Day 208 - Disco

Today was not the most pleasant day of our holiday as we experienced inability for people to do their job properly twice. Firstly when I went to organise our transfers to the hotel the man on the desk argued with me that the vouchers had been used, then they weren't valid, then they didn't exist for at least half an hour until I walked away from him. Then, when we went to go on our glass bottom boat ride, they hadn't recorded our booking, so we only just got on the boat. Luckily the day ended well with us taking Maddie to the disco.
I was sceptical that she would enjoy it as it was so loud, but knowing how she likes to dance we took her in to have a look. An hour later, after Maddie had hugged many other kids, danced on stage, danced to the YMCA and the twist and then tried to break dance we tore her out of there as she had a giant tantie. It was way past Maddie's bedtime but she was having a great time. If only we had tried it before it was our last night in Fiji.

Day 207 - Road Trip

It was pouring today and really chilly so we hired a car and escaped the resort to have a bit of an exploration day. This is a picture of the main map of Fiji, which other than in the main cities there really is not many more roads to the map. Just passed Sigatoka Nathan and I argued about which way to go as the map only shows the road around the state and there was one of the few roads that aren't on the map as an option. After paying me out for not being able to read a map we pulled over and I jumped out to take some photos of the waves crashing while Nathan read the map. Turns out he can't read it either!
We found 'Fiji time' really applies to road trips, with one man saying Suva is three hours drive away, another saying two. It turns out it also applies to kilometre's, as the rental man told Nathan it was 300 km's when it would be about 200 we think. We didn't end up venturing past pacific harbour as we stopped for a long lunch and to do some shopping and with the road signs telling us it was a different distance almost every time we didn't want to risk returning the car late. As it turned out we almost didn't get it back in time. Back to the distance thing... one sign said 85k's to Suva, the next about 100m down the road said 83 then the next 850km's, and no it wasn't graffiti.
The drive was pretty, and would be so much nicer on a sunny day, but we did manage to stay fairly amused as so many men where carrying around machetes. Yes giant knives, its harvesting season and it seems that when the men are done for the day, they wander back into town with the knives in hand. It was an unusual sight, especially when some of the men looked downright scary!

Day 206 - Rest

Today we mostly hung out at the resort, swimming, reading and sleeping until this afternoon when we decided to attempt to do some shopping in Sigatoka. Aside from a couple of small things for Maddie and t-shirt for Nathan we really didn't find much to buy. I guess as we had been before we had already purchased some of the wooden items and the jewellery really didn't appeal to me. I did find some cute clips for Maddie in a tiny shop though.
Today's taxi didn't have a car seat which was terrifying, but the driver was probably the best we have had, he drove more slowly than the others and seemingly with more caution, but it was still an unpleasant 15 minute trip each way for us parents. I can't believe the difference in costs between a resort taxi and one that runs normally. It was so cheap!

Day 205 - Kula Eco Park

TURTLES!!! This was the only place I had to visit outside the resort while we were away and that is purely because you can feed turtles. I know I say we were going because Maddie would love it, but deep down I know it was for me.
Kula is the only wildlife park in Fiji and offers a glimpse of the rare and endangered species of geckos and birds, as well as some snakes, fish, peacocks, ducks, frogs and turtles. They are attempting to breed and reintroduce into the wild some of the Geckos that they suspect there are only about 17 left of, and that had only been discovered in 2010. The park was an easy walk around with walk through aviaries and a high rain forest type walk. The turtle feeding was pretty good and Maddie sure did enjoy it. I held onto Maddie and the camera so the shots aren't great, but it meant that I didn't have to touch the smelly food. These turtles are expected to be released back into the wild sometime soon.
The Eco park was a good visit, although the staff at the resort could have dropped us off at 10 when it opened rather than 930, but the driver seemed to be in a hurry, as he is the only one who didn't wait for us in both visits to the country. Taxi's are fairly cheap in Fiji and the driver normally does wait for you to finish what you are doing, its very nice knowing you don't have to find another to return home.

Day 204 - Exploring

Today we went exploring part of the island to see what we should do while we are here. It rained quite heavily last night but has cleared to be a lovely day here. It is so nice to be warm and out in the sun relaxing in it without worrying about Maddie getting cold. Maddie is loving having Nathan free all day every day to do everything she wants him too and holds his hand almost everywhere we go. I love this photo of them walking along the beach it just shows how relaxing and warm it really is. I am not sure of Maddie's obsession with her gumboots, but she insisted on wearing them.

Just a bit further up from where they are is the little jetty, and on the other side there are fish swimming so close you can watch them, and if you throw in a leaf they will swim up and check it isn't food, Maddie loves them. Then just a bit further up there seems to be a crab crossing just near one of the bars, I wasn't so keen on that, but Maddie went running after them, and I am sure would have tried to pick one up if I didn't stop her.

Day 203 - Travel

Travelling from one place to another is such a waste of time. Why can't we have a system like Harry Potter and the floo powder or clicking your fingers to get somewhere else.

