Grampians Grape Festival 2013

Posted on by
2

Imagine waking up to this every morning.  It was the sight that greeted us over the last weekend which we spent at Halls Gap in the Grampians with two other families.

grampians-05

The weather was amazing which made the trip even better as we visited this beautiful piece of the world for the annual Grampians Grape Escape.  This is the second year we have attended and it’s always held on the first weekend of May each year.  A first class event that I recommend to anyone.

grampians-02

The local oval is the venue and is host to numerous local wineries and some local eateries (go with the pizza) all eager to showcase their trade with the festival goers.

grampians-03

They have many activities including food demonstrations (this year Poh from MasterChef), grape stomping, kids activities, local bands (check out Buddha in a Chocolate Box  ) and much more to keep everyone entertained.

It goes over two days and this year we extended our stay to Monday so we could take full advantage of the weekend.  At only $40 per person for the whole weekend entry is very reasonable.

grampians-01

Back at our campsite just a few hundred meters from the oval we had many other local visitors pop in.  Ducks, Kookaburras and Kangaroos were everywhere.  They are still wild but come close enough for the kids to have a good look at these amazing Aussie animals.

grampians-06

Sunday nights dinner was a real chore.  We spent the better part of three hours watching the lamb turn on the spit.  Its hard being a gourmet chef when you’re camping.  It was one of the best lamb roasts I have ever had.  Slow cooked to perfection.

grampians-04

We had an amazing time and have booked in again for next year.  One of our group has set the challenge for us to walk to the top of one of the nearby peaks to watch a sunrise so who knows what next year will have in store.

grampians-07

As Mr Kangaroo says, “See you next time around.”

Mt Franklin.

Posted on by
Reply

In previous years we have been part of a group who go away on the Queens Birthday weekend and get together for a “Mulled on the Mountain” trip. This trip usually coincides with the colder months and is a chance to stoke up the fire, eat good hearty food and drink a glass or two, usually more, of mulled wine.

It’s been a couple of years since we’ve done this trip so we decided to go out this last weekend to scout out some spots to hold the event.

We have been looking at Mount Franklin, just out of Daylesford, as the venue so we based ourselves here for a night. It’s such a nice spot and our girls, who originally didn’t want to go bush camping had a ball. They played non stop and made some great friends. One dad had bought along a tyre swing which he hung out of a tree and let all the kids use. It was such a great idea and I am going to do a similar thing in the future.

I’ve been to Mount Franklin many times over the years but never to stay overnight. It was a great group of people and at night was very quiet. It surprised me just how quiet considering you camp inside the crater and the acoustics mean that you can here any noise from other campers. We stoked up a nice fire and cooked a chicken on the spit and roasted marshmallows after dinner. The girls and I also made a batch of damper and baked it in the camp oven.

Even though we had such a relaxing time, we decided to check out two other locations the next morning on our way home. One ended up being too small and risking taking a large group wasn’t an option.

The second spot though was perfect. It’s a huge area and very flat. It is well maintained and fire pits are built into the ground with a large gravel circle around the pit to accommodate camp chairs. We’ve found out spot for the next “mulled on the mountain”.

So if you’ve been to a “mulled on the mountain” before look out for your invite because you won’t want to miss out.

Easter 2013 – Warrnambool.

Posted on by
2

The two weeks before Easter we spent trying to decide if we’d go away for the four day break.  It wasn’t until Good Friday that we decided to pack up our van and head to Warrnambool.

Matilda playing on the beach

Our tardiness in making a decision meant we ended up getting a site in the overflow area of Surfside Caravan Park, called Shipwreck.  Surfside was packed to the gills and we had a very quiet area with virtually nobody around.

Playing in the dunes

Being only about fifty meters from the beach was a bonus and right beside us was a large area for the girls to play and ride bikes and enough room to fly our kites right beside the van.

Kites

It was a very relaxed weekend and on Saturday morning Grace and I got up very early to take a walk along the beach.  We happened across quite a number of racehorses being trained up and down the beach and amongst the waves.  It was pitch black and we could just make out thier shadows as they raced up and down at the low tide mark.

It was such a great Dad and daughter time and I thoroughly enjoyed talking to Grace about so many different things as we took our hour plus walk.  The sun soon rose and on the return leg we stumbled across a number of chalk writings along the beach foot path.

Chalk Writing

We did a bit of sight seeing over the weekend and visited some of the main attractions around Warrnambool and along the Great Ocean Road.

Sadly we were a bit early at Logans beach for a whale sighting.

Pano at Logans Beach.

The Twelve Apostles.

12 Apostles

Grace

Mum and Girls

London Bridge.  I remember as a kid being driven out to the edge by my dad.  You cant get close anymore.

London Bridge

Over all we had a great family weekend.

The three "kids"

But the story Grace wrote after the weekend really made me realise just how important it is to take the time to spend with your kids.

My letter

The morning we spent walking along the beach. just the two of us having a chat was her favourite part.  Not the playgrounds, or the Easter eggs, but the time I took to spend with her.  I don’t think I’ll ever forget that.

Expander Pegs Review.

Posted on by
Reply

“I’m excited” was the catch cry of Big Kev and I’m going to echo his cry with this product.

I like to change and improve things often but I always do a great deal of research into the things I purchase. I like to simplify my life where possible and make things comfortable.

Last year I stumbled across this product. The simplicity of the design and the HUGE improvement to the original had me wondering why hadn’t this been thought of before.

[Expander Pegs.](http://expanderpegs.com/)

They have two legs that you put your rope between and squeeze together. Then you drive them into the ground like a (sub)standard peg.

The great part is they can’t spin out. They grab the ground and don’t pull out. They just do the job a peg is supposed to do.

I have replaced every peg we own with these and the best part is they are not expensive.

If you want to never worry about a peg coming out again and you want to hold that awning down in big winds then do yourself a favour. Get your hands on these. You’ll never regret it.

They come in three different sizes, 25mm, 30mm, 35mm.

Check out the expander pegs website for places you can buy them.

Get yourself well grounded and relax on your next trip not needing to hammer pegs in all weekend.