Elephants bums and fornicating snails

A busy weekend! On Saturday M took the kids to buy new shoes in Colchester and then on to the zoo to see elephants (for some reason the kids have been desperate to see elephants since we got to england). A big hit, they came home with a toy tiger each as apparently we do not currently have enough soft toys. R went for a couple of hours ride...M is off to the US for three nights next week so need to get some r&r in now!

Sunday wet and grey so of course this is the day little M decides she wants an adventure - specifically she wanted to go climbing. Managed to sell her the idea of walking around in the rain as an alternative and drove out to Devils Dyke. This one of a number of saxon ditch and mound structures (all of which seem to be called devils dyke) in this area. It runs 12 miles in a fairly straight line cutting across the line of no less than 3 roman roads. Apparently it was intended to keep the roman british at arms length in 600-700ad. Starts in a swamp and ends in forest/swamp. Masses of beautiful snails out and about...a number were observed to be reproducing. All got soaking wet and muddy so lots of fun.

Bank Holiday Long Weekend

Forget Paris and Eurodisney - we've been to Newark and the reenactment of the siege of 1646! Saturday was a quiet day pulling the wheels off the car to look at brake pads and a street bbq in Marlowe Rd at the back of the house. Beautiful day and evening, we fired up the barbie for the first time in the UK (it was far and away the biggest in the street). Sunday we drove up to Newark near Lincoln to see a reenactment of the siege of 1646. About 2 hours of 'are we there yet'.
Newark is a town which looks like it is a just a bit far from London...if it was an hour closer it would have been crawling with visitors but as it was the town centre was pretty much empty, everyone was at the reenactment at the castle, and even that wasnt too busy. Cannons do in fact roar loud...there were about 5 cannon banging away on and off all day and sporadic musketry to and from the castle. Usual displays of 17th century craft, food and military drill. J&M updated their sword collection - once again proving that you cant have too many swords! Renee came with us - last time we went somewhere with Renee was to another civil war reenactment in freezing rain, at least it didnt rain this time (not too much anyway!)

More holiday news

Time to finish the posting for the Easter term break. Last day on our journey to Charmouth we went to Maiden Castle, the largest intact hill fort in Britain, and boy is it impressive - they say about 50 football pitches inside. Really quite an impressive structure - kids particularly enjoyed rolling down the sides!! We drove back home uneventfully and had a relaxed weekend.

M went to see Bach's St Matthew's Passion at Kings Chapel and it was truly fabulous - 3.5 hours long and a very numb posterior by the end of it. Incredible performance though. Next year try for a better seat. Took the kids to London to the Natural History Museum, which they loved, it was INCREDIBLY crowded. In fact the calmest and least crowded place was the basement lunch room reserved for kids!! We didnt get to the dinosaurs part cos the line to get in to the animated dinosaurs was 1 hour long!!!!! Thankfully we were able to convince the kids that there are other things worth seeing. They were blown away by seeing the fossils of ichythasaurs collected from Charmouth and Lyme Regis where they had just been. Little M has adopted Mary Anning as a sort of heroine at the moment - way cool. She has got a whole heap of fossil and natural history books and pours over them - and makes me read her descriptions of types of rocks for her bedtime story. This is very boring for mother, but she thinks its fascinating. Obviously not a fairy story kid anymore, though has seen the Narnia video with a friend and thinks its the best ever. They started back at school today, which both were happy about, so onwards to the next break at the end of May. And the weather is finally improving so things are looking up!!

Easter break - part 2

Next day dawned gloriously sunny, though still fairly brisk! We drove down to Dorchester, which is a lovely town, and went to the 'world famous dinosaur museum' which was pretty good. Havent seen J so excited for ages - jumping around so much I doubt he looked at anything! Then on to THE BEACH. We had booked a caravan break for 4 nights but one doesnt get in until 4pm here, so we stopped at West Bay which is the first beach near where we were - all gravel of course, and R and the fossil hound went fossil hunting. A good time was had by all. Then on to Charmouth, which is one of the great fossil hunting beaches - and it was GOOD. Had everything, sand, sea, river, fossils.... and the sun shone (tho I doubt it got about double figures temperature wise the whole time we were there).

