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It's only a month since my last holiday and already I've got itchy feet. Whenever I get home to my own bed, I think: "That trip will last me for ages!" I guess 'ages' must be a month then. About as long as it takes to finally unpack my bags.
To be fair, my last solo trip was nearly two years ago. I've started to look longingly into the travel agent window on my way up to school. A girl has to dream. I've also taken to actually reading all those travel email newsletters that clog up my inbox.
Egypt - wouldn't that be fascinating. And I never really saw Eastern Europe. As for South America - nada. A blank slate. See how easy it is to convince me?
Still, long haul flights are like childbirth - over time you do forget how bad they are, until you're actually doing it. But I remind myself they are REALLY bad and last time I promised never again. So, I start reading the flight upgrade email newsletters that I've also signed up for. There must be a way to get up the front of the plane.
Then I realise I'm having myself on and check out cheap flights to Melbourne. Maybe a quick weekend of shopping and some bad airport food will do me for now.
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Still feeling virtuous after my visit with the kids to the Boone Gallery for children in Los Angeles, I've done it again. If I keep this up, I'll be the envy (or something worse) of the mothers at school after my latest art appreciation exploit.
On a recent trip to Brisbane, again as a single parent, I needed activities and plenty of them. Even someone who was sent out of art in Year 7 (me) has heard of Picasso, so when I saw that his work was on show at Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA), I was keen for a look.
You know by now that I always plan and research. As usual, this paid off, because I discovered the Children's Art Centre, located on the bottom two floors of GoMA. During the Picasso exhibition, the centre is running "Yo Picasso" which is allows children to make their own Picasso style creation. We made a mask and a paper sculpture. You could either take your art work home or leave it on display. While the display wasn't as impressive as the LA museum, the children's art concept was still impressive.
Unfortunately, the children weren't keen to actually see the Picasso exhibition, so all I saw was the children's stuff but it was still a good experience.
And the main thing is the art dropout now has work on exhibition in two art galleries around the world. The fact that my work was on par with a five year old's, isn't the point.
Yo Picasso at GoMA - Brisbane
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Here's a tip - try not to break your arm the day before going to a theme park!
We all know that going to theme parks is a favourite holiday acitivity for most children (and parents like me.) The build up lasts for weeks, if not months. "47 more days till we go to Sea World." You know the drill. For the computer literate, hours can be spent on the website, checking out the best rides, planning the trip and generally getting excited.
I strongly recommend avoiding accidents in the week leading up to the big event. I say that now, but obviously I didn't take my own advice. Number one son falls off scooter just before the trip. The swollen hand looks...bad. The X-Rays agree. Broken bone. The one positive is no surgery was required, otherwise the whole trip would have been off. You can't fly if you've had recent surgery.
So, we have the waterproof splint (black) to match the bruised fingers (dark purple). Three days after the accident we arrive at Sea World, pleased to have still made it. It didn't occur to me that there would be signs on the rides specifically mentioning limb injuries. We lined up on the cork screw ride. We even made it into our seats before the attendant banned us. I can see their point but the poor little bloke was so disappointed.
But, there's nothing like the resilience of children. He got over it. Thank goodness Sea World is more than just rides. In fact, the rides aren't really that good, apart from the Cork Screw, which we couldn't ride. Sesame Street Beach is good for the little kids. There's quite a range of kiddie rides.
We spent most of the day meeting polar bears, sharks and other sea creatures up close. The polar bears are thrilling to watch.Liiving in such a warm country as Australia, it is even more exciting seeing these arctic creatures.
The highlight of Sea World, though, is the Dolphin show. I've never seen such incredible 'tricks'. The handlers riding the dolphins like live jet skis. (If that sounds bad, I also felt the love between the dolphins and the handlers.) The most amazing stunt involved a dolphin and his handler diving deep, deep under the water then spurting out like a rocket. Outstanding.
The water ski show had a predictable plot, but it was still great fun.
