Big trips with little people...part 4

The final part of our trip was our trip to Sydney.  The whole family did this together which was brilliant.  We stayed in a Radisson hotel in the financial district, and they stayed in a rented apartment near the Opera house.  We almost didn't make it though - we got a text a few hours before the flight saying it had been cancelled.  So after a very stern phone call from Uncle D, we got on the flight before  instead.  Luckily we are the kind of people who pack the night before cos we had to leg it to the airport!

Once we got there though it was just amazing.  Our first stop was Jamies Italian for dinner, which was the perfect way to start.  Amazing food and a buzzy atmosphere.  Perfect for bringing kids.  That's when Tilly became addicted to my phone and the since then she has to have the phone when we are at restaurants.  I feel a bit bad, but it does allow us to have that extra glass of wine and not have to inhale the food!  

The next day we went to the Sydney tower and saw the whole city from 305 meters - the highest observation deck in the southern hemisphere!  We walked through Hyde Park, stopped by Captain Cook's statue, went into the Australian Museum to see an old friend of mine (without luck as we missed her)  and then headed down to meet the family for sun downers at the Opera House.  Breathtaking!

Husby and the other men did the Harbour bridge climb which was a 3 hour climb all along the bridge - amazing but nothing for me.  So us ladies did a little shopping instead.  It started off well but then ended with Tilly having her worst tantrum yet!  Actually both her and I had a meltdown which resulted in me abandoning G and N and finding a quiet spot for the 2 of us to cool off.  She eventually fell asleep and I walked from Paddington back to the Opera house which took - wait for it - 50 minutes!  Anyway I got to see that cool part of town, uninterrupted!  That night Tilly stayed with Max and Nadine so husby and I could go out with D and G for an adult dinner, which was great craic altogether.  Tilly had a gas with the guys and we left a little glossary of Swedish words she might say just in case things got confusing!

On our last full day we decided to focus on the beaches and started with Bondi.  It was not exactly what I had fantasised but it wasn't high summer so I think it had to do with that.  Nevertheless it was great to be outside on the beach and Tilly could totally have a day just for her.  Later we caught the boat to Manley where we played on the beach and built sand castles.

We took the boat back at the perfect time and got to enter the city harbour at sunset.  It was magical and the perfect way to end almost 3 weeks in Australia.  Later on we had dinner together a cool burger place since we had been obsessing about Mikes Kitchen burgers the entire day....drank lots of cocktails and wine to make the sad goodbye much easier to manage.
Thank you Australia and thank you lovely family....Until next time x

Big trips with little people...part 3

G'day mate!  Yes I've found the energy the write more about our trip down under.  This was the best part of the holiday and why the whole trip took place really.  After many trips to Stockholm from my aunt and uncle and their kids, we were repaying the favour and seeing how things worked on the Gold Coast.  They live in a lovely house on the water with brilliant views and lots of space.  Just like I remember from growing up in Margate in South Africa.
It was the perfect set up and a good change from staying in the hotel in Singapore.  We had a big room for the 3 of us and Tilly had a nice big bed.  We ate home cooked meals every night and could follow a more 'normal' routine.  Plus there was the bonus of the 2 lovely big doggies - Blinky and Pretty.  Definitely Tilly's favourites, but I wouldn't say the same for husby!  They just loved hanging around him all day but I don't think he enjoyed it as much!

We spent most of our time sight seeing and doing fun day trips.  We went to Surfers Paradise (views from the Q1 building ), Byron Bay (my personal favourite) and Brisbane.

We did lots of fun things for Tilly like Sea World and visiting the Koala and Kangaroo sanctuary.  Tilly got to meet Dora at Sea World and see all the interesting fish and birds.  She fed the kangaroos which she wasn't scared of at all.  It was brilliant.  We got our photo taken with a koala, which husby got to hold.  We ate ice-cream, went on rides and generally had a fantastic time. 

She formed a major crush on Max, my cousin and they had super fun times even though he doesn't speak Swedish, cos somehow she didn't speak any English the whole trip!  So now I just have to convince him to come and live in Stockholm to be our new nanny!

