Greenhills Park - Adventuring We Come

It's been School Holidays here in Australia last week and this week, and whilst the weather's been a bit hit and miss, and I've been at work, I did manage to take Thursday off so that we could hit the road and enjoy a family moment whilst the weather was good (28 degreesC and sunny). Our idea?... to head down to Victor Harbor to visit Greenhills Adventure Park.

Now Victor Harbor is about 95+km from Adelaide, and it can take 1.5 hours (approx) to drive down there in good traffic. It's actually one of the big holiday attraction sites in South Australia, and is the focus of many holiday pilgrimages. Greenhills Adventure Park is just on the outskirts of the town, and for the three of us (not including our daughter) there was a $100 entry fee. That, as the sign says, entitles you to do most of the rides and activities...  for the whole day. Today, as we had business in town (and because we're notorious slow-starters) we arrive around 11am.

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The main attractions in the park are the slides... our son of course loved them. The wave ride was his first turn,.. just grab a piece of carpet and launch yourself down. 

Don't forget to stop though...

After a few quick rides, L-kun hit the jack-pot... the water slides (of which there are two). They may not be the biggest or the scariest in the State, but they looked fun (especially for a 5 year old).

And as our son loooooooves water, this was definitely his most favourite attraction.

Over and over and over again...

Of course - on this slide, stopping has only one logical conclusion. Splash!

And no sooner had the droplets hit the ground and he was racing up the (many) stairs to begin the process again.

And again....

And again....

And even though he was shivering quite a bit (it was warm, but I'm sure the water was cold) he insisted that he continue on. No time for a towel mum! Got to go again!

And whilst that was happening, we were enjoying another sort of family moment, with our daughter. Now proudly sitting up! All by herself... cutie!

And was really having a good time looking around (what's not clear in this shot was just how many people were at the Park... lots of them).

L-kun and I then tried out the canoes down along the Hindmarsh River. Hindmarsh River may sound large... it is, most definitely not. Indeed the water level was particularly low  - so much so that they had warning signs up at the top where you got your life-jackets. And whilst the water was low, I had not quite expected the sand bars across the river (at points there was perhaps only 10 cm of water... which meant for parts you had to physically pull yourself across the sand bar (or like we did, use your paddles as mountaineering poles).

 

We had been gone for about 20mins (in which time Daddy started to learn out to actually use a canoe, through trial and error... mostly error) when I decided to turn back. That didn't meet to my sons pleasure however - as he insisted that EVERYONE was going to the end, and that we had to as well. The end, however was the sea. 3 hours away. I explained that to my son... but 3 hours has a different meaning to a 5 year old.

On eventually returning (tired), the assistant asked us (in all seriousness), had we seen any snakes? - apparently the day before several river snakes had tried to get into people's canoes. Nice to know that AFTER we got back. Seriously I was a little shocked... I mean, they have signs up everywhere that you use the rides at your own risk - but I can't see that this absolves them of their duty of care to the customers. A bit of information, peoples, goes a long way!

There are other rides/activities, but L-kun loves slides... 

Even when they don't quite go to plan....

But if at first you don't succeed....

And as the sun started sinking, L-kun and Mum grabbed their life jackets and headed out on a paddle boat (Daddy had learned his lesson).

And they were off... for some quality time together. Mum the muscle, and L-kun the driver. They made for an impressive team.

And even with only 15 mins before closing, L-kun insisted on another run at the water slide. It must have been cold, but he really REALLY enjoyed it. And just to show that he wasn't too worried about the cold (he laughs in the face of danger... and colds) he grabbed an ice-cream for himself too!

In the end - it was a fantastic though exhausting day... even for Daddy who didn't do that much, it was exhausting. I think we can definitely recommend Greenhills, and especially as the weather starts to warm up. It's just a shame that we didn't have a chance to see much of Victor Harbor as well. Perhaps next time....

A Great Winter Day... A Day in the Park

Well winter is essentially here, and even though there are a few autumnal leaves clinging willfully to the branches, there is an inevitability that the days will continue to get shorter, and the nights colder. And it's in this environment that as a parent, you need to make the most of clear, warm-ish weekend days.

For L-kun, that meant getting out and about. And that meant getting on his bike and riding to the park on his new bike.

And what a cheeky day it was... L-kun is getting to be quite the character. He's quite the cheeky one.

And he's definitely more physically active now... enjoying sporty stuff more (which he didn't before). Of course, for him those things mean largely running, jumping, falling, throwing, yelling and laughing.

Sometimes a bit more falling than is proper, but it's all part of the growing up process.

Still, it's always fun - no matter what is going on. And if mum and dad are playing too, then that's just about perfect. He loves racing his parents, and he's got a lot more energy than either of us.

