Kichiwaja the great!

After having a great time on Australia Day last year at Uncle Tyden and Aunty Anne's house, Eli and I were keen to invite ourselves along again this year. We also had told Jenny, Izzy and Alex about the toad racing and despite their initial reactions, they were also keen to see what all the fuss was about. 

Unlike last year, where Eli was fortunate enough to be able to race with someone else's toad, we were keen to catch and bring along our own toad, so the night before Australia Day we were all outside after dark, on the hunt for a racer or two. We also had something else that most people don't have - a natural toad catcher in the form of Eli. He was amazing! He caught all but one of the dozen toads we collected and he just leapt onto them with such speed and style. We were all a bit blown away with his casual but highly effective way of catching toads and his reward was the opportunity to choose his very own racing toad for the Australia Day races. Here he is, holding the lucky toad aloft, after selecting him. Eli decided to call Kichiwaja - I'm not sure why, but it did sound like a fearsome name (in a Japanese warrior sort of way). The rules of the Australia Day toad races are that there can only be one toad per family, so Kichiwaja was ours and Jenny, Izzy and Alex chose theirs - another 'good looking' toad which they named Toadatronski. 

So, the next morning, and armed with our racing toads, we were ready. We knew there would be a bit of a wait before the races, but the kids had heaps of fun in the pool and in the yard (and Eli and I ran our own little snail races like last time too). A bit of time was also eaten up with some of Tyden's mates giving Jenny (who comes from the UK) a bit of a hard time about the cricket (Australia has just demolished England 5-0 in the Ashes). Fortunately Jenny took it well (and doesn't care much for cricket anyway). 

After lunch the moment of truth was upon us. We entered our toads into the race and eagerly awaited the big event. This year's event was a little different, as the organiser's had decided to run three races, with the ultimate winner being the best performed toad across all three races. If this sounds hard to police and organise with a box full of toads that all look pretty much the same...it is. Nevertheless, let the racing begin!

Kichiwaja put in a very strong showing in the first race, coming in in second position. And things only got better from there, with Eli's toad winning the second and third races to seal the coveted toad trophy. As you might imagine given his competitive tendancies, Eli was very happy with Kichiwaja's efforts!

This is the first time that the organising family hasn't won the trophy (I wonder if we will be welcome back next year?) and here's Eli receiving the trophy (we hold onto it for one year and then it is up for grabs again next year).

 

This year's event also included a couple of new activities - the thong throw and a 'meat pie and spoon' obstacle race. There were kids and adults categories for the thong throw competition, with the aim being that competitors would throw their thongs into a bucket. It was a big chaotic, slightly dangerous at times, and heaps of fun. To top it all off, Izzy won the kids thong throwing competition, although as you can see in this video, Alex almost landed one in before her...

 



The obstacle race required balance, poise, skill and grace...or was it just the capacity to carry a frozen party pie on a spoon? Here's a video demonstrating, with Izzy beating me (because I lost control of my pie right at the finish line!). Enjoy!

Who knows what activities are dreamt up for next year's event...but I'm sure that Eli will be out hunting the night before for a toad that can defend Kichiwaja's (and Eli's) victory from this year...

Summertime rituals

After our Christmas in Brisbane we hit the beach, introducing Jenny, Izzy and Alex to some of our own summertime rituals...  Of course our first stop was to catch some waves at the beach - here we are heading out into the small Noosa surf...

We continued the beach theme the next morning, but this time we had the whole Hadwen tribe along - I really like this photo as it captures so many of us as we hit the surf! From right to left we have Grandad, Aunty Anne, Charlie, Grandma, Alex, Harrison, Oliver, Alora and Eli! Eli decided to let Izzy and Alex use his boogie board - he explained to me that he now prefers to body surf (and he's getting pretty good at it too as you can see in this video).

Not content with just sharing the surf-based activities on show, Eli and I were both keen to take Jenny, Izzy and Alex to the sandbank as well. Eli even tried his hand at the yabby pump, but his strengths still mostly lie with picking them up (and avoiding getting nipped) rather than doing the pumping...we got a good range of sizes and thanks to Uncle Tyden's cap, we brought home enough to get everyone fishing off the jetty (with some success too!).

