Our road trip to Adelaide also let me check stuff off another to do list. We squeezed in a visit to a couple of Australia's Big Things! Andrew and I love to see the wacky big things that Australia has to offer.

On our journey from Ballarat to the Coonawarra, on Tash's recommendation, we stopped at the Giant Koala in Dadswell. We took a few photos (cause there isn't much else to do there.) Cheeeeeeeeeeese!

We detoured especially to the tiny town of Gumeracha in South Australia to see the Big Rocking Horse. There is a funny sign at the Big Rocking Horse warning you not to look up when standing under the horse's rear end. It hasn't happened yet, but you never know.

This is just a slightly bigger than normal rocking horse.

Now, this is a BIG rocking horse.


More photos (slideshow) on Flickr.

We visited the Giant Koala and the Big Rocking Horse on our way to watch the 2nd Ashes Test at Adelaide Oval. On our trip we also visited Ballarat, Naracoorte Caves, the Coonawarra, Hahndorf and the Barossa Valley. Other entries from this trip include: Adelaide Oval.

One of my goals in life is to watch a first-class cricket game at each of the main ovals in Australia (dream big, jess! dream big!). So far, I've managed to watch a game at the Sydney Cricket Ground, the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Bellerive Oval and Adelaide Oval.

It was about this time last year that I checked Adelaide Oval off the list. Andrew and I road-tripped down to Adelaide especially to watch the 2nd Ashes Test. We spent days 3 and 4 of the match on the hill in front of the Clem Hill stand. That's where all the hardcore cricket fans hang out.

You actually do have to pretty tough to sit there. There isn't much in the way of shade and with temperatures in the mid 30s both days we were in serious danger of overheating. I was pregnant with Evie at the time so I often retreated to the shady area out the back to watch the game on the big screen and to reduce my core body temperature. Luckily, it rained a bit on both days. Play was stopped but it did cool us all down.

In the end it was actually a pretty depressing match to watch. Australia ended up losing by an innings and 71 runs. We had the option to go to the 5th and final day but decided instead to do the tour at Coopers Brewery. We figured it was a much better option than witnessing such a humiliating defeat.

Making our loss even more distressing were the taunts of the English fans at the game. Day 4 was a Monday and so was attended mostly by English supporters. It was so bad that it felt like we were at a game in England. They cheered when they did well and jeered when we didn't (which was pretty much all day). The Barmy Army were also in full voice over on the hill.

Tash was the one who convinced us to join her for an Ashes test. She was also there for days 3 and 4 (and like a true supporter she also turned up for day 5). Tash had a seat in the members stand but she did join us on the hill for a bit. On Day 4 her time with us included a little bit of a nap. She'd hosted a blender party at her accommodation the night before and was a little bit under the weather.

Tash and I were reminiscing about our Adelaide fun just recently and now have hatched plans for the Ashes Series in 2013 / 2014. Tash and I are thinking the WACA should be the next oval on the Wilson agenda. If I write about it on here, will that make it more likely to happen? We shall see.

More photos (slideshow) on Flickr.

Andrew and I travelled to Adelaide especially to watch the 2nd Ashes Test at Adelaide Oval. On our trip we also visited Ballarat, Naracoorte Caves, the Coonawarra, Hahndorf and the Barossa Valley. This is the first entry from this trip.

During our trip to Normandy we visited Monet's house and garden in Giverny which have been preserved as a museum. It was in this garden that Monet painted his famous series of paintings, Water Lilies.

We visited on a warm summer's day and it was lovely walking through Monet's beautiful garden. Of course, the place is packed with tourists clamouring to get a photo of themselves on the Water Lily bridge (I can't complain too loudly; I wanted a photo there too). So sometimes you have to close your eyes and block out all the noise to imagine the tranquility that Monet would have experienced while he was painting there.

Even though it is quite crowded it's still worth the trip. The flowers in the garden are beautiful and it's special to be able to visit the setting for such an iconic series of paintings.


More photos (slideshow) on Flickr.

Our visit to Monet's Garden was part of our trip to Normady and Champagne. We visited France in August 2009 to celebrate Jess's birthday with camembert, croissants and bubbles. Other entries from this trip include: Mont St Michel.

In August 2009, I decided that my birthday must be celebrated with a mini-break (ah, the "mini-break", those were the days). So we organised a weekend break to Normandy (Mont St Michel, Bayeux Tapestry, D-Day Beaches, Monet's Garden) and Champagne (er... Champagne). Tash and Matt tagged along for the first bit of the trip. First stop - Mont St Michel.

Originally, I hadn't been too fussed with visiting Mont St Michel. We had visited England's version, St Michael's Mount which is in Cornwall. I figured that we'd ticked "Visit abbey on a tidal island" off our to do list. But I was wrong, Mont St Michel is definitely worth visiting.

We'd caught an overnight ferry from Portsmouth to Caen (Ouistreham) and when we arrived at six in the morning the French countryside was cloaked with mist. It was just beginning to lift as we arrived at Mont St Michel. We had a spectacular first view of the abbey. Mostly shrouded in fog, we only caught a glimpse of it here and there. Then as the mist lifted we were treated to a wonderful view of the abbey set against a brilliant blue sky.

After touring the abbey, we headed out to the tidal flats for a wander. I've now read that this is a bad idea because of quick sand (oops!). We were out there when the tide was scheduled to turn and start coming in. They warn you over loudspeakers about the incoming tide in lots of different languages. We were able to identify English (duh!), French, German, Spanish, Japanese and Russian. We stuck around for a while hoping to see the tide rush in and surround the island. But nothing happened. Well I'm sure the tide was coming in, but it certainly wasn't the torrent pictured on the postcards.


I would love to visit the abbey during a king tide and see the car park covered in water. There are signs in the carpark warning you not to park there at certain times lest your car becomes a submarine.

More photos (slideshow) on Flickr.

Our visit to Mont St Michel was part of our trip to Normady and Champagne. We visited France in August 2009 to celebrate Jess's birthday with camembert, croissants and bubbles. This is the first entry from this trip.

Seeing Sue's photos from New York flash by in my feed made me nostalgic for our own trip to NYC in 2007. Almost 2008 because we visited New York to celebrate New Year's Eve. Since we're not going overseas anytime soon, I'm going to have to live vicariously through Sue's travels. On the last day of 2007 we walked over Brooklyn Bridge to have brunch with Caitlin in Brooklyn. After brunch and a quick walk around Brooklyn we caught the subway back into Manhattan.

I'm a bit of a bridge geek so I loved our walk across Brooklyn Bridge. It really is a very attractive bridge. We watched the Brooklyn Bridge episode of Seven Industrial Wonders of the World before visiting New York so we had an appreciation of just how much work went into building the bridge.

To sink the foundations of the two towers beneath the East River, men worked in chambers pressurised to keep the water out. Lots of men, including the chief engineer, suffered from decompression sickness after they left the highly pressurised environment.

In that episode, we also learnt that there was dodginess with the manufacturing of the steel cables that support the bridge. Apparently, steel that was rejected as not satisfactory was still used. But it can't have been that bad because the bridge is still standing. The Brooklyn Bridge is nearly 130 years old making it one of the oldest suspension bridges in the world.
More photos (slideshow) on Flickr.

Our visit to Brooklyn Bridge was part of our trip to New York. We visited New York in December 2007 to celebrate New Year's Eve in Times Square style. We also did heaps of other New Yorky stuff. Other entries from this trip include: Aeroplanes in the night sky.