Thomson Family Bike Collection

 30-12-2006

 

Hi All,

I am bringing some bikes to discoveries camp for the bike hike elective.

The attached photo shows the Thomson bike collection.  Not all of which are suitable for kids of discoveries camp age.

In the photo toward the left, you will see Marcus who is in grade 5 going into 6.  So he is in the middle of our age range.  He is average height for his age.  To the right you will see Chris.  He is tall for his age but only just going into grade 3 so he will not be on camp.  However as he is taller than some of the younger kids that we get, I will bring his bike.

So this means that I think we have 4 bikes of suitable size.  That is the red bike Macrus is holding, the red bike and the black bike near chris and the red and silver bike to the right of chris.

It would be nice to have a few more.

Anyone have any bikes?

Frank

 

Marcus

Chris

 

 

 

 

 

 

Depart BNE

 27-08-2006 (I think the date is wrong)

 Falls Ck Ski Trip

Well we made it out of Brisbane on Sunday.  Right day but a bit late time wise.  Mind you we had a few lucky breaks.  For the last couple of weeks I have been looking for our digital camera.  Last seen at the City Hall shindig.  Found it at work tucked into the CD folder thing.  Interestingly while I had been tidying the house in preparation for Mel moving in, I had found the lead that is used to connect the camera to the pc (missing since January).

After a great church service this morning organised by Cybele and Paul which included incense and communion with real bread cooked on the premises, we went home to start packing. Finally pulled out at about 5:45pm. 

So now we are encamped at mums place in Toowoomba.  Log fire. Home cooked dinner.  Internet access. 

Wondering vaguely how we will re pack the car tomorrow but I guess we can leave anything that wont fit behind.

Frank

Falls Ck - Snowgums

 Wednesday 25

We are at Falls Creek staying at a chalet called Snowgums. The kids have been taken away and fed along with all the other kids. The adults are sitting in the lounge room, the kids have started arriving from their meal and most have gravitated into the games room. Jemma has come over to see the photos as I select one for this email. The chalet is supposed to be ski in ski out but this is a bad year and so we have walk in walk out. Luckily it is only a short walk to the ski lift that takes us right to the place where the kids have ski lessons. Makes it very easy in the mornings. Henry (Frank's Brother) has been a God send. Henry takes Marcus and they get a few runs in before ski school. Frank tries to get Dan and Chris ready while Megan takes Jemma to child care.

Today we had great news. Dan, who yesterday could hardly stand up on his skis, went down a green run called Drovers Dream and took a ride back up on the chair lift.

I am surprised by the quality of the skiing. They have had very little natural snow this year. We have been saved by the extensive snow making that goes on each night. There are plenty of green and blue runs available for the average skier. The pro skiers amongst us (Andrew and Catherine) would of course turn their noses up at the lack of black runs but for the rest of us there is quite a bit of variety.

Should you consider a skiing holiday you need to prepare yourselves for a few surprises and all of them involve money… lots of it!
Chicken burger $16.50. Milo bar $2.60. Doughnuts $2 each!. Basically if you go out for meal, entrée's around $15 and mains at $30. There is one thing that is free. That is the curtsey bus that takes you from one establishment that has relieved you of cash to another that will happily take the remainder. 

Depart Falls Creek

25-8-2006

 Well we leave tonight.

Thursday was a shocker. Rain and fog. Couldn't see more than a few meters Col and wet. Bailed at 3:30 as soon as we picked up the kids from ski school. The only good news was Dan went down a blue run called highway 83.

Friday - we woke to four inches of fresh powder. It has continued snowing lightly all day. The clouds are higher so we can see. A bit windy But basically a great day.

Saw Dan who was crying because the wind was so strong and cold. A bit later we saw his teacher carryu him as she skied. About to go and pick him up so we will see how he is.

frank

CBR-> Falls Ck

 (19-08-2006)

 We spent Thursday and Friday in Canberra.

The primary objective today, Saturday, was to get as close as possible to Falls Creek in preparation for the final dash to the summit. We are now staying in Tawonga South which is basically an outer suburb of Mt Beauty.

Lunch was at McDonalds off the freeway at Yass.

For afternoon tea, we took the road to Gundagai.

After afternoon tea, we took the road from Gundagai. You can imagine our surprise when as we passed through a small town called Holbrook, when we saw a submarine moored at the side of the road. So we stopped and bought a coffee and had a look around. Obviously if you are a town with no visible means of support, you need to find a way to get tourists to stop and what better way than to get a sub.

Now you may be astute enough to realise that Holbrook is not a port. Those with an extremely acute sense of geography will of course know that Holbrook is not even a coastal town. So you may be curious to know how they managed to get a sub moored beside the highway. Well the story goes like this. In the great flood of 1963, in the middle of the cold war, the sub became disoriented and sailed up the Murray river and then was sucked up into the snowy hydro system and then slipped down through a series of creeks all called “deep creek” because they are. As the flood waters receded, the sub became stranded. Eventually after several days of towns people hammering Morse code messages on the side of the hull, the captain peaked out of the door in the conning tower and realised that he was not in Russian waters. The crew all hopped out. To cover their embarrassment, the Navy sent a man with plaque to stick on the side proclaiming it decommissioned and a gift to the people of Holbrook. Now you can walk around it and on it. You cant get in because the captain locked the door and took the keys.

