From Melbourne to the Snowy Mountains

Sunday morning was a pretty relaxed affair, with a late start and a slow pack up.  Despite losing an hour through day light saving we managed to slip in a final brunch together in another of Melbourne's great cafés.

This time we ate at Dundas & Fawcett's Café in the very dog friendly Albert Park.  The sun was shining, the food was delicious and the boys (led by the biggest kid, Darryl) had fun making a disgusting  'potion', building a ramp up to it and driving toy cars onto the ramp and into the concoction.  Yuk!



At 1pm we commenced the long drive home.  After a teary goodbye we settled in for some times tables, a bit of spelling and a LOT of Harry Potter.  Once again the trip was uneventful, and we arrived back in Canberra just after 7 o'clock.  We were all pretty shattered, so turned in for an early night.  It wasn't, however, before I caught the last few minutes of the NRL Grand Final.  OMG so exciting and I know absolutely nothing about rugby!  We certainly picked the wrong Grand Final to attend!

On Monday we all needed a day of rest.  And rest we did.  The boys chilled out in the pool and the theatre room while Bruce and I covered off on a few domestics.  In the afternoon Bruce headed over to visit an old army mate at Jerrabomberra while Nat and I sat around the pool in the sun and kept our fluids up.

When Bruce arrived back late in the afternoon from his visit with Bill, it was time for Nat and I to work some magic in the kitchen.  While Nat whipped up a superb Icky Sticky Pudding, I decided to cook some Napolitan Sombreroni pasta that I had stored in my pantry since my last trip to Italy.

The trick was getting the pasta cooked al dente.  But stuffed with ricotta and spinach and topped with some EVOO, pecorino, chilli flakes and cracked black pepper, the boys didn't complain.  We complemented it with garlic bread and a fresh garden salad and followed up with Nat's yummy ISP.  A fitting last supper!

Later the conversation turned to conspiracy theories so Nat and I bailed out of that one and headed for the spa room.  What a wonderful way to finish a fantastic week spent with my old high school buddy.



This morning the car needed new tyres fitted so it was after 11am before we hit the road.  We were all sad to say goodbye to Nat and Tony, but the boys were most impressed to see Nat in her police uniform.  Jack described it in his diary this evening as 'sick'.

The terrain changed quite dramatically as we travelled through Cooma and into the Snowy Mountains.  We stopped at Jindabyne for lunch and to check out the Visitor Information Centre.  In the car park we met a friendly local who kindly invited us to park our van at his place near the heart of the Snowy Mountains.

We spent the rest of the day soaking up the sunshine and wandering around the beautiful Lake Jindabyne and surrounds. 

We spent time at the playground at Banjo Patterson Park (naturally) before heading back up to wander through town.  We made the mistake of entering a ski shop and retreated with our wallets significantly lighter!

Just after 4pm we headed into the Kosciuszko National Park to meet Mark at Waste Point.  Now don't let the name fool you.  Waste Point is a beautiful spot overlooking Lake Jindabyne and bursting with great Aussie wildlife including kangaroos, wombats, echidnas and platypus.

We set up our little home once more, then joined Mark for a shared BBQ meal and a great bottle of shiraz.

 
At 9pm we dragged the boys away from the dinosaurs and the duplo for a (reasonably) early night.