Monday, May 31, 2010

Swim like no tomorrow

We signed the boy up for a swimming event last Sunday - the 50 metres breast stroke for boys 5 years old but found out he had been placed in the same event for girls instead. So we made it known to the officials and were persuaded to either put him in the 50m kickboard event or the 50m breast stroke for boy 6 years old... and no, we can't sign him up for both events because the 'rules' specifies that they can participate in multiple events only if it is within the same "age group" (defined by age at time of competition). And no, there is no competition if he participates in his event alone. We knew he have a very good chance of getting a medal if he joined the kickboard event but that would have been 'no kick'.... (says the father).

He swam like no tomorrow and clocked 1:26.73 for the 50m breast stroke event.
We are so very proud of him!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Darwin Dreaming

Our trip to Darwin. We just decided approximately how we were going to move around and then went. Reminds me of Dory's song in Nemo... "Just keep (swimming), just keep (swimming), just keep (swimming, swimming, swimming), what do we do? we (swim,swim,swim)...."

Day 1



Collect Caravan | Load up on 5 days of food supplies from Woolworths at Coolalinga along Stuart highway | Paused along the way at 'Window on the Wetlands Visitor Centre' | Hopped onto an hour long "Jumping Crocodile Cruise" | Overnight at "Mary River Park"| Steak sandwiches with salad for dinner
- A frog leaped onto my towel!

Day 2


Refulled at Jabiru | Bowali Visitor Centre - Great place to collect information on Kakadu National Park | Nourlangie Rock Art 1.5km Walk - a 1.5km circular walk that takes you past an ancient Aboriginal shelter and several art sites. A moderately steep cliemb to Gun-warddewardde lookout to view Kakadu's escarpment and Nourlangie | Nawurlandja Lookout - exhausting 800m steep climb!| Overnight at the "Gagudju Lodge Cooinda"| Lamb Chops, grilled mushrooms, leek soup & boiled potatoes for Dinner

Day 3


2 hour Yellow Water cruise at Dawn | Bukbukluk 400m Walk | Yumikmik Walks - Boulder Creek Walk 2km return to the waterfall | Overnight at Mt Bundy Station | Sausage carbonara fettucini & Baked portabello mushrooms

Day 4



- Boy removed our roadkill, a brown bird stuck in the fenders, with his hands.
Litchfield National Park Florence Falls - 2 hour swim & took the longer 1km walk back to the parking lot | Wangi Falls (closed)| Lake Bennett resort (closed to caravans? darn!) | Overnight at Berry Springs Lake Resort | Chicken rotini pasta with bacon & Chicken Soup.

Day 5
Canoe around the lake resort | Berry Springs (closed)| Casaurina Shopping Centre in Darwin
-----Bye Bye Darwin----