Two Little Travellers

WOMADelaide

WOMADelaide is a four-day music festival held in March in the centrally located Botanic Park/Tainmuntilla. That is nestled right between the zoo and botanic gardens. Bitti and typically visit Tainmuntilla several times a year to climb and picnic in the ‘magic tree’ (just a very good tree for climbing).

Typically, 500-600 artists from 30+ countries perform on 7 or 8 stages spread across the 34-hectare park. Due to Australia’s COVID border policy and the price of flights though there were only a handful of international acts — great for home-grown music. I have only been to WOMAD once before when Bitti was 1 year old; I got a free ticket from some friends. This time we went with the same friends but I bought a 3-day pass. Kids under 12 are free with paying adults so it is a good option for families.

I am not big into music so I knew about three of the acts in the line-up over the whole weekend. Never mind that though, because I knew that taking Bitti would mean following her around as her whim took her. I knew there would be a kids zone set up with different workshops and activities such as shelter building, natural materials crafting, circus workshops and storytelling.

The first challenge was how to get in. I had thought we would ride the bikes in, but I was worried about the heat (heading to 32 degrees) and Bitti being too tired to ride home late at night. Parking near the venue would be cost-prohibitive. In the end I drove to North Adelaide, and we walked downhill to the entrance.

The first order of business was to find the magic tree. It was right next to the food trucks so they had set up tables and chairs beneath its eminently climb-able boughs, and had even strung lights in its branches. This did not stop all the kids from climbing the tree, and of course, being tempted to drop leaves and nuts onto the heads of the boring adults eating their lunch below.

Bitti and I spent most of the first day at this tree. Me sitting alone in a chair people-watching, her making new friends at height. She did eventually make a favourite new friend and they played for about three hours. I had a chat with her mum, who turned out to be a very interesting woman going through a career change and studying counselling. We had a quick D&M about single parenting and studying as ‘oldies’.

Bitti and I made it to the Kidszone at some point; she made a tent with sticks, rope and hessian sacks. When darkness fell we walked through a lighted tunnel and Bitti spun herself into oblivion on some light-up spinning cups. My friends had their kids roaming around too and occasionally the kids would play in the same space and I’d get to have a conversation. Somehow it was 9pm and I hauled Bitti up the hill to our car, planning our late night for Sunday.

On our second and final day in the festival I was determined to see at least one musical act! The Cat Empire was one group I had heard of, so I pencilled us in to see them at 9.30 pm on the big stage. The whole day was eaten up again with Bitti playing with her friends in the Kidzone, this time creating musical instruments in an SA Museum workshop. We ate all our packed lunches and then faced the insanely over-priced mini pizzas for dinner. Mid-afternoon we did manage to sit and enjoy the The Crooked Fiddle Band while the kids drew sketches on the program. They were super high-energy and fun.

Everyone seemed to be in a good mood so the overall festival vibe was relaxed, kind of like an enormous wedding. The weather was hot during the day and mild at night, not cool enough to add layers though. I had a few more random chats with strangers as we lined up for food or the toilets. Bitti didn’t manage to find her new friend from Saturday though. Somehow, the day went past in a blur again, and it was time to get to the main stage.

Bitti was determined to stay til the end, but her friend, C, was wearing out. Halfway through The Cat Empire’s set C fell asleep on the picnic rug, adults dancing all around her. Bitti, as is well-documented, cannot get to sleep at the best of times so certainly wasn’t about to drop off while there was a Flamenco dance being blasted at top volume. She tried to snuggle down but just couldn’t relax enough, so would get up and dance half-heartedly for a while, then back down for a rest. Just before the last number C’s mum found us and collected her so I took our chance to leave.

Bitti posing in one light installation, a kind of bamboo funnel

We walked back to the gate and Bitti was complaining already about her sore legs. She’d done 21,000 steps already so no wonder! I had a bright idea to use a ride-share scooter to get back to the car. I’ve seen people riding them around the city for a couple of years now but have never bothered downloading the app to try them. Well, why not have the first time be with a child and an enormous backpack at 11 pm?

We located a scooter just north of the zoo and Bitti wore the helmet. I got on behind her and she rested her hands on mine. I was a bit worried about keeping balance, but as soon as we were rolling it was easy as pie. I also didn’t think it would power us up the quite steep hill into North Adelaide. But it didn’t strain at all, straight up! It was so much fun, Bitti thought it was wonderful and topped her list of experiences for Sunday.

Although it was an exhausting way to spend a long weekend, I would absolutely go to WOMAD again. Bitti absolutely loved it, despite being sure she would hate it. This year was a bit special I think because we are slowly emerging from COVID times and everyone seemed to really be appreciating the experience of being allowed to gather en masse! Best behaviour everywhere. Next time I will try to get to one evening without Bitti so I can enjoy the music a bit more.

From South Bank to South Australia

Bitti and I stayed in the Riverside Hotel SouthBank for two nights before flying home. The hotel was definitely in a handy location, but the experience of staying there was … noisy. It was heavenly to sleep on a mattress again, my neck is dicky at the best of times so after 3 weeks on various camping mats it needed some recovery support. And that first shower after camping without facilities for 4 days felt divine!

