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Travel @ home – imaginary journeys of a 4 year old

February 20, 2013 in Everyday, Inspiration with 0 Comments

Lion

Lion (Photo credit: fatedsnowfox)

My 4 year old daughter asked me today if I would go on a trip with her to see the lions.

The zoo would be a first stop but I think we’re going to do a multitude of things, some ideas came to mind, as you can travel through discovery by

  • books,
  • internet,
  • creating a lion out of lego,
  • pretending to be on a safari in the garden
  • drawing, finger painting, collages
  • going to the zoo
  • … and there will be plenty more (ideas welcome)

and then when she is a bit older do the real thing in Africa or India .

I love the idea that my daughters imagination can also take me on her journey and look forward to discovering lions with her.

 

Lion

Lion (Photo credit: fatedsnowfox)

 

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A day at the tennis – fun for Dad and the kids

January 20, 2013 in Inspiration, Sport with 0 Comments

Roger Federer returning against Evgeny Korolev...

I love the big Grand Slams, and have been lucky enough to have gone to each of the Big 4 at least once, and having lived in London 10 years and Melbourne a few years to Wimbledon and the Australian Open many times.

I want to expose my kids to the international atmosphere, the buzz of the crowd and the excitement of watching the worlds best play for the ultimate prize.

Thus this is the second year I’ve taken all 3 of my kids to the Australian Open.  We buy a family ground pass (about $90), take the day off work during the first week of the tournament and then spend the day from opening at 10am till dinner time at 6/7pm.. the kids can get tired by the end as its a full day.

And the Aussie Open makes a real effort to make the tournament kid friendly.  Case in point the excellent kids fun day on the Saturday before the start of the tournament – which my kids loved – is now firmly on our calendar.

Things my kids loved definetly included

Sponsors giveaways – from chocolate milk (off the train on the walk to the gates), Ski yogurt tubs to Cadbury chocolate getting little treats is a kid favourite

Giveaways

Sponsors games - RFID enabled smart cards are now mainstream  and we kept them around our necks to checkin to activities from Kia’s racecar simulator to Optus’s speed serve.  The kids also loved the studio in a box approach that seemed to be everywhere having their photos taken on court, at locations around Victoria..etc

Winners trophy?

Minicourts - for having a hit. Tennis Australia is making a big push to get more kids into the game and so had a few courts set up for quick 4 minute hits.  My mini Federer and Williams had a ball. And the sand court was  a bit of fun as well.

Beach tennis?

Player favourites - my seven year old son was keen on Andy Murray for the first half the day, had a photo in front of a poster of Andy to seal it until he found David Ferrer in a practice session and changed is number one status… Andy is now no 2.

Court time - I won’t lie and say sitting to watch matches is my kids favourite.  They’ll watch for bursts of 30 minutes at a time but then having an ipod/games and some snacks on hand is the only way to get through a whole set for us. While I love being on some of the main courts for first day singles we’ve found outside courts and doubles matches also allow the kids to make a bit more noise and feel like they have a bit more scope to move around (my kids have troubkle with the keep quiet during play and luckily tennis stands are now much louder than they use to be)

Sunny in the stands....

Food - while like any sporting event the food is likely to be twice as expensive and half as good as what ou can get outside, we pack a picnic lunch to be eaten in the stands while play is on (and a kids mouth chewing is pretty quiet) supplemented by sponsor snacks and buying an icecream on a hot day.

Have a great day at the tennis!

Coaching your kids – my 7 year old daughters new basketball team.

July 31, 2011 in Inspiration with 0 Comments

I love sport, playing, watching (on TV or live) and now with three kids, coaching.

I don’t mind what sports my kids play, I just want them to have fun and enjoy playing.  I’ve been trying and exploring new sports all my life from tennis and basketball growing up to trying kitesurfing, petanque and sailing in recent years and watching everything from curling (that favourite winter olympic sport) to Gaelic football (well what wouldn’t appeal in a mix of Australian Rules football and soccer/football).  I’d like to think my kids will enjoy trying new things, working out new sports, making team mates and having fun.

My 7 year old daughter, the oldest of my kids, has recently decided she wanted to Continue Reading…

Why we love airplanes, airshows and all things flying? Our afternoon at RAAF museum Point Cook.

February 20, 2011 in Family, Inspiration with 1 Comment

The same reason why many of us harbour the desire to have the secret ability to fly. 

Its Freedom, Speed, Diving,… 

and there we were listening to Darcy O’Connor, a retired Air Force pilot now flying Airbus jets for Jetstar, one of

Mustang at Point Cook

Mustang from RAAF Museum air display

Australia’s budget airlines. But on weekends he still gets a buzz talking to groups of kids and adults and putting on a short display of aerobatics at the RAAF Air Force base at Point Cook, just outside of Melbourne – the longest continuous operational Air Force base anywhere in the world.

