Category Archives: Swimming

Easter 2024

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Maggie and I went down to Paradise Valley for easter. Quite an expensive flight! But anyway – it was a lot of fun. The weather was absolutely ideal. Hot in the day, cool at night (Wed/Thurs night were freezing) and zero wind. Even rained on the Tuesday we left!

Maggie had loads of fun and was full of stories when we got back. Apparently equal best was kayaking, Kay’s pesto and the dunny run. She spend nearly every day in the water playing. We made the older kids do the big walk. Maggie did not like it – and had trouble watching where she was going. Ended up with quite a few scratches from the blackberry bushes.

Litchfield in the Wet

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Maggie and I took Jesse, Anna and Izzy down to Litchfield for the day. They were going to arrive a bit later so Maggie and I hiked to the top Green ant falls. It was about 30 minutes, though straight up. The swimming hole is absolutely lovely and Maggie quite liked the walk once we got there.

Afterwards we met at Wangi then onto Tollmer, both to see the big waterfalls in the wet season.

After that we all went to Upper Cascades. Apparently 2.3km we think it was closer to 3km. Speargrass was everywhere, was a decent walk but perhaps a bit too long for the kids. It was a reasonable spot to swim, but the current was so strong! You had to really pick your spot.

So overall a really nice trip. We got home around 6.30pm, Maggie was exhausted!

Litchfield Trip

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We went down to Litchfield for a single night. Stayed at Litchfield Tourist Park in a cabin, $270 a night but it was very nice and Eddie loved it. The first day we went to our picnic spot near Florence, there were people in the main area but otherwise it went okay. Eddie didn’t like it at first but was soon floating Maggie’s shoes down the stream (where I would catch them) with glee.

That night we went back and had a few beers and a dip in the pool before microwave lasagna. The kids were playing together and loving it.

The next morning after some lovely bacon and egg muffins we went to Buley Rockholes – Maggie’s favourite – so we could jump off. It was a great plan, by the time we left the younger crowd with their stocked eskies were arriving. The 9-1130 trip really went well. After a picnic (and Dad driving up and down while everyone slept) we went to Walker Creek. We tried for the walk but it was too far – however the picnic spot next to the bridge was amazing. It was Eddie’s favourite and I think it will become our favourite soon.

Litchfield Trip

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We decided to book a room in Batchelor and take an extended trip in Litchfield.

We went straight away to the Buley Rockholes. Eddie was very excited and it was a huge amount of effort to keep him from hurting himself. Maggie thought it was the best and was happy jumping and swimming around and playing in the small waterfalls. Clarie did her best to keep up with a broken foot (and was thankful for the footware that I’d bought her).

That night we had a parma and a pint and there was a karakoe night on which made it difficult for me to sleep – but not for the rest of the gang.

The next morning we went to the Walker Creek day area, which was alright but probably not worth a revisit. Eddie had slept the whole way there so it made things awkward and we went to Wangi straight after and he was not in the best spirits, although Maggie was loving it, and we touched both waterfalls.

It was an extended trip back home as we got 45 minutes of sleep into Ed and we all got in the pool when we arrived back.

The next morning we went to the picnic spot and Florence. It was Claire and my favourite and the kids were in good spirits. From there we headed home.

Gippsland Trips 2023

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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.