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

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

holidays

It's the holidays in our part of the world…

Hooray and yippee and yahoo!

I've had people say to me, "Oh, well you're homeschoolers, 

you don't have holidays, do you?" 

Say whaaaaaat? 

We do, in fact, have holidays. 

Not from all the learning that happens naturally (that would be like taking a holiday from Life), but from all the Scheduled Busy that happens during term time. It's so lovely not to have to be anywhere at any certain time. 

Because I'm married to a teacher, and because we take (and run!) so many classes, the holidays are a very distinct time for us. The kids are very aware of when it's term time and when it's break time. But I'm not sure they have ANY idea just how much they're learning, in this glorious down time, as the days drift by…

I'm not going to tell them.  :)

So what have we been up to? 

Well, there have been games, games and more games

Monopoly—Here and Now
set in Australia, so my girl was sending
a little koala 'round the board…so cute

Upwords
which my boy was insanely good at

Forbidden Island
which is awesome
(thanks so much for the recommendation, Karen!)

In fact, we've played so many games, 

some days we've had no place to eat!

There's been movie watching,

in 3D, no less!

Gosh, what'll they think of next?!

first time to a 3D movie—SO excited

Then there's been all the reading 

and all the drawing, 

sometimes first thing in the morning, for hours, before breakfast.

We've hiked to a glorious waterfall with friends,

and toys…

and taken silly photos…

Look, Ma! My head's as big as that there waterfall!

And we've been to an Aboriginal Culture day 

where we learned about the different weapons the indigenous people

traditionally used to hunt and trap and kill their food.

(We vegetarians even patted the skin of a not-so-alive kangaroo!)

We learned how in Aboriginal culture there's men's business

and women's business.

After the men spoke of their business

and played didgeredoo

(which is strictly a men-only activity),

Auntie Dierdre came and told us about women's business

and bush tucker

and taught us how to weave rope from swamp grass

The kids loved this day.

Plus we've been to a Book Town

and hiked to see

glowing glowworm bottoms…

Ah. That was a good day too.

And my son has played in concerts 

inside

and outside,

while a mum and a girl watched, drank juice and 

grinned

It's been such a busy, happy holidays.

You'd think we were full and done and ready to rest.

But now,

we're going camping!

Yes, we are, and I can't wait, and I have to go pack, 

right this minute

so I can take my family to a place we used to spend our holidays when I was a kid.

I have so many special memories.

I wonder if things will have changed? 

Will the lake still be there?

The dunes?

That particular curve of the sea?

I can't wait to find out…

Warmth and smiles to you all, 

wherever you are, having holidays or not, 

inside or out, in sun or rain!