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Back to Blighty

Courtney in London — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 06:00:55 +0000

I’m home. Sigh. I’m jet-lagged. Deep Sigh. And I’m slowly settling in to ‘real’ life again. I can’t believe our big adventure is over — that was the quickest 3 months of my life — but I must admit that it feels nice to be back in London and back to our familiar routine. (I missed my washing machine, my kitchen, my bed, my grocery store, my friends, my babysitter, my city, etc….)

It feels nice to be back and to have a fresh perspective on things. I really feel like our time away was not only a nice, long, sunny holiday, but the time spent together was really good for our family and has shifted our focus on how we want to live our lives, parent our children, etc. I know it’s an enormous luxury to be able to take an extended leave, but I really recommend doing it if it’s something you can swing. It’s so worth it.

Anyway, I’m back in London and will return to normal blogging. But if you have questions about traveling with kids, traveling Australia, touring by campervan, long-haul flights, or dealing with jet-lag, etc…. please fire away. Especially now while it’s all fresh in my mind.

-Courtney

Read and Wonder storybooks

Courtney in London — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 06:00:53 +0000

When packing for our trip I knew I had to pack children’s books — we couldn’t go a whole three months without them, no matter how heavy they made our suitcases! So I decided to pack books that were relevant to our travels — books about nature, animals, sea creatures, etc.

Over the years we’ve collected many of the books from the award-winning Read and Wonder series of nature storybooks, including One Tiny Turtle, Surprising Sharks, and Bat Loves the Night. The Read and Wonder storybooks are great because they merge stories with interesting facts, making them entertaining as well as educational.

These books have turned out to be perfect for our trip — we’ve seen so many of the featured animals (sharks, turtles, bats, frogs…) and so it’s fun for the kids to read about them. Plus the books are all paperback — making them much easier to lug around with us.

-Courtney

Papaw ointment — an Australian treasure

Courtney in London — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 06:00:12 +0000

I’m probably not winning any points for originality with our Australian readers, but before coming to Australia I had never heard of Lucas’ Papaw Ointment and it has since become our favourite Australian discovery. This natural remedy, made from an enzyme in papaya fruit, can be used on burns, boils, cuts, insect bites, open wounds, chapped lips, haemorrhoids, and the list goes on. And it is definitely the best treatment for nappy rash I’ve ever used.

After stockpiling these little tubes to take back to London with me, I discovered you can actually buy it in London (the creator was, in fact, British)! Dr. Lucas formulated the papaw ointment more than 100 years ago in Australia after leaving London for a warmer climate. Its natural antiseptic quality is great for preventing infection in wounds, it’s totally safe to use on babies and children, and it is so natural it can also be taken internally to aid digestion. It also smells nice — an added bonus!

-Courtney

Bellachara, a blowhole and a big beach

Courtney in London — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 06:00:52 +0000

When we planned our trip to Australia we purposely scheduled our campervan trip in the middle to allow for some down-time after the camping. We thought we would return to Sydney to spend three more weeks in the city, but unfortunately we weren’t very organized and by the time we set out to book accommodation there wasn’t a single room available in the entire city! (Apparently this past week was the busiest Sydney has been in more than two years — with several concerts and sporting events in town as well as the Mardi Gras festival.) So we were forced to look outside of Sydney… which is how we stumbled upon Bellachara — a really lovely boutique hotel two hours south of Sydney. The hotel was a lucky find — it is extremely kid-friendly with a playground and kid’s club, the rooms are equipped with kitchens and full-sized fridges, there’s a laundry room, a restaurant, a couple pools, etc… (I totally recommend it for families in Sydney who want a weekend away!) Plus, it’s a really beautiful area with green rolling hills and beautiful beaches. Here are some photos of the area…

We drove north to Kiama and paid a visit to the famous blowhole. When the water swells and the pressure builds in the rocks below, a giant spray of water shoots high into the air! It’s a good place to get good views of the coast as well.

