Trip Back Home 2011

I hadn't seen the oldies for quite some time so it was high time that I paid them a visit. The Boy came with me and we made it a long weekend. He can't afford to miss much school and, as it turned out, the first two days coincided with his school camp, which he managed to attend for three days, so he only missed one day of school.

Day One - 31/3/11

Taxi drivers everywhere at 5am. Very busy and driving fast. Going 125km/h down Tonkin Hwy. Gee, got slugged $37.90 to go to the domestic airport. The driver didn't even know which direction to go when leaving my house. He was Chinese, when the majority of taxi drivers appear to be Eritrean, Eithiopian and Indian. Probably my first experience in Australia with such a driver. Didn't say much.

The airport was packed with FIFO (Fly In, Fly Out) workers. Our plane was slightly delayed as runways were busy. Onboard I had a Wallaby Superbar consisting of yoghurty cranberry, fruit and nut - quite possibly the best muesli bar I've ever tasted. Got two of them because of The Boy's nut allergy. Noted that Furby toys are not allowed onboard at any time. Wonder if they let Gremlins on? Also wonder when we will see LCD or plasma screens instead of bulky CRT monitors? Domestic passengers don't get the royal treatment that international players do.

Surprised to see dad and mum waiting for us at the airport. That meant that the car was fixed in time. Stopped to have lunch at Frank Jackman lookout above the Murray River outside of Murray Bridge overlooking the Swanport Bridge. Every town on the three hour drive home appears to be sponsored by the Federal Government with a "ROAD WORK AHEAD" sign. Obviously money being put to good use. Signage, and traffic cones, must have cost a fortune.

Great to visit my young nephews and niece for me and their cousin, The Boy. We ended up having fish and chips from the local Ampol and the girl who served me didn't recognise me even though I purchased with my credit card. I did happen to go to school with her but that was some time ago so not all that surprising. Spoke to my uncle on the phone tonight mainly about South Australian politics. Played Scrabble with mum and The Boy who is such a giggle girt.

Day Two - 1/4/11

Bit difficult to get out of bed this morning but considering that it was 5am at hom that's understandable. The Boy was a bit slower and held us up a bit. Had to wait for him to have breakfast so my sister, her daughter and mum left to drive to Naracoorte before us. We left soon after and arrived at the farm around 10am. Had a poke around and rounded up some lambs before going into town to visit my aunty and uncle with their daughter and one of my newest cousins. Got to hold the young fella for about 40 minutes and he was very well behaved. The Boy got to play with the dogs, Rocco and Chloe. My aunty and uncle were helping at the Masters Games that were bing held in Naracoorte so had to clear off around lunch time.

We were due to catch up with the other car load of family that went to Naracoorte at Billy Mac's next to the Naracoorte Hotel Motel. There was quite a wait for the meals to be prepared and they weren't brought out at the same time. Of course the last meal to come out was that for the slowest eater - The Boy. His chicken breast schnitzel was more like a fried wing but my yearling beef schnitzel was beautiful. There were spoggies (sparrows) flying around inside picking up scraps.

Filled up the cars with fuel and headed back out to the farm. Killed one of the lambs. The Boy has never seen that before. Blood and guts everywhere which I had to drag off to a pit. Brings back so many childhood memories. The Boy even got to drive the car on the farm by himself. Dad decided to crutch some dirty sheep and I even had a go myself. Couple of daggiest one were flyblown so they needed a bit of treatment. Dad drenched the sheep too. Went to one of the paddocks and fenced a couple of young trees in. Left the farm about 6:45 and arrived at home an hour later. Had tea and watched St Kilda vs Richmond.

Day Three - 2/4/11

Up at 6:30, 3°C, for a walk with dad and son to get the paper. Only picked up 5 cans/bottles this morning. Lamb offal for breakfast - liver and heart. Yum. Another walk down the street with dad for some medication later and I bumped into the mother of a good friend outside of the chemist. I said that she'd saved me a trip as I'd seen her. When she didn't get the joke I arranged to meet her at three o'clock that afternoon.

Mum made lasagne and I did a bit of tidying up. My old cupboard needed a bit of cleaning. After lunch, of which I had plenty, we cut up the sheep. Even managed to get The Boy to pack a bag of chops.

Following this The Boy and I went to my friend's house via the primary school. Quite a few more buildings at the school these days. My friends appear quite well and don't really look their age. I must say they are looking after themselves well. Nice tea, cake and biscuits. Not the sort of thing that my generation prepares and I miss that from my childhood. We walked home through the high school.

