Eva

One month has past! We can't believe our little girl has been in the world for almost 5 weeks now and is rapidly growing and changing.  She is developing her own lovely little personality - a little bit cheeky and a little bit stubborn, but mostly she has been very gentle and affectionate and generally quite happy in her own company, or socialising with others.  We have yet to figure out what her hair is going to be like.....there is a high possibility that some curls will make an appearance but we're not quite sure.  Her eyes are still blue so not sure whether they will turn green like her mum or a weird collection of blue with brown specks like her dad.  She is gaining weight, reaching 4.5kg at her last weigh in and she is now 57cm long, which means we have outgrown a lot of newborn clothing already!  Eva is starting to smile a lot now and can recognise us which is nice.  There is also the bonus of her sleeping reasonably well at night so long may that continue!

We have joined a new mum's group with another 15 girls, so we meet every Thursday afternoon for a couple of hours to swap our stories, give advice and get some encouragement from each other.  We have a really lovely bunch of girls so hopefully we will continue to meet once the initial organised 5 week period comes to an end.   Our partners are invited to a pizza night next week so they can get to meet other dads too.  An excellent idea!

As for outings,  she was a little angel at my work christmas party two weeks ago - stayed up for 15 minutes of cuddles with my work mates before going to sleep for 4 hours.  Perfect!  We also managed a trip to Melbourne which was fantastic as she slept most of the car journey and looked out the window for the remainder.  We have yet to leave her with a friend so that Bob and I can go out just the two of us (I'm still feeling quite apprehensive!!) although I'm sure this is normal, especially when we don't have our mums/sisters etc to call on for first time babysitting!  This Saturday, our friend Vicki Glen (who has two grown up children, hurrah) is popping round to look after Eva so we can pop into town for a coffee and go for a walk.  I'm sure I'll be rushing back before the hour is up but Bob will probably encourage me to stay out longer!

The weather here is hotting up - today it is 32C - so we have to time our daily outings in the pram to early morning or early evening otherwise Eva is stripped off to just her nappy as the pram turns into a rather uncomfortable sauna.  Not particularly pleasant.  Bob has been out walking with her in the Baby Bjorn sling which she quite likes  and today, I had her in the sling while I was hoovering to try and get her to sleep - it worked!  Hurrah for 'white noise'.

I can't say I'm missing work at all at the moment.  I know Bob is finding it quite hard being back at work as he would like to be at home with us rather than at his desk.  I'm still hoping to return to work in February/March for a couple of mornings each week and gradually build up my hours depending on what we can arrange for childcare. We only have a couple of weeks before we fly home though and we are so excited to see everyone.  Let's just hope this passport makes an appearance in the next week or so!!

Not feeling festive at all - it's far too hot and sunny for Christmas trees here!

Here are some pics xxxx

The Arrival of Miss Eva Mirin Barr

Hurrah - she has finally arrived!

Welcome to the world, our perfect little daughter.  She kept us waiting 10 days but she was most definitely worth it in the end.  A huge array of facial expressions were pulled from day 1 and she certainly had the midwives and doctors cooing over her pretty little face before too long.  As for her dad, she has him wrapped around her little finger already.  After a 10 hour induced labour and a natural delivery, Eva was born and we could not be happier.

Eva made it into the local Gazette along with the other babies born at West Gippsland Hospital in Warragul - here is her debut in the paper......

we absolutely love the photo, the windy smile just makes it!

 Thanks to all our friends and family back home for your kind emails, phone calls, texts and cards etc...we may be far away but we cannot wait to come home at Christmas to show off our little Eva.  We will keep up the Skype calls and regular emails, don't worry! xxxx

The Diary of a Snail Whale: Weeks 28 - 40

So here we are.  It's Thursday 17th October and my estimated due date is Saturday 19th October.  No signs of anything happening soon although apparently the baby is 'nestling in nicely' into my pelvis, hence the reason for the occasional electric shocks when I'm walking! Thanks for that, baby. Thought I should complete the 'baby diary' now, while I still have the time and energy!