We spent a day at the Seven Mile Beach, which is just that — seven miles of sand and surf. I think we were the only people on the beach that day so we had plenty of space to play frisbee!

We went out to the Illawara Rainforest Tree Top Walk which includes a 25 meter high elevated walkway to explore the rainforest from the very tippy top. We saw loads of colourful birds and got amazing views of the valley below.

We drove down to Jervis Bay to do some snorkeling in the marine sanctuary off Murrays Beach, but when we got there the whole beach was covered in these ‘Blue Bottles’ (also known as Portuguese Man O’ War jellyfish). I’ve never seen anything like it. Needless to say, we didn’t do any snorkeling…

This area is so, so green — it’s so different from how I imagined this country to be. I think this is what has surprised me most about Australia — just how lush it is (or at least the parts we’ve seen).

There is so much to do and see in this area and we’re really happy we ended up here. But mostly we are enjoying not having a schedule and just being able to spend time as a family. After the campervan trip it’s nice to just sit still. Honestly, having nothing to do has never felt so good!

xoxo Courtney

Scruffy Dog shoes

Courtney in London — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 06:00:54 +0000

Thanks to a tip from Sara, I stopped into a great children’s shop in Bangalow (just inland from Byron Bay) called Echidna Place, which is where I discovered Scruffy Dog — a cute Australian brand of children’s shoes. I promised my husband I woudn’t do any shopping while we’re here (only browsing!)… but I must say I was seriously tempted by the Buddy sandals. And I also love the Bonnie strappy sandal… but my daughter is too young for them, much to my husband’s relief!

Scruffy Dog’s aim is to produce good-quality, stylish children’s shoes which are also affordable and comfortable (no easy feat!). The brand is growing rapidly too — one of my favourite American shops, Sweet William, is now stocking the Buddy sandal (pictured). Perfect for summer…

-Courtney

Camping: The good, the bad and the ugly

Courtney in London — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 06:00:59 +0000

We’ve just completed our 30-day drive up the eastern coast of Australia in a campervan, driving more than 4,000 km from Sydney to Cairns with a few detours in between. We did and saw some amazing things, but I think it’s safe to say that we’re happy our camping days are behind us! I’m still not sure whether it was the best or worst decision we’ve ever made – there were moments where I nearly divorced my husband, disowned my children (only kidding, of course!) and swore I’d never return to Australia. BUT it was a really wonderful way to see the country, and the highlights of our trip were well worth the struggles — snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef was worth the journey alone! I think it all would have been much more enjoyable (and easy) if we didn’t have the kids, but the irony is that the kids LOVED the campervan and could carry on camping forever.
I’m sure in years to come we will look back at our camping trip with really fond memories but right now I’m happy to be sleeping on a mattress, eating good meals and staying put for more than three days at a time.

Anyway, now that I’m a ‘camping expert’ I’ve compiled a list of all the pros and cons of traveling in a campervan (with young kids).

Pros:
•You never have to unpack your suitcases.
•You have everything you need with you at all times.
•You never have to worry about where you’ll be sleeping – you’re always ‘home’.
•It’s easy to stop for lunch whenever and wherever you like, as you always have your kitchen/food with you.
•You can enjoy a more spontaneous schedule – stay for however long you like in each place.
•There are loads of campsites in Australia, which means you always have a choice of where to stay.
•Many of the campsites have pools and other children’s activities which the kids LOVE. It’s also a good opportunity for your kids to make friends.
•Many campsites here in Australia have a separate bathroom for families with young children which usually includes a deep sink for bathing babies.
•Our campervan had a TV and DVD player which kept the kids entertained while we were driving.
•You see so much more of the country if you drive it – the good and the bad – so you get a better appreciation of the country and the people.

