A Grand Day Out

One of my mates from school arrived back in Australia after over three years of travelling the world with his fiance.


We had them over on Friday night, wine was consumed & a rather late night was had. So what better way of shaking off a red wine head than doing the rainforest' board walk which is only a few minutes drive from our house.


Good to get the odd family shot here and there, this one is aprox 45 feet off the ground in the Forest canopy


yes Miss H was hiding behind mamma bare

You will note she has taken to poking her tongue out for photos, which makes for the greatest shots.

Little legs tire and require piggy backs

Getting a shot in front of one of the many mountain ashes that tower above

Another family shot, after completing the circuit

Is that a tongue again?

Ok this shot is brought to you by skittles sours - the bribe used to get them all to sit still for 15 seconds and allow for photos.

Miss H made a new friend

After we finished the rainforst walk we when boarded the bus and ferried our guests to another school mates house where they would stay the next night. My other mate's partner comes from a family of dairy farmers, their farm has been in the family for over 100 years, they graze 400 cows on 400 acres of lush green pastures. Her older brother is a former school teacher and now trains students on the ins and outs of dairy farming.

We were lucky enough to be given a tour of the milking shed while they were doing the afternoon milk. The children were fascinated with everything from how warm the milk is to how much a cow wees. I spent some time on a dairy farm as a child and have to say for me personally I was amazed at the technology in place these days.

Attaching the milking machine (when it senses that the milk supply is done it automatically detaches from the cows teat and retracts to the ceiling).

12 cows are milking

Feeling the warm pipes flowing milk straight from the cow

They each took turns to look in the storage tank that can hold 20,000 litres

We then progressed to the calf shed to see some of this springs calves ranging in age from 4-10 weeks.

Most were cautious of the children but one let them get close

A quick play in the hay

The best part about a dairy farm is the mud, and it doesn't matter if that mud is waste deep or ankle deep children have a ball in it.

School mates I have known for 16 years on the left & 25 years on the right.

We stripped the children of their wet muddy smelly clothes and loaded up the bus, bid farewell to our friends and headed home.

It was a great day, some things we didn't get on film were holding the chickens & the delicious spread put on by our hosts (homemade scones and jam FTW).

Mr C who is without a doubt the most energetic of all our children walked straight in the door when we arrived home at 8pm and put himself to bed, that's a sign of a good day in my opinion. The children had fun, experienced new things and wore themselves out in the process.

Until next time, I'm off to catch up on the washing ;)