And the work begins - Cole swims his 1st 100m straight!

My provider number came through first thing yesterday morning so I was good to go. A morning of orientation and intro to their medical computer program and I was ready. It was a pretty easy day in terms of numbers as I was just getting the swing of  how the clinic worked. They use their nurses a lot - if you want vitals done you send the patient off with a slip of paper to the nurses station and off they trundle. I'm not used to such catering - we'll see how it goes today. Once finished at the office I joined Jen and the kids at the pool where the swim team was having a session. Aidan was going great guns in his lane - more or less keeping up with the other kids. As I arrived Cole was getting moved up a lane and started swimming laps! I was astounded as before he seemed to struggle for about half a length and then nearly drown! His stroke needs a bit of work - looks a bit like Grandpa's freestyle at this point - more side to side than rolling forward with arms out of the water. Jen jumped in to do her first 1.5 km for donkeys ages and didn't look too bad! I think we're getting into a bit of a schedule now which will ground the kids a bit so hopefully the schooling will get a bit easier for Jen over the next couple of weeks while I'm at work. Congrats to Canada on their first gold!

V-Day and the Games begin!

I was rather distraught of late to discover that Canadians hold the illustrious distinction of being the only country to host both a winter and summer Olympics and not to win a gold medal at either one! Our typical comeback would be - "Well just look at our healthcare though.." - bit lame still - hopefully we'll break this record in Vancouver! Although the opening ceremonies were a bit of a yawn at times the whales were fantastic - Bryan and Nellie sang a few too many choruses and those First Nation Dancers must have been exhausted by the end of it all. Watched some of the speed skating this morning - looked quite exciting (and painful!) Once packed up and ready to go we found our morning Latte spot just out of town at the honey centre then headed to Cape Willouby (?sp) and the light house there. It required some off-roading for about 26kms so added a bit of excitement to the drive. The Scottish guide gave Cole, Aidan and I a great little tour of the facilities while Jen and Piper (too young to join us) had a play in the sand pit. We had a platter lunch of a bunch of K.I. cheeses, meats and condiments at the Dudley Winery outlet in town then caught the ferry for home. Fiona (our GPS) finally got vindictive with us in her own passive aggressive way and Google maps failed us as well - (should have just read the signs!) as we headed 'home' to Murray Bridge - instead of getting us on the correct ramp to the freeway and a quick ten minute drive to the Caravan Park, we ended up heading back towards Mt Barker and Adelaide only to be told by Fiona once at Mount Barker to turn around and go back whence we came! Live and learn!

Seal Bay, the Little Sahara and the perils of alcohol - you might just get a job!

A touch of a sleep in and off we went to Seal Bay to see the sea-lions - sounds funny but sea-lions are actually a type of seal - of the eared variety. About 7 species of seal are of the eared variety and can move on land, the earless types (leopard / elephant) can't move on land and are known as true seals - see - even an old fish like me can pick up some new info! We had a guided tour onto the beach with the sea-lions which was great - Cole managed to find a pup's scapula bone and a bunch of cuttlefish back bones which he showed to one of the marine biologist guides and ended up getting a poster and little book for his demonstrated interest. We also found out about the Humpback and Sperm whale as parts of their skeletons were visibile in the area. By the end of our tour it was near lunch so we headed off to pick up a sandboard and sand tobaggan to take to the little Sahara sand dunes for a ride. A quick bite and we were on the dunes - a beautiful little range of fine sand rising to the horizon. Quotes of Shakespeare filtered through my head ..."my kingdom for a horse..." as well as images of Tintin and the Captain in the Land of Black Gold. We tried our legs (and bums) on the sandboard with a bit better success than experienced back at the Henty dunes - might of been the better quality boards and bindings and the drier sand but we were actually able to pick up some speed and make it to the bottom of the slope (maybe 25 -50 ms in length? ). A dozen or so rides and climbs and we were spent, so packed up, dropped off the boards and started our way home. En route, Jen and I visited South Australia's only Boutique Distillery for a nip and affogato - the drinks were nice so we picked up something to add to our desserts over the next few weeks and had a chat with the proprietor. One thing led to another and of all things - he happens to be reviewing a recent community health study of one of the most remote aboriginal communities in Western Australia where they are looking for a GP to do a 2 week locum at anytime in the near future. Hmmm - serendipity?? We'll look into it and perhaps add it to the trip in April if it's still needed? Once plied with alcohol for work we made our way to the local winery in Kingscote called the Bay of Shoals and trialed a few of the local vines. The winery is set atop of the hill in Kingscote and looks out over the small bay here which glimmers with shades of green and blue in the horizon - absolutely beautiful. One last explore tomorrow and back to Murray Bridge to hit the grindstone on Monday.