We had a great time finding fossils of ammomites and shells and looking in the mudslides and cliffs. We walked on the Cobb at Lyme. R and J walked back from Lyme Regis to Charmouth one day and while J skipped daintily across the mud, R SANK and only escaped by abandoning his shoes and crawling out. Unfortunately I have no pictures but it sounds pretty funny. J said he was going to write school holidays reports of My Dad Fell in the Quicksand - I cant wait!!

Easter Break - Part One

Well being fed up with the cold and dreary Cambridge term we decided to take off for a 5 day break. We have wanted to go to Stonehenge, Salisbury Cathedral and Lyme Regis/Jurrasic Coast for a while so we decided to just do it. Weather on the drive down was pretty bad - we left on Sunday morning which is the only time to drive anywhere in this country, so we had a good run.
We got to Stonehenge in just over 2 hours (how do we know - cos the Audi has a REALLY ANNOYING feature of flashing 2hr at you repeatedly if you have been driving more than 2 hours - hope there is an override on this in Aust!!). Stonehenge was really impressive, as were the barrows surrounding, truly an amazing thing. Fairly packed with tourists, but not appalling - but then it was REALLY cold with a bitter wind. All photos show us cowering in the freezing wind, and then it started to rain so we scarpered. The kids were really impressed.

Next stop was Salisbury Cathedral - which on Sunday was free (donation anyway). Cathedral has amazing ceiling as well as other wonderful features. Kids loved all the amazing sculptures - including the death throes ones!!! Salisbury itself seemed a bit run down, and it was pouring with rain still so we went on through the
Salisbury plains looking for somewhere to stay. Tried one place, cheap but only a 3 bed room, no good - the next had 2x2bed but 180 pounds a night.... haha.... but just up the road found a lovely B&B in the old bakers - and added bonus it was opposite Nigel Mansell's old garage (for DD this is pictured - apparently Mansell used to land his helicopter in the field opposite and come over, as you do, the B&B owner used to like going over and looking at his cars - it was just outside Blandford Forum in Pimperne).

What have we been doing for a month!

We havent posted for a whole month - what slackers. Obviously life is not exciting enough. Here is our very humdrum news. We have been homebodies pretty much. Yesterday went to a lecture for children on pterosaurs, which J very much enjoyed - particularly the demonstrations of flight. Part of the Cambridge Science festival which is always good but very crowded. Lots of kids parties, including snake parties, the latest craze where reptiles come to the party and the kids all get to touch and learn. Little M went to a football party today, which she enjoyed but I am not quite sure why given she was one of 2 girls and as far as I can see hung out on the sidelines most of the time, but she got stuck in to the party games and seemed to have a good time. She is pretty tall and fast so when she joins in she keeps up with all the boys no problem. Then its been an endless round of school and sickness. J has started his visual therapy which he says is more fun than the exercises he has to do for his kness anyway.
Looks like all announcements of spring were premature!! Its been freezing, and we have had more snow in the past couple of weeks than the rest of the winter (well the bits we were here anyway)! Kids went to Duxford today to look at the aeroplane museum, something they enjoy with R, big M has been once, thats enough for her - so she stayed home!!

Recipe for Marital Breakdown

1. Have children sick for a week at least and add slightly unhealthy feeling to parents.
2. Go to a city where you have been only once before. City MUST be in northern hemisphere (reasons apparent below).
3. Think selves very clever, take clever bus service from outskirts of town parking area to centre of city.
4. First failure - bus drops you about 1/2 mile from where you thought, area NOT covered by map. People in so-called information centre have NO maps, not even that you can buy.
5. Cross town somewhat erratically - meet angel of mercy (wandering tourist ranger!) who gives map and instructions. Meanwhile feeling slightly stressed as to whether will make it on time.
6. Find puppet theatre. Deposit children, run off for supposedly fun quality time, but both too grumpy and cold to enjoy.
7. Need to find way back to bus station. HE proposes we take so-called short cut round back of castle as on map. SHE proposes go back the way we came.
8. Go HIS way. Get to intersection, turn wrong way, SHE refuses to budge and says its THIS way, he says NO, she says YES. She wins and he grumps that its wrong. Eventually she is proved right. (There is a sodding great castle in the middle of the town making it reasonably straightforward).
9. Next intersection, HE says, this way, SHE says, NO THIS way, bit of an arugment, SHE takes map, finds shortcut and arrives at bus station.
10. Thus HUMILIATION for him (apparently - see next entry on blog).Reality is that he navigates N/S/E/W by the SUN, but fails constantly to adapt to Northern hemisphere (we were once similarly lost at noon in Australia when HE got it wrong), whereas SHE navigates by looking at HUGE GREAT CASTLE which tends to give a sense of where one is in the town.