Super early start today and things went wrong right from before we left the hotel.. The clock in the room was 15 minutes late so there went most of the spare time that I had allocated for the mornings potential problems. Next up we didn't get time to pack the things from the overnight bag into our suitcases as the nav system was super slow to boot. There goes the rest of our mishap time! Needless
To say by the time we dropped our car off for parking we were already stressed and panicky. We got
Through check in smoothly with an excess baggage fee of $150 and through customs with enough time to shovel down a quick breakfast some travel tablets and watch the planes for a few minutes before boarding.

It turns out jet star should have done something with our stroller so it wasn't allowed on the plane. The stroller was used once, lucky it was a cheapie from Target. Needless to Say Jetstar, when we get back you will be hearing from me!
Oh I also dropped my phone out of the safe and smashed the back of it. What an awful day! Luckily we are in Fiji and that makes up for it.

The resort is lovely and Fiji customs and airport you are a dream! So quick! Maddie loves the park especially the bee and I love that we are warm! Swimming cocktails and holiday relaxing here I come!

Day 202 - Mad Rush

Today passed in a crazy flurry of housework and packing for our trip away. I'm sure some of us have packed too much but in Maddie's case I think more is a good idea. We are staying at the holiday inn at the airport tonight and this little box on the TV has me wondering just what it is for. I sure hope it's a remote sensor.

Day 201 - Unwrapping

Today Chris popped in to give Maddie a birthday present as they bought something that Maddie will be able to use on our holiday. Maddie loved opening the present while sitting on the partially packed suitcase, and they Kelly's were right the arm bands and cute overalls will be great for Fiji.
The picture really shows Maddie bruise from last weeks collision with the entry table. I hope it clears up by the time we go away as I want to take millions of photos of her while we are away.
I cant believe its holiday time already!

Day 200 - Fun

Tonight we changed our routine to have seafood night at the club. as Aqua wasn't on tonight and the Morgan;s like seafood. The salmon wasn't as good as the one that I cook, which is a shock to me that I can cook something better than at the club. The conversation over dinner, was as usual, very entertaining, with stories of how the Morgan's used to play with a program that made Year Book photos. Once we were home Leah found an app so Nathan Leah and I were able to use it. Unfortunately for Simon he discovered that this is just another thing that android can not do so he missed out on the fun. 

I love the picture of me as a rock star, totally pull that one off ;) and the one of Leah at band camp is just funny!

Day 199 - Old Friends

Maddie and I love it when Lucy and the girls come to town and we can catch up. Maddie just loves the girls and the feeling seems mutual. Mel is fabulous with Maddie at the moment so Lucy and I get to chill out and catch up while all the girls play.

Day 198 - Haircuts

This morning Victoria and Jordan popped in to visit and for Victoria to give Maddie and I a much needed hair cut. Today's was Maddie's second hair cut and once again I was so impressed by how well she behaved, she barely wiggled at all. My hair feels so much better as it has been really neglected while I have been unwell since finishing work. Thank you Vic!

Day 197 - Zoo

Nathan finished the making of the zoo today, so now we only have to stain it which is exciting.
While we were loading the teddies back in I put Maddie in, it took me ages to convince her to get back out as she just loved it.

Day 196 - Bemboka

Today we came home from Dads in time for Nathan to go to work before we set off for Bemboka to see Peta for her 30th birthday. Matt was throwing Peta a surprise party so Nathan helped him set up while I tried to tell Peta that I had no idea what was going on. The picture is of the birthday girl and Maddie after they went to collect eggs.

Day 195 - Cool Kids

Tonight Nathan Dad and Amy were off to see McAlister Kemp at one of the clubs in Goulburn so Maddie and I came along for the drive and a night away. Amy bought two of her friends also, and they all sat down to eat pizza before the show. Rather than sit at the table with the rest of us Maddie had to sit on the floor with the cool kids and pretend to be shy. It was quite cute!

The picture is taken on my new camera which I am still learning to use, the Nikon D5100. I am really loving the shutter sound and well just about everything about the camera.

Day 194 - Worst Mother Award

I am sure we all have days when we wonder just how good we are doing our job as a parent, but gosh do we really need to feel like that? Poor Maddie decided that I needed to chase her today when she picked up a remote, showed me then ran. I started to chase her and she looked back, but kept running straight into the entry table. Poor miss Maddie fell straight to the floor she hit the table that hard and boy did she cry, the bruise and lump were up within 5 minutes, then as usual Maddie asked to go to bed. Whenever Maddie hurts herself she always wants to have a sleep, which isn't good when she hurts her head, and even though her injury was on her cheek I still went in to check on her a few times while she napped. Tonight the bruise looks even worse, I hope by tomorrow it has eased a little.

Day 193 - Council Workers

This morning way too early the council came to dig up a few squares of footpath in front of the neighbours house. They must have arrived at about 730 with their noisy equipment and banging and started with the tractor at 8. This cone was in our driveway until about 11.30, making me super tempted to go out early in the car, making them have to move it. Hello guys! What is the point of putting that there other than restricting access to my driveway.. Maddie did like it when we went and stood by the cone to watch the tractor pull up the path then smash the slabs into pieces on the back of the truck.

