We are very close at getting back into the camping lifestyle, at least with Maggie, however this was another outdoorsy holiday on the luxurious side of things. We stayed at the nicest house I’ve been in, certainly the most expensive. Maggie was completely in her element, with all the grandparents there, and her two favourite things in the world: a swimming pool and the beach. We even made it to a waterfall but she wasn’t that fussed as she couldn’t swim in it.
For my birthday Claire and I went down to Cape Schanck. It is a new resort and I think the RACV have done a great job with it. I hadn’t been to Point Nepean either, so that was a nice walk, not overly rustic though. That was a bit of a theme of the holiday. We went to some natural hot springs. Unlike what you might find up north, they had been completely tiled and resembled more of a swimming pool. They were very hot though. We went to Bushrangers Bay, again a very nice place. It’s not exactly the true outdoors that I had in mind, but things have changed quite a bit now we are parents. It was a great escape for a night though, and I guess I am now 36!
Over the summer we had a lot of fun in the outdoors. We went the beach a few times, Seaspray and Golden Beach. We went to the Blue Pools and also to Marlay Point. Although this wasn’t a true outdoors holiday, Maggie really loved the day trips. She especially loves the water. It will be great to see her adapt to these things as she grows older. She is getting close to the age where camping will be a lot easier.
Was in Innisfail for a long weekend visiting friend’s of Claire’s. I got a chance to go fishing, unfortunately I had crippled my back and the idea of jumping into a boat and hunting for some massive barra was out the window. However we did some shore fishing and the target was jungle perch.
I had never really heard of jungle perch before, but apparently it’s quite a popular sportfish. It’s small and very hard to find. So we hit the light gear and went for a bit of a bushwalk. The first cast of the day netted my my first jungle perch.
Got three sooty grunter to back it up too. Aaron (from ACM Custom Rods) also got one, and three sooty grunter to back it up.
Was a bit of a shame to miss out on the planned session, but I got a few fish, remained uninjured and ready to fish another day.
Easter and we decided to camp with Maggie – she had just turned one. I expected it to be difficult, and it was. The worst part of camping I think is nap time – on a warm day it is too hot to nap in her bed which was in a tent. Yes, you can nap her in the pram or the parent’s caravan etc, however, she will only sleep 30 minutes in that circumstance and it isn’t ideal.
Biccies and drink by the fire
So anyway.
We got there on Friday after a long day stuck in traffic (we usually try to avoid Good Friday traffic but it couldn’t be helped). Papa and Nanny had decided to come with us for a night – their first camping trip ever. We got there and Maggie was super excited. Pa and Grandee had already set up nearly everything for us, so it was a lot of fun around. We were a bit nervous about the night but Maggie slept very well. It is looked like everything would be smooth.
Swimming!
Action splash shot
The issue of napping arose on Saturday. It was a very warm day, lots of fun at the river. But it was very difficult for Maggie to nap. Plus she loved everything so much, she was very stimulated. That night was terrible. Firstly some horrible people in the camp site next to us were blaring music. The rule of the campsite says “All noise such as radios must be turned off by 10pm. Please be considerate of your neighbours”. They read this as “noise can be unlimited until 10pm”. I complained to the new owners who said they would act but didn’t until around 10.30pm. On one hand I don’t blame the campers, that rule is very ambiguous. On the other, they certainly had a red hot go at us and the onsite managers, so I hope they aren’t allowed back. But anyway.
That night was horrible for us. Maggie was completely overtired and just not herself. She only slept for small stints and basically slept on Claire most of the night.
The next day, Easter Sunday, half of the horrible-camp left, so we were tempted to drive back to sale but thought we would give it one last crack. We were glad we did. Maggie slept well until 3am, but was difficult from there. Which isn’t too bad. And it was a lot of fun sitting around the campfire. A few people suddenly came down with gastro… we got hit too, but not until we had arrived back home on Monday.
Easter egg hunt on Sunday
Happy Easter!
So, overall, it was a lot of fun during the day. I think we made the correct decisions based on the information we had at the time. But gees it was a tough work. Not sure when I will take Maggie camping next, earliest I think at 18 months, perhaps not until next Easter.