Ok, so it seems that some people do read this site, and due to popular demand (from our most loyal fan) I guess I had better fill you in on the rest of our holiday at Wye River.
I apologise for being a bit slack, and only doing an update on the Wednesday, but I had to return to Melbourne for work on the Thursday, and was simply too tired on the Friday and Saturday…. but… better late than never!!
So, following on from my last post on Wednesday…
Now the forecast for the region was pretty much rain every day, but as it turned out, the weather was pretty nice to us and apart from a down pour on the first night, we had good mid-twenties and sun for the rest of the trip. Wasn’t super hot unless you sat in the sun, but was certainly good enough to get to the beach, and that is how we spent the most part of Wednesday.
About lunchtime we headed down to the local store at the front of the caravan park after Mark and I remembered that this caravan park sold the best chips ever. So we changed into our beach gear, bought a bunch of hot chips each and headed to the beach. The chips of course didn’t disappoint, and if ever you get down that way I highly recommend you get yourself a box!
Now anyone who has been to the beach with me before knows that I like to spend my time building the odd sand castle. This time however as we were heading off, I made the grand statement that I can’t be bothered building a sandcastle today, and would simply relax on the beach. Famous last words as it turned out because Wye River had the perfect sand for castle building. Mark on the other hand likes to manage the moat around the castle, and where there is a river involved, he just has to dam the river to get the water flowing in around the moat.
So, it was while we were sitting there eating the best chips ever that we got looking at what a fantastic estuary we had available. Good sand and a river to dam. Every mid 30 year old’s dream. After scoping the possibilities, it was decided, and Mark enlisted the kids to build a dam, while I headed back to the caravan for the shovels.
About 4 hours later… well you can see the results…
Reluctantly about 4pm, I was dragged away from my creation as the kids were stating to lose it and the caravan park had Australia Day games for the kids back in the caravan park. I couldn’t resist sitting back on the bank of the river for 5 minutes though watching as people became brave enough to come over and check it out. Made me smile, and I was pleased that no one destroyed it for at least the 5 minutes I was watching. I vowed to return in about an hour to see if it survived, but got side tracked, and when I returned about 3 hours later, the tide had completely removed all trace of the castle 🙁 Oh well that is the joy of building in the sand.
Once back at the caravan park, we headed down to the park where the caravan park staff had put on some fun games for the kids. A three legged Race, Egg and Spoon Race and a good ol fashioned tug of war. The kids all participated, and Charlotte and Tara did a fantastic job of winning the small children’s race. Emma and Jess had no idea, and while we all sat on the hill in fits of laughter, they came a horrible last. Of course that didn’t stop Emma and Jess, they simply fronted up at the final and stood their ground until they were able to race again!! With a little coaching from the sidelines, they did a lot better the second time around. The poor guy running the races had no idea what to do, so in the end he simply gave Emma, Jess, Tara and Charlotte all lollies to share. Was hilarious!!
The egg and spoon race was pretty uneventful, but once again we all had a great laugh as the kids really had no idea what they were doing. Then it was on to the tug of war. This time the adults got to join in, and we had a kids vs adults tug of war. There were about 10 adults vs about 35 kids. Now being good parents, we decided to be fair and let the kids win the first heat… didn’t have to try hard, we put up a good fight, but truth be known, we had no chance!! Round two we enlisted a few more parents, and were able to (barely) win. Last and final round, the parents all agreed that we would pull the kids close to the line, before letting them win….HA! we had no chance!!!
Was all good fun, and a great way to finish a great Australia day. We headed back to camp to for a BBQ (what else do you have on Oz day??) and a few drinks before sending some very tired kids to bed. What a great day.
Now, as I mentioned before, I had to return to work on the Thursday. The Queensland floods in early January had put me well behind, and I had a couple of meetings to attend. So, about 6:20am I hit the road just as the sun was appearing on the ocean, and had a 3 hour drive (love peak hour on the Westgate!!) back to Melbourne, arriving at work at 9:20am. Did a full days work, finishing up around 6pm and with no desire to head back into peak hour, headed home for dinner. After dinner I lay down on the bed just to rest my eyes for a minute, and woke up a few hours later… left home at about 8:40pm, which actually worked in my favour as peak hour was well and truly over, and I didn’t have to drive into the setting sun for too long before it got dark. Now that’s when the fun began…. I don’t overly recommend driving the Great Ocean Road in the dark. Hard to see anything but what is right in front of you, and while I don’t generally get car sick, the twists and turns and concentrating so hard on staying on the road even made me feel woozy after awhile! I made it in the end arriving back in camp just after 11pm that night. Not a great way to spend a day of my holidays, but I am glad I did it.
