious restaurants. We spent our first night in the caravan at a holiday park in Tewantin, just outside of Noosa. We checked out the beach in Noosa and ate at Betty’s Burgers on Hastings St. where we had some of the best onion rings ever. We attempted to spend some time at Noosa National Park but found it impossible to find a parking spot big enough for the caravan.

We left Noosa very early the next morning to drive to Tin Can Bay, a tranquil seaside town known for its abundant wildlife. We traveled there to meet and feed the wild Australian Humpback dolphins. Every morning, a pod of 9 dolphins arrive near the shore to be fed by the volunteers and curious onlookers. Alexis, Reid and Allison hand fed the dolphins this morning. It was an experience that will be remembered for a long time!

After the dolphins were satisfied and swam away, we went back to the caravan and continued driving north. We drove to Bargara, a small coastal town located just east of Bundaberg where we planned to spend the night. The reason for this stop was in search of sea turtles laying their eggs. Each year, from November to January, these nesting marine turtles make their way to shore to lay their eggs. The area called Mon Repos, next to Bargara, supports a large concentration of these turtles in hopes of protecting and conserving the endangered loggerhead turtle. These turtles make their way on to the beach after dark to dig a hole in the sand, lay their eggs and then return to the sea. The eggs will hatch months later and the baby turtles will attempt to make their way to the ocean.

When we arrived at the caravan park in Bargara, we were told that there was a turtle laying her eggs on the beach the previous night and in the morning, someone from Mon Repos had come and collected the eggs and relocated them to ensure they would be safe. We went out that night to the beach in search of turtles but were unsuccessful. Reid claims he saw turtle tracks and a mound where there may have been eggs. He was so desperate to see one that we agreed with him, otherwise we may have been stuck searching all night.

We were surprisingly comfortable in the caravan. Alexis, Reid and I slept above the cab, Oma and Opa in the back and Allison in the middle. Once at a caravan park, we always used the camp kitchen to cook and the camp bathrooms to shower. We usually picked up enough groceries to last two days. It was a really nice way to travel and surprisingly easy to drive, as long as we kept on the correct side of the road! As the days went on, we became more efficient at setting up, cleaning up and trekking necessities to and from the camp kitchen. It is clear to see why so many people choose to travel this way.

The next day, we drove to the town of 1770, perhaps the only town I have ever heard of that has a number for its name. 1770 is a very small town that was built on the place where Captain James Cook first landed his ship and thus, it became the birthplace of Queensland. We went to the place where he came ashore and was met by the aboriginals living there at that time.

After standing where Captain James Cook once stood, we had a quick lunch in the caravan and continued traveling north. Our next destination and stop for the night was Capricorn Caves, just north of Rockhampton. The Capricorn Caves were discovered in 1882 by John Olson’s two sons. These ancient caves are nestled in a limestone ridge and were only discovered when the Olson boys went out to look for a missing horse. After they discovered the caves, John Olson went on to claim the land without telling anyone about the caves. Three years later, John opened the caves to tourists, making this Queensland’s longest-running tourist attraction.

We took a guided tour through the caverns and labyrinths to see cave coral, stalactites, dangling fig tree roots and heard thousands of little bats flying above our heads.

The most spectacular part of the tour was the natural rock cathedral where a recording of ‘Hallelujah’ was played to demonstrate the cavern’s incredibly perfect acoustics.

We stayed in the caravan park at Capricorn Caves. It was the one and only place we were allowed to have a campfire, so we did. Alexis and Reid roasted and ate an entire bag of marshmallows that night.

The next day was a long driving day in the caravan. On a typical day in the caravan, we all had our own ways of passing the time. There were a lot of eye spy games, singing songs, ‘guess who I am thinking of’ games, 100 bottles of beer on the wall, eating tim tams, enjoying lollipops, knitting, crossword puzzles, map reading and sleeping. On any given day, we had anywhere from 150kms to 400kms to drive, however, it always seemed to take the same amount of time to get there!

After a long day of driving, we made it to Airlie Beach, which would be our base for exploring the Whitsundays. We stayed 2 nights at the Airlie Cove Resort which had a fantastic kid’s splash park and a pool with a waterslide. We did our first and only loads of laundry here as it coast $4/load. The next day, we walked to the marina to board the Cruise Whitsundays boat for our full day cruise to Hamilton Island and Whitehaven Beach.

The boat dropped us off at Hamilton Island for the morning. Hamilton Island is the largest inhabited island in the Whitsundays. It is a highly sought-after holiday destination with luxury accommodation and white pristine beaches. The island felt like a slice of resort paradise where the paved roads were plied by golf carts and the steep rocky hills were dotted with holiday goers crossing over from one side of the island to the other.

We spend the time exploring the charming town and riding the free shuttle bus from one side of the island to the other. We were able to use the pool at the island’s resort as well as having access to stunning Catseye Beach.

Before leaving the island, we stopped at Marina Tavern and enjoyed a pub style lunch with stunning views of the island’s marina. We were joined by the island’s very bold cockatoos who seemed intent on stealing lunch and quickly cleaned up the leftovers after patrons had left. Before getting back on the boat, we enjoyed a very yummy, overpriced ice cream cone at the marina.