We had just one full day together in town so we started with a walk around the corner to the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art. I am not much for modern art, but Bitti can amuse herself with anything so I just followed her around and said, ‘I don’t know, what do you think?’ a lot when she asked what different artworks were all about. They had some kids art activities going so she made herself a paper puppet. We had cake in the state library cafe and took a Bitti Walk back to the hotel (a ‘Bitti Walk’ is one in which she slowly proceeds from object of interest to object of interest and I follow, occasionally urging her back on track so we don’t end up circumnavigating Australia).

After a restorative rest we went back to Streets Beach, which was why I’d booked a hotel in South Bank. Although it was overcast and bordering on chilly in the wind off the river, we played ‘dogs’ in there for a couple of hours. The last swim of our trip 😦 Then it was home to pack the bags up for an early start the next day.

We took the train to the airport, which was made easy by having South Brisbane station only 600m from the hotel. I say ‘easy’, but it was a bit of a struggle getting 3 suitcases and 2 bags up the slight incline, even at 7 am I was sweating. Bitti was dragging her feet but we made it before she could activate full defiance mode. A helpful station worker showed me how to buy a ticket for the airport and helped us through the gate. On the platform, yet another worker helped us get our cases onto the train, most solicitous! Perhaps we were lucky that it was so quiet due to COVID times, but it’s going to be a 10 out of 10 for QueenslandRail.

Waiting at South Brisbane for the train to the domestic terminal

We got to the airport in plenty of time so Bitti made a beeline for the Lego shop. She had some Christmas money from her great-grandma and grandparents and ended up selecting a tiger set she’d seen in the Brick Works place. Then we settled at the gate to wait, and wait, and wait! Our flight was delayed by about 90 minute in the end due to some ‘engineering troubles’. We eventually made it back to Adelaide, where a wintery chill greeted us. This reminded me what I enjoy about Queensland so much; the consistency in temperature! All our luggage was waiting for us when we descended into the arrivals hall, even the car seat.

That reminds me! On the way up to Brisbane, when I went to collect Bitti’s car seat from oversize luggage I saw a man walking off with it. I stopped him and said, ‘Would you mind checking that you have the right seat?’. He glanced down and said, ‘Nah, this is definitely mine’, and made to walk off again. I insisted, ‘Can you please just check the ticket as it looks the same as mine’. He impatiently grabbed the luggage ticket, and sure enough is said Bitti’s name on it! He handed the seat over without a word and turned back to the oversize luggage. Out of curiosity, I watched him find his actual car seat and, lo, it was not remotely like Bitti’s, different shape, size and colour! Must be nice to move through the world so oblivious yet so confident.

Why do kids always want the toilet at the worst times? Right before boarding 💩

That last leg in the taxi is always the worst part of return travel for me. I am back in my ‘at home’ mindset, thinking about unpacking and all the admin I need to do. The house was just as we left it, and I was abundantly pleased with myself for tidying up before we went. We had just one more task to do; collect Milky Joe from Nanna’s. After unpacking the cases and starting up the washing machine on the first of seven loads, we went to retrieve him. The little bastard saw us and turned in fright as if we were perfect strangers! Thirteen years of care undone in just three weeks’ absence.

MJ gradually warmed up to us and decided he did know us after all. He even sat calmly in his cage on the way home. Due to COVID I am WFH full-time again and Bitti is spending her time in vacation care, with her grandparents, and on the iPad so I can work. We have another camping trip coming up in late January, down at Second Valley, SA. I am going to try some advanced level Tetris to get Bitti’s bike in the car as I still don’t have a roof rack. I am first committed to purchasing us some thick self-inflating mattresses, so saving up towards that.

You can see how delighted he is to be home 😂

Reflecting on our Queensland adventure, we had some excellent times and some woeful times. I think Bitti needs a little more of her own space than she was afforded by living in shared spaces. Travelling with another family is definitely a cure for our loneliness, but her personality is such that she just needs downtime (although she cannot see this yet). So in future we will get our own room at least, and schedule days when it’s just me and her. Despite some of the difficulties, I am already thinking about how we can do a driving holiday up to Queensland when she’s old enough to sit up the front with me. She’s 5 cm away from being tall enough for that. My nephew will always need visiting, and when she’s a bit older she can help me navigate and plan the route.

Bitti is keen to move to Queensland and it is a tempting proposition. But the reality is our support system is in Adelaide, I could never afford the lifestyle I have here in a more expensive real estate context, and the holiday vibe is unlikely to translate into everyday life. Now that Bitti can snorkel we can plan a Great Barrier Reef trip (before it’s bleached to buggery) and content ourselves with that.

Serenity on the homestead

I acknowledge the Wakka Wakka people, Traditional Custodians of the land on which we spent our holiday, and pay my respects to their Elders past and present.

Our final camping destination while in Queensland was Kenilworth Homestead. After our pit stop back in town we felt prepared to tackle four more days of unpowered camping life. We repacked the cars and headed back up the highway, I was starting to feel like a Brisbane local, finding my way to shops and onto the Bruce Highway without the GPS.

Kenilworth is a small town in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, and the homestead turned out to be only 3 minutes’ drive from the town centre. Bitti and I stopped on the deserted main drag first to pick up bread and counted a small supermarket, bottle-o, cafe, bakery, chemist and servo. All except the bottle-o and servo closed, it being 2.30 pm. We met up with R and found a nice little spot to set up our tents under the shade of a band of tall trees, a short walk from the ‘Turtle Swimming Hole’ on the Mary River.

