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August brought some fresh showers. We enjoyed them by stamping in the puddles, standing in the puddles and walking around in the rain. Oma brought us some windmills: we watch them go round when they catch a breeze. In the morning, oma will clap and dance with us.
Tallangata valley
After a Friday morning packing (mum), nursery (Emma) and football (Piet and dad), we drove off to visit Kelly and Glenn in Tallangata Valley. Our previous visit was in November and
Piet certainly remembered the
tractor. Emma was now able to walk to the
sheep - last time, she wasn't even crawling. Piet is still extremely reserved with all animals larger than ants and beetles. We had a walk past a little
'dam' (pond in English) and through very green
paddocks. The weather was excellent and we had our
corn lunch outside.
The major attraction, however, were the horses, which were keenly observed from a distance or close up when they were being worked in the round yard. A horse in the background would not worry the kids, even without a fence in between. Emma enjoyed patting a dog.
Conic range walking track in Mount Lawson state park
On Monday, we went for a bushwalk in
Mount Lawson state park. Piet bravely decided to get out of the
rucksack and
walk most of his way to the top, which included some detours over large
rocks. The area had been affected by bushfire and some trees had
burned bark. When we made it to
the top, the views were
great. Against this backdrop, we ate our
Vegemite sandwitches, which have become a standard
take along lunch.
Canberra
We continued to Canberra to stay two nights with Sam, Dave and Evelyn. Due to the rain and cold weather, we mostly played
inside. Despite the chill, we ventured out on the last day to a
lookout point. As Canberra is relatively small (345.000 inhabitants), one can see
nearly the whole city from a single lookout. The kids ran around and Piet clung to his
platypus and doubledecker bus
We spent another night at Rob and Chrissie's place south of Canberra. Then, as we all had colds, especially dad, we drove back home to avoid passing it on to granddad. The nine hour drive was a bit of a struggle with the kids, but at least Piet would really enjoy watching the trucks on the highway during the stops.
Bendoc
After two weeks of recovery at home, we left for Bendoc again, this time without a detour. The drive was swift.
Piet and Emma quickly felt at home and went along with a different daily routine. In the morning,
the horses get a top-up feed. In the junk room,
Emma and oma watch Piet put the
gum nuts in the buckets. Then, we loosen the
hay and put it in other buckets, a task to which
Emma happily contributes. Then we
jointly take the buckets to the horses, which eat it in seperate
paddocks or
yard. Emma might watch the horses safely from behind a
fence
Piet took some ice from the horses trough in his hands. In the veggie patch, he dug up some carrots for lunch. Then came a delivery of firewood. Piet watched the truck reverse, tip the firewood out and - equally interesting - leave again.
Bathtime brought Emma and Piet their own laundry tub and new toys: squirty fish. Tooth brushing was the usual hassle. In the evening, Piet watched the Little Red Tractor dvd.
The next day, Piet helped opa light the bonfire to burn off garden waste, branches and carton. Piet liked watching the fire on oma's lap.