 









The next day Eli wanted to go to Little Cove, his favourite beach, and show everyone the sea squirts living on the rocks...with hilarious results as this video shows...

Eli was once again keen to go snorkelling, so we also spent some time exploring the underwater world of the seasquirts (luckily it was a fullish tide).

And here are some underwater photos of the seasquirts...just because I like them.

The next day we decided to take a walk into the Noosa National Park, to make the most of the beautiful weather and to get away from the crowds. We walked from Hastings Street, so not only did we enjoy the walk along the boardwalk around First Point, but we also ventured deep into the National Park, around to Tea Tree Bay. Here we had more beach to ourselves and after having a swim, we made the most of it by building sandcastles and, ultimately, burying each other in the sand...

We also had a bit of fun drawing bodies around our buried heads, as you can see from these photos of Eli and I (yes, I relented and agreed to get buried too).

We had an excellent summer holiday at the beach...and I think there will be many more to follow...

A different Christmas

As many of you would know, Eli and I typically spend our Christmases at the beach. This Christmas was a little different, in that we decided to stay in Brisbane and celebrate Christmas with Jenny, Izzy, Alex and Sasha (their pug). I assured Eli that Santa would know where he was (surely the bigger concern would be whether he had been good or bad?) and we woke on Christmas morning to find that Santa had indeed delivered...
 
Eli, Alex and Izzy all had very full stockings and they were quite happy to share in the fun with Sasha, as you can see from these photos which have her teamed up with Izzy and Alex's Minions and with Eli's lizards...as you will have guessed by now, she's a remarkably tolerant dog!

 

After spending the morning at Jenny's house, we then went to her sister's place for lunch (and more presents) and a swim too! 

It was a great Christmas Day and Eli was certainly happy that Santa and I were both able to deliver some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle posters and calendars...now I just have to get them up on his bedroom wall!

The Tangalooma trip

It has been a very long time since I updated Eli's blog - apologies for that! - but we have been very busy. Recapping the past five or so months will take a while, but to get you up to speed we have been spending a lot of time with Jenny, Izzy and Alex, including the trip which is the focus of this blog post, to Tangalooma. We took this trip right at the end of the 2013 school year and made the most of that fact that Jenny's work Christmas break up was in such a nice place - so instead of staying just for a single day, we spent three days enjoying the sun, sand and sea. It was absolutely beautiful weather and as you can see, we had an awesome view from our apartment balcony...

 
We also enjoyed all that Tangalooma has to offer for kids (and adults that want to be like kids - ie me). Of course we absolutely had to see and feed the resident (wild) dolphins that come into Tangalooma each night. It was amazing to see them up close and the kids (and Jenny and I) really enjoyed feeding them too (despite the slimy, smelly fish we fed them). Even though they are 'wild' these dolphins new the drill perfectly - not only did they all come in right on 'showtime', but they also lined up in rows ready to be fed, which certainly makes it easy to get the hundreds of people that want to fed them through swiftly.   

 
 

We also enjoyed a lot of swimming, especially out the front of our apartment - the eastern side of Moreton Bay really is beautiful - and Eli spent a lot of time trying out his new snorkelling gear too (and that is why most of the photos have him swimming around our legs acting like some sort of shark!).

The afternoon sunsets were magical too - there's nothing quite like the sun setting over water - and we all enjoyed a stroll (and a jump and a run!) down the beach - here are some photos of the kids (and Jenny) splashing along the water's edge as the sun set behind Brisbane.

On our second day at Tangalooma we decided to take on two major activities - snorkelling the wrecks in the morning and tobogganing the sand dunes in the afternoon. The wrecks were deliberately skittled (all 16 of them) to create an artificial reef and a great diving and snorkelling environment. We signed up for the morning snorkel tour and spent a bit of time getting all kitted up - here is Izzy, Eli and Alex all wet-suited up and ready to go. We then walked across the beach, jumped on the boat and headed to the wrecks. It was all pretty exciting - and Eli was super keen to put his new-found snorkelling prowess into action.

