Grrrrrrr.....

God, this is moaning post after moaning post but I ask you, how the hell do you get a teenager motivated to do anything? I have tried gentle persuasion, I have tried rational talking, I have tried shouting and I have tried withholding fun things (which got the best response) but seriously it's like banging my head against a brick wall, a really tough, thick brick wall!!

Sam is the master of excuses and his laziness is not a nice quality at all, but it's also a really difficult trait to shift. As a result, the days become a series of battles, Sam doing his best sucking up job to get what he wants and then not doing a thing in return...well perhaps he offered to get a glass of water for someone, or begrudgingly went around to the shop but to him that qualifies him to do bugger all to help for the rest of the day!! Now we all know that Sam has always been lazy but seriously it's exaggerated at the moment.

So aside from Sam being a little S*!% at the moment today was nice. It's mothers day and we finally got out of Corindi and went to Yamba which is a town about 100k up the coast. Yamba has beautiful beaches and really nice little cafes and shops so we had a nice lunch in a cafe and a little walk to the beach and then home. It's funny in Australia because we have the radio on in the van and they play the same songs as in the UK but the don't bleep out the swear words, seriously, it makes us feel very prudish when we are in the van and there's effin' and jeffin' on the radio and me and Will give each other raised eyebrows every time a rude word is said... it's just something you don't get used to and makes me feel like about 60 years old!!

We are also setting up plans for the next few weeks which are loosely as follows: perhaps another week in Corindi and then up the coast to Byron, then back down with maybe a few more days in the house and then back down to Sydney via Swan Beach again and then away to Perth on 4th May.

Picture attached of Sam looking like a little angel (not!!)

Too Settled??????

Today has been pretty nice, we woke up this morning and Sam did some Maths with Will and then me and Will finished varnishing the fence. After this we went into Woolgoolga and Sam had a surf, we picked up a couple of pairs of cheap shades as I think me and Sam should start wearing them to protect our eyes from the sun and then we came home and now Will is watching a surf video and Sam has gone to the skate park... and you know what... I'm a bit bored. I'm not very good now at just sitting still. I like it when we are all out walking in the sunshine along the beach, or climbing up some ancient ruin or volcano, sitting in front of the telly is just not for me, never has been really, I get bored too easily.

This is when we all start getting edgy with each other as well. We have all got on brilliantly for so long perhaps we were due a rocky patch but who would have guessed it would have come when we were all nicely settled into a comfortable house, or perhaps that's the point. Being in a nice house is easy, we don't need to support each other to pull each other through unfamiliar territory or to boost each others morale. We can all just sit on the sofa and snipe at each other. Terrible isn't it? So i'm not quite sure how to pull us out of this one or perhaps the best thing to do is to wait for it to pass... see, it makes me worried about when we get back because we are so much nicer to each other when we are all squashed into a little van. Perhaps we should sell the houses when we get back and just buy ourselves a little caravan which we move around Bristol every few days!!!!

Think I'll go do some yoga and see if I can breath my way out of it.

Stroppy teenagers and... um... stroppy thirty somethings

Well it's been a while since I last had a moan so it's about time I rectified that. Today we are all at logger heads!! Sam is being a stroppy 13 year old and won't help Will paint the fence (well he did eventually - but he was pretty grumpy about it because he wanted to watch the Brady Bunch of all things!). Will is a stroppy 29 year old and doesn't think that Sam pulls his weight (he's probably right) but he thinks that when he was 13 he did EVERYTHING his parents told him because he knew they were older and wiser than him... yeah right... I don't expect his parents remember it that way!!... and I guess I am a stroppy 34 year old because I'm sick of the two of them bickering and it's hot and I didn't sleep well because Will has the fan on full blast in the bedroom so it's like an icebox on a night...there... rant over!

On the positive side. One side of the fence is now built and stained and looks beeeeautiful - infact the neighbours keep saying how nice it is and one guy said 'it's the best fence in Corindi' (there you go Jeff and Linzi, you'll have tours coming around to see the famous fence). Whilst Will and Sam varnish the posts on the other side of the fence I have made chocolate brownies a la Jamie Oliver and for the first time ever I have made a desert that looks and tastes like it should. This is a real achievment, usually my cakes don't rise and my biscuits look like small dog poos... but the brownies look just like they should, all crisp on top and moist in the middle. I think having the right equipment to cook with has made the difference, trying to sift flour through a collander never did seem the right way to go about things to me.

Sam is now officially on Facebook - this is great because he has got to catch up with all his friends back in the UK and most of the kids he is meeting on his travels also have profiles so he can keep in touch with them all. I ummmd and aaaahd about whether to let him have a profile but came to the conclusion that I have to trust him and let him grow up and at least whilst we are here we can teach him how to use it sensibly. We are now thinking about schools again and trying to work out which school he will go to when we get back. Colstons would be the ideal as there is no room at Mangotsfield but I'm not sure we can afford it after a year off... private education is super expensive, still I'm sure we'll work something out.

Picture attached is of our Sunday Roast crew - the lovely Corindi neighbours.

Complete bravery...

Today Sam went to the skate park whilst all the other kids were in school to practice 'dropping in to the bowl' which basically means going off the lip of a skate board ramp down a really steep slope. The reason that I am writing about this is because it showed real character to do what Sam did today.

He was nervous about doing the drop whilst other kids were there so asked us to come to the park with him today. We also bought him arm, knee and elbow pads for the occasion. He stood at the top of the ramp, balanced on the edge and told us how nervous he was - we tried to encourage him and after a couple of minutes he had a go... and of course he fell off. He picked himself up and checked that everything was still in order and then went back to the slope and tried again. He repeated this about 5 times and each time we shouted further encouragement. 'I just need to remember that if I fall over it will hurt a bit, but that's all', he said, as he syked himself up to go again. 'Can I have a milkshake if I do it?' he asked, it seemed the least we could do in the presence of such bravery. 'My heart's beating really fast' he said...and then, he dropped down the slope and made it.

