The July Holiday with added NASA

It's that time of the year when Dad on the Go and family pack up for a week or so and travel the country side. It's the school holidays and in order to get the minions out from behind their video games we get out of the house. So we pack ourselves up and get ready for Family time !
Along the way we remember why it may not be possible to spend long periods of time in confined spaces together , get over this and an hour later start all over again.

The trip to our nations capital now becoming an annual ritual we wanted to ensure we didn't do the same attractions (can you even use that term in Canberra ? ) over and over and so turned our attention to to the other possibilities.

Before that however, as per usual we split up to get to the final destination of Canberra. The eldest and I took the direct traditional politicians route - Flying. So off we went via Virgin Airlines and Canberra International airport, the title of which is a chuckle in itself.

Side note -Big tip to all you traveling dads - you can not put two slices of bread together with cheese in the middle and put it through those big toasters with the conveyor belt system. It will catch on fire.


The Beloved and the youngest decide to go via Rutherglen and a number of side attractions golf courses.

Once in the sunny but freezing suburb of Quanbeyan we had to start to make the hard decisions. The attraction (still not sure about that word) we eventually chose was the deep space communication complex. Its hidden deep in a mobile phone free area about 50km's outside Canberra.
The second you drive through the gates with the NASA logos and the mobiles and electronic equipment warning sign , you know it's going to be cool. They have a model of the Mars Rover vehicles and a complete video walk through of the upcoming Mars landing by the Rover " Curiosity" on the 6th of August. Just standing near these giant structures it is difficult to explain the immense size yet intricate workings that go into each array.

The volunteer inside took the time to explain the whole Mars rover landing process to us and gave us wads of info on how to download the space software the kids were using in the exhibits. The links are here because they are just unbelievable.

http://www.shatters.net/celestia/

http://www.stellarium.org/

 I give this two thumbs up. It's got something for the whole family.

 Then back to our hosts house for a side of lamb and some chickens cooked on the spit and UNO and Red wine. We went via a National park that boasted koala feeding sessions and plenty of wildlife. The Koala wasn't there and I do not consider a lake full of pelicans wildlife. This gets half a thumbs up, mainly because the kids had to walk a long way which is a good thing.

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As we drove out of Canberra the next the warning lights flashed on the dash that icy roads were likely. With the outside temp at -3 Celsius, it was spot on. As we climbed through the Snowy mountains the temp rose and the sun peeked through the clouds. But our passengers were too busy digesting a lamb.

Arriving at the Gippsland lakes the weather turned on it's charm and tempted us to go fishing. No fish were evident but the views more than made up for this and it turns out you can really enjoy wine if you have a great view and some peace and quiet. Getting this peace and quiet involved sitting 500 meters away from the kids but you get my point.

Once again another great little break provided by this great nation and some great friends. I even managed to learn something along the way.

So I know what I'll be doing on the 6th of August. I'll be watching the landing on Mars and hoping that all goes well for them.

School Holidays are expensive

The school holidays are upon us once again. It's that time of the year that the wallet is used as a public ATM by anyone providing suitable (or not) ways of keeping the minions entertained or a least mildly amused enough to not destroy the house or its surrounds.

Lets face it it's not easy. You can't just say " guys, lets read this book" and hand them War and Peace and hope for the best.

No you have to come up with ideas and places that aren't  going to get - "Dad this is so lame"

This is where the devil is in the detail. The good stuff aint free. Take for example the time we went to a fish farm. Turns out whatever you catch you have to keep and pay for. Not only that, these fish have been waiting for you , in tiny bath tubs size ponds, to show up so they can commit suicide on your child's hook.

Over and Over again.

Couple of tips for all the readers for attending fish farms :
1- Do not hand any child the wooden club used to kill the fish and let them have a go at clubbing the fish they just caught. It just ends as a broken thumb.

2 - Do not let them fish in the salmon pond, those fish are huge (and 30 bucks a kilo)

So $150.00 later we are back in the car and heading home where I will eat baked beans on toast for the next month interspersed with trout and salmon 90 different ways.

Theme parks are another great little money removing system. They not only charge you to get in and ride on the rides, but manage to charge for food at the same rate as Vue de Monde. Not to mention the fact that  I'm pretty sure they add sugar to everything they serve to keep the kids hyped up and going all day.

And as soon as they start to come down from one sugar high you give them more, because we all know nothing is worse than them crashing in a public place surrounded by the disapproving glare of 3000 other parents.

Then you have the movie complex. Where else can you watch the latest film on a screen the size of a house whilst munching on a box popcorn the size of a domestic refrigerator, that cost the same as the GDP of Great Britain and contains enough salt for 6 lifetimes ?

At least they put adult jokes in most kids movies now days and most still contain a fart joke somewhere so it's not a total loss, but I will need to drink my own body weight in water afterwards.

