Dub- Dub- Dubbo.

Remember when the kids were tiny? And taking them on a holiday was 1 part exciting and 50 million parts annoying and exhausting? But you still went because you hoped there would be golden moments to store up in your mind forever? And there were those moments, yes, but there was also a lot of whinging and organising and actual work that you have to do at home anyway?

Well hey, it seems that having big kids means that family holidays equal actual fun! This past school break we decided to surprise the kids with a trip to Dubbo, mainly to go to the zoo there. Simon was not impressed with the idea of driving somewhere that would take longer than 20 minutes (sucked in, it took 7 and a half hours! Haha), but apart from that everyone was keen. So I said, "Ok, kids, go and pack." And they did. Then I got myself ready and got in the car. No snack bag. No activity things. Pretty awesome.

It took freaking ages to get there, due to holiday traffic and road work, but once through Sydney and over the mountains the scenery is lovely and we stopped a few times for lunch and snacks. We arrived in Dubbo in the early evening and checked into the motel and then went out to eat.


The next day we hit the zoo, arriving at opening time. It was pretty bloody cold, but blue skies. We hired bikes to ride around ("We have to ride how far?!" exclaimed Simon in horror when he found out it was a 6km loop). It was the perfect day for riding, cool, with a nice breeze, but warm in the sun when we stopped. We spent most of the day at the zoo, checking out all the animals, including some baby hippos and lion cubs.... so cute!


The following day we headed out of town to the Wellington Caves, which were amazing. The kids found that pretty impressive and Simon didn't complain once, which was a miracle. After lunch we went to an Aboriginal site at Terramungamine Reserve on the banks of the Macquarie River, where there are 20000 year old tool sharpening grooves in the rocks. Very humbling to place your hand on something that has been used by generations upon generations of people, stretching back that far. Ruby didn't quite grasp the concept, but the boys found it pretty cool.



That night we went to nice restaurant for dinner, and actually spent 2 hours there, just eating and talking. Civilized!! The next day he headed home, and it was also my birthday, so we stopped off at the Paragon Café in Katoomba for Devonshire tea on the way.

A very busy but fun few days.

Now the kids are back at school so it's back to the normal routine. In a few weeks I'm going to a conference in Adelaide on diabetes in pregnancy, and then it's only a couple more weeks until Tasmania!