Melbourne 2014: Great Ocean Road

When the husband and I decided to bring the family to Melbourne, we decided that a Great Ocean Road (GOR) road trip was a must. The only problem was that the GOR lay on the west of Melbourne, and everything else we wanted to visit lay on the east. We were fortunate in that we had time, so we were able to fit in a couple of days of driving. And it was well worth it.

Our itinerary for the GOR wasn't intentionally child-friendly, like most of the rest of our holiday was. Instead, this portion of the holiday was for us -- it was us bringing the kids along to see what we wanted to see. So we skipped the farms and what we got were scenic sights as we did a short trek to a waterfall, a lighthouse visit, and visited some awe-inspiring rocks. Not what we usually do with kids in tow but I dare they they enjoyed it. The best part for me was road tripping with my husband next to me as I scrolled through his devices for music that we could all sing or bop along to as we drove. THAT was just like old times. Some of our best holidays were enjoyed on the road when we have the luxury to chat and it was good recapturing some of that on this trip.

Road tripping with my sweetie!

Someone wants is ready to take over the wheel -- I think not, little lady!

It's my turn on petite travellers and I've shared more details about our GOR road trip there, so do hop over to read it if you haven't! Here's the link: Great Ocean Road: A Piece of Victorias Natural Beauty.

In the meantime, here are some more pictures to share.

Erskine Falls.

Obligatory family shot to prove that we made it there!

This way to Teddy's Lookout.

Endless sea on the left of the lookout.

We tried going up the road towards Kennett River to see wild koalas but we encountered were sweet little wild wallabies instead.

Beautiful and serene Cape Otway Lightstation

Some of the treacherous rocks off Cape Otway.

Mei shows me how to work it!

The Twelve Apostles (some of them at least!)

My kiddy models, looking like angels.

All in all, a fun road trip. I hope it will not be another 26 years before I visit the GOR again!

Those Nanoblock Fascinators and the Singapore Blog Awards 2014

It isn't everyday that you get to wear Lego on your head, but if you're going to do it, I guess it'd better be for a special occasion. In this case, it was the Singapore Blog Awards 2014!

(Ok, it wasn't really Lego but nanoblocks that made their way into my headpiece but you get the drift!)

It all started when the petite travellers received the honour of being one of the  finalists for the Best New Blog at this year's blog awards. The event had a derby theme, so we knew there were going to be hats all around. But we also wanted to incorporate our travel theme, with a look that was distinct yet cohesive amongst the few of us attending.

With that in mind, we brainstormed over many days as we considered hats with city skylines, hats with 3D cardboard structures and hats with our emblematic red suitcase on them. We even when as far as considering wearing the red suitcase as a hat! Time was ticking down and we had no workable idea. Then, just three days before the ceremony, Jas came across a 3D cardboard structure that she thought might work, except that we were not sure we were going to be able to find five more different cardboard structures. But while I was fiddling with a 3D puzzle set of Sydney Harbour Bridge to see if it could be used, an image of nanoblock landmarks suddenly came into my head, and I thought: maybe we should use nanoblocks?

As we discussed it, it sounded more and more plausible. It helped that the structures looked good and were not heavy, and best of all, were readily available. As my husband and son told me when I asked, you can buy nanoblocks "everywhere". We got some sets and settled on a fascinator style, which Jas, Corsage and Pam proceeded to test out. And when they sent us some pics, I knew: This was it. Just in the nick of time too! 

It was hard work putting the structures together -- nano bricks are so tiny! Our biggest fear was that the brick structures will coming crashing down as we wore them (and mine did, many times during construction), so GLUE was essential. Each stress point was tested then UHU-ed in place.

You would think my Lego-loving husband would have been supportive, but he just gave me incredulous looks when I told him that the Eiffel tower structure he was admiring was going to go on my head. "It's just so… impractical!" he said repeatedly.

But whaddya know, the nanoblocks held together and collectively, I thought the group of us looked great. There's nothing like doing something kooky with friends! It would have been more awesome if all nine of us could have attended!

The different landmarks we wore, clockwise from top left: Big Ben (London), Eiffel Tower (Paris), The Great Pyramid (Egypt), Neuschwanstein Castle (Germany), and St Basil's Cathedral (Russia).

