Recap

Well, the hectic last couple of weeks are over and my Dad has been farewelled at a delightful "Celebration of Life". Now it's time to get back to sharing a few of my holiday stories...

As Amber and I zipped back home at lightning speed we passed so many of those attractions I had noted on my southbound journey and noticed a few extras too. At The Dish, Parkes, the atronomers had talked about a 'Virtual Solar System' which apparently has been set up along the Parkes to Moree road to scale. I had been disapointed to have missed it, but delighted to notice the huge signs on my way north with Amber. It made a lovely rest stop on our long drive and what a wonderful idea! Driving for hours between these small half-planets gives the kids a very good impression of the size of our solar system.

Now, lets backtrack some more...
Before our midnight dash north, Amber and I had spent one of the most sucessful days ever at Jenolan Caves in the Blue Mountains. This is a destination in its own right and you could easily make it a three or four day escape from Sydney. I was unaware how extensive the caves are, and how long they have been a tourist attraction... over 150 years!

Management of the caves is exeptional and the tours on offer are varied and extremely kid friendly. Amber and I joined a three-hour Young Explorers tour, designed for kids from 6-10 who don't have to be accompanied by an adult. Our guide was a Phd holding playtypus expert from the University of Sydney. She was animated and made the adventure exciting. First we donned miner's helmets and kids were given a clipboard with a basic line drawing of the cave route we were to take.

As we traversed between caves and learned about those who had discovered each one, the kids were encouraged to create a legend of features (like stalagtites, water, bones etc) and name the caves. What a wonderful idea this was! Our tour ended sitting on the cave floor playing the memory game by helmet-light. Each of the cards were pictures of the explorers and each time we got a pair right, Anne told us the history behind the picture.

Jenolan Caves also offers self-guided audio tours especially for kids, wonderful cave tours of bejewelled caverns and adventure caving tours especially for teens. It's a natural theme park and I would highly recommend it!!

Amber and I couldn't let the holidays slip by without one last hurrah... so we have just returned from a few days camping at two of our favourites: Maroochy River (yes, it's just down the road from our house) and Tamborine Mountain (a little further away!). More about these places in my next post.