The next 4 days were idyllic. The weather could not have been better; a light breeze in the mornings and evenings to cool us down, and a hot sun in clear skies during the day. At night every campsite had a fire going, and the first night we were unprepared for this (coming from SA where fires in summer are a big no-no), but the kids went over to the next campsite and asked to ‘borrow’ some firewood. Well, we should have asked the kids to beg for us earlier, they came back with half a bag of firewood! We had a bit of trouble getting it going without kindling, but ‘The Diesel Man’ came past in a golf cart just after dark and lit it right up for us! He acted like he worked at the homestead, but we still aren’t really sure?

All four kids disappeared into the copse nearby to set up a ‘secret hideout’ and left R and I free to chat and relax! Amazing. There was also a perfect climbing tree right above our tents so Bitti and C spent much of their time lounging up there like cheetahs surveying the Savannah.

Our swimming spot on the river was quite shallow on one side, becoming deeper with a swift current in the middle, so we spent a lot of time calling the kids back to bank. They really do have a death wish. Bitti and I swam out to a half-submerged fallen tree, whose roots provided an excellent climbing challenge. Many of the ‘big’ kids were jumping off it into the deeper water, but Bitti had learnt her drowning lesson at Sandstone. She has fortunately also absorbed my stories about not jumping into murky water and was tut-tutting at the kids jumping in. We only wanted for proper tyre inner tubes so we could float downstream; I dimly recalled my pre-kid travel days when I spent a day floating down a river in the Guatemalan mountains, drinking beer and waving at local kids on the bank. No such peace on this trip!

We headed into Kenilworth at lunch on the second day and found quite a different place! The bakery was packed, with a line down the street waiting for doughnuts. It turned out the bakery is a 98-year-old heritage listed affair whose offerings are famous in the region. It is also home to the ‘1kg donut challenge’, which sounded sickening to me, but appealing to Bitti. She just managed to select from the 20 or so varieties of doughnut on offer and we headed to the shady town playground to eat.

Pink sprinkle and mint slice doughnuts from Kenilworth Country Bakery

There were a LOT of dogs in the park and Bitti had to pat them all—this has become something of a tradition for her nowadays; she has to stop to pat every dog she sees. Although ‘stop to pat’ can also mean, ‘chase down the street shouting, “can I pat your dog?”‘. The best dog so far has been a very friendly and fat border collie we met at a Lego haven.

The Brick Zone in Maleny, a cute and touristic hinterland town about 45-minutes from Kenilworth along a windy, scenic mountain road. Although they were closed, Richard, the owner of The Brick Zone said we could come and show the kids his collection. Well, it was the hit of the trip for Bitti. He had thousands of sets displayed, including an Eiffel Tower, Colosseum, Taj Mahal, then vast collections of Star Wars, Harry Potter and LoTR Lego, ranging from original era to present day sets. It certainly gave Bitti some ideas about what she could build next! Richard gave us a personal tour through the collection and was pretty pleased about the enthusiasm Bitti was showing for LoTR.

Checking out some of the world landmarks made of LEGO

It was with great reluctance that we packed up the campsite on our last morning. It had been a wonderful spot and I would definitely return. We decided to try for a beach swim at Noosa again on the way home. This time I found a good park near Hastings St and we hit the surf at around lunchtime. Bitti absolutely loved the ‘big’ waves and she kept inching further and further out to sea. The kids played for about 90 minutes until it was time to get back to the cars before the parking inspector did.

Swimming between the flags at Noosa Main Beach

Bitti and I drove back to Brisbane on a high, but ready to sleep on a real mattress and have a badly needed shower. Bitti and I collected all our gear from R’s sister’s house and bid everyone farewell, we would be staying in a hotel in South Bank for the last 2 nights of our trip.

First time in Second Valley

Having just recovered from our Queensland holiday, on Saturday Bitti and I headed off for a final summer holiday camp with R and her friends. Our destination this time was Second Valley on the Fleurieu Peninsula. I had not visited this spot before, but I have previously camped nearby in Deep Creek, and visited Cape Jervis, where you can catch a ferry to Kangaroo Island.

I did not look at the weather forecast in the lead up, which turned out to be a mistake. Still in my sunny Queensland mind-set, I was prepping for four days of fine, hot weather, packing shorts and t-shirts, copious sun cream and icing the esky fastidiously. Instead, we got 108 mm of rain over a 24-hour period. This meant nothing to the kids, all of whom threw themselves fully clothed into the sandpit almost immediately after arrival. R and I set up camp, hastily pegging out the tent in the rain and devising ways to keep the kids from changing into dry clothes every 60 minutes.

Second Valley caravan park is small and rough. We had a powered site near the entrance, an ill-advised choice. Although it was convenient to the toilet block and camp kitchen, it turned out we were also on the route of the morning bin run, which meant an extremely rattly trailer being repeatedly towed past our heads at 8 am as the cleaner did their job. I am not sure why the bins needed emptying at such an hour? Either way, this was only an annoyance to those who could successfully sleep through the 7 am ‘birdsong’ (more accurately, avian aural assault). So, if you’re after a bit of rest, not the best place for it unless you’re a very deep sleeper.

