6-12 July 2014
This was the trip that was originally planned for Christmas and New Year, leaving Perth on Boxing Day 2014. We postponed it until July, with the little ones’ passports proving a hold up that saw the cost of air fares getting out of hand. In the end, the delay proved beneficial, with the extra six months being good for all four kids, the older two getting more out of their first visit abroad and the younger two being up and about on two feet.
The trip to the airport was complicated by heavy rain, making the juggling of cars and luggage between long term parking and Terminal 2 slightly harder than it should have been. Check-in went without a hitch and we thought we had the whole thing down pat until we hit immigration. Joy’s passport had been chewed in one corner, courtesy one of the little dogs. It had passed scrutiny on a previous trip to Singapore but failed the test this time. After some negotiations with the officials, they agreed not to phone DFAT, who, according to them, would order the passport confiscated, meaning that Joy could not go. We were all rather concerned but having agreed that the risk was Joy’s, they allowed her to take the offending document on the promise of having it replaced on her return. The worry was that Indonesia would also pick up on it and refuse entry.
The wait in departure was short and the kids were kept amused by the many planes and trucks scooting around. We boarded without trouble and scored a bonus spare seat next to Christine, giving us a bit of flexibility with the kids’ seating.
The flight itself was easier than we had thought it would be with no real issues, other than the terrible food. We had pre-ordered to ensure we got something reasonable but the meals were very poor and there appeared to be better fare available on the menu.
Once in Denpasar, we were very glad that we had arranged a VIP service to meet us and process us through immigration. This service gets mixed review on the internet, with many claiming it is a waste of money and unnecessary but with four children and loads of luggage, we found it wonderful and worth the money. We were greeted, our passports collected, along with the Visa on Arrival payment. After a quick check to confirm our pictures matched faces, we walked through immigration and collected baggage before the rest of the crowd arrived. By the time we reached our hired mini bus, the passports were processed and returned. So easy.
It was dark by the time we arrived in Ubud and the kids showing signs of unravelling. We threw everything into our four rooms and hit the restaurant for dinner. This was a signal for the kids to either start crying or behaving like animals, depending on their level of sleep deprivation. Still, we had arrived and there was cold beer in abundance so all was not lost.
We stayed at the Cendana Resort and Spa in Monkey Forest Rd, Ubud. It proved to be an excellent choice for this holiday, with four specially selected ground floor adjoining rooms with good sized balconies and a lovely grassed area out front. Each room had two queen sized beds and cots were supplied for the youngest two. The restaurant was basic but cheap and the two pools, one salt and one fresh, proved a hit with all four kids. There were plenty of places to explore and walk with the children, visiting the birds (hill mynahs with amazing mimicry), the koi carp pool or the “magic steps” down to the spa area.
After a couple of meal times punctuated with crying, screaming or temper tantrums, the children settled into a routine and finding a restaurant for a family meal became a pleasure. Christine had found an excellent baby gear hire service and had two high chairs and a pusher delivered to make life easy. We got a few amused looks from other tourists as we trooped down Monkey Forest Rd carrying the two bright green high chairs in search of a good eatery. We had very few duds, with most places serving up a standard that at least is acceptable.
The Child Whisperer
One place that impressed everyone was the Cafe Wayan and Bakery. It fully deserves its 4.5 Star rating on Trip Advisor, with ambience plus, excellent food and wonderful staff. We organised a “birthday” lunch for Christine, seeing as we will be away from the family on her 60th at the end of the month. The restaurant turned on the charm in a big way, organising an amazing cake, which was presented by a procession of singing staff. One waiter was a “child whisperer”, proving his skills by picking up both Kelsie and Ashton without causing the usual screaming fit. He really had the knack, creating origami mice out of table napkins and cranes out of brochures. All this and a menu to die for, with the Nasi Campur declared the pick of the dishes, although the crispy duck challenged it for top spot.
Another interesting meal was at a small place opposite the entrance to Cendana. We wandered down a lane to find an outdoor establishment that looked as though it was closed for the night. A lone attendant assured us that they were open so we set up the high chairs and settled in to choose from the menu. Of course, beers were ordered first, then a variety of dishes from the reasonably varied selection. The lone guy hurried away and soon there was a bit of banging and crashing from the kitchen. Then, he was seen scurrying away into the night, to return with some beer, probably from a nearby 7 Eleven. The wait continued and we had to find some ways to amuse the kids, who were showing signs of having a turn. There was more banging and crashing until eventually, nearly an hour after ordering, the lone man emerged to serve up. He was the maitre d’, the barman, the waiter, chef and the cashier all in one. Fortunately, he was good at his jobs and the food was wonderful and cheap. We left a good tip so he was rewarded for his efforts.
