Hollybank Forest

Wow. We finally got some photos from Hollbank Forest. What we thought was a beautiful day here in the Tamar Valley turned out to be freezing at Hollybank Forest, so we all froze in out t-shirts. It was just mum and the kids today as dad had some important things to attend to. We are overjoyed at the facebook response we have had-we have over 500 followers. Our aim now is to promote more to Tasmania, as many people do not know what we are doing. We have now sent out nearly 200 letters asking for donations to St Giles Therapy Service to local businesses and friends and family and have just contacted a couple of local newspapers to try and get our kids picture in to promote our walks.

The walks are taking a lot longer to do than we had anticipated, it is just one of those things, i'm sure those of you with a child on the Autism Spectrum could understand. Just because WE want to go out, does not mean that Riley does!

I end here, putting the link to our website which looks TERRIFIC! (thanks Cowley Advertising) and hope that those of you that can, can donate to St Giles Therapy Services, who do such a wonderful job with Riley and other children in Tasmania.

www.trekkingtasmania.com.au

Liffey Falls

We completed our second walk 2 days ago, thanks to a computer glitch (Riley leaning on the keyboard) none of the photos or posts got put up! We had a much better walk with the kidlets both walking most of the way. Riley only wanted to be picked up a couple of times, and that was because there were other people on the track as well. We've had a big break from any form of therapy for Riley, spending a lot of time doing work with him at home. He really loves drawing and has been inspired by the "Laser Beak Man" books he received from his new friend Tim Sharp-our house was covered in his own "Chicken Leg Man". This post is being cut short due to competition for the computer, so thanks to those of you following us!

Tamar Island Wetlands

We completed our first trek yesterday with a 3 hour walk around the Tamar Island Wetlands. It was an eye opener as to how our kids are going to go with our walks. Riley made it about half way before needing a 'boost' on Mik's shoulders, and Lily wanted to walk the whole way, but her little legs weren't up to the distance. It was a very leisurely stroll and we took in a lot of scenery and had a picnic at the tables on the island. We already have our second planned for Wednesday, yes that is tomorrow! Looking forward to it very much.

Our first Trek

We will be doing our first trek on Monday the 5th of July. After many attempts, with so many interruptions, we will be heading off to the 'Tamar Island Wetlands' mid morning. This is only our first trek, and it is more about seeing how the kids go than much else at the moment. We have had a generous offer of $50 from 'Territory Tooshies' up in the Northern Territory, so we thank them very much for that.

Welcome and about us

Hello everyone,
Welcome to our blog! Hopefully we will be able to keep you up to date with where in Tasmania we are and where we will be next. We are on facebook too if you want to become our friend!
ABOUT US:
We are a family of four who are on a very long and life changing journey at the moment. Our 3 year old son has been noticeably different from other children since the age of about 18 months. We have had every possible explanation from various health professionals, but the common element they all agree on is he shows 'autistic tendencies'. We are out there to raise awareness of not only autism, but also these children who don't 'fit' into a particular disorder...'autistic-like' seems to be a common diagnosis among young children. These children don't get the same amount of help that a child diagnosed with autism does, so a lot of it is left up to us as parents.
We are on a mission to trekk the 60 short trekks around Tasmania in the next 12-18 months, culminating in a hike up Cradle Mountain. A lot of people have shown their support through facebook and we look forward to keeping you all up to date.