Saturday, November 20, 2004

Great day of quality time

Wow, what a huge day we had today. Cain went of to “Challenge” camp yesterday, to Sovereign Hill, Ballarat. He will be gone four days and I miss him already. Challenge is an amazing group, supporting kids with cancer and their siblings. This morning we woke up and decide that we could not let such a good day pass us by while Dylan is well and out of hospital. We rang a few friends in the country, but they were busy, then Tim a crazy idea to drive to Mount Gambier – I think a 10 hour round trip is a bit ambitious at 10:30am! So we left the house and decided to take a trip to Phillip Island. On the way we saw flight tours at Tooradin airway, so we called in. Next thing I know, we are all in a light plane flying over Phillip Island for half an hour! It was fantastic. We had a great Pilot called Marcus and the staff there gave us the flight at a reduced rate. Dylan loved it and wanted to go again. He was looking at planes in the sky and said “Look mum, that plane just dropped bombs!” We then had to explain to Dylan that they were sky divers and not bombs, he loved watching them land and said “No way am I doing that” needless to say, I agreed with Dylan! We then set off towards Phillip Island and we stopped at San Remo for lunch at the local pub where Dylan played a game off pool and a few video games. After that we crossed the bridge onto Phillip Island and I thought it would be a good idea to call into the Tourist building to see if we could get him a boat ride somewhere. The lady explained that we had missed the only boat that left the island to look at seals but she asked if we were going to see the fairy penguins. I told her that due to Dylan’s condition he may be too tired by the time the penguins come to shore. Then the most amazing thing happened. The lady told me that her father had died of cancer and she would like to give us free tickets to see the penguins! Not only did she give us free tickets but she gave us the premium tickets which meant we got a free drink and got to go onto the best view platform with less people for Dylan to be around. That was over $60 worth! She then gave me a seal soft toy to give to Dylan. Some people really amaze you with their generosity, I took her name and address so that I could send her a personal thank you note and a photo of Dylan. The penguins didn’t start until the sun came down at about 8:30pm, so we visited the wildlife park, where Dylan fed kangaroos and wallabies by hand. He loves kangaroos, especially the baby ones in the pouches. Than we took a trip to the Grand Prix track and went through the motor museum, we got in for free as they were closing up for the day. Then we drove around for a while so Dylan could have a sleep in the car before we headed towards the penguin parade. The Penguins were so cute and we did have a great viewing platform. Dylan was about 30cm away from a penguin. It was freezing cold but we loved watching them appear from the ocean and walk up the beach towards their burrows. At about 9pm we headed home and of course Dylan slept the whole way home. Tomorrow we are going to visit Donna and Rose. They live in the country a few hours away, so Dylan will get another whole day trip in tomorrow, including a lovely country drive! I took heaps of photos and will put them in the sites album over the next few days.