Family

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?

 

Mount Compass...

This weekend we went down to Victor Harbor. It's something we do quite often, with my family living down there. But have we ever stopped at Alexandrina Cheese Company? No. Have we ever picked strawberries at Mount Compass. No. Have I ever thought of going to Mount Compass for dinner? Heck no.

Mount Compass, for us, is normally only a place to stop for a toilet break or food. I only know of Mount Compass as a tiny, quiet, cold and wet town where we had to play netball at least once per season (when I was growing up). Why would I go there otherwise?

Well, we find out there are a few reasons… 

1. Strawberries

At first, $17 for two adults and two small children to pick a kilo of strawberries seems on the 'bit rich' side. But then we thought about it. We had enormous fun - so it's a cheap outing. We ate lots - we filled our bellies. And we ended up squeezing over a kilo in the container we were given. After eating about a dozen, it still weighted out at 1100gm. Win, win, win.

The strawberries? Well, most were good, some were fantastic, and some were a bit 'pumped with water' flavour. Maybe it's our ability to pick the correct strawberry? Who knows. 

2. Cheese

Alexandrina Cheese Company is between Victor Harbor and Mount Compass, and every time we go down, we see the big blue sign on the side of the road, 'turn left', but we keep going. Today is a different story. The kids loved the cut out face signs to pose for photos in, the tin galahs scattered around the grass, and picking cheese to taste with toothpicks. It'd be a great spot to go for a few hours over a cheese platter and drinks.

The shop is perched on top of a hill, with a view out over the paddocks and lumpy bald hills. A very rural farm outlook. Ben made comment the customer service wasn't what he expected - not as friendly and country cheerful. Perhaps they were still warming up for the day?

I'm not a cheese 'snob' but I do like a cheese platter. We bought two cheeses (and toyed with the idea of buying more) - with the Vintage Cheddar devoured within the hour after arriving in Victor Harbor. It didn't taste quite as 'vintage' and intense as what we tasted, but the fact that it, err, disappeared so quick, spoke louder. And the curd we purchased - that was great, fried over eggs, the next morning.

3. Brazilian BBQ

YUM! Get there. That is all I need to say. But I will say more.

Who would think they could find perfectly cooked meats, bathed in scrumptious spices and salts, that are beyond our BBQ taste in deliciousness, at a golf course in Mount Compass? I didn't, but was so very hopeful. I lived in Brazil, and I haven't tasted the same quality and experience yet in Australia. A friend I met in Brazil joined us to give it test it out too.

The dinner show includes a performace by the fabulous dancers by La Bomba - an awesome dance studio based in Adelaide. They add the sparkle (or thousand) to an otherwise pretty ordinary atmosphere in terms of decoration and Brazilian experience. 

But, don't go for the atmosphere. Or even the dancers. Even though I enjoyed getting up for a butt wiggle, and Ben was not too upset about the distraction of watching the girls shimmy and prance in their sparkling little bikinis and feathers.

The food. That is why you go. The Rodizio experience is all you can eat, waiter delivered meats, to your table. The waiter brings out cut after cut of various meats and slices it off the skewer onto your plate. The meats have been cooked on a brazilian bbq with special coals. On the table is a selection of sides - a black bean dish (feijoada), farofa (yummy sprinkled on meat), rice, tomato salad (vinagrette) and other dishes. Their chips and aioli starter was more than moorish, but the pao de quiejo (small cheese breads) took me back to Brazil.

Lesson learnt this weekend. Be a tourist in my own backyard. There are treasures to be discovered. Some treasures that people come all over the world to experience, yet we drive straight past.

 

www.harvestthefleurieu.com.au

www.alexandrinacheese.com.au

www.fleurieugolfcourse.com.au

www.labomba.com.au

Holidaying without your kids… you have to.

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We are back from Lombok. What a great place, and what an awesome holiday. (I particularly love South Lombok, but more on that later.) 

After six years of travelling with a baby and toddler, and in the last couple of years, toddler and child - this was a real holiday. Not just 'travel and experience' as I like to call going away with kids. Or, 'same shit, different place, and hard work. But hey, it was worth it, I got to explore somewhere else'.

There was nothing hard about this trip, except for the overnight flight home with a packet of Gastro-Stop handy. 

My lessons learned why every couple should have a holiday without their lovely treasures? Read on.

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1. You actually have time to get bored while waiting for your flight to leave. Especially if one of the crew on your departing flight can't get through customs due to her passport not being accepted. You now have an extra hour to wait for a call-in crew member to arrive.

Hint: if you can't log on to Adelaide Airport wi-fi in the Departure Lounge, stand by the Business Hub, and then log in. Ta da!

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2. Happy Hours are actually happy hours - not whinging, 'quick, let's grab some food and go back to the room' hours. Enjoy watching the sunset with a mojito (or Bintang) or two, then meander off to any restaurant that takes your fancy (rather than checking each menu for child friendly options first). You can savour the food and experience too, rather than gulping it down as quick as you can - there are no children to throw embarrassing tantrums in the middle of the restaurant to worry about. Well, not yours anyway.

