Second summer holiday

This time it was with Graham's relations. His mum and her cousin and his brother and his girlfriend were all in Sydney, so we rented an apartment in Manly for three nights.

It had been predicted to be horribly hot, but in fact it was quite pleasantly warm (and we got a short thunderstorm one afternoon). Pat, Louka and I were the only ones awake on Friday morning so we went for a walk along the beach and Louka and I had a swim in the rock pool. Then we had breakfast in a nearby café.

We continued to eat breakfasts in that café, but other meals were either takeaway or "home"-cooked, as it was easier and more comfortable to eat at the apartment. We also visited the house, and took a ferry to the city and back, which was very pleasant in the hot weather.


On Sunday we had to check out at 10am, which was just about the right time for me to drive Graham's mum and her cousin to the airport. On the way I got breathalysed for the very first time. I watched the temperature on the car thermometer go up and up, so it was probably a good day to be leaving Sydney.

Jumping off

Yesterday morning Louka surprised me by showing how she could jump off a box onto the floor. She'd never been able (or game) to do this before.

Now she's mastered the art, she likes to launch herself into my arms from high walls.

The zoo

On of the mothers in our group suggested a zoo visit today, as she had some free tickets. So we headed off early. We met the mum with the free tickets when we parked the car, and walked through a short bushwalk to get to the zoo. Soon we were all assembled so we set off.

First we walked through the aviary, where we saw a couple of eclectus parrots and, just near the exit, a large pale blue bird with an interesting crest. If I find out what it was I'll post a link. (I think it was a Victoria crowned pigeon.) The night animals were easier to see, including bilbies, sugar gliders, various marsupial "mice" and "rats" and a bat hanging from the ceiling of its cage. Some monkeys were a hit with the kids.


By now it was morning tea time and one of the mums had brought cupcakes and chocolate crackles from her younger kid's rained-out party, so we laid out picnic rugs on the lawn and ate some snacks. Here Louka could see the harbour and showed more interested in going down "to the sea" than in any of the animals. So we parted ways with the rest of the group and wound our way down the hill.


The path led into the seal and penguin enclosure, and we spent a little while watching the leopard seal turning and twisting in the water ― it looked so effortless. The penguins ― one of the yellow-eyebrowed species ― didn't grab Louka's attention.


When we were nearly at the water we came to the cable-car, and Louka wanted to go on it. It seemed like a better idea than walking all the way to the top again, so I asked the price and finding it included with the zoo entry promptly got in a car. Up, up, up it went. Louka enjoyed it thoroughly.

At the top she didn't want to see any more animals, but was interested in the zoo shop. I said she could choose one thing. She liked the stuffed animals, but was reprimanded by the shop lady for playing with one which apparently could be bent out of shape. I do think if they leave toys in children's reach which mustn't be touched, they should at least have a sign warning parents. Oh well. Then Louka spotted some speckled eggs. They were the sort that you put in water for 24 hours and a creature "hatches" from them ― she has had a triceratops egg like this. So the egg was her choice.

When we left, I asked what was her favourite part of the outing. "The egg," she said.

We're all going on a summer holiday

For my mum's birthday back in June, my sister and I gave her a family holiday in Gerroa. It was going to be last month, but my parents had just got back from an overseas trip the night before, so we postponed it to this weekend. Then the agent informed us that the balcony had blown off the house we'd booked, so we had to scout around for an alternative house that would also sleep the ten of us.

Graham, Louka and I drove down early Friday afternoon to pick up the key from the agent and to get dinner ready. Trishy and Johnny arrived a couple of hours later having battled peak-hour traffic. Then Micky and family arrived after dinner. I'd hoped to get Louka to bed before they arrived, because I knew she'd be excited to be with her cousins, but I was too slow.

The house was full of stuff. Toys, books, magazines, videos, extra pillows, sheets, etc. It would have been possible, if the weather had been unpleasant, to stay in the whole weekend reading and watching videos.

But in fact the weather was sunny and quite warm if a bit windier than was pleasant. It was nicer (more sheltered) in the shallow lagoon than on the sea beach, which suited Louka very well. There was also a jumping pillow in the caravan park on the other side of the lagoon, which was remarkably difficult to jump on. The others spent some time in the surf but we all ended up in the lagoon on Sunday.