Ballina visit when dad was away at Dragon Boat Worlds Club Champs

It was decided that Heidi and the kids were going up north to receive a little helping hand from her family when I was off competing at the Club Crew World Championships in dragon boat racing over in Macau China with City Dragons. So the day before I flew out I dropped them off at T2 for a JetStar flight up to Ballina.

The family spent a week up in Ballina and the Gold Coast visiting their relatives and most of all their cousins. They had lots of fun playing with Ruben and Maddie especially in the backyard of their Paw Paw's place with water balloons.

  

Annika and Mitch also had fun playing down at the Shelly's Beach in and around the rock pools collecting things and building sand castles. They also went and visited Summerland House water park although it was a bit chilly that day for any water action so they just played on the play equipment
A week flew pass very quickly and it wasn't long before the family was back in Sydney being picked up by their dad on his return from Macau.

Taronga Park Zoo Visit May 2010

Well it has been a while since the last post and I have been a bit slack on this front. This could be attributed to some busy times we've had.

One of the best parts of Sydney with magnificent views is home too many animals. Many people would be envious of their residence. Yes, we're talking about Taronga Park Zoo the first public zoo in New South Wales. We wanted to go there to check out Pathi Han aka "Mr Shuffles".

Getting to the zoo you have many options but this all depends on the circumstances and where you live. If you are close by a ferry wharf, you can get there by ferry via Circular Quay. By train also you alight at Circular Quay to catch the ferry over. Buses are available in the CBD from Wynyard on Carrington St. But on this day, we traveled by car.

It was a lovely day as we packed a picnic lunch and the kids and off we went over to Mosman. The zoo has upgraded its car park since I was last there and it looks the mint. No fuss getting in and we're off to the first enclosure to look at the sleeping koalas followed by the reptiles.

The kids raced off down the path to the giraffe pen to see the tall magnificent animals. We were conscious of the time as we wanted the kids to see the seal show featuring "Mitchy" the seal. The kids love him especial Mitch himself. We made our way over to the seal enclosure and were greeted by staff saying that the seal auditorium is being renovated and that we needed to go down and around to another spot for the seal show. After maneuvering the pram and the kids through the crowds who also wanted to see the seal show we managed to find the place and set ourselves up near the seal podium to check them out. It wasn't much of a show more like an information session.



The one thing I haven't see at Taronga Park Zoo before was the flight show featuring the birds of the zoo. We headed over to the bird auditorium and we got a really good spot. The kids we getting hungry so we cracked out some fruit and snacks for them to munch on before lunch. The birds on display were awesome from the egg cracking eagle, the insect finding owl, black cockatoos, to this massive Andean Condor.

After the brilliant bird show we set up camp for a picnic at a top spot that had magnificent views of Sydney Harbour featuring the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House. Lots of young families had the same idea as well. Sandwiches all round with nice icy cold poppers soaking up the rays, it was enough to send some to sleep on this beautiful day.

The kids had been barking on that they wanted to see Mr Shuffles the newest elephant that was born at the zoo. So we packed up and made our way over to the elephant enclosure. There we saw a majority of the elephants out playing. The kids thought they saw Mr Shuffles first off however, I pointed out to them that it was Luk Chai, he was the first elephant to be born at the zoo. However, it wasn't until we spotted the mischievous Pathi Han "Mr Shuffles" bashing away at a red plastic tub. The kids loved it, all you can hear were ooo's and aaaa's....

As the kids were fabulous all day they were treated with a calipso each. One of the last stops of the day was the gorilla enclosure before we made our way back to the car park. It was the right call as Mitch fell asleep in the pram on the walk back to the main entrance. A fun day had by all.

Mitchell turned 3!

Little man aka "Big Boy" now turned 3 today and he was chuffed to bits.


It all started when he woke up way to early and cruised on in to our room. Who needs alarm clocks? At least he was annoying his mum instead... I got up and got ready for my commute to work and here I found the eldest also tucked up alongside her mother and Mitch in the bed.


Not long afterwards both kids came out and discovered balloons in readiness for the birthday party. Overheard, it might have been Mitchell who said, "look Santa has been". Mitchell zeroed in on the presents and asked if he could start opening them. Of course you can Mitch! In no time he got stuck into ripping the wrapping off presents. He got some cool stuff like story books, CD, play dough, PJs, smart car, some games, stickers and a construction kit that has a hard hat, jig saw, circular saw, hammer drill and a tool belt with hammer, screw drivers, ruler, pliers and wrenches. Big boy was spoiled rotten!

