This trip was our longest drive yet. And we won’t be doing it again! On the way to Lakes Entrance, we had planned on a halfway stop, we’d packed a picnic too. However, Alex didn’t make it that far! He was quite panicky, saying that his back was hurting. I think he couldn’t physically not move any longer that it hurt him! So we stopped in Moe, we found a pretty cool park for a play and encouraged the kids to run lots! We made our way to Lakes Entrance with some games of I Spy and an ice cream/fuel stop. We decided that we would not attempt a trip this far again for a while! So it was quite a useful exercise since Vio is hoping to take his football team to the Kanga cup in July. We will be flying for sure!
So, in Lakes Entrance, the camping ground was small and quite cramped. Alex wanted to do everything at once, which was quite hard to manage as it was not possible (or desirable!) and he had some quite big reactions to our inability to fulfill his desires! So that day we settled for the bouncing pillow, the pool and a walk to the shops for water and ice.
The next day we went for a walk along the esplanade – the kids with their scooters. It was a 2km walk to the park at the other end of Lakes Entrance and Daniel did the whole thing! We noticed birdlife and identified those we didn’t know at home when we got back. We stayed and played for a bit, but to be honest the park was disappointing. Then we returned along the same route, stopping for a fish and chips lunch. It was probably the best we’ve ever had! Alex had been dying to play mini golf ever since we arrived, and so Vio took him whilst I took Daniel for a sleep. Alex beat Vio by 3 strokes! We played in the pool for an hour and then bounced on the pillow. Alex had made lots of friends and was playing games with them even when we weren’t around. In the evening we went for a walk to the ice cream parlour and all overindulged! What a tiring day!
We hit the beach the next day, walking across the lakes to get to the ocean. My goodness the waves and swell was huge! There was no way the kids could swim! In fact there were not many swimmers at all. We parked ourselves in front of the lifeguards and as they let the waves hit them we held onto the kids for dear life! Alex loved it. Daniel got cold and so got changed and played in the sand. We headed back to the camp site for a swim.
We decided to head home that afternoon rather than the next morning. We were having a tough time with Alex. Needless to say he was not happy with the decision and there were many tears 🙁 However we took the drive home slowly, stopping a few times. Daniel got quite upset so we stopped. As I opened the car door, we got attacked by mosquitoes! Daniel somehow gets the worst of it, i don’t think Alex got bitten even once. Mosquitoes find Daniel very tasty! The kids fell asleep in the car and we settled back in to home. It meant we had the next day to recover!