On the plus side, the kids enjoyed the sand pit and the treasure hunt game. Sunday was a complete washout though and I ended up taking Bitti on a drive to Victor Harbor to break up the monotony. It bucketed so hard on the winding road that I slowed to 40 km/h in places as I could not see the road ahead. When we arrived in Victor I parked the car but she didn’t want to get out. So I locked the doors, put my seat back and had a nap. She was listening to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince while drawing on her Etch-A-Sketch. 90 minutes later she was ready to get out of the car, and I’d had my rest! Based on a desperate text from R we hit the Browse in N Save for plastic ponchos and then the grog shop for medicinal tonic.

We went to bed on Saturday hoping that the forecast for less rain on Sunday would be accurate. Thankfully, it was! Sunday morning was a little drizzly but by about 9 am we were ready to venture out. It was still overcast, but that meant the beach was almost entirely empty. Bitti and I were able to explore the rocky beach-front in peace. It is a truly impressive coastline. I’m no rock expert, but all around the small sandy cove you can see vast rocks jutting up with lines of sediment telling the geological history of the area.

After a pitstop back at camp the whole group decided to head down for swimming. The kids enjoyed mucking around in the water for a while. But then the rest of the group decided to go fishing. This made Bitti really upset as she hates to hear about any animal being hurt or killed. We are working on her ability to tolerate others doing what they do, while she can live according to her own values, but for now she still gets really affected by it. So it took me a while to get her to move on from the thought of fish and crabs being caught.

I eventually got Bitti into the water for some snorkelling while the group was gone to ‘murder animals’. She zoomed around and spotted quite a few (living) fish, including one hiding under the sand. While she was looking for jellyfish I noticed dolphins about 100m offshore. Bitti came to look and saw two of them playing in the water, coming to within 50m of us. Unfortunately some idiots in kayaks decided to paddle out to the dolphins, which caused them to swim further out to sea so most of us couldn’t see them well. I had thought there was a law here against approaching marine life, but maybe that’s just whales?

It was a great way to end our trip, with Bitti excited to do more snorkelling and thrilled at seeing dolphins after our dolphin river kayaking trip yielded zero sightings last year. On Monday morning I packed up the tent in record time, ready to get home and prepare for school to go back. I’d had more than enough sleeping rough over the summer holidays. I still plan to invest in a better mattress, but that could be a while off as other expenses take priority. We will definitely go back to Second Valley for the snorkelling though, it is a beautiful and geologically impressive spot.

Farewell to Port Vincent

I found this draft post that I never got around to uploading. Better late than never! It’s about our trip to Pt Vincent this time last year (2021).

The last full day of our little weekend away was hotter and sweatier than Satan’s armpit. I am not sure we reached the forecast 41 degrees, but the humidity certainly made up for it. The morning began overcast, which gave us a cooler beginning. But at about 10 am things started to get serious with the muggy atmosphere and direct sun adding up to grumpy kids and adults. Thankfully, the adults had the foresight to book lunch at the pub, so the morning was spent watching the clock for noon when we could walk into wind-protected, air-conditioned heaven. Shortly before 12 the predicted northerlies arrived, blasting the tents and shade cloth, and sand papering a few layers off the skin off all of us. The march down to the pub with the kids was almost comical as hats went flying, umbrellas threatened to turn inside out and all the little ones refused to walk in the fierce wind, preferring to be carried.

We met Grandpa at work! He was delivering fuel to Minlaton, near to Pt Vincent, so we drove to meet him. He is now retired so it was a last chance to see him in the truck.

The pub lunch was lovely, although I did balk at paying $6.50 for a lemon, lime and bitters. WTF! If the prices hadn’t been so ridiculous we probably would have stayed for another round of beverages. But the kids were starting to become feral, wrestling on the floor and being too loud. It is very difficult to keep eight kids quiet at the best of times. It was to face the afternoon.

The idea of being out on the sand in such conditions did not appeal to me at all. I needed a nap. So, in a ploy to enjoy some more air conditioned time I suggested to Bitti that we drive down to the Edithburgh tidal pools. Being on the eastern side of the peninsula, hopefully it would be in shade sooner than the beach. She agreed after a bit of haggling about how long the drive would be (still dislikes travelling in the car).

We started up the car and headed down the road, listening to Stephen Fry’s rendering of Harry Potter (Bitti says it’s not as quite good as mine, but good on him for trying). The tidal pool looked appealing and wasn’t too packed. The sea water felt initially too chilly, but we got used to it. After a while our friends ended up joining us and I became the subject of abuse from a group of ‘jellyfish’ who chased me around the pool and took every chance to sting me. I managed to extricate myself from that game after a while when more of our friends joined us and all eight kids were back in the water with some inflatables and boogie boards to keep them amused.

Bitti was very keen to swim out in the big water, looking enviously at the teenagers sitting on a pontoon moored 30 metres from the tidal pool. Other small kids were out there, with floaties and adult supervision, so she felt it was unfair of me to ban it. But we had no floaties and I am not a strong swimmer. Bitti would drown me in a flash out in the waves. She is now capable of a dog paddle, but it’s not a very efficient stroke.