Cons:
•The space is tiny and cramped, and it requires a lot of organization.
•You have to use public toilets/showers, some of which are crawling with bugs.
•It’s no fun when your 2-year-old has to use the toilet in the middle of the night and you have to walk across the campsite to the toilet (especially in the rain)!
•You have to set up your beds each night before going to sleep – a process which takes a minimum of 20 minutes… and loads of patience.
•When one person moves/coughs/cries/talks it wakes everyone else up.
•If it rains, everything gets wet. And it’s no fun sitting inside a campervan for long periods of time, especially with kids.
•Before setting off every morning you have to put everything away, lock every cupboard, dump your waste water, unplug your power cord, put car seats back in place, etc. This process takes at least an hour, which is a LONG time when you have tired/cranky kids.
•Check-in at the campsites is usually by 6pm and check-out in the morning is at 10am – not easy when it takes an hour just to set off.
•Internet is either non-existent on the campsites, or VERY expensive. I paid $20 an hour on several occasions only to have a very slow internet connection – frustrating!

- Courtney

A sun hat that’s guaranteed for life

Courtney in London — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:00:03 +0000

These days, it seems, nothing comes with a guarantee, and quantity usually takes precedence over quality. Not the case, however, with the Tilley hat. These hats have been around for ages – we used to wear them when we were little – and they’re still made with the same good old-fashioned care.

In anticipation of our big trip ‘down under’, my siblings gave each of my boys a children’s T3 Tilley Hat for Christmas, and it’s the one thing we ‘don’t leave home without’. I think these hats have got to be the best sun hats on the planet. They’re UV-protected (with the maximum UPF 50+ rating), rain-proof, they don’t shrink and won’t get floppy if wet, they have two different drawstrings to keep the hat in place, and they’re machine-washable. And like I said, they’re guaranteed for life (even insured against loss!) – you just can’t beat that! They’re made in Canada, but available internationally.

P.S. They also have a secret little pocket in the top of the hat. Tell me a kid who won’t love that!

-Courtney

Teaching your kids to read

Courtney in London — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 06:00:57 +0000

Before we left for our sabbatical, I sat down with the teachers at my son’s school and asked them if they had any suggestions or activities they recommended for my son while we’re away. They told me that kids often forget basic lessons if they take a long break from school — apparently kids can forget how to use scissors, forget how to count, even forget how to read if they go a while without doing it! So they suggested that I try to keep up on these sorts of activities. They also suggested that I take the time to teach my 4-year-old the basics of reading.

I’m not the most patient parent and I’m certainly not cut out for ‘real’ home-schooling, but I must admit I’m actually having some success thanks to these Key Words Flash Cards — containing the 100 key words that make up 50% of those we read, write and speak every day. The concept of flash cards is easy: they gradually introduce the words and, because of repetition, teach kids to recognize and memorize the words on first sight.

I’m also teaching my 2-year-old his letters. I’m using the Early Learning ABC Flashcards which are really good because they include both the capital letters and the lowercase ones. (Apparently different countries do it differently — I’ve been teaching my kids the capital letters, but in the UK they teach kids the lowercase letters first!)

In both cases the flashcards are working really well. My boys actually look forward to our ‘letters and words’ lesson every morning!

-Courtney

The rainy season

Courtney in London — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 06:00:39 +0000

When we planned our big road trip up Australia’s eastern coast we knew that it was going to be Queensland’s rainy season. Naively, we thought we might encounter a few afternoon thunderstorms or possibly a day or two of rain. We had no idea just how much rain we would see. Since crossing the border of New South Wales into Queensland it has rained all day every day. And the rain is fierce here – we’re talking serious rainfall. It has rained so much that we have had to make 2-hour detours because entire highways have been under water. The rain is, of course, good for the rain forests in this area, but it has totally dampened our spirits. Not to mention, it’s put a kibosh on our plans of visiting some of Australia’s most famous islands and beaches. We made it all the way up to the (apparently) beautiful Whitsunday Islands only to sit in our campervan and watch the rain fall. Boring. (Can you sense my growing frustration?!)

