La grande finale, or finishing on a high rope: Oceania Odyssey Week 22

by Dr Jocelyn Land-Murphy

If Ed hadn't already helped write a humour book about first-world problems – those trivial complaints that reveal just how fortunate we truly are, like standing in front of a full fridge and saying there's nothing to eat – this would have been a...

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Snorkelling with sharks and stingrays, by Heron and Sitka: Oceania Odyssey Week 21

by Dr Jocelyn Land-Murphy

Heron: This was such an awesome week – I can't believe we were swimming with sharks! Sitka: Me neither! They were swimming between my legs – stingrays too!

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A holiday in a vacation: Oceania Odyssey Week 21

by Dr Jocelyn Land-Murphy

A little finger poked Ed through the mosquito net, rousing him from the deepest sleep he'd had in months. It was a boy whose face looked like Christmas, birthday and ice cream all at once. “Daddy, est-ce que je peux aller nager dans l’océan?”

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The Queensland Rollercoaster: Oceania Odyssey Week 20

by Dr Jocelyn Land-Murphy

Any excuse will suffice for Ed to bolster his sons’ repertoire of 1990s rock music – and so it has been for the last five months that any semi-steep downhill we encounter on our bikes with an immediate uphill afterward, that our whole family...

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Miracle in Murwillumbah: Oceania Odyssey Week 19

by Dr Jocelyn Land-Murphy

Ed's old Boy Scout leader (aka his Dad) would be proud: we are exceptionally well prepared for just about any bicycle breakdown. Patch kit for flat tires, several extra tubes and a spare tire, new spokes and cables of all lengths, obscure tools for...

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No slowin’ down when you’ve got lots of duct tape: Oceania Odyssey Week 18

by Dr Jocelyn Land-Murphy

Our family was at a crossroads… like, an actual highway intersection, with two very different options ahead. Straight on, it was 12k of flat-and-easy to inland Grafton – the nearest main town with all the amenities – and then a short-and-simple tomorrow back to the...

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Calm after the cyclone: Oceania Odyssey Week 17

by Dr Jocelyn Land-Murphy

We awoke in our tent to the sound of an angry ocean. Ferocious and relentless, wave after wave pounded the rocky shore next to us with the full might of a king tide. The swells were eight metres high, and the curls thundered down...

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Time for Plan B: Oceania Odyssey Week 16

by Dr Jocelyn Land-Murphy

Short of a crocodile sniffing on the other side of the nylon, the most panic-inducing sound to hear in a tent in the middle of the night is a wretching six-year-old – especially when you realize there isn't a barf bucket.

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The week we turned into Aussies, by Heron and Sitka, Oceania Week 15

by Dr Jocelyn Land-Murphy

Heron: Is it true that daddy gets himself treats on blog night? Jocelyn: Yep, he bought gf chocolate chip cookies for this one. Heron: So if we write the blog instead, can we have the cookies? Jocelyn: I don't see why not...

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Glamping our way through Australia: Oceania Week 14

by Dr Jocelyn Land-Murphy

“Um, Daddy,” whispered Sitka, who had just stepped outside to take his morning ‘bush wee.’ “There’s a kangaroo outside our tent.”

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