The Remarkables, Seals and Kelly Hill Caves

The sheep dairy was actually quite interesting with some very tasty cheeses/ yoghurts at hand. The tour guide informed us that the sheep milk apparently avoids the problems associated with "cow's milk allergy" - which may make some sense if the antigen is slightly different than the cow's milk one - look at me getting all geeky and all.... - wouldn't make a difference in terms of lactose intolerance though - should be one in the same in this regard. Having picked up some Haloumi, peppered cheese and some plain sheep yoghurt we hustled down to the wharf for the pelican feeding. Around 30 Pelicans were waiting for their evening meal, seemingly unperturbed by the mob of humans gawking only feet away. They are sort of tribal in their manner, with some of the bigger fellas picking fights with their beeks and vying for position. When the fish actually came out some of these blue-webbed footed creatures managed to get such wads of fish in their fabric-like mouths that they had to regurgitate it back and forth in order to force it down the hatch - it was quite amusing to watch.

With another semi-early start we headed up island to take in the day at Flinders Chase National Park, wherein lies the Remarkables, a New Zealand Fur Seal Colony and the Kelly Hill Caves. The Remarkables were ....well actually, quite remarkable - kind of like a natural stone henge dropped by the gods on the precipice of a rock known to wash mere mortals out to sea if they stand too close to the edge. After what felt like a thousand photos we packed into the Kluger and steered her towards Admirals Arch, where the colony of fur seals was said to be found. The weather gods looked fondly upon us and lunch along the boardwalk afforded easy gazing upon the shiny-furred playful creatures inhabiting the coastline. We completed the path after lunch, taking in the incredible limestone arch slowly being carved under the current walkway above. Back up the road we found the Kelly Hill Cave Conservation Area and joined the guided tour down 10-15 metres underground with all the stalactites and stalagmites one could possibly imagine. Piper fell asleep mid way through of course while the rest of  us suffered the yawns - perhaps due to the increased CO2 filtering around this deep underground? We decided on a seafood feast for tea and with dreams of lobster etc heaping over our plates Jen ventured into a local seafood store and soon discovered lobster ain't cheap! They wanted $140 for one lobster - can't imagine they do a lot of sales? In lieu of the full meal deal we compromised with some pre-packaged lobster meat and some strips of whiting - much less mess, easier to prepare and eat and less strain on the bank account. Tomorrow we'll be off to Seal Bay to see sea-lions - go figure? Maybe some sand boarding and anything else that might trigger our fancy. Should be a hoot!

Odds, ends, swimming and Kangaroo Island

The school day finally ended in the early afternoon after much difficulty - it will get easier right? While the kids played in the sprinkler, Jen and I did some planning and administrative work (organizing our lives for the next 4-6 weeks). As my provider number won't come through until Friday we've decided to trek to K.I. (Kangaroo Island) for the weekend and managed to get things sorted for an early departure in the AM. After detailing the mighty Kluger we joined the Murray Bridge Amateur Swim Club for a session. I wasn't sure what I would be able to manage as the last swim I did was in Hobart about a month ago and I barely got in 1200ms! Fortunately, the fast lane wasn't all too fast and by the second set I was third in line and still cruising. We managed to get in almost 3 km - a good start to the new fitness regime! Aidan and Cole found a group as well and had an hour session which went well.