Week 28

Unfortunately the tingly hand problem is persistent and the physiotherapy didn't seem to help.  I am convinced it's not carpal tunnel syndrome and a trip to the local Osteopath confirms that it is referred pain from my thoracic spine.  It would appear I've turned into a bit of a stiff hunchback with the added weight and a swift manipulation makes all the difference.  Hurrah!  The bump is getting bigger and I can feel myself getting a bit more short of breath, particularly when lifting heavy limbs at work.  Talking at the same time as treating patients is proving to be quite a challenge!

Bob is currently on a health kick, which started with the pedometer challenge at his work where he has to take 10,000 steps daily.  He is motivated to lose a bit of weight before the baby arrives so he promptly draws up a 12 week training plan with the personal trainer at our gym.  This involves 6am starts and a commitment to get to the gym 4 times per week.  Rather him than me!  All I can manage is the odd walk, my pregnancy exercise DVD and a ride on the exercise bike! How energetic : )

Week 29

Swap numbers with a girl, Nicole, who I was doing my physiotherapy exercise classes with as we both finish our course of 10 classes at the same time.  She is due 4 weeks before me so I look forward to meeting her little bub when I finish up work.  We attended the first antenatal class this week which was the physiotherapy class - this mainly involved pelvic floor education with a strange (un)relaxation session at the end.  All the girls agreed that the 10 minutes spent lying down in darkness with whale music in the background and our hubbies standing like lemons round the perimeter of the room was not the most relaxing environment to be in!  The next antenatal class was a 2 hour class on breastfeeding.  Not one Bob and I were looking forward to but it was surprisingly good and interesting, even the boys were impressed!  

Week 30

Started to get leg cramps in bed (ouchy) and there was potential for sniffles although managed to catch them early with a good dose of vitamin C and some oranges! Surprising how I've managed to avoid any winter bugs with treating sniffly patients on a daily basis - this pregnancy must have boosted my immune system somewhat!  Manage to catch up with the netball girls, including 3 other pregnant ladies, and so we sit together with our Coca-Colas and swap pregnancy stories.  Tanya is due 3 weeks before me, her sister 5 weeks before me and the other Tania and I are about 2 days apart.  

Only 1 more week of work to go before our babymoon in the city - looking forward to it!

Week 31-32

Babymoon in the city was amazing - 5 star boutique hotel (Lyall hotel) in South Yarra - we generally chilled out, ate at some nice restaurants including George Calombardis' restaurant MamaBaba, went to High Tea at the Rialto in the city and saw the matinee performance of King Kong at the theatre.  Have a little hot flush in the theatre but quickly recover with an ice cream : )  Feeling good and enjoyed a pregnancy massage in the hotel.  

The following week, Renee, Corinna, Deb and I head back into the city for a make-up class and dinner at an authentic little Italian place on Chapel Street. The make up class was held by a make-up artist to the stars (including Gok Wan! haha)  and was held in a converted warehouse, complete with modelling white walls and lights/cameras etc. While waiting on the make-up class to start, Corinna couldn't resist her inner photographer and got me to jump in front of the white wall for a few snaps - hilarious!

Weeks 33-35

On the countdown now to finishing work - baby is definitely on the wriggle and perfecting his/her kung fu kick! A very weird sensation, almost like she is rolling around in there, with elbows and knees poking out all over the place!  We have our two remaining antenatal classes, both very good, one particularly long one on a Saturday (5 hours!!) where they show you round the maternity ward etc and let you know what happens with pain relief and caesareans etc.  We also learn how to bath and swaddle the baby! Quite entertaining.  I manage to get through the junior netball presentation night, standing on stage giving a speech with big bump on show.  Then off to another 5 star hotel for an overnight stay at Crown Towers in Melbourne, which we won at the local golf raffle (see previous post!)

Attended Chelsea and Gary's engagement party - wearing heels was a bad move!

