The Wimpy walks and gold digging

To prevent any catastrophe I recommended and we completed some easier walks such as The Reeds lookout to the Balconies and the Dam wall. This attempt to lower the standard still didn't satisfy the vocal minority. They lodged a complaint regarding ‘the extreme’ nature of our holiday. it was then decided that in the interest of peace, harmony and to maintain cohesion within the family, a change direction was called for.

A day visit to Sovereign Hill was proposed and voted in. Yes, you read correctly, we decided to ignore all the activities in and around the Grampians and have chosen to undertake a 4 hr round trip to Ballarat to research the history of the gold rush in Australia! Only members of my family think like that. Some people will go to extreme lengths to avoid challenges.

I was pleasantly surprised. Sovereign Hill is a tourist village depicting the gold mining history of the 1800s. An underground tour into the mines was an eye opening experience. Life as a miner was a gamble with a life expectancy of 35-40 years. It was an all or nothing situation, either one was extremely lucky and struck gold as an independent miner or they spent their short existence working under some very harsh conditions.

We were able to see some gold/quartz underground but they wouldn't even let us touch it! Very unfair. The kids tried to pan for gold, no luck either. Apparently it is all for show, we found nothing. We were not going to be as lucky as the guy that found a nugget worth half a million dollars in 2003, just few centimeters from the surface, with a metal detector. Some people get all the luck.

Our last full day has arrived too quickly, the MODH from both family groups and Child 1 decided to have some time out in town on hired electric scooters. They said they wished to have some time out, we (wives) wished them well but did not volunteer our companionship. In my opinion, someone has to be available to drive tomorrow if the designated drivers required for our journey home break or dislocate something important.

I forgot to mention earlier that we did attempt another game of monopoly, but no clear winner emerged. Well I should rephrase, when it became clear that I was becoming cash poor to the extent that there was a very possible risk that I would become bankrupt, I had to think quickly. I declared the game over and asked the children to go to bed, it was waaaaay past their bedtime and I had to be a responsible parent. Child 1 was livid, “just after I invested all my resources buying blocks of land and building houses you declare the game over!!!!! You mean I will not even get an income from my investment?!!!” I was very sympathetic, for a few seconds. The other adults were not doing very well either so they agreed with me.

We returned home today, and it has been another successful family thingy. I was impressed, I did not forget anything at home this time. The only mishap was Child 3 had 2 toothbrushes and Child 1 had none.

Are family thingys worth it? We take our own food, our schedules are highly unpredictable, we certainly do not stay in luxury accommodation and I get worried if no one is bickering. Yes, it is worth every minute, the children grow up so quickly and each time any one of them says “remember when…….”, I have a big smile in my heart.

Godfrey Onyekachi Amaechi, you are a gem xxxxx

We resume our frantic life and work next week, we have no choice, we didn't find any gold nuggets.