Suffice to say much fun had by all!

Best part of the day however, was the gizmo pictured below which came with the new other gizmos - clearly designed because everyone knows no man ever reads the instructions BEFORE trying to plug all the gizmos in. cos of course they know how it works!!! Definitely highlight of my day.

Half Term and Plague

Half term holiday has been an absolute blast...J & M were off for the last Friday of term sick and we didnt get out of the house except to go to the doctor until Friday. So not a lot of very exciting things to report except for the daily phlegm report and overnight temperature maxima and minima (the kids not the weather). We went to Norwich on Friday for first outing of the half term - Mardi booked the kids into a puppet making workshop followed by George and the Dragon puppet show. They had a good time, but on the way back to the bus stop I got 'lost' and Mardi found the way which is a total humiliation.

Spring may not be here yet but the signs are all there! Lots of bulbs and blossoms starting to come out and it doesnt get dark till after 5pm!


I installed a wireless adsl modem router...a source of great mirth for M since it included the following warning which she claims is specifically aimed at the male audience (ie read the instructions first).

Not exactly prague...

OK, so it isnt -17 but hey, it's cold for here...we have been having the odd -5 night which is a little inconvenient for the ducks! How do the swans cope in Prague? On the plus side we have had a 'fair bit' of sunny weather, more than normal I think. J's class have been studying rain and all the kids have had jars out to measure rainfall for the last two weeks - so of course there hasnt been a single fall of rain for exactly 2 weeks. Now the project is finished I am expecting torrential rain for the next month.

Finally another car!

Great excitement, we bought a 2000 Audi A4 today, in my favourite colour (R says this must be why I picked it out of the lineup). So will be mobile again hurrah!
Had a busy couple of weeks since getting back from Australia. Little M turned 6, and had a dress up party - which she enjoyed immensely. Kids have been to the opticians and we have Visual Therapy to do with J, but hopefully it will help. J is now officially a cub, very excited about that. Loves cubs, but missed out on the excursion today as he hasnt been very well for a couple of days - sniffles etc. They are both playing quietly downstairs with dolls and dressups. Work is hectic, was supposed to go to Venice this week but had to postpone til later on. Half term is coming up, but I dont think we will get away at all - might go to Bath in Easter break I think. Renewing kids passports - thats always fun. And big news is we have booked to go to the Dolomites in August. That is going to be GREAT!! Anyone who wants to come is invited, but let us know soon cos accommodation has to be booked. Not cheap but something we have always wanted to do - R has had a guide to Dolomites for about 15 years!!

Lake St Clare

New year saw us heading up to Lake St Clare for a walk from Narcissus to Echo Point (wonderful things ferries). We met up with friends from Canberra - J & M's best friends in fact. The weather was grey, windy and wet. We caught an 8am boat up the lake with our boxes portmanteau and bags...the ferry captain was highly amused when the suitcase went aboard! Dropped of M and RJ at Echo Point with all the gear - they set up the hut with all our stuff and then started walking towards Narcissus to Meet R and AS with the 4 kids. They seriously blotted their copy books by asking us if we would alright with all the kids...so what have we been doing for the last 8 years??? For those of us getting off at Narcissus it was a long and slow walk across the boards from the landing stage (kids dont care how much they hold everyone up), but eventually got the 4 of them marshalled at the hut...made them look at it even though they didnt want to. Track conditions best described as wet, fair bit of mud about. Little M was lapping it up...she has been really looking forward to going bushwalking and the myrtle forest is magic. J was being stoic after his experiences in the SW. We managed to get the kids about 2km down the track before RJ and M found us. Unfortunately they didnt seem to have noticed any details about the track and where totally unable to tell us how far anything was! Despite the mud it is still one of my favourite bits of the overland track and Echo Point hut is still idyllic, although it is perhaps stretching the idyll to fill it with 4 loud and boisterous kids. They played on the beach for the entire afternoon (miraculous recovery from not being able walk another step!) Got the coal stove going and had a very comfortable afternoon and evening. We had one person take one look at us and leave and an irishman called Richard who stayed...said he didnt mind the noise the kids made cause he was deaf and just turned of his hearing aids. In the morning all the kids and big M and AS bailed out on the ferry to Cynthia Bay while RJ and I walked out and discovered we are now only average walkers. Ah well, age has wearied us. Still raining, didnt see any sunshine until Hamilton.

