Kate & family - Mums on the Border - Life with the Lamsays

 On this week’s issue of Mums on the Border, we have another mama, Kate, who’s new to the area, and has just moved here from Brisbane with her family.

Hi Mamas, Daddy’s and carers! I am so excited to be joining this amazing groups of parents, sharing through Poppy’s platform. Firstly I’ll introduce myself and my family then would love to share about a recent adventure we had which I feel is a winner for adults and tiny humans! So my name is Kate, I’m married to my amazing hubby, Byron, and we have a super cool mini called Lottie who is 3 and a half. 

We very recently (5 weeks ago) relocated from QLD to the area, and have quickly made it our mission to see and do all the things because we know our time here is limited (Defence life, yay)! I stumbled across the Life With the Lamsays Instagram before we even arrived, and was so thankful for the orientation to so many kid friendly parts of Border life. 

So now onto our adventure to add to the list…. Yackandandah! More specifically the Star Hotel and the Mining Gorge Walk. Last Saturday we decided we wanted to have an adventure for lunch and a bit of an outdoor activity so I asked some of my new work colleagues and this was the recommendation. We drove the 25 minutes from Home (Wodonga) to ‘Yack’ and we weren’t sure what to expect. The little Main Street was a buzzing hive with some boutique clothes shops, some cute cafes and the Star Hotel that had been suggested to me. We could tell we were in the right spot because it was by far the busiest place in the street. We managed to get a table outside which worked for us and ordered. Now there wasn’t any play space or kids corner so BYO activities etc but the kids menu was great and a HUGE serve really! We played some card games and did some drawing while playing with some dogs who were tied outside.. that was great for us. After we filled our tummies we drove the short drive from Town to the Mining Gorge Walk. 

Simply searching ‘Yackandandah Mining Gorge Walk’ in google maps got us to the roadside parking and the signage to the track. Now my understanding is you can make this walk as short or as long as you like by walking out and turning back when suits you. We managed about a 2km walk on the track before turning around. The walk included some stairs up and down and slight incline, all on dirt/gravel but definitely don’t need hiker level experience. Lottie is a bit allergic to walking at the moment so we came prepared with a carrier which worked well to have her on my back where she enjoyed pointing out the different things she could see and hear. The best part from this mermaid/wild child’s perspective was the rapids flowing through the rocks and the rock pools which you can stop for a splash and a dip. We found an area which had been slightly dammed which was great for us to get in and we played for an hour. 

My tip, bring your rock shoes! I didn’t this time, I will next time. It was a bit of a wobbly affair trying to make my way through the swallow creek dodging the sharp or wobbly rocks whilst helping the tiny human feel confident to get into the water too but it was part of the adventure. It was a very hot day when we did this walk, like 35-36 degrees but truthfully most of the walk was under tree cover so it didn’t feel bad and the dip in the water was a perfect way to cool off. 

We really enjoyed this afternoon adventure for our family and hope to come back throughout the different seasons to see how it changes and can be a source of outdoor exploration/learning for us. I hope you feel encouraged and inspired by our adventure and take your own families to create memories together! Thanks everyone!