A little party was thrown for Mitchell with friends from playgroup in attendance. Quintin, Imogen, Trinity and Eden arrived with their mums. They played games, made a dinosaur hat, danced around, had egg and spoon races and of course...you can't have a birthday party without a birthday cake.  

Mitchell really love his birthday cake as his mum asked him if he had a nice birthday and he said "yes, it was yummy!"


Thank you for all the well wishes with phone calls wishing Mitch a happy birthday. He's conversing more now so not long you can have a full on conversation with him.


Big boy had a wonderful day and enjoyed himself immensely. Happy birthday Mitchell!


Love Mum and Dad xoxoxo

Hamilton Island Getaway

The Louie family went for a family holiday on Hamilton Island in May for much needed R & R and to soak up the remaining warmth before winter really set in. 


We left a wet drizzly Sydney on a Friday morning after breakfast and we encountered heavy traffic on the way to the airport. People are still making their way to work at 9am. Starting to fret a bit as we meander our way towards the M5 tunnel. Finally, the traffic started to move more freely once we hit the tunnel and we needed to get to the long term airport carpark. Found a great parking spot very close to the entrance and we all got out luggage et all and made our way over to the bus stand to catch the shuttle bus to T2.


Arrived at T2 with Heidi and I carrying 4 bags plus a box of Annika friendly food. Meanwhile the kids were sauntering with their mini backpacks each packed with books and toys. Checked in with the kids looking on as the bags were loaded up onto the conveyor belt to be weighed, tagged and sent down to baggage handling. We had to the Annika friendly food box over to the oversized baggage area as it wasn't considered luggage. Mitchell had concerns with the box going down on the conveyor belt. Don't worry Mitch, it's okay!

Time to make our way to the boarding gate and we were faced with a crap load people going through security checkpoint. Starting to fret a bit as boarding time was drawing upon us. Finally made it through the security with not much time to spare. We walked passed this l'oreal stand and I turned to Heidi and said I think they're giving away samples, go and get whatever they're handing out thinking it was female products. As it turned out, it was shaving gel and moisturiser for men!


We were in luck as there were a delay in getting the plane ready and boarding was delayed slightly. This gave us time for me to get a couple of bottles of water and Heidi taking the kids for bathroom stop before the flight.

Boarding time and families with kids gets to board first. Yippee!! Annika sat with her dad and she had the window seat in one row and Mitch had the window seat as well and sat with his mum in another row. The flight took about 2.5 hours and the kids were pretty good on the flight to Hammo. This was Mitch's second flight ever and the last time he flew he was only about 3 months old. This time around he did not know what was going on when the plane descended for landing and he had trouble equalising his ears.

It wasn't long after we checked into our Whitsundays apartment that the kids changed into their swimmers and headed across the road to Catseye Beach. There they went straight down to the beach to test the water and played in the sand. We also checked out the beach side pool and it had a great area for little kids to wade in and an area for the bigger kids and adults. This pool is actually used for scuba diving classes.

Every afternoon on the apartment's balcony you were either greeted by rainbow lorikeets or sulphur crested cockatoos. These guys are seeking food and whatever scraps they can find on balconies. Tourists are reminded not to feed them as they become to independent and lose their ability to source food in the nature themselves. They can be very pesky especially when you are eating lunch. They are not afraid of coming right up to you and taking food out of your hand. SHOO AWAY!!!

One of the many benefits for a young family at Hamilton Island is that when staying at the Whitsunday Apartments, a buffet breakfast is included in the stay and the best part of that is that kids under 12 eat for free! Also certain restaurants on the island allow the kids to eat free for lunch and breakfast when accompanied by a paying adult. Not too bad I must say. We went out to dinner at the Steakhouse on the Saturday evening as this would be ideal for Annika and her food allergies. The kids had a fillet steak each served with chips. Heidi had a nice eye fillet while I tackled the 450g T-bone! A nice serving of Greek Salad to top it off.

It's not a holiday on an island unless you try the local fish and chips. This didn't disappoint at all! On another night the kids ate and went to bed early so Heidi and I order a wood-fired pizza from Manta Ray Cafe. Delicious!!

