Australia is currently struggling with weather. A large chunk of Australia has been very wet and flooded this Janurary just past. The West has sizzled in heat with bushfires. locusts have plagued farmers and right now, parts of Queensland are bracing themselves for Cyclone Yasi. Where we are in southern Victoria we're been incredibly fortunate just to have rain and although the river flooded, we were not badly affected.
We did however have an incredibly wet week in a tent by the beach. Camping is something best experienced under sunny skies. Everything is harder when it's wet...and we didn't just have drizzle but torrential rain that didn't eased for five days. The flip side was instead of surfing, rockpool rambling and canoeing we were reading and learning new card games and honing our skills on existing ones. Playing games around a table is one of the things I love about camping. We laugh, we argue, we negoitate and all those skills are really important for the kids to learn because they're skills they will need out in the big, wide world.
We also did quizzes. Every day, DS2 would read out the quiz from the paper and it's amazing how much stuff we know between the four of us. The Scrabble dictionary also got a beating. So although it wasn't the most active holiday or even one of the best holidays, we had fun, a good relax and realised we could rub along together without iPads, computers or TV. (everyone is allowed their iPod for music).
And on day seven the sun did come out and all was well with the world:-)
To celebrate my latest release of Single Dad's Triple Trouble I'm giving away a copy. To be in the drawer, just tell me about your most challenging vacation!
Fiona Lowe is an Australian author who writes for the Harlequin Mills and Boon Medical Romance line and single title contemporary romances for Carina Press. When she isn't drying out soggy tents, she tries to juggle a weekend husband, two sons, writing and an out-of-control garden. For more information on Fiona, visit her at http://www.fionalowe.com. She can also be found at Facebook and Twitter
