16th March: Charlie Part One

the big day had arrived.

off to get charlie from brisbane!

and thanks to charlie's globetrotting tendencies, we all got booked into the marriot on his air miles. we managed to get a peek of the river from our room and you can see the blue sky out there...





of course, australia welcomes the visiting pom with grey skies and a bit of rain. however, we were spared the deluges that accompanied bob and corina's trip to these shores!

we started the introduction to our area with a trip to spookys beach in angourie where charlie enjoyed some boogy boarding....



...the compulsory dip with caitlin (very taken with charlie...he foolishly,due to inexperience, interacted with her and thus encouraged her to keep on talking. and talking. and talking).








and of course, beach cricket. james showing why he is still waiting the england call up

caitlin fielded but not even her filial devotion could stomach her father's bowling style...

10th Feb: Hippy Hippy Shake

after months of threatening to do it, we did it. we went to the Channon Markets, locally renowned (in an area already famous for its hardcore alternative lifestyle seekers) as the place to go to get your eco-fix.

and your didgeridoo fix

Having lived in Bristol for some time, James and I felt very at home amongst the grunge and did remark at the lack of dogs on strings (mostly due to the no dogs policy).

there was a lot of fairy folk there, which tickled the fancy of Caitlin who is slowly becoming more obsessed with fairies as the days go by. you know, i swore there would be no pink, no gender stereotyping...but somehow the pink thing just crashes over you and swallows you whole ("stop saying 'isn't HE lovely?'") and as for the fairies..i'm rolling with that, she's been obsessed by penguins, dinosaurs and farts (still a current fave) so i can forgive her one trangression.

we decided it would be a good idea to let caitlin loose the candle making stall...mik and zara followed suit with jacob and matilda (you can see them behind us).

well, it started well but boredom set in for the kids after dipping the candle in the hot wax for the nth time and still it looked like a long drip of dirty water, not the technicolour marvel they were expecting within their allotted 5 sec attention span. so of course the grown ups took over to finish the job, braved the scary staff and got the candles carved as per the kids requests (horse, dog and fairy castle). if you can spot which is which, send the answers on a postcard. much adult hilarity afterwards, completely unnoticed by the rapt kids clutching their waxy delights.





the obligatory felafel stall, we were delighted to find it.

27th January: is it snowing in Scotland yet?

i could be tempted just to post these pics with that tag line...

some of you will be familiar with these shots from Hell from over on my Facebook page. for those of you enjoying the cosy delights of short days and central heating and who haven't fallen prey to the evil of facebook, here is a glimpse into a pretty nice weekend over at our place....

this is sandon, part of the solitary islands marine park. we'd been here before a few times, but this time our friends sally and jamie (and their 4 kids) got together with us (me,james,mik,zara, and our kids) to make a party of it. they brought their boat which was a huge treat!



anyway, here is sally relaxing away, next to her is her daughter josie who will be in caitlin's class next year!








Jamie very kindly took the kids out in the boats...they all had a turn in these tyres and he took them for a spin around the bay.









when it was Caitlin and Matilda's turn, Zara and i went out with them and i took a snap back towards the spot where we were camped.






and then, what a shame, the kids were a bit nervous so we had to get in with them for a spin. despite all the gym training however, i think i still exterted a fair amount of drag!

after this, we had a barbecue on the beach and generally did some more relaxing. i'm sure i can't remember why we came out here.

23rd Jan: To the bat caves!

we have been having some fabulous displays recently..there is a colony of fruit bats that live across the bridge from us in a small patch of rain forest. at dusk, they rise up in clouds to to swirl across the river towards us.

at first you are deceived by the distance into thinking its a flock of starlings but as they twist past the trees above you, you realise it's bloody big bat.





however, this lovely sight is not without its controversy. these bats were recently displaced off land next to the school as they do make a hell of an unhygienic mess with their poo. as the bats are protected, an order had to be gained for their displacement. well, the bats just shifted along a bit and are still right amongst residential maclean, despite being in the forest. they make quite a noise, mess and stink and the locals are complaining about the impact it is having on their quality of life as they are having to disinfect outside surfaces every day, can't hang out the laundry and the smell is very intrusive. they have been petitioning the local councils to get another bat expert in so the bats can again be moved on.


of course, this is not without its problems. for one people ask where will the bats go? there are some established colonies in angourie which appear to be better managed but i have vague memories of there being problems over there too
and then there are very clear voices raised in defence of the bats, arguing that we need to co-exist with the bats, that we are the interlopers on their territories.


i am hugely relieved that i can simply enjoy watching the bats whilst the debate plays itself out in the local papers

20th Jan: There's a frog in my bathroom,what am i gonna do?

ok if any of you are eagle eyed enough to care, yes, there is a disparity between the dates posted and the dates in the title. i admit it, the blog has been overlooked (for 77 days as phil has so kindly pointed out). i've been busy ok? i got my driving licence, had charlie to stay and went to sydney in those 77 days and looked after a pre-school child and and and.

anyway, i have resumed and will be dating them until i've caught up with myself.

imagine my surprise on discovering an immigrant arriving in our bathroom? being the committed humanitarian and liberal, did i welcome it with open arms? no to my eternal shame.

i photographed the poor thing

detained it in the bathroom

subjected it to interrogation from my 4 yr old.

and then summarily deported it. of course i couldn't do my own dirty work so i subcontracted the work.

i'm sure james has nothing better to do with his break time than to repatriate a small, lost green frog.

On New Years Day

well it was certainly the weather for a lovely new years race along the beach....after we scurried through the beach markets, we stumbled across these foolhardy souls


















although, at least they were running in the rain and cold...we were standing watching so i'm not clear who was more stupid, on reflection