Grafton to Coopernook State Forest

We woke up in Grafton and went and had a glorious hot shower and had breakfast. At about 8 o'clock we hit the road and travelled for about a minute until we got to a park to find a cache. Then we went to tourist information centre. There were some really cool puppets there and I played with them. I really wish we could have bought one but we didn't. 

Next we went to the Big Banana where I got a keyring. We also went to the candymaker shop where we got some lumps of leftover candy. We saw them cutting up sticks of candy and we got to sample a little bit. I really like it. The lump of candy I bought was quite difficult to bite and you could only break off small shards with my teeth. I still haven't finished it and I've been eating it all the way from the candy shop. 

We travelled to Coopernook State Forest and we set up the van in the camping ground. For the rest of the afternoon I played with a ball with Mum, Dad and Emily, did handstands and cartwheels, attempted a round-off, had a late lunch and went for a walk. By the time I went inside it was dinnertime. We had sausages and salad, washed the dishes, made the beds and had an early night. 

Brisbane To Grafton

We set out at about 11 o'clock.  Then we to the shops to get some things for lunch.  It took about two hours to get there.

After we came out of the shop Dad had too change a tyre.

Then we went to Sleepy Hollow to have some lunch, we had rolls with shredded roster chicken and roast beef.

Then we travelled to Grafton and it took us about three hours to get there. It took us a little while to find the caravan park. When we got to the caravan park we went into the office to get a site. We set up on the site and ate dinner played a game and read.

Day twenty two

Today we went to the Age of Fishes Museum where we got audio devices and we looked at what the Earth was like over time.

 Then we looked at big slabs of rock that had imprints of fish in them.

 Then we went to a microscope and looked at some rocks and corals.

Day twenty one

Sarah Day 21

Today we went to the Stromlo Observatory where we looked at burnt out telescopes from a big bushfire 11 years ago.

 Then we walked to where they put the damaged lens frame. A moon was painted on the ground and we pretended we were walking on the moon. 

We found a place where there were stones in a curve. The stones had numbers on them and we stood in the middle with our arms above our heads and our shadow showed us what time it was. 

After that we drove to the Royal Australian Mint. A man took us on a tour and showed us the old coins they used to use and they were made. We walked to a window where we could see how they make our coins now. Then we went to the National Museum of Australia where we looked at all the displays. 

After that we went to the Australian War Memorial. It had lots of aeroplanes and a submarine and outside there was a wall of people's names who had died in war and lots of poppies. Along the wall was the names of all the wars Australians have fought in. 

After the war memorial we went to see the Captain Cook Memorial Water Jet.

 It was really tall. Mummy did a cartwheel. Then we went back to the campground and rolled down the hill.

Day eighteen

Sarah Day 18

Today we went on a tram around the city. It's the first time I've ever been on a tram. It was a bit freaky because every time it stopped we all fell backwards. We had to stand up because it was really busy. First we stopped at Melbourne Central and went in to look at the Shot Tower. Then we walked to the State Library. Along the way we saw the sunken roof of a library. Outside the library was really pretty and we saw some statues and lots of people snoozing or reading in beanbags. In the library it was really interesting. We saw Ned Kelly's armour and a display of books that were carved into the shapes of countries. There were also some old books in glass cases and one of the books had a picture of a thistle in it!
After the library we went and had Chinese for lunch. We went to Chinatown and saw some Chinese lions and lanterns. Then we walked past Parliament House. It had lights that had crowns on them. Then we saw some rocks that had skeletons of animals of them. Then we went to Fitzroy Gardens where we saw beautiful flowers in the conservatory and the goddess Diana and her hounds. We walked to Captain Cook's Cottage. It's really quite small. We wandered off to the Fairies Tree. Around the tree, we found some bookcrossing books tied on with string. We chose two to read on our trip back home. The Fairies Tree is quite cool and awesome. It has fairies and animals carved into it. They move when there's no one there to see them. Next to the Fairies Tree was where the fairies live. It's called the Model Tudor Village. It is really pretty and full of small houses and a church and miniature trees. We looked around and saw something that looked like a dragon so we went over to see what it was. It turned out to be a dragon slide and there was also a headless giraffe swing. 

