Thinking Allowed: Good day, rough day

Like the roll of the dice, some days have a mix of numbers and others are all sixes. We always talk about wanting our vacations to be "adventurous," but this means signing up for unexpected twists, both good and bad, that everyday routines protect us against. So far Tasmania's been a memorable mix of beauty and hardship.

Sophia has been talking about her birthday for months and months now. She knew exactly what she wanted of the day in the confident decisive way Sophia has about her. Knowing how important it all was to her we set out to have a fun day. And that we did. After a big breakfast and a birthday treat we headed for the beautiful outdoor swimming pool at Launceston Gorge. The girls happily swam while we took turns running a picture perfect trail around the basin. Off we went to a farm to pick basketfuls of loganberries, strawberries, red and black currants. We then sat in the sunshine and ate them all. We drove through the pastoral Tamar valley where some children had berry filled slumber. We were hoping for a tourist shop with kids' shirts that said I Was In Tamar but no such luck. We spent the afternoon at the Dairy farm mesmerized by the autonomous cows. The dairy has self-milking machines where cows can at leisure mosey in from the pasture to be milked, fed, and brushed. Watching the cows in action really made us all wonder about a lot of things we never thought about before: how often do cows choose to be milked a day? Are the brimming swaying teats uncomfortable? Why do some cows spend time under the brushing machine and not others? Why was there a boy in the girls' milkng station? Important questions, really. All the thinking was helped along by some incredible food, compliments of the cows. They chose to share their milk with us in the form of cheese, pizza, milkshakes, and ice cream. Full of dairy this time we hopped back in the car and headed to a holiday park where we spent the rest of the evening jumping on a jumping pillow and decorating and eating birthday gingerbread cookies. Sophia was beaming all day and we all felt good when she proclaimed that it was the best day eveeeer.

The machinery ran rather less smoothly the next day. It was full of trite tribulations which in contrast with the above seemed larger. Though we had bought oats for breakfast we had no match to light the stove and could find no helpful neighbors to save us from eating cookies instead. We realized the computer battery was left in Launceston. Not such a big deal for us but really sad for you readers. And then we had to suffer through four of the most beautiful hours on one of the most beautiful beaches we have ever been to. Pretty tough.

After a rough morning at the beach we headed off to a national park. We never got there though. Instead our car stopped working on the dirt road in the middle of nowhere. The dirt road we weren't supposed to take our rental car on. Of course we didn't read the contracts fine print so only found this out when the tow truck driver pulled up and said cheerily, "you're in trouble!" He banged and prodded under the hood trying to figure out what went wrong, but to no avail. An hour later we arrived in Swansea, a town of 500 people who are valiantly losing the battle to save their town. The Horny Cray is for sale. The Stop 'n Go is for sale. The Fish 'n Chips shop is for sale. The gas station is for sale, and unmanned 24/7. The tow truck driver dumped our car beside the dumpster and vanished.

While we were checking into the Swansea Motor Inn, Tova threw up all over the lobby. An evening of ramen and horrid flatbread ensued, punctuated with milky vomit. Good times. Aurora and Sophia amused themselves on the porch by playing with the snarling plaster Tasmanian Devil, and by twirling the stems of large tropical flowers between their toes.

Rough day decided to linger. The car died again in another national park. We got towed by the same driver, who was incandescent with rage that we were still driving that car. Mr. Car Rental Agency himself ended up buying another used car for us the next day and driving 5 hours to give it to us. By the time he arrived, Jakob had managed to strain a muscle across his upper back and walked like the Tin Man. Tova was long done vomiting and full of beans. In difficult times, Sophia naturally reverts to showering good vibes on everyone, randomly sticking her face in yours and saying "I love you SO MUCH".