We didn't win the Best New Blog award by the way, in case you were wondering. I personally didn't expect us to, since we were up against some strong contenders. So the award ceremony was really a time to check out the scene, put some faces to names I'd only seen online and hang out with friends. We were familiar with the mummy-blogger crowd of course, many of whom were nominees for Best Parenting Blog, and it was great to have the opportunity to catch up.

Five of us from petite travellers with the lovely mums from Growing with the Tans, PruneNurture, A Pancake Princess, MummyWee, The Gingerbread Mum, and A Juggling Mom!

I think we were all running on adrenaline because I was so tired at the end of it, and ready to crash! Didn't help that it was a standing event and the first time I was wearing closed-toe pumps in months!

The whole process of starting petite travellers, entering the Singapore Blog Awards, qualifying as a finalist, and attending the award ceremony was quite an experience, made all the better by the fact that I was doing it, and going through it all with friends. Blogging, writing, even being a Mummy can be very lonely pursuits, and it helps to have folks you can call on for support, to ask for advice, for prayers, to share in your joys, to bounce ideas off, and yes, to wear nanoblocks together. I thought I was past the age where one makes meaningful friendships but you know what? I was wrong and God has served up a blessing in these lovely ladies. And I sure am grateful for that! 

(P.S. Click here to read the petite travellers' account of the event!)

Linking up with:

London with Petite Travellers

I can't believe it's been more than a year since our last long holiday to London! Despite all my good intentions, I never did get round to writing about my holiday. I did however, put together a post on our recommendations for a London holiday on petite travellers, so if you're planning a holiday to London, or even just thinking about it, you might want to hop over and check it out.

London: A City of History, Culture, Shopping and Everything Else In Between

OMy, it's Ice Cream for Petite Travellers!

Remember petite travellers?

Well, at the end of last week we received some great news: petite travellers has been shortlisted as one of 10 finalists for Best New Blog at the Singapore Blog Awards 2014!

The team felt we had to celebrate, but how were 9 busy mums with different schedules and many commitments (and kids) going to celebrate together at short notice? With a virtual party, of course. It was ice-creams all round for all of us.

Our sweet treat was made all the more awesome when others started joining in our #icecreamforpetitetravellers party too! (You can check out all the yummy cones with the hashtag on instagram!)

petite travellers was born out of a desire to provide a repository of useful travel suggestions, itineraries, tips and other recommendations for parents, just like ourselves, who enjoy exploring the world with our kids, and this recognition has been an added bonus. Having been a SAHM for the past 2.5 years (!!!), it's been a while since I've worked with a team, and I'm enjoying it. I guess that's also because the 9 of us are friends first, then collaborators.

A special thank you too, to all of you for have liked the petite travellers Facebook Page, shared, commented on or liked our posts, followed us on instagram, expressed an interest to contribute to our site, and of course, joined our #icecreamforpetitetravellers party! It means a lot that you are excited about what we are doing. If you would like to support petite travellers for the Singapore Blog Awards, do hop over here to cast your vote for us in the Best New Blog category: http://sgblogawards.omy.sg/2014/vote/editors-judges-choice.html. You can vote once a day and voting accounts for 30% of the total score.

But more than voting, I would love it if you read our blog and help us grow petite travellers into a truly useful resource with your suggestions and comments. I know we would love to hear from you. We've only just begun -- do come join us for the ride.

Travelling with Petite Travellers

We've mostly been grounded this June school holidays. Save for a short trip up north to Malaysia for our annual church camp (and Legoland thereafter!), we've mostly been hanging around Singapore and keeping very busy. My husband thinks I'm incapable of taking it slow and sometimes I think he's right.

But whilst we have not been travelling much, travel has very much been on our minds, and today, I'm excited to be able to share something that a group of my friends and I have been working on. Presenting… Petite Travellers! A collaborative travel blog about family-friendly holidays for discerning little people, Petite Travellers sprung out of our passion for travel, even with kids in tow. It's been fun getting this new blog off the ground and we hope to grow Petite Travellers into a useful reference for parents travelling with their littles.

We've all contributed posts to kick this off and I decided to write about Sydney, one of our regular travel destinations. We've spent quite a bit of time visiting different attractions in and around Sydney from which I've distilled out our favourite ones. Hop on over to read my recommendations for family-friendly attractions for little ones near the heart of Sydney!

Sydney: Recommended city attractions for Under-6s.

We'll be updating regularly so I do hope you'll visit and bookmark the site. Do also visit Petite Travellers' Facebook Page and like us for more updates. Looking forward to bringing you more travel news!