Saturday, April 23, 2011

camping trip: Part I

Once Upon A Time!

A family went camping

for five days and four nights…

and almost 

every minute of every day and every night

was glorious. 


It began 

with a car ride.

Past funny roadsigns


and with the kids occupying themselves as kids do



(I couldn't do either of these things as a kid—
the first 'cos it didn't exist, and 
the second because I always got way too car sick!)


First stop?

A place called Caves Beach. 
A place Karisma wrote about on her blog
which inspired me 
to suggest a week-long camping trip—
thanks so much, Karisma!


We didn't see caves the first day. 
Instead we ate

and set up camp amongst the paperbarks.



We finished just in time for sunset


and a swing


and a view of the
moon rising through the gumtrees




And did you know a full moon can make circles like this?


It can! But it gets dizzy after a while… :) 


Then a walk 
to the nearby lake was in order

to watch the light change to dark over the water





and then the nearby river beckoned too,

where the moon made a path on the water, 
straight to us.



Then more swinging had to happen

(yes, that IS the moon, shining so boldly in the background!)

and running


and things 
seemed just a bit different and more special
there in the night light…

like we were all suspended in time

and magic
was happening.




That was the first day.

2.
On the second day,

we woke to the sound of birds
all around, just beyond the thin skin of our tent

and a few even came to visit.





We said our hellos but didn't stay chatting long,

because

 it was time to meet the beach.



Where we visited 

Caves One,


Two, 


and Three.


Three was the finest, the most exciting cave of all

because you could only get to it at low tide

and it led out to the ocean


and it was spooky 
but thrilling too

and we loved it.


But we weren't brave enough to swim out to the open water. 
It seemed just too…
unknown.

So for a while we were content just looking around,

until we noticed a man with his family
launching himself wildly
off the rocks by the cave
into a pulsing ocean pool below.



No way! 
We can do that?
We're in!





Oh, yeah. 

Now that was awesome.



The cool thing was, 
the water didn't pull you out into the open ocean
and leave you there to your doom
(kind of handy, don't you think?).

Instead it would pull a little, then push. Pull, then push. 
And oh, so gently, you'd travel the channel back
and find yourself home again
and standing.


Bliss.

You'd think we were done and ready to rest, after a day of cave exploration
and lunch overlooking a view like this,

and then more exploring and ocean leaping

but not us. 

After showers it was time for a long stroll into town
along the bike track
to find icecream cones.


But could we find a single shop in town that sold scoops of icecream?
No! 

I know! Such a tragedy!

We had to make do with Magnums instead.


What a hard life.

Almost dark by now…
and time to walk home to our tent,
and watch the sunset by the lake again,
this time with just my boy.

Ah. It was beautiful.


And that was the second day.

More days to come!



I have linked this post to




and to


We Play


Which is kind of a fun thing to do. I must do it more often :)

13 comments:

  1. I love the pictures of the moon through the gumtrees and the silhouettes by the lake,

    And those photos of the caves and jumping in to the water...they could be a travel brochure for Australia!!

    Sounds like a great week!

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  2. It certainly looks like fun! The caves are very cool, and the ocean looks so wonderful to those of us up here in the North (where it is suppose to be spring, but it snowed again today). Great pictures. I can feel your bliss.

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  3. Helena I have thought of you so many times the past few days, thinking of the fun I knew you and your bunch was having.

    The moon pictures are breaktaking. The sunset is awesome!!! What is the world is going on in the upside down pic??? Kei and I tried to figure it out.

    The caves..the caves..look like something out of a Harry Potter book or a magic grotto. I am so happy you had such fun. Can't wait to hear more.

    Never heard of a Magnum :)

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  4. Thanks, everyone! Karen, the upside down pic was my girl at the peak of her swing. I was standing underneath! BUT: my girl just looked at the post and said, Please take that picture out!!! I think she thought you could see her undies (which you could NOT). In respect of her wishes, though, the mighty "upside down pic" is no more. Luckily, the rest of the photos were all approved of. Whew! :)

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  5. ha! Two weeks later and we could have met up! Oh well. Can't wait to see those caves for myself :)

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  6. What gorgeous photos! Lovely time, great adventures! Thank you for sharing with us. Oh, and Magnums are YUM!

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  7. Oh, so much goodness and beauty. What a lovely trip for your family. I didn't get to see the "upside down" photo, but I just took a pic off my blog cause my 4-yo didn't want to show her "chi-chis", Gotta respect that! Thanks for your blogpost on finding spirit too (i'm catching up, can you tell?) So full, so true, so full of up-lifting words...and I love the hills being church, I have felt that way many times.
    xoxo Nikole

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  8. Awesome pictures! Looks like you all had a fun filled trip. Sorry I was heading off in the other direction or I so would have been there with you. Maybe next time? Big hugs xoxox

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  9. Everything about this is fabulous. I would love to take a trip like this. The night shots over the lake are stunning, and those caves!

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  10. Oh Helena what a wonderful time!!! Camping is such a special thing to do with the family! And the caves and rocks, wow!! But the sunsets, those are my favorite pics ;), so peaceful and the perfect way to end a fantastic day! Looking forward to hearing/seeing more about your trip!!

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  11. What a wonderful, memorable camping trip for your family. So many striking pictures.

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  12. Oh now I want to go on a trip!!

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  13. What a great trip! And you really got some beautiful shots, too. Thanks for linking at Nature Connections. :)

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I love hearing from you! Thank you for your heartfelt, thoughtful responses—they lift me, and give me light.