We managed to kick ourselves out of bed at 6 AM this morning to get on the road for the ferry at Cape Jervis and onward to KI. All informants (Fiona - our GPS, Google Map and the ferry company booking agent) had indicated the trip from Murray Bridge would be almost 3 hrs and we were booked for the 10 o'clock sailing. As we made it to the highway, Piper piped up " I'm gonna be sick mommy!" and sure enough the dry retching began - guess we weren't done with the tummy flu! We followed the Google Map as it seemed more direct and in about half the time were essentially there. A quick coffee and pee stop and we were at the terminal ready to board an hour earlier than expected. They let us on the earlier sailing and caught me on the phone while trying to load - I was trying to check my Visa Balance - as you do in the line up waiting to get on the ferry - needless to say the ferry operator directing traffic wasn't too impressed and got into me for trying to do 2 things at once - didn't realize it was a problem as I usually have to juggle double that amount at once just to keep my head above water. Fortunately, I didn't kill or damage anything in the process. Once on KI the rain started and gradually built to torrential proportions so we found our lodging and got into the school work again - perfect for a rainy day! Sicky girl has seemed to escape any further retching so is hopefully en route to recovery. We'll head to the Sheep Dairy this arvo to watch some milking and sample some cheeses, yoghurts or anything else that may be on hand. Hopefully we'll find some sun tomorrow.

Mossie bites and the joys of home schooling

As the jet lag has waned we've made a start into getting things cleaned up and organized. Aidan has seemingly been attacked by evening mossies and looks like he's been hit by a prickle bush, leaving welts everywhere. Cole and Piper seemed to have been relatively spared - guess they're not as sweet. We've taken over the caravan park's dining room for our schooling and got started at 9 am without a bell. Jen will definitely be grey and I, bald by the end of this trip unless we can get the kids into some sort of groove where they're not asking questions every second and can focus on their work. The dreaded journal is still like pulling teeth at times - perhaps it's still the jet lag? We're hoping to get out this afternoon to look around Murray Bridge and make some plans for the weekend if I have the next few days off. We've met the local swim club president and coaches and they've agreed to take the kids on for the next 3 weeks so we'll have some fitness program going as well. .

Oh the Joys of Parenting

Despite repetitive reminders of hygiene, what not to put near or in one's mouth and instant hand cleaning gel, Cole still managed to pick up a bug which hit while resting innocently at Gate 1 of the Qantas section of the Sydney airport. Meanwhile, Piper and Aidan were running on fumes and once on the flight to Adelaide, went down like a tonne of bricks. So now we had a sicky requiring frequent re-bagging and 2 dead weights needing regular wakings and/or carrying once at the Adelaide airport. To cap it all off my lower back had started to ache - likely from the bizarre positions I had to put myself in on the long haul flight to try to sleep. We eventually found the Kluger in the parking lot, loaded our sleepy sick bunch as well as the baggage and headed to pick up Gertie - our newly named caravan - which was being 'caravan-sat' by some friends of the Coddingtons in the Adelaide Hills. She seemed to have weathered the last two weeks well excepting her freezer where I had unfortunately left some frozen peas. Now they were overcooked and a tad mushy with a certain 'je ne sais quoi'- type of smell - 'cadaverin' for veggies. We finally made it to our new caravan park in Murray Bridge, where we'll be for the next 3 weeks working -  if I can get a provider number sorted. Our site is basically on the banks of the Murray River and we get a bit of breeze at night as things cool down. It was 35 degrees when we pulled in last night around 7 pm and fortunately cooled further overnight so we were able to sleep. It's heated up to about the same today but we're managing. It's a school day so the kids are getting into their studies and Jen and I are getting ourselves organized. Cole is all better now and no one else has come down with the dreaded disease so hopefully we're past it. Am off now to meet some of the local docs and get acquainted with Murray Bridge.