Naracoorte, Home Town Proud (Part 1)
A wonderful few days at my childhood home. After flying from Townsville and landing in Melbourne at 11:30pm, we walked a short but slightly traffic dangerous path to the hotel to get some sleep. The next morning we had to swap out our rental car after the engine warning light issue in Canberra and some other broken items. While waiting we went to a ninja warrior climbing gym near Melbourne Airport. Scarlett and Nora had a blast, while I stayed in the car with a sleeping Baby Hazel.
Once the rental car was sorted out around noon we started the five hour drive from Melbourne to Naracoorte, South Australia. It went as well as we could have hoped given the travel fatigue from the flight last night. We made it in one stop which was almost unbelievable. We do not dare to stop while the baby is asleep which can make the last hour of so of a trip a real challenge..
Naracoorte is my home town. I was born in Naracoorte Hospital, Mum (aka Mom) and Dad live in the same house I grew up in so it is a special place.
It is also fun to show your home town off. I always love it! The activities we did during our four day stay included:
Swimming Lake. This is now a phenomenal place. It is a massive pool for everyone to enjoy, it is free, and has a lovely sandy beach leading to a zero entry area. There is a also a concession stand that sells ice cream and popsicles which keeps the girls happy! We came here on the two hot days. When I was growing up here in the 1980s the swimming lake wasn’t anywhere near as great as it is today so I still have some ptsd from my childhood. However, it quickly subsides when we arrive at this beautiful place.
Naracoorte Caves. If you are from Naracoorte you are proud of the World Heritage listed caves and you can give anyone the pitch on how great they are. I am right there, 100%, love the caves, love the guided tours and we do it every time we can. Scarlett and Nora enjoyed it more than ever which was fun.
Sheep’s Back Museum. This is a fun museum about the regional history. There are also some cool old buildings from around the area have been relocated to this museum to provide a great experience. There are many interesting displays in each of the buildings, so it is a bit of a trip through time covering ~150 years of history in the area. The girls liked the old school house the best. Fun family time for us followed by another trip to the bakery!
Naracoorte Bakery. Love it. There is almost never a day at home that doesn’t include a trip to the bakery for breakfast, morning tea, lunch and/or afternoon tea. This trip was no different, we crushed it each day. And, it turns out Hazel loves meat pies!
Creek Walk. The path along the Naracoorte Creek is beautiful. Walking among the gum trees and through the town is really fun. We usually only make it a short way down the path before we have 2 or 3 kids piled on the stroller. Hopefully our group walking stamina increases in the years ahead!
Home. We hung out at my parents house where I grew up. Lots of grass to play on, fruit to pick and plants to water (and water) so that was all fun.
We didn’t get to do some other great things in the area this time but we will be back soon.
My home town is so special. The people, the community, the environment. Loved this time together.
