Anglesea January 2014

The trip to Anglesea we originally going to be a boys few days away while Cate and Aisha went to a wedding in New Zealand. As fortune would have it, Cate became sick about a week before they travelled and decided to cancel her and Aisha's NZ trip and accompany Ethan and I to Anglesea, so the 4 of us headed off on January 2^nd.

We packed and left home at 10:30. On the way we called in to see Gramps and Krissy at their work in Hoppers Crossing. It was great to catch up with them for half an hour or so and give the kids a little time to run around. We also stopped at Anaconda and purchased an inside light for the trailer and a kids sleeping bag for Aisha, pink of course, arriving in Anglesea at 2:30. Cate and the kids headed off to the playground while I set up.

The caravan park was relatively small, only 70 or so sites, and the site we were on was small. There was only enough room for our trailer and tent. The awning reached the back of the site and the draw bar of the trailer was nearly on the path. The people in the site behind us benefited from the shade of our awning in the afternoon, and the car was parked on the path. Luckily there were only 2 sites further down the path and traffic was nearly non-existent. There were hedges separating the sites giving us our own space and overall the park was very picturesque. The feeling around the park was very pleasant, with plenty of kids roaming around, the playground was perfect for the kids.

With the set up complete we wandered around the park before dinner, saw the jumping pillow and indoor heated pool. The indoor pool was perfect for the kids. The little pool had water spouting out and mini fountains the kids could operate by pressing a button when the timer finished, and the big pool had a huge water fall the kids thought was amazing.

The following day we were lucky enough to have Laytten and
Emma join us. We had originally planned for Laytten to come up for a couple of days and pitch a tent next to the trailer, however there was no room at all even for a small tent, so they made a day trip of it.

We hired a few paddle boats on the river and paddled around for half an hour or so. It was quite tiring considering Ethan and Aisha couldn’t help with the peddling, but heaps of fun. After the paddle we ordered fish and chips and ate lunch in the park by the river. During lunch the cloud cover increased and the wind picked up making it quite cool for the afternoon, so we headed back to the caravan park. Laytten and I went swimming with Ethan and Aisha, I was glad the pool was heated. We swam for ages then went outside and played on the jumping pillow for a while before a BBQ for dinner. Laytten and Emma headed home as the kids were ready for bed

January 4^th we spent in Torquay. Leaving Anglesea we saw a Sunday market taking place on the bank of the river. The traffic entering Anglesea has horrendous, around a 10km procession going into town, thankfully we were going in the opposite direction. The weather was a little cool so we toured Torquay for some time. The beaches were busy without being overcrowded. We then headed to the Rip Curl shop for a spot of shopping. The Oakley shop was next door and I investigated a pair of new sunnies.

We ate lunch at a quaint little Japanese restaurant, the first time Ethan and Aisha had tasted the cuisine. The food was delicious although it did take quite some time to come out. After lunch Cate purchased a couple of new hats and a wallet from Rip Curl and I want in to buy sunnies but by that time the kids were ready to leave, so back to Anglesea. The market had finished and there was no traffic going back to the trailer.

The afternoon hours were spent at the pool again. Ethan and Aisha were not only entertaining   pressing their chests for the button to release his wings (then putting their arms/wings out) and shouting “to infinity and beyond” before jumping into the pool. They became very confident in the pool with their back floats on and were happy to be in the big pool without clinging on to anyone.
themselves but the other swimmers. Standing on the edge of the pool they were imitating Buzz Lightyear,

The following day was both the best and worst day of the trip. With perfect beach weather, I dropped Cate and the kids off at the beach. It wasn’t really close enough for the kids to walk. There were cars and people everywhere and when we landed on the beach there was a surf lifesaving competition. Thousands of people stretching as far as we could see were at the beach, the surf boats were in front of us. We found a spot and set up the shade tent.

I headed back to Torquay to buy the sunglasses I needed. As I pulled into the car park, around 11:15, I received a phone call from the caravan park asking what time we were leaving. I was under the impression we were leaving the following day, but we were only booked until the 5^th. That gave us 2 options. Pack and go home or pack and move site, and they wanted us off the site by noon.

We decided to move site. I bought sunnies then headed back to pack, while Cate and the kids remained at the beach. We had not packed anything so I began with the clothes etc in the tent. It was a 45 minute pack up then move and reset up.

I then went and picked up Cate and the kids, they had a terrific day at the beach. It was low tide when they arrived and there were rock pools in the vicinity. The kids enjoyed playing in the pools and towels were placed on the rocks for a picnic lunch and then making up stories about fire monsters, Ethan used the sand to put out the fires. It was their first real rock pool experience. As the tide came in the kids helped Cate move the sun shade and they sat in the sand burying their legs, then the waves to clean themselves. Fun was had by all.

The afternoon became quite dark and gloomy as a storm passed by. We received quite a bit of rain but we were fortunate enough to be back at the caravan park and in the indoor pool as the storm passed. Luckily we made it back just in time to close the windows of the trailer to prevent everything getting wet.

Once the storm passed we decided the Anglesea Pub would be a good idea for dinner. The pub was quite busy with only 2 tables not reserved. By the time our meals arrived most of the tables were full. We were given a carafe of water to share and while trying to fill up Ethan’s glass the carafe slipped from my hand and shattered the bowl my risotto was in. The noise was deafening and luckily no food went flying. What a day.

The final morning was spent packing. In packing the previous day I had thrown things all over the place making some things tricky to find. While I packed Cate and the kids went to the park and showered. I was drizzling so they waited near the shower area. Ethan and Aisha were singing the wiggles and the tunnelling effect of the block meant the entire caravan park could hear their singing. We pulled out at around 10:30 and headed for home.

We all had a great time and considering Cate and Aisha were not supposed to be with us I’m glad they missed the NZ trip and joined us. The holiday was brilliant, everyone was happy, very laid back and relaxed. The perfect entrée for our following weeks trip to Pambula.