April 19th 

I have itchy feet, the car is all fixed and ready to go, (I will not go into detail about the cost of this, I am just putting that out of my mind (but thanks very much redundancy package for paying for that one!) we have dropped back the rental car before Mike’s car envy took hold and he turned up with a new one, Mikie’s block of VB is drunk, my bottle of music for the mouth (Kaluha)  is empty and I am on to my last bottle of wine…..surely it’s time to move on!

The kids are in bed and I am just getting organized to hit the frog and toad tomorrow, Mikie has made a little friend a few campers up and has gone to have a quiet couple of beers with his ‘special friend’ ( I personally love how his friend is rocking a 1980’s mullet, that would rival Bon Jovi’s in his day!!!!)

A few highlights/items of note from our trip so far:

• The caravan park has the most awesome pressure in the showers and will be what I benchmark all other parks against.
• Mike+Theresa+alcohol = a very happy marriage

 And for you wondering how I am going having Mike as my main source of ‘adult’ conversation. (and I use the word ‘adult’ loosely…….

• Some of the topics of conversation between Mikie and me at night so far
• Why my opinion is the most important one and all that matters
• Why brown bread is better for you than white bread
• Why things cost so much more than the last time mike went to a shop!!!! (in 1995) Mike has already stated that he no longer wants to know how much things are, I just have to say, wow that was a bargain and he will be happy…(this conversation came about after he learnt the cost of zoo entry, and the cost of take away coffees!!!)

So much more to come!!!!

Oscar took this photo!!!

Adelaide

Monday 11^th April 2011

We headed into Handhorf for the day, which was great, lots to do and see, I think Scarlett’s (and secretly mikie’s hightlight) was the ‘fairy caves and the fairy garden’

We headed off early in the afternoon for the BIG 4 Adelaide Shores for what was meant to be a short stay of a day or 2, however by the time we got to the park our poor car decided to have a little spaz attack of it’s own! What was thought to be a minor oil leak, ended up being the transmission totally cooked!!!

ADELAIDE

The next few days were full of frustration, as we worked out what was exactly wrong with  the car, and once we realized that our short stay would extend into quite a lengthy one we decided to make the most of it and stop and smell the sea air! I think that although the car requesting it’s own little bit of TLC was not a great thing, it has at least forced us to stop and start to wind down.  So instead of pushing on over the nullabor at a great pace we are going to kick back in Adelaide, relax, drink, and sort out the workings of the camper to suit our needs.

Oh and we can visit the beautiful PANDAS, funi and wang wang, at the Zoo!!!

14^th April 2011

So we finally think we have nutted out the sleeping arrangments, Oscar and Scarli share one end of the camper, with Lola in her port a cot at the foot of their double bed  (oscar can not grown more than 5 cm in the next 6 months or he will be kicking poor lola in the head!) and me and mike finally get to share the queen bed at the other end…..you know the saying 'if the camper is a rockin’… Luckily Lola has quickly become accustomed to us all coexisting in the same space and drifts off to sleep with only minimal fussing.

15^th April 2011

Today was another leisurely day of holidaying, we had a long walk on the beach, where Lola took much delight in getting as wet as she could  as soon as she saw the water!!!, it was still a little cool at 8am however I think my kids would swim no matter what the weather. We also went to one of my favourite place IKEA for a quick high chair purchase, unfortunately a little decorating of the camper was not going to happen as mike is under the impression that I already have too much crap with me!! (or as Scarli sternly advised me, ‘don’t say shit or crap mum, say stuff”) After a quick walk through (an hour in Ikea is the quickest I have ever done!) we headed back for a jump on the jumping pillow and the never ending chasing Lola as she gleefully wanders too far away from the camper.

Lola’s favourite new activity is to drop all her food on the ground, then watch as the birds come and eat it all, then when we release her from the highchair, she sits down around the birds and eats her lunch from the ground!!! Nothing but class this one is!!!!

Scarlett’s favourite new thing is to say a million times a day ‘mum/dad can you do this???? As she contorts her fingers into different positions….not in the least annoying!!!!

She comes back from the jumping pillow announcing the name of her newest friend for the day . Oscar is happy to be scooting around and jumping on the jumping pillow with all the other kids, the kids have quickly settled into camp life and don’t even appear to be missing the tv (although they are still fighting over the ds and games on the iphone!)

16^th April 2011

Well today was another beautiful day in Adelaide, the weather was a perfect sunny 22 degrees and although we had to strip and wash the kids bed AGAIN (because dunderhead parents forgot to put a ‘pulll up’ on their daughter!) we had a great day checking out the sites of Glenelg.

The kids definitely had the best day at the Beach House, which is a kids arcade/mini golf/waterslides fun centre, but when I asked them what the best thing was, they both agreed on winning the mother load of lollies in the arcade games!

My favourite game was playing deal or no deal for a chance to win ‘tickets’ for the arcade games! SADLY my no 13 which held a very successful 70 (out of a possible 100) was squashed by a cautious oscar who slammed on the brakes and pushed the DEAL Button when I the bank offered 45 tickets!!!!

In the arvo we went and had a cuppa with my beautiful neice Adi and her boyfriend Aiden, before coming back for a quiet afternoon at the caravan park watching the world go by.

18^th

Today we got our hopes up that the car would be fixed only to get it back  and find that they forgot to do…………………..(it was about this time that my mind starting saying lalala not listening….lalala not listening) I am ignoring the voice in my head that desperately wants to say ‘making sure the car is ok for a trip around Australia was YOUR ONLY job mikie’…but instead I am breathing deeply and saying  SERENITY NOW..(thanks George Costanza's dad), so I will just open the wine and smile….

10th April 2011

So after a lovely but quick visit to the edenhope Saunders clan we headed off again,

we stretched our legs, had our first ‘rollercoaster’ ride and some lunch in Keith before reaching our first destination the Adelaide Hills.

 Even in the drizzling rain, Mike and I managed to set up the  camper without any (oops I missed the M……many arguments), I think we used a little of ‘grandpa in my pocket’s ‘team work’ and the excitement of our first night buoyed our spirits… we then headed into town to get some supplies for an early dinner and our first night in the camper together.  (we also put ponchos on our list of things to buy!)

Day 1

9^th April 2011 – On the Road, at last!!!!

At Mum and Dad's just about to leave

Well after much planning and preparation the big trip has finally arrived! We are very excited to actually be on the road, we have been talking about this for so long that I can’t actually believe the time has come!

fter lots of kisses, hugs and a 'tonni tradition' hanky waving we have finally departed.

Our first stop on the trip was our first BIG thing….every time we drive past Mike always teased me and said he would stop but he never did! And because Mike can’t break the golden rule (of NEVER using ‘we’re making such good time’) as an excuse we finally got to stop….and it lived up to my every expectation (mind you they were pretty low!!!)

The Watsons at the BIG KOALA!

We have been so busy in the lead up to this, that I don’t think we have stopped to even plan more than the first night’s stop. Fortunately we weren’t heading too far with our first overnight stay at ‘ Uncle Andrew’s Edenhope garden resort”  We hadn’t been to Andrew and Di’s for ages and since Georgia has apparently got a life and never visits us anymore we thought we had better give them one last chance to enjoy our company !

I must admit that the edenhope garden resort owners are a little 'odd', but the gardens are beautiful and from previous experience can vouch that the pizza's and beers served here are pretty good! Going to enjoy a lovely evening with Disy and Andy before we finally head towards Adelaide tomoz. 

Andrew and Di's Garden

Our new home!

Well this is what the Watson Family will live in for the next 6 months....omg I need a drink just thinking about it!