We arrived on Dec 23rd, which was a bit of a mad rush for Thomas. Here is his itinerary:
20 Dec: arrive and go straight to the farm
21 Dec: wake up at the farm and generally get bearings
22 Dec: fly on 06:40 flight to KL for an interview with the national oil company there23 Dec: fly back from KL, arriving at 05:35 AND go with the family to Denmark. Thankfully Em had set up a luxurious bedding arrangement in one car, ensuring he would get at least a couple of hours' sleep on the way down!
It took us 8 hours from when we left Perth until we arrived in Denmark, thanks significantly to stops for an interview that Thomas had on the way down (!) and some issues in Dad's office that hadn't been resolved - and needed to be before everyone left for Christmas.
Finally, in our various stages of jet-lag and tiredness, we arrived and began the unpacking process. Who would have thought we could fill two cars with people and belongings (food, clothes, snorkeling and swimming gear, pram... thankfully Mum had organised for a baby cot to be there when we arrived!) for just a week??
From this date until we left on the 29th, we all enjoyed sleeping, swimming, eating, cooking, walking, playing music, and generally lazing about the house or campsite.
A morning swim at Ocean Beach was a favourite start to the day... something which I wasn't keen on until I got into the water! The waves were relatively gentle and the sea was clear, clear blue. Amazing! Margaux wasn't yet ready to get into the water, but she paddled about in the shallows and enjoyed crawling about in the grassed area.
(The above is a collage of two beaches: the two photos at the bottom right are Greens Pool, while the others are at Ocean Beach.)
It had been a long time since I had been tossed about in the surf, and it was a lot of fun! I slightly caught a couple of waves, but nothing that delivered me completely to the shore. I also got dumped many times, which I think helped sort out my niggling neck problems... an added bonus that could have gone the other way.
Greens Pool was a big hit, in part because of its Margaux-friendly environment: clear water, no waves, shallow depth... everything a one-year-old swimmer could want! She spent the first visit, which was with Mum, Dad, Em, Thomas, and me, curled up in someone's arms or watching from the safety of the sand.
Emily introduced Maggie to seaweed, which she found fascinating. We didn't get around to sand castles with intricate seaweed-and-shell decorations... maybe next time!
One of the significant moments of that visit was when we were having a relaxing drink on the top of the rock that splits Greens Pool from Elephant Cove (there's a photo of in the middle row of the last column) when we saw a stingray!
It slowly flapped its way along the shore - thankfully we had been out of the water for a while and were the only ones on the beach - and then followed the curve of the rock we were on. Thomas took a photo (first column, second photo) but it is a bit hard to see.
Our second visit to Greens Pool was just Thomas, Margaux and me, which was really special. The beach was packed like I've never seen before, but there was still some space for us. :) Margaux LOVED being in the ocean!
She was tentative at first but grew bolder. She was sitting in the shallows (see the photos in the first of the beach collages), shivering cold and almost blue in the lips, but having an absolute ball. She loved watching the waves come in and disappear again; she loved seeing the sand swirling in the water when she displaced it with her toes; and she loved trying to catch the bits of seaweed that floated up in the water, only to be taken away with the tide.
Eventually, she was ready for a swim. She propelled her little arms and legs intermittently, and tried to drink the water. Although she was still shivering and blue, she continued to have a whale of a time - but was very happy to cuddle up with her Daddy afterwards!
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