Happy feet

Hear me! There's not enough love in the world. Turn to the penguin next to you, put your flippers up, fluff him up a little bit and give him a great big hug!' - Happy Feet the Movie

We were sorry to leave the luxuries of Perth and indeed, after Asia and thus far, Australia has been one amazing holiday. We took a plane to Melbourne and then drove south to Philip Island where we met up with Cathy,Will, Jack Lucy and Freddie. I was beyond excited to see them. Despite enjoying meeting up with various friends along the way, Cathy is one of my oldest and best friends and it was immensely cathartic and rewarding to spend four days with her and her family. It was as if we had never left.

Having done a lot of solo running over our travels I particularly enjoyed running with Cathy again. We have run together for years, often training together for various events and are good running partners. We chatted as we ran and as we did I felt any little niggle or worry fall away. Not that I have much to concern myself about in this beautiful country BUT it is good to talk. Old friends are the best. The children absolutely loved catching up with their friends too. Jack is really growing up and is clearly very sporty playing some great cricket on the beach. Lucy (who is looking after Eliza's hamster) is full of life and fun and Freddie, who is Alfie's age, is a delight and another lego fan.

Philip Island is well known for its colony of little penguins and we made sure we spent one evening taking the time to visit 'Penguin Parade' and watch these little birds come in from the sea to their burrows on the beach. I am beginning to learn that when you see animals in their more natural environment they don't always perform for the audience and this was the case here with the promised thousands of penguins falling a little short. The ones we did see, however, were absolutely gorgeous and the children loved watching them waddle off the beach, giving them names and characters. We can learn a lot from penguins. They stick together and it's a known (and adorable) fact that penguins huddle together when temperatures plummet mutually benefitting from a hug. For me, those four days with Cathy and her family were warm and familiar, I felt embraced into one big hug.

Highlights of our four days together included partaking in a park run on a beautiful island (Churchill Island), star gazing on a clear night, an early Easter egg hunt, and hosting Cathy's brother and family (who Fred knew from school) on the Sunday. As with all good things they must come to an end and as we waved goodbye I felt that all familiar pit in the bottom of my stomach.

Goodbyes are so hard but I had to shake out of it as we had a long journey ahead. Our road trip from Philip Island to Jervis Bay (just shy of 1000 kilometres) was long and slow. The speed limit and roads in Australia are not set up for speedy driving so we stopped at Lakes's Entrance and Tathra, both part of the Sapphire Coast, on the way. The Sapphire Coast, part of Australia I hadn't seen much of, is really spectacular. We were out of season for whales but saw koalas, dolphins, seals, sting rays - all in their natural habitat. A nature lovers heaven. If you ask the children though what their favourite part was it would be the Flying Fox. Not an animal sadly but a zip wire over a lake in the forest we were staying in. I was terrified. But for the kids, they wanted to go time and time again. Even Olivia.

The Flying Fox is representative of a few things I am noting on this trip. Firstly that some of the amazing things we are seeing and doing is lost on the children. They don't really want to trudge five kilometres for a view or for a whale's tail. Eliza's love of wildlife apart (and her eagle eye at spotting animals), they sometimes prefer the zoo as it means you see more of the animal in question. But, as the Flying Fox proved, they do love pushing their own limits.

Ultimately all we want is for the children to be the best versions of themselves and we are , throughout this journey, finding out exactly what those selves are and the differences between them all. Despite these differences they are growing in confidence, of that there is no doubt. They are fearless, swimming in rough seas, jumping waves and giving everything a go. I was always such a nervous child and would have hated things like the Flying Fox. I am so glad that my children appear to have their father's courage

Next stop Jervis Bay and seeing our friends Candy and Boog Jenkins. After a few days on the road with long distances to cover, tempers were fraying and we couldn't get there fast enough! And what a welcome we received, a long way to travel but some very happy feet.

"A penguin cannot become a giraffe, so just be the best penguin you can be" - Gary Vaynerchuk