Sea World is a fun day out and is probably the pick of the theme parks if you're after something other than just rides. But, it would be even more fun with all your limbs functioning!
Sea World is on the Gold Coast in Queensland, about an hour south of Brisbane.
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The Southern Highlands region of NSW, an hour from Sydney, Wollongong and Canberra, is a book lover’s dream. An ideal day out to escape the heat of summer or to huddle by an open fire in winter, the secondhand bookstores of the Highlands are the places to stock up your bookshelves in style.
First stop, Berkelouw Book Barn and Coffee House, situated on a farm just south of Berrima. The two story book barn carries everything from popular fiction, to American literature and renaissance history books. For less than $50, I walked away with six books - two fiction and four non-fiction works
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The pressure was on from the beginning – how to recreate the feeling of the year-long overseas working holiday we had for our honeymoon, for the 10th wedding anniversary, with two kids, no time and a reduced budget.
The other factor was the mandatory overwater bungalow
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I love to travel. I guess you do too, if you are reading a travel blog. The other thing I like to do is plan my travel. It's an obsession, to be honest.
Last year I took a two week trip by myself to England, France and Italy. The chance to travel alone, after looking after small children for six years, was possibly the most exciting adventure I could think of
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The one thing that got me through a recent five week stint of solo parenting, then a 14 hour flight to Los Angeles with the kids was the thought of the Business Class upgrade I'd requested for the return trip, using my Qantas Frequent Flyer points.
But guess what, all along there was almost no chance I was ever going to get that upgrade. When you request the upgrade, the website says you won't know until five hours before the flight, whether it's been granted. What it doesn't say is that on the LAX - Sydney route, you are virtually certain NOT to get an upgrade. The staff at LAX admitted to us upon check-in that even people who book six months in advance hardly ever get upgraded
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Hotels beware! Apartments are taking over the world. Do a survey of wotif.com or any other accommodation website and you'll see what I mean. Serviced apartments are competing with hotels, many even offering one night stays.
I started using them when I had kids. We needed more room and preferred to eat in. But now, I even use them when I'm solo. Last week I went to Sydney for a couple of nights. I picked up a room the Meriton on Pitt Street for $99. It was a studio, but had a kitchen and separate study area. The World Square centre has a full size Coles, so I stocked the fridge and saved the wallet
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It's been nearly thirty years since I went to a live baseball game. The obsessions of childhood remain, though. Walking in to Dodger Stadium as a 'grown up' was no less exciting than when I was seven. Even the parking lot is still huge.
Those expensive seats seemed like a good idea back in Australia, but when I saw the sheer scale of the stadium, I wondered whether any seat would be 'close'. The heat was extreme, and I had expected to be even closer to the field, but we were the first row behind the corporate boxes. The attendant turned a blind eye when my son ran down to try to get his hat signed. The first time he tried, the player ran out of time. He only had one more chance. It was James Loney, the first baseman. My son thrust out his hat just as the national anthem was about to start. Yes! the last signature. And how fortunate it turned out to be. James Loney scored the winning run that day, after the game went to a 10th innings
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What incredible luck - the world's best beach is right here in the Illawarra. If you're a surfer, you'd know that Sandon Point, 10 kilometres north of Wollongong, is a draw card for surfers from across the globe. Some Germans we met recently came to Australia just to surf at Sandon Point.
I'm not a surfer, but even I can see the waves off the point certainly are top class. But, it's not the surfing that draws me, it's the safe, protected, patrolled beach on the southern side of the point. There's a big sand bar, perfect for kids because it's shallow. Even better, it has ideal waves for body surfing. Many summer days I've spent riding the waves all the way in to the shore
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Comments (1)
Comment by christine Hillman Keyes
on Frequent flyer fiasco - have you ever been upgraded?
Travel Ramble
He is probably a higher 'rank' of frequent flyer if he travels often overseas. Maybe that makes all the difference. I'm a lowly bronze or silver! You've given me hope, though. Maybe one day...