Road trip

We were looking for a quick outing in between Christmas and New Year, to make the best use of mommy and daddy's long vacation. Mommy put together a trip to Port Stephens - which was perfect. Two and half hour drive from Sydney, we headed off for Salamander Bay on Sunday morning - my first road trip. I was pretty good all the way through - got a bit edgy at times - who likes sitting for more than 60 minutes? But swapping between front and back seat gave me the change I needed to settle down.

We arrived at our hotel past noon - the sun was shining. We wasted no time and dived into the water. Oh wait - of course mommy had to get me ready first. Slip, slop, slap - lots of sunscreen so I don't burn my young skin. Added protection of my swimming do - and I was ready. Daddy meanwhile burst his lungs inflating my float. With all the gears ready and camera rolling, the fun began.

It's been a while since I last went to a swimming pool. On top of it, this time it was a open, cold water pool. My first reaction was a little shiver. That was it. In no time, I was on the float by myself, kicking happily the water around me. I was having so much fun!

It also appeared that I was the youngest one around in the revolving pool. I was getting lot of attention as swimmers passed around us.

It was a while before they could convince me to get out of the water. I had a sneeze or two - which meant mommy and daddy was getting worried that I might catch cold. Still daddy had to keep me on the poolside so I didn't cry and had to put up with my excitement as I saw other kids pass by.


It was a fun day out. Rest of the day we spent in the hotel room while the adults caught up with recapping couple of old movies. Next day was quite gloomy with rains in between. You think that would stop me from going to swim? As soon as the sun peeped through the cloud (for 2 minutes), I was in the pool again. We wanted to go to the beach, but daddy thought the water would be too cold. Same routine in the pool but I had double the fun.

Following day, the sun was smiling bright and hot. Finally our wish to visit the beach came true. So we packed our bags and headed to the One Mile Beach. It was beautiful weather - perfect for beach for someone little like me! Mommy made sure I am safe from the sun before I stepped out. Before going into the water, I took a quick nap and lunch. I was ready to meet the ocean for the first time. Daddy took me up close and slowly introduced me to the waves. I didn't quite like what was going on at first. It was noisy and the waves were big. As daddy tried to dip my feet into the water, I made him well aware I wasn't liking it - it was cold for me. Mommy then joined us and took me for a play in the water. She knew the trick - unlike daddy who was only trying to get me wet, mommy went into the water with me. I caught the vibe. Hey, ocean became my friend. We all played 'dodge the wave' for a while; as mommy made sure I got totally wet in the salty water. After I had enough dipping, I went back to lola while mommy, daddy and tita stayed in the water for another couple of hours.

After a long day in the beach, we all set off for our trip back home. After a couple of days away from home, I was looking forward to my good old bed and familiar playground. It was great to be back home. And everyone was relieved that I came out perfectly fine after few days of fun in the water.