Seaworld with two tired little kids

Theme Parks. It isn't top of our priority list of 'to do' activities on holiday, but we manage to get some free tickets to Seaworld while staying at Gold Coast. So we figure, why not? The kids are getting up with the sun which makes us one of the first at the gate. We are up and ready so early we have time to go to a shopping centre on the way there, and then still have a twenty-minute wait in line before the gates open.

The park is a lot smaller than I imagined, but still plenty to do. We know we will be on somewhat of a time limit, with Ashton already yawning, so make a list of priorities. On route to our first show, we stop off to watch the dolphins playing with some guests in the water. It's fascinating for me, but the kids nag to move on after only a few minutes. It might be a quick trip to Seaworld at this rate, sweeping through each attraction every few minutes!

Dolphins are beautiful creatures, but I do wonder how they feel about being kept in small pens. As a staff whistle blows for one dolphin to jump out of the water, I watch as a pod swim around and around the parameter of a pen. 

One of my favourite attractions is the sea lion show. Entertainment for all ages. The kids (mainly) sit through the whole show, laughing and captivated by the story. I giggle away as the sea lion flaps and shuffles across the stage, down slides and through doors, in actor mode. 

Dora is on our list, as is the kids carnival area, but surprisingly, the underwater viewing area is a big hit with the kids. An amazing walkway, which is a bit scary for Belle to walk down (I don't know why), takes us under the water to see turtles, sharks, fish and all sorts of marine life. We end up down here for nearly an hour. It's busy, but with so much glass, it's easy enough to find a spot to watch. The kids squeeze in between people when they spot something and have to see the creature 'now'.

Just on three hours after getting in the gate, we are leaving again. We have seen only a small section of the park, slurped down iceblocks, flew through the air on the kiddy airplane ride twice each, and pulled a screaming kid away from stuffed toys at the polar bear shop. Our dear Belle fell in love with a white polar bear with a blue rug - but I couldn't 'bear' another stuffed toy in our house. Daddy also got slapped by our very tired and overstimulated little boy - probably for not letting him have another ice cream. Home time!

But, of course, we have one final hurdle. The shop everyone has to walk through to exit Seaworld. The polar bears with blue blankets are back. Argh. Belle goes crazy, trying to look at everything while I try to be cunning with attention-grabbing her to outside. Ten minutes later, we are out.

5/10 experience. Not because of the park, but because of our tired kids. 

Tips to remember for next time...

Perhaps best to do this at the start of the holiday - it's tiring stuff.

There are no swimming pools in the main area, so don't bother with taking bathers and towels. That is one less bag to lug around.

Get there early. Beat the heat, the crowds aren't as hectic, and the kids get tired easily.

Expect the souvenir shops, and prepare for them. Perhaps the kids can earn pocket money, and take that.

Don't take tired kids. It's no fun.

If theme parks are the reason for the trip, Seaworld Resort would be a good accommodation option.

Are you a www?

Don't be a www - weekend work warrior. Get out, enjoy and rejuvenate. Happy Mothers Day to all mummies on Sunday! They do an amazing job. I know how hard it can be. Xx

Let others take pics...

Me prepping for the ultra fresh water - squealing while dipping my toes in - after stepping on all the prickles in the grass. Photo by Holli. 

"Ahh! It's your work camera!" "And you let him use it?" This is the normal reaction I get when I hand over my D800 to my four-year-old to take some pics. To my defense - I make sure the camera strap is around his neck and let him go for it. Yes, he could drop it, but I trust him. And he hasn't dropped it yet. He's probably more careful than I am.

Belle finally trying some water action with her cousin Abbey. I don't think they got much faster than this. :) Photo by Ben (hubby).

So, while on holiday in Barmera this Easter, I decided to give others the reins to my baby. While I was driving my dad's baby - his 350 Chevy speedboat (a bit too hard apparently?), I couldn't safely do both. I mean, I'm meant to watch where I'm going  - especially with the nutbags that I saw up there - out on the water. 

My Dad has always loved going for one ski a trip - pulling and tugging the boat around for those 10 minutes. You can see the joy on his face as he sprays litres of water up in the air.

Hubby, nephew, and niece had a go. And they did a great job. Most of the pics were taken while I was driving the boat - so shutter speed and motion blur was a real issue. And that's not saying anything about my driving. I set it on the shutter priority at about 1/800, and off they snapped.

My nephew Jake - he'll hate me for this pic. Or should I say, Ben (Hubby). 

