Oh our little world is a-changing and I am VERY excited about it's new direction. Those that know me, know that I am continuously on a real estate hunt. Not because I am not happy with my home, but just because it was always mean to be a stepping stone. There are many things that just are not how I imagined them.
I think one of the main things I have felt unsettled about is that this home is not in the bush. I love being surrounded by natural spaces and this place just feels a little like (well is) suburbia! I want the kids to grow up with a deep connection to a natural space. A place they know so well and get plenty of time to explore and experience.
Easy answer! Move to the bush!
BUT my job, Nathan's job and the kids school are all perfect. I love my job, the kids school is perfection and not one we will find else where and Nathan is really happy in his job.
So move just outside of Canberra!
Possibly, but do we really want to travel that far? The kids wont be part of their school community, the bush here is dry and not overly inspiring and it is very expensive. Also as the kids grow older I don't really want them driving long distances at night time or always at a mates place because their home is so far away.
So move to a trendy part of the city!
This would be good as it would fit out life style very well. We could have nature reserves on our door step and I would be bike riding distance to work and the kids to their school... we just need A LOT OF MONEY!
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| Kissing Trees!!! |
This circle has been moving around and around in my head for the past 2 years. I property search and look continuously and I have often found "THE ONE" which has turned out, not to live up to our expectations.
UNTIL NOW!!!!
We decided to add another option to our roundabout of ideas... what about a holiday property? One that we would visit regularly, and spend most of our holidays at. It would need to be everything we were wanting if it was going to work... (and it gave me an excuse to look at some more real estate :))
Well for the first time it has just flowed. We looked at a few bad ones, which narrowed down our likes and dislikes and then we found one that looked like it was perfect... We chatted to the bank to see if we could afford it and we could... last step was to go and have a look and see if it stood up to our expectations....
AND IT DID!!! WE'RE IN LOVE!!!
We made a special day as a family to go and have a look. It had everything we wanted and more. It backs onto a National Park, is 200m to a STUNNING beach, has a large lake to Kayak through, is close to a supply town, is quiet and is covered in beautiful Australian forest.
So we made and offer.... and now we wait in anticipation...
Here are a few shots to share our vision with you :)
I'm sure you know I will keep you posted!!
Our grand journey had come to an end. We are home. Ahhhh...
We have loved every minute of our journey, but once the car started heading in the homeward direction it was hard to stop!
After the Arapiles, we stopped in at the Grampians. Very beautiful place. On arrival we had hit the hygienic low of our journey. We were with limited water and no showers for 6 days of dusty, sweaty rock climbing. All of us had an air of grubby-ness that you only seemed to notice when you were in town around all the clean people...
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| Grand Canyon, Grampians |
It turned out our camp had a mountain stream through it. The weather was actually hot, very hot, so I stripped us all in to cosies and gave us a rinse in the river. The water was mind numbingly cold. I'm a water baby and I had trouble convincing myself to get in. Nathan, up at the camp-site, said he could hear the kids murderous screams, accompanied by my wicked cackle and he could imagine exactly what was going on down at the river.
Our next camp was Daylesford which was delightful but we only stayed 2 nights as our hearts knew it was home time. We got up early, set off and with only a short stop for lunch, drove the full 9 hours back to Canberra. As we drove down the Barton Hwy towards Canberra, conversations turned to our favourite memories from the past 8 weeks and the things we were really looking forward to back home.
So How has it been being back home?
Well it has been a different experience thats for sure! Here are the main points we have all noticed, since being home...
- Our bedroom is the size of 2 caravans.... who really needs all that space?
- The more space you have, the more mess you make.... and the longer it takes to clean it all up...
- I LOVE my shower... it is free, there and no time limits, I don't have to wear thongs in there and I don't have to manage getting dressed in a wet shower cubicle
- It takes more than 1 shower to scrub 8 weeks of dirt off yourself
- We have A LOT of stuff... and much of it just sits there
- It is nice not having to pay for every load of washing (mind you we got home, put on the first of 10 loads of washing and the machine started flooding the laundry... crap... a 50 piece had blown a hole in the side of the outer plastic basin, Nath spent the whole day fixing it... because he is good like that :))
- The kids are adoring re-discovering their toys
- We kept to ourselves for the first few days... this was great! Kids re-found each other in the new space instead of turning straight to friends. We have been able to continue our holiday relationships back in our familiar habitual environment
- A lot changes in 8 weeks, the new traffic lights are finished, a new MacDonalds has been built, and our supermarket is all switched around and different!
- We have more time in every day than we think we do. We just need to turn off the media boxes, get up and do it!
- The kids really have grown! Tilly can reach the door knobs and toilet flush button now!
