Starting 2020 Down Under

Hello to all of our customers old and new. And a massive Happy New Year from us at Clitheroe Security. Sorry for the quietness, as some of you know we have been having a family Christmas in Australia. Starting 2020 down under. We arrived home a couple of days ago. I thought the first post of 2020 should be a personal one about our time in the sunny Gold Coast. It is only a snippet of what we got up to as I could go on for hours and a day.

Flying High on Christmas Eve

We set off from Home on Christmas Eve, arriving in Australia on Christmas day night. I bet many of the parents reading this are wondering how we coped with a toddler on the 24 hour flight. Well let me just share that Axll, is a very, lets say inquisitive 2 year old, so i was most definitely dreading it. He was amazing, they all were. Apart from the dreaded travel sickness that they decided to acquire on route to Dubai. They arrived in Australia in nothing short of underwear. Epic mum fail not packing enough clothes to travel in but hey ho.

Nothing quite makes you more proud as a parent, than when strangers come up and praise your children, on how well behaved they are. We flew with Emirates. The on board entertainment kept us all occupied. We didn’t miss out on a Christmas lunch either, it wasn’t delicious but it looked the part haha.

Upon arrival we were greeted by our fabulous family whom we stayed with for 3 weeks. We adore spending time with Terry, Michelle and the children. And miss them like mad when we are apart. Jet lag is abit of a killer, especially with 3 small children to contend with. It did take us a few days to adjust to the time difference. So the first couple of days were spent by the pool.

We were lucky enough to celebrate our nephews 3rd Birthday whilst we were out there too. Making memories is so important to us as a family. So celebrating milestones with family that are on the the other side of the world means so much. Michelle is the ultimate birthday cake maker. And Harley is the biggest dinosaur fan ever, he had his little heart set on a dinosaur cake. Michelle did an excellent job, it was fantastic. It almost encouraged me to make my own for the boys, almost!!!

I took my balloon arch making skills global and made Harley a dinosaur balloon arch. Between us, you will have to agree that we did a spectacular job. It was a brilliant day.

Dreamworld

I really do love Dreamworld. So its having a full paragraph. There is so much to see and do there. Animals, water park, theme park. As we were there for 3 weeks we purchased an annual pass, so that we could go several times. I don’t really know where to start on what we did in Dreamworld so its going to be easier to just share some pictures with a little bio under each one. So here goes.

Our boys absolutely love the Madagascar films, so were more than happy to see all the characters. There is a roller coaster too, which Arlo, our 6 year old was just tall enough to ride, so being top parents we put him on it. What would be the worst that could happen?

This particular day we took 5 children on our own. We managed to keep them hydrated, fed and entertained for a full day.

Maybe we should offer childcare as well as  CCTV . . .

Well here you see 3 adults on a pretty horrific ride. I was more than happy to mind the children. Enjoy that.

I could literally share pics all day long of Dreamworld. But i must control myself. One of the best parts of the park is being able to get close to the animals. Arlo absolutely loves seeing the kangaroos. Hes such an animal lover. Here is our handsome Lou.

Beach Days

We had loads of beach days at several different locations, all amazing for many reasons. One which we visited most was Surfers Paradise. We went here loads. We love the beach, the atmosphere and I personally enjoyed the retail therapy. We would get the tram from Helensvale, another experience the boys loved, as we don’t use much public transport back home.

Louie particularly enjoyed jumping the waves here. I was a nervous wreck. Arlo got stung off a creature one evening, that was the most drama we had for the entire 3 weeks. Surfers Paradise is a full day out. We would go for lunch, have a nice meal, head to the shops. Have a couple of hours at the beach and then walk down the front on an evening. One evening Axll got given a balloon sword so obviously had to attack a few people along the way in true Axll style.

With the Dreamworld annual pass we also had access to the Q1 Observation Deck. This is in Surfers Paradise also. The views were spectacular, as were Axlls toddler tantrums. Lots of people expecting a lovely lunch with views. And we roll up with a ratty 2 year old. Sorry people. Arlo and Louie loved being so high. Especially seeing that we were higher than the helicopters flying by. It was stressful. But definitely worth it.

Another beach day was by Broadwater. Where Louie went on a fabulous obstacle course on the water. Tired him out if nothing else. The hotel in the background is where all the celebs go when they leave the jungle on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.

 Whilst Lou was enjoying himself here Arlo and Axll played happily on the beach. Arlo made a friend. Axll terrorized him. I think that you’re probably guessing that we have our hands full with Axll. . . We also visited Byron Bay.

 

Somewhere I’ve always been keen to visit. And it definitely didn’t disappoint. We had a magical day by the beach. Which was stunning. The whole place reminded me of Cornwall. We even managed to squeeze in a parent pic.

Ships Ahoy

We had a family day out on Terrys boat. Arlo was petrified, and yup you guessed it. Axll couldn’t get closer to the edge. In fact he was hanging over with his hands in the spray.

Louie had a drive of the boat which. We had lunch on an island and were joined by some smashing looking wildlife. It was huge, and apparently hungry.

The Last Day

We didn’t fly home until the early hours so we had a busy last day. Feeding turtles, Axll obviously got bit off one. We then tackled Lous Christmas present from Terry and Michelle. A rocket. This was heaps of fun. Stressful getting it together with 6 excited children, and 2 grown up men, whom were equally as excited. Michelle and I bossed it standing back and taking pictures. Following from this we headed home to pack. We gained skateboards, scooters, toys and managed to pack it all. Whoop whoop.

No Rest For The Wicked

Whilst we were away Clive fit an Ajax Alarm System on Terry and Michelle’s property. This is something relatively new to us at Clitheroe  Security and is available to view via our Facebook page. Thanks for taking the time to read a snippet of our time in Australia. We are a family run business and take pride in sharing abit about ourselves. We are settled back in the showroom now, ready to take on 2020. So bob in, we are at 14 Wellgate Clitheroe BB7 2DP or call us on 01200 760603 for all of your CCTV Systems, TV Aerial, Satellite and TV Wall Mounting needs.