Over the holidays we went on a little yet wonderful campervanning adventure, our last little hurrah before our life gets taken over by the world of building and renovating. We had a plan, 5 nights of camper van fun with our dear beloveds, Jen, Rod, Lily and Saul, with the destination being Dubbo Zoo and the intention of having loads of fun in-between. It is safe to say that we succeeded on all accounts, this holiday was so much fun.
The adventure was full of squeezable moments, those kind of moments that happen when you are exploring new experiences with those you love, a kind of wide opened excitement, a readiness to have an awesome adventure.
The first day consisted largely of packing said van, laughing at the extreme delight of the children and beautiful one on one chats with Jen (the kids were in the van with Scott). We arrived in Bathurst just on sundown and immediately got rugged up, it was very brisk. We cooked up something easy and delicious and retired early, snug in our beds and excited about our first night. Throughout the night we huddled deeper into our blankets, buried our heads and warmed out hands, perplexed that our thermals were still tucked safely in our bags.
The morning greeted us with children donning layers of clothes, chatting, eating steaming bowls of porridge and unbridled enthusiasm that is often left just for the young. I witnessed this in the comfort of bed, poking my head out windows, chatting with Scott, Jen and Rod, reluctant to step into the cold, it was a luxury.
A quick and energetic bounce on the jumping pillow (see photos) had us all stripping off the many layers of clothes we had donned earlier, hilarious fun.
Onwards to Dubbo, via some op shopping in Orange, of course. And then to a wonderful experience at the Wellington Caves. It was around this area where some Mega Fauna fossils were discovered including that of a giant lizard and snake, these fossils can now be found in the Museum of Sydney. What a special experience, climbing down underneath the earth, studying the stalactites and stalagmites, experiencing total darkness and thinking back to a time when all this area was under water. We visited the Gaden Caves, the smaller caves but there is also Cathedral Caves and the phosphate mine, both of which sound really fascinating.
One of the things I loved the most about the zoo (aside from the Meerkats) was the bike riding, it made the visit very relaxed (once we moved beyond the car zone, let's not talk about my feelings about the car zone). We got to ride through the bush and pop out at varies points along the zoo trail. The Meerkats were Poe's favourite too, he gazed through the window and was very hard to extricate him from them. He even had a favourite Meerkat, the mumma of the gorgeous little baby meerkat, the mumma who stood on lookout and let everyone know when danger was about, she was totally awesome.
On our way to the zoo and on the way back to Sydney we kept seeing signs for something called '
Ironfest', dismissing it as some kind of blacksmith's festival, I thought little of it. But then Rod, with all his knowledge and wisdom of most things informed us that no, Ironfest* was more than that, think jousting, vikings, role playing, steampunk and the Napoleonic era, how could we resist. Oh my goodness, talk about blowing the kids minds. We wandered about mouths and eyes agape, they could not quite comprehend all these adults dressed up in fancy dress, role playing, having an absolute ball. It was brilliant. Seeing so many people living out their passions in a beautiful, safe and supportive environment was amazing. We will definitely go back to Ironfest, mostly to relive and engage in what we have already experience, largely for the children who felt very underdressed, but also to see things that we missed out on; jousting, battle re-enactments and so many other performances.
Our last night was spent at
Lake Lyell after a narrow escape where we nearly stayed in a caravan park that was essentially half a tip and half a backyard, hmm words don't quite explain it, hmm, let's just say think
Deliverance. Lake Lyell, although needing a little backtrack was lovely (except for maybe the generator being used by someone camping nearby), we lit a fire, went for some walks and soaked up our last night with each other. An adventure that was quite short but full of so much fun and goodness, yet far less leisurely cups of teas than I had envisioned.
Before the great campervanning adventure of 2014, we somehow also managed to squeeze in some very wonderful times with loved ones including one very special family that we haven't seen for quite a while. We first met Sara, Gary and Stella at an attachment parenting group in Newtown, when our first borns were only a few months old. Aside from bonding over having new little babies and all that comes with that we also bonded over our Malaysian connections and Gary's newfound love of Bluegrass, which pretty much cemented our friendship forever. It was an utter delight to have a special sleep over at their place, to watch the kids dive straight into the most beautiful and imaginative of play for hours on end, to sit and drink tea, read books, prepare food and catch up. I truly feel that the bond that was cemented as we shared and supported each other when our children were but babes has created such an ease and familial environment with these dear friends. 
