Claire’s 40th in Kakadu

We went down to Cooinda lodge for Claire’s 40th. We decided camping would be too much with Eddie, and we got a (very expensive) small cabin. It was very nice though and perfectly suited to us.

Each afternoon we went for a swim. On the first morning we went to Nourlangie, and on the second we went to Ubirr. We were unsure how Eddie would go on these sort of long bushwalks. Well the “path” part wasn’t his favourite, although with a bag of pretzels in his hand he did not seem to mind. But climbing the rocks was his all time favourite activity – that and “doing what Maggie does”.

Maggie was loving it of course, but it was just amazing to see Eddie keeping up. He would refuse to let anyone help him too much too – holding the hand was okay but not taking him over rocks.

On the way back home we tried and failed to get to Ikomarrya and we ended up at Pine Creek for lunch. There was old fashioned trains there to play on and Eddie was in seventh heaven!

On the top of Ubirr

Barra fishing at the Farm

Maggie and I went down to a barra farm today. We also went on Saturday but didn’t manage to get anything.

On my fourth cast of the day I managed to hook a little fella. Maggie helped me wind it in.

A bit later on I hooked my second barra and Maggie reeled it in by herself.

At this point I cast and let her wind it in (teaching her how to jerk it a bit) and soon enough she hooked it herself! I had to get it off a pipe but otherwise she reeled it in all the way by herself. She was very proud and so was Dad!

She really liked the farm, additionally it is a great place to practice casting. She seems to be quite good at it too.

Gippsland Trips 2023

Had some reasonable weather when we went down. We managed to get to the beach (in the morning to avoid the wind which was a good move) as well as Stratty bridge and McKinnons.

Seaspray – Maggie loved it but complained about how cold the water was. Eddie was uncertain at first but slowly warmed to it. Flo was there and liked to dig – and eat – the sand.

Stratty Bridge – We actually went twice as it was the kids favourite spot. There was a strong current in some shallow water which let Maggie ride her board down it. Eddie was in seventh heaven with all the rocks and sand and water to play with. He did not want to leave at all. Maggie “rescued” a girl which involved her getting freaked out in the thigh-deep water because of the current and Maggie took her hand and brought her to the shore. She loved it and everyone heard the story as soon as she saw them.

McKinnons – It was interesting as there were loads of cars and tents on the rocks. It wasn’t as kid-friendly as it had been in the past with lots of alcohol going and music pumping. We found a quiet-ish spot. Ed didn’t quite like it as much, I think because of the difficulty he had with moving around on the rocks. Was still a nice day though.

Berry Springs with the kids

Ed’s naps have prevented us from being able to travel to Kakadu and Litchfield, but Berry springs is only 40 minutes away. So we decided to head down early one morning. Claire and I were unsure just how much he would get out of it, but we knew Maggie would love it.

Well, it turned out Ed had a great time! He couldn’t do much but hang onto his Mum in the shallower part, but still thought it was a blast. And Maggie absolutely loved it. It was hard describing it to her, she seemed to think she was going into a big pool that looked like a lake. But when she got there she saw the fish and we swap downstream to the bigger pools she said in her geniune voice “this place is amazing Dad!”.

Phillip Island one last time

We went with the Lewis’s to Phillip Island for Maggie’s birthday (usually we end up going for Islas but the dates didnt work). We had to get a new house, great but a lot more expensive. We had the best weather that we have had, and the girls got to go to the penguins on Saturday evening.

Otherwise it was a lovely time – always too short!

A lovely swim in our favourite walk