We are slowly entering the social world around us again, but I have definitely noticed that we are moving at a different pace than everybody else (the man who was beeping me to drive faster noticed it also :)I have hardly driven in 8 weeks so I was taking my time :))
So overall are we glad we took the gamble and went on our trip
ABSOLUTELY!!
We are REALLY bonded and close as a family and the kids eyes have been opened to SO MANY new ideas and experiences. Hearing them talk and describe our holiday to others makes it very clear just how much they got out of the whole experience.
So our adventure ends here, but leaves us with life memories and relationships that will last for many many years to come...
Our first stop on our 8 week camping adventure is in the beautiful Mt Buffalo area.
There has been a lot of excitement leading up to our departure. A lot of anticipated fun and adventure. As soon as we hopped in the car the questions started flowing. Can I...... It took a good 2 hours in the car for both the kids to calm down into a nice flow. No we were not going to draw, sticker, watch movies and listen to audio books simultaneously in the first 2 minutes of our journey. We would get a chance to do all of these things, EVENTUALLY.
Once we pulled into our first camp it was as late as 4:45pm so we needed to set up and gather wood fast before dark and cold fell. It was all hands on deck and the kids were so excited by it all that they wanted to do everything and be everywhere without any consideration for how it was hindering productivity to be under our feet. Their bodies were moving a a million miles an hour and they just couldn't keep still with all the excitement.
The next morning was the same, Ollie was leaping from one end of the caravan to the other with questions like, what's for breakfast, can we have morning tea, where are we going today, can I play lego, where are my boots, lets go fishing! all in a matter of 5 mins at 8am in the morning.
DEEP BREATHS, KEEP CALM, SMALL SPACE-HIGH ENERGY
How about you go outside and start exploring while we get breakfast started?
No you just want to stay in this small van with all of that energy?
OKAY time to set some new behaviors and routines in place. How is this going to work for us? What do we want to have happening as this is the time to set the expectations.
There is NO television! (Yay!!)
Unless you are sleeping or helping you are outside
Rug up and be warm so that you are successful in your outdoor pursuits
We need to put things away as soon as we are finished with them... A caravan is a very small space if it is packed full of mess
Playing with dials and knobs on our appliances can be very detrimental, if you are playing you should be outside!
NO SHOES in the van, particularly muddy boots!
Clothes will be worn days after day until they are too dirty to wear, then we only replace whats dirty.
Where ever possible, engage kids in all campsite life, wood collecting, fire lighting and maintenance, cooking, cleaning everything.
I need at least 5 mins in the morning, UNDISTURBED to get clean and dressed and make some order. If interrupted I am likely to have a tantrum (already happened twice in as many days :))
We all sat down and had a chat about this and agreed to work together and to be patient as we get used to living in a small space together.
Two days on and the kids are now entertaining them selves, outside most of the time. We are all sleeping well and are starting to slow down a little, not needing to speed around as much. We are getting used to the cold and finding ways to maintain warmth. Our beds a cosy at night which is fantastic. In slowing down everyone, including the kids are less frantic and more present in just being here and experiencing.
We have learnt that setting up our campsite is more than just getting the van up and set. We also need to erect the hammock, get out the bikes, put up the rope swing and make a base for the kids to call home. These camp comforts will give some familiarity throughout our journey and give the kids a safety zone to explore for the time it takes them to suss out a new space and feel comfortable to explore. These camp comforts also give the kids something to focus on while routine times like cooking and cleaning are underway.
We have had a marvelous time at our first camp, but have also learnt a lot in regards to what we will do differently at the next one. We are excited to move on tomorrow to Wilson's Promontory and set up our next home :)
Oh our little world is a-changing and I am VERY excited about it's new direction. Those that know me, know that I am continuously on a real estate hunt. Not because I am not happy with my home, but just because it was always mean to be a stepping stone. There are many things that just are not how I imagined them.
I think one of the main things I have felt unsettled about is that this home is not in the bush. I love being surrounded by natural spaces and this place just feels a little like (well is) suburbia! I want the kids to grow up with a deep connection to a natural space. A place they know so well and get plenty of time to explore and experience.
BUT my job, Nathan's job and the kids school are all perfect. I love my job, the kids school is perfection and not one we will find else where and Nathan is really happy in his job.
Possibly, but do we really want to travel that far? The kids wont be part of their school community, the bush here is dry and not overly inspiring and it is very expensive. Also as the kids grow older I don't really want them driving long distances at night time or always at a mates place because their home is so far away.
Well for the first time it has just flowed. We looked at a few bad ones, which narrowed down our likes and dislikes and then we found one that looked like it was perfect... We chatted to the bank to see if we could afford it and we could... last step was to go and have a look and see if it stood up to our expectations....
We made a special day as a family to go and have a look. It had everything we wanted and more. It backs onto a National Park, is 200m to a STUNNING beach, has a large lake to Kayak through, is close to a supply town, is quiet and is covered in beautiful Australian forest.