We ate our way through the trip too!  We started everyday with smoked trout and avocado for breakfast.  Stopped off at a cafe for a yummy flat white.  We ate the best ribs at Mikes Kitchen, amazing sushi, went out for dinner just me Gail and Nadine for some posh nosh at a place called Truffle.  Had the most divine pork roast with crackling at a rustic farm house and my personal favourite which was the classic home cooked Lebanese food, just like Granny made - well almost!

But mostly it was just fun to hang out with my family and let them spend time getting to know Tilly.  She formed great relationships with each of them so it felt really easy.  She didn't even know she was so far away from home and kept saying how she loved 'Stralia'.  

                              

Convenient Sweden...

Lately I've just realised that Sweden is definitely ahead of anywhere when it comes to efficiency and organisation.  There is a plan behind everything and it's made to be convenient and easy for everyone to follow the rules.
For instance...

• You can pay with credit card in a taxi - amazing!  
• Once you have ordered a cab from a particular company, they store your number and when you call again from the same location, you automatically get collected there with a click of a button!
• You can pay to use the public toilets by SMS - so even if you don't have any coins you can fix it

• You can buy things from a vending machine with a SMS.
• You can pay for local transport by SMS.
• And even better a monthly travel card entitles you to unlimited use of every form of city transport.
• There is a recycle room in every apartment block.
• All apartments have there only storage room in the basement measuring about 5m2.
• When you use a disposable BBQ in the parks, beaches etc.  There are special BBQ bins to get rid of them.

 I'm sure I've forgotten loads more amazing conveniences, and I'd love to hear if you can find more or know other countries which have fun things like this....
Go Sweden!

Working girl....

 

So it's official, I'm a working mother for real!  I tasted it briefly for a few months last spring when I travelled 3 days a week abroad and worked in the office the other 2 - and let me tell you I didn't enjoy it.  But that was when husby was on paternity leave and I knew our girl was at home all the time.  Now she is at dagis and I really miss our time together.  Now I'm around mostly for the stressful stuff like getting ready in the morning, leaving the house and making sure she is happy when I leave her there.  Then I see her again when I need to cook, get her bathed and sorted for bed.  It doesn't quite have that fun edge it used to have.  In saying that, I really love my new job and my new colleagues - so it will just have to grow on me.  And hats off to all those women who never had the choice I had to take time off.  You're all great!

Big trips with little people...part 2

Now this is a different face - the faces of happy people having a great time on our big adventure.  Here are a few highlights and low lights of our trip:

It started in Singapore where we stayed in a fantastic hotel Marina Mandarin which I highly recommend.  It has a pool and loads of restaurants and an amazing atrium.

We enjoyed drinks in the bar each night while Tilly slept (praise the lord for good baby monitors).  The service is impeccable and everyone speaks brilliant English, so it's really easy getting around and getting what you need.  Singapore is on the equator so its always 30 degrees and intensely humid, so it takes some getting used to.  Luckily there is AC everywhere so it makes it easier.  Food is brilliant and loads of variety.

We went to the famous Raffles hotel and had a Singapore Sling and saw the most amazing architecture and shopping malls.  Everything is so clean and modern and you really see that Singapore is a wealthy country.

We went to the Zoo which is one of the biggest in the world and it's a whole days event.  It even opens at night for a nighttime safari.  Tilly loved this and saw amazing animals.

Bay South park is an amazing park which has just been built and sits right in front of the highly luxurious Marina Bay Sands hotel - Wow! It was way to hot to enjoy the park so we spent time in the hotel/mall to get some relief.

                                      

                                      

There was one day when we wanted to go to China Town and eat food from stalls and really get down with the locals.  That could have been the worst day.  It was way too hot, we were tired and the pavements were full of shite that you couldn't push the pram.  Here the menu's are not in English and everything was just too much for us.  A major dash for the subway and back into air conditioned areas and into some burger joint showed that we are not maybe the travel die-hards we thought we were!

The great part of the trip was that we were coming back for 2 days on the way home.  So it meant anything we didn't get to see the first time, we could catch on the way back.  I highly recommend Singapore as a destination and would totally go back without Tilly one day, because its got a great bar/restaurant vibe which we missed.