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3. Throw some caution to the wind and hire a scooter for touring. You don't have to think about how to anchor child seats, or if the car will have seat belts. Be free and feel the wind on your face. Southern Lombok is perfect for getting around on a bike - minimal traffic (motorised and the animal kind) and have decent roads at times. Go like the expats and locals do.

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4. Get hubby up and start the day with an hour and half of yoga, overlooking the beach. Bliss. Even for people that have never tried yoga. Hubby has never done it, and raved about it. The lap (or thunder, in our case) of waves, the sea air breezing over your body, a well trained teacher… Peace - parents, do you remember what that is?

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5. Get a local child to take a pic of you together. Don't worry about focus, getting your heads in the frame is the only idea to strive for. You get the experience and the fuzzy visual memory. And the kids love it.

We had little pups trying to nibble at our feet in this pic of us at Mawun Beach (absolutely stunning with only half a dozen people scattered on the white arc of sand).

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6. We are in the era of technology - so if either party misses each other, Skype is the answer. We Skyped our kids daily, and video Skyped them once too. But when we heard our daughter hid under the bed for ten minutes after seeing us, we decided video was finished.

Not sure if this Skype thing benefited us, or them, as we were the only ones eager to talk. :)

Final thoughts...

I'd like to make sure we go away once a year, for some time to do what we want. It felt like we were young again, with no pressures or responsibilites. We could do what we want, when we want - or nothing at all. Some days we lazed the day away reading and browsing the iPads on our beach front patio. Other days we explored near deserted beaches, one after the other. And one special day, I went to the Spa for four hours. Namaste.

What are your thoughts and experiences?

BSKT cafe yummies, Mermaid Beach QLD

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Entrance to BSKT cafe, Mermaid Beach, Gold Coast, Queensland BSKT cafe blackboard special

Decisions, decisions. BSKT cafe, Mermaid Beach QLD

And it gets left… BSKT cafe.

I spot a number of cafes on the way in, and make a mental note that coffee is not far away. Thank goodness. I see a place called BSKT on the corner, two doors down from our apartment. It looks full and bustling with energy. Another mental note, 'I must go there'. A social media comment from a friend in Adelaide cements my thoughts, I need to go there. A coffee buff, he says I need to go there after my run one morning.

So I do. We go for coffee, and sit out the back. To my gleeful surprise, there is a kids play area. Hallelujah. We have been entertaining the kids on holiday with no toys, and finally, they are away from us. Happily. I eye the food coming out, and wish I had not just eaten breakfast at the apartment. The menu has me wanting to eat again, but I resist. Just. I tell Ben we are coming back for food tomorrow.

Pancakes with raw cacao, blueberries and other yummy super-food crunch. Awesome! Sweet potato and quinoa fritters. Yum! This is my kind of food. Delicious AND healthy. The menu is laden with super-foods, coconut and protein, I don't need to feel ultra guilty indulging at this place.

We sip on lattes in peace, looking out to the whitewash of waves (while not salivating over the menu). That rarely happens. Ahh. Double whammy - great coffee and time out from kids.

Bali Travel with Kids - 10 tips

Watching the sun set over Legian beach, Bali Bali0514-1403

Life savers packing up after a big day at Legian, Bali.

BK… before kids.

We travelled a lot. We lived in various parts of the world. We penny-saved our way around Europe. We had adventures. We did an around the world trip in 6 weeks. We hiked. We home stayed.

And then kids came.

Having kids halts many, but it didn't stop us. Before our daughter turned one, she had been to Bali. Before our son turned one, we took them both to Phuket. And now, at three and five, they have returned to Bali. We've also had plenty of camper trailer holidays, interstate trips and holiday home getaways. Yes, the travel has tamed down, and surely nowhere near as adventurous as our travels before, but we are doing it.

Here are some tips to get you to Asia...

1. Don't call it a holiday. It's travel. With kids. These are two very different types of 'getting away', do not get confused.

2. Resorts. Pay for the luxury. The pools, the other adults, the restaurants and room service. It all comes in handy when you need to hang around for sleeps and early nights (before restaurant opening time in Asia).

3. Don't expect to tour much. Can you imagine going on an organised day tour with two little ones? Crying, toilet stops, noise, long day... Instead, hire a car and driver, and go at your own pace. You can see what you want, stop for nappy changes, not worry so much about screaming kids and go home when you have had enough.

4. Meet the locals. The locals love to get to know kids, and it is so much fun for everyone. Sit and play with local kids then laugh as restaurant staff fight over who looks after baby while you eat. You are spoken to more, and not just to sell.

5. Take nappy wipes and antibacterial spray. You will need it. Use everywhere, all the time.

6. Strollers are handy in the heat, even if they have outgrown them at home. Whiney kids are kept quiet when they don't have to walk. And soon enough, you will be used to sharing the road with the cars, tuk-tuks and motorbikes. I believe they know what they are doing, so trust in them, and just walk straight.

7. Take snacks and known food from home. Packet fruit, crackers etc are handy when you have fussy eaters.

8. Make sure your room has dark curtains for sleeping during the day - and doors that completely close to keep mosquitos and bugs out.

9. Get a nanny. We got Holiday Nanny Berta, and LOVE her. The kids took to her within minutes, whisking her away to show off our resort.

10. Take a trip without the kids.

It is worth it - no matter how hard.

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