Alright, I’ll stop complaining. I’m sure all the Australians are sitting at home saying “I could have told you so!” And, to be fair, we have done some pretty cool things in the past couple weeks despite the rain. Here are the highlights…

We spent some time in a really lovely little town called Bellingen – where most people walk around barefoot and the car of choice is a VW van — COOL! The town was full of natural food stores, great cafés and other cute shops.

After that we headed north up to Byron Bay where we spent three days watching a storm pass through (this was the beginning of the rain). We did see a large goanna (lizard) walk through our campsite – which the kids loved. We also, thanks to many suggestions from readers, spent a day in Bungalow which was a very cool little town with great shopping. (I think we liked it even more than Byron Bay!)

We then drove north and spent a day at the Australia Zoo – home of the Crocodile Hunter, the late Steve Irwin. The zoo was started by Irwin and his father and holds many of the animals they helped capture and rescue. It was the best zoo I’ve ever seen – with loads of opportunities to interact with the animals. We held baby alligators, fed the elephants, watched a crocodile-feeding, hung out with kangaroos and watched tigers swim!

We spent a few days on Fraser Island – the biggest sand island in the world. We swam in the famous Lake McKenzie – a freshwater lake in the middle of the island with crystal clear water and fine, white sand. The sand in the lake is meant to naturally polish your jewelry, and the water will (as rumour has it) make you look ten years younger. (We spent as much time as possible swimming in that lake!)

We then drove up to the Mon Repos Conservation Beach which is the biggest turtle rookery in Australia. More Loggerhead turtles breed on this beach than anywhere else in the world. And the breeding/hatching season is now… so we had to see it. The turtle action only occurs at night time (when it’s cooler) so we had to wait until 10pm to be guided out to the beach, but it was worth the wait. We watched a mama turtle come up the beach to lay her eggs and then we witnessed an entire nest of eggs (122 of them!) hatch and scurry down the beach to the water. It was really amazing to witness. Did you know that only 1 in 1,000 turtle hatchlings will survive to adulthood? I’m glad I’m not a turtle!

We are now all the way up north in a nice little beach town called Mission Beach. It’s where ‘rainforest meets reef’, and also home to the biggest population of Australia’s cassowary birds. We’re nearly to the finish line – only 5 more days in the campervan and less than 200 km to go! Woo hoo!

xoxo Courtney

Our favourite travel game — Djeco Bingo

Courtney in London — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:00:43 +0000

Just our luck — we’ve driven into a cyclone storm here on the eastern coast of Queensland! It has rained every day for the past five days… which is seriously NO fun when you’re living in a tiny campervan and you have three kids with pent-up energy!

Thankfully we brought loads of colouring books, cards and travel games with us, which we have now played about 100 times! Our favourite is this travel bingo game by Djeco because it’s so easy even the 2-year-old can play!

The concept is easy — everyone takes a puzzle board, empties out the six pieces (6 different animals), and then takes turns spinning the wheel to try to fill their puzzle back up! The first one with a completed puzzle wins! Fun!

-Courtney

Touring Australia in a campervan

Courtney in London — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 06:00:52 +0000

Before we embarked on our 30-day camping trip, my husband and I agreed it was either going to be the best idea we’ve ever had… or the worst. So far it’s been a bit of both! I think it takes some getting used to, and a bit of extra patience. But admittedly it seems to be getting better. We’re quickly getting used to this camping lifestyle and things like: wearing the same dirty outfit twice, using communal showers, sleeping like sardines in a tiny tin, cooking for five in a tiny kitchen, eating peanut butter & jelly sandwiches for lunch every day, cleaning out baby bottles with a hose, the scorching heat, the nasty insects, driving in unfamiliar territory with crying babies in the back… etc, etc.

All that aside, we are actually having a really wonderful time as a family, and we’ve seen some incredible sites already. Here are the highlights of the past 5 days…

Our first stop was the Blue Mountains, and it was breathtaking. It’s like America’s Grand Canyon but covered in green eucalyptus forests. From a distance the mountains actually look blue because of the haze of eucalyptus oil in the air. We hiked an hour down to Wentworth Falls and it was seriously amazing — even the kids were so impressed they didn’t complain about the hike.

