Lunch and the game room

We had a nice lunch in the kitchen before heading downstairs to the game room. We had a friendly family foosball match before playing with the other toys down there. SV then wanted to go upstairs because she wanted to show us something. She ended up surprising us by playing part of a song on the guitar. We were quite amazed since we had never seen her play a guitar before.

Backyard clue hunt

SV and EV were pretty keen to explore the cottage backyard and complete the animal clue hunt. It also helped that they had both just seen the movie "Secret Garden" and this garden also had a similar feel to it as it was slightly overgrown for winter. In the end they were both chuffed to find the hidden gold coin treasure together.

Heading to the valley below

The girls were presented with a choice to keep walking along the top of the escarpment or head down to the valley below. They both chose to head down to look for waterfalls and whatnot. It was a great decision which led us on a great bushwalk through a fantastic mix of gumtrees, ferns and streams. After almost descending a kilometre we came up to a very nice waterfall where we had a break before turning around and heading back home. The girls fueled by rice crackers and gummy lollies made it back up without a complaint. EV was ever so helpful as she kept encouraging TV to go on by saying things like "Come on Thomas!" whenever he slowed down. By the time we reached home TV was sweating but EV was very satisfied with the pace.

Starting our wallk with a view

We started our walk by going along to a couple of lookouts to take in the spectacular view. 

Starting our bushwalk

We walked through the neighbourhood to reach the start of the bushwalk. The walk started at the top of the escarpment which on this day was absolutely spectacular. The clouds looked like water within the valley and combined with the ferns made the view look prehistoric. In fact it would not have surprised us to see the head of a brachiosaurus sticking out above the clouds.

Exploring the grounds

After breaky we all got ready and went outside to explore the grounds and get ready for our bushwalk. SV found that there was a animal clue hunt around the property and got quite excited at the prospect. All three girls enjoyed exploring the secret garden. They then sat down to wait for us to go for the walk while TV adjusted the backpack and KT closed up the house.

First morning at the cottage

In the morning we were greeted by a crisp sunny mountain morning. It was glorious having breakfast in the warm sunshine. The girls even ventured outside to have a seat on the upstairs porch. SV and EV then worked on a puzzle. In the meantime MV helped KT with her make up including curling their eyelashes.