Holiday snaps

Several times I have driven to Rockhampton from Brisbane, which is an eight hour drive, with my two girls. I've even done the drive by myself, with them being much younger, and we've never had a problem. I use what I call the 'drip feed' system.
This involves several brown paper bags, a felt pen and lots of snacky things. I divide the bags up into two piles, and roughly use one bag per half hour of driving for each small person. Then I number each pile of bags one to ten or whatever.
I put various small amounts of food into each bag, and number each pile the same, so when it comes to handing them out, the bags are exactly the same and there's no fighting.
While some of the snacks would be deemed unhealthy, my reckoning is that a dippity bit is not going to be as bad for us as ending up under a truck. My aim is to have them occupied so I can concentrate on the driving. And so, my 'drip feed' system worked a treat this time too.
Thanks to Grandma, we also had a basket packed to the brim with paper, pens and stickers to fill in the time.
We did our usual visit to the Botanical Gardens while there. They are still magnificent and into their 150th+ year, and it shows. It takes time for a garden to look that magnificent.

This old concrete whale is still there. I remember it from when I was tiny. It used to be painted black and white, but it's au naturel now.

Dad's garden is beside a horse paddock and he often has taipans, death adders and brown snakes up near his house - I know!! I was kept well and truly on my toes, let me tell you. I was trying to calm myself by writing such angst off as paranoia when I heard a story on the local radio saying that the snakes were out again for Summer, and to keep a lookout for them.
Then there's the crocodiles. As a school girl I used to row on the river. My career was cut short though, one morning when I saw an enormous crocodile in the water not far from where I was putting the boat in. To make matters much worse, that was the first morning I fell out. The coach motored out to me in his dinghy. My relief turned to horror however, when I realised he came to get the boat not me, and I was left behind to swim back to the rowing club, about 100m, to where I'd seen the crocodile. Needless to say, later in the day my mother called him to say I'd decided against a career in rowing.
This brings me to the weekend just past. Proof that children are in fact NOT wrapped in cotton wool at all. There was a rowing regatta on that very same river, right beside the sign saying crocodiles inhabit the water and can cause death or injury!

Achtung indeed!

Now I sense you're wondering if I managed to secure a concrete swan. No, in a word. It wasn't from the lack of determination though. I did knock on a door in the pursuit of one, but apparently it was a much loved member of the family. I've earmarked some for further investigation, however, the owners are currently caravanning and won't be back til closer to Christmas.
I managed to bring back some little dust collectors, one of which is a swan.
This duck is from Dad's house, and unfortunately, he's the only member of his family to have survived.

Dad gave me this shell mat, which belonged to my grandma. I really love it.



Here it is in-situ with the pineapples I brought back, for a tres tropical feel.

I just love pineapples as decoration, and they double as a very good fruit too.

We found this tiny bird's nest in Dad's greenhouse. It's hanging down, probably a bit difficult to see.

The next day we went back to have another look at it, and found these.

Dad just loves birds. These are his 'budgies'.

That's it for the holiday snaps.
My next trip away will be New York in November!