Wilderness Adventure

J has had a huge adventure in SW Tas...perhaps a bit more adventure than intended. We had a bumpy flight in to Melaleuca, weather was sunny but very hazy. We had some lovely views of the south coast but couldnt see the Arthur Range or Federation Peak in the haze. I had forgotten just how small a little 7 seater cessna really is! Grandad was looking a bit green (J just about fell asleep) and I must admit to feeling a sense of relief when we landed.

Grandad gave us the tour of Melaleuca (he spends a couple of weeks each summer down there as part of the Orange Bellied Parrot release program). We saw a pygmy possum living in the OBP bird hide but no orange bellied parrots unfortunately. Grandad pointed out the spot where a plane crashed years ago and Deny King built a log ramp
to help get it airborne again...the propellor from the plane is still in the old King residence. It was warm enough for a swim, but the water was a bit cold for swimming! The lagoon at Melaleuca is not very deep but the bottom is covered in a deep layer of leaves and sticks which you sink into when you stand up, pretty gross.

Another beautiful day for our walk to New Harbour (12km). The track across the plain from Melaleuca is almost all boardwalk except for some solid sections on small rises. Once we left the main track to Cox's Bight and dropped down into the valley leading to New Harbour the track deteriorated a bit...oddly enough, given that he jumps in every puddle and mud patch he can find at home, J doesnt like the mud in SW Tas. Apparently once it goes over your knees it isnt fun anymore! J did really well in spite of the mud and we were camped beside the white sand by lunch time.
J had a ball playing on the beach - we tried to get his clothes dry but he kept getting wet and sandy. Grandad had picked out a perfect campsite for us at the eastern end of the beach - tucked away in the trees and sheltered from the weather (just as well!) We were the only people there until about3 oclock when another party turned up and camped further along the beach.
The weather started to deteriorate during the afternoon and blew up into a howling gale overnight. Lots of rain and hail, thunder. Santa very thoughtfully stopped at New Harbour early in the morning of xmas eve (he was probably worn down by the constant suggestions that J would be a lot less trouble is Santa came early and could he hang one of my socks up just in case or maybe he read the weather forecast for the xmas day!) and luckily brought a range of small toys which would fit in J's pack. He got a toy cat which of course he named Buttercup (??). May has one too, but hers is named Pussy in keeping with her policy of easy to remember names (Pinky, Browny, Greyey, Pussy etc).We were tossing up walking out to Melaleuca straight away but decided to wait and let the creek levels drop a bit - walked over to Hidden Bay for the day (about 10km for the day). J has discovered that if you take your boots off to play on the beach and it starts to hail your feet will hurt. Hidden bay if lovely, a really nice sheltered campsite, beautiful white sand and big dunes behind the beach and of course dramatic scenery. Intermittent sunshine during the day in between 40 knot winds and hail. J was pretty glad to get back to the tent and only came out again to eat. We walked out on xmas day...the creeks had not subsided overnight as we hoped - rain bucketed down all night. Heroic effort from J, I think he now has more experience at crossing flooded creeks than many bushwalkers get in a lifetime. I had to carry him over a couple, until I turned my ankle carrying J and landed both of us in the water. We staved off potential discouragement by discussing what Lego might be purchased if we headed to the shops in Hobart...this kept J going almost until we got back to Melaleuca. Huge relief to get into the hut at Melaleuca and get out of wet clothes. J immediately lost the use of his legs, he was unable to walk until a plane turned up the next morning and he had to hustle down to the airstrip to catch it! We almost had to turn back to Melaleuca because of the bad weather, but the pilot dropped to 900 ft and followed the coast all the way. M was hugely unsympathetic about my sore ankle and J was very happy to get back to his mum and away from his dangerously unbalanced father and grandfather.