It's interesting to see how others see the world through the lens. And it's important too. Think of the memories they are creating for years to come IF you store them correctly. (More about that later.) And, importantly, it's a great opportunity for you to step out from behind the camera and be also remembered.

It's a tragedy to go through life and not have photos to reflect on. We will always look back at our younger self and admire the youth and beauty we behold - even if we don't think so at present. 

My niece, Holli, took this photo. She loves the camera the most - and I want to nurture that.

Kangaroo Island - a holiday 'overseas' yet close to home.

Kangaroo Island - I don't think I can get enough of it. And soon, I'm hoping I'll be lukcy enough to go back. AIPP (Aust Institue of Professional Photographers) are working with National Archives, Australian War Memorial and RSL to photograph as many WWII Veterans as we can between now and July 2015. 

I have volunteered to photograph veterans in the Blackwood, Mitcham, Yankalilla and Kangaroo Island areas. We have at least one living on KI, so soon… I'll be back.

www.aippveterans.com

I have been to KI many times, with my dad when I was younger, on work trips. On a few work trips myself, and with the family on holiday. Each trip has given me different experiences. Racing Dad up the highest hill on the island, walking along stormy beaches at sunrise, fish and chips seaside at Kingscote, sliding down sand dunes at Little Sahara and standing in awe at the sea lions at Seal Bay. Flinders Chase and our camping in a week of rain are two complete stories themselves.

What do they say about the journey? Getting over to KI can be half the fun. We always go by ferry, at Cape Jervis - and the experiences I've had onboard always surprise me.

With the old ferry, I remember sitting up front during a storm, getting pelted with sea water as we crashed down from wave to wave while Dad was downstairs barely keeping his dinner down.

On my last trip, I remember not knowing where to look, as one by one, (what seemed like) everyone around me started using the vomit bags. Boy, I wish I had and eye mask and headphones.

And of course, on our family trip, I will never forget my daughter getting her fingers squashed in the toilet door. Ouch, you say. Yes, especially considering the door was an outside heavy, storm door that I had to lean my weight against to push open. Staff ran around busily, trying to stop her screaming and see what damage was done. A killer python lolly fixed the screaming, and a trip to the hospital was recommended on arrival in Kangaroo Island. Thankfully for us, and her, by the time we got off and started driving, her fingers were starting to form shape again. And the pain had virtually gone. 

I love the diversity, peacefulness and beauty. There are kangaroos, birds, beaches, country roads - plus good country folk, wine, food and coffee. Hey, there is a festival (FEASTival) for a reason. This island is a photographers worst enemy when trying to keep track of time and on schedule. But I could think of many worse places to 'get carried away' and immerse myself. 

I took photos while we were on holiday, but tragically, due to not watching little fingers on little people, I lost all my images shot at Seal Bay and Little Sahara. I am itching to get back to photograph these - hoping there will be beautiful skies, male sea lions fighting, and plenty of sand-boarders to keep my appetite settled - the things we had on holiday. 

Please keep your ears and eyes open for any veterans - in KI, or anywhere in Australia. We want to photograph them all. www.aippveterans.com for more info about the project.

www.sealink.com.au

www.sealbay.sa.gov.au

www.southaustralia.com

www.tourkangarooisland.com.au

Mums in business

The arty child perhaps?

There is a common thread in my world of chit-chat at the moment. And it's the responsibilities and pressures that come with being in business for yourself, being an entrepreneur and being mum. How do you cope?

Kids keep you young while giving you grey hairs. Try work that one out.

My work days are commonly split between edit days and shoot days. A common 'edit' day for me is… 

6am woken up by kids

6.30am-8.30am Drag myself out of bed, make breakfast for the kids, myself, make lunches if hubby hasn't, nag the kids about getting dressed/brushing their teeth/doing hair/cleaning face, clean up their mess, nag some more, nag some more, frantically leave the house in time for school and child care drop offs. Often, when I finally fall in the car, I hear myself saying 'right, from now on, there is no TV or play until you are dressed'. 

8.30-9.15am Drop kids off at school and day care

9.30-10.15am Squeeze in some form of exercise. At home - driving or prepping myself to be anywhere is too time consuming. Yoga, latin dance, HIIT or a jog are my go-to's.

Before the kids wake up… I can have time to myself - if I set the alarm for 5.30am. No way!

10.30am After a quick shower, head down to the office and start work. A mountain of emails, training, editing, estimates and proposals, social media, and phone calls fill the day until 2.45pm. I leave the desk, with a stiff back, thinking about what stuff I didn't get done, and what needs to be done tonight.

