On the very first day of the summer school holidays, in mid-December, Craig and Graham took a bus and train to the airport. They were bound for Taipei.
The boys are experienced travellers. They have been on a dozen international flights and know how to get through check-in and Immigration with a minimum of effort.
On this trip they had lunch at a bar right beside the gate.
On their first morning in Taipei, Craig went to the movies with Dad. Graham was invited but rejected the invitation firmly. He missed out on Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse.
This Christmas tree was outside a department store near the cinema.
Back at Taiwanese Grandma's place Graham was playing with a musical instrument. He doesn't really play the violin but he's happy to pose with it. He holds it quite well.
The next day the boys had a very cheap haircut. Sometimes, you get what you paid for.
Dinner that night was sushi! Graham loves sushi and was ever so pleased with the little mango desserts. He had three!
Snacks were purchased to be taken back to Sydney for Mum.
The relatives in Taipei are genuinely thoughtful people.They bought these sheets of seaweed for Graham knowing he likes it and will eat more if food is wrapped in it.
For a few weeks, Craig and Graham's parents lived in Sydney without children. When not working, they occupied themselves with searches for authentic Taiwanese-style Chinese food. (Does that make sense?)
In mid-January Dad flew back to Taipei. The first thing on the agenda was a new haircut for the boys. It was more expensive but the results were unhappily similar.
The trip to Taipei airport was made well before dawn. Both boys were silent on the mini-bus from their Grandma's place, only perking up a bit at breakfast.
After arriving at 8pm, the boys were on the road to
Stockton beach early the next day.
The sand dunes are hard to capture in photos.
The next day was a long driving day, all the way up to the Gold Coast. The trip was broken up with a stop for a quick ice-cream for the boys. Their parents may have needed extra coffee at the time.
The weather in the evenings on the Gold Coast was balmy. While sitting outdoors on a balcony outside the motel room a full moon emerged from behind some trees.
The first day on the Gold Coast was taken up with a visit to an amusement park,
Movie World. Catwoman was very popular. Men were lined up to have their photo taken with her.The boys have never been to an amusement park before and were keen to move on to something more interesting.
The boys preferred the quieter rides. They probably liked the
dodgem cars the best but Dad was too busy driving with them to take photos for the blog.
There are other driving games to play at Movie World. This one was called Tijuana Taxi.
The cars didn't move quickly and were a bit sedate for a boy as big as Craig.
There was an indoor driving thing called Junior Driving School.
It was like driving on a real road with the expectation that everyone would keep to the correct side of the road.
Both boys did well.
And, they went back for more a couple of times.
The boys lined up for the dodgems one last time before the end of a long day..... of fun for the kids.
One amusing incident deserves to be described.
The family went on just one of the more exciting rides, the
Wild West Falls Adventure Ride. It features a free-fall drop with a big splashdown at the end. Immediately after exiting the ride, Graham crossed his arms and said forcefully, "I will never let my kids go on a ride like that."
Mum was in stitches laughing. "But, if they don't try, how will they know it's scary?"
"I will tell them!" Graham was not backing down at this point.
"But, what if they don't agree with you?"
"OK......I will let them try only when they are this tall" Graham pointed at Craig.
Back at the motel, after a quick swim, dinner was pizza beside the pool.
Bellingham Maze on the Sunshine Coast is good family fun. There's not many things in life better than finding your way through a maze while watching teenagers fail! Craig's excellent memory was very useful when the family wanted to walk out.
There are a few smaller mazes that the boys solved in minutes.
The "Blond Maze" is made up of an entrance, a left turn and an exit. Further description seems unnecessary.
The rope maze involved climbing over and under these low-set ropes giving Graham a natural advantage.
After lunch there was mini golf. Craig sometimes still seems undecided about whether he is left or right handed.
It was such a straightforward course that Graham wasn't tempted to give up the way he has with difficult tasks in the past.
Mum can putt.
The final scores were not a surprise.
Dinner was a big surprise. Sushi in Gympie! When did Japanese food arrive in Qld country towns?
After starting out from Gympie a stop was made at Miriam Vale.
This was actually an interesting little park with some cleverly designed things for kids to play with.
Water was pumped and
wheels were turned. It was a good break from sitting in a car watching countryside go by.
Eventually, they arrived. The view from their room in Yeppoon was quite spectacular.
Keppel Bay, just like the postcards.
Even at night there was glistening water.
Grandma's dog doesn't mind friendly attention. Sadly, not enough photos were taken at Grandad and Grandma's house. It
was a mistake that will have to be rectified in the future.
The view from the room at sunrise was as peaceful as one could expect.
The first day of the long drive home was from Yeppoon to Goondiwindi. The boys have seen Isla Gorge from this lookout before but their Mum hadn't so a quick stop was made.
The boys have seen this tiny playground in Taroom a dozen times now.
As usual, there was some heavy wide-load traffic. Drivers need to be sensible about pulling off the road to allow these trucks pass safely.
The second day of driving was from Goondiwindi to Muswellbrook. Outside the air-conditioned car was unrelenting heat.
The family dropped straight into the motel pool and stayed till sunset.
Then, it was back to Sydney. It was a summer full of travelling that concluded with a family favourite--barbecue on the balcony. Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.
