Coal Creek

On our way to Inverloch with Gord's folks, we stopped at Coal Creek, our closest local equivalent to the Mennonite Heritage Village. Actually, the two places are remarkably similar. I guess all that old-fashioned stuff wasn't that different, continent to continent! The pics tell the story - look out for smoochy couple shots of the tourists!







(Photo war with Auntie Ev!)





(Gord doing the can-can while belting out 'Doe, a deer...' from 'The Sound of Music.' Some people were left wishing they'd had their video camera ready for such entertaining entertainment!)

February: Holiday in Geelong

Gord is determined to take more holidays this year. Hence, we found ourselves in Geelong, a satellite city about an hour out of Melbourne (and more like two from our place, cos it's on the other side of the big smoke). The highlight for the kids was a trip to Adventure Park, which claims to be Victoria's first water theme park. It was fun, but will be better when the kids are older. Piper was barely high enough for a lot of the stuff, and both her and Jas were a bit freaked out by the huge amounts of water pouring periodically over the play structures! Still, lovely weather and good memories...

Piper's favourite part was the lazy river. She was too scared to go on it at first, and then by the end of the day, she was going round by herself!

This was the slide none of us went on!

Transition in NZ

Feeling a bit weepy in our apartment in Auckland (just for one night). So much transition in the last few days. Hard to know that our house has been totally dismantled, and probably passed on, by now, even though it was always going to be this way… Makes it feel like it was never our place, even though we made it home for a while.

It feels surreal that the time has come to return to Australia. A part of me can’t believe that we’ll be there tomorrow, hugs all round at Tullamarine with Mum and Dad. It’s been so long coming, in a way. And yet it’s not like our time in Canada felt long, not when I reflect on it from this end of things. Moments felt long and I felt far away from home sometimes, but in its entirety, it seems like the time went very quickly.



The space on Waiheke Island was very good. Got a bit of the jetlag processed, although we’re all still going to bed early and getting up early. Constant sound of the waves. Lots of travelling around the place on the bus, which the kids loved. And I loved too. Time on the beach. Beautiful, beautiful overland hike, Piper walking all the way and Jasper in our arms. Good to spend time with the kids with little other distractions (of work or projects or social life, etc.). Exploring other towns – usually the cafes! The food! No internet, only now in Auckland. Instead, I deleted around 2.5gb of photos off my computer from 2007. We bought the camera just before Jasper was born in May, so we were a bit trigger happy! Felt great to declutter, even in my digital landscape.

(jetlag!)

(riding the bus)


Been drinking lots of coffee! Flat whites made by someone else for $4 here in NZ, which comes as a shock after being in Canada, but it’s so nice! Makes me feel at home somehow, or closer to home, all this brewed coffee available from everywhere.

The kids travelled very well, on the whole. Jasper really notices the transitions, needs more hugs, but so do I. He had a really crappy night’s sleep the night before we left, which was pretty stressful for us (he fell asleep around 6.30am!). But somehow we managed, got through the six hours at Vancouver Airport (we all crashed out on the nursery floor for an hour and a half, not that we slept, but it was lovely to be in a quiet, dark space). And somehow the interminable night on the aeroplane passed. How can thirteen hours on a plane pass, especially with tired young children? But somehow it did. It went well, but if I never do a long flight with young children again, I shall be very happy. The difference from last time to this, last time when we travelled with Piper, was that neither Gord nor I brought hardly anything for ourselves to do or read, etc., cos the reality is, you don’t get time to read with two kids! A bit of TV watching and that’s it. Felt good to be realistic – we’re getting to be real parents!

(Oneroa beach)

(Piper's shot of me)

(The picturesque walk!)


Anyway, I know this is probably only interesting to me. I’m just venting. Hope the photos balance my words a bit! Love to all, from this transitional limbo space. Lots of missing and sadness to process, and somehow squeeze some anticipation in there too… not sure how I can hold both…

Holiday house!

Want to drool over the holiday house we hired in New Zealand?? Four nights on Waiheke Island, a ferry-ride away from Auckland... right by the beach... now all we need is perfect weather!

That's heading our way in three weeks' time. And after that, one night in Auckland, and then landing in Melbourne the following day, the 17th of October. It's surreal thinking about it, and it's coming so fast...

Falcon Lake

Last weekend we headed to Falcon Lake, about an hour's drive east of Steinbach. We rented a cabin with Pat and Dar, and their next door neighbours, Dale and Shannon. Other friends, Jason and Shannon, were staying in a cabin behind the one we had, and other friends, Garth and Wendy, were also close by! (That's twelve kids altogether!) So we made the most of Saturday arvo/evening, which is when we were all present and available. Bit of a BBQ, etc.

Here's our cabin...

We had the cabin to ourselves the first night, and then slept in a leaky tent the other two nights - it wasn't too bad, actually, except for rolling over the second morning, and a whole puddle of water that had seeped through the sleeping bag rolling onto my thigh - that's one way to wake up!

Chillin' out, reading How Jesus Became Christian...

Piper's hiphop!

Piper and Tobin in the wagon...

The kids were mad, wanting to go in that freezing water, Jasper especially!

He still wants more!

Watch out - explicit content in this post!

Pat and Dar hanging out...

The kids are only nudey-rudey cos we thought it was way too cold for swimming and didn't bring their bathers to the beach. Lack of decorum or modesty didn't stop them getting wet though!

Jasper, Jayden and Tobin

Dale, Pat and Gord...

Paparazzi! Dar got some nice shots of us - thanks mate!