We enjoyed our first trip away as a family of 4
We took our first family holiday as a foursome this weekend – our first time away just the four of us. We stayed in Healesville and went to the Sanctuary. It was only an overnight trip, but we had a wonderful day in and enjoyed the break together.
I had the Friday off work as time in lieu, so with a rare weekday and no work to do, we planned a couple of weeks earlier to make this trip and enjoy some family time. Despite these intentions however, we didn’t book our accommodation until a few days before, and as it was a long weekend (Monday was the Queen’s Birthday holiday), we were lucky to still get a place to crash.
We drove the hour and a half and enjoyed the windy path through green trees and misty vapour. It’s strange tht not too far from the city, really, is this beautiful neck of the woods where nature is on show and the CBD swagger is nowhere to be seen. So refreshing!
The motel we were staying in was in bad need of a lick of paint and some more homely touches, but it was warm, dry and had plenty of beds for us all to sleep in. That afternoon was pretty drab, so our plans of playing in the park were quashed. Thankfully we’d packed plenty of toys and food, so we set up a big rug on the motel room floor and played with blocks and ate cakes and drank coffee. It was the best of a miserable afternoon and we had some fun.
As dinner time approached, we jumped in the car and went for a drive. The motel’s folder of suggested hospitality left a bit to be desired, so we made use of the Around Me app on my iPhone and decided on a family Italian-style pizza house. We got a large pizza and some pasta to go, and headed back to our motel. On getting inside and started our dinner, we realised we must have forgot to ask for flavour with our meal – it was bland and shit. Salt and pepper helped somewhat, but it was still disappointing.
After dinner, we played some more before packing the boys up and getting them off to sleep. The wife and I watched a movie on TV and went to sleep as well – me in the singe bed with Leo, and her in the double with Gus. It was kinda cute, but I didn’t sleep a whole lot, owing to the dreamy kicks to the ribs that a slumbering Leo is so fond of dishing out.
Day 2
An early rise for me (was I ever really asleep?!) and I popped out to get some coffee, raising toast and the paper. We had a good breakfast and I had too much toast, but felt full and warm and ready for the Sanctuary!
It looked like raining later in the morning, so we stopped at a cheap shop and picked up a couple of umbrellas – one for us, and a cute little kid’s one for Leo. As it turned out, he wouldn’t get a chance to use it, but it lives in the car boot and shouldn’t be waiting too long for a workout!
We drove to the Sanctuary and were pleased to see very few cars already there. It meant we’d have a good run through and could take our time, not worried about holding people up and anything that can happen when you have kids in public places! Leo was all rugged up in jumper, jacket, beanie and scarf, and had some wet weather shoes on as well. He looked a picture, and smiled as we walked towards the entrance.
After paying a small fortune for entry, we started walking and pretty quickly happened on some Kangaroos – Leo’s favourite! He’s seen the ones at the Ballarat Wildlife Park before, where you can walk right up nd feed them, though here you couldn’t. It was hard trying to get him to understand and he cracked it a little, but still smiled a lot when he looked at the big roos!
Over the course of the next hour we wandered around and saw koalas, platypuses (or whatever the plural of platypus is) an echidna, some snakes and…
EAGLES!
We went to the ampitheatre and sat down for the Eagle show. Leo was entranced, and watched a few different, enormous birds of prey fly low and swift – including one that flew right over his head! He had a blast and I took some footage of him, which will be good for the video albums.
After the eagles we went and sat down at a little table and unpacked the sandwiches we’d taken along. We also had a thermos of coffee, which warmed up our cockles and hit the spot. As lunch finished and we started walking around again, both the boys fell asleep in the pram, and would be out for the best part of an hour. The wife and I walked past a few things we wanted to see (Tassie Devils for me!) and then began to make our way out. We stopped at the gift shop to get the obligatory fridge magnet for my beer fridge, when I spied something that opened a forgotten memory in me: puppets!
When I was 4, my father spoiled my younger brother and I with a couple of animal puppets when on a family trip to Adelaide. We weren’t loaded in those days so it was a real treat. I got a kookaburra, and my brother a parrot. I’d forgotten all about them but when I saw the animal puppets in the gift shop, the ‘circle of life’ was too appealing, and I bought a couple of animal puppets to give to my boys – a cockatoo and a kangaroo.
We packed up the car again, stopped by the bakery for a few tasty cakes to have with dinner, and headed home. It was only a 24 hour trip, and only an hour and a bit from home, but our first family holiday as a foursome had been a good one. The boys saw some new and exciting things, and my wife and I enjoyed a break from home and seeing the smiles on our kids’ faces.
Hopefully it won’t be too long before we can enjoy another holiday together.
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