July 2012 – Cork’s Corner

Archive for July, 2012

Open House

29 Jul

Posted in Melbourne, Nathan the preschooler, Toby's third year | No Comments »

Yesterday we had a very interesting day in Melbourne. It is the open house weekend where some 90 buildings around Melbourne are open for tours and inspection. On the website is a Children’s Programme, and from that we chose three interesting places to have a look at.

We started with the Brain Centre at the University of Melbourne. We had a tour through the state-of-the-art research complex, starting with a short video presentation, then touring a couple of floors including some labs, and finishing with a demonstration of extracting DNA from strawberries and fluorescing bacteria (they fluoresce due to the insertion of a gene from a jellyfish into their DNA….the gene that makes the jellyfish fluoresce then also makes the bacteria fluoresce (got to love genetic engineering!)). Nathan was most impressed with a giant brain that is used for teaching purposes.

After a tasty lunch in Brunswick of Turkish food we drove to South Melbourne to visit the Australian Tapestry Workshop. We didn’t take the tour because Toby wasn’t cooperating, but we still wandered around and saw some beautiful tapestries hanging on the walls and one being made. We had seen a video of a tapestry being made at the museum recently, so it was wonderful to see it happening for real. There was also a kids activity which Nathan really enjoyed but Toby didn’t really get, where they wove their own small piece with the same woolen thread that is used in the tapestries. Nathan took some extra wool home to make another one.

From there we went to the mounted police which was also in South Melbourne. We had a tour of the stables and got to see a couple of horses being ridden around a ring practicing walking on strange objects like mattresses and walking through curtains. It was a very interesting talk, and Toby happily kept saying ‘clip clop’ and ‘neighhhhh’ while watching the horses. There were some people with video cameras videoing us at the start of our tour, and Andrew’s mum told us last night that she saw us on the channel 2 news!

So we had a fun day, with Nathan enjoying the DNA extraction at the Brain Centre and Toby enjoying the horses most.

Who carries the tent?

17 Jul

Posted in Funny things, Nathan the preschooler | No Comments »

Nathan and Andrew were talking on the phone. Andrew asked if Nathan had enjoyed riding his bike to kinder this morning. When he had an answer in the affirmative, Andrew asked if Nathan would enjoy a holiday where we rode bikes instead of driving in the car. Nathan looked pretty confused by that concept, so I piped up with “oh, bicycle touring, Mummy has done that” and Andrew said “yes, you carry everything you need on the bike, like your tent…”. Nathan looked absolutely horrified and declared “I’m not carrying a tent!”

Camper trailer

12 Jul

Posted in Camping, Nathan the preschooler, Toby's third year, Travel, Vic | 2 Comments »

A couple of weeks ago we bought a second-hand camper trailer. We have been looking at campers for a while, thinking it might be a good option if Andrew takes his long service leave next year and we do a lap of the western half of Australia. We have looked at lots of new ones, drooled over some of them, and ended up getting a serviceable 2005 model on-road camper in very good condition.

Last weekend we had an extended weekend and took it for a test run. We had planned to go up to the Murray River but, with reports of roads and campsites still being in flood, we stopped at a free campground near Elmore on the Campaspe River. Though Andrew had concerns about our car’s ability to tow the camper, it did quite well for the short trip. The camper was pretty easy to set up, and we loved how easy it was to set up the kitchen to organize a meal.

Our first night and morning at the campsite were bitterly cold, with a very heavy frost on the ground on our first morning. Toby was very unhappy with the cold, and I have to admit it was pretty uncomfortable. Nathan delighted in wearing all his warm clothes…beanie, scarf, gloves, and raincoat with snuggly-warm polar-fleece lining.

On Saturday we pottered around with the camper, enjoying the relative peace (we were near a well-used road), watching the birds and collecting/buying a bit of firewood. Sunday we went to Echuca to take the kids one paddle-steamer which they really enjoyed. Then we went for a look around Barmah National Park where we had planned to camp and agreed that the water was too close to the campsites for comfort. Monday we packed up and came home.

So, the verdict…We had a lovely time camping at a time of year that we wouldn’t dream of taking the tent out. We drove in much more comfort than when we use a tent, since we weren’t packed into the car around gear with barely room to move. The camper still took a long time to pack up (we had thought it would be quicker than the tent) but we should get quicker with practice and when we are better organized in the camper. We do need to look at getting a new car to tow it half way around Australia, but juggling price and towing capacity and wanting something comfortable for around town has us very undecided as to what is best for us.

I can’t wait to take the camper out again!

Ready to go camping!