Weeks 36-37  

Finish work and my colleagues throw a lunch for me on my last day - they are so generous, buying the baby a LED elephant mobile that changes colour and a pregnancy or newborn photo shoot at the local photography gallery.  They are all telling me to go for the shoot myself but think we will wait until bubs is a few months old so we can capture her grinning away and grabbing things.  Lovely food from the Grange as always, love their wraps! My patients Liz and Jacqi are so generous too - Jacqi has gone to town buying clothes and toys from Target and Liz has gone to so much trouble knitting a little white jacket and booties with a gorgeous baby blanket to match.  Time to write some thank you cards!  Spend my first week off work baking some goodies, packing the nappy bag, repacking my hospital bag and trying to study for my clinical exams.....although may have found a loop hole!! We have an appointment with the obstetrician who guesstimates arrival of bub at full term + 3 days (which is average) so 22nd October, watch this space!!

Bob is off to Melbourne to play golf for the week - I have been given about 10 zillion phone numbers for anybody who might be playing golf with him, just incase I can't reach him on his phone, or Ryan's phone, or John's phone.....He has been doing so well with his gym regime that he has lost a good 6-7kg which, unfortunately for him, has changed his golf game! He still played well despite rather odd team selections from the captain.  He managed to finish in the top 30 from 150 players in Victoria - a brilliant effort.  Think he is secretly pleased that the baby stayed in so he could complete the competition - I don't think he would have been very happy receiving a call when he was putting in for a win!

Week 38

Can't say I'm 'nesting' but definitely trying to relieve the boredom by cleaning things.  Very hard to resist buying things for the baby, it has quite the library already of Postman Pat, Thomas the Tank engine and the Lion King although I'm sure if we just read it the news to it everyday, that will do the same job.  Nursery is looking good and car seat is ready - just need the baby now!  

Been back to the obstetrician who discussed my diagnosis of 'gestational thrombocytopenia' with us - he just wants to check that my platelet level doesn't continue to fall otherwise might need some medication to bring it back up to normal.  Another blood test for me and we'll find out next week.  Baby growing nicely and we rented a TENS machine from the maternity ward - slightly cynical about whether it will help with pain relief or not, but willing to give anything a try!

Have turned into a 'lady who lunches' and have also done some shadowing work with the local neurological physiotherapist in preparation for my clinical exams.  Unfortunately see some paediatric patients with Downs Syndrome and Cerebral Palsy - great learning experience professionally but not such a great experience personally, I can feel the hormones kicking in!! Try not to overanalyse....

Time to stop watching One Born Every Minute.

Week 39

Get to have a cuddle with a newborn - Nicole has had her baby girl and so I pop round to her house for some nappy practice!  She is so small and snuggly, looking forward to meeting our own little bub soon.  Organise 'curry club' night at ours for the due date, 19th Oct, to hopefully kick start things....until then, I'll be eating some fresh pineapple and bouncing on the core ball!  Have yet to find raspberry leaf tea but this is next on the list of things to get labour started.  Buy Monopoly as a random purchase - is this what our Saturday nights will turn into? Rock'n'roll.

Obstetrician is happy with blood tests results so no meds for me - hurrah.  Baby continues to grow and the midwives all tell me it could be 'any day now' - if only!

Hear that Tania has had her baby too - her 3rd little girl, Pia Anne.  'sno fair, she was due after me!

Bob and I treat ourselves to a lazy Sunday morning breakfast in bed - we try and reproduce our amazing Crown Towers breakfast of Mango and Passionfruit smoothies, coffee, pancakes, bacon and maple syrup and a yummy bircher muesli and yoghurt concoction.  Unfortunately I chip a tooth and pray that it doesn't turn into toothache - that, combined with labour, would be a bad experience I'm sure! Trip to the dentist sorts it out : )

Week 40

2 days to go until I'll be into week 40 - accepting that our baby might be born on Halloween, I decide that I'll buy a couple of pumpkins and try my hand at carving!! Yes, this is how bored I am.  However, haven't yet gotten to the stage of cleaning the crumbs from the cutlery drawer.....when I do, then I'll know that I'm really overdue.

Dreaming of wine, camembert and brie, crackers and pate, prawn and avocado sushi....

