My Broulee Adventure - Day 5

Definitely a lazy Sunday today. 

First up, after a quick visit to the local little supermarket 

I thought I'd go and check out Captain Oldrey Park which is a local 

sporting park and sport region for Broulee kids.

It was sad seeing the netball nets hanging in a sad state.

The surrounds of the park were devastated on New Years Eve and

 it's mind blowing how in five weeks the ground cover of ferns 

has regenerated the area. 

Nature sure is amazing in what she can do.

Nature is amazing

My afternoon was spent watching an Avengers movie and then listened and watched the amazing Fire Fight Australia Concert. Wow so many fantastic artists. Some of my favourites would be Daryl Braithwaite, Jessica Mauboy, Guy Sebastian, Deltra Goodrem, Ronan Keating, Tina Arena, Hilltop Hoods and Alice Cooper. Both my grandsons O'Shea and Finn liked Alice Coopers band. While Alice Cooper was singing I asked O'Shea if he liked guitar or drums and his answer "I like the Old Guy". How amazing were Queen and k.d Lang singing hallelujah bought tears to my eyes. Then of course there was John Farnham and Olivia Newton-John. 

OMG OMG what an amazing finish to an amazing concert. 

Oh my what a magnificent concert.

My Broulee Adventure - Day 4

Day 4 was a bit more eventful after my restful day yesterday. 

First up I woke up with a little car park in my bed with me.

A carpark in my bed - compliments of Louis

The morning was spent sitting outside, enjoying the sunshine.

Our how I love these kids

Then after lunch O'Shea, Finn and I took ourselves off to the movies to see "Sonic  The Hedgehog". 

It is totally a kids movie but was still fun to watch and so great to spend time 

with these two amazing boys. The popcorn and ice creams were fun too.

Then tonight it was out for a family night out. Dinner was at a great Indian restaurant called Kholis Indian Restaurant. The whole meal was super yummy, but I am SO full now.

Mmmm a great Indian meal

After dinner on the way home we went for a drive through the 

Mogo State Forest which was totally destroyed by the recent bushfires. 

So many houses burnt down, so many trees blackened, so many animals lost. 

Such a sad sad sight. 

Such a sad sight

My Broulee Adventure - Day 2

WooHoo I'm finally here. I headed off from Lakes Entrance around 7.30am and was welcomed by a very humid, very foggy morning, which lasted most of the trip. 

I was treated to a very humid foggy morning

An eerie morning in Lake Tyres State Forest

From the road everything looked fairly normal until I got to Orbost. The SES and the army are still stationed there making sure all the fires are totally out and clearing up the surrounding roads. All of a sudden you could smell the smoky smell. It was the smell of when a campfire has been put out with water and the lingering smoke smell fill the air. Also, the trees were starting to show where the flames had licked them and either been extinguished or changed direction. Then the devastating sight hit me. Both sides of the road and as far as I could see was black tree trunks, burnt leaves and ash on the ground. 

As far as I could see there were dead trees

This tiny fern bought a smile to my face

So Sad !

There was the occasional group of trees that were missed but this terribly depressing sight continued for at least 40 kilometres. After a bit I was back to the normal bushland I am used to and then I hit the Cobargo area and township. 

 

It's beautiful to see some of the tree sprouting greenery already

There was a lot of damage on the roads due to trees falling

That's when I saw the devastation of houses and buildings laying on the ground in a crumpled mess. It was about at this point I just needed to stop the car and let the tears fall. How could this possibly happen? How can we as a nation make sure nothing like this ever happens again?  

Two things along my journey today did bring a smile to my face. Seeing the greenery sprouting from some of the trees and the small ferns emerging out of the blackness. Also. luckily I was driving slowly as out of the blackness on one side of the road a small kangaroo hopped out onto the road. I stopped and we looked at each other and off he hopped to the other side of the road disappearing into more blackness. 

I'm now in Broulee and totally loving spending time with these three little guys. No there were no tears just lots of big hugs. 

It certainly was hard to negotiate Louis, O'Shea and Finn into three smiling faces. 

But oh how I love these faces. 

Clare and Gaga's Adventure Day

OK I've decided to get back into my Adventure Days in my hometown. This week it happened to be a day where I shared it with my eldest grandchild Clare. We just happened to park the car next to a skate park and enjoyed watching the kids and adults practice their skills.

After lunch at Southbank it was time for what has become our little ritual, we headed to Walker Donuts for a little bit of decadence. 

Mmmmmm Walkers Donuts

We decided we would head to a couple of the laneways that are well known for the street art or graffiti in Melbourne CBD. As we walked up Flinders street we decided to go into St. Paul's Cathedral and view the magnificence of this beautiful building. This cathedral's design is English Gothic and was completed in 1891 although the spires were built to a different design between 1926 and 1932. 

