OMG the flies!

JD and I at Kings Canyon - of course wearing fly nets!

This weekend we decided to try something new, we went camping. For the past year our neighbors and friends have told me over and over how much fun it would be. So with all those conversations in mind and in an effort to make my husband and kids happy, I agreed to camp. You see, I have never camped in my life unless you count girl scout camp one year, which mostly involved sleeping in cabins, swimming and cookie sales training. JD actually enjoys telling everyone that my idea of camping is a 3 star hotel and that being said, he was actually a little worried about me going this weekend, between the heat and the fact that the flies are worse than they have been in years - he was concerned it may not be a great first time experience.......

Me and my fly net, pretty much had it on from dawn to dusk!

So after spending the entire morning preparing food, getting bedding ready, packing coolers and then packing the car we headed off caravan style with our friends to Kings Creek Station near Kings Canyon. We would be camping with 6 families for 2 nights. We spent 3 1/2 hours getting there, on some paved and about 100 kilometers of gravel roads. Now it was time to make camp. Our campsite had a grassy area with trees, a covered table with a counter and sink, a built in fire pit and a bathroom and showers about 50 yards away. As soon as we got out of the car we all immediately reached for our fly nets, what is a fly net you ask- why a screen you put over your head to hopefully keep the flies off your face. Add a little fly and mosquito spray to your arms and legs and you are now ready to enjoy the great outdoors! We spent 2 hours unloading the cars, putting up tents, blowing up air mattresses and setting up the kitchen. At least now the sun was going down which means the flies go away, so off went the fly nets- yeah we can eat! We had burgers and hot dogs and a campfire going and after a long day, we could finally sit down and relax. While checking out the amazing night sky where the stars were plentiful, we also managed to spot the flying beetles, they were a mere 4" long, hanging around our campfire- believe it or not, of all the insects this weekend, these were the least bothersome.

The fire pit.

The tent in the middle, with the blue shade cover is ours.

So after this first day of "fun" the boys and I decide to go to bed. I am laying on an air mattress (24" high) in our tent and the boys are laying on the floor in sleeping bags beside me. We are all just staring at the ceiling for quite a while as Dillon is saying he is nervous that a dingo will come into the camp (did I mention we were camping about an hour away from where "that dingo ate my baby" happened!) They finally fell asleep when Jake awoke with an allergy attack, so needing medicine from the car, I unzip the tent, exit, put on shoes, zip tent, use flashlight to go to car, go back to tent, take off shoes, unzip tent, enter, zip tent back up. Of course this is also the procedure when you have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. So after Jake's allergies calmed down he then said he was afraid of the howling wind so I told him to get in bed with me- JD was still out by the fire. Finally we fall asleep but then wake up about an hour later, the air mattress was leaking. At this point, my butt is on the floor but my feet are in the air- Jake and I look like we are on an adjustable bed gone bad! So I exit the tent (following procedure) to go get JD who is still by the fire, hanging out with Kevin and Captain Morgan! JD inflates the mattress again, it is now 2:30, so I can sleep.

If you look closely at the middle of the pic, you can see people - Jake is one of those people.

Steve helping make breakfast.

I made it through my first night of camping, even in the "little tent of horrors", of course my mattress is close to flat again at this point. The sun has risen and we are up and out- and the flies are back! It is our families turn to make a meal, but with my kitchen assistant sleeping it off I enlisted help from Steve and Ian. Soon we are dressed and heading to Kings Canyon for a hike. Half the group went for the 6 km canyon rim walk (starts off with a steep climb to the top on Heart Attack hill) and the other half did the 2k walk into the canyon. I chose the latter for a few reasons, namely the heat, flies and the fact that during set up I dropped our 10 x 10 shade structure on my shin,getting it out of the car, and now had a baseball sized knot just below my knee. Jake went on the long walk with Steve and his kids and Dillon went with us. I asked Jake what he thought and he said "it was long", no appreciation of beauty from him.

Heart Attack Hill

Inside the canyon.

Another canyon view

Jamie and Dillon always staying in front.

Heather and the boys taking a rest.

The scorpion in the bathroom.

After our walk we headed back to camp for lunch and a swim in the campground pool. The water felt amazing, nice and chilly. The kids and adults played games and splashed for a few hours- everyone enjoyed the pool time. We were all soon back under the shade, just relaxing while the kids played until dinner time. The star gazing was once again plentiful, JD even spotted a satellite and many saw falling stars. Heather and I headed off to the bathroom, this time though we were greeted with a scorpion between stalls 3 and 4. Of course we had to bring everyone from camp to come check it out. The second night in the tent was much better, everyone was sooo tired falling asleep was pretty easy (I took Tylenol PM just to be sure). Of course, we woke up around 1:30 so JD could re-inflate the mattress.

One of the beautiful sunsets.