Let the thumb twiddling begin! Time to put my feet up and eat some Dairy Milk....xxx

Just our luck! Another major raffle prize for us (September 2013)

So I'm sure most of you will be aware of our Golf Club raffle 'beginners luck' we had when we first arrived in Warragul.  Not only have we been lucky enough in the past to win a 32" plasma TV, set of golf clubs and $1000 travel voucher, but our luck reappeared (after a loooong dry spell) just last month.  We won an overnight stay in the 5 star Crown Towers on Southbank, Melbourne, complete with valet parking and breakfast.  Super smashin' great! Time for babymoon number 2...

On my last day of work, Friday 20th September, I finished up at lunchtime with a lovely farewell buffet, balloons and a gift of a newborn photoshoot from my colleagues (thanks colleagues!!), and promptly set off for the city with Bob to make the most of our last city break for a while.  Our 20 year old Jeep trundled up to the front door of Crown Towers and out we popped, hoping that our dodgy key lock would behave itself for the valet parking person.  (On the odd occasion, you can stand there for 2-3 minutes trying to get the electronic lock to click to let you in - you can look quite the numpty)  Not quite the vehicle that they are used to I'm sure but hey, it's still working after 260,000km! In we go to a rather grand reception area to check in.  Unfortunately we have been put into a smoking room on a smoking floor but this is quickly sorted and the room we end up in is a deluxe king room with massive floor to ceiling windows overlooking the Yarra River and city.  Perfect!  And it has a bath with a TV, even better, although I wasn't convinced I would be able to get in and out of it in a particularly elegant fashion.  

Time to explore! Crown Towers is one of three hotels in the Crown Casino complex, so it also has a shopping mall with the posh shops like Louis Vitton, Gucci etc and some awesome restaurants that can be accessed from inside the hotel - fabulous, not far for the pregnant lady to walk.  We discover Nobu, the Japanese restaurant (Andy Murray's favourite during Aus Open time apparently!) has happy hour 5--7pm with complimentary tapas - right up our street! A mocktail or two and a couple of beers for Bob keeps us occupied pre-dinner before we head back up to our room to smarten up a bit.  I stick on my one 'maternity' dress that looks half decent but give the heels a miss, and Mr Barr opts for his suit to kid on we look like we have the money to stay in this kind of place!  Always fun pretending. ...

After Bob has sampled the complimentary sparkling wine that came with our room (I opt for a sip but feel too guilty!) we head down to Rockpool Bar and Grill, Neil Perry's restaurant (he does the 1st class food for Qantas, might have seen him on Australian Masterchef at some point).  We can't afford the main restaurant ($100 for a lone steak!!) but the 'bar' area is lovely and we enjoy a Wagyu burger, steak, posh stylee mac'n'cheese and salad, washed down with some tonic water (yay) and a glass of wine for the hubby.   I couldn't resist having a cheeky peek at what the man next to me was having for his dinner and got caught out (oops) but this seems to have worked in our favour.  Both men were not short of a bob or two and in fact, once we got chatting, one of them gave us a voucher for a magnum of champagne for when the baby arrived - turns out he owns a winery in Victoria! Brilliant, thank you very much.  Bob bought him a whisky : )  We will never end up actually cashing in this voucher as I'm sure, in his inebriated state, this man will not remember who we are!  

Right, dinner was yum, now time to win some bucks at the casino - $2.50 roulette table, here we come!  Unfortunately, our luck appeared to have run out by this point and we spent approximately 15 minutes blowing our budget.  Rubbish.  Ah well, the semi-final of the AFL was on the telly so we ended up with a bunch of other people screaming at the screen.  Love a close game!

 Extra choccies for the pregnant lady

Bob trying to look all '5 star'

Can't beat some 'his & her dressing gown' photography

Anyway, enough about our night at Crown Towers.....I need to tell you about the morning after.  After a brief dip in the pool, we headed to the Conservatory for some caffeine and a wee croissant.  We did not anticipate that breakfast would require course planning to ensure that we didn't miss out on anything - it was amazing!  I would recommend that you get on a plane and come and sample it for yourselves.  I think we both had about 7 courses over 2 hours, all the food was simple irresistible.  Included in breakfast was a chocolate fountain, real bee honeycomb for us to catch our own honey, delicious smoothies, an omelette station, a bakery stall, a pancake station, an entire Asian table, breads and cheeses, any juice you wanted, and obviously the usual fry-up section.  YUMMO.  We would actually like to go there again instead of a night out and dinner.  I wonder if we could book a table for Bob's birthday???

