Category Archives: Swimming

Gippsland Trips 2023

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Had some reasonable weather when we went down. We managed to get to the beach (in the morning to avoid the wind which was a good move) as well as Stratty bridge and McKinnons.

Seaspray – Maggie loved it but complained about how cold the water was. Eddie was uncertain at first but slowly warmed to it. Flo was there and liked to dig – and eat – the sand.

Stratty Bridge – We actually went twice as it was the kids favourite spot. There was a strong current in some shallow water which let Maggie ride her board down it. Eddie was in seventh heaven with all the rocks and sand and water to play with. He did not want to leave at all. Maggie “rescued” a girl which involved her getting freaked out in the thigh-deep water because of the current and Maggie took her hand and brought her to the shore. She loved it and everyone heard the story as soon as she saw them.

McKinnons – It was interesting as there were loads of cars and tents on the rocks. It wasn’t as kid-friendly as it had been in the past with lots of alcohol going and music pumping. We found a quiet-ish spot. Ed didn’t quite like it as much, I think because of the difficulty he had with moving around on the rocks. Was still a nice day though.

Berry Springs with the kids

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Ed’s naps have prevented us from being able to travel to Kakadu and Litchfield, but Berry springs is only 40 minutes away. So we decided to head down early one morning. Claire and I were unsure just how much he would get out of it, but we knew Maggie would love it.

Well, it turned out Ed had a great time! He couldn’t do much but hang onto his Mum in the shallower part, but still thought it was a blast. And Maggie absolutely loved it. It was hard describing it to her, she seemed to think she was going into a big pool that looked like a lake. But when she got there she saw the fish and we swap downstream to the bigger pools she said in her geniune voice “this place is amazing Dad!”.

Easter 2021

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Ed was only 8 months for this Easter so Claire decided to take him up each day. We arrived on Friday and left on Monday. The weather was wonderful, around 25-29 each day. The kids spent most of the time in the water and it was freezing – they all shivered but claimed not to notice.

It was an amazing holiday, the kids all played really well together. They invented a game called “Touch Mouse” which one would shine a touch on the ground and the others would pounce on it. They went on a “dunny run” in the ute and as Lindi drove them away they all chanted “dunny run, dunny run” and Claire pointed out they probably didn’t know what it was. When they arrived back Maggie said to Claire “We went to the toilet!!”

Maggie loved handing out the chocolate brownies and birds nest she had made with Claire so much that when the Easter Bunny came and left her a humpty dumpty she decided to give out the smarties to everyone.

Another funny comment was because Maggie was having difficulty telling “Tony” and “Uncle Brian” apart and she said to me on the last day she kept “getting confused because they have the same head”.

As always, these trips tend to be the hardest to write up as they are just made up of many little moments. I doubt we will get weather this good again for a while – but hopefully we can all camp as a family next year!

Maggie outlasting everyone in the water, chanting “Canooooe”
Ed very happy eating mud

Freestone Creek

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The Blue Pool was once a “locals” spot where if you were from the area you knew about it. Now, it is totally loaded with people so much that is it barely useable.

Using google maps (and a chat with a mate) I found another spot on the same river that looked quite good. It did not dissapoint. It was one of the prettier spots we’ve been to swim and Maggie had an absolute ball.

The sun set behind the escarpment early in the afternoon so the lack of shade wasn’t that noticeable for Ed. The parking was pretty tight but it was a 35 degree day on a Saturday close to the Christmas and New Year break.

Overall we will definitely be back.