Botanical Gardens

Now that we are FINALLY done with house-hunting we went to have some fun. The boys and I packed a picnic lunch and took off to explore the Botanical Gardens while we still live next door to them.

They are beautiful, full of so many exotic plants and trees that we didn't know which way to look.

We finally saw a kookaburra up close. They are a member of the kingfisher family and quite striking in appearance.

We also saw an amazing crested cockatoo but I couldn't get a picture of it. I did get a nice picture of a noisy Bell Mynah. It is pretty but obnoxiously loud. It's call is a dinging, metallic noise that sounds like the sonar ping of a submarine in a movie.

What do you pack for an Australian picnic with kids? A favorite Australian lunch -- mousetraps. What's a mousetrap you ask? A slice of bread, with margarine, vegemite, cheese and toe-mah-toe. Usually grilled but for the picnic served cold. Why it is a mousetrap? You fold the slice of bread in half trapping the mouse (toe-mah-toe) in with the cheese.

After a long walk around the pond we stopped at the tea house and had ice poles (ice cream) before heading home. It was hot, hot HOT today (30 C = 86 F). After 4 hours in the gardens we were feeling pretty tired.

Unfortunately it seems we can't even have a simple outing without some drama. As we were walking home Nik started screaming. I looked over and he had blood GUSHING out of his nose and even coming out of his mouth. He was hysterical, the other people on the sidewalk looked scared, and I frantically rummaged through my bag for something to put on his nose. I was out of tissues... I was desperate. I looked at Ben's favorite t-shirt. I looked around... finally I took off my brand new, favorite running sock and put it on his nose to stop the bleeding. There was blood everywhere. Nik was screaming hysterically. My sock was soaked. A passer-by asked if we needed an ambulance. Eventually I got Nik calmed down, the nose-bleed stopped, and all of us cleaned up a little. Then I carried a bloody Nik home and put him on the couch. With a TALL glass of water.
Have I mentioned that it is very, VERY dry here.

10 comments:

Tina in CT said...

Poor Nik. No wonder that he was scared. I've never had to deal with a bloodly nose.

It must be extremely dry there to cause that. Hope it doesn't happen again.

Anonymous said...

Poor Nikki!
Olga

Ganeida said...

Hi. I followed your link from the Rockpool. Unfortunately I am at the other end of the country in sunny Queensland.

Technically an icy pole is not icecream but frozen juice or water based cordial & the only mousetraps I'm familiar with are the sort that catch mice ~ but then the're an odd mob down south! ☺.

Katya said...

Must be a regional thing... one of Ian's Aussie coworkers told Ian about the mousetrap.

Or maybe it is a Kraft marketing ploy:
http://www.howdoyoulikeyourvegemite.co.nz/?go=vote

Katya said...

And I guess the more accurate translation of icy pole is popsicle... which, according to my neighbor, in the UK is an ice lolly.

Go figure.

Natty said...

If your poor Nik suffers from blood noses and is finding that the dry air is bothering him, try a few drops of oil (vegetable oil/olive oil) dropped up his nose and massaged in to the lining of his nostril - this really helped my brother when recommended by the ENT. This helps to keep the tissue supple and less likely to break down in the dry.

Sorry - Hi I am Natty and followed your link across from the Rock pool

Katya said...

Oh that's great advice! We'll have to try that because that's Nik's second bloody nose since we have arrived.

Ganeida said...

Popsicle works ☺ From sad experience I'm never sure which bits of English share a common meaning! Enjoy your stay.

Anonymous said...

I think, Ganeida has a great idea. I use oil in winter for my nose here in New England. When the heat goes on, the air inside gets so dry, and my nose suffers.
Just use simple olive oil, like Light, not extra virgin that has a lot of smell and may cause an allergy.
Olga

Anonymous said...

Sorry,
it was Natty idea.
And I can score your English ice cream disagreement with a Russian name for it
Fructovoe morozhenoe
which means literally
Frozen fruits (but the trick is that the word morozhenoe is the same in Russian for regular ice cream and when translated to English means ice cream )
which it is not, because it is just some king of frozen fruit pulp, but it is still very tasty.
Olga