Day 66: Moving to Tamworth

Today started off with the odd rain shower, but the timing was good and we didn't get too wet getting everything sorted.

The trip to Tamworth was fairly straightforward, but we didn't realise the extent of the mountain pass and it's twisty turns. This in itself was not an issue, but approximately 100km of ups and downs, twists and turns meant slow speeds and therefore slow time. We left Halliday's Point at 9.20am and got into Tamworth at 3pm. Quite a long time on the road, but the scenery was spectacular and dramatic, which made it all worthwhile.

After sitting for so long, Duncan and I went for a walk into Tamworth shopping district, just to get a feel for the place and see what is about and have some exercise. Callum and Andrew stayed in the van watching TV and playing on their computers. Tamworth has quite an extensive shopping area and does not seem to be lacking much.

We are going to enjoy the next few days here.

Day 65: Schoolwork, swimming and ravenous parrots...lock up your children!

Happy Hallidays Caravan Park

With the much-anticipated rain on the way, the morning was spent repacking the ute boot and putting the bikes up on the roof, ready for travel tomorrow. It is set to rain for the next five days, so we wanted to minimise personal wetness tomorrow at least.

Next we got down to some schoolwork, having avoided it for the past few days. This was an on and off activity for the whole day, interspersed with swimming and a bit of TV watching.

Andrew had the urge to feed the parrots again, though this time in an upright position, which resulted in the following:


He vows that he will not be doing that again in a hurry!

Tomorrow we move to Tamworth, in an attempt to avoid both the Easter weekend traffic, and the Easter weekend sardines-in-a-caravan-park syndrome. Inland is much less in demand.

Hopefully we will have no dramas...

Day 64: Tuncurry, Forster, Pacific Palms, Elizabeth Beach, Lake Wallace and a Green Cathedral

Another explore along the coast today, this time in another direction - south. Tuncurry and Forster didn't seem to have much in the way of beaches for swimming as far as we could see. There seems to be lots of opportunity for fishing and watersports, but swimming beaches were not on our route.

We pressed on to Pacific Palms further down, and came across Elizabeth Beach, which is where we stopped for a while. The boys had a fantastic time body boarding on the waves and the parents lolled on the beach having lunch and reading books, etc. It was only when Duncan ventured down to the water's edge that he noticed some large fins protruding from the water nearby. Callum and Andrew did their walking-on-water impression and exited the ocean quick smart. There are supposed to be dolphins in these waters, but the uninitiated rurals from Tassie can never be too careful...

Bluebottles also seemed to be present - as evidenced by the odd expiree on the sand - but no one got stung, which was good.

After the 'fin' experience we headed on to other waters, but the urge to get in had by this stage come and gone. We did, however, stop to look at the magnificent Wallace Lake and then on to the Green Cathedral.

The Green Cathedral is an outdoor church, complete with pews, altar, baptismal font and cross. It has an outstanding view of the lake (the congregants would be facing the view, which is directly behind the altar). I can imagine that it would be a very restful place to have a service.

The Green Cathedral, complete with half naked children in wetsuits!

On to Forster for a bit of retail therapy. Well, grocery shopping to be precise. A word of advice to those of you come this way. Woolworths is definitely the better option in NSW. Coles is very ordinary, particularly in terms of fresh produce. This was not the case in VIC, but in NSW...

I was also very pleased to find a hairdresser in the shopping centre, willing to fit me in at short notice, and got a quick trim. All my bottle colour is now gone and I am down to the 'real me'. It looks OK. For now anyway. I might chicken out and go 'fake' before I see too many people I know, when I get back to Lonnie.

Tomorrow we are expecting this blasted rain that they keep promising is coming. It was supposed to be here yesterday, then today, now tomorrow. While I am not complaining about the sunny days, I wish they would get their facts straight at the weather bureau. (We have a weather app on our iPhones that gives the forecast for the whole week ahead. It is updated everytime you go into the app, so it is apt (ha ha) to change from time to time.)

Anyway, we have been postponing schoolwork for the rainy days, so Callum and Andrew are holding their collective breath. Tomorrow may well be the day...

Day 63: Halliday's Point

Today was perfect beach weather: warm, with a breeze - not too cool or strong.

At around 11ish we headed to the beach down the road, to swim between the flags. The waves were the sort that lift you up and dump you down from time to time. The water was beautifully cool and refreshing. The boys had a great time board surfing.