Once we decided that we were able to move again (this took at least an hour), we had a leisurely day in the city, visiting the Queen Vic Market and stocking up on herbs and spices etc, before heading for afternoon coffee and cake in Brunswick street.  We had been invited round to dinner by Susie, our friend who has recently moved to Melbourne from the UK, and we popped over about 6pm to catch up with her and her fella, David before driving home.

A perfect ending to our second baby moon - we are very jammy! xxx

Belated Baby Shower Update! End Aug 2013

I can't believe it's taken me so long to update this blog, given that I've now been on maternity leave for the best part of 4 weeks.  Where has the time gone?  Time to update you on the baby shower, second bonus baby moon city break and the latest in the baby diary.  Note all those things contained the word 'baby' so if you are completely over it, then I'd suggest waiting until the next blog update! Ah, wait, no, I'll probably be telling you more baby news then.....in fact, this baby might feature quite highly in blog posts for the next few months to years! Still trying to get my head around the fact that we will have a little Barr to look after....forEVER.  Eeeek!

Anyway, first things first.  My wonderful friends Renee, Lauren and Corinna decided to organise a baby shower for me.  None of us had ever been to one but thought it was an excellent excuse for tea and cake and general girly silliness.  Lauren, chief baker in our orphan group, picked a 'ginger' theme for the cake - she had read on various websites that the baby shower was when the sex of the baby was revealed, usually by cutting the cake to reveal the appropriate pink or blue colour.  This was not going to work for us as no one has a scooby doo whether it is a boy or girl, hence the reason she went for a ginger flavour in the hope that our little Scottish baby would have a gingernut.  Not only that, but she went further with the placenta jelly and the strawberry lace umbilical cord.  It was amazing, if a little yukky!  Non-alcoholic punch was yum too.  Renee was in charge of the entertainment, including various quizzes, guessing the size of my bump with string and estimating how many jelly babies in the jar.  Bob even got stuck in at the end of the day, with his nappy changing kit, attempting to put a nappy on Eeyore (thanks Aunt Anne!).  He didn't do a bad job I have to say!  In addition to the games, everyone wrote their predictions for the arrival of Baby Barr, some of which have been discarded already as I'm now 39 weeks and 5 days writing this.  No early arrival for us!  Corinna was general organiser and I think she was in charge of contacting my friends and family back home (a complete but lovely surprise to me) for little words of wisdom, cards, baby photos and little pressies.  She was also in charge of the 'stripey' theme (I apparently wear a lot of stripes) - she told everyone else the dress code but she didn't tell me but hey, I still managed it, predictable or what!  All in all, it made me realise what fabulous friends and family I have, from both sides of the world and I'll just take this moment to thank you all again for the efforts you put in to making the day really special.  My first baby shower! Can't wait for one of my friends to get pregnant over here so I can return the favour.  Muchos fun!  xxx

Holiday time again - BABY MOON!

Even though it hadn't been that long since our last holiday in Port Douglas, we still found ourselves happy to have another few days off work for our babymoon! We had organised 3 nights in a posh boutique hotel in South Yarra (www.thelyall.com) from Sunday 18th -Wed 21st August so off we trotted to Melbourne once Bob had played his pennant golf game in Garfield.  We trundled up to the front door of the hotel in Jimmy (who is getting a bit old these days) only to be met by a concierge who offered to park our car for us.  Oh dear.  After giving him a helping hand with the 'complicated key system' he remarked that it had done a lot of miles and that perhaps he was too young to figure out how to work the key.  Hmm! It may not be a Porsche but it does the job! Anyhoo, off we toddle down Toorak Road to find some dinner and decide that Mexican would be best.  I try not to be too disheartened by Bob's amazingly yummy Margherita and opt for another lemonade, whoopee, and we delve into our yummy enchiladas and burritos.  Stuffed and happy, we head back to the hotel via the ice-cream shop and crash on the sofa.  This holiday business is hard work!

