30/12/2022
Wednesday night, lil Xavier was missing his cousins so Thursday morning they did a first thing, early morning dash down to Nali and Grandpa DAVE’s for a quick run around before we hit the road. Xavier was looking sharp in his new Scotland coo jumper.
We packed the car, which was peaceful because the three Muskateers were busy interrupting Nali’s morning yoga ritual.
Xavier made quick work of a final Christmas present which they had missed from Boxing Day celebrations, it was a hit with the three of them.
We all jumped into the car, Eloise made sure that she had a premium setup. Jatz in hand and E bag within reach.
The Australian roads felt even bigger than usual, it was dead straight roads for a long long time. Not the extreme Scottish rally-driving terrain we have become accustomed to. Also, there is a speed limit in Australia. After a couple of hours with Scottish songs blaring, we had passed through no man’s land and arrived at Grandma and Grandpa Nicholls’ Wallaroo house.
By this stage, the kids were excited to jump out the car. They both ran straight down the corridor to check out the marina, there was not a cloud in the sky.
We rapidly deployed Damo, Darryl’s Aussie cousin, for a cheeky look-see. Darryl sadly could not make the family holiday as he is ironically scared of flying.
After lunch it was time for the beach, the kids quickly got their swimmers on and were excited. We remembered how much Eloise had loved the beach before we left Australia. It may have been Lachlan’s first proper beach experience besides West Sands Beach at St Andrews.
Lachlan was straight into the water with no hesitation, heading straight out. Unphased by the waves as they crashed into his belly, giggling his little head off.
It was the perfect beach for Eloise to practice her boogie boarding. Our pro tobogganist picked it up quickly.
It was not only the kids enjoying the beach, Delilah, a regular here, was happy to show the kids around. After Lachlan befriended Maya, he has now plucked up the courage to play with his dog sister, Delilah.
The kids had been spoilt with their sand toys and were more than happy to share with their second cousin.
This morning when the kids woke up they were excited to see that Uncle Ben had escaped the underworld and made it to Wallaroo. Eloise let him know he was a “bit late” for Christmas but the kids happily gave him and unwrapped his presents.
Lachlan made a dash to the shops in the morning to pick up some eggs and bacon. Safe to say, he loves the Wallaroo Foodland shopping carts.
Once he returned, the kids were keen to show off that they still knew their way around an Aussie BBQ.
It was another hot day, Eloise had been in her swimmers all morning so it was going to be another day at the beach. Meanwhile, the others set off to go “boating”, they have given up calling it fishing, but we remained optimistic.
Grandma mentioned the words ice cream and Eloise had her towel on and was heading to the cafe, Lachlan was not far behind her.
However, the kids quickly discovered that eating ice cream in Australia is a bit trickier than in sub-zero conditions, the ice cream was dripping and they learnt all about cone rotation. This was a bit of a challenge for Eloise, who is the world’s slowest ice cream eater at the best of times, she enjoys savouring every mouthful. Lachlan just went straight for the drinking out of the cone technique.
It got rather windy so we returned back to find the boaters, unfortunately, there would be no fish for tea. If anyone knows the grand mystery of Wallaroo and the lost fish, we would be interested to hear it.
The jigsaw puzzle was coming along nicely, although at this stage it was still on the critical path. We needed the puzzle robot.
Not sure how we are fairing in the jetlag game but we are certainly all exhausted. The kids have done a brilliant job hitting the ground running and perhaps met/ remet a hundred-odd people over the past week.
After dinner, the kids wanted to join the boaters, for a calm ride around the marina. Lachlan made sure he brought his comfort ball along. We thought this was Lachlan’s first time at Wallaroo but turns out he had been here before.
We were a bit unsure how the kids would go on the boat. Even though Eloise had been on before, we had a tricky boat trip in Amsterdam and the Lake District, not to mention the Venice gondola and water bus. She seemed more comfortable when she had control of the boat.
Lachlan was doing well and actually seemed to enjoy the small rolling motion. Turns out, he had actually snuck a second comfort ball onto the boat, all was well in his world. However, always copying Big Sister, he wanted a crack at steering too. Lachlan did not appreciate the help from Grandpa and tried doing doughnuts as we got some strange looks.
Friday, there was the sad news that “Pelé, a three-time World Cup winner and arguably the greatest player of the 20th century, has died aged 82”.
[…] We feel a bit like fugitives, constantly on the run. Like a well-oiled machine, the car was unpacked and repacked and we hit the road, continuing south as we headed to the kids’ fourth new home in almost as many days, no wonder Lachlan finds sleeping tricky. As soon as we arrived at the Minuzzo’s Moana house we hit the beach… Just for a change… The kids did not take much convincing. […]