Traveling with family is challenging at best but as usual, I take travel to a new level. Question for you- can you call a trip, "a trip of a lifetime" if you've already been there once before but it's a new location? Well I had the chance to find out. Back I went to Australia to see daughter, new hubbie and the twin 11/2 year old grandbabies in Melbourne then Tasmania.
At 22 hours of flying I realized I only had 15 and a half more when you skip a day. I did watch a lot of movies Jurassic world, Mamma Mia, Tag, The Game Plan, I Feel Pretty, The Greatest Showman on Earth. That's way too many movies which means the flight was waaaay too long but still shorter than ever in history.
We did discover something interesting on this plane. The windows are made to turn dark unless you actively press a button to show that it's daytime outside, and then it fades back again- stunning technology and it works great when you set your watch to your destination and it's night time there.
Even with the new routes direct to Melbourne, it's still a very long way. Had a happy moment at the airport when I returned my cart to find a large forgotten bottle of $100+ 12 year old single malt scotch, in another cart and while I detest scotch, the others were quite tickled. I arrived jet-lagged, barely coherent, and falling asleep as everyone spoke to me until they kicked me off to bed in the evening when the babies went at 7 p.m. Next day we were back on a plane with bambinos, just the four of us, to go to Tasmania and drive around to see the sights. I'm not even going to discuss the plane ride. This story warrants its own write up at another date. All I will say is OMG and never again!!
Our first stop were the Warm Springs. Unfortunately it was a chilly day and the Warm Springs consisted of a homemade pond luke cold soup covered in scum. When you cleared the top the water was a polar opposite from being Warm Springs . 
Disappointing, but then we went to Cradle Mountain. You take a shuttle bus to the top and make your way down after doing the trails. It was a cold drizzly day and the babies wanted to walk- that was our first mistake. One caught a cold that day which impacted the entire trip. 
We stopped along the way to sightsee murals in Sheffield, consignment shop toys for pennies and were surprised when an older man stopped the stroller to speak to my daughter in the grocery store and give palm readings to the babies. They were mesmerized and that was kind of fun especially since he was pretty dead on with a message.
Then we drove to our final destination of the day, a wonderful Airbnb called Ladybird, run by a lovely gentleman. He makes his own bread which nobody has ever done at an Airbnb I have ever stayed at. He's a gentleman farmer but I did warn him I stole the last of the bread for our trip even though I knew he would eat it. It was just too good.
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| A mom and baby wallaby that only I saw |
He lives on a spread of wilderness where wallabys roam freely and the sounds of the wild life can't help but make you want to jump out of bed in the morning. He had a man cave, a workshop to rival Tim the Tool Man. I can't even imagine how much work I could get done there. The log cabin was really cold because we turned off the extremely efficient pellet stove but oh my god I slept like a dream and the sounds of the outdoor world were beckoning me. I could hear the wild birds starting their day and all I could imagine were acres and acres of wild animals which of course did not transpire.
Sleep was almost of the dead. As I shared a bed with my daughter we were like chicken rotisserie relatives; when she would roll over I would roll over, when she rolled back I would roll back. And the most wonderful way to wake up at O dark hundred is with a little cherub looking at you waiting to be hugged but this Airbnb fairy tale property with a pool and wild wallaby with baby is the next best thing. Like the many visitors to come to my house who say they've always wanted to own a bed and breakfast, I do feel the same way about Ladybird. It's property like this that just feeds a soul. Rob did say we could stay as late as we wanted the next day but we got an early start; we had a long day ahead of us.
I was lucky this time around in Australia. I did not have to drive. What is a strange experience this time round because I had my NASCAR driving daughter at the wheel (stop rolling your eyes or they will freeze like that) doing the breakneck turns on the cliffs in the middle of nowhere. We saw tons a local wildlife including echnids and wombats and kangaroos and I wouldn't be a bit surprised if while I slept some of them were accidental casualties of my daughter but again, I'm eternally grateful that I didn't have to drive on the wrong side of the road. That really messes with you when you come home.
We did a brief stop at Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm only to find out it wasn't very Christmassy or a working-raspberry-picking-
Along the way we stopped off at a a ginseng and salmon farm which seem like an unlikely combination. Tried to get the kids to feed the scary thrashing fish or even touch the calm fish and that did not go over well. Tried to walk to the waterfalls and you would have seen baby, face planted on the ground in tantrum mode. We had bought a bag of pellets that really stunk and every time the kids would throw it it would end up right at their feet and the geese would come attack them to eat the food. I think I still went back to Canada with some of that sewage smelly seafood in all my pockets. 
Continued along the isolated Highway with little traffic lots of gravel and white ghostly trees as far as the eye could see. At one point near the top of the mountain mist covered everywhere and it was almost impossible to see, potholes so deep you could hide a child inside them, but I wouldn't.
We arrived at the next bed and breakfast in the capital, the beautiful hilly Hobart. It was another glorious rental of a whole house and our backyard was like The Butchart Gardens in Victoria. Everything was carefully constructed to be quirky, I took so many pictures. I now plan to find broken old wicker chair and replace the seat with flowers that will go through the top part of the Wicker- it was beautiful but I guess you had to be there. Another early night with both of us passed out on the couch Pizza hanging from our mouths but barely eaten. We were exhausted and even the mocking of the owner did not deter me from catching up on my jet lag.