After lunch we made use of the caravan park swimming pool and then the boys wandered over to the afternoon movie that was put on for the kids. The have a big screen set up and a dark room, and it is very much like a cinema.

This is the life...

Day 62: Moving out of Sydney to Halliday's Point

Ok, so for those of you who have been working so hard, and following our holiday thinking 'lucky buggers', today is your day to gloat.

We had a revoltingly stressful day today.

All seemed well as we packed up and headed out of Narrabeen onto Sydney's Saturday morning roads. All was not as it seemed.

As we turned onto the Pacific Hwy, we found ourselves in congested traffic, on a very steep hill, with trucks and their fairly unforgiving drivers thrown in. All of this, plus a 3 tonne van on the back, made for a very unhappy clutch and the smell of burning soon reached our nostrils. The traffic was backed up for ages and the terrain did not seem to be flattening out much. It was certainly all very dramatic.

Both Duncan and I were EXTREMELY stressed, and the boys very quiet. I actually felt sick, thinking that we were going to break down in the middle of the very busy traffic flow and become the 'traffic event' that Sheila so glibly points out a lot of the time. We fortunately found a place to pull-over just as the clutch was beginning to shudder under the strain, and parked there for at an hour and a half. This allowed the clutch to cool down and the traffic flow to ease.

Duncan had the great idea of putting the ute in 4WD for the next 4.7km, which was how far we still had to travel before getting onto the freeway. We did eventually get away from the kerb OK and onto the freeway. It was excruciating. I had to close my eyes at the end there and pray...

The rest of the trip was uneventful (HALLELUJAH) and we reached Halliday's Point 6 and a half hours after we set out! (It was a 300km trip!)

Andrew had a great time feeding the parrots/lorrikeets (?) at the park, as Duncan's video will show. Of course, he was not just satisfied with feeding them the bread - he put it on himself and let them climb aboard. Have a look...

Day 61: Taking a sickie

Yep, you can even do that when you are on holiday.

So, a few things happened today. Duncan woke up with Andrew's cold, which Callum was the second one to get (and which was worse today). So now we have two snotty younger ones and one achy older one. I hope I don't get a turn.

Also, Duncan and I found our muscles talking to us. Shouting at times, in fact, "We are here, we are here!" I never knew that walking down (800+) stairs could use so many muscles. I suppose the best thing would have been to exercise them today, but we were just really buggered and decided to take a sickie. I have had a lovely day reading my book, getting the washing caught up and scanning Japanese stuff (don't ask). We did also do a bit of work on timetables this morning.

Andrew and I felt the need for a swim in the afternoon, so we headed down to Narrabeen beach (just outside the caravan park's gate). The waves looked inviting and there were the lifesaver's 'swim between the flags' flying, so we braved Shark Alley and headed for the waves with the boogy boards. (Shark Alley is the name given to the river outlet, which we had to cross. The tide was out, so we could manage the current and it was shallow enough to get across...and there were no lurking sharks - I did check.) We had a great time with the boards and the waves, though I did get a whole lot of sand in my bathers (ergh!) and the current was quite strong. Once we got tired of this (literally physically tired - it was a job staying upright at times), we headed back across Shark Alley to the beach pool, where we lolled about on the boards for a while.

After a nice, hot shower to get rid of all that nasty sand, Duncan and I had to get some groceries. He dosed up on drugs (you gotta love drugs) and off we went to fill up the tank and get foody stuff. The boys stayed in the van watching TV and pottering on their netbooks. This achieved, we are now - as I type this - sitting in the dying evening light, sipping champagne in companionable silence. For those who know me well, champagne does go straight to my head (especially on an empty stomach) and I am already having difficulty typing all the right letters! Yay for champagne!

So, before I say something I shouldn't, or my typing becomes slurred, I shall say au reservoir for now. We will sleep well tonight.

PS We are moving tomorrow...but that is another story for another day.

Day 60: A blue day...

A Blue Mountain day to be exact. What an absolutely amazing place!

It was just over a two hour drive to Echo Point and Scenic World in the Blue Mountains. The scenery is truly spectacular and awe inspiring. Our first walk took in the Three Sisters and the Giant Steps walk: 800+ steps (steel and uneven stone) down the cliff face to the valley floor. It is incredible how strenuous going down steps can be, and we all ended up with jelly legs by the time we got to the bottom. It was quite a funny feeling.

The Three Sisters are on the left - the three bumps. Giant steps go straight down from the first one!