There were the usual quarrels between the kids, who gets to use the floatie, and in which way. Some nerves were frayed by the heat and lack of sleep but overall the kids all got along quite well. After a short break to re-apply sun cream Bitti was allowed back in, swimming until 5 pm when I lured her out with a promise of ice cream.

Mucking around at the cafe before we went home

After brekkie at a local cafe, right before we were about to leave we headed down to the beach front to get a photo with all the kids. They were all leaning against the railing looking over at wharf when Bitti’s hat took flight, landing in the water far below. She immediately came over to hide her face in my leg, upset. I was saying ‘oh well, farewell hat’ when a kind man who was in the water below swam all the way over to collect the hat! He threw it up and I just managed to catch it up the very edge of the brim. Saved! A happy end to the trip.

When things go awry and nothing is dry

Just before New Year’s we headed off to Habitat Noosa for 2 nights of camping on Lake Cootharaba. Just before we hopped in the car Bitti realised she had misplaced her ‘eagle eggs’ (marbles they’d got out of the xmas crackers) and a quick emu bob did not reveal them. She was devastated they were lost and cried for most of the 2.5 hour journey to camp. So that was fun.

Based on the photos of Habitat Noosa, we had expected too much sun, days spent swimming, stand-up paddling boarding and four extremely tried children who would go to bed early. Ha! Right from the start we knew it would go differently as we pulled in under a grey sky and observed other campers’ gazebos bending under the strong wind that had come up.

Play area next to our tent, with Bitti telling R all about bugs, no doubt

The kids hopped out and disappeared in four different directions, despite the poor weather it was still a beautiful setting amongst huge trees. We set up our tents and gazebo, making sure to use every available guide rope and peg! R and I were starting to get in a good rhythm, so set-up was quicker than at Sandstone. Although the website had said they were booked out, there were empty sites on all but one side. Directly behind were two couples with kids the same age as ours so they all struck up a friendship and began playing various games involving a lot of bellowing.

R and I started up dinner and sat down for 20 minutes of repose with a cider.

The next day was New Year’s Eve and it was rainy. Bitti and I went out for a bushwalk with our neighbours. Turned out they were locals who often came camping at that spot. They regaled us with tales of how they usually spend their time at HN: parked in the shallows under the gazebo in the lake while the kids swam all day. So this year was a little different for everyone. But the short walk we did was restorative for Bitti, who had found a new friend her age with a similar imagination. In fine weather you could kayak up the Noosa river to kill a day, in miserable weather it was card games under the gazebo.

We had booked a late lunch at the on-site overpriced bistro as a treat to ourselves, hoping that the kids would let us enjoy a beverage or two. There is a fenced grassed area next to the outdoor dining so when it started to rain the kids went out there and engaged themselves in becoming muddied urchins, providing us with 45 minutes of peace in which to enjoy passionfruit and gingerbeer cocktails. After a couple of those we could almost pretend we didn’t have any kids. But, eventually and we were forced to admit ownership and drag them out at 4 pm when our session time was up.

A moment of respite with a cocktail, NYE

Somehow we made it to evening, the rain and wind was making everyone edgy. R had brought glo-sticks so that gave an hour of entertainment. The little kids dropped off at about 8 pm, but the two eldest made it to 11 pm before we put them to bed. Happy New Year!

The first action of 2022 was to pack the camp up. Everything was dirty and sodden. One of the kids, having not been satisfied with hammering a glass bottle the previous day, hammered her sister’s toes. After 2 weeks sleeping on camping mattresses my back was protesting loudly so I was moving about like an 80-year-old, trying to keep it from seizing completely. Even though the day was cool, it still somehow managed to also be muggy. So it was literally blood, sweat and tears getting the kids arranged and psychologically prepared to tackle the next leg of our journey.

We headed to Noosa Heads Main Beach for a swim, trying to persist with our plans despite feeling a little disheartened. I drove around Noosa Heads for 45 minutes (and many swears) trying to find a park before giving up and parking in a random suburb and walking in with a moaning Bitti. R had found a park right on Hastings St.

As we finished our beach swim the heavens opened and a torrential downpour began. Bitti and I walked in it all the way back to car. My bag had my phone and camera in it, so we were worried about them as the water gradually soaked all our belongings. When we finally made it to the car we had to line our seats with 2 fresh towels each to keep the dripping to a minimum.

We were supposed to go directly to Kenilworth Homestead from there, but R and I were beat. Our gear was soaked and the idea of trying to set it all up, not knowing when the sun might come out to dry it, did not appeal. So when R suggested we head back into Brisbane to spend a night under a roof and regroup, I jumped on it. We turned south and headed home with our tail between our legs.

Ho, ho, hot mess

At the time I dutifully had my second COVID test done, 5 days after arriving in Queensland, I thought you had to isolate until the results come in. So on Christmas Eve we returned from Sandstone and braced ourselves to skip the family celebration, having not yet received our results. Bitti was pretty devo as she’d been hearing a LOT about the Filipino Christmas Eve, including that Santa visits at midnight and everyone stays up all night. But I stumbled across a post on social media that suggested we didn’t need to isolate after all. After combing the Qld health website for the 50th time, I finally found a short sentence confirming this! So, we rallied at about 8 pm and got to join in on the family Christmas dinner.

