Jenolan Caves and Alpacas

On July 6th we went to Jenolan Caves. I have never seen such a tight twisty road. We made it to the caves and had a tour through the Lucas cave. It was quite spectacular. After leaving the cave site we went to our place for the night called Madison Mountain Retreats. We had a neat little cabin that was heated by a log fire only. This place would have been great in the summer or spring but it was 4C last night and so Jeff had to get up every few hours to throw a log on so everyone would be warm! It was a self-cater Bed and Breakfast which means they give you the food ahead of time and you cook it in your kitchen. That worked out well for us. The food allergies are giving us a bit of a problem as we are traveling. Nothing too serious, just bad rashes but thankfully no one has had any breathing issues. Charley had one bit of asthma from running alot in the cold but thankfully after a bit of calming down and a lot of prayer it completely subsided. This morning we got to pet the Alpacas. They are beautiful creatures and their fur is super soft. They were so cute, especially the babies. The retreat had a tennis court and we were able to play tennis as a family for a bit before then we headed out.

6 hours later with some frustration at the Garmin and several episodes of car sickness (so many winding roads) we arrived in Port Stephens. Along the way we did have some lovely surprises; we all got to see many kangaroos in the wild, we were able to stop and get apples from a neighborhood stand and we met a sweet lady at a truck stop in the middle of nowhere who made our sandwiches for our 2:00 lunch. The kids really did a great job traveling so long. They have their moments but overall we have kept them busy enough that there is little time (or energy) for fighting! *grin*

Tomorrow Kyle will be 10 years old. Happy Birthday!!!! We are still finalizing the plans for the day. I was able to run into the store at 9:30 tonight and buy a cake with candles for tomorrow. I was so happy to find a grocery store open! So many places seem to close early. It gets dark here around 5:30 and is really dark by about 6 so maybe that is why they close early? Kyle told me I did not have to do anything special....he said, I know we will have fun no matter what we do and if everyone is healthy I am happy. He is such a sweet boy.