From here we did a 2.5km walk to the railway: the most vertical railway in the world at an angle of 52 degrees. It is a bit alarming when the seats lie back, there is a metal plate for you to put your feet on - at knee height - and the whole thing has a metal mesh over the top of it. Anyway, we didn't give that much thought at the time and decided to come back to it after having a little explore of the old mining area just further along. This brought us to the cable car option for going up, which seemed quite tame next to the railway, so we headed back there for some thrills.

We weren't disappointed. I am just grateful that it didn't zoom up the hill. There is an 80 metre natural tunnel that it passes through at a very upright angle. One has to not think about the very inadequate provision for stopping the thing at the bottom should the brakes (or something else important) fail. In fact, the 'bottom' is a platform suspended high above the forest - a big 'gulp' factor in itself. I certainly developed an avid interest in the rock faces on the way up. Andrew of course, wanted to go down and up a few more times. Mad!

At the top we had a well earned cool drink, then headed for the 'Skyway', a cable car that travels across the valley at a dizzying height. It has a glass floor in the centre, which you can stand on and look through if you feel so inclined. Duncan and Andrew did, Callum and I didn't...though we did peer over at times. At the highest point from the forest below, you can apparently fit the Sydney Harbour Bridge in with room to spare. Charming. It was quite a gentle ride though, with stunning views.

A glass bottomed floor and forest waaaaaaaay below

A short walk (only 1km this time) back to Echo Point and that was it for us. I don't think I want to see ANY stairs in a LONG time.

The drive back was uneventful (I even managed to have a little snooze), though the traffic did build up a bit. We thankfully missed the commuter traffic and are very happy with the great day that was our day in the Blue Mountains.

Here are some more pics from our day:

Day 59: Lots of schoolwork and walking and beaches

Mixing it up again today, with never a dull moment, we had a variety of experiences today. Having been fairly neglectful of some aspects of school stuff, we started off the day with some work. That done, we were off.

Sheila has had a bit of a break because, really, we were only going to drive in a straight line down to Manly. Duncan decided to take the scenic route, so we got to see a whole lot of houses, cliffs and beaches. We stopped for a picnic in Freshwater, at the top of a scenic lookout, then had a little walk along the beach.

Freshwater Beach

Moving further on to North Heads, we were in search of a walk. We ended up at the ex-artillery base following signs to the gatehouse, not having much idea of what was there and what to do about it. This was a good lesson for the boys in 'going with the flow' and not always needing to know everything that is ahead before you set out.

It turned out to be the main artillery training base during the Vietnam war. This was where the soldiers were sent for training before heading off overseas. The buildings are now leased out to interested parties and the area is therefore not developed. There is a fabulous walk that is fairly flat and takes in plenty of views. It takes about 35 minutes, therefore we decided this was the thing to do.

View from the walk 'up top'

Callum had joked with Andrew that the parade ground was where The Biggest Loser is filmed and we all had a bit of a laugh. However, the joke was on us because this is indeed where the series is filmed. According to the nice lady at the visitor centre the contestants did not seem to be out and about today. We did wonder what sort of painful exercise regime they might be putting them through in the bowels of the buildings, or down on the beaches.

The Biggest Loser house

After the walk up top, we headed to Manly Beach and had another walk along the beachfront (much to Andrew's horror). We were going to have a swim there, but for various reasons decided to leave that until we got back to Narrabeen. Instead, we hunted down an Angus and Robertson, as Callum and Duncan are after a Bonsai book. They are both looking into the ins and outs of Bonsai as a hobby. We found one of those fabulous cheapie shops on the way back, where they were selling boogy boards for $15 each. We did not hesitate to get two for the boys, as beaches are very much on the agenda at the moment.

Along the Manly Beach walk

Once we got back to the van it was time for a swim and we headed down to the local beach pool. The waves were far too rough for body boarding, but the pool suited our needs adequately.

Tomorrow we are aiming to go to the Blue Mountains for the day. Quite a change of scenery.

Day 58: Sand, sea and sun

Palm Beach (the two specks in the water are Callum and I)

A beach day. A Palm Beach day in fact.

This morning we did a bit of schoolwork, then packed a picnic and headed for the northern beaches. The idea was to take in a bit of the area and find a good beach for a swim. We stopped in Newport at the beach for lunch, but it was a bit windy there (and too much seaweed in the water), so we moved on.

Thank goodness we did. Palm Beach is a beautiful part of the world and we enjoyed a lovely afternoon frolicking in the waves and soaking up the sun. Andrew attempted to beat the tide with his sandcastle (he lost) and then the boys took turns burying each other in the sand. We swam for ages, with Callum and Duncan bodysurfing the bigger waves, while I had a leisurely float for most of the time.