A trip to the Monkey Forest was fun. This is a place that is probably best avoided, but with care, can provide a fun excursion. The monkeys, Balinese Long tailed Macaques, are everywhere and always looking for an easy feed. Buying a bunch of bananas at the entrance absolutely ensures that the monkeys will pay you full attention. Apparently, they also love spring water. We watched one young Japanese girl being attacked by two small monkeys, climbing all over her until she surrendered the bottle. Her friends filmed the incident so she could enjoy it later. One friend came undone when a monkey took a liking to his awful woven hat with bright blue trimmings and climbed up to get it, along with his glasses. The girl who had been attacked earlier got her revenge by filming the attack on her friend with the ugly hat. We just kept our hands to ourselves, hid everything of interest and kept a careful watch on the children.
As always happens, by the time came to leave, the kids had settled into routines and life was pretty sweet. Breakfasts ran like clockwork, the day was a regimen of swimming, walking, shopping and dining. We even managed a few night get togethers after the children were bedded down.
We absolutely loved our trip. It was a wonderful opportunity to catch up with the family experiences that we miss by being away so much. Ben and Kelsie got so much out of the experience, gaining in confidence and questioning everything. Lucas and Ashton, the two babes, had a ball, with so many people around to give them plenty of attention. Mind you, none of us could compete with Mum. Hopefully, the kids managed a degree of relaxation, something that is so very hard with a couple of small kids. Joy and Trevor both suffered from slow curing flus carried with them from Australia but, amazingly, none of our group of twelve suffered from the dreaded Bali Belly. Christine and I also really enjoyed the opportunity to spend some quality time with John and Alison, the other parents, something we always promise to do but so often miss out on. As parents of this whole brood, we can be truly proud.
The Magic Steps
iPads keep the little ones quiet.
Who is walking who?
Once home, we wasted little time in getting up to Dowerin to ready the house for hosting exhibitors at the Dowerin Field Days (27-28 August). Then its fly back to Sydney to pick up Sandpiper and resume our travels northwards, hopefully to find some warmth.
Tim and I took the weekend and journeyed up with a canoe to Pigeon Creek – about a 15-20km hike upstream of the Gorge. Very clearly not many people venture up this way because the barra were plentiful and the barra were hungry! I went from 11 barra for the year to 20! I managed 9 in two days and Tim finished with 5 – pretty good, considering we caught them all from a canoe.
Kununurra and will remain here until we feel recovered enough to hit the road again. Since it is now Week 4 of the school term, I have to think back to what we got up to since I last posted anything……
From Mt Barnett, we back-tracked a little then headed South to Mornington Wildlife Conservation Centre, near the headwaters of the Fitzroy. This one-time station turned nature -lovers retreat caters for campers to luxury safari tents. As we worked our way along bumpy tracks to Dimond Gorge, the map told us we were only 90kms from Fitzroy Crossing, but nearly 400kms by road. One look at the King Leopold Ranges towering over us told us why the roads don’t exist.
Mark gave us a whistle stop tour of the local beaches after school on Monday and had notified the community of our presence so all was clear to explore the environs. Unfortunatley, the tides were not at all favourable for after-school fishing and the one attempt we made was greeted by a hungry horde of sandflies.
The Thorsby family also arrived in Fitzroy to take in the annual rodeo. None of us had ever been to a rodeo before and it proved to be really entertaining. The sight of huge bulls throwing cowboys around is a lot better than I thought it would be. The most entertaining part is actually the superb horsemanship displayed by the organisers who are left with the job of getting the bulls back into the enclosures. The Thorsbys camped overnight out at the rodeo and headed back to Derby on Monday morning.
With Ron and Dorothy at Fitzroy, we launched into a busy schedule of sight seeing and fishing. We made a trip up to Tunnel Creek and Winjana Gorge. It has been a while seen any of us had visited these beautiful spots and not much has changed except the crowds of tourists. The road from the Highway to the Gibb River Rd was badly in need of a grade and heavily corrugated on the Southern end. After a walk through the gorge and a lot of crocodile spotting, we cooked up a terrific BBQ of chops and snags.
This time she got the fish alongside and I was staggered by the size of it. I seriously doubted our ability to get it into the boat. It solved the problem by itself by tearing off down river, jumping a bit then breaking off. At least we got a good look at it. Definitely a metre plus fish.