Trouble is if I don't do something they will just sit in front of the TV watching Sponge Bob interspersed with video games ( if they they're really motivated they will sit in front of the TV with their laptop). So I have to come up with something.

So I tried taking them to work. It's fine until they need to go to the toilet in the middle of meetings - every 15 minutes. Not to mention the fact they aren't covered by work insurance so every time someone from HR comes around they have to hide under your desk.

Holiday camps presented themselves as an alternative. They take your kids to movies, parks, aquariums and other such exciting places. Trouble is not only do you pay for the places they take them and anything they eat, you pay an extraordinary amount to actually get them to take them. We have two growing boys so each time we use these camps I have to ring the bank manager and extend the mortgage.

I know I'm not alone on this problem and who hasn't secretly wished the industrial revolution was back so the kids all had to work in the mills ?

So once again we rack our brains for ideas, begging babysitting credits from Grandparents and organizing play dates with other non working parents.

So on we soldier and know in our hearts that one they will be old enough to manage themselves and the holidays. But until the kids turn 30, I am just going to have to continue to search for new and interesting things to get them to do.

That and get a second job....

Dad can we go fishing ?

I play golf because the wife does. I'm not good at it and it certainly has increased my blood pressure a number of times. But something I do love is  fishing.

I really love it.

Before the minions came along we both used to fish all the time, driving into all sorts of places and getting up at stupid hours chasing fish around. Mostly me setting up and her catching the fish.

However, as you are aware fishing is about patience. It's often long waits - punctuated by short bursts of activity and I can assure its nothing like those bloody fishing shows that make it look like all they are doing is catching and not fishing !

Anyway along came the kids and fishing changed quite a bit. It became more interesting and they will test you.

We have had many memorable trips out in boats and off the shores of this countries great lakes and oceans. The eldest just seemed to have this knack of catching the fish I couldn't get anywhere near.

I remember taking them out on a little boat chasing Flathead in the bay. He selected the stupidest looking purple plastic lure I had in the tackle box and flicked it out. I turned away and began to make the beloved a coffee.
He shouts out "Hey I got one !" sure enough, in 1.7 seconds on a piece of purple plastic he caught a fish.

Very demoralizing for me.

Just as this is demoralizing for all of us.

The eldest seemed just to like it for awhile but as he caught more fish it seemed like he had decided in his mind that he had achieved what was required and that he was done with it.

And just like that he stopped.

Not the junior son, oh no he embraced it. I mean he really embraced it.

Every where we would go we would take our rods and tackle and find a spot and get fishing. The problem with this is he started to realize that you get more fishing done the earlier you get up.

Can you see where this is going ?

[quiet footsteps] "Dad ?" [pause] "Dad, are you up?" [pause] "Dad, is it time for fishing yet ?"

So off we trot to fish and shortly after leaving the house, the questions start.

"What kind of fish will we catch?"    " How long can we go for ?"           "Whats the biggest fish you ever caught ?"

Once we set ourselves up, the next trick is to get him to not constantly wind the bait back in every 10 seconds. If you are fishing on a lovely sandy beach then that's fine but  with most fish living in among snags well.....lets just say we take plenty of tackle.

The next challenge is to get him to not keep moving the rod around while I'm baiting the hook, so the hook is not dragged firmly into your fingers. I am quite adept at removing hooks now.

More questions follow "Why aren't we catching anything?       "Can we play in the water ?"

"Can I throw in more berley ?"

And even with all this activity, we still catch fish and we still have so much fun. I look back fondly on the the fun we've had and look forward to all the fun we're going to have.


I just wish I could catch something......

The School holidays (part 2)

As the car turns in to our street it hits home that the holiday is really over.  Finally we got a week (together ) of doing all the things we wanted to do as a family. We headed of to Nungurner (just near Metung) in the picturesque Gippsland Lakes region and got down to serious holidaying.

Went fishing with the boys and never caught a fish (did catch a seahorse -  but they're not that meaty, nor can you ride on them)

Played golf with the boys

Shaved 15 stokes of my golf game which is great because I was 100 now I'm at 85 ( for 9 holes) and I have managed to get down to only losing one or 5 balls per round.

Went for walks on the beach

and we even found road kill in the car park !

Invented a new toasted sandwich (yep those are cocktail franks and cheese)

and for a short while I was Dad on the Row 

Did some slightly faster water sports

Spent quality time with my family and really relaxed (and of course played UNO !)

As I unpacked the car I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. Not because the little dude was asleep. Not because I hadn't hurt myself doing anything dangerous. Not because we stopped the boys having an argument everyday at 0930 precisely after 3 days. 

but for the simple reason that we had now started to create our own memorable holidays.

Some days you get lucky and the fish just jump into the boat.......

I think they are going to need helmets for this trip

A transparent fish , Yes, there is a video of that .......

Quite simply amazing

Sometimes the fish will catch you !

Fishing in the ocean can sometimes be a little more difficult than you think.......