And if I'm on a shoot, I could be anywhere. Nice lush hotel rooms to getting down and dirty with, trying to shoot young adults looking 'not awkward' on Uni campus.

2.45-8pm Go pick up kids, get after school snack, do homework, make dinner, clean up, eat dinner, clean up, baths/teeth, read books to kids in bed. Give the kids a back rub (yes, they are spoilt from massages overseas and love them). And then, hopefully, they will go to sleep.

Living my uni life (that I never had), photographing students.

8.15pm Make a cup of tea, have a quick chat with hubby and head down to office.

10.30pm After cramming some more work in, hopefully I'll be able to pull myself away from the computer, and can enjoy 10 minutes of reading in bed. Otherwise, it's an 11.30pm (ish) finish, and straight to bed.

Sleep, repeat. Sleep, repeat.

Now, these 'edit' days are easy days. The days when I have shoots that don't work in between school hours or child care days (and let's face it, how often can you solely work in between 9.30-2.30pm) - I then have to organise people to pick up kids, or  book into OSCH, or get Grandma to look after them, or hubby to finish work early and pick them up. And the weeks when I work away - then we have a live in Grandma. I am so grateful we have wonderful family around us, to support our life choices of following our passion, and not have the kids in full time care.

When do we do cleaning? Oh, we squeeze that in whenever we can. Excuse us, if the house isn't spotless when you come. We have better things to do than scrub the tiles with a toothbrush on a Saturday night. But only just. Last night, being Saturday, I went to a 40th, bought the kids home for the bedtime routine, did some study while doing my physio exercises, then hung out the washing. Sounds fun, yeah? Ten years ago, my Saturday night routine would have been 'just slightly' different. I'm sure a few of you out there understand.

Sometimes we manage a civil meal, all together at the table. Most nights, one is slumping in their chair, one is zooming a car around their plate, and the 'talking stick' is having to be passed around to give everyone a chance.

How about cooking? Well, that has become quite the routine. With our daughter only eating plain, individual food, we make two dinners. One for us, and one for her. We used to eat stir fry, pasta and spicy dishes most nights - now it's meat and three veg, eggs, hash meals (whatever you can find in the fridge, stir fried) and roast chickens (the only meat she will eat apart from sausages, if you can call them a meat). Well, that was until my naturopath put me on a restricted diet of ultra limited intake of lactose, wheat and meat. Yay.

And sometimes the family comes to work with me… cheap labour. :)

My work days don't run like a business week either. Being a photographer, my 'shoot' days are all over the day - and can be on weekends too. A calendar is essential. And a synced calendar with hubby is an abolute necessary.

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have a 'normal' job where I go out three days a week, work my 9-5, then come home. When at home, I can enjoy life and family without having work thoughts running around in my head. Then I remember how much fun I'm having. I wouldn't change it for the world.

Life, at the moment, is like I'm running on a treadmill at speed 10, incline 10. Someimes I stumble, but I keep the momentum. My legs are strong, I will continue. That's what you do when you are passionate - multi passionate.

Cheers to a life of chasing dreams and following your passion!

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Adelaide Haunted Horizons

My maiden name… 

I work with SATIC (SA Tourism Industry Council) and offer a door prize at each of their networking events. One lucky member gets me for two hours - and probably more enticing - gets some stunning images to use on their promotional collateral. 

Alison Oborn from Haunted Horizons was the lucky winner recently. Since I have never been out on a host tour, or anything like it, Alison suggested I come to one of her Old Tailem Town tours, near Tailem Bend, SA. 

Signing our life away...

One cool evening in April, I set out. We meet in the carpark of Old Tailem, I'm handed a torch, and told to sign my life away. 'We can't guarantee anything, and we need to know, that you know, you could die.' Mmm, lovely - what have I got myself into. But I stay on - all in the name of work… and curiosity now. 

The teetotaler owner of the house would hate that his house is what it is now… a pub.

Alison leads us around the old town, telling us stories of experiences that have happened, the history of the buildings - buildings that have come from all over the state, and even interstate. We only see a section of the town, visiting the railway yard, store, motor shop, pub, family home and church. 

Sometimes there is a man figure seen in torchlight, standing in the doorway or behind the truck...

In the shop, I get one hell of a fright. I am standing up the back of the group, torches all off while listening to Alison tell of stories about ghosts being attracted to women and hating gay men. In the complete blackness, bar the little red light of an infra red camera, I hear 'boo'. I swear I hear it whispered into my left ear, even nearly feeling the air brushing me ear, but upon jumping with an 'argh', the guy to my right apologises, and says he was whispering in his mates ear.