Home for Christmas!!

After the epic plane flight home (only 40 hours door to door you know)and the obligatory spak in Melbourne from May we are back in Tas, and its WARM, and smells of gum leaves and we went to the beach at 5am (jet lag you know) and its all rather a wonderful escape from English winter......
this is the beach we could never be bothered going to as kids because just wasnt as good as Kingston beach just over the hill (not enough fish and chip shops).R's parents have had a deck put on the front of their house, quite a nice place to sit in the sun and watch the Syndey-Hobart boats coming in.
J and R are off walking from Melaleuca to New Harbour in South West Tassie, flew in by small plane yesterday and are hopefully (weather permitting) being picked up Boxing Day. A real adventure- stay posted for all sorts of great pictures. Meantime little M and I are slothing with the relatives. 3 weeks before we head back to winter! Merry Christmas to you all!

End of Term Plays, Xmas Parties and 2 days on a Plane...

Another busy week...we have been frantically trying to tidy up loose ends at work, finish the school PTA directory AND attend social functions. The first major event was the Xmas play at school. Because there is not much room in the school hall, the play runs four times - afternoon and evening on two days. I made a special effort to get a new camera before we went (to much grumbling from M)

J was initially disappointed that he didnt get a speaking part, but this was overcome once the teacher let him carry a shield...I am not certain what the significance of stripe shirted, bereted frenchmen carrying shields is, but it certainly stopped the whining! M got to be Mary, very good choice - sitting and looking dignified and grave suits her very well!
The next big event was the final Thursday Night Snooker at the Social Club for R...a very big turnout and far too many pints. Daddy wasnt feeling too hot on Friday morning.
Friday night was the big night - J's drama class end of term show, M&M&J went to see Dick Whittington pantomime after and R went to the CERF Xmas party at Queens, to be joined later by a bunch of overtired and hyper small people and their knackered mum.

Now we are in cleaning and packing frenzy before we leave tomorrow night. I think we have enough stuff to survive now, and we look like squishing everything into 2 bags (a matter of pride for big M who is able to go the US for a week carrying only a laptop bag). We are all looking forward to being warm again in just 2 days from now (hope it doesnt do the xmas snow thing in Hobart)

Drama, Guiness, shoes and zoos

We have had a very busy week!! Started with little M's drama performance as a mouse in her drama group. Very cute (pity the camera is still defunct, hope to get another soon). Then on Thursday we went to see The HMS Pinafore by the local G&S society. We had a good time, M said that the best bit was when the sailor and the girl got married at the end. The next morning big M had a mega day - caught the 6.30am flight to Dublin (which means a 4.45am start from home) and had a day at Trinity College. Unfortunately there was no time to look around so I invited myself back next year. (fortunately they seemed happy with that). We had some beers after the conference day in a nice pub, then I caught the 9.45pm flight back to Stansted, arrived home around midnight and decided that really was too long a day!!! On Saturday went to Colchester to buy shoes for the kids (sounds absurd but there is a great kids shoe shop there which does a good job fitting little M's difficult feet). So they are kitted out with boots for winter now. Wish I had boots that nice!! To do the Colchester trip we had hired a car for the weekend, so Sunday we went to Homerton Zoo, which was quite fun. They had all sorts of animals we had never seen before - including chipmunks, jaguarindi, pudu, lots of types of tamarind and a real white tiger. The tiger was HUGE, really much bigger than any other we have seen. It is primarily a breeding zoo for rare and endangered animals so had all sorts of interesting animals (of course with obligatory kookaburras and wallabies too). Kids had a great time, and a clear winters day is a good time to go to zoos - no people and the animals are out basking in what passes for the sunshine. So a good time was had by all. Off to Tilburg tomorrow morning, back Tuesday!

Blondie Rocks!

