Have a chat travels

Thankfully the rain has finally let up for a few days, as a family day out was in order. Lots of smiles and laughs, just what we needed 💙💜💚

Well from streaky bay, across the Nullarbor and into Esperance. It's been a long eventful journey. There was lots to stop and look at and keep us entertained. We didn't do all the stops as we are going to do some of them on the way back. The kids got a bit bored though with lots of songs and tablets and Lego we made it through. Some absolutely amazing scenery and some interesting stops. There is a huge amount of overnight stops along the way, though water is always in short supply and fuel gets bloody expensive. Unfortunately we had to eat at the road houses as there was no shops and we had to leave all our fruit, veg and honey at the border. We are happily eating our veg and fruit again 😅🥰🤪

Well after 3 weeks without phone reception we are finally back in range for a while. It has taken quite a while but we are finally heading west. Nullabor here we come

Oh bless, how is my beautiful little girl now 3... Shortie loves melon melon (water melon), babies, cooking and shearing. When asked what she wants to do she tells you she wants to shear the little sheep, daddy has to shear the big ones. Shortie loves shearing her teddies, but also loves cuddling her dolls. Shortie is full of love and energy that is amazing to see, though the attitude is a bit wild 😅. We got to spend her birthday in streaky bay, just off the beach. Loving the life we live. Happy birthday beautiful lady.

Well Easter was fun.. We left Kaniva which is a beautiful spot. Saw family and friends on our journey around Adelaide. Stopped in at Port Pirie and saw a very dear friend, and the kids had a wonderful play. The Easter Bunny found them out in Bendley Ranges with our camping family. Sadly I don't have many pics as we were busy just relaxing and enjoying the company. Sadly we won't be looking at being back in Adelaide for another 12 months, but wish all our family and friends the best and will definitely catch up when we are back in town.

Just some photos to brighten your day. Some of the things we do during the day whilst Daddy is working. Go for walks, find new parks, talk and learn about the town we are in, school work (we use a platform called simply homeschooling, which is fabulous. Feel free to ask for more info. Honestly I love it), and just things the kids want to do.

So I've wanted to take the kids to soverign hill for a while, however something always came up. Either funds were low or we had other things going on, needed to be in a new town the opposite direction or my favourite.. plan it all and pre pay just in time for the last lockdown.... Yes all of that happened, I couldn't make it up. However a few weeks ago we finally made it there. All 3 kids (and myself) had a fabulous time (me reliving childhood memories of my dad taking me there) and the kids genuinely interested in the way people used to live and about gold and the history of it, as well as the lollies. Apparently in the 1850s they used to use that to get the orange coloured lollies (I'm very glad for food safety regulations now). Stephen also loved learning about candles, how they were made and they all got to "make" their own. Fabulous place 💜❤

Yesterday I did a bit of self care. I got my hair done and spent some relaxed time with my girls. I have to remind myself that days don't have to be productive all the time and that chilled days with no plan are just as needed.

Ok guys I'm sorry that I've not posted for a while. Sometimes it's just lack of motivation at the end of the day. I will be making a few posts of our trip and give a bit of an idea of when we will be places if people would like to catch up.

So it seems someone has decided that they deserve our furniture and things more then us. If anyone in the adelaide area hears of ISAF medals, a solid wooden king size bedroom set and bamboo mattress as well as very personal photos of myself from when I was 19 and british military memorabilia for sale, please either contact myself or Christies beach police. To say we are upset is in understatement.

So today I did something I've wanted to do for a long time, but never had the confidence to do.. I got a perm. I LOVE it. Matty at Headlines Hair & Beauty in Goulburn was fantastic. He explained what he was doing and why he chose the products he was using. They have beautiful assistants helping out that all made me feel wonderful and truly confident with both my decision and their capabilities. Matty let me know what products would work best to continue to get the best from my perm (without upselling). I absolutely recommend them if you are in the area. I feel fresh and fabulous 🥰🥰🥰🥰

Yesterday we went cherry picking at Allambie Orchard. The kids had a fantastic time finding which colours tasted the best, finding the biggest and the smallest and making sure we got them off by twisting the top of the stem. They learnt that if you pick them with the stem still attached that they last more than a few days and that next season's cherries are already little buds on the tree (which is why you have to be careful picking the cherries). The owners were patient and informative with the kids. After all that we relaxed and had some yummy cherry pie and ice cream (and a much needed coffee) as a super special treat. A very lovely day 💜💜

The best part of errands day is getting out of farm clothes. Anyone who knows Lily, know she loves getting dressed up in pretty clothes just as much as getting muddy. Elenore (Shortie) not so much.. Though the last few days Elenore has wanted to wear a pretty dress. So what else is a mum to do, but make it happen. I bought Elenores dress at the fantastic markets in murringo last Saturday. Anything that puts a smile like that on my kids fave is well worth it 😊😅😁

Yesterday Lily, my aunty and I went to Murringo markets for the morning. We loved the different stalls and the lovely country feel of it . The weather thankfully was fantastic and it was a really beautiful morning. Well worth the drive out there. We also went to the trading post and learned a fair bit about different leathers and stock whips, we also found out the record for the longest stock whip is 200ft! To hold the record the whip has to be cracked. Next weekend we hope to go back and see their 66ft stock whip. I'm pretty excited 😊😊

Yesterday CJ had wet sheep, so we decided to make the most of a free day. We went to the big Merino in Goulburn. The kids loved going all the way to the top and looking out it's "eyes". The weather wasn't the best but it's all about the people you're with. We've had a very wet few days 65mm in the last 4 days, so we've had to be flexible (not Stephens strong suit).. We spent this morning tidying up after the heavy rainfall and getting ALL the washing done, then spent the afternoon doing school work, colouring in and science experiments. The kids favourite was making the slime, though I enjoyed the bubbling volcano.

Last week we meet up with my best friend Alby and another traveling family, and went to Questacon. The kids had a brilliant time and learnt so much (after Stephen got over his fear that we were really leaving earth). We also went to the Australian war memorial and paid our respects. Sadly it was a quick walk through as time and children wouldn't allow more but would definitely love to go back. Then next day we caught up again and took the kids to Yarralumla play station, it was a bit over priced for what you got, but the kids enjoyed it and loved playing on the playground after.

We are currently staying on a mates property out in Rugby. We are planning on staying in this area until Christmas time, so we can spend time with family.

We love living on the road and have decided to continue to do so after the year is up. Living our life this way has helped us as a family and individuals. It is teaching us new things and helping us grow.
Seeing my children grow and learn independence and resilience is truly amazing.

So CJ has decided to be a shearer. These pictures are from during his course in Dubbo and a quick stop at Nannie Nannies on the way there. We stayed at an awesome little caravan park in Narromine, the owners were so friendly and helpful. We had a few nice bike rides and some lