Our Favourite Place For a Short Break

Even though we are fortunate enough to call a part of Australia that truly is paradise, we do like to get away to another part of paradise, a couple of hours south of our home. 

Back in late September, my friend Sam contacted me during the school holidays, inviting the girls and I down to join her and her two children to their holiday house at Mission Beach.  With MrL being away at the time (& Sam's was too at the time), I immediately agreed.  Any excuse. 

Sam's house had been brought down from Cairns and they've slowly been renovating the old Queenslander.  It makes a perfect beach shack.  Located a street back from North Mission Beach, we spent most of our time there, at the beach...

To say the girls had a great time is a bit of an understatement.  As the water was warming up (along with the weather), September really is a great time to visit Mission Beach.  As the stingers hadn't arrived yet (they invade North Queensland waters from November onwards) and this beach is sandy, inviting and the water is rather shallow and deepens the more you walk out, it makes an ideal holiday or relaxation destination.

Sam's holiday house helps too.  It is sooo relaxing, with three bedrooms, bathroom, open plan kitchen - dining and sitting area and NO television.  The house from the outside is nothing to talk about but the plans they have for the future sound fab.  (Open bi-fold doors onto a big balcony from the dining/kitchen.)

I'm looking forward to getting away down there again soon….once those stingers have exited so I can get back in the water along with these two….

…and MrL.  It's not really a holiday or a getaway without my best friend.

A Glimpse of Ellen

I don't know how it happened, but our Melbourne itinerary somehow collided with Ellen DeGeneres when she was in Australia.  The girls and I had a whole day to spare in the city and it just happened to be the day Ellen was making an appearance for her show!  

We had planned a visit to the National Gallery of Victoria but alas, the gallery is closed on a Tuesday (I swear it used to always be closed on a Monday!) so we thought we might head on down to Birrarung Marr, behind Federation Square, to see (if we could) perhaps catch a glimpse, or at least hear the Talk Show Legend.  But when we approached the corner of Federation Square and the Yarra River our hearts slumped.  

The que was unbelievable....  I sent this pic to MrL who was on the other side of Australia, probably with the caption "look at this line!!!"

Thousands of people.

I suggested to the girls we take a seat outside near an outside stage and screen as it was pretty obvious that there was no way we would make it inside the the formal stage where things were going to happen.

The crowd kept building up with a lot of people having the same idea and the formal line being told that the stage area was now closed.

It wasn't too long before the Queen arrived.  There was a big buzz in the air.  And she acknowledged the people who couldn't/didn't get into the main arena.

Can you see her there waving?  And that's her mum across from her and wife Portia climbing the stairs ahead in a pretty red dress.  (She too did turn around and wave - she is a Melbourne girl after all!)

Monet and I were particularly thrilled.  Lily?  Nah.  She had no idea.

After watching a bit of the recording on the big screen ahead of us I was faced with two hungry and restless daughters.

But I soon put a stop to that.

My Ploughman's lunch went down a certain treat and the girls enjoyed their meals too.

A fantastic day.

Our Girls love the pool...

...just like I used to when I was a young girl.  I remember spending four weeks in a complex in Coffs Harbour when I was around Monet's age and spending as long as possible in the pool there.  Our girls are fortunate because they have assess to a pool every day of the year.  It's just not a holiday thing.

Lily has become very confident in the pool now.  She's recently gone from wearing her swim vest, to floaties and the last time I was in the pool with her, there was an absence of any floating equipment attached to her body!  However, if I am not in the pool with her, it is swim vest all the way.

The girls do all kind of games in the pool together which is nice to see.  Above is a photo of their 'circus trick' where they would be both underwater (with Lily on Monet's shoulders) and when Monet stands Lily yells out 'Ta-da!'

Monet has gotten quite good at doing underwater handstands with legs very straight and Lily's latest trick is doing awesome proper water somersaults!  Very amusing to watch.

If this hot humid weather continues, I can see us all getting quite a bit more use out of the pool....

Up the Range on the Train

For a while now we've been wanting the girls to go on the Kuranda Scenic Railway, but have never done it.  MrL, Monet and I had been on the train when we initially moved to Cairns in 2006, so Lily had   never been on the train, which curves around the Ranges from Cairns to Kuranda.  MrL wasn't keen on going again (not really his thing) so he dropped the girls and I off at Freshwater Station (there are only two stations on the route) with the plan on him meeting us up at Kuranda, some 90 minutes later.  (A 25 minute drive as compared to a 90 minute train journey!)

Both girls were especially looking forward to going on the train....until Monet realised how long it took and Lily was constantly wanting to eat to pass the time.  *heehee*

As the train hauls out of Freshwater it passes through some cane fields, which look rather lovely at a height.  So lush and green...

You catch glimpses of the urban sprawl on the way up the range.  The city of Cairns is nestled behind that first hill in the photo below.

There are some 22 bridges on the rail way track and you pass through 15 tunnels, the longest being some 450 metres long, which Miss Lily quite enjoyed!  

The train makes a stop at Barron Falls Station, for 10 minutes, about 5 minutes away from the final destination of Kuranda.  I quickly stepped off as the girls stayed put.  The Falls were a trickle but when 'the wet' hits I will be sure to come up and visit.

True to his word, of course, MrL met us at the top of the stairs which lead to Kuranda's main drag.  With a quick scourer of the strip we headed to the Kuranda Pub, a traditional, old, rickety, touristy Queensland Pub for (a rather ordinary) lunch and a pint of beer.

And we caught up on the Cricket scores from our table whilst the girls amused themselves for a little in the playroom.

Luckily for us, being locals, we get a pretty good discount on the train and children aged three and under travel for free in allocated seating.  It is actually rather pricey to travel up and down (looking at around $250 for a family of four - one child travels for free) on the train but it is dedicated to tourists and I guess they think tourists have cash to splash.  It is the oldest Scenic Railway in Australia and it is good to go on.  At least once anyway.  I'm glad we did it.

I Love This Photo

I took this photo a few weeks back now, whilst staying at the In-laws.  Taken with my iPhone and changed from colour to B&W.  I need to get this one printed for sure.  Enlarged and framed even.

Sing

There are serious moments when, as a parent, my heart sings.  Those of you who have children (and maybe some of you who are not parents) hopefully can identify with me saying this.  It sings when I see either of my girls do something - nothing in particular, just something.

Take the other day, for example.

I got a phone call from the School Nurse saying that Monet was not well so I immediately dropped everything, scooped up Lily and drove to get her.

Back home, Monet showered, put her pyjamas on and went to bed for some well needed rest.  Upon waking and declaring she was feeling a little brighter, Lily and I joined her in her bedroom.

Then I witnessed this.

It made my heart sing.  I don't know why, it just did.  Little acts of kindness from big sister to little sister, little sister acting very funny, big sister enjoying little sister and vice-versa.  Nothing out of the ordinary, just something that made my heart sing.

Sometimes things like that happen few and far between, but then sometimes I witness little singing moments every day.

I Feed Spiders To My Girls For Their Dinner.

It's true. I do.

Sure the spiders are made out of home-made rissoles, with capsicum/red pepper legs and noses with olives and mayo eyes, sitting upon a bed of pesto infused rice-shaped pasta, but they are spiders just the same.

If the littlest member of this family eats any of them, my job here is done.  And eat them she does, or at least attempts to.

*nom nom*

Royal Watchers

I had a couple of excited Princesses here yesterday, one in particular... I present to you Princess Lily and Princess Monet.

MrL and my sister went out for a few hours, they weren't interested in watching all the pompous.
Myself and my girls definitely were.

Lily even waved to the newly wedded Royal Couple. (Yes, it was very cute)

It was a grand wedding, wasn't it (those of you who watched)?  Such a gorgeous bride in a stunning, timeless, modern dress and the future King of England looking very grand in his Irish Guard Uniform.  Ahh, it was worth all the build up, if you ask me.

The Final Countdown...

The countdown has been on since we got here, but now it is only two more sleeps till we spy Lyndon on Aussie soil once more! In the mean while I have to tell you that Little Miss Monet has been very good. So good in fact, I am wondering if my memories of a not-very-good Monet was something I made up in my head!

She has had a delightful time lately, keeping busy at both sets of Grandparent's homes. At Nanna and Poppy's she's busy riding bikes in their backyard and at Grandma and Grandad's she's been busy doing 'art stuff', including the ever popular bubble blowing...

(As you might notice from the photos, Miss Monet really has her own style of dressing - she loves colours that girl!)

Yesterday I was fortunate (again) to be in the company of H&B in her home in suburban Melbourne. Lee used her photographic skills (and I took the opportunity) to take photographs of Little Miss Lily, my talkative little doll. I'm looking forward to seeing the images in the future! Whilst Lily was being photographed, Monet, with great pleasure, cuddled and coo-ed over the pet Guinea Pigs which are pets of Lee's MC and Danger Boy.

(You may have noticed the 'plaster' on Monet's knee - she fell over whilst playing with the boys - she did exactly the same thing last year when we visited! Children. Huh!)

I'm sure Monet dreamt of Guinea Pigs last night and I am also sure that if we too, lived in suburban Australia, in a house, Monet would be getting a couple of those pets! We had a sweet time at H&B's and look forward to another meeting down the track sometime in the future.

I can't wait to tell Lyndon just how very good his eldest daughter has been. And I am pretty sure Lyndon can't wait to be reunited with all of us. He won't believe how good Monet has been and he certainly won't recognise Lily - she's changed so much in the past two weeks, it isn't funny!

Here I Am...

...in Victoria, Australia. It is a long way from Abu Dhabi but my girls have handled it very well. Our plane flight over was rather uneventful, bar the fact that after one sleep Monet had, she woke up feeling ill and consequently had a little vomit. Noice.

I've been staying at my parents whilst waiting for Lyndon to arrive next weekend, when we will then stay at Lyndon's folks. (Our parents don't live too far apart.)

In the meanwhile we've been busy taking it easy. We've been rugged up...

...had some delightful bath times...

...put up Christmas trees....

...had nice time just doin' stuff...

...watched our little Lily growing just a little bit older...

...and missing our Lyndon. (No need to really, we just look at Lily and see her father staring back at us!)

Get Going...

It has been a while hasn't it?

I've been busy organising our impending trip back to Australia, something we find we are needing.  The girls and I leave and arrive two weeks before Lyndon can join us, which people look at me horrified that I am flying alone with a newbie.  Monet is an old hand at flying so she'll (hopefully) won't be a problem and I'm sure Lily will be fine.  We've had 'dramas' with getting Lily an Exit Visa but that is now all sorted and we're now set to go.  My dad emailed to say there is excitement growing at the prospect of us returning for a holiday and I'm very much looking forward to it. 

As much as I do enjoy living here, I feel it is time to have a visit back in Australia.  I'm finding that I need a break from this country as I find I am getting more and more annoyed with certain things, like driving for example and the way certain things are done is honestly shitting me.  Lyndon feels the same, especially now as he has been socondered(?) to a company in Dubai and has been doing stupid hours up there, a 150kms away from us at Abu Dhabi.  

We enjoy being ex-pats but we are now wondering where our next step is leading us.  Monet is a happy kid in school and at home (most of the time) so I'm sure we'll see out the schooling year (till June) and then reevaluate our situation and take it from there.  Who knows, maybe after this UAE-break, we'll see everything in a new light again.  Maybe I just need an Oz-dose.

Lily is now a thriving 11-week old who is a joy to be with.  I'm sure she's not far off her first giggle (yay!) and is happy most of the time lying in her rocker or on her play gym but I think her favourite place to be is to hang in the Baby Bjorn and nap near my chest.  She's not silly!  I'm looking forward to the family to meet her for the first time and I'm sure my dad won't recognise her as the newborn we brought home close to 11 weeks ago.

The lovely and talented (& now famous!) Tracey has made a cute as a button Christmas dress for Miss Lily to wear so I am looking forward to seeing our baby in it (& I will be sure to post a photo of her in it when the time arrives!) 

  

Lyndon and I (even some of the neighbours have commented) have noticed that Monet must have had a growth spurt.  She has such long lovely legs and her face has got bigger and prettier.  She brought home her first school report card last week and we're very proud of her.  For that, we gave her a ticket back to Australia for a holiday.  *heehee*  (gee, I used to get 5 bucks for a good report! How times have changed! *smirk*)

(This photo was taken by a friend who was a parent on a recent school excursion to 'Children's World' in Dubai.)

Not sure when I'll be back posting, hopefully not too far down the track.  And from a place that isn't the UAE.  (Thanks to those of you who have been back checking this blog - hopefully I get my blog-groove back some time in the near future!)