We boarded the cruise boat again and traveled to Whitehaven Beach. We spend the afternoon there enjoying the 7km stretch of unspoilt, pristine, impeccably white sand complemented by crystal clear waters along Whitsunday Island. It is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. The sand is so pure and fine that it can clean jewelery. We enjoyed playing in the sand as well as swimming and jumping in the waves, wearing stinger suits because of the presence of jellyfish. We were warned that the jellyfish are as small as a fingernail with a transparent body and have a sting that can send you to hospital for a couple of days.

At the end of the day, we returned to our caravan park in Airlie Beach. One of the reason for staying at this holiday park was for their regular morning visitors. Every morning, just before 8am, the rainbow lorikeets arrived and made a lot of noise. It took some time, but these beautiful birds ate right out of our hands.

After the birds had been fed, we left Airlie Beach to continue our road trip north. It was another long day of driving. Every time we stopped for petrol, we picked up lemonade lollipops for Alexis and Reid (wel-lem-ade wollipops, as Reid calls them). The lollipops always bought us another 30 minutes of driving time. While driving 2000kms through Queensland, we saw endless fields of sugarcane, but occasionally we saw the sugarcane train, banana trees and herds of beef cows as well.

That night we stopped in the tiny town of Cardwell as it was too far to drive all the way to Cairns in one day. We stayed at a lovely little caravan park which was across the road from the beach. We enjoyed the refreshing pool and a walk on the beach that evening.

The next morning, we continued on to our final destination of Cairns. Just south of Cairns, we decided to take a break and check out the Babinda Boulders. The Babinda Boulders are surrounded by lush rainforest and is a popular swimming hole for tourist traveling through. It is a fast flowing tropical creek that is lined with huge boulders. The cool, clear water weaves between the boulders and fills in large pools where people can swim. Opa, Reid, Alexis and I went for a refreshing dip in the rock pools.

We also went for a walk further down the river to view two spectacular lookout points.

By early afternoon, we had finally made it to Cairns. We made a quick stop at the grocery store, one last time, and carried on to the Coconut Cairns Holiday Resort, where we stayed for 3 nights. The weather was perfect and really had been for the entire trip.

Our first full day in Cairns, we went on a Reef Magic cruise that took us out to a pontoon on the Great Barrier Reef. It was one of the highlights of the whole trip, a once in a lifetime experience for us! The pontoon is a permanent structure on the edge of a reef. Once on the pontoon, we made sure to do every activity we possibly could! We enjoyed the glass bottom boat, the semi-submersible boat, fish feeding, buffet lunch, snorkeling (Reid, Alexis and Allison loved the snorkeling) Opa and Janet braved the scuba diving and Oma mastered the helmet diving!

Our last full day on this incredible trip, we decided to spend some time in a small town in the middle of the rainforest called Kuranda. To get to Kuranda, we took the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway, a gondola that took us from the coast up into the rainforest. The gondola allowed us to glide just metres above the rainforest canopy, providing spectacular views of the rainforest, tropical Cairns, the magnificent ocean and the highlands surrounding Cairns. The gondola made two stops along the way allowing us time to admire the magnificent trees and the mighty Barron Falls (which wasn’t so mighty at the time due to lack of rainfall), before ending up in the small, charming village of Kuranda, a place filled with natural beauty and unique artisan markets.

There is a lot to do and see in Kuranda, so we had pick and choose what we had time for. An absolute must was the Kuranda Koala Gardens. In Victoria, where we live, people are not allowed to hold koalas but in Queensland, this is not the case. At Kuranda Koala Gardens, Allison and Alexis were able to cuddle a koala, which was one of the biggest highlights of the trip for them.

The Kuranda Koala Gardens has more attractions than just koalas. There were many different Australian native animals there. Alexis and Reid enjoyed feeding handful after handful of food to the resident wallabies. We were also lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the very shy bandicoot.

The Kuranda Scenic Railway was our mode of transportation to get from Kuranda back down to Cairns. It was a spectacular journey, passing through dense rainforest, steep ravines and picturesque waterfalls. This railway was constructed between 1882 and 1891 by hundreds of men who build the 15 hand-made tunnels and 37 bridges.

What an incredibly beautiful way to travel!

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and the time had come for us to go home. Our Aussie caravan road trip adventure was an incredible journey that will be long remembered and cherished forever!

On September 24, 2016, Reid celebrated his long awaited 4th birthday. It fell on a Saturday which was convenient for spending the day with all of us. When he woke up, he immediately found his presents and proceeded to open them without waiting for anyone else to wake up.

Reid had a list of things he wanted to do on his birthday, starting with eating cake and pancakes for breakfast. As the day went on, we continued to work on crossing off items on his birthday list. These items consisted of:

• Playing soccer
• Feeding the ducks
• Going to a cafe
• Eating macaroni and cheese and cake for lunch
• Going swimming
• Pizza for dinner, along with more cake

Reid said he had the best day…but the best was yet to come! The next day was his birthday party, the first birthday party where he wanted to invite more than just Alexis, Daddy and Mommy. He was excited and spent much time planning and preparing for it.

Reid celebrated his birthday with a soccer party, attended by some of his new special friends in Torquay, Malik, Flynn, Tanna and Eli Craig, Tilly and Ted Theiry, and Michael and Zander and Alexis of course!

Reid had the best day. What a fun-loving, sporty, full of beans, sweet little boy he is growing up to be! Thanks to all who made him feel so special and loved today!