It was so relaxing and we didn't get eaten by sharks or stung by jelly fish or nipped by crabs. Just the occasional piece of seaweed brushing around your legs to freak you out a bit.

Who needs work?

Day 57: Opera House, Bridge, IMAX and Powerhouse, with a ferry thrown in

The early bird was still asleep when we were up this morning, girding our loins for the big drive into the city centre again. Well, Duncan didn't seem to mind it too much, but I would have enjoyed a few tranquilisers before hand!

The drive in was pretty smooth, and we found ourselves parked - as early birds - in the same place as yesterday. Of course, we hadn't had breakfast, so headed off to the nearest McDonalds for a typical breakfast.


After fueling up, we had a brisk walk over to the ferry stop to catch the ferry to Circular Quay, to take in the Opera House, which we did shortly before the rain came down. Lots of pics taken and having had a good look around, we decided to head back to the Powerhouse Museum on the Darling Harbour side.

The Powerhouse didn't disappoint. Andrew had enough buttons to push to keep him amused for ages and Callum tried to light up a fire engine with energy generated through leg-power. He was feeling a bit wobbly there for a while after. The 80s exhibition was really good, but you know you are getting old when the delights of your teenage years form part of a museum exhibit! Hmmm.


After lunch we had a date at the IMAX theatre, where we saw Alice in Wonderland in 3D. It was an absolutely amazing experience and we were enraptured for the duration. Not even the persistent crunching and chewing of nearby movie goers was a distraction - which I thought it might be. (One lady in front of us headed for her seat heavily armed with goodies to last her through the movie.)

Heading back to the van was also a piece of cake, having managed to stay ahead of the rush hour. (I still miss Tasmania's quiet roads though.)

There are many marvels still to see here and we look forward to these in the days ahead.

Day 56: Something fishy at Darling Harbour...

Well, we cranked out the sat nav and headed for Darling Harbour this morning. Driving over the Harbour Bridge was kind of exciting (yeah, I know, we're real rurals) and the whole five lane highway thing was fairly freaky to navigate.

Anyway, we did finally get to a parking garage in Darling Harbour and made our way to the Maritime Museum. The displays here are really interesting and worth a look. We particularly enjoyed the Mythical Creatures section, describing how some creatures were dreamed up through misinterpretation/misidentification of bones found, etc. Unicorns, yetis, dragons, and several others were all speculated over.

Spot the Yeti

Heading outside we were able to board and explore the submarine HMAS Onslow, a navy ship (HMAS Vampire) and Captain Cook's Endeavour. We all quickly decided that a submariner's life would be absolutely awful. I bumped my head twice in the submarine and was very self controlled, much to Duncan's relief (head bumping brings out my most un-lady-like language). I don't know how anyone could live down there for an extended period of time, let alone with 60 other bodies in the same space. Makes our caravan look positively spacious by comparison.

HMAS Vampire

HMAS Onslow

Captain Cook's Endeavour

Air conditioned loo on Endeavour

After lunch we opted for a round trip on the monorail. The temperature was really heating up (35.5 degrees) and we thought it a good idea to have an air conditioned ride and take a load off. Quite a few other people had the same idea...so it was quite stuffy in the compartment and quite full of bodies too.

Anyway, we hopped off at the Aquarium stop and headed for the cool indoors. I spotted a sign saying 'Free entry for teachers on 21 March', so whipped out my teacher's registration card and Duncan and I got in for FREE! Yay! We love free stuff! Andrew particularly enjoyed the Aquarium, as he has not experienced one before (he was a baby last time) and got quite excited at times.

We all enjoyed the day, and plan to head back there tomorrow. Early. To avoid the traffic.

Day 55: Hooray for a good novel and free wifi internet!

I think we are getting lazy. Lazy at being tourists, I mean. But well earned and the relaxation definitely needed.

With the promise of a jolly hot day ahead, and the weekenders filling up the park, we decided to go with the flow today. Callum and Andrew, armed with notebooks, ipods and various charging cables, hustled off to the 'free wifi' zone once I released Callum from his Maths lesson. We did not see them until lunch time, when they told us of a new friend they had made - a French boy (11 years old) who is touring the world with his family for two years. The silence (in their absence) was intoxicating.

