Motorbikes!

 One of Tess's first turns

 Tom on the bike

We left the Megalong Valley and headed to the farm where the children were finally to ride on the motorbike that we bought them.  Jules had to head back to Sydney for the first night so it was Craig and I who were responsible for the first lessons in motorbike riding and I was glad Craig was with me because he ran beside the children each ride that first day in case they had a stack.  The kids were amazing in taking turns - Hunter was a complete natural and Craig and I were glad we thought to tighten the throttle in order to restrict how fast the bike could go!  Tess was very diligent in her bike riding listening carefully to the instructions and following them precisely.  Tom was slightly more gung-ho but still relatively cautious, a consistent theme since he broke his arm.  

Tess riding in the paddock

The second day we set up a track in the flattest paddock on the farm and they got much braver.  After that, as long as an adult was present, they were allowed to go where they liked although they generally restricted themselves to riding up to the second gate.  I also challenged myself and finally learned how to ride the quad bike which is a lot of fun.  

 Hunter, Tess, Tom and Fletcher at Dunns Swamp

Tom and Hunter at Dunns Swamp

The weather got hotter and hotter so we decided to explore Dunns Swamp one morning.  It was a beautiful setting and the water was very cold but that didn't stop Tom from taking a dip.  

It was the first couple of days of consistently warm weather up at the farm and this resulted in all the local snakes coming out of hibernation.  We've only ever seen 2 red-bellied black snakes up at the farm and they were a long way from the farmhouse however, one afternoon Lisa and I were on the deck reading magazines when Fletcher shouted "there's a snake".  We ran round to the other side of the house and sure enough there was a 2 metre brown snake heading directly for the house - brown snakes are naturally aggressive and will attack if provoked rather than run away.  Craig grabbed a nearby shovel and started pounding the ground in front of the snake.  Fortunately this did the trick and he continued pounding the ground and heading the snake away from the house.  Jules ran to find another shovel and we chased the snake far away from the house.  Later that day we saw another 2 red-bellied black snakes - Tom actually rode past one on the motorbike and fortunately didn't stop for a closer look!  We've never worried too much before because of Gary the Goanna who lives in the roof and therefore should in theory keep the snake population under control but we're close to firing him and may block off his access to the roof if his snake eating doesn't improve!  

Jules tried out his birthday swag for the first time.  The first night he had Tom with several mosquito bites on his leg in the swag and therefore didn't sleep much on account of the scratching.  The second night the temperature dropped down to about 8 degrees and even with his super cozy sleeping bag he struggled to keep warm.  The third night he was kept awake by all the noisy animals including an echidna that he watched by torch light.  The fourth night he slept in the farm house.