Monday, we decided on a lazy breakfast at the local Cafe Republica before wandering along Chapel Street, famous for it's pretentiousness and alternative nature.  Coffee bars and restaurants galore, along with funky independent stores mixed with posh designer shops.  I tried my first salted caramel cupcake and I must say, it was mighty fine.  Back to the hotel before heading into the city to meet our friend Susie, who has just moved to Melbourne with her partner David.  She is currently working in the Royal Children's Hospital as a paediatrician and gets to be a flying doctor of sorts when she in on emergency call out, her most recent trip being to pick up a sick newborn from Mildura in northern Victoria.  Definitely a handy person to know when we are about to have a newborn in our house! We meet them in Brunswick street and head to the Black Pearl for some drinks pre-Thai.  We finish off our night at the rooftop bar of Naked for Satan which has brilliant views of the city and a massive variety of beers, liquers and flavoured vodkas before heading back to South Yarra.  

Tuesday we laze around in the morning before I treat myself to a massage (more like torture but I still felt good afterwards!!) and Bob hits the gym.  We then get a taxi into town for 'High Coffee' @ Intercontinental Hotel - in theory it sounds great but I reckon we'll both be opting for the High Tea option next time.  Coffee can be quite overpowering, especially in ice-cream and as an iced drink! 'twas much fun though with the (virgin) Espresso Martini cocktails and we popped back to Chapel Street for a few drinks before dinner at MamaBaba, one of George Calombardis' restaurants.  It was amazing! 4 courses for $60 and we were struggling to finish all the courses.  I would definitely recommend it (if anyone in Australia is reading this!)  Back home to lie down - so full!!

Wednesday we checked out of our hotel and drove into the city to see the matinee of King Kong at the Regent Theatre, Collins Street.  I hadn't been overly excited to see it but having read loads of brilliant reviews, we thought we'd give it a try, and I was pleasantly surprised.  Quite impressive actually, the puppeteers were great, I have no idea how they choreograph everything and not trip over each other.  The actual ape was extremely life like and the vibrations through the theatre made it quite realistic (as realistic as possible given you could see all the puppeteers in black prancing around!).  it was definitely a spectacle, the special effects and lighting were superb.  A lovely way to finish our holiday in the city.  

Babymoon over, back to work for 4 weeks then I get to put my feet up and twiddle my thumbs! Uh oh! The countdown begins!

xx

The Parents/In-Laws come to visit!

July 6th

After an early morning start, we met up with Russell and Margaret in Tullamarine Airport where they had flown from their stopover in Singapore.  Despite having had a glorious week of warm sunny weather prior to their arrival, the sun decided it had had enough of Melbourne, leaving the clouds and rain to take over.  Poor timing!  Nevertheless, we were pleased to see them and we were on our way to our house in the eastern suburbs in no time, pointing out various sights along the way.  Time to get settled in our lovely little house and catch up over a coffee and some UK dairy milk, even if my father in law thought it would be funny to play a little practical joke on me!! 

The next few days were spent mostly at Warragul Golf Club with the three golfing Barrs trying to beat each other to victory.  I escaped to the safe haven of work while this was all going on!  I do believe Russell was presented with a lovely 'pizza boy' Dingo shirt and matching cap which he was then instructed to wear on the Old Course next time he was in St Andrews - which he managed to do on his return from Oz.  We also managed to squeeze in a visit to the local Wild Dog winery for some lunch, the local Dusties footy and netball club and we had our friends round for Curry Club, where Margaret was awarded Curry of the Night with her Sweet and Sour Balti Chicken - winner!  Oh and of course we were all shouting at the TV when Andy Murray won Wimbledon.  Amazing!

