5th In the morning we were straight back into the pool and had a relaxing time split between there and the playground. Late morning we decided to drive to our nearest small town, Calalla Bay, to try and get some news from home as we had no internet access or phone reception within the national park. We picked up the very sad news that Rachel's granny had died. We had been expecting to hear this soon but it was very upsetting and particularly as we were not able to be with the rest of Rachel's family. Rachel had sensed that this news would be waiting for us and had been really down for the last few days. It was nice to remember the visit we had had with Barbara shortly before leaving for Australia.

A local resident had recommended North Beach to us which proved quite difficult to find. We missed the turnoff as it was the entrance to a military firing range but some 'boys from the hood' put us straight. At the main road we had to stop at a boom gate where a guard ensured that we had sufficient water and we were aware of the dangers of the area. His list included the Eastern Death Adder, Easter Brown snake, Red-bellied black snake, funnel web spider, white tailed spider, red-back spider, blue-ringed octopus, bluebottles, sting rays, paralysis ticks and unexploded ordinance! As we drove down the several kilometres of unmade and heavily corrugated road we were wondering what we had let ourselves in for - we were only trying to go to the beach.

On route a wallaby shot out of the bush right in front of the car but somehow we didnt hit it.

The beach was incredibly beautiful with truely white sand and turquoise water and all the more special as it was well off the beaten track with the few people there having come in by boat. There were no waves to speak of so the boys were able to enjoy being in the water.

Armed and dangerous

Rach and the boys making a rainforest

Back at the cabin, boys tuckered out.

Have you cleaned your teeth?

6th

After packing up we drove towards Ulladulla which was to be our next stop for 3 nights although we couldn't remember exactly where we had booked in to stay. The short journey was uneventful and we stopped in at Milton for our lunch and to pass the time before we could check in. It was another really hot sunny day and we didnt fancy the beach at noon but we did stop to look at Mollymook which was the reccommended stretch of sand.

Views of Uludulla harbour:

Our cabin this time is actually very large and more of a cottage although slightly shabby. After unloading we investigated the pool which the boys enjoyed but it was small and very busy so slightly dissapointing but the playground next to it was empty and very enjoyable.

After a fairly inactive day the kids were a nightmare to put to bed and didnt go to sleep until 10.

7th In the morning we went for a walk along the One Trail for All which we heard about from the guides. It was a ~3km loop through scrubland in a historically important Aboriginal area with carvings along the way commentating on the old way of life vs the new. Rachel found it particularly interesting as she is ready the diary of a young Aborigine girl in the 1930's:

" I didn't want to ask Miss Foster what a dying race was but I did ask her how someone could discover a country that already had people in it......but Miss Foster said that Captain Cook discovered Australia, and all the books said that, so I should just listen properly and not be so bad mannered."

It felt like major snake territory especially as it was a hot day (35C) but we didnt see any although this chap had us wondering for a while:

The return leg was along the cliffs and gave some great views:

We popped home for lunch and a "rest" which involved lying in bed together while the boys experimented in ways to cause Al as much pain as possible - Charlie in particular has a future career in Guantanamo Bay.

Al then went for a haircut in the historic town of Milton about 10km away - this proved to be a mistake as it was the worst haircut ever. When the hairdresser held up the mirror Al expected Jeremy Beadle to appear but unfortunately he didn't (Rach later explained that this was now, sadly, extremely unlikey). After a few suggestions she had another go but without much improvement.

The heavens then opened on us in spectular fashion and the only thing we could think of to do was to go for a swim the sea pool. The pool was supposed to close for lightening but luckily didnt and we had it to ourselves. Isaac did some great swimming on his own using a "noodle" for the first time and Al got some good lengths in. At water level you couldnt see from one end of the pool to the other due to the rain splash.

Rach cooked chilli prawns for supper which were accidentally flambayed but tasted all the better for it.