Holiday Day One

After three weeks I'm finally here and able to update our holiday adventures. Before I start let me make a note for my future self - next time you go on holidays NEVER agree to work the day after you get back, especially if it means driving to Toowoomba.

Right then, day one....

This trip was planned on a whim and started as a request for me to work in Cairns for two days. The brief was that I would fly to Cairns, spend three nights in a nice hotel, work and fly home. In the 6.5 years since I have had kids I think I have spent three nights away from my son and one of those nights I was giving birth to his sister. I think a break is long overdue. Sadly my husband and kids didn't see it in quite the same way.

After realising that my trip happened to coincide with school holidays we then decided to go as a family. We checked out flights and then someone decided we should drive and make a holiday out of it. Then someone decided we should campervan it. The rest, as they say, is history.

We hired our van from Family Motorhomes, a company quite local to us. They also provided toys and books for the kids and we chose them as they seemed kid friendly and offered a good price. The day Mark picked up the van there was a stuff up with a key and so the van's owner drove up to our place with a portable DVD player for the trip. You have no idea how thankful we would be for that in the days to come.

So the big day arrived. We had a house-sitter all set up to move in and we planned to get an early start. Then Mark was waylaid and we ended up leaving around 2pm. I was pretty stressed by that stage as I was worried our house-sitter would show up and we would still be there.

Here's my little one all ready to go. Note that the camper never again looked this clean and organised.

We drove to Hervey Bay on our first day, a journey of around 350kms. We've loved Hervey Bay since we first visited when our son was just a baby. It's a glorious beach side town and as soon as we arrived we felt relaxed.

The last time we were in Hervey Bay Mark and I visited the Vic Hislop Shark Show, the most unique and weird museum we have ever visited. Vic Hislop is a well know Aussie who used to be known for catching, killing and displaying sharks. Since conservation stopped these practices he has been focused on teaching others just how dangerous sharks (particularly) Great Whites are. He also believes that most missing people from coastal areas are actually shark victims and that the government  has repressed these figures to save our tourism industry. This makes Vic a one man band in his efforts to bring attention to his view that dangerous sharks now prey on humans and culling should still be allowed.

The entrance to the shark show- looks enticing right?

So, since early this year Big Boy has been obsessed with sharks. When I realised that we were headed to Hervey Bay I decided to share the delights of the Shark Show with him. Here's the day in pictures.

This is Vic's philosophy (click to enlarge)

Vic's a master at killing sharks and cutting them up. Here is an eye and brain of a Tiger Shark (the brain is the tiny bit in the corner).

The Shark Show features pictures, newspaper cuts outs, statistics and two home videos of Vic catching, killing and displaying sharks. But the most magical display of all is found in the freezer. For those willing to peek in, Vic proudly displays three deceased, frozen sharks, one being 12ft long. Unfortunately I think those sharks have been in there way too long. They are showing many signs of freezer burn and, to be frank, the whole place has an odour that must be coming from that freezer. Yes, delights abound at the Shark Show.

Real, frozen and smelly- who wouldn't want to see them?

Front view

What's that you say? It's the squeegee you have to use to wipe down the freezer windows to peer in.

So we have now attended the Shark Show twice. And paid for the privilege twice. But the best bit of all? Big Boy refused to look at the damn frozen, dead, decaying sharks.

Thankfully after the joys of the show we were able to head down to the beach for a play...

... only to discover that Tiny Girl is scared of sand.

Thankfully daddy was able to make up for it.

And after a huge day of driving, daddy fun and decaying animals it was time for a well earned rest.