It reminded me of when I taught him to ride a bike, he kept riding down the hill and falling off at the bottom and then, suddenly, he just got it!! Well it was the same thing, as soon as he had gone down once there was no stopping him. He was dripping with sweat but really pleased with his achievement and rightly so. You can learn an awful lot in school but today was a real lesson for Sam in facing and overcoming his fears and what better reward than a milkshake.

This afternoon he played with his friends and they are coming over tomorrow night to watch a film and eat cake whilst we build and varnish the fence. So all is well in the world right now - especially for Sam.

Bellengen

This morning we got up and Scott left us to fly back to Bali. It has been really nice having him here as an additional member of the family (and one who can teach). I think he has also enjoyed being here, in the middle of arguments, with Sam wittering on in his ear and singing annoying songs, what's not to love? No seriously, I think he did enjoy being part of our family and being mothered (cooked for etc), so now we are back to three.

Yesterday we all drove to Bellengen but we didn't pick a very good day for it because it rained when we got there. We drove around a loop road called The Promised Land which ended up at Never Never Creek, honestly it sounds like something from a Peter Pan Story. The funniest thing was when Scott walked into the local garage to get directions and came upon a wise looking, sage like man behind the counter, 'Excuse me' he said, 'I'm looking for the Promised Land'. I'd like to say the the man, closed his eyes, took a long breath and, looking deep into Scotts eyes said,'you're already there my son, you're already there.' But instead he said, 'Turn right at the post office and just keep going'. Not quite so romantic.

The drive was quite nice but I'm sure that in the sun it would have been beautiful. We stopped for lunch in Bellengen at a little vegetarian restaurant. Bellengen is a bit like an Australian Glastonbury but not nearly so hippified, there are a few hippy types wandering around and the restaurants and cafes have that certain feel that only comes with a slightly spiritual place. It was actually a lovely little town and I would be really happy to go back and explore some more (on a sunny day) but as there is no surf within walking distance I feel my chances are limited. Wandering around the little shops is not Will's idea of fun! Bellengen also reminded me of Raglan in New Zealand, a gorgeous, old (ish) town with a relaxed vibe.

Now we are sat on the sofa eating a big brunch (not good for my expanding bottom) and then me and Sam are about to continue with our Physics (heating and radiation). Later we will go for a surf and then off to collect more varnish for the fence.

Fishing

This morning we got up and went fishing with Mark who lives across the road in his 'tinnie' (Aussie speak for a small boat). We had four fishing rods and a bag full of prawns for bait. I had the very nice job of handing prawns to the boys to bait their hooks. It was actually really nice to be out on the river, floating along in the sun, catching fish and looking at the mangroves.

Sam was the winning fisherman and caught two small bream - he had to throw them back though because they were under size.

After fishing we came back to the house and just chilled out sorting out paper work - we have now booked our flights to Perth for the 4th May and it will be fantastic to fly over and see Charlotte and Neil. Whilst we were booking the flights etc Sam headed off to the skate park with the local kids - he is now part of a gang of kids who skate around Corindi and all seem really nice. Corindi is such a small, safe place it's brilliant because he can just head off and say he will be back at a certain time and you don't have to worry. That's why travelling with a 13 year old is so much easier than travelling with a younger child. They are old enough to be sensible on the roads, know what time to come home and not go off with any strange men (although he did come home and say that he was going to look at someones puppy earlier!)

This evening we went to Red Rock Beach with Mark and Scott. This is the most gorgeous secluded beach and gets it's name from the red pigment in the rock, which is what the aborigines used to paint their bodies. Red Rock is also called 'Blood Rock'and apparently this is due to a massacre of aborigines which happened here many many years ago, but adds a slightly eerie feel to the area. We walked up to the headland and it was super windy, the waves were crashing in and the sun was going down, it was pretty spectacular... and then we went to the local bowling club for a chinese meal (cunningly named 'Red Wok!') After a huge feed we are all crashed out on the sofa.

Picture attached of Sam catching his fish

longboarding...

Last night I couldn't sleep because I woke up and thought 'Oh my god, we are in a house and everything has reverted back to normal - Sam is addicted to the TV, I am eating and eating and eating and doing not enough exercise and Will is working and stressed. Nothing has changed!!' So I decided the best thing to do would be to wake up Will and tell him my worries - and here's the thing, things have changed because Will got up and got me a drink and listened to me droning on at him about how I was worried that when we got back to the UK we would just slot back into the same old routine - and he said not to worry, things would be ok. Now 7 months ago, Will would have told me to shut up and go back to sleep.

It is scary though, to think that we will be home soon and then what? Will being home all the time be enough for us after our mad cap adventures, will we slot back into a routine as if nothing has changed? In the clear light of day I can see that we have a choice in this - that yes, things could go back to the way they were... or... we can choose to change them and to take the lessons we have learned with us. So this morning I got up with a different attitude. I had an apple for breakfast and when the boys went surfing, I took the long board out and had a fun session myself. If I want to stay fit and healthy and keep up with the routine we have established then it's up to me to keep on top of it.

Playing on the long board was loads of fun and I will definitely do it more often... after a session in the sea we had a Macdonalds and yes, I had the healthy option, and then we went and bought the National Geographic for Sams lessons... picture attached of me on the surfboard. Tonight we are going out for a meal with the neighbours.