I spent most of the day lolling on the bed with a novel that I started last night. I had so much peace and quiet that I read the whole thing from beginning to end. How often can one say that these days? Duncan was doing his own 'thing' on his laptop and we had a bit of a look at what we can do during the week when all the locals are at work and school. We have some goodies planned.

The boys spent all afternoon playing with the French boy and we eventually dragged them back to the van at 6.30pm in time for dinner. Leaving Duncan to watch the election results trickle in, the boys and I set off to see exactly what the 'beach' across the road (as mentioned on the park map) is like. Well, what a delightful spot - with rock pool swimming pools to swim in and rocks to stroll over and sandy beaches. Why didn't we venture out earlier? Too hot, for sure, but tomorrow we might head over for a proper swim.

Andrew has been desperate to have a night swim, so he wet-suited up and I took him back over to the pool for a dunk. It was just a quick dunk because everyone else had by now vacated the area and, not able to suppress the South African in me, I did not like feeling vulnerable in a dark, unpopulated spot.

There are apparently storms coming tomorrow. Should make for an interesting day.

Day 54: Moving to Sydney

Getting comfortable at Sydney Lakeside Holiday Park

The drive to Sydney from Canberra took 3 hours and 40 minutes. It was a pretty straightforward trip, with the only freaky bit being the traffic as we approached Mona Vale. Lots of trucks.

The Holiday Park is really very pleasant and we managed to get in before all the weekenders, which is good. Our site is pretty much on the outskirts of the park, which is also good because we don't have a lot of weekender offspring traipsing through. Callum and Andrew are particularly thrilled at the free internet wifi, and spent a good deal of the afternoon playing Runescape over at the Internet zone.

It was lovely to relax on the grass for the afternoon, not doing much but iPhoning and reading. Of course there was the obligatory bit of shopping (Woolworths down the road) and a lovely bottle of sparkling wine (from our Banrock Station visit) to finish the day off.

Tomorrow will be a beachy day, I think, as Duncan has driven enough for now...

Day 53: Sleep in and a long walk

National Gallery Sculpture

This morning started with a delicious sleep in and a late breakfast, which was simply divine.

After a school work session, we had some lunch and then headed to Lake Burley Griffin for a long walk (6-8kms). The section that we walked started at the National Capital Exhibition and took in the Carillon, the National Art Gallery (we perused the sculptures in the garden), the flags at Commonwealth Place and the Australian of the Year walk. The afternoon was hot and the shady bits and drinking fountains were particularly appreciated.

Captian Cook Memorial and Fountain

Flags at Commonwealth Place

The Carillon

On our return to the starting point, we then set out to find the Bonsai garden. On the way, we discovered a whole lot of bats (flying foxes?) hanging in bunches from the trees. They were quite big and very noisy. Andrew was particularly thrilled and tried to attract their attention by waving his banana around. It would have been really funny (for us) if they had taken him up on his offer. En mass. Unfortunately though, they didn't seem at all interested.

Beautiful Bonsai

Tomorrow we move to Sydney.

Day 52: Grants get sporty

First of all, Happy St Patrick's Day! And Happy Birthday to Pat - hope it was a great day for you!

Today was an active day with us heading off first to the Australian Institute of Sport, where we signed up for a 90 minute tour of the place. The first 45 minutes was spent in their Sportex facility, which is set up to let you try out a number of different sports. There is also a lot of memorabilia to see, such as the medals won at various Olympics by various athletes, etc. We had quite a bit of fun here, as you can see from the pics below.

A bit of healthy competition

Sore losers

One of several impressive statues dotted around the place.

Two of the AIS basketballers took us on a tour of the facilities, including the new $20million pool that absolutely no-one other than the swimmers are allowed to use. It has a lot of state-of-the-art equipment and is top secret. The Americans asked to come and look at it, but were turned down. We got to see it through the window.

After lunch we pressed on to the Zone 3 Laser games place. Callum and Andrew were absolutely ecstatic, while Duncan and I were a bit skeptical about the supposed wonders of laser games.

Boy, was it FUN! The first round was parents against kids. We discovered that our children are really quite merciless, and Callum turned out to be the ace of the game, scoring the most points. (Will get him later...) It was so cool, that we just had to have another round. This time we played 'every man for himself': shoot whoever comes your way. It was hysterical. We worked up quite a sweat and Callum was the champ yet again. I came in a close second. Seems I have some lethal tendencies after all.

Apparently 15 minutes playing a laser game is equivalent to half an hour in the gym - so we effectively got an hour's gym workout today. Callum and Andrew went in for one more round, before we departed, soaking and thirsty, heading for home.

