Canberra, Bateman's Bay, Pebbly Beach

today is thursday, nov. 18

we just got back from a day long journey to local beaches around canberra

wed, nov. 17

-so yesterday, we arrived by train in canberra at ~4:30
-about a 4 1/4 hour trip from sydney
-our trip was easy and uneventful and enjoyable
-the best part was that kristen picked us up from the train station - soooo good to see her!
-we stopped on the way home from the train station to pick up little simon from school (he's 2 1/2 and A-dorable!)
-went to market to get items for dinner (homemade by kristen: pesto pasta w/ mushrooms and tomatoes, and a beautiful salad)
-got home in time for an evening walk near kristen's home
-along our way, we got to seen the many kangaroos hopping about that kristen promised we'd see - VERY cool! (kind of comparable to seeing deer in the outskirts of portland, but way cooler!)
-we got back home and got to meet phil, kristen's australian friend, who travels A LOT, just getting back from dubai (i think) yesterday and took off for portugal today!
-so great to meet phil and he entertained us with many australian stories, including some gruesome ones that involve crocodiles
-kristen made us all a fabulous dinner, and we just finished off our day enjoying our friends
-when i asked kristen what time she thought we should leave today, she said 7, we laughed

thu, nov. 18

-we got up ~8:00
-packed snacks for the road and made brekkie for the kids (well, kristen did this, at least)
-it was just kristen, simon, cade, tucker and i, as phil had to travel to portugal (as i mentioned)
-i think after we got gas, we were on the road ~11 am (we thought 4 hours later than planned was pretty good)
-everyone was in a great mood and we were ready to travel
-our first stop was a bakery where we picked up "meat pies" (the boys' and my first try at these!). these were ok, but kristen assured me there are MUCH better ones
-our next stop was at BIRDLAND
-WE GOT TO FEED AND PET KANGAROOS!!!
-we also saw other wildlife, including beautiful birds, wombats porcupine-like creatures
-onto bateman's bay
-ok, this was mostly REALLY amazing
-first off with the not-so-amazing part: we parked in a lot at 'pebbly beach' i about got attacked by a wild parrot while trying to tell my children they're just fine - just hold the food out and they will take it out of your hand. everything still going geat. well, cade asked me to hold his "treat" for the birds, so I did. this beautiful green, red and blue parrott came straight at me, wings-a-flappin. of course i ran backward to get away from it, ended up on the ground, my sunglasses knocked off and my camera 20 feet in the air. i'm certain it was hilarious to witness (especially if you're not me)
-it was the coolest thing to see these different tropical birds just out in the wild - we came into contact (quite literally) with 3 completely different vibrant parrots in the PARKING LOT of a beautiful beach (kristen said it best when she said the first time she saw such amazing, vibrant birds, she figured they must have escaped from the local petshop. nope, they're just regular birds)
-next, we headed down to the beach named pebbly beach
-it was GORGEOUS
-kristen and i concurred that if this stretch of beach (white sand, blue waters, amazing weather) were in the states, it would be completely developed and crowded. in all, we saw about 5 groups total during our entire time at pebbly beach (and it was huge!)
-we got the boys back in the car and headed back home to canberra
-simon fell asleep and kristen and i continued our non-stop chatter about anything - celebrity gossip, the horrifying news stories of the world, and are working on tackling all the problems in the world (i think we're making some progress) - on the way home
-time for a quick dinner, a little reality tv (jersey shore is a season behind here) and off to bed

fri, nov. 19

-kristen and simon went to work and school today
-i woke up and couldn't figure out why my back and shoulders are sore. oh, yeah, from my tumble with the bird yesterday
-the boys and i needed to pick up a few things at the store (tuck needed sandals and cade needed the latest percy jackson book)
-kristen told us how to walk to woten mall
-she said it was about a mile and a half, i'm thinking about 3-4 miles as it took the 3 of us an hour to get there (and we're pretty quick walkers - not janice-quick, but we don't tarry)
-about 3 minutes into it, tuck was 'soooo thirsty' but i wasn't worried because we thought it was not too far, turned out to be a longer walk than we expected, but it was fine and we got there and got
-anyway, we got there, and managed to pick up the few things we needed and grabbed some lunch
-packed up some water and other provisions for our journey home, walked out the door and grabbed a cab
-made it back to kristen's and here we are
-it's about time for me to get ready for the ball tonight and we fly out to melbourne tomorrow to begin our journey on the 'great ocean drive'

observations:

-for my fellow train travellers: just because your seat reclines that far, doesn't mean you should recline your seat that far
-tuck's becoming very interested in taking his own pictures
-it's so easy and wonderful to be a guest at kristen's house
-apparently, i have an accent
-beware of wild parrots when holding the bun to a mcdonald's cheeseburger
-the older you are the more it hurts when you fall