Our Pretend Australia Trip Day 20 Eden

We're having dinner at the bed and breakfast tonight.  The hosts are going to cook for us and they were very accommodating about me being vegetarian and (usually) avoiding eggs.  I actually didn't have to tell them I don't eat eggs.  They said they've noticed I avoid the egg items at breakfast.   I thought it was sweet of them to notice. 

The other guests are coming too. We're all going to eat together.

The two guys were very friendly with us this morning.   It turns out that it's not a case of them being friendlier at animal parks than they are at bed and breakfasts. I think they're just the type who need time to warm up to you.

Tim and the two guys had a great chat. He seemed to click well with them.

Jack and I paid more attention to the birds.

* * *

We had a bit of an argument.

Tim and I want to go to the Ben Boyd National Park.  Jack doesn't want to go. He remembers the last time we went to a national park...in 2009.  We went on a trail that was infested with bull ants. 

Looking back, I'm thinking we were stupid for pursuing the path.   I guess we were worried if we turned back, we'd be typical whiny and cowardly Americans.  Or maybe we expected that this was par for the course.  But after we made it alive through that part of the park, we went to a different area and it had much less bull ants.

We've promised Jack that we will turn around if we see tons of bull ants, or other scary creatures that cause painful bites and/or stings.

He's agreed to go, but very reluctantly.

* * *

We're back from the park.

We had a great time.  We held hands and sang songs from The Sound of Music. The birds sang along with us and we cuddled wild koalas.

Okay.  Maybe I'm lying a little bit.

It wasn't our best time, at least not in the beginning. 

We took the Pinnacles route.  We weren't bombarded by any scary creatures. We were bombarded by Jack recreating the Mother's Day episode of Modern Family. 

Are we there yet?

When are we going to leave?

I'm tired.

I'm hungry.

This led to me snapping at him and reminding him of all the stuff we do for him.

Oh and I threatened him, of course.  Empty threats.  If you don't stop complaining, then maybe we'll stop taking you to the places you love.   The world doesn't revolve around you.  We have to go to places we don't like sometimes  You need to do the same.

Then I did the typical thing of comparing my childhood to his.   My wishes were often buried beneath the wishes of my parents and sisters.   Jack gets to do what he wants to do much more often than I did as a child.

In some ways, I feel he deserved the scolding.  So I can't say I feel like the worst parent of the year.   But I don't like it when I raise my voice with him and I don't like feeling that anger.   And I also usually feel like a failure of a parent.  Have we spoiled him?  Is it our fault he's like that?

Remembering Modern Family helped a bit.  It kind of reminded me that kids are typically like this.   And it reminded me that parents typically react the way that I did.  

After the scolding, Jack was very apologetic.

Then I tried to make things more positive.

We looked out for animals.  We saw lizards and lots of birds.  And we saw wallabies. We were all excited about that.

The Pinnacles themselves didn't thrill us too much. They're not quite like the Pinnacles of Western Australia.  

On our walk back, Jack said.  That was fun. Can we go to more national parks?

So, I guess in the end, it all worked out quite well.

* * *

We had some lunch at a cafe...nothing memorable.

Now we're going to hang out at the beach.  

* * *

We're back from the beach.

We did some packing.

Now we're resting a bit.

* * *

We had a GREAT dinner.

I don't want to leave tomorrow.

I want to move in to the bed and breakfast.

The food was fabulous.  I started having this fantasy that we move here and Tim starts cooking with them.  He could work for the bed and breakfast!

Tim had a great time talking to the hosts about cooking.   They compared recipes and all that. Tim was able to use his snooty foodie vocabulary without people giving him quizzical looks. 

Jack and I talked to the other guests about politics.  Jack was shy at first, but then started getting into the conversation.

After dinner, the hosts went off to do their own thing. The three of us played Monopoly with the two guys.

I lost first, which was tragic.  Tim was out second.   Jack and one of the guys competed for a fairly long time.  In the end, Jack won. He was quite pleased with himself.






NOTE:  This trip journal is fictional.   We are not really in Australia.  Some stuff in these posts are based on research.  Some stuff is based on my reality.  Some stuff is based on past experiences. And some stuff is based on fantasy.   

The non-trip journal posts ARE true and real…except for my dreams (which are written in purple). 
Oh...and also....my 2009 trip reports are about a real trip to Australia.  That's all true too.