We walked to ACMI at federation square and I got to play a game there. We walked to Flinders Street station to take some photos of the clocks. We walked to the tram stop and had to wait in the freezing cold wind for what felt like an hour but was actually only twenty minutes. Finally when the tram came we had to wait for people to get off the tram but we didn't have to wait long because there were only two people getting off! That was pretty unlucky because there was lots and lots and lots of people in the tram. We squeezed into the tram and made our way back to the car. We drove on and dad decided to go back into the city and we found Japanese restaurant so we had dinner there, then we went home, had showers and went to bed. 

Day sixteen

Today we went to our highland dancing competition. I was really nervous because I was competing against all the 8 year olds from around Australia and New Zealand.

 I got 3rd in fling, 4th in the sword, 6th in seann triubhas, 6th in lilt and 6th in trophy fling. I hate when I get lower marks in my trophy fling than my in my normal fling. It always happens. It's annoying. 

I saw Abbie and Lara there, two of my best friends at my dancing studio. They are both really good dancers so luckily they were in the 7 years old section and I was in the 8 year olds. 

Abbie's mum, Sarah, put my makeup on today. She put on foundation, eye shadow, lipstick, blush, eye liner and mascara! Mum usually only puts on lipgloss and eyeshadow!

 It was a really long day. We started at about 8.30am and didn't finish until 7pm. I didn't start until 4 o clock but Emily started at 10 o clock and she finished when I started.  Because it was late we stopped at Red Rooster for dinner on the way back to the caravan park. 

Day twelve

Sarah Day 12

We travelled from Mt Gambier to Smythesdale near Ballarat. 

We went to Grandpapa's house in the morning and it was very sad because it's probably the last  time we ever see the garden. It's really pretty. We fed the ducks and the geese and took lots and lots of photos. 

We drove a long way today. We had lunch at a lake at an old railway station. 

We saw lots of fires from farmers burning things. 

The place we are staying has a railway trail going through it but it doesn't have rails anymore. We played frisbee after we got here but Daddy broke the frisbee because it bashed him in the leg. 

We drove in to Ballarat in the evening to have a look around the town. We saw fantastic old houses, old pretty churches and lots of old buildings. They are not like the ones you see in Brisbane. 

Tomorrow we're going to Sovereign Hill. 

Day eleven

Sarah Day 11

First we drove to the town hall to see a movie about volcanoes and about how the Blue Lake was formed. It was quite a long movie, about an hour long. Then we went to the Cave Gardens where Mum and Dad tried to run away. We went down some steps and looked at the cave and mummy took some photographs. 

Then mummy and daddy went up higher and told us to stay so they could take some more photographs but then they started to run away. Tim, Emily and I gave chase and we caught them at the top of the stairs. It was funny!

We drove to the Blue Lake where we froze and had lunch and then we walked on a little bridge to get a good view of the lake and we took some photos. 

Then we drove to Grandpapa's house. He showed us some of his fishing gear and took us through his big shed telling us stories about things he did when he went fishing.

Day ten

Sarah day 10

We woke up and had bacon and eggs on toast for breakfast. We did the laundry so we stayed a while at Naracoorte. I played with Huon. We were trying to fly a kite but it failed so we went and made arrows with sticks. That was really fun. 

Then we drove to Grandpapa's house in Mt Gambier where he showed us around the garden.

 It was kind of like having a tour. He also showed us how people had cut a big burl from a red gum tree and it looked like a map of Australia before Tasmania separated and water came into the Gulf of Carpentaria.

After the tour, we fed the ducks, geese and chickens and then drove to their new house because they bought a house in a retirement village. The new house is quite big and its across the road from a beautiful lake. After that we went to dinner at a pub and I had fish and chips which was yummy. We had dessert and I had a really big scoop of icecream. It was so big that it made me feel ill. 

It was late so we went straight to bed after we got back to the caravan.