Tomorrow we ski.

Western plains Zoo, Dubbo.

Tuesday 15-AUG-2006
Western plains Zoo, Dubbo.

Had a great day at the zoo. We arrived just after opening time and signed up for a tour. Got to feed giraffe and rhino and drive past some cabins where you can stay the night. If only I had known. We could have signed up to stay in what turns out to be an up market tent with lions on one side and cheetahs on the other and if you are still there in the morning you get a free breakfast and your entry fee refunded.

Now it seems that these animals are smarter than we think. At exhibit after exhibit we heard how this animal or that animal slept up to 18 hrs per day and just wakes up to receive its meals. We also learned that at 4:30 they know that it is time for people to go home and so the animals just line up near the back doors of their enclosures just waiting to go to sleep. Sure is easier than getting a ranger to go round and shoo everyone out. In fact everyone is so keen to go that we were almost last out and had to press the special late departure button at 2min past 5pm in order to get out the gate.

Marcus 10th Birthday visit to the AFL

 

Saturday 6:00 am rise and shine for this is Marcus's 10th birthday.

As dawn breaks, Frank and Marcus set off for Whites Hill to pick up a model aeroplane kit.  Why Whites Hill you may ask.  Well there is a club who fly there and one of the members runs a internet shop and the park is where one can take delivery.  We also went the week before to have a look and ask questions.

By 7:30 am we are back at Oxley and loading the three younger ones into the wagon and off to Swimming lessons at 8am. Wendy very kindly offered to take Daniel to keep her son Steven entertained.

9:00 and we are home from swimming.  Change and pick up Marcus.  10:00 Drop Chris at his drum lesson and the rest are off to Frank's work to find some tools to help put the plane together. 10:30 pick up Chris and some wires and stuff from the church for another job.  This is like a puzzle to work out who is in the car.

Back home for morning tea of biscuits, cheese, tomato, avocado and so on.

Plane construction starts and at the same time Chris is inspired and starts manufacturing his own non flying  model in the workshop out of scrap pine.  We discover a shortage of tools so plane construction halts.

Lunch and then Marcus is encouraged to have a sleep.  2:30 and Frank is off to the church to pick up a BBQ and trestle tables. Megan revs up for the final party preparations. The eskies are loaded with drinks and cheese cakes and then onto the ute.  Bags and bags of lollies and stuff quickly follow and off goes the ute with the station wagon following.

4:00pm the convoy arrives at the Jindalee pool.  Parents are co- opted to carry BBQ, tables, bags of food.

The pool is hot and the games begin.  Various races and competitions.  Piggy back fights being the most popular.  Tony and Kerry (God parents) make a surprise visit which greatly impressed Marcus as all the other kids God parents live locally and he hardly sees his.

6:30 and the party winds up and the carrying out to the cars begins. 7:15 and we are back home for a quick change.  Then by 7:45 its back in the wagon and we are on our way to the Gabba.  One of Marcus's friends gave him two tickets to see the AFL at the Gabba that night.  So frank and Marcus are dropped off and in they go.

AFL is a strange game that we have sometimes noticed on TV but have no real knowledge of how to play it.  Marcus and I were not even sure if they are allowed to tackle.  Soon however we discovered that we were supporting the lions who in the greatest traditions of corporate Australia actually formed by a merger Fitsroy of and the Brisbane Bears.  After the game, we decided that the queues for the busses were too long and that we would walk with many others to South bank and catch a train there.  Once there we decided to walk across the good will bridge.  This bridge formed as a result of a merger between politics and tax dollars also functions as a bridge.  I am sure it has a function as bridge for someone too. Then we walked down George St to Roma St.  There we fortified ourselves with hot chocolate from a vending machine and eventually caught a train at 11:08pm.  Megan was phoned and sleepily awoke and agreed to meet us at Oxley train station.

Home and in bed by midnight (I think).  Are you exhausted?

A reflection on AFL

Half time and one may have expected fireworks or a band or scantily clad dancing girls but we got a pep talk about the importance of parents and volunteers in the development of talent and the future of the game.  As this was coming over the speakers, a number of mini AFL playing fields were set up on the oval and populated with pint sized players.  Parents with video cameras would rush out and point their little jonnies and Jessica’s in the right direction and the slightest distraction would cause the ball to be abandoned by both teams. 

Apparently it is a tradition, that at the end of the game, the crowd invades the pitch.  Mind you it is the most well behaved invasion you can imagine with the crowd obediently waiting for the second hooter which is the signal to invade.  At that time thousands of people swarm onto the pitch and start kicking footballs in all directions. 

Frank

Pic Jemma

 9-4-2006

Jemma Chris