Day 192 - Weather

With it being so cold here over the past few weeks I am excited to see the weather forecast for Fiji. I do however wonder how Maddie and Nathan will cope seeing as they don't much like heat.

I read '50 Shades of Grey' today, it was definitely different, with an ending that demands you read the next book. Lucky Nathan picked it up already for me.

Day 191 - Band Wagon

After the book "50 Shades Of Grey" graced my Face book page for what seemed like the millionth time I decided to see what the book is all about. Nathan Managed to get me the second and third book last Friday, but it took until today to find a copy of the first one. I am defiantly looking forward to having some quiet time to sit down and start reading, I'm sure that I will have loads of time in Fiji. Not long now and we should be warm and relaxed.

Day 190 - Rest

As I am sick for what seems like the millionth time this flu season, I spent the day relaxing. Nathan took Maddie out for a trip to visit Drew at his Farm while I cleaned most of the grout in the bathroom and worked for a few hours, then we all rested for most of the afternoon. Nathan put the front on the zoo's toy box before Mark and Karyn popped over with Chicken and corn soup and Chinese. This soup always helps me to feel a bit better, even if it is only for a little while.

The picture is of Maddie, who decided to have a lay down on one of the dolls houses that we are choosing between tonight. I wonder if she would have gone to sleep on it.

Day 189 - Failure

Today I attempted to make this cake I saw on Pinterest. Not only did it end up looking nothing like the picture it tasted so bad I threw it in the bin.
Following the instructions to the letter, the chocolate cake was flavourless, dry and brittle making it really hard to cut in half, it didn't rise much and if I had of left it in the oven for the full half hour it would have been burnt to a crisp. The icing was gross. The amount of mint extract/essence that you had to put in was a lot more than the recipe to cover the taste of the cream cheese and even then it was all I could taste.I guess this taught me not to judge a cake by its picture!!

Day 188 - Retirement

My Pullman carpet cleaner has served me well for the last two and a half years but after today's effort it needs to be retired. The trigger is no longer working so it pumps water continually and now it just doesn't suck up as much water as it should. Time for a trip to Godfrey's I think.

Day 187 - Thursday Ritual

After months and months of having schnitzel on a Thursday for dinner I've swapped to Caesar salad. I have to say this weeks was pretty impressive. I have to remember to restore my phone in the hopes that it makes my camera work better. The pictures I'm getting lately are terrible.

Day 186 - Certificates

Today Nathan's white card and owner builder certificate arrived. It's pretty exciting that this step is done, as it opens up more tasks to do. Once plans are submitted to council Nathan gets to go and get his owner builder license. We are finally getting off to a very slow start, I hope the whole process isn't this long. Bring on more room!

Day 185 - Surprises

Amy, Leah, Simon and Grace popped in to eat Costco pizza's for dinner tonight. Grace and Maddie didn't do much eating but played really well together which was a surprise to me as after a long morning playing at the Mawson club Maddie only had a short sleep and woke up super crabby. The girls seem to have a great time having a bath together, although Maddie was a little nuts with her splashing today getting Grace's face a lot of the time. The photo is of Grace and Maddie sitting with Amy after bath time watching movies on the ipad. Grace hopped up first which was a shock seeing as she hasn't met Amy much, but it was great to see her to relaxed and comfortable with Amy. Its a pity Amy refused to have her photo taken, I think its safe to say Amy never wants twins!

Day 184 - Passports

The only time Maddie and I left the house this morning was to walk up to the little shop to get some bread, but somehow we still managed to miss the postman. So after a trip to the cool park in Crestwood, Maddie and I went into the post office to collect hers and Nathan's passports. I have to say that they look so much better in black and silver than the old navy and gold. Not too long until we are in warm and sunny Fiji, I am getting pretty excited about it

Day 183 - Pavers

The paved area is finally finished. I have to say I am relieved to cross this task off our list as it was just dragging on. Our Ikea umbrella is a lot bigger than I realised, so I think we finally agree that the messy ugly pine tree has to go. A task for another weekend, as that tree is huge, but I cant wait for it to be gone, I think it will make the yard seem so much bigger.

Last night we finished the white card and owner builders course that we needed for the extension, another two things off the list, and a step closer to starting. We are hopeful to submit plans to the council this week so we can start building towards the end of August or early September.

Day 182 - List work

I am fairly confident that a remake of Jamanji could be filmed in the area beside and behind our shed at the moment. As this area is gated off we never go down there, and I suspect no one has in at least 4 years. As the back fence is being replaced this winter Nathan needs to get to work clearing out the area ASAP. Today he and Chris cut down the trees in the area and removed a Ute load of old wood and weird metal frames that they found. Once the weather is clear again we will spray the ivy in the hopes of killing it all off. I am thinking this area would make a great space for either a chicken run, or as an area for the cats to run, while remaining locked away as they are getting a bit naughty when they are out at the moment. I will have to work on convincing Nathan that this is a good use of space.