The way they run the snorkelling tour is pretty clever, depending on the tide they drop the group in the right spot and simply let everyone just drift through the wrecks, observing the fish and coral as they go. It's great that you don't need to swim against the current (which is pretty strong) and Alex and Eli had the added benefit of holding onto the life ring and being close to the tour leader, so they got to see all sorts of amazing sea life (those of us at the rear of the group saw a lot less as fish swam away after the first few people drifted by).
 
We did see some good corals and fish, all growing on the rusting wrecks, but before we knew it we were out the other end of the wrecks and getting back on the boat. It was a pretty quick tour really, but since the water was deep and cool I don't think too many people were worried about it.

As you can see from this photo, Eli and Alex were pretty happy after the tour, although by the time we marched back up the beach we were all pretty hot again so Eli decided to take a dip in the bucket that we were all supposed to wash our wetsuits in... 

We were all quite tired after the snorkelling adventure, but our day was not done, not by a long shot. After having some lunch and a bit of 'down time', we climbed onto a large 4WD bus and headed out to the massive sandblow for some sand tobogganing fun. Here's Eli, freshly landed on the 'desert'. 
















After some relatively simple instructions on how to sand toboggan, we grabbed our 'boards' and started the trek up to the top of the dune..

...some time later we were at the top and as you can see from this photo back towards the buses, it was a far climb. Alex was the first to head back down on his sand board, and he almost took out the very brave photographer that was perched about a quarter of the way down the slope... 

Next came Izzy and then Jenny - and in some ways you might say that the sand was the winner. For some strange reason neither of them were particularly impressed by the face full they received...I did want to get a photo of Jenny covered in sand - it was everywhere including all over her face and through her hair - but she wouldn't let me (even though she agreed later it would have been a good photo!).

Eli was next, and he got to the bottom of the dune without incident (and he loved it). I followed suit and slid uneventfully to the base of the sand dune (I imagine it had something to do with following instructions...?).  

As you might have guessed, Eli and Alex were super keen to get back up and have another go, but it wasn't all plain sailing (or sand tobogganing). Here's a video of Alex followed by a spectacular crash of Eli's...

 

After a really big and eventful day we were all pretty knackered. It really was a great trip though and we had incredible weather. It was hard to decide what part of the trip was the most enjoyable in the end, but we all agreed that the dolphins were great and that the snorkelling and sand tobogganing were great experiences too (even if they were a little bit uncomfortable at times).

I'll sign off from this post with a sunset photo - it was really hard to decide which one to include though, as there were so many taken and each had its own character and colour. What a stunning way to end each day...

Take a hike (with Eli)!

We recently decided to do some local exploring.....on foot. We set off from home nice and early and Eli was particularly keen to look for signs of koalas - not so much like this one on the right, but more like the claw marks on tree trunks like those on the left. And we saw lots of them as we plunged deeper into the forest near our house.

For any of you that know him well, you will know that Eli is quite the collector, so he was also very excited to find lots of different types of rocks on the trail - if only I had Christy's geological knowledge to answer his questions! Aside from identifying quartz and sandstone, there wasn't much information I could give him. I love how he asks questions and wants to know so much about the world. I'm less keen on his desire to bring big rocks back home with him, especially since I become the packhorse for these ventures...after some negotiation, I finally got him to agree that we could take some photos of the bigger rocks, but leave them behind...phew!

It was a lovely day in the forest, we saw lots of these yellow Pultanaea flowers and plenty of different types of Eucalypts too, like this scribbly gum.












Eli spotted some ants that looked like they were drinking the sap from a scribbly gum - here's a photo and a short video of them in action.

After lots of walking (I later calculated that we had walked about 5.6 km), we came home along the roadside and Eli discovered (by stepping on it) a snake that had been killed on the road. This was undoubtedly the highlight of his walk, as he kept on talking about how he'd found it and how that was the first snake that he'd ever stepped on...and I kept telling him that I hope that is the only snake he ever steps on...






Not far from home (about 500 m away actually) Eli wanted to record a message, about the snake and about a rock he'd collected...enjoy!