Bitti and I mucking around at the local park

We had a fabulous time celebrating with R’s family. The table was laden with food, the house was decorated in full and everyone was ready for a good time. Come midnight, Bitti was extremely lucky to get a present from the family, including a little pirate toy she adored, and some new knickers she desperately needed. Her favourite part proceedings was when the gingerbread house was brought out down for the kids to smash with a rolling pin. Bitti really got into it, smashing the heck of it until pieces were lying all over the place. The kids dived in and grabbed the lollies that had been bashed off the demolished roof. Although the other kids showed little sign of slowing, I knew I had to get Bitti off to bed or I would PAY the next day, so dragged her into the car at about 1.30 am.

The impressively sound gingerbread house that Bitti smashed to smithereens

The next day we did not sleep late as Bitti is incapable of such a feat. We passed the morning chilling out in our little room, me watching Christmas movies, Bitti playing Roblox. In mid-afternoon we went to Christmas lunch with my brother and sister-in-law in Zillmere.

M and F had put together a beautiful lunch spread with salads and a vegetarian lasagne, and home-made Christmas crackers. Ev was given a slack-line! She can keep refining her excellent balance with that. Bitti’s cousin was excited to see us but took a little while to warm up. He has been a COVID baby and isn’t much used to interacting with ‘big’ kids like Bitti, who I think he found quite boisterous. It was a quiet but lovely Christmas.

Wearing our handmade Christmas cracker crowns

Over the next few days in Brisbane we did a few day trips and odd jobs. Bitti and her friend C had a step-counting competition with C’s new Fitbit and my Garmin, which I lent to Bitti. I took the girls to see Spiderman: No Way Home. Most of it was over their heads but they enjoyed the stunts a lot. And Bitti learned what a ‘spoiler’ was a day later when she saw a spiderman character on the TV at home and announced a huge plot reveal to the entire family, most of whom had not yet seen the latest film. Whoops!

R and I did a bit of shopping, but my previous year of trying not to buy anything has rubbed off so hard that I couldn’t get inspired to part with any cash. We visited Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary with my family and Bitti had a wonderful time chasing water dragons, patting kangaroos and dingoes, and held a koala. The last activity was a visit with the two eldest girls to a ‘Harry Potter’ playground in Griffin. They had a long, lazy morning there blasting who-knows-what out of the sky with their wands and I went on several hundred laps of the park to try and get a walk in.

Our next camp was going to be at Habitat Noosa, on Lake Cootharaba. An unpowered site awaited us, and we were a little worried about being too hot. The lake offered SUP and bike rental and a selection of hiking trails (not that the kids would ever agree to step upon them). R spent a few hours planning and packing the esky with such precision that it could have lasted us until the end of a trip to Mars, let alone 7 days camping. After a car re-shuffle we set off, ready for our next adventure!

The Sunshine State

Bitti and I have settled into our life in sunny Queensland. I am quite comfy in the humid weather. In Adelaide there is a lot of sartorial whiplash as the thermometer plunges from 35 to 19 and back again within the week, here you can rely upon being warm everyday (although whether you will stay dry is another consideration). Surprisingly, Bitti hasn’t been as bothered by the heat as I thought she would be. Although there were a couple of hours each day when camping that it went too far for her.

After navigating an extremely rude Jetstar staff member at check-in, our flight up to Brisbane went smoothly and R picked us up from the airport. We were taken to her sister’s house in Fitzgibbon where we stayed the first night, all camped on the lounge-room floor. Bitti absolutely lost her mind with all the excitement and novelty, I had to physically hold her down still to make her go to sleep.

Bitti is one of ‘those’ people who waits right at the mouth of the baggage carousel

R has 3 kids, aged between 8 and 4, they are gorgeous and super energetic and fall asleep like normal small people after a hard day of antics. Bitti will not ever sleep unless all stimulation has been removed. She needs one of those sensory deprivation chambers for a bedroom. On the second night we moved to R’s nephew’s house in Chermside were we had our own room and that went more smoothly!

On Sunday morning Bitti and I ventured into South Bank on the train. I always like to take public transport in a new city, it’s such an adventure working out the lay of the land. I met up with an old friend and his family at Streets Beach, a man-made beach, and Bitti basically disappeared for two hours. After my friends left I found her at the top of a little riverbed having the time of her life pretending to be a tadpole. We had to get back to R’s place to leave for our camping trip but to lure Bitti out of the water I had to promise we would return to South Bank at the end of our holiday.

R had packed the two cars up that we were taking camping, just leaving the esky to be filled before we took off. Our destination was Sandstone Big4 Holiday Resort, an extra fancy caravan park. It was an hour’s drive and really easy to find located just before the bridge to Bribie Island. Our first night coincided with a concert next door where Missy Higgins and Paul Kelly were performing, whose songs we could hear drifting across as we set up the tents. There were several empty sites near us, but quite a number of extremely well-appointed caravans and RVs on the other side of the park.

R’s sister lent me her self-inflating mattresses to try for this leg of the trip. They were such an improvement on the air mattress I typically use. I think I will need to invest in a couple for me and Bitti.