The others had a bit more fun, the dad’s all took the kids to the beach in Lorne, while the Mum’s headed to the day spa for massages and facials!! Jeez… some have it hard!! Don’t know much of how else they spent their day, so maybe someone can get Fi to Blog and fill in the gaps….
Friday was a pretty lazy day really. Our last full day was spent hanging around the camp. There was talk of returning to the beach, but that never eventuated, and there was a lot of conversation around where we should go next year. In the end, the girls (older ones not the younger ones) decided to go for a walk around the caravan park and scope out the best spots. They were very specific about the fact that they needed time with no kids, so as soon as they left, I handed Zac and Harrison hand held CB’s, and sent them on a spy mission. Follow the girls and don’t get caught. Report back on what they are up to, but if they see you or you are captured, we will deny all knowledge… very cloak and dagger!! They had fun, and managed to follow the girls for quite a distance before they were captured (and I’m sure they were tortured!!) at the front office while the girls were enquiring about next year.
Now returning from the front office was done in style… or rather peddle powered Go-Karts that the kids had been begging to get hold of. Unfortunately what started as a bit of fun, ended in what could have been a total disaster. Charlotte and Tara teamed up in one of the Go-Karts, and to cut a long story short, ended up driving off a reasonably high bank, landing on the rocks in the river below. Poor Anthony was in the Go-Kart behind and watched it all unfold in slow motion before his eyes. After seeing the drop, I could understand just how shaken up he was, and the girls were lucky to escape with just a few cuts and bruises. They were both very lucky. Kids being kids though, it didn’t stop them for long, a bit of ice and pampering and they both managed to make a good speedy recovery.
Dinner that night was spent at the Wye River Pub, which has one of the best views over the ocean I have ever seen. Had a good meal and a few beverages before a final walk on the beach.
The other excitment of the day was one that I think we can all relate to from our youth… Anthony and the kids discovered a haunted house on the hill behind the caravan park. Actually it was just an abandoned holiday house, but you know how kids imaginations can run away. Also didn’t help that some kid in the play ground told them that it was haunted and that a small girl had been murded and buried there!! Poor Matty really got himself worked up over that tall tale. Of course there was nothing else to do but be a good responsible parent and offer to take the brave kids back up the hill in the dark to investigate… hehe… can’t help myself really!!
Stated off with quite a number of very brave children heading up the hill right on dusk, but unfortunately the fun police… err I mean…. the Mum’s sent the girls to bed right as we were about to leave. That left Myself, Mark, Anthony, Zac, Harrison and Charlotte as the brave explorer’s. Unfortunately I think Charlotte’s nerves (and no possy of brave young girls) got the better of her and she pulled out just before we left. Anthony then chose to stay behind with Charlotte.
So, Mark, Zac, Harrison and Myself all headed off to see if there was any truth to the legend of the murderer. Was about half way up the hill when we lost another. Harrison, brave as he was decided that he had gone far enough and took off in a cloud of dust back down the hill to camp. The rest continued on and found….. well nothing really. It was just a house!! Zac was very brave, making it all the way to the top of the hill, although he was very keen to get back down again, and I think he nearly lost it when I climbed over the barbed wire fence into the garden for a better look. While he didn’t bolt back down the hill, there was definitely a bit of a spring in his step!! Hehe… I shouldn’t laugh, as I can remember what it was like to be that age… but then again… it was funny!!
Was a little bit sad on Saturday as we woke and packed the vans for the trip home. It really seemed (to me anyway) that the trip just went by far too fast. All in all was a great few days away.
Well that’s it, sorry it was so late, but hopefully the account was worth the wait. Gotta keep our loyal fans (Judith) happy!! The good news is there is only a few weeks until the next trip to Mornington with my family… will try to remember to blog better this time!!
