weeee jasper

oh yeah, about that funny little road trip. Sorry , got a bit side-tracked there by a baby with a temperature.

Ever since I decided I liked the name "jasper", which, incidentally, has been a long time, I just had to wait until I had my third boy before I was actually able to use it, I have wanted to visit wee jasper. I had a vague idea that this magical sounding town was somewhere in south western nsw, but never really paid much attention to it's actual whereabouts.

So, on the sunday, we drive out to the second day of skate board action at mt. stromlo, which is to the west of canberra, and I promptly drop off the boys and head off in search of a coffee. No mean feat in the outer reaches of canberra, I can tell you. Anyway, I manage to find a suitable coffee house and, feeling much refreshed, head back to the family. And halfway back to them, what do I see, but a road sign saying "wee jasper, 72". I tell you, it was like finding the holy grail. 72 km isn't that far, right? I mean, it won't take that long, right? So, I get back to the boys, all excited, because we're going to see wee jasper, after all this time, and I pile them into the car, and off we go. after driving for what seemed like an hour, we came to a sign saying "wee jasper, 55". Oh, so it's a bit further than I thought. That's ok, the day is yet young. Then the road turns to dirt. Then we come to the mountains, the mountains with no guard rail that is, and then, just when I think we must surely be there, we come to a sign that says "wee jasper, 27". "Another #%*!ing 27km", I exclaim, where the hell is this place, in victoria? By this time, the wee man himself has decided he doesn't really want to see his namesake after all, and he wants out of the car, now. So, another 20 minutes or so go by, and finally we come to the above sign. Needless to say, I have to feed the babe to console him, and while I am doing this, the willow decides to go for a bit of a rock climb. Of course, he gets stuck halfway up, and I order the fin to go after him, and just as he is reaching out his hand to help the brother in need, he looks down and discovers that the entire cutting is made up of fossils.
so, the boys are now in fossil hunting heaven, the baby is happy and content once again (at least until I try to put him back in the car seat), and I have my much sought-after wee jasper photo. After a few celebratory snakes and a drink of water, we pile back into the car, turn around and brace ourselves for the return trip, which I must say, did not seem to take nearly as long, especially with some fun music to keep us going. Even saw my latest dream home on the way back.

I must say, I'm so glad I bothered to take this little road trip. It's good to get out of one's comfort zone every now and again.