Election, charity walk and Ruffey Lake Park

Two weekends ago was the federal election in Australia. It was the first time we have been able to vote in a federal election since becoming citizens. I’m not gonna lie, my knowledge of Australian politics is fairly limited, but I'll try and give you a reader's digest version of events. Scott Morrison had been the Prime Minister and the leader of the Liberal party since 2019. I don't love discussing politics but it's fair to say that I do not share many of the same views that he does. Now, if you’re from Canada like me, you might associate the Liberal party with centre-left politics. However, here in Australia the Liberal party is a right wing party. Still pretty centre-right though, not like a crazy nationalist ultra right wing party. Some of Morrison's less than stellar moments since 2019 include: going on holiday to Hawaii during a major bushfire emergency in 2020, pissing off France by scrapping a submarine deal he had with them to join forces with the US and the UK, a very slow Covid vaccine roll out here in Australia, and basically angering many women voter. You might think well then it must’ve been assumed that he would be voted out. But of course I'm giving you my lens on the past few years, and as we’ve seen in events around the world (Brexit, Trump etc.)  it’s impossible to predict how people will vote.

In the electorate where we live the Liberals have had a secure seat for many years. Our MP, Josh Frydenberg, was the Deputy PM and Treasurer, and had held the seat in Kooyong since 2010. Many thought he would be the next leader of the Liberal party.

But alas, it was not to be for both Scott and Josh. 

Elections are held on the weekend here, and everyone has to vote by law. Also, most polling stations seem to include a sausage sizzle and bake sale. It's quite the festive occasion. Our nearest polling station was at Ella’s school so we stopped for a play at their playground with a few of her friends after voting. 

By the end of election night, it was clear that Scott Morrison and the Liberal party had not been re-elected, in my mind a very pleasing result. Enter Anthony Albanese, leader of the Labor party and Australia’s newest Prime Minister. I can’t tell you how glad I am that we have a government that, for a start, is going to take climate change seriously. It's about time. 

And another pleasant surprise- the Independent candidate for Kooyong, Dr Monique Ryan, won the seat, a shock to the Liberal party. We now have a representative in parliament who is not tied to any one party, and can vote in the interest of her electorate. In fact there were a number of female independent candidates that won in former Liberal strongholds. It makes you feel like change in politics is actually possible!

The day after the election I went on a Bloody Long Walk - a 35km charity walk through Melbourne in support of those with mitochondrial disease. For the past 4 or 5 months I've been meeting up with a group of mums from Ella's school for Sunday morning walks. We normally walk 8-10 km and it's been a really nice way to meet some of the mum's in the local community. After meeting for a few months we decided to train for an event, though I think saying we "trained" is using the word loosely... I only managed to fit in up to a 12 km walk prior to the event!

 

The start of the walk was conveniently only a 5 minute drive from where we live, at Yarra Bend Park. It was a cloudy and cool 8 am start, but really good walking temperature. There were five of us doing the walk, so it was easy to walk with someone chatting for a while and then just naturally switch partners. And of course, we mums have no problems finding things to talk about! I was a bit worried that I'd not be able to complete it, or I'd feel really stiff (my back has been pretty sore lately), but actually I felt pretty good! We finished the walk in just under 6 hours… not a bad pace considering we stopped for a coffee along the way!

By the time we got to the finish at St Kilda Beach, the sun was shining and it was a warm autumn day. All of the dads and kids met us at the finish and we had an early dinner at Beachcomber while the kids played at the beach. I’m kicking myself for not having taken more pictures as it really was the most wonderful day. The perfect mix of doing something active, connecting with new mum friends, and enjoying time with families from Ella's school. 

This is really a bit of a random blog post but as I have so little time to devote to this blog lately I thought I’d add in another one of my favourite recent outings. Last weekend Andy had some school work to do on the weekend so I took the kids out to give him some quiet time to get through his work. When I asked the kids what they wanted to do they requested a “massive playground” that we hadn’t been to before. After a bit of googling I decided on Ruffey Lake Park, about 10 km from our house. I knew nothing about the place, except for the high ratings on Google maps and that it was a huge parkland with a small lake in the middle. It looked like there were walking paths throughout and two playgrounds, so I threw the scooters in the car and off we went. 

Once there I asked the kids which direction they wanted to go, and off we went along one of the many walking trails through the park. It’s a very hilly park, so I had to help Ollie with his scooter… lest he zoom off down one of the giant hills with only a limited ability to use his brakes. The kids had fun on the hills, both on and off their scooters, and before long we came across the small lake and then playground number 1. 

This was a pretty good sized playground, with lots to keep both kids amused. There was also a very nice, and big, toilet block, which I’m always grateful for when out with the kids (or, let’s be honest, even when I’m on my own). We spent a good hour here before venturing on. 

Next we tried to find playground number two, which was nearly 2 km around the other side of the park. The kids were getting a little tired by then, especially when going uphill, but thankfully I could manage to give them both a push at the same time since they were on scooters. On our walk we came across some outdoor fitness equipment which of course the kids just had to stop and try out, plenty of friendly dogs, a massive tree that had lost all its leaves, and a former colleague of mine. 

Finally we got to park number two which was AH-MAZ-ING. At first I was disappointed that we didn’t got here first, but in retrospect if we had we wouldn’t have had as much fun exploring the rest of the park. This playground was more of a nature playground, made mostly of wood and featuring different levels, sand and water play, many climbing structures and slides, and a flying fox. 

It up on a hill, so there was a beating view overlooking the rest of the park. There were plenty of BBQ and picnic areas, and at least one birthday party going on when we arrived. This was definitely one of the best playgrounds we’ve come across in Melbourne and we’ll be sure to visit again soon. 

We spent about another hour at this playground before I could convince the kids to leave. It took the last of their energy to make the 1 km trek back to the car but we all went home tired and happy about the adventure we’d had. 

That was last weekend and it was probably our last adventure before we head to England in NINE DAYS!!! We are planning on laying low until then to minimize the risk of getting any sneaky viruses before we go. I am so so SO excited for this holiday and am counting down the days until we leave.