Amaechi trip 2014 took off without much ado. Things were so hectic for Godfrey and I before we left, grandma had long gone back to *****ia. I had defined my goals for the day - leave Loxton for the 7 hour drive to Warrnambool before 8am, get to Mt Gambier for a pre scheduled lunch with family friends before 1pm and not forget any child at home. I achieved my goals, that was a miracle. Fifteen minutes into the journey a certain daughter asked whether we "were there yet". The question was repeated in turn by each child, every thirty minutes for the next seven hours. During that time, I set another goal, not to kill anyone for the next 3 weeks. Warnambool is a good place to start the ocean road trip. The whales had calved and gone the week before we got there, but we had beautiful weather during our stay and there was still enough to do with a young family. First stop : Mini Golf/ Adventure Playground. Do not listen to anything my family says, I won the mini golf round. They need to deal with it I also won the ten bin bowling and they need to accept that as well. The Tower Hill Nature Reserve was a good outing for everyone as well, the best bit in my opinion was the 1.9km hike to the last volcano. That exhausted the kids, this was my intention and it worked like a charm. The next day they were 'tired' and did not feel like going anywhere, just wanted to stay in and watch a movie, perfect! So my tip for tired parents going on family holidays - tone down the exciting activities and holiday clubs. Just find a national park somewhere with lots of steep walking trails, set them free and tell them to go for it. They learn a lot about the environment, this country, appreciate the gift of life and good health and get tired, really tired. Best of all, its free. You can thank me later. We also decided to try out Victoria's public transport and booked the vline train from Warrnambool to Colac return for a day trip. Worked very well, had the best kebab wraps and falafel in Colac with beautiful weather too. Our drive along the ocean road proper starts tomorrow. So far everything has gone well, no online grocery shopping mishaps. The GPS and I now have an understanding and i do not feel i have been discarded if Godfrey chooses to take directions from it instead of relying on my expert map reading skills, shows how far we've come, (referring to the GPS and I, not Godfrey and I).