We went away this week, to a place called Augusta. I used to go there every year since I was a baby until I was 18. I probably came along and stayed a couple of nights sometimes later than that. Our last visit was 5 years ago (we had a run of coming with Mr Tween – I’m still not sold on this nickname! Help! – for a while when he was a toddler). I often fantasise about the memory of driving down alone and spending time alone in my tent reading true crime books from the library, whenever I felt like it. Sleeping in. The freedom! I had no…
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The reasons camping sucks (and why I wouldn’t change a thing about it).
It’s the middle of the night and I’m wide awake in my quiet, dark house. It’s our first night at home in two weeks after a camping trip away. It’s weird. The thing about camping is that it’s hard work sometimes. There’s no electricity. There’s no wifi. Sometimes there’s not even any mobile phone reception. Do you know how hard it was to watch a short video clip someone sent me or to get a second to watch some Instagram stories?? It was hard to keep our phones charged. We had to rely on the car battery or the battery we were using to power the fridge. The Engel fridge…
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Who the hell goes camping with a baby? Us. We do.
Holy shit. We’re doing it. We’re going camping soon. For the first time in 2 years! And the first time with an 8 month old baby (the Little Mister was 14 months old the first time we took him). We are finally starting to feel like we might just somehow, miraculously pull this off. We’ve bought some new supplies, made a crapload of lists and it’s been very exciting chatting with our friends about it (there’s going to be a massive group of us)! It could not be coming at a better time and I am thanking past Kez (and our friends who invited us) for this big time! At…
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Stuff to do in Kalbarri, Western Australia.
Have you ever been to Kalbarri? It’s just over 500 km north of Perth. It’s a bit of a drive, but it was just the thing we needed after a long, cold and ridiculous winter. It was quite the family affair: my brother in law, sister in law, a couple of nephews and my parents in law were all in attendance. I was excited for sunshine and a bit of camping. Well, when I say camping, it was all rather civilised. Powered sites, our cosy camper trailer, roast dinners (not joking – Weber BBQs can do amazing things), those super comfy camp chairs that I got on sale at an…
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The Happy List #44: Melbourne edition.
Oh hey there! So, it’s been no secret on my social media accounts that this time last week I was having an absolute ball in Melbourne. I hadn’t been for 5 years (i.e. I was pregnant with the Little Mister so it’s been a while) but now I had the perfect excuse. My brother lives there – yay! The Little Mister and I joined my parents on a trip over (sadly Mr Unprepared couldn’t get away due to work constraints) and I swear there isn’t much I didn’t love about it. Except the flight home, but that’s a whole other story (and surprisingly does not involve the Little Mister) haha.…
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How (NOT) to pack a suitcase.
The countdown is on. In 3 sleeps (I count everything in ‘sleeps’ because I have a four year old and to be honest I am kind of immature when it comes to EXCITING THINGS anyhow), I am going to be on my way to Sydney for what has accidentally become my annual birthday getaway (this being only the second time)! I will be travelling with my parents (who practically live there anyway), sleeping on the fold out couch and shopping, socialising, drinking and eating. Woohoo! I am going for what will essentially be a long weekend. I can’t wait. It’s not long enough away that I start to feel guilty,…
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Everyone’s a critic: If my home received a TripAdvisor* review.
image source So I was recently researching some overnight accommodation for my Misters (the Little Mister and Mr Unprepared) and I, as we briefly considered spending a night in the city. It would have been partly for convenience (Mr Unprepared has a big early morning bike ride coming up) and also for a bit of family fun. A chance to get out of our usual little home life bubble. Why not, hey? Kind of a staycation. Sadly, this never eventuated (too complicated)… But…the thing is, TripAdvisor does my head in. I wonder what the hell we did before we had this review system? We just *gasp* winged it?! Now, every…
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Trip of a lifetime: One year later.
Exactly one year ago, my family took a very important trip. We went to South Korea. We also couldn’t help but add Singapore and Japan to the list (which were AMAZING), but let’s face it. Korea was where it was at on a very personal level. If you’re new to the blog, let me quickly catch you up. My brother and I were adopted from South Korea when we were only a handful of months old. We’ve been raised as Aussies and until 2014, we’d never been back to Korea before. The opportunity came up (after years of talking about it) because everyone in the family was free to do…
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Sydney is only a day away.
Somebody. Pinch me. Tomorrow, I will be in Sydney. For a few nights. Child free. And while I’ve been very excited about it, and feeling a little guilty about not feeling guilty (haha), I think my nervous stomach (blergh) has betrayed me. This will be the longest I’ve ever left the Little Mister for. It’s not a super long time (not even a week – four nights), but it’s new to us. Of course, he will be fine with his dad. This could actually be quite good for the both of us. Still, it’s weird. The best thing that could happen is that I have a great time and miss…
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Camping 2015: Hot days.
This year we went camping in the first week of February. The best time if you have some leave from work and kids who aren’t school age yet. The massive crowds have gone home to get back to real life after the school holidays and it’s nice and quiet. A lot of retired folk (as evidenced by the sheer amount of older ladies wandering about in their big floral nighties) and young families. This year was uncharacteristically hot! We weren’t used to this – we’re usually more likely to experience a stiff, cool breeze and a bit of rain. A couple of really bright sunny, calm days if we’re lucky!…