July 11th - July 17th  Port Douglas

Always a good way to start the holidays - french toast, bacon and maple syrup @ Good Habits cafe!! Our flight to Port Douglas was perfect and despite a small spot of rain when we first arrived, we were blessed with good weather for our 7 night stay at Rendezvous Reef resort.  The resort itself had a lovely bar and restaurant area next to the main pool, with various other pools and a BBQ area on-site.  Our apartment was great with a balcony overlooking the pool and we were just a short walk away from Four Mile Beach.  To walk along the beach to Port Douglas main strip took approximately 30 minutes which was ideal.  On our arrival, we got ourselves acquainted with our surroundings and enjoyed some dinner at home while we planned our trips for the next few days.   We had decided on a trip to the Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation National Park on the Saturday, and a trip to the Great Barrier Reef on the Sunday aboard a catamaran.  Monday and Tuesday were therefore free for chilling out and doing lots of not very much - perfect!  

Friday - first stop - sitting by the pool!  Sunglasses on, sunscreen on, book at hand, this was the life!  Russell and Margaret were much more energetic than Bob and myself, going for a run on most days.  As impressed as I was, the enthusiasm for exercising was lacking somewhat and I decided just to stick with my book reading!  At least Bob and I managed a walk into Port Douglas along the beach so that was something.  Port Douglas itself was quite touristy but not tacky - plenty of bars, restaurants and beauty parlours! The marina was a lovely spot too, great for people watching.

Our trip on Saturday was good, especially the river cruise in the Daintree Rainforest where we got to spot a couple of snakes in the trees and some enormous crocs.  Our tour guide Andre was an Argentinian fellow who was obviously passionate about his job but also under pressure to fit in quite a lot into a relatively short space of time - this resulted in some hairy driving!! We were on the lookout for Cassawary birds during the drive (think 'RoadRunner') but unfortunately failed to spot any.  After lunch at an idyliic spot in the rainforest where Russell tried a green lime flavoured ant (brave!), we travelled up to Cape Tribulation and walked along the beach with some bush turkeys. Then we travelled back via Mossman gorge where we had a short walk in the rainforest and a splash in the cold but spectacular gorge itself.  We all managed to get in, some for longer than others (I was scared I'd give the baby frostbite, that was my excuse!!) and we were quite refreshed afterwards, put it that way!  A spot of indigenous scone tasting and some coffee was a great way to finish the day.  

Our next trip was to Low Isles, an hour boat trip off the east coast of Australia.  Now this turned out to be an adventure on the high seas! Admittedly it did look a little overcast about 8am at the marina, but it wasn't until the catamaran staff started warning us about the 'slightly choppy weather' that we began to realise this may not be the most gentle of sails! A ginger tablet later and all four of us were cosied up on the deck in our summer clothes.  I remember thinking as we set off, 'this is fine, just a slight lull' before I looked up to see boats ahead swaying vigorously from side to side.  It was at this point I began to feel like an irresponsible pregnant person, who had no life jacket on and was gripping for dear life to Bob's leg for the whole hour! The only time I didn't grab onto Bob was when I was rolling around on top of Margaret who was trying to catch my sunglasses that had escaped with the choppy weather, and also when Bob nipped off to contemplate spewing over the side of the boat.  All in all, an entertaining trip! 

Once we got to the island, the sun came out and all was calm.  While Bob and I settled ourselves under an umbrella on the beach, Margaret and Russell spotted some turtles out on the glass bottom boat before trying a spot of snorkelling.  I managed to fit into a wetsuit for some snorkelling but my sense of balance on the noodle was a little off which resulted in me floudering around rather than being horizontal!  I gave up pretty quickly and opted for a good old fashioned swim instead and a walk round the island, which only took about 10 minutes.  Back onto the boat for a spot of lunch before another choppy ride home, but this time, not as wet!

All in all, a fantastic holiday and great that Russell and Margaret could see where we live.  We thoroughly enjoyed our Canasta competitions, mocktails and BBQ's and loved our last night eating out at the 'atmospheric' Watergate restaurant in Port Douglas.  

Not long til we meet again, this time with a new addition to the Barr family!

xxx