Booked a room in Adelaide for the journey home. One of mum's friends came around at tea time. We played Scrabble together. Watched the inaugural match for the Gold Coast Suns as they played Carlton and put on a rather convincing impersonation of traffic cones being used for a training drill.

Day four - 3/4/11

Early morning walk with dad to get the Sunday newspaper. Mum cooked a lamb roast for lunch. I made a few phone calls and arranged for family and a friend to meet at the Flagstaff Hotel tomorrow night. We planned for The Boy's cousins to visit but as it was their father's birthday he invited us up to his place for a BBQ lunch which we accepted. The roast could wait until that night.

Enjoyed a lovely BBQ lunch and watched three quarters of Sydney vs Essendon, kicked the footy with the kids and played PS2 games (they did). After coming home and taking a photo of a particular road sign, Don Hunts Rd, I cleaned the roof of the house and pruned the trees overhanging the house and the fence. Took a lot longer than I had anticipated and led to a full trailer load of offcuts. Had tea and then went for another walk with the old man. Played a board game with mum and The Boy before bed.

Day Five - 4/4/11

No early morning today. Even managed to get the young bloke to eat some porridge for brekkie. Did walk around the town for a bit, along Naracoorte Highway and past the schools. Packed up and made ready to leave. Filled up the car with gas (LPG). The Boy read three of the books that I'd packed for him to bring home on the trip up to his cousins' house. We stayed for about an hour before heading off. Molly, their not very friendly English bull terrier, was quite comfortable with The Boy. And he loves their other English bull terrier, Kymbull.

Mum took photos of trucks for me as we drove to Hahndorf. I planned for us to stop and look at the historic buildings and have lunch. Nearly cleaned up a cyclist on the way in the hills at a windy section when some idiot on the other side of the road cut the corner and came onto my side as I was overtaking him. Man, that was close. Baked potatoes for the rest of us but The Boy had a kranski dog with sauerkraut and mustard. The guy who served us the potatoes didn't have Farmers Union iced coffee in his fridge, a must drink refreshment in South Australia, but said that his iced coffee was better. I wasn't convinced and went across the road to purchase one to have with my meal. He was insistent and brought out a sample. It was good stuff too.

Just before heading off to Adelaide we went for a wander a bit further down the main street. The Boy picked up a ladybird and thought that it was lucky so I should buy some scratchies (lottery tickets). I purchased three $1 scratchies in the shop and gave him a coin to play but the shop assistant said that it was illegal as he had to be 18 - "It's the law". We had a deal that if any money was won he wouldn't have to pay. Dammit, won $2 which meant that I was down by a dollar.

There was a pioneer memorial park with a bust of Captain Hahn who sailed to Australia on the ship Zebra in 1839 with 53 founding families to escape religious persecution in Germany. No wonder the town of Hahndorf is known for its German heritage.

Drove to Adelaid and checked into the motel. Had a quick snooze whilst The Boy watched cartoons before dad and I went for an hour long walk down Glen Osmond Road. Showered and changed for the dinner meal. Weren't exactly sure it was that we were going so my mum had to ring her sister. Luckily we were only five minutes away. Had a meal with a great aunty and uncle, aunty and uncle and a friend who was my neighbour when I was growing up. We spoke a lot about trains as my uncle is a train nut. Seafood risotto for me (lovely) and a supreme pizza for my son. He spent the evening drawing pictures as there was no-one else his age there. Arrived back at the hotel at 10:30 and asked reception for a 5am wake up call.

Day Six - 5/4/11

Bit of a restless night as I don't enjoy having to wake at an early time knowing that I can't afford to be late. The wake up call came at 4am as some dill didn't reset the clock for when daylight savings finished, methinks. Then a baby in the next room started crying and that was followed with loud, abusive and upset parents going off. It took another half an hour to get back to sleep so that I felt perfectly tired at 5am. Got up, dressed and left. Had enough time to fill up the car on the way to the airport.

The return flight was fairly uneventful although I did get three superbars to myself. Arrived 15-20 minutes early and the missus was already waiting for us. Great, if short, holiday back home. Enjoyed doing many things that I didn't enjoy as a child too. Strange that. Great to catch up with family and friends.

Trip Back Home 2011 Photo Album on Facebook.