R's birthday present finally came about last night - we went to the Blondie concert here in Cambridge!!! Most of our lives when we have been able to go to concerts we have never lived anywhere they came. It was really great - incredible performance. Deborah Harry has an amazing stage presence. They played all the old hits at great rate of knots, no mucking around between songs it was relentless. Lots of 40-50 year old men in the audience, and a lot of Blondie wannabees in various stages of decay! Was very funny in that the audience would all be encouraged to clap away, hands over heads, as one does at rock concerts, but everyone is too old to sustain the clapping like we used to - arms hurt and gentle swaying is substituted!! God knows what our generation will be like in another 10 years!! Will we nod politely along? Though of course one has to adjust the degree of emotion expressed for the fact that a) this is England and b) this is Cambridge!!! Not overly known for expressive enjoyment of anything really. Could have been different in Sydney (or even Canberra).
For their treat the kids went to a childrens theatre called Them With Tails, which was wonderful - a real treat here is the quality of children's theatre. This group is 2 young men in their late 20s who specialise in winding up small boys (my interpretation). They were great, really high energy, and really enjoyed playing with the kids incorporating it in the performance. Different from the last equally high quality thing we went to which was all about enchanting them with stories.
M has her end of year drama performance this Monday - she is going to be a mouse which she chose (costume by mum of course). The school end of year event is also coming up - bit of a contentious event in our house - J is getting to be a chorus member, which he is feeling keenly, and M is Mary, which of course being her she doesnt give 2 figs for!! At least I dont have to do the costume.

Snow today!

We cant match the snowy eastern climes, but we had our first snow today! Very pretty and very cold. Looking forward to some warmer weather for Xmas. Our snow didnt settle but its so much more pleasant than sleet. Sunny but cold forecast again for tomorrow - we are off to the theatre.

camera's broke

No picture til we get a new camera - old one gave up. R is pleased cos he gets to play gear junkie until he finds another one. Looked at first replacement car possibility today, but decided clutch and brakes didnt look good enough. We of course only want to pay pittance for something that will last the whole period - our previous car was such a bargain! Oh well, its a squashed bargain now. Its getting cold and we think going to the supermarket on the bike in the freezing dark sucks, so transport is required. Little M is better now, back at school and she has had a breakthrough on the reading front. Very proud of herself. We had an eventful Saturday, after she and I had to go to emergency dept with her having an allergic reaction to penicillin - not that severe she came up in an allover red and (apparently) itchy rash, with high fever. They were very good - highlight of her week was they gave her lunch in hospital. Must have been good it was the first she had eaten for about 5 days really, now she just wants to go there for food all the time. Funny things kids. They must be adapting cos they have decided they want to have school dinners - which they adamantly refused when we arrived as 'gross'. Admittedly quality has been improved after huge furore here on quality of school dinners, but still not great. Other than that pretty busy just getting on with life.

we've grown

The kids have been going through their dressing-ups. Well Mum has anyway in order to rationalise things a bit. These are beloved dressing ups that just may be a mite too small - the Batman suit J is wearing was made when he was about 3???? Anyway he has decided that just perhaps he could pass it on to a smaller cousin. Bit dubious. M on the other hand is casting things off to cousin E at a great rate of knots. At least one of them isnt a pack rat! Just had to go and find wombat again, he was in his bed when I tucked him in but got lost in the 15 minutes that have passed since then apparently. First of course I have to get into his room which is an obstacle course in itself. Our visitor has gone, so we are by ourselves until the next arrival next week, only for a couple of days. Its nice to see so many people though. We held a 'party' for work colleagues last Friday, which went well but was of course hard work. R cooked up a storm, everyone very impressed (as they should be). M has been in Manchester for the past few days - the train route is very scenic, a choice of routes through Leeds, or Nottingham or Doncaster. I went Doncaster and the Penines on the way over and Nottingham on the way back. Unsure which is better, one is faster but more changes the other is slower but stay on the same train. Off to Ireland in a couple of weeks then to Netherlands again for a couple of days before getting ready for the trip back to Aust. May has a fever again, low immunity after chicken pox so is home again - anyone who wants to send her a letter would be appreciated. She has 2 girls in her class with pneumonia at the moment, both of whom are her really good friends, there is some nasty infection going around which seems to weaken them a long way and hence the pneumonia. So we are taking no chances and she will stay home until really better. J is bouncing around as usual. Parent-teacher night last night. That was fun - nice teachers this year. J is fine, main issue is social skills in listening and waiting (I can believe that!!). M is also fine, mainly discussion about self confidence and her progress in small group work. She hasnt changed, still doesnt like big groups of strangers (having said that she managed to offer around the plates at the work party so she is improving a little).
All for now!!