We spent two nights in the Blue Mountains camping at the Blackheath Caravan Park. We stumbled upon it late on our first day, and thankfully the park attendant let us in. (Who knew you have to check in to camp by 7pm?!) It turned out to be a great campsite with a large park across the street.

After two days we drove east back toward Sydney, and then started our drive north up the coast. We drove through the Hawkesbury River region and then up the Central Coast. Then we drove through the beautiful Myall Lakes National Park area, driving along winding, ‘partly unsealed’ (meaning party unpaved) roads. The drive was bumpy (you could hear everything in our cupboards bouncing around!), but really beautiful. I don’t think we passed a single other car — which is both exciting and a bit distressing!

Thankfully our long drive led us east to the ocean and out to the remote and stunning Seal Rocks area. We stayed at the Seal Rocks Camping Reserve, which is directly across the street from one of the most beautiful beaches we’ve seen so far: Number One Beach. We were so relieved to see the beach, we jumped out of the van and ran out to dip our toes in the water!

The beach is a long stretch of white sand and crystal-clear water marooned between two headlands. Apparently we just missed the pod of dolphins that passed by right before we arrived, but we did see a large sting ray swimming near the water’s edge. We spent the entire next day at the beach!

We’ll continue our drive up north tomorrow. We’re aiming to stop in the Bellinger Region and visit a town called Bellingen. Apparently it gets prettier (and hotter!) as we drive north. Oh my! I’ll keep you posted…

xoxo Courtney

A busy week in Sydney

Courtney in London — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:00:13 +0000

We’ve just spent the past week in sunny Sydney, and it just flew by! It was difficult to try to see and do all the things on our list whilst trying to live the beachy, laid-back lifestyle that Sydney is known for. But we did our best. Sydney is amazing in this way — it’s a vibrant cosmopolitan city with so much to offer, yet it also has a very ’surfer dude’ beachy vibe which is really fun and refreshing. Everyone here is beautiful, the food is delicious, the shopping is very tempting, and there’s a noticeable buzz in the air. Maybe it’s because it’s summertime, or maybe it’s just Sydney. In any case, we love it here!

We’re staying in a really lovely guest house in Bondi Beach, and it has turned out to be the perfect place for us. We’ve even made some new friends who are staying here as well and who, coincidentally, are also from London! Such a small world.

Here is a re-cap of the past week…

Our first day in Sydney was rainy and grey, so we spent the day at the Taronga Zoo (instead of hitting the beaches). You have to take a ferry across the harbour to reach it, and then you take the Sky Safari cable car up to the top of the zoo, which means you get incredible views of Sydney behind you and great views of the animals below. It also means the animals at the zoo have pretty stunning views too. The giraffes literally look out across the harbour to the city (though you can’t tell from the photo because it was too overcast). On that day we also visited the Botanic Gardens… and the flying foxes!

On day two we walked from Bondi Beach to Bronte Beach along the Coastal Walk. We were told that Bronte is a more family-friendly beach, and it turned out to be a really great spot for us — with a playground, a little steam engine train, and a row of great cafes.

On day 3 we hit the Paddington Markets, Oxford Street, Centennial Park, Queen Street, and Bondi Junction… all in one day! It was busy! The bus system here in Sydney has been great — we’ve gone everywhere either by bus or on foot. (Don’t my kids look exhausted?!)

Bondi Beach (pictured below) is insane! We went on a sunny Sunday and it was difficult to find a free patch of sand. But it was great to see the beach in its full glory. And thankfully we plopped ourselves on the north side of the beach where they have a children’s wading pool and showers. (I forgot how tedious the sand can be — especially with an 8-month-old who wants to eat it!)

Yesterday we ditched the sand and headed to the Sydney Aquarium to see fish, sharks, Dugongs, sting rays, sea turtles and a crocodile. Oh, and Nemo and Dory too! (My kids loved it.)