Big trips with little people...part 1

You see that face, that's the face of someone who is wondering if they have done the right thing by dragging their 31 month old child on a trip from Sweden to Australia, stopping in Singapore!
When we planned this trip last summer already, it didn't seem like a big deal, but as it got closer to the departure date and Tilly's toddler tantrums started setting in, I really wondered what it was going to be like.  In general, bar a few dodgy moments, everything went really well and she and ourselves managed  a really full three and a half weeks of non-stop travel and excursions.  So here are some of the highlights and tips on how to make things that bit smoother.  I however wouldn't recommend a trip like this every year as you only need another holiday when you get back.  Take it from my neighbour, they go to Hawaii every year with 2 kids and Hawaii don't seem so exotic anymore :)

Firstly split responsibilities between you and your mate, this will ease the stress.  Husby was in charge of the travel arrangements, hotels, visas, money - you know guy stuff, and I was in charge of the girly stuff like the kid!

Make a really thorough list of what you will pack at least 2 weeks beforehand.  This will give you time to buy whatever is missing.  I bought some small items like books, puzzles and lollipops which I wrapped as gifts for Tilly for when the boredom set in.  Plan to buy a small toy at the airport as a treat for good behaviour.  This goes a long way.  I always pack small books called Pixi books which are the perfect size for keeping in your bag, in fact I don't leave home without these at any time!
 Upload your iPhone with kids apps like puzzles and Talking Tom, but make sure they can be used on flight mode and block all app purchases so you don't get a huge bill!

 Have a good size handbag to fit nappies, wipes, extra change of clothes and socks, dummies (makes sure husby has a spare too), the gifts, snacks (make sure you have a good amount of these - rice cakes, raisins, fruit, Ella's, almonds, cookies etc) a spoon, tissues, painkillers for you and the kid, your charger with a universal adapter, crayons, a thin blanket, a small pillow, a woolly hat (it can be really cold on the plane) and the kitchen sink!  Trust me on a 12 hour flight you really want to have everything at hand!

Don't take clothes for the full time you'll be gone.  Plan to do a bit of laundry and re-use some pieces and of course do a little shopping for some new ones.  Remember that on long flights with proper airlines, the total is 60kg's regardless of how much each bag weighs.  So you can get away with buying a few extra items :)  As we were staying in hotels for a lot of the time, I packed a few easy toys like puzzles, princess dress and a portable DVD player with some films.  And we bought the odd toy while we were there.  Take a pair of wellies for the little one.  She wore hers a lot on trips to the zoo and walks in the parks after it rained.  You need to be out and about and want to be comfortable.

Pack a good medicine bag for the trip for yourselves too.  I needed painkillers, plasters, extra contact lenses, tweezers, mosquito repellent, Vick's, ear buds and rescue remedy!  Of course most things can be bought, but take those special things that you can only find at home and avoid meltdowns.

We talked a lot with Tilly about the trip ahead of time and showed her pictures of where we were going.  We also told her the rules for each big adventure we had.  Like at the airport we need to stay close to each other because there are so many people, Billingsworth (her favourite friend) would be going through security too and she should inform him of that, and the pilot wouldn't take off without everyone wearing a seat belt.  The same for taxi's, restaurants and hotels.  The more she knew ahead, the more proud she was of doing it right.  It was normally then that she got a small present to say thank you for being so good.
Have a little pep talk between the two of you too and let each other know that they are doing great.  It can be hard to remember everything and airports and planes are stressful places, so its nice to get on with your loved one and not bicker about everything!

                                 

Make sure you pre-order a kids meal just in case your kid doesn't like the food.  We travelled Singapore airlines and most of the meals have an Asian influence which can be spicy.  If you don't pre order it you cant get it.  We didn't and I regret it.  Whoever will be spending most time with the kid should definitely sit on the aisle cos you will need to move around and get things easily.  We thought sitting at one of the front rows with just the wall in front of you would be better, so Tilly could lie on the floor, but this is not allowed so its not really the best seat.  The arm rests don't come up so that made it difficult for her to lie stretched out.  Take advantage of the free bar and watch the movies while your kid sleeps - it makes the trip much more fun and sleep you'll get eventually!

This way of doing things really worked for us and I'm really proud of ourselves and thankful for having such an amazing man and daughter who made it easy and 99.9% enjoyable!  The 0.1% was not being able to sit in first class!!

Love you Husby x