Fifteen

Photo by Hanne Johnsen taken as part of the Place in Time project, 2002

Every time one of my children has a birthday I find myself saying their age over and over again in an effort to get my head around the fact that they are now that age.  I know I am not the only mother in the world who does this.  

An Adult in the Making exhibition, Christchurch, 2007

Today I have been saying "Fifteen! FIFTEEN! How can you be fifteen?"  because today my daughter turned fifteen.  I looked through some old photos, determined to finally print some off.  There she was in her preschool sheriff phase, then her dinosaur phase, then her space phase and her most recent fangirl phase.  In our photos she wears a stetson long before Matt Smith made them cool, wears a headlamp when baking in a too-dim kitchen, earmuffs when her father and brother are dancing to too-loud music, a winter hat with earflaps which she named Humphrey and a "headsock" which she invented and knitted herself.  I have photos of her with towering Lego creations, earnestly digging for fossils and grinning in the uppermost branches of trees.  She has always been her own girl and long may that last.

Matilda Bay, Perth, 2011

I loved the words Fiona Farrell wrote to go with the photo of my daughter when it was in the "Adult in the Making" exhibition as they suited her so well.  They were "the deeply serious, poignant and thoroughly delightful business of being a child".  What a thoroughly delightful privilege these fifteen years have been for me as my daughter's mother.

Kalbarri holiday: the rest

Whose dopey idea was that "Day one", "Day two" carry on?  Mine obviously while in ridiculously deluded holiday mode.  So here we are weeks later, with our holiday feeling like very old news, and I'm finally getting to finish that off - and only because the washing machine broke and I am waiting for the repairman.  And now Blogger is playing up yet again so I'll just slip in this short summary in case it all goes pear-shaped: 
You know how lots of towns have a slogan?  Well Kalbarri's is "You'll love it" and in our case they were absolutely right.

Australia has some incredible landscapes.  No surprises there.  But in many cases you have to travel a long, long, long way to see them.  Then it costs a fortune to stay there.  Then it costs another fortune if you feel like eating.  Then you have to walk for miles in the stinking heat while being used as a food source by thousands of tiny creatures to get to aforementioned incredible landscape.  Well Kalbarri isn't like that.

Kalbarri hands its amazing scenery over on a plate.  There are breathtakingly dramatic landscapes very close to the town, with great access roads then superbly maintained short walking tracks straight to the action.  We took all the warning information seriously (it gets to fifty degrees in these gorges in summer) so we wore proper shoes, took lots of water, our first aid kit, hats etc.  Then we get there and are walking alongside people in jandals.

We oohed and ahhed our way over every short walk in the park and also a couple of the longer ones.  We saw emus in the wild several times and my partner and daughter even saw an echidna.  I snapped away furiously at postcard-worthy scenes, all the while oblivious to the fact that my camera was on the wrong setting. 

We chose the perfect day for our canoe safari.  Half way through the "suitable for all ages and all abilities" safari, when our shoulders were aching with the effort, my daughter and I said to each other "whose dopey idea was this?" and I could see from the look in my son's eyes that he was thinking the same over in his canoe with his cheerily paddling father.  At the end of the safari when we were soaked and muddy but thrilled after seeing stunning scenery that we would never otherwise have seen, we said "whose great idea was this?"  The next day when we couldn't move our arms we said "whose dopey idea was that?"  I'm very pleased we did it, but I do think their "all ages and abilities" line is somewhat optimistic.

After a week we left lovely Kalbarri and headed to Geraldton.  On the way up we'd been a bit disappointed with the famous "pink lake" so we checked it out again on the way back.  This time we certainly were not disappointed as on this visit  Hutt Lagoon was fabulously and freakishly pink.

I tend to do all the holiday planning in this household.  The rule is that if I do all the research, planning and organising then nobody who has just come along for the ride is allowed to say "whose dopey idea was this holiday", but I certainly didn't hear any complaints this time.  I think Kalbarri is an excellent place for a family holiday.   It might not suit families who like theme park/shopping/blingy holidays, but for people who like beautiful scenery in a relaxed small town setting then I highly recommend it.  

It felt like we'd really been out and explored more of Australia, which is excellent, because that, after all, is the reason we are here.

Holiday day five: A holiday from Interwebland

Late on day four we discovered that the "week" of internet access I bought for while we were in Kalbarri was all used up after nearly 36 hours. Oops. Being offline was actually rather nice but we got home tonight and BOY do I have some catching up to do tomorrow.

This picture is of one of the very many beautiful plants we spotted while getting on with our lives in Realworldland.

Holiday day four: Parrot watching

Today the youngest member of our household chose the day's activities. He loves reading, likes his tucker and is fascinated by wildlife.

We all slept in late then stayed in bed and read until we were hungry.  Then we strolled down the foreshore to have brunch at a cafe. On the way my son and I stopped to chat to a kooky (but lovely) local chap about the storm brewing offshore and the fact that yet again this year's rainy season has been nowhere near rainy enough.

Next stop was a visit to Rainbow Jungle parrot breeding centre. 

It was fabulous. My daughter's favourites were a pair of enormous and gregarious macaws.

I couldn't choose a favourite but I know which one wasn't my favourite: the one that shat on me. Apparently that is very lucky but I sure didn't feel lucky.

On the way out some members of my party stuck to local custom and stuck their entry stickers on the rubbish bin and sign. (Not me. Too prissy.)

Just after we left the storm finally hit.  

My partner has chosen our activity for tomorrow: he has booked us in for a canoe safari down the Murchison River.  Yesterday when is was calm and sunny and 23 degrees that seemed like a grand idea. Tonight with the storm crashing and howling outside I'm not so sure.

Holiday day three: Whale watching

On day three we had planned to go exploring up Kalbarri's famous gorge but the road is closed until the end of the week. Lucky for us the whole town and region are new to us so there are plenty of other cool places to explore.  So instead we drove along Kalbarri's coast where there are numerous short walks to dramatic views of spectacular cliffs with the sea thrashing and grinding away below. 

And there out to sea we saw whales. Lots and lots of them. 

We are going exploring the river tomorrow. By canoe. Strange but true.

Holiday day two: Cheerio Jurien Bay, Hello Kalbarri

On day two of our holiday I got up early to go for a lonelygirl walk around Jurien Bay. Here is a beachfront house with nine tyre swans, and that is just on the balcony.

We drove north via Geraldton (quick loiter outside the public library to use the wifi) then on to Kalbarri.

I thought Jurien Bay was the ultimate Seachange (tv show) town but I have changed my mind. Kalbarri is the ultimate Seachange town. It even has some kooky locals but I resisted photographing them. Here instead is the view from our holiday digs balcony. Certainly no complaints.

Holiday day one: Hello Jurien Bay

I'm back trying to use Blogger on my iPad again but this time via what must surely be the slowest internet connection on the planet.  

On day one of our holiday we drove to Jurien Bay. It is as lovely as ever.  Beautiful flowers are in bloom. I could be wrong (it has happened before) but I think this is a Pincushion Hakea or Hakea Laurina. Nice. And notice that blue sky.  22 degrees and sunny and this is mid-winter. No complaints here.