Silence is Golden. So I’m lead to believe.

Isn’t it amazing how kids can manage to take a single syllable word like ‘Mum’ or ‘Dad’, and turn them into 2 or 3 syllables?

When I told people we were planning to sell up & travel around Australia for a couple of years or so, I got mixed reactions.
A lot of people liked the idea of it.
But with two small kids? In a car? And a caravan? You’re mad!

I had definitely anticipated some shitful days. I’m not that naive.
We have a slightly emotional &, …ahem…, melodramatic 5 & 1/2 year old. The world is definitely her stage.
She’s working her way to a spot on Home and Away.
In the meantime she’s managed to teach her 2 year old brother everything she knows .
That, together with his stubborn nature & current penchant for whinging AT EVERYTHING, have made for some interesting car rides to date.
I have a gigantic knot in my shoulders to present as evidence.

This is me after a trip out to Cape Leeuwin the other week…












Can you see my eye twitching?


Being in south western W.A. has been good for my knot.

They have lots of nice wine down here.





Georgie is great in the car though. Seasoned traveller, and all that.



She also hasn’t stopped eating since we left Perth over a month ago, so her mouth is usually too occupied for complaints. And if her bum gets sore from sitting too long, she does a REALLY COOL ‘Seat Dance’ to get the blood flowing.

Poo Man, on the other hand, is an active little monster mite who always eats like a machine & can eat AND complain at the same time. He also really likes his sleep which is something we’ve had to work around when trying to see the sights.
It’s worked in well with the camping lifestyle really.
We’re up at sparrows fart, out seeing things early, then back to camp for lunch & a snooze.

We’re all FAR too white to be out in the midday sun anyway.


We do have to drag it out sometimes though. My eye starts twitching in anticipation of the horrors that might unfold.
But we didn’t come all this way to miss out on great adventures just because Old Mate needs a nap.
We would’ve missed out on stuff like this…
  
Jewel Cave, Margaret River Region.

We don’t have a DVD player in the car but there are a couple of bloody good windows to look out of.

Georgie talks to herself a lot, plays with her toys, and looks at books quietly.

Emerson has managed to point out every “COW!”, “HAWK!” (horse), “TRUCK”, and body of “WATER!” that he’s seen from Perth to Albany.

It’s fucking DAIRY FARMING country.

*sigh*

He also likes to let EVERYONE know each time he farts.

He delivers tunes with such genuine enthusiasm & serenades us gently (& often) with “OLD MACFARMER HAD A PIG! OLD MACFARMER HAD A PIG! OLD MACFARMER HAD A PIG!” Incidentally, that is how the first, second, third & fourth verses go… as well as both choruses.

Peace & Quiet are elusive little bastards for anyone with kids but it just makes me enjoy it more when they’re like this…


And on the rare occasions they’re both like this AT THE SAME TIME I do my own little ‘Seat Dance’… of Joy.


What have I learnt so far?

• There is no such thing as ‘too many snacks’. But what goes in does, eventually, come out.

• Dragging an obstinate 2 year old around a dark cave is not that much fun. Specially not for the tour guide.

• Western Australia has a SHITLOAD of cows.

• If you wind down both front car windows, you can’t hear ANYTHING from the back seat.

• I have a whole new understanding of the phrase “Drive me to drink”…

If you want to check out more pics from the places we go, you can head to Facebook.