This is our last little trip away before the big one. The last time we’ll catch up with the Nomads before the Xmas Rally too.

We’d been saying to the kids for a while now that they should get a friend to come along on some of the rallies.  Blake has had a few friends come along, but this was Hannah’s first time to have a friend over and she brought along Abby.  Blake also wanted to bring his friend Blake along too, so we took 4 kids with us … to rainy, cold Inverloch.

And what a rainy, cold Inverloch it was!  We arrived in the dark and had the usual setup of the van to do and also a tent.  This was to be the boys quarters for the weekend … both their first nights in a tent.  They picked a great night for it! We managed to snap a tent pole even with 4 of us trying to hold the tent still. Thats how windy and pleasant it was. Typically I didn’t have my tool kit with me, so had to borrow some gaffer tape from uncle Max and that was enough to hold the pole together. Fingers crossed!

The Big 4 at Inverloch has a huge camp kitchen and we occupied that until 11pm.  It was very cozy in there and it was a great place to watch Geelong snatch victory from Collingwood in the last minutes.

The boys were keen to go sleep in the tent since it was a bit of a novelty.  The winds were ferocious and the rain was verging on hail a lot of the time.  I checked on them a few times during the night and they hadn’t floated away.  They were fairly well protected from the wind though.  They had a wind break on 2 sides and the en suite and van on the other.  Ideal spot for them.  They reckon that they had a better nights sleep than the rest of us … but I don’t know how.  The van was a-rocking all night and anything loose outside was banging and crashing until dawn.  Not much sleep for anybody.

Needless to say, we were all early risers … apart from Hannah.  A quick breakfast had the kids desperate for a swim in the pool.  The pool area was fantastic and they had it all to themselves.

Saturday saw us wondering what to do, so I suggested that we check out some of the local geocaches.  We logged a DNF on one and Blake found another one with ease.  A great little walk from the campsite up to a lookout and return.

View from the lookout

They thought it was cold

The view heading back to camp

Flowers next to the van

A short walk

We got back to camp just in time to head out to lunch at the Esplanade Hotel.  All the boxes were ticked.  Well priced meals that were really yummy.  A good spot and plenty to keep the kids occupied.  Kellie scored a Tandoori chicken pizza while I had a Sweet Chilli Chicken Wrap.  The kids had Parma’s and Nuggets.  Abby’s first Parma and she loved it.  I dunno where she put it, but she almost finished the lot!

The weather wasn’t really flash, so we spent the afternoon back in the camp kitchen discussing the upcoming travels.  It seems like most of the Nomads have some serious trips planned and it will be Xmas before we’re all once again sitting down for a chat.

Note the kids in the background all playing together nicely ... or is that plotting mischief?

Evil little girls!

Saturday nights dinner saw Kellie give me specific instructions to cook 12 sausages only.  Of course that meant that I put about 30 on the barbie.  Abby was keen to do tong duty and cooked all the snags to perfection.  They ended up being Sunday lunch as well!  We all said our goodbyes and retired fairly early.  The kids had occupied themselves with movies and iPods and were fairly well tuckered out.  The girls had befriended Fred’s granddaughter and were watching Gulliver’s travels in the van after dinner.  Once that was finished we were all soon quickly in bed and asleep.  A much quieter night weather wise on Saturday and we all slept well.

The scenic route home got us back by 1pm with no fuss.  The kids were SILENT and watching DVD’s or playing iPods all the way, both ways.  Parents today have simply got it too easy.  Thanks to the GPS in the back they can even answer the question “Are we there, yet?” without having to say the words.