And it's a good thing the ground is nice and soft...actually, it was nice that during the games at the park, L-kun played baseball with a couple of other children (quite a bit older). He most probably hasn't had as much opportunity to play with "Aussie" children as he hasn't been to childcare. He's always had plenty of Aussie-Japanese children to play with. At this age, I'm not sure that children discriminate. Children will be children - we learn to discriminate after a few more years of conditioning from the outside world.

But, all days come to an end, and as it's now officially winter, the late afternoon air does get nippy... even if it's a lot warmer here than in many parts of the world.

So the family returns home, after a really excellent afternoon out... after all, you gotta make the most of the opportunities given to you.

Ahoy! St Kilda... Playground of Pirates...

St Kilda Playground is one of the really fun playgrounds around Adelaide... I say AROUND as it's actually 30km due north of the city, out amongst the mangroves and tidal flats. Indeed, it's hardly the first place that you would go looking for a a great playground... and you might not be tempted to drive all the way out there even if you did. But if you've got young kids (and not so young kids) then it's worth the trip as there's so much to do... not least of all storming the castle!... with it's own draw-bridge, battlements, secret passages and of course escape chutes (a little known feature of castles, they later evolved into a sewage system). Oh - and did I mention that it's completely FREE! Free I tells ya!

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Now for an aside - I have to admit that I tend to get a little possessive of our DSLR. Even though it's only a baby DSLR, it's my baby DSLR (ok... I'll try and let go of it so that I can type better... there there boy, I'll pick you up again soon). Anyway, T-chan's not had that much exposure [pause for polite golf clap for bad pun] to the new camera. So as Daddy was helping L-kun out on the slides, it was up to T-chan to take some photos. Only thing was I had forgotten to change back the White Balance from a previous set of photos the night before. So the photo quality isn't that great, and PSE didn't help quite as much as I would have liked.

It might be hard to pick from the photos, but the slides are reasonably long, and steep... and the ends kinda just stop (relying on the softness of the bark chips to soften your bottom bruising). Though we don't have the photos, L-kun was happily going down this slide all by himself. I was so proud (if a little freaked). The playground, as far as I can see, is completely self-supervised and does not have fencing. So, parents-be-warned... you will need to keep an eye on your children!

One of L-kun's favourite things was to explore the underground tunnels under the castle's foundations. I mean, seriously, there were a series of large to small (and I mean small) concrete pipes that had been buried under the mountain of dirt. And you betcha, that meant getting VERY dirty. Why do kids love dirt soooo much? The good news is that parents can fit in there too (was that really good news?)... the bad news is that it gets quite claustrophobic and you will be covered from head to toe in dust. There is also a secret ladder that takes the kids right up the top to the battlements.

The St Kilda area is not really known for it's beautiful beach scenery, but rather it's mangrove swamps (which can also be visited).

It's also known for it's pirates (don't all pirates have a secret hideout in a mangrove swamp somewhere). The pirate ship is yet another highlight of the playground.... and L-kun certainly loved it.

Awwrrrrghhhh! Pieces of eight, and shiver me timbers! A pirate's life for me. ... Fire the cannons you scurvy dogs! The treasure will be ours for the taking... spare no quarter, or even a 3/8ths!

Unfortunately, the pirate life is also tough one, and any number of small indiscretions (ie annoying Daddy or Mummy) could lead to a short incarceration in the ship's brig. Luckily he hadn't worked out yet that he can fit through the bars... whew!

Actually - the whole behind bars thing seems to be a trend here... There's a number of different styles of activities in the playground, including a shaded younger-kids area in the form of a giant yell submarine. This is also a great spot to get some respite from the sun for the parents as well.

There's also a tram museum out here that runs trams between the playground and the museum... a very odd place to put a tram museum if you ask me. The museum has been running the trams along the 2km track between the museum and playground since 1974 (admission $10 for adults, $7 for children over 4). It makes for a somewhat incongruous sight to see these old trams moving through the quiet salt-bush of St Kilda.

It's sort of like a scene from an old-time movie... ok... maybe a Sergio Leone spaghetti western.Here he's practicing his steely gaze... he uses this often against the pesky varmits back home (that would be us, his parents). And yes, he does love spaghetti (or noodles as he often calls them).

So I would definitely recommend taking the drive up north. Note that on a hot day, it gets VERY HOT there, and people often bring cardboard to ride the slides (to avoid a case of the cooked-bottoms), and you have to be very careful to ensure your all sun-creamed up. There's also not much in the way of facilities other than a solitary icrecream van... so bring some food and drinks if you're staying the day. I also haven't showed the Big  Children's slide yet... I'll keep that for another trip.