When we woke Sunday morning, it was a quick shower, a quick breakfast (the flies were so bad this morning I actually told Jake he could have cheese balls for breakfast) and then time to pack up and head home. While I will say camping just might not be my thing, spending time with good friends is always nice. The boys loved it and it makes me smile seeing them be able to run around so freely.  I can actually laugh about the flies now that I am home and about to sleep in my own bed.  So here comes the million dollar question- will I ever camp again? And the answer: only time will tell!

Our amazing cruise in New Zealand!

A picture from formal night, one of my favorites!

One of those crazy jumpers!

We were lucky enough after Christmas to be able to go on a trip that could only be described as the trip of a life time; we took a 14 night cruise around New Zealand.  The cruise departed from Auckland, New Zealand where we spent the day doing a little site seeing before our afternoon departure.  We thought a visit to the Sky Tower was a must see, so that is where we headed first.  It is the highest building in the southern hemisphere, so naturally they offer people the chance to jump off of it – there was actually a line for this service!

The atrium.

Indoor pool

Outdoor pool where they showed movies.

In the afternoon we headed for our cruise ship, the Diamond Princess.  It was a beauty!  The atrium was three stories and looked incredible; there was an indoor pool and four options for outdoor pools.  We spent our time while at sea watching Movies under the Stars, playing putt-putt, shuffleboard, hanging at the pool and of course eating.  We thought the food was incredible; I made a comment that I was not sure if that was because we had been living in Alice for the last year or was it really that good.  The fact that it was an American ship meant American bacon and sausage, two things we have really missed.  Dillon’s breakfast plate looked like a truck driver’s special every morning.  We had made the decision to get a balcony on this cruise and I am so glad we did, we got to see so much more of the New Zealand coastline that way; we were even treated to whales and dolphins.

Maori performers

Carol and Bob getting into the dance.

Traditional greeting.

          Our first port in New Zealand was Tauranga.  We decided to do an excursion here and take in some of the Maori culture.  We visited a cultural center and watched a traditional haka dance and learned their traditional greetings (pressing your forehead and nose against another person).  Our bus driver taught us a Maori song so that we could participate with the performers, everyone got into it, even Carol and Bob.  Then we went for a bit of a drive to some of the scenic spots, it was an amazing landscape.

Picton from near the top of the mountain.

A Maori totem pole.

Our second stop was Picton.  Here we scheduled a private bus tour that took us to visit two wineries for wine tastings in the Marlborough region of New Zealand; their wine country.  It was a shame that a few days after this stop, I discovered we could of brought a bottle of wine each back on the ship form each port, I would of enjoyed a little more than a tasting of a few of these wines.  We then visited the Makana chocolate factory – we stopped ourselves from buying more than two boxes of chocolate but in hind sight we should have bought more – the boys cried when they realized we did not buy the peanut brittle we sampled.  We then traveled to the top of one of the highest mountains in the area for a photo op on our way to a private farm in Oyster Bay for lunch.  The scenery was breathtaking!  Our lunch was mussels, lobster and salad –all local.  We spent a little time on the farm feeding Sally the pig and walking on the coastline but our day was cut short when Dillon fell into an eel pond, yes EELS – gross!  He was filthy and thankfully the owner of the farm let him shower off and gave him a change of clothes (from her 18 year old son), he looked a little like a character from the Beverly Hillbillies with his pants tied up.  He was not in the mood to do much after so we proceeded to head back to the ship.

The boys feeding Sally

Wine Country

Oyster Bay

Dillon in his new outfit.

Our third stop was Wellington, or Windy Welly and it lived up to its name.  We visited the Te Papa museum, which is the national museum for New Zealand.  Of course there was an area devoted to The Hobbit, we even got to see the giant Troll models that were used for the film.  The museum was very interactive and very fun.  We then took the historic cable car ride up to the top of the mountain where the Botanical Garden begins and then did the walk back into the city through the gardens.  This has to be the most beautiful Botanic Garden I have ever been to – JD even enjoyed it.  On the walk down you go through an old cemetery with headstones dating back to the 1830’s, it was really neat to see the size and scale of these memorials – one caught my eye – a full size statue of a man with two adoring females at his feet from the 1870’s, he must have been quite a guy!

Dillon playing around at the museum

Learning to use a rotary phone at Te Papa.

Hobbit Troll

Wellington Cable Car

The infamous statue/headstone.

The botanical garden/

 Our fourth stop was Akaroa, a French colonial coastal resort town.  The streets all had French names and the streets were lined with cottages with some of the most amazing gardens.  There were cute cafes and shops so we finally took a little time to get a little shopping in; I found a Christmas ornament with a glass Kiwi bird inside, my big purchase for the trip!  We visited a light house and JD taught the boys how to skip rocks on the coastline, it was a relaxing day.