The plane being put through its paces today was a Mustang, built at Fisherman’s Bend in Australia in the 1950’s as the only place outside of the USA licensed for production.  With a huge 12 cylinder Merlin engine, this plane had speed and endurance and as it completed loops and high speed rolls above us as a dad I couldn’t help wish that I had learnt how to fly as a kid. As Darcy returned to the ground in the Mustang my 7 year old daughter asked “Dad, when can I learn to fly”

Flying

Mustang in flight

I imagine amongst the group there to watch the display this weekend, it was a common thought for kids and adults alike. 

The air displays are a regular (and clearly popular) attraction at Point Cook with displays at 1pm each Tuesday, Thursday and Sundaythroughout the year with regular aircraft featured including the Winjeel, Harvard, CT4A, Sopwith Pup replica, Tiger Moth and Mustang. In addition visiting aircraft such as the DC3, Bird Dog or even a modern PC-9 can sometimes be seen. 

RAAF museum

RAAF Museum - military transport display

The adjacent museum capped of the display with some history of the RAAF and several hangars of aircraft. Next door was a hangar showing how restoration of these historic aircraft takes place. 

Flying boat at RAAF Museum

And if you really want more then airshows featuring military, commercial and historic aircraft and aerobatics and regular events at cities around the worlld including world famousFarnborough show in England or the Paris (Le Bourget) show in France.  The USA also has a long season of shows including for example Miramar Airshow in October or Aviation Nationat Nellis AFB every November.  In Australia try catching the Avalon airshow held every 2 years and just down the road from Point Cook towards Geelong.

The RAAF Museum is a 25-minute drive south-west from Melbourne. Air displays and museum entry is free and the museum is open Tuesday to Friday: 10am–3pm;  Weekends and Public Holidays: 10am–5pm. 

If you want to extend your day the point cook area just next to the Air Force base is the Point Cook Coastal Park, with walking trails and great views across Port Phillip Bay back to Melbourne as well as a wetland area teeming with bird life.  Not far away is Weribee park and the open plains zoo.

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From below – your options to see the Titanic?

October 29, 2010 in Above or Below, Inspiration, Travel with 0 Comments

The Mir submersible

Mir submersible for viewing Titanic in the Atlantic

Most people know the story of the Titanic, the “unsinkable” ship that sunk on its maiden voyage after hitting an iceberg crossing the Atlantic in 1912.  The story has been retold many times and in abundance since the rediscovery of the ship on 1 September 1985 by American and French research vessels, which has led to numerous expeditions being mounted to investigate the wreck. You’ve probably seen the Oscar winning movie and in recent years there seems to be a Titanic exhibition popping up everywhere hosting some of the objects that have been recovered from the wreck site, survivors or the onslaught of time and sea water.

I recently visited Titanic: The Artefact Exhibition in Melbourne which has been sold out for months and its season had to be extended.  Sailing away in November it will move to another part of the world to retell the story while enabling people to see some of the items from the ship recovered from the ocean floor. A quick search online tells me that over the past 15 years, more than 22 million people have seen this exhibition in major cities worldwide – from Chicago to Los Angeles and Paris to Dublin.  And starting in November London is next to stage it over 6 months at the O2 arena.

Whats more with the 100 year anniversary of the fateful sailing in 2012, expect to be hearing much more about the Titanic in the coming year. For starters a Titanic Memorial Cruise, meant as a tribute to those who lost their lives, will cross the Atlantic arriving where the liner sunk on the 100 year anniversary (April 14/15) for a remembrance service.  Already sold out more than 500 days before it will sail, the 12 night cruise will follow the Titanic’s original itinerary. Travelling the other direction Voyages! Titanic 2012 cruise will depart Boston, Massachusetts, on April 9  2012.

Titanic wreck

But nothing would be quite the same as getting up close to the remains of the Titanic lying on the ocean floor.  The IMAX film Ghosts of the Abyss might provide some impression of the scale of the adventure required to explore the wreckage inside and out, but if you have the means then the Great Canadian Adventure Company can help.  Running from Newfoundland, exhibitions on the Russian Research vessel, Akademik Keldysh, travel to the wreck site and then aboard the MIR I and II submersibles will take you down underwater nearly 2.5 miles to the wreck site.  At US$54500 for an 11 day adventure, it’s the price paid for being one of the first non scientists (or movie makers) to see the wreck of the Titanic up close.

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