Day Nine

Sarah day 9

Today we spent the day caving at Naracoorte Caves. First we went to the Wet Cave. It was quite nice. There were puddles everywhere when we got to the end and that's why it got its name. After that we had the Victoria Fossil Cave tour. In the Victoria Fossil Cave we saw lots of stalactites and stalacmites and straws and our tour guide said that we would probably be able to use the straws as real drinking straws but we would get a $10000 fine if we did. She took us to where they found lots of fossils of megafauna like Diprotodon and Thylocaleo. They even had found some bones of a five metre snake. I could imagine how big the animals were. 

After we finished in that cave we went to the Wonambi Fossil Centre where they had a display that showed what the area looked like when the megafauna were around and it was quite freakish for me. 

Our next cave was after lunch. It was adventure caving in Stick-Tomato Cave. It was really just the Wet Cave but we went further in past the chains where you had to stop if you were just doing the self guided tour of the Wet Cave. The reason it is called the Stick-Tomato Cave is because in the olden days, kids used to throw down sticks into an opening and a native tomato bush grew in the opening.  
Adventure caving was awesome. First we got knee pads, helmets and overalls on. Then we entered the cave. Our first crawl was an easy practice one. Then we went through another real tunnel and we went into a kind of cubby-house. My friend Huon and I found a kind of seat at the back and side of it. Then we asked Yaz our tour guide if we could go through a small gap in the wall and she said " yes" so we went through and even Daddy didn't get stuck. Another small hole in the wall called The Eye of the Needle was next and then The Keyhole, which was, of course, a keyhole shaped hole. To get through the keyhole we had to put our arms out in front of face, and push off the ground and push off the roof but I couldn't get there because my legs were too short so Emily pushed my legs up and I went sliding down the other side! After that, was a place called The Slot and that it was, a slot. We had to go sideways through it. Tim and Emily went first and I came next. We had to go in single file. The adults had to put their knee up on a rock to get through but Huon and I didn't need to because we were so small, we just had to bend! The Slot was my favourite part. We finished there and walked back to the entrance and took a group photo and then went back to the visitors centre where they gave us a certificate of participation.

That was the end of our caving day.

When we returned to the caravan I had a play with Huon because they were staying in the campground too. 

It was my favourite day so far on the trip.

Day Eight

Sarah Day 8

It was nice to leave a bit later today because we could eat breakfast and pack up slowly. We had another play on the playground and then we got in the car and we drove Horsham. 

At Horsham we went to the information centre and they gave us a lolly each and then we went and washed the laundry. We put the washing in the big washing machine and then we went for a walk along the street. We put the washing into the dryer and went to a shop called Jaycar. At Jaycar we looked at some electronic stuff.

We drove to Naracoorte and signed in to the campground and unpacked the caravan and set it up. We drove to the visitor centre and got our tickets for the cave tours that we are going to do tomorrow and we had a photo at the Diprotodon at the visitor centre. It looks like they spread melted chocolate all over it but its just the fur. Every time we go past it we say Why did they waste so much chocolate!!

I'm really forward to tomorrow and a day of caving but I'm a bit nervous!

Day Seven

Sarah Day 7

It was really muddy when we woke up so we decided not to have breakfast to save time so we didn't get bogged. We sat in the car as mummy and daddy packed up the caravan in the rain. We had all the breakfast stuff in the car because we were going to have a nice picnic in the park but the park was all wet so we ended up having breakfast at a road house and it took forever for our meals to be ready. They were huge meals! Mummy and I shared one but the kids and daddy had one each. They were so big we decided not to have lunch. A quick apple for afternoon tea kept us going until dinner.

Then we drove to Echuca to see the woodturner and Bobby. When we got the the port we went to the woodturner shop but he wasn't woodturning. Even though we stayed there for quite a while, he still didn't start woodturning so we left. We went back to the car and drove to where Bobby worked which was luckily was just at the end of the other street. We talked to her for a while and bought some earrings and even though Bobby works out the back, she served us.

After Echuca we drove until we got to Rupanyup. We played on the playground while mummy and daddy set up the caravan. There was a rock climbing wall and I got really good at it. There were three slides and a spinny thing too.

We had a good sleep because it was nice and quiet there.