We have really had such a great time in Sydney, and we’re thinking of coming back here for a few more days at the end of our trip. Tomorrow we hop on board the campervan for 5 weeks on the road. Wish me luck…

xoxo Courtney

Auckland, NZ

Courtney in London — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 06:00:03 +0000

After a 12-hour overnight flight from Los Angeles, we landed in rainy (!!!) and grey Auckland, NZ. Not the most welcoming sight for a family seeking summer, but I was so relieved to have survived the flight that I didn’t care too much. And by that afternoon the sun was out and shining. Apparently New Zealand is known for its potential to have all four seasons in one day!

We stayed for the first four nights in a charming neighborhood called Devonport, which is across the bay from Auckland (by bridge or by ferryboat). The town feels a bit like something out of southern California in the 1950s — it’s quaint and friendly, and we definitely enjoyed the slower pace… and good coffee (another thing they’re known for!).

We spent a day walking around Auckland and we spent a few days discovering the beaches — which are sandy and beautiful, and actually relatively quiet. Auckland is made up of 50 different volcanoes (all extinct, thankfully), so the combination of mountains and water makes for a really beautiful landscape.

The sun really is intense here. Everyone warned us, so we came prepared, but I still managed to burn my scalp (where my hair parts) and get my cheeks a bit too rosy! Uggh. We’re getting used to the idea of wearing hats at all times. And I have to buy my kids some rashies.

After four days in Devonport, we drove up north to a stunning wine region called Matakana Coast. We’re staying in a ‘bach’ (which is Kiwi speak for ‘cabin’) in a really cool resort called Riverside Matakana. The resort is sandwiched between the Glen Eden River and the Kawau Bay in a hilly stretch of vineyards. My kids are in heaven! Tomorrow we’re taking them out to the Goat Island Marine Reserve where you can ride a glass-bottom boat around the island to check out the marine life. My 4-year-old, who is (STILL) obsessed with sea creatures, is going to love it.

A friend of mine suggested I keep a journal while we’re away so I have been writing daily, trying to note all the places we’ve been and things we’ve seen. Another friend suggested I give my boys a ‘treasure box’ for them to keep their favourite little treasures and objects which will forever remind them of this adventure. My boys’ school teachers suggested I take flash cards and reading materials so that we could take advantage of this time with our kids and teach them how to read. All good suggestions, and we’ve been doing it all. If you have any other suggestions for me, I would love to hear them!

xoxo Courtney

Around the world to the Southern Hemisphere

Courtney in London — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 06:00:48 +0000

I was having lunch with my husband one day last winter, probably complaining about the gross weather, and probably swearing for the umpteenth time that it was ‘the last winter I’ll spend in London’. Somehow we started talking about Australia and how we had never been and how we would love to spend some time there. I (very optimistically and probably half kidding) suggested we take some time off work to enjoy an extended holiday in Australia… and soon before our kids have to be in school.

To my great surprise, my husband the planner, the never-make-a-decision-without-a-spreadsheet type, agreed. And it was right then that we decided to spend the following winter in the sunny southern hemisphere! (!!!!)

We leave on January 1st and we will return to London on March 21st (the first day of Spring!). We’ll be spending two months of our trip in Australia, driving up the eastern coast… in a campervan! Crazy, I know. But we figured it was the best way to see the country and enjoy a more relaxed agenda. Plus, I’m sure my boys will love it — a ‘house on wheels’?! – they could not be more excited about it.

Living out of a (small!) campervan with three young kids will be interesting, I’m sure. Not to mention all the long-haul flights and jet-lag! But we’re ready for our adventure. Ready for sunshine. Ready to explore. Ready to learn. Ready to spend time as a family without interruptions/distractions. Ready to live in the moment and soak it all up!

First stop: New Zealand! Stay tuned… I will be publishing our adventures here on Babyccino Kids! I’ll be posting about our travels and any other travel tips and and tricks we discover!

xoxo Courtney

p.s. Do you have any tips for me?! Any advice? I would love to hear anything you want to tell!