Today was AWESOME!

Day 51: The National Museum disappointment and a Black Mountain Tower

Ok, so the other day we were collecting lighthouses, then volcanic craters. Now it feels like we are accumulating museum experiences and it is all starting to blur a bit.

National Museum garden

The National Museum was something we were all rather looking forward to, but we were disappointed by what we experienced this morning. The whole 'Nation' section has been removed and closed. This means that all that great Australian stuff (like Pharlap's heart, etc) is gone. We were left with the First Australians, KSpace and the Indigenous exhibitions and a whole lot of empty space. The general feel of the place is that it is all an impressive shell and not much substance within. It didn't take very long to get around the exhibits. The boys enjoyed KSpace, though it wasn't really educational, just had a bit of a 'cool' factor.

Callum, multiplied

Sharing lunch at the lake

During the afternoon we took a drive over to Black Mountain where the tall Telstra Tower is. It is possible to go up the tower and get a 360 degree view of Canberra, which we did. Callum did not enjoy the elevator ride up 60 metres, as he is claustrophobic, and I did not enjoy standing on the outdoor viewing platform as I don't like heights. In addition, there were large flying ants that the signs warned could sting, which added to my dislike of the open space. I wussed out and went down a level to the glassed in area. This was far more to my preference. Duncan and the boys were much braver and lingered outside for longer, taking photographs. The view was indeed spectacular.

Telstra Tower

Nasty, biting, flying ants

After this we headed back to the caravan park, having had enough of being tourists. The boys had a good jump on the jumping pillow and a bit of a swim. Being a tourist is hard work!

Day 50: A political day

Well, today was one for the parents, starting off by doing our duty at the electoral office in Canberra, voting in the Tasmanian elections.

This was aptly followed by a visit to Old Parliament House, which is now called the Museum of Australian Democracy. We were just in time to join the guided tour and that is just what we did. Not one of our best decisions, as the tour was limited to a very small part (basically a party room, the senator's lounge, the model room and a balcony) and was full of too much dull detail. The tour guide was certainly not very inspirational. Andrew's eyeballs glazed over pretty quickly, but he behaved really well. Once liberated from the tour, we had a look through the senate and house of representatives, the library and a few other rooms, also taking in the portraits of the prime ministers along the way.

Lunch was a sandwich in the green and grassy area between the two parliament houses, before scooting off up the hill to claim our tickets in time for Question Time.

Question Time was particularly entertaining today, with Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard and others of the team on top form. Tony Abbott and his side did not come off too well, I think. While Duncan and I enjoyed the session immensely, Callum managed to find some enjoyment in the general bun fight. Andrew was desperately trying to sit still and kept himself together until 3pm, which came and went but the session continued. He was quite desperate by 3.10pm and we finally took our leave.

A bit of shopping on the way home and a delicious slow cooked pork roast for dinner. The day is complete.

Day 49: A birthday boy, the Questacon and Mint

Happy birthday Andrew! Our 'baby' is nine today. Being a sleeper-inner, it was amazing to see Andrew up with the sunrise and full of the joys of spring. He was very excited to receive a few gifts and was really looking forward to going out for lunch. We have had a cut lunch every day and so today was the promise of junk food a la food court. Something that has not passed our lips since before we left Tassie. They savoured every mouthful.


The day started off with a visit to Questacon, which was a lot of fun and had some exciting bits. Andrew just loved the free fall slide and went on it about 20 times; he just couldn't get enough and he has taken on the mantle of family adrenalin junkie. We all had a go on the simulator ride, simulating a roller coaster, that was really well done. The special exhibition at the moment is the "Perception Deception" display and show, which is about how your brain is fooled. The show was very well done and the exhibition caused a few laughs. It was Duncan's idea to go early to avoid most of the crowds. This was just as well, because of the drizzly weather, many people decided to visit the Questacon today.

Adrenalin junkie at work.

Centrifugal curve ball

Kaleidoscope Callum

The big highlight of the day was the food court. As I said before, we have not done any eating out (even of junk food) and so this was a treat. Andrew's eyes positively rolled back in their sockets at the first taste of his cheeseburger.

After lunch we headed to the Royal Australian Mint. Not operational on a Sunday, but still open to the public and several displays to see. The boys also had the opportunity of pressing their own $1 coin, which they did. It would have been great to see the mint in operation, but I suppose some people have to have a weekend!

Callum and Andrew print their own money.