St Paul's Cathedral

Next stop was Hosier Lane where we were entertained by a few artists creating their art. Clare loves looking at any art and was totally intrigued watching a couple of young adults create some ordinary and some amazing pieces of work. One young artist asked Clare what her name was and proceeded to climb up high and sprayed her name on the wall. Clare felt very happy that her name was on the wall and up high so it wasn't going to be painted over straights away.

Clare's been graffitied

Oh how sweet

Our last stop on our long day was ACDC Lane, named after the world famous Aussie band. The laneway is well known for some amazing pieces of art such as Jimmy Hendrix and a spectacular escaping sculpture of the late AC/DC lead singer Bon Scott. 

Jimi Hendrix

Bon Scott

Even though we were both pretty tired after our big day we certainly did have fun. 

After a big day they view back on the city was nice

A Perfect January

My January has consisted of a lot of wonderful family ADVENTURES.

My first adventure was to spend some very special time with my granddaughters Clare and Mikayla. I wanted to have a special day which each girl, totally on their own. It was their choice what we did, what we ate and where we went. First up it was 6 year old Clare to have an adventure.

First up it was Clare and Gaga's adventure day

For dinner her request was for Mexican. Easy done seeing that my favourite food too.

Clare loves Mexican and loved decorating the table for dinner -
NO that's not her beer!!

The following morning we travelled into the city as she wanted to go to an art gallery. At the moment she wants to be an artist when she grows up.

Clare was pretty excited about seeing the water wall at the gallery's entrance.

I was pretty excited about seeing this amazing 14 metre long reclining Buddha.
Clare was a bit surprised about all the naked figures surrounding the Buddha,
 me too actually. 

Mmmmm a room full of skulls, 100 skulls actually- very interesting

After our inspirational time at the National Gallery of Victoria we headed into the city for lunch and and a stroll through the Graffiti filled Melbourne laneways. But first it was time to stop for a yummy donut.

Seeing Clares surname is Walker we just had to get a donut from Walkers Donuts!

The next day it was 4 year old Mikayla's turn to have an adventure day with me. Her choice for dinner was Spaghetti Bolognese, with is also up with my favourites.

Time for Mikayla and Gaga to have their adventure

At first she couldn't decide how she wanted to spend her day but finally it was the beach she wanted to visit.Our first stop for the day was Luna Park, we both had fun checking everything out, we especially got a lot of laughs out of the mirrors that made us look funny.

She was pretty excited

The crazy mirrors certainly had us laughing

After lunch it was time for the beach and a playground. Mikayla was pretty happy to finally be at the beach.

One excited little girl

The playground we went to was right on the beach so we didn't have far to go.

The playground was a great place to have fun and stay out of the sun a bit

We finished our adventure off with an ice cream and it was time to head home.

Mmmm Ice-cream time

Next up was my week long adventure with my son Shane, his wife Stacey and my three gorgeous grandsons (O'Shea, Finn and Louis) visiting for a week.
First up we had a day at Brickvention, a Lego fan convention. We travelled into the city by train which was a bit of excitement for the O'Shea and Finn.

It's great experiencing a train journey through kids eyes

Louis didn't mind having a train trip either

The Lego Convention was held at the beautiful Old Exhibition Buildings in Melbourne.

The stunning Old Exhibition Buildings

This shot was taken as we walked in the door.
Within seconds of turning around the boys were overwhelmed by the amazingness 

 Some of the exhibits that had been made were huge and absolutely amazing.

Just one of the amazing Lego structures, totally amazing

Oh and a day's adventure just has to be topped off with popcorn and fairy floss!!

We had our second Christmas Day with both my children (Shane and Rachel) their spouses (Luke and Stacey) and my six adorable grandchildren.

Oh what a cherished moment this was.
I am the luckiest person alive.

Stacey and Rachel were kept busy most of the day.

Next was Papa's turn. The tiny people are starting to get restless. 

The week was full of mini adventures, among them was a day at the beach.

A fun family day at the beach

Clare, O'Shea, Finn and Mikayla also participated in a basketball clinic, although it seemed more like a relay of who could have a bit of a sook. But by the end of the session they all said they had fun.

At last they were all having fun - it took a while!

Little Louis and Lily didn't participate in much, they just layer around and looked adorable.

Oooh aren't our two new family members adorable

Then to finish of the week Clare and O'Shea lost their first baby tooth on the same day. They certainly were pretty excited about having the tooth fairy visit.

First one out Clare.....

......closely followed by O'Shea

I finished my month of with a couple of hours with beautiful Lily and I have also started a Detox in preparation for my trip of a lifetime to South America in May this year.

What a cutie Lily is.

Louis and his Lulla doll sleeping peacefully

Oh and what do you eat the night before you start your Detox? That would be Mexican of course!!

Yumm Nachos and a good old Cascade

Yes a very tasty meal indeed

Detox here I come !!

What an exhausting but totally satisfying and FUN month of ADVENTURES I have had. Thank January you were just perfect. I wonder what February will bring me.