Prices weren't exactly cheap on the island and majority of stock comes from the mainland. However, there's a general store, bakery, ice cream parlour, newsagent, bottle shop, post office, restaurants and various shopping outlets at the marina. If you are staying for a while and to keep down on cost on food, the best way is to order online via Coles or IGA to have the groceries delivered to your place of stay. Oh, did I mention the yachts and boats moored at the marina!

Went for a couple of training runs on the trails to keep up the cardio fitness. There are 7 bush trails to take on the island and you need some degree of fitness to walk the as they aren't many flat ones! They range from 30min to 90 min one way walk. The first run I did was up Peak Passage - approx 5.2km, 1hr 15min return up to the peak at 250m. This was the hardest trail on the island. The 2nd run I did was down to Coral Cove - approx 5km - 1hr 10min return with a climb out of the cove over 200m.

For breakfast we had a choice at 3 different venues, Reef View Hotel, Hamilton Island Wildlife Park and Sails Restaurant. Sunday morning we decide to check out the Wildlife Park for breakfast. Annika and Mitch were met by Wilbur the koala at the door waiting to be seated. Breakfast was great as we had eggs made to order with fresh fruit, cereal, yoghurt, bread, bacon, sausages, mini muffins, friands, tea and coffee. A zoo keeper named Mitch came around with the youngest koala at the zoo named "Elvis". Mitchell had quite a liking for Elvis the koala. Both Annika and Mitch had a pat of Elvis. Knowingly that the kids love animals, we went and purchased a pass that allowed us unlimited visits to the wildlife park for the duration of our stay. We went to a crocodile feeding session plus a koala talk. Check out some of the animals at the wildlife park.

After breakfast with the koalas, we took a ferry trip over to Whitehaven Beach to see the named Queensland's the Most Beautiful Beach. Surrounded by crystal clear water and made of the whitest pristine sand silica sand we can see why Whitehaven is the most photographed beach in Australia. The kids had a ball as we a lighted off the ferry via their rail boat. We set a sun shade tent along with many others and then proceeded to soak up the sun, play in the sand and the aqua waters of Whitehaven. We even saw a reef shark swarm at the water's wedge just moments after where we have been swimming!

We all went kayaking one day as all non-motorised craft are free with our stay.  Feeling adventurous, Heidi said lets get a double kayak and paddle out in the bay with kids in tow. So we did... The kids were suited up in mini PFDs and we boarded our double sit on top kayak an we paddled... and paddled... around the man-made island... and more paddling... more paddling... and more paddling when everyone had had enough. We thought Mitch fell asleep slouched in front of me. We cruised back to the beach and landed safely.

Snorkeling was okay in the bay, as it had it own little reef system. You can see  a variety of coral, sea anemones, coral fish, crabs, sting rays, parrot fish. At low tide you can really go out far with the channel and explore. Heidi and I took turns in going out as one of us had to keep an eye on the squids!

Besides lazing around by the pool or down on Catseye Beach, on a couple of occasion we caught the free shuttle bus right outside our apartment's door steps to kill the time. Well, more like sight seeing as we were to cheap to hire a golf cart to travel around in. Besides the shuttle buses, the only other mode of transport on Hamilton Island are golf carts. No private vehicles are allowed on the island besides contractors and service providers. There are 3 different colour coded shuttle buses running most of the day and night, and all of them are FREE! How good is that? The most commonly used one is the Green Shuttle and it does a loop all day long in 15 minute intervals from the Whitsunday Apartments on Resort Drive as far as the Marina Tavern at the Marina. This is the shuttle to catch if you just want to go down to the Marina for dinner. The other shuttles are orange or purple and they will take you around the island on the main roads, as far as the golf driving range in the south to Coral Avenue on the northern most tip of the island. The orange and purple shuttle service do the same route, just going in opposite directions and they pick up every 30 minutes.

After a week of chasing the sun, it was time to head back home to Sydney. Except for one last swim and a kayak out on the bay. Well Mitch and Heidi wanted a kayak however, Annika wanted to have one last swim in the rock pool. After an hour or so frolic it was time to shower off and catch the airport bus to the airport. So long to Hamilton Island but I'm sure we'll be back one day again. The air pressure on the return flight home played havoc with Mitchell's ears but we eventually overcame that. Arrived home in what one could describe as horrific weather. Rain was teeming down as we got off the airport shuttle bus at the long term car park. This was the welcome home we got!

Feel free to make a comment and ask any questions from the trip.