Albury

We arrived in Albury on the eve

of the chrysler and dodge muster

The boys loved all the revving and roaring of engines on the Friday night

as the street was turned into an illegal race track,
until the police arrived and the party broke up.
It was kind of surreal with all the cars and people lining the street and all of these hotted up vehicles roaring and racing with everyday traffic and semi trailers just trying to go about their business.

We saw the Murray river

the boys had some skate boarding in the park

The parks around the river were lovely,
with lots of roads and bike tracks, bbq's and right by the pool.

Traveling South

We couldn't drive past this Australian Icon

and the boys were not that keen to go and see it
apparently they could see it quite well enough from the van
I dragged them out for a stretch anyway

The boys wanted us to stop here

this is a giant submarine in Holbrook

and they dragged me out for a stretch here,
its all about give and take,
and when you have 3 very different family members traveling and living in a fairly small van for 8 weeks it is all about give and take-
I am grateful that we all get on really well
and grateful that I can take my boys on this trip.

The Australian War Memorial

A visit to the War Memorial has long been on our list of things to do.

We spotted Simpson and his donkey on the way in,

his is a story we are familiar with and we were all very moved to see this.

The boys were impressed with all of the weoponary

I was impressed with the sculpture and other art works

We were all very impressed with the layout of Canberra

The Menin Gate Lions

The Pool of Rememberance

Remembering those who died
and thinking of our lost relative.

A last photo with one of the honour guards

Green Patch

I remember coming to Green Patch as a kid
I remember its beauty.
It is in Booderee National Park
on Jervis Bay.
I didn't remember a place called Iluka in this neck of the woods though
We have an Iluka up on the north coast near our home town as well.

I remember the lushness and coolness

the pristine white beaches and clear green watersthe beauty and the wildness.

The boys and I went for a lovely walk

We wandered through the beautiful bush.

through different environments

found a seat in a creek off the side of a bridge,

admired the creek as we listened to the sound of the water and the birds

and enjoyed our unique Australian treasures.

Cygnets at Tuggeranong Park

We met some new friends.

Who were very beautiful.

Very curious.

Very cute.

Very protective.

Very good swimmers
(thanks Mr7 )

Very magestic,

and very tired after all the excitement.

The Australian Museum- Sydney

We had a lovely visit to the Australian Museum with our

glowing friend,

here we are looking at a Thylacene.
It was such a treat for my rural remote boys to get to see some of the city's cultural highlights, sadly we were crowded out by school groups, who were noisy and unruly.