The rest of the week was set up to spend some time with the family in Newcastle. Various members who are teachers were off for the holidays, Mick took a week off so we looked for stuff to do that was kid friendly and local.
First stop on Monday was at the Shortland Wetlands. The weather was gloomy with patchy rain (it stayed this way for the whole week) but we decided to chance it. As it turned out, it worked out quite well. Lunch at the cafe was very nice and we then followed with a few hours of walking the trails and looking at the wildlife. Monday night brought another visit from Evo, working in the area again. Once again - great to catch up, although perhaps the fame and fortune brought by getting mentioned in this blog were part of the attraction. It was a short visit, he had other dinner plans, but consuming a 6 pack was a great way to spend the evening.
Tuesday was another big highlight - a day trip to "Oakvale Farm". This is an interactive farm/zoo where you can get close to the animals, both native animals and other farm animals. We purchased a couple of bags of food for hand feeding and went on our way. Immediately through the gate, a couple of kangaroos hopped up and were duly rewarded with some from the girls. I think they would have happily blown through all of their right there! After this, we went to an interactive feeding exhibition. The girls were given bottles of milk to feed to the lambs and baby goats in their pens. After this, they were invited to try their hands at milking a cow. Naomi was first up and really got the hang of it, certainly made a lot of milk come out. Then it was Fiona's try. She also seemed to have the touch, getting some milk into the bucket...then something else happened - the cow lifted her tail and let out a massive pee. Fiona jumped for cover to avoid getting in the way and made it out of there uninjured! She then sat down to continue and had no sooner put her hands on the cow again when the cow let out a massive poo. So with a couple of tugs, Fiona was able to pretty much empty the cow of everything!
Koalas were next on the agenda, getting to pat them and see them very close. Highlight here was the baby still on its mother's back. Very cute. A short tractor ride around the farm followed, then we explored further. Lunch was next with rolls and sandwich meats to be consumed...except that someone (Mindy) forgot to pack the rolls! We were able to make do with some salads etc so the potential disaster was averted.
Spent a lot of time in the free range kangaroo area feeding the roos and getting crap all over our shoes and the wheels of the stroller. The girls really had a blast. There was an enclosure nearby with a few minature ponies. During the tractor ride we were told that on knew how to slip through the fence and they were happy to let her explore. The horse got out and was walked along, flanked by Naomi and Fiona for quite a while. Within a few seconds they had named her "Princess", no real surprise for anyone who knows them. After this, a trip to the hose to wash off all of the poo and then a visit to the gift store before heading home. A really great day was had by all.
The next couple of days were a little more quiet, involving a trip up to Mick's to watch the State of Origin game. The match was close and competitive, sadly the class of the Queensland stars came through in the end and they got home with a few minutes to spare. Enjoyable game...even more enjoyable beer and company.
To wrap up the week, we headed to the Australia Reptile Park (like we had not seen enough wildlife yet). Mick and Margaret met us there for another day of exploring and seeing (mainly) Australian animals. Patting of wombats; many different reptiles and also a photo opportunity with two baby dingoes was taken. The girls really enjoyed this. We also saw some Tassie Devils and a couple of Galapagos tortoises. There were a couple of nice reptile shows on offer, the bloke who was doing the demo was quite funny and made several jokes at the expense of audience members. I was talking to him later and he mentioned that he wished he knew Mindy was American during the show "I have lots of American jokes I could have used to embarrass her". So, I had to think I missed a big opportunity there. After lunch we went to see the crocodile feeding, the spider exhibit and the indoor snake exhibit - all quite good. Then we packed up and headed home after quite a busy day and week!
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