R and I got wristbands to access the games room, gym and kids room. The pool area was perfectly set up with a large pool with shallow and deep end, that trickled over a ledge into a baby pool, then a water park with FIVE water slides, including one that was dark with disco lights! The pool cabanas had tables with QR codes attached, if you scanned them you could order from the menu and have food and cocktails brought out to you. We only needed all the kids to be slightly older, or more water-wise. We couldn’t quite relax as two of them couldn’t swim enough to be trusted. Nor could they be trusted not to venture into the deep end. The over-confidence was baffling.

The very first night, after setting up our tents, we headed to the pool area as the sun set to check it all out. The kids went straight in, of course. While they were swimming the announcement came that the pool area was closing at 7.30 pm sharp, so please GET OUT. I called Bitti to come to the edge and she decided to follow her friend across the deep end. Halfway across she started getting into trouble, spending more time underwater than above, after asking her if she was ok and her not responding, I took my shoes off and jumped in fully clothed for a short Bondi Rescue segment. That little incident took the confidence out of Bitti for the rest of the week as she realised how easy it can be to drown. From her point of view I had taken ‘ages’ to reach her and she had started to think she would die. Water safety peeps!

Keeping a watchful eye on the rugrats from the shade

The kids wandered the campsite freely, meeting up with other kids, creating games, finding insects and mucking around. There was a jumping pillow and playground, but it was really too hot for either. It took me a few days to get used to not having daylight savings. By the time we had fed them dinner it was already dark and the play areas were closed. It was refreshing to not have to wrestle the kids into tents while it was still light, but I could have done without the 4.45 am wake up calls from both the birds and Bitti!

Our 5 days at Sandstone really passed by in a daze. Long days by the pool, trying in vain to administer enough sun cream for my white child not to burn. I managed to go for a run twice in the early morning. Although I started at around 7 am it was hot as heck in the muggy weather. Bitti managed to navigate the dynamics of the 3 siblings although she was perplexed by events at times. They fight a lot but are still each others’ best friends, which she struggles to accept. She is more likely to hold a grudge about a fight than to just dismiss it. I think she will end this trip with at least gratitude that she is an only child.

Running on Bribie Island: a sweaty affair

R and I had precious little relaxation time, not that we had really expected much of it. I did get a day to myself up at the tent after I had my 5-day COVID test, awaiting results. But it wasn’t ideal to be stuck at the hot, stuffy tent while everyone else splashed in the pool. We later figured out that I actually didn’t need to isolate while awaiting my domestic travel test result! Before we knew it the first week of our trip was complete and we were packing down the tents and driving back for our first Filipino Christmas Eve at R’s sister’s house.

A Christmas holiday in the post-COVID world

Dare we consider using the term ‘post-COVID’ to describe 2022? Clearly the virus will be a prominent news item, but its impacts upon life finally seem likely to diminish. As a parting shot, our THIRD attempt at a trip to New Zealand has been thwarted by the long island’s strict international travel rules, which will persist until May 2022. Immensely disappointing, we are now looking at mid- to late-2022 before we can set foot in Hobbiton. I now have so much flight credit we could do a round-the-world trip (but in, like, 2027 to be safe).

My friend and I were reflecting on our trip to Sydney in June and what lucky bitches we were to get away with it! Our trip was on the very same weekend that some COVID-y BBQ-loving New South Welshman visited every shop known to stock a grill. From that point NSW descended into its peculiar lockdown-that-wasn’t-really, Victoria went straight back under the doona and New Zealand hastily popped the travel bubble. Yes, delighted that we saw Hamilton when we did!

So being the sucker for punishment that I am I thought for Christmas, why not try another sneaky interstate trip? Another friend of mine is from Brisbane and, having recently quit her job, decided to take her kids up there to stay with family for the whole summer holiday. I already had flights booked for a weekend in Brisbane to meet my nephew in early December and when she heard this she urged me to make it a longer trip and ‘come to the resort’ with her. I didn’t need to be asked twice!

Having been made a permanent employee in July I can now use my rec leave without worrying, so I booked two weeks off in addition to the week we all get as a shutdown between Christmas and new year. That gives us 3 weeks in sunny Queensland, two of those camping and one in Brisbane.

Of course it’s not a holiday these days without some border anxiety. Queensland declared South Australia a hotspot two weeks ago, effectively preventing us from entering. But, their rules would change when they hit the 80% double vaxxed rate. The vax rate was sitting at 77.7% so I thought we would be ok by mid-December, and we are! All welcome from today, 13 Dec.

All we have to do is apply for a border pass, be double vaxxed, have a negative COVID test within 72 hours of flight and get a second COVID test on day 5 after arrival and quarantine until we get the result … ok it’s a lot. Happily, I live near a testing centre so we will drive through on Tuesday night and have our noses assaulted. Bitti is not old enough to have a vaccine so she will wear a mask from the moment we get in the Uber until we leave Brisbane airport. Getting her to stop touching objects and surfaces in public spaces will be the bigger issue. I never really noticed how much she fondles things until COVID hit. Cannot wait until she is vaccinated!

One thing I hadn’t thought about re being away at Christmas is that you still do all the crazy seasonal catch-ups, you just have to fit it all in before you go. Not to mention doing the present shopping early enough that it can be distributed before you go. A few people will be waiting until January for their gifts as I ran out of puff last week. Now my entire focus is on packing for the trip. We have one ‘present suitcase’ full of things for my nephew and the family we are travelling with. Not to mention Bitti! Another suitcase is full of sun dresses, bathers and towels. The last is full of sun cream.

