Staying Still for a Few Days

Dear Adventurous Reader,

The past few days we have been enjoying keeping a tent up for more than a single night, while enjoying a camp ground in the Barossa Valley. Here we met new friends and saw many vineyards that give the region it's name. There is a jumping mat that the boys have been leaping on most of the day.

Car Trips and Kids - The Beginning

Car trips can be short but a road trip, by definition, includes a lot of driving. For the driver it can be fun sitting behind the wheel and looking at road, most of the time the driver is the only one with something to do.

For kids in the back of a car on a long day it can be boring and tedious. We haven't had a long day of driving yet, they are to come, when it gets hot. For now we are still finding a groove in which to belong on the road; there is yelling; there is crying; and there is fun hidden in amongst the bad things I remember.

The driving part is an inescapable part of this trip. I am sure we will find a groove. But for now we are finding a two hour drive a long way. It should be too, we have no driven this far on consecutive days in a very long time; the last time we did I remember it not going so well.

Barossa Valley

Kilometer after Kilometer, after Kilometer of vineyards welcome us as we enter Tanunda. The sky which was darkened with rain had been left before we came over the hills and now a cold but less-threatening sky greeted us.

Check in to the caravan park was simple, we even got a spot right next-door to our friends who were waiting to meet us.

We still do not have a pattern happening when we arrive, being the second day of travel we still have to yell out for a hand to get the tent set up. The temptation for the boys to run off and play with new friends is too much.

The boys made friends quickly with Oliver and despite the burden of setting up the "house" for the next few days they were off toward the jumping pillow where they were to spend most of the next few days.

We had escaped the unpredictable and mostly cold weather of the Bellarine Peninsula and driven to the next state to enjoy the wonderful weather. The sun was beautiful in the Barossa.

The boys played in the open green grass while I sat and worked in the common room. This trip was not a holiday, it was to experience a way of life that is different and work on the road is what pays the bills.

While My Husband Gently Works

So I worked and the kids played and the mothers talked. Jacqui had read all of Jill's Blog before we had left so it was nice for her to meet and connect with Jill. I think she thought that she would find a friend in her.

Whomever thought of retaining air under a mat and surrounding it with sand was a genius. The boys spent hours jumping and wrestling on the parks inflated mat, or running around the park play-fighting with each other. Some of the boys set out on an endeavour to make some money collecting rubbish, which turned into a few dollars.

We ate and laughed. Adeline and I jumper on the mat too, she loved it - being up there with the big boys.

On the last day we went to two wineries to enjoy to old landscaping and sample some of the wines. I can see how the Barossa Valley has a lot to offer to tourists, it is an enjoyable place made nicer by the people we were spending time with.

Then as we went to the last shopping centre to get supplies the sound of the road calling gripped me. It was time to move on from old and new friends and to find the unexpected and uncertain path that lay before us.