Crabbing was just as good as a few weeks before. We managed 12 good sized “muddies”. This was followed up by a huge meal at Thorsby’s where we did major damage to the stockpile of mud crabs. When I think about the hours we have put in further South to catch a few crabs, Derby makes everything else look like a waste of effort. The Derby tides are difficult to manage, however, and all boating and fishing is governed by access to the water and avoiding getting stranded on the extensive mud flats.
She had knitted him a most attractive woollen G String, equipped with white lacey straps. With a Geelong Football Club emblem on the front, it looked just like one that Gary Ablett might wear. Chris refued to model it for the camera so we had to get Gary to fly over and put on a show for us.
Tim and I tackled Donkey Crossing yesterday on the quest of catching a barra on a kayak. And we were successful! Three altogether, with Tim finally breaking his duck and landing two, along with my one. Mine was pretty small, around 40cm, with Tim’s first around the same size. It was probably good that they were this small – we were fishing different sides of the river, and landed them within five minutes of each other. I had my landing net and Tim had his Fish Grapple. Because mine was small, it wasn’t too difficult to play the fish close enough to the kayak and net it. Tim’s second one was more interesting.
Tim and I decided we needed to get a fish in before the school holidays finished – and it was worth it (for me anyway)! Casting a beady eye on the no less than 11 boat trailers at the gorge carpark, we launched around midday and were off. We decided to go for a troll through the Graveyard before heading further up river for a bit of a flick.
After another 10 minutes of trolling, we took off further up river, catching nothing for the next 3 hours. Time for home (and a return troll through the Graveyard ). Bang! Another 10 minutes into trolling, and I was on again! Another good fight, and another barra at 60cm. We didn’t want to be greedy, so this one was returned to the water.
Today was a great way to end our whirlwind trip. We hired a car and ventured out of the city to Jenolan Caves, about 180km out of Sydney in the Blue Mountains.
for outside temperature – a chilly 8 degrees!
river water running through the base of the system, and a huge array of stalagmites, stalactites and crystal formations. We chose the Lucas cave system, which involved an hour and a half of stunning beauty. Our tour guide took things a little to the 
wacky side by proclaiming the Cathedral Cavern an acoustic heaven (they play regular cello gigs there), and proceeding to play a symphonic version of Metallica throughout the chamber. He followed it up with a terrifyingly unrealistic “dinosaur” roar. Tacky, but the Japanese tourists loved it.
Things were fine until 20km out of Katoomba – at which stage it was about 4:45. The last 20km took well over an hour. The fog became even worse than before, and we seriously doubted whether a) there would be any light, and b) even if there was light, could we see the Sisters anyway?
All in all, we took it in our stride, and treated it all as a bit of lark. We elected to get some dinner in Katoomba, eating at a little café called Savoy – simple food, but nice. We then hit the road again and immediately were confronted by the same crawling traffic! It was a Sunday, but the jam lasted most of the way to the Motorway. A long drive home, which saw us leave Jenolan Caves at 4pm (remember – only about 180km from Sydney) and arrive home at 10pm. Take out an hour for Three Sisters and dinner, that still leaves 
4 hours of driving! Aargghh!!
An earlyish start this morning to tackle a restaurant I’ve been looking forward to for a while. We have most of Bill Granger’s books, and find his recipes simple and stunningly nice. We arrived just after 9:30am to his original Bills restaurant, and were pleasantly surprised to get a seat straight away. I quickly decided I should have eggs, as it was what built his reputation in the first place. Emma joined me in having Scrambled Eggs with Sourbread. I also had mushrooms on the side, while Em had tomato and bacon. Simon ordered banana hotcakes (which looked brilliant). The eggs didn’t disappoint – really silky and unlike any other scrambled eggs I’ve had before. They rocked.
Time for some shopping. With promises of an enormous Westfield shopping centre in Bondi, we rushed to the train station, bought our ticket, rushed down the 155 flights of stairs (or so it seemed) and… trains to Bondi cancelled for the weekend due to track work. Damn! Finding the corresponding bus took an age, and by the time we got to Bondi Junction, we were pretty exhausted. The place is huge though. Taking up two entire blocks, there are also six levels on each block. It was big. We took the time to do some much-needed clothes shopping to get us through the rest of the year at work, I bought Emma’s birthday presents, and we caught the bus all the way home, again being quite frustrated at the lack of signage provided as to where to catch the “train-bus”.
Tomorrow we’re planning on hiring a car and tackling some Blue Mountains action, under Simon’s guidance. To be honest, we’re quite glad, as we’re slightly let down by the “touristy” things here, as opposed to Melbourne’s more natural style of things. Mind you, I can’t complain about the Sydney food… I’ve had some of the best meals ever in just 24 hours! With hopefully more good food to come tonight…
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