Day Six

Sarah Day 6

We woke up and drove to the old  Peak Hill Open Cut Gold Mine where we had our breakfast and then we walked around the open cut mine and took pictures. The mine was a humongous hole with sides that looked like big steps. There was water at the bottom of the mine. I got eaten by mosquitoes. I got a small branch with leaves on it to flick around so the mosquitoes didn't get near me. But it didn't seem to work very well. By the end I had about 1000 bites on me!

After the mine we went to The Dish. The Dish is the most ginormous radio telescope I've ever seen in my life! In the visitor centre we looked at a display of a black hole where you rolled a ball and it got pulled into the black hole. Another thing I liked there was the wonky mirrors that showed us how the mirror on the telescope made things look different. One mirror made me look miniature. Another mirror made my fingers short if I held them horizontally and quite long if I held them vertically. I thought the telescope was awesome.

We didn't do anything else today. We just drove to Narrandera.

Day Five

Sarah Day 5

Today we went to the zoo.

First we saw the African Wild dog,  when we first saw them they were just lazing around. They're really cute look cuddly.

We walked to the rhinos talk and feed. When we got there the rhino was in a big field and wasn't very close to us, so the person took us to another rhino because the microphone was not working and that rhino was in a smaller field. This rhino was a black rhino and is different from the white rhino, even though there skin is the same colour, the white rhino has a wide mouth and eats grass and the black rhino rips things from trees and has a triangular top lip.

Next we went to the meerkats. They were so cute and tiny.  The mum had a new baby, when the mime carried the baby to the nest, all of the brothers and sisters crowded around her.  The meerkats are my favourite animal.  They are about up to my knee. If meerkats hear a plane or something that scares them, they all all hide except one, who will keep guard.

Then we went to the giraffe's where you could feed them, but we did not because you had to pay. When giraffe's fight they whack there necks against each other. Giraffe's eat the leaves from trees, and the giraffe's babies are the tallest babies in the world.

We then saw some white rhino's, they have wide faces and they were eating the grass.  The grass looked like there had been a lawn mower through.

We went to the elephants.  We sat on a pretend elephant and got some photos then saw the real elephants.  Asian elephants have small ears, African elephants have big ears.  If you look at them, they look like their skin is a lot lighter than their trunk's, but that was because they had mud on their skin. Then we went to the hippos.

We saw a hippo called Happy open his mouth really wide and he tried to train the zoo keeper and if they get frightened, if someone who is not normally at the door is at the door they go back to the water.  They can run quite fast.  Happy broke three of his teeth in a fight.  You can throw food to him and he can catch it.  There was another female who was there but she was only trained to got to the fence.

Tortoises. We went to some Tortoises, one of them was really big, it was a male, there was a female, not as big and Daddy called it a moving rock.  Daddy was naughty and touched the tortoise on the shell. Tortoises eat hay. The male tortoise is usually larger than the female and has a concave shell. The ginormous tortoises shell was quite pretty.

We then went back and saw the wild dogs again and they looked like they were playing hide and seek. We also saw the giraffes again. Then we were going to go home but I saw three zoo staff looking at the wild dogs and I asked mummy if I could ask them what they were doing, she said yes, I asked mummy if she would come with me, she said yes.  They said they were monitoring the dogs because they were acting a bit weird after being fed.

Emily asked if we could have ice cream, mum said yes.  We finished our ice-cream and then went back to the car and caravan and drove to a rest area called Tomingly. Then Emily made dinner and went to bed.

Day four

Sarah day 4 

We woke up at about 6 o'clock and ate breakfast. We had eggs on toast with bacon. Yum! Yum! Then we went outside and played for a little bit. Then we went up to the telescope and it was really windy and it was really big. I got a key ring and Emily got a collective spoon and a sticker for the caravan. 

This is the telescope. 

Then we went to Dubbo where there's a caravan park called Dubbo city. At that caravan park there's a swimming pool, a playground but best of all a jumping pillow.

We drove to the old Dubbo gaol where there were some creepy stuff and then a man told us about how some people had tried to escape from the gaol. 

We drove to the caravan park and had a little play on the jumping pillow. Then we went to bed.