melbourne - sydney

It's been busy busy week for us. We collected our Elite Caravan & stayed two nights in it in Melbourne before heading back to Sydney.

I have to admit that I was surprised that our favourite meal of the week away (including the food around Fitzroy) was dinner at the Snowy Mountains Historic Bakery in Orbost. These guys opened in Orbost a few months ago from the Mornington Peninsula & I just hope they do well. 

When I hear "Woodfired Pizza" I expect gourmet. The seafood was fresh and local and gorgeous! Can you see the sea veg? 

They don't just make bread and pizza. I picked the winner! This was my fritto misto with flash fried prawns, mussels, scallops & topped with sea veg which is farmed locally in Newmerella. I can't describe how satisfying this meal was!

And before we left town the following day we grabbed coffees (great!) and an organic sourdough loaf! 

Orbost is on the Snowy River Cycling Rail Trail. I'd love to hear from anyone who has been on the trail which includes sections of track along the old rail bridges. It would be a beautiful ride.

We had a quick overnight stay on the family farm in Tanja on the way home and stayed with friends further north. And we ate dinner on the van two nights ago because we can't get enough. Ask us if we feel the same in a year after our big lap!

P.S. I have to add that the Orbost Caravan Park was a great spot to stay. Greg was very welcoming. An added bonus to the clean amenities block was a bath (at waist height) for the kids which our littlest boy loved. 

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the Jurassic period

As I've mentioned B has hit the dinosaur phase!

We were filling out the preschool questionnaire at the beginning of the year. "The communication between home and preschool is important and we'd like to get to know your child."

I asked B to help his parents fill out the form.

Questionnaire: What does your child enjoy?

B: Dinosaurs.

Questionnaire: What makes your child laugh?

B: Dinosaurs.

Me: Maybe they need something else B, more information.

B: (thinks) Dinosaur Train.

Me: hmmm.

Questionnaire: Who are the important people in your child's life? 

B: Tiny, Buddy... (Dinosaur Train)

Me: Mummy, Daddy and P?

B: oh yeah. 

The first thing B says when he comes into our room of a morning is something along the lines of "Mummy, did you know that T-Rex is the largest dinosaur in the Cretaceous forest?"

Whilst I am no expert on dinosaurs I do know a thing or two about learning. This is the time to harness B's passion. We're there's passion there's plenty of opportunity to learn. Fortunately, thanks to the Internet, there's no limit to the amount of information presented in an age-appropriate manner for B to learn from but people learn best from 'doing' things - hands on experience.

Here are some ideas.
Taronga Zoo  (only this summer)
Australian Museum - Carla's Dino Dig has finished for 2012 but the museum has a permanent display of dinosaurs and fossils.

Out of Sydney: 
Reptile Park - Gosford
National Dinosaur Museum - Canberra
Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum - Bathurst
Lake Mungo National Park
Ulladulla Fossil Sites

Online resources:
Queensland Museum
ABC Dinosaurs

For the screen:
Walking with Dinosaurs Series (PG)
Dinosaur Train (available on itunes)
Dino Dan (DVD) I bought mine at JB Hifi.

There are many fossil sites across Sydney - in brickwork sites and along the coastline where development hasn't taken over. You only need to search for them online and take some time to visit the sites in person.

Every op-shop I've visited lately has had at least 5 dinosaur books so I've had to be particularly choosy. They must be in good nick (or easily repairable - always my op-shop rule), informative (not 'dumbed down' for kids) and visually appealing. If they contain activities - even better!

I found a near-new book on 'How to Draw Dinosaurs' so we've been sketching them this morning. You can learn so much from what the dinosaur was like just by looking at the dinosaurs' form. I know this forty minutes or so we spent drawing has given B the confidence to draw dinosaurs more freely and confidently without asking for my help.

We'd better go... I think I can hear B digging up 'fossils' in the backyard!