I’m determined to leave the house clean so when we come home it will feel lovely. But realistically, that will not happen. If we can get off to the airport without any major hiccups I’ll be quite self-satisfied. So now I am off to try to communicate to the cat how important it is for his health and future prosperity that he shits IN HIS BOX while visiting with nanna.

Hamilton the Musical (and Sydney)

Way back in the dim dark ages of COVID-19 lockdown: 2020, I bought two tickets to Hamilton the Musical. I did it pretty much in defiance of the universe because at that point it seemed the pandemic would last forever. And I was not wrong, it definitely isn’t over, but we have had periods of being able to travel freely in 2021. One of those periods happened to overlap with the June 2021 long weekend and I went in a plane! To Sydney! With my friend!

It was way more thrilling than it should have been to rock up at Adelaide airport, carry-on luggage in one hand, mask in the other. Aw, the check-in counters, remember them! Ah, security line, good old 1km of zig zagging tape. M and I headed straight for the bar and toasted our freedom with a glass of sparkling white. Having not had to wear masks in SA for a long time, it was a bit of an adjustment to suddenly wear one in the terminal and on the plane. I kept forgetting people couldn’t see my smile, the eyebrows suddenly need to work double time for non-verbal communication.

We took the train to Town Hall in Sydney, walked down a couple of streets to the Crowne Plaza in Darling Harbour. From this base, we explored Darling Harbour on Friday night and M enjoyed a waterfront lobster. We went to bed early and slept 12 hours. Clearly we both needed a rest!

Winter festival of some kind in Darling Harbour

On Saturday, after dropping by the NSW Art Gallery and realising we should have booked to see Archibald Prize, we caught the ferry from Circular Quay to Watsons Bay. Not much sexier than Sydney Harbour when the sun is shining. We were starved when we arrived Watsons Bay but the waterfront restaurant was packed to the gills so we walked up to the road and ordered a late lunch from an empty cafe. Not sure what the game was, but we waited easily 45 minutes for a simple wrap and tacos. No one else there. Blood sugars were so low that we had thoroughly slandered Sydney and its service offering by the time the food finally arrived. Luckily, it was excellent, which was the only way anyone avoided a slapping.

Then we hopped a bus to Bondi, another recommendation of my FB group. Unfortunately Bondi was a bit of a bust. It was cold and windy, the foreshore was covered in building works, and there wasn’t anywhere appealing to sit and enjoy a beverage. So we passed straight through, going to Bondi junction train station. For a moment we considered going into the Westfield, and thankfully we didn’t! A few days after we returned to Adelaide a COVID-19 case was identified and he’d been to a few shops in that very place. This kicked off the current Sydney lockdown, still in place six weeks later.

Sunday was Hamilton Day! We had brunch at a lovely cafe in Pyrmont. I got bailed up by an old gentleman who thought he’d gift me with his secret to becoming a millionaire, and how to take a photo (sir, please). M did nothing to save me from him, so the friendship is now under review.

Stack of pancakes cocered in syrup, with blueberries, walnuts and a crumble serves with ice cream — Obligatory brunch photo

I’d been told that the Black bar was a good place for a pre-show drink, but it turned out the place didn’t open until 12 when we were supposed to head in and be seated at 12.20. So, the Hamilton-themed cocktails didn’t happen. Instead we sat in a food court and drank Chandon, surrounded by screaming kids and people eating plates piled alarmingly high with shiny buffet Chinese food.

The venue for Hamilton is the Sydney Lyric theatre. We were in the first row of the grand circle, up the tippity top of many flights of stairs. M had never heard of Hamilton when she agreed to come with me, and hadn’t done any research so I was a bit nervous about her reaction. What if she hated it? Well, I needn’t have worried. After what felt like hours of nervous anticipation, not helped by an unexplained delay to curtain time, the opening beats thumped out and it was away.

The Australian cast, to my untrained ears, did a fabulous job. I was in tears for the first three songs, just so happy for them. And then we were all in tears later owing to certain plot points that I won’t give away (but it’s a ~250-year-old story so we know they’re all dead). You can watch the original cast recording on Disney+. Lin Manuel, as he would admit himself, is the least strong singer out of the original cast, so hearing Australia’s Jason Arrow in the titular role was wonderful, he brought Alexander to life. I was most impressed with Lyndon Watts as Aaron Burr, who brought a whole new interpretation to Burr’s character. A bit more peevish, and funny. Jonathon Groff’s King George was always going to be hard to follow, but Brent Hill managed to make it his own and still hilarious.

M was delighted with it, not knowing what it was all about worked in her favour as she was blown away by the songs, feeling and comedy of it all. Makes me think we just need artists to write musicals for all historical events and personalities. Never known more about US history as I’ve been looking up all the ‘founding fathers’ and learning what they did after the story ends.

On Monday we went back to the art gallery first thing and got in to see the Archibald candidates. I’m no art critic, but I occasionally I see something I like. We stopped in the gallery gift shop to get presents for the kids, some oil pastels to add to Bitti’s burgeoning art materials inventory. We flew home in the afternoon, feeling like we’d had a good break from the non-stop pace of the working parent routine, a moment in the eye of the hurricane …