The shop where I'm spooked...

Did I see or feel any ghosts? No. Did anyone else? Perhaps. Two guys, sitting in the church, say the pew in front of them has been moved towards them, blocking their feet from moving - but no-one is sitting on that pew in front of them. Do I now believe in paranormal acitivity? I'm not sure. I'm open minded. And as Alison says, you never can say if you believe or not, until something is experienced yourself. Skeptics out there - even if you don't believe any one tiny bit about paranormal activity - this tour is great fun. History, drama, and tour by torchlight. Even though I'm disappointed to not have experienced any paranormal activity, I'm kind of glad. The drive home alone would have been interesting, considering it's now nearly midnight, I'm tired and have heard many spooky stories. 

www.adelaidehauntedhorizons.com.au 

Photo tip: Get 'em out of centre.

I see so many people line people up dead centre of their photo. I guess we may have been taught to do this - everyone seems to do it. But there is a thing in photography called the 'rule of thirds'. Our eye tends to drift to a spot that is not dead centre, and we are taught to place our focal point there instead. 

If you draw two lines through horizontally and two lines vertically through a photograph, where those lines meet is supposed to be the sweet spot. There are four spots you can choose from. 

Try it next time you take a pic. Leave some empty space to one side. Put your focus on something in the top left or bottom right - anywhere but centre. And then take the same pic, but centre the focused object. Which one looks better?

If I had taken this photo, centring the man, I would have lost the amazing shadow play to the right of him, and the framing of darkness that surrounds would have altered. I also love how he is looking down and out of the frame, as if his mind is elsewhere. A time of reflection, emotion and power. If I had gotten more body, it may have not let my eye delve so close, to see his emotion, the chin strap sitting tight around his face, the shine of light on his jacket.

But, of course, rules are made to be broken, and sometimes, it's just better with focus in the middle.

I guess that is art for you. Do what you want. Just tellin' ya what I know. 

Barmera, South Australia

A long weekend. It comes with its pros and cons for the business owner - me. 

Pros: Time with family, escape the house, have fun, do something different, time out from work.

Cons: Need to find time to catch up the lost time, tonnes of washing to do on return, too much eating and drinking.

Every Easter, my family goes up to Barmera, in the Riverland. It's a long weekend of speedboat fun (if the weather is kind), relaxing, kids playing, lots of eating, an easter egg hunt and a wine or two. Holidays revolve around the river, however, when Mother Nature doesn't play nice, we have other options. 

Berri has a fair on the Saturday - nothing big, but fun. The community comes out, my kids love watching the gymnastics demos and then trying to catch all the eggs being thrown off the stage for kiddies.

Barmera has a big fair, music and big screen movie on the Sunday arvo/night. We go every year. It's fun to have a look through the stalls, grab some festival food (fish and chips were great this year!) and then sit and listen to the musician or band.  We haven't made it to the movie yet, but as the kids get older, we will rug up and stay on.

Banrock Station is not far away - wine and wetlands. What more do we need?

Lake Bonney - we ride and run around it. About 22km. I need to do this to get rid of all the chocolate I eat over Easter. And it's also a good mental challenge. Note: if you are going to do it, do it early morning or late afternoon so you can entertain yourself with beautiful light on the lake as you go. And, don't expect to follow the lake around the edge - the road veers out in sections - but follow your nose, you will find your way.

Loveday and other dirt tracks are to be discovered by 4wd. Haven't done it by 4wd (hubby loves it though), but went for a jog along the tracks near the caravan park. Can see how it would be a bit of fun - for the right person.

This year, we found a wholesale fruit and veg shop too. I can't remember the name of it, but it's on the highway, just out of Barmera, when heading towards Berri. You have to turn down a country road, and then enter what looks like a farm with big sheds - but it's worth it. Cheap prices and yummo quality. We'll be shopping up there again, next year. (If you know the place, please tell me the name.)

And of course, Caravan Parks lend themselves to relaxing and not doing much. While the kids run between the playground, jumping pillow and new friends' caravans, adults can sit back and enjoy. Yes, some campers enjoy a bit too much, cracking a tinny at 8am, but nothing has become too rowdy yet. Even the fireworks that go off like a barrel gun at 10.30pm are taken lightly. 

Question to end… why do we lock our houses up like a fort, but when in a caravan park, we believe a zipper will do the job?