Rockhampton

Friday 16th
In the morning a lot of the caravans left the camping spot so we moved our caravan into a corner, out of the way, unhitched and headed into Rockhampton to have a look around. First we went to the visitor centre.

This Cockatoo entertained the kids for ages. It was able to copy a lot of what they said and even told them a few things! He obviously enjoyed the kids and their excitement.

An Auston 7 was also at the visitor centre. We definitely couldn't fit all our family in that.
Then we went to the Botanical Gardens.  There is a small free zoo there so we had lunch and had a look.

 Everyone was very excited that we got to see a real Cassowary. We have seen a lot of signs on the road telling us to watch out for them but hadn't seen any in the wild. So in a zoo was good enough. They can attack you in the wild so it probably was a good thing we didn't come face to face with one.

 These Chimpanzees were funny to watch. They climbed right up the top of the wire at the same time as eating their veges! Very clever.

 These parrots were at the kiosk. They were funny to watch as they nearly went all the way in the milk shake cup. They took it in turns and really didn't care about the people around.

We then drove up to Mt Archer which was specky. At different points you could see for a long way in all directions.

This is over looking Rockhampton.

Last of all the boys and Tim went to a playground while Kimberly and I went to Woolworths.

 I think Manning is getting a free ride.

This was called the monorail and the kids had a great time on it but were exhausted when it was time to go.

It was about 5:30pm when we got back to the caravan and we had to unpack the shopping and put it away which is always a big job. So I went flat out and everyone kept out of my way like they would keep out of the way of a hurricane! Even though I was going fast I really tried not to make any mistakes as it could happen so easy. We would have to have tea in that time too which was hot chicken as they were on special. As I was packing away one of  kids were laying on our bed playing lego with their legs on the lounge. Someone had put the strawberries, the precious strawberries that I rarely buy as they are expensive but on special this time, on the lounge. In no time at all this happy lego player had swung their legs and kicked the strawberries on the steps. AHHHHHH! I raced to save them and only lost 1 out the door. That child was told to please be careful of their feet. I then kept packing away and someone had put the bag with the yoghurt on the lounge. The kid with the happy legs was still in the same position and again kicked the yoghurt out the door. AHHHHHHHH! Another thing I love! This time the yoghurt lid cracked a little and we lost a little yoghurt but not much. It could of been a lot worse. So inbetween unpacking and packing away I cut the chicken up and the salad for tea. All was going well. Manning was hungry so I asked him to bring out the container of chicken and salad and he did an excellant job of getting them to the door and I saw out the corner of my eye someone doing a backflip off the freezer and perfectly kicking the salad container out of Mannings hands and straight out the door!AHHHHHHHHHHHH! Now I stopped and looked at the salad on the ground and first of all thought it is going to take me a long time to cut up some more along with feelings of anger, I give up, noooooo, but then another thought slipped in there before I flipped out. You don't need salad for tea! I don't need salad for tea. My kids will still be healthy even if they miss out on salad tonight. So I chose to go with that last thought and not worry about it. I believe that God gave me that last thought so I had an option  to either cause tension in the air or just go on and everyone stay happy and I remain calm. Once I made that initial decision I know God helped me continue on that line of thought and allow all those feelings that were rising up to just be let go and have no affect on me. God is great at helping us with our decisions, giving us options then helping us follow them through. I REALLY like that.
So that ended a big day out.