Akaroa Lighthouse

Our ship in the distance, this was a tendered port.

Rock skipping lessons.

Our fifth stop was Dunedin.  At this point the boys wanted no more sight- seeing so they opted to stay on board the boat in kid’s care, so naturally JD and I chose a brewery tour and pub crawl for our excursion.  I loved Dunedin, and no, that is not the beer talking!  The architecture in this town was incredible, some of the most beautiful churches and buildings I have ever seen.  We went on a tour of Speights Brewery, the oldest brewery in New Zealand.  It was really fun to see how the beer is made but then we got to go in the tasting room, where they had a “free pour” policy for about 45 minutes; so after willingly trying all the brands, JD and I decided that Speights Distinction Ale was our favorite!  We then headed to an old English pub, The Duke of Wellington, for lunch and another beer, followed by Cableways pub.  Our last stop was a pub right on the water, Carey’s Bay; that not only had wonderful beers but had beautiful views.

The train station

JD pouring a few brews.

One of the many beautiful churches.

The Duke of Wellington pub

Our view from the last pub.

Another beautiful church.

Our next day was spent sailing though the Fiordland National Park, we went through Doubtful Sound, Thompson Sound and Milford Sound.  This is where having the balcony was perfect; we were able to sit on our deck chairs, covered in wool blankets (the high that day was 56F) and enjoy the beautiful view.  It was a cloudy day so unfortunately we were not able to see the snow capped mountains, but with the haze and clouds it had a mystical feeling.  There were so many waterfalls due to the extensive rains a few days earlier, that I actually lost count. 

One of the many beautiful waterfalls.

Doubtful sound waterfall.

Three waterfalls together.

Grandparents/Grandkids

We spent the next few days at sea and one of the nights was a formal night.  After a day of relaxation it was fun to get dressed up.  We had the boys in dress shirts and ties and I thought they could not have been cuter.  We stopped to have our photo taken and ended up loving the result, a friend of mine commented that we looked like a family on the old show “Dynasty” – I am certain this will be one of the few formal portraits we will take.  After a wonderful dinner in the dining room we went to one of the clubs where they were having Elvis hour.  This became my favorite night on the ship as I got to watch the boys dance the night away; it was like a bad wedding as the ties came off, the shirts were un-tucked and the dancing was plentiful.  Dillon then came up and asked me to slow dance with him which afterwards we received applause from the crowd.

One of the many beautiful sunsets while cruising.

Our sixth stop was Hobart, Tasmania.  Our morning was spent at a wildlife reserve, the boys had a mission in mind, which was seeing a Tasmanian Devil!  The reserve had about 50 kangaroos roaming freely, this of course was a big draw for everyone but us. Now that we have been in Alice for over a year, seeing a kangaroo is so common that I wanted to move directly on to the other animals.  We got to see the elusive Tasmanian Devil as well as koalas and wombats.  I think the wombat was the highlight for me since “Sometimes I Like to Curl Up in a Ball”, a children’s book about a wombat was a family favorite when the boys were small. We then did a few walks around the city stopping at a James Squire restaurant for lunch. Hobart was a great coastal town with much to offer.

The sleeping Koala

Tasmanian Devil

The boys at the Wildlife Sanctuary.

.The little wombat,

Well the night we got back to the ship from Hobart, I caught the dreaded gastro illness – I was sick all night, so much so that JD called medical in the morning.  Later that day I was told I had to go the medical office due to my high fever and heart rate – but soon I was feeling better, after a shot of Phenergan in the hip, 6 prescription Immodium, 5 Panadol, 24 hours sleep and an IV drip.  I am not sure if it helped or hurt that my doctor looked like George Clooney with a South African accent!  It was hilarious to watch the ship’s crew come into our room twice daily with their hazmat suits on to disinfect the room.

This bridge was built in the 1800's.

One of the many art pieces.

The bar under the bridge.

Another art piece on the walk to the Aquarium.

An enormous stingray.

As I am not one to be kept on lock down, I was released from my room at 10:30AM on the day we reached Melbourne, so while we did not get a full day in port at least I got to see some of it.  What an amazing town, we took the walk from the Art Center to the Aquarium (boy’s choice) and got to see an amazing mix of historic architecture, contemporary buildings and incredible art installations, I loved it.  We spotted a bar under the bridge, surrounded by water that the boys wanted to go to but I was not quite up to bar hopping!  The Aquarium was quite nice and the walk- through tunnels were the best we have ever been in.  We saw the largest Stingrays I have ever seen in my life.  The little bit of time we had left was spent walking around the city and to our surprise we saw a 7-11 store, can you say Slurpee!  It is funny the things you miss living in the Outback!  Then it was off to Sydney, where we disembarked and spend another 5 days there.

Our ship docked at Circular Quay in Sydney.