Southern Encounter

Last weekend we took the Steamranger steamtrain to Victor Harbor and back. We teamed the trip with a visit to Goolwa where we went to a festival. This photo shows Tom and Oliver about to board the train.

Oliver and William, like typical little boys, love trains. They were very keen to explore the old steam train and open every window and door to investigate what lay behind. Here you can see William looking out our window. He was especially interested in the elaborate catches and the shutters on the windows.

Oliver was pretty keen to get to know Britta better and spent a lot of the trip doing her hair, looking through the contents of her handbag and sitting on her lap. Britta took this all with grace and good humour.

After the two hour train ride through the green Adelaide Hills we reached Goolwa. Near the railway station was an open-air market. Oliver is getting into a wine barrel. He loves the opportunity to climb into small dark spaces and in fact both he and William were climbing into the cupboards below display barbecues today at a hardware shop.

This stall captivated the attention of us all. It contained a large collection of old wares. most of them were really nostalgic icons. William of course pounced on the old phones and eventually coaxed us into buying this cream phone which actually works. We now have it in our kitchen and it has its original loud bell ringtone.

It was then time for lunch in a cafe. The boys now want to visit a cafe at every opportunity and hardly a day goes by when we don't stop in somewhere so they can have a babycino. William wasn't going to part with his new phone for a moment. Oliver made it very clear that he wanted a big drink in a glass cup with a handle!

After several vigorous turns on the jumping castle and then pausing to watch the cream bun eating contest we stopped to listen to a jazzband. If there is something that William likes just as much as phones it is CD players and speakers. He was utterly fascinated by the band's sound system and had to look at each piece of equipment in detail. He and Oliver and I danced in the warm sunshine.

Oliver was interested in the instruments.

Finally there was a display of baby animals from a local wildlife park. William cuddled this gorgeous cashmere lop-eared rabbit as if it were a teddy bear.