Summer Holidays

We have just returned from a lovely week away up at Diamond Beach, about a three and a half hour drive north of here. We stayed in a villa at a resort right on the beach, with two pools, a lovely restaurant, a tennis and volleyball court and gym, so something for everybody.

We were so lucky with the weather, enjoying day after day of glorious sunshine, punctuated one night only by an enormous storm - very exciting and all dried up again by morning. The pace of life up there was definitely slower and it all felt very relaxed. The resort operated a very easy-going informal kids club which was wonderful - a beach buggy would drive past in the mornings picking up any children who wanted to join in, then take them off to do all sorts of activities - beach cricket, soccer, volleyball, tennis, pool games, arts and crafts - anything and everything, which was fantastic of course for both them and us!

William particularly thrived on this, being a boy who always wants to know 'what we are doing next' - non-stop activity suited him down to the ground! They all made lots of friends and loved the freedom and independence of being able to trot off on their own and play/walk about with friends in a way they wouldn't be able to at home.

In between times we enjoyed family time in the pool or down at the beach, and Tom's swimming has come on incredibly given so much time in the water.

We all tried out the tennis (although the heat meant that our energy was quickly depleted!) and Katy was keen on the gym. One evening we all went along to a family quiz night which was a lot of fun (we came third!) and some nights the kids went along to 'movie night' where they were fully entertained until 9pm and fed pizza and popcorn, giving us a chance to dine alone. On a couple of occasions the kids even went night-swimming which was great fun as the deliciously warm pool was lit up with underwater blue lights. One day I took Katy to a doll's museum we had spotted nearby - it was the private collection of a lady with more than 15,000 beautiful dolls - mostly porcelain, and it was amazing - we ooh-ed and aaah-ed there for ages, and Katy spent some of her Christmas money there too.

The local area was lovely, with dolphins on the beach, and kangaroos around - we went hunting for crabs in the rockpools on a neighbouring beach

and even did a rainforest walk.

All in all it was a proper relaxing holiday for those of us wanting some 'chill' time, and an active, fun one for those of us with boundless energy - so the best of both worlds!