Frankston

We finally got made it to Melbourne!!! The nagging about when we would be getting there was getting pretty persistent, with all of the boys eager to spend the remains of their carefully saved Christmas money. Minotaur is the favourite haunt for Drew and Jonas, and Campbell had a Dymocks voucher to spend and visions of finding the Best Second- hand Bookshop in the world!!

We stopped in at Ballarat for a night on route to explore the town. Last visit we didn't get to have a look around the city, so we were looking forward to having a wander around this year. The temperature continued to rise and we were very grateful for a massive pool and spa complex complete with a big screen TV at the caravan park. As we were driving towards Melbourne the next day Drew was laughing about the fact that the TV was ignored while everyone in the pool stopped to watch a cute little baby learning to walk and enjoying the fountains at the edge of the pool. So much more entertaining than watching the news!!

Our first day in Melbourne was spent in Frankston, where we had booked a site for 3 nights. It turned out to be an Op Shop mecca!! Campbell got his fill of books and we found these delightful painted stairs in The Salvos shop. 

We arrived in Frankston on our 19th Wedding anniversary so we enjoyed a lovely lunch and then ice-cream followed by a swim at Frankston Beach. It was a bit too much of a walk down to the water to get Campbell down and he wasn't keen about going for a swim. This is one of the things that I find the most difficult about travelling with Cams. I would so love the opportunity to enjoy the beach as a family, but he is now just too big to carry down the sand. A long walk down the beach would be such a lovely thing to do together, but it is just not something we can do on a whim. Eric and Campbell found a shady place to rest while I had a swim with the boys and although I came back twice to offer to sit with Campbell, Eric insisted that I enjoy a cool swim. 

It was so very hot and Eric and I were light headed by the time we got the tent up- we left the kids in the car with the air conditioning going while we unpacked. There was absolutely no chance of cooking and eating outdoors with the temps still hovering around 44 degrees at 5pm. We headed to the local club for dinner and then lingered for as long as we could before skulking back to the tent. Once the sun started to go down it was slightly more comfortable and we set up a picnic rug to watch the stars appear one by one.

 I certainly plan to make sure that our anniversary is celebrated with a bit more flair next year!!! It will have to be a special one- just look at the figures:

On our 20th anniversary we will be 40 years old.

Campbell will be 16

Andrew will be 12

Jonas will be 8

and our anniversary is on the 14th. 

Just look at all of those lovely even numbers! What do you think we should plan??

Ballarat

The highlight of the trip from Bendigo to Ballarat was our stop off in Daylesford on the way. I am sure this short visit will be a holiday highlight for us all. Not only did I get to shop in the ACTUAL Lark shop after stalking the website regularly for years. Ohhh what bliss to pick things up and look at them from every angle :) I did make a few little purchases- we don't have mush space to lug home too much new stuff and I should probably pace myself. It was a really cold day in Daylesford and we all had to rug up - it felt quite strange in the midst of Summer highs.
We found a funny little coffee shop right next door to Lark, which the boys told me was like a disco inside!! Well it was dark and there was music playing...it had an industrial feel with a real record player, playing real records. It was very cool. We sipped on our hot chocolates and tea when the entertainment arrived!!! A rather theatrical gentleman made a point of a grand entrance, demanding coffee. He then proceeded to have a go on the bongo drums near the door. Of course Campbell was delighted by all of this and befriended him immediately. It turns out that this man is Rob (Robby for his true friends, like Campbell) from Daylesford who can be seen on You tube making cornish pasties- we are yet to check it out. After a lovely duet of 'Danny Boy' with Rob whistling while Campbell sang along- it was time for us to see what other delights Daylesford had to offer. Our Campbell finds quirky delights where ever we go! Daylesford had lots of other lovely shops to meander through. Each of the boys found something to spend their Christmas money on.
We arrived in Ballarat late in the afternoon and after setting up camp we quickly realised that it was not worth investing over $100 in a tour of Sovereign Hill with only an hour left of the day. We decided on a bike ride and walk along the canals instead which was lovely. I have been struggling with a shockingly sore neck and shoulder since the last week of term...with Christmas etc etc there was no time to see the chiro before we left. An early night and pain killers were on the agenda for our night in Ballarat- a bit boring but we were all tired anyway.

Rob- the bongo playing, whistling and cornish pasty expert!!