On the Saturday we went to the Salamanca markets and shop till we dropped, introducing huge sheets of fruit rollups that they babies loved. It's not a great place to take a double stroller when it's wall-to-wall people but I think the best part of my trip was going to the adjacent city park and letting the kids run wild. There was Scottish band practicing in the park and everyone in kilts and bagpipes. The children were mesmerized and walked right up to the group and just stood there and listened and danced. I noticed people were taking pictures of the band but even more of the two cute little kids.
We went looking for a winery it was closed and we got lost in the countryside farms with countless sheep and cattle, and ended up finding the same Winery on the other side of the mountain and it was open and bought some.
Also stopped at a cider place with our final destination Randall's Bay Cliffs- an air B&B on the cliff overlooking the beach and very picture worthy. We spent many hours that night competing with who could take the better pictures of the sunset and the cave with the bear maybe inside- she's so gullible but we didn't hang around too long to find out. I did attempt to drink wine the first night and got two sips in and passed out from exhaustion; the second night, another two sips but I gave up after that. Either the wine in Tasmania is super strong or I was super tired.
We had been sharing beds every night but at this location it was a huge place and I got my own room and she took both babies in her room. Sweet!
Off a short detour to buy a platter of oysters for my weird daughter who eats those slimy things. She was drooling thinking about eating them on the beach alone. Off to the Kunst pods near the beach. Unfortunately this main floor Airbnb had an upper floor separate apartment where they could depart from the second floor with one of two slides. Of course the babies wanted to go up to slides and that created many problems. We hung out at the beach and while Renee loves the beach, sister Mickey, not so much. This was to be our place to see the Southern Lights Australis Borealis. We did not see them but we were blessed with the biggest sky of nearby stars I've ever seen. You could almost reach up and touch them. Daughter was able to set her phone for the first time to take pictures of stars and it worked.
We had a gorgeous one hour drive from the pods to the St Helen's Motel unit as there was nothing else available. It reminded me of California with beautiful beaches. It's funny. I kind of forgot we were driving around an island where most of the water was blue green and the sands, so white. We had lunch at a Lobster Shack then checked in and the elderly gentleman was nice enough to have given us two beds in the room but we would have to pay for the second bed and also keep the children off of it if we didn't, is he kidding me? I told him no way and we couldn't switch so he relented gave us a blanket to put on top so they wouldn't wreck it and promise not to charge us. I guess I should check my invoice. Lucky for us, there was an adjacent alpaca pen right beside the motel complex so we saw lots of them. 
On the way to the airport, we stopped in the park called Bay of Fires with rusty looking rocks on a beautiful beach.
So we headed off to the airport to go back to Australia with mountains of luggage, mostly baby related. We pretty much expected to have to buy a new car because it was so filthy but they assured us the car would be cleaned no problem no extra charges- again, I should check my invoice. The flight went badly, more on that later, and we swore off ever traveling again with children.
It felt great to be "home" and have my own bed and put my earplugs in at night. Love sharing the house with Grandma and Grandpa-in-law; they were awesome company. I do believe Baba Yaga which translates to Grandma Witch, was quite enjoying watching me race around after the kids so she could relax. Now keep in mind that both of our colds and the babies colds were full force so we were dragging our butts. We did make it to the mall at some point, to buy baby flower girl dresses for the upcoming wedding at Christmas. I certainly hope they videotape for posterity dressing the babies in these gowns because they fought it every step of the way the first time, much like the airplane seats. The wedding day should be lively with these two gremlins.
On one of my final days, daughter and I took the metro into Melbourne to see the sites. She should run the office for navigating strange cities cuz there is no one better at organizing travel. We walked a lot, shared drinks in the Ponyfish Island Bar under a bridge then off to see the famous painted shacks on the beach and watch the multitude of tourists posing. Off to a traditional pre-Christmas mini-fondue then another long walk to see the penguins. It was a hard trek coughing non-stop so we stopped along the way for some medicinal honey bourbon. 
Along the pier, we saw our first penguin and people went so batshit crazy; you would have thought the penguins were all stars. By the end of the pier, we'd seen so many, it was less mind blowing but they are still pretty cute. So I did get to see the penguins but sadly not the Aurora Australis. I guess I will have to plan a trip to Iceland after all.
Went to stay at another bed and breakfast in Mount Dandenong and it was not so great. It was the only place I worried about bed bugs. Checked out the Healysvale Sanctuary Zoo but like my curse, most zoos only have birds more than willing to strut while the exotics like the platypus, echnids, kangaroos and koalas kept a lower profile on this hot and arid day.
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| Australia Crucified |
I had heard about a statue park near Melbourne when I was in Canada and I was very excited to see Rickerts Sanctuary. The statues are created from clay into the trees; it was stunning, somewhat creepy work by a crazy man done a very very long time ago before my time. The essence of the park is to honour the environment. The actual walk is about five minutes and it's free but with babies it was a much, much longer stay.
Back in Melton area, we had a lovely dinner party outside and after everybody left and I fell asleep early, I got up realized everybody had gone to bed and it was only 9pm so I went outside and hung in the hammock watching the three quarter moon in 30 degree weather. It was very zen until I heard footsteps and a click and I realized I was locked out briefly. It was a sad night for me knowing I wouldn't see the babies or daughter and her new family again for another year.
I'd heard recently that you can tell a trip was good by the reluctance of the traveler to go home. Unlike most of my trips, this one was challenging, covered by sickness and baby ooze and I would repeat it in a heartbeat. Also, I couldn't wait to get home for Christmas, and routine and health...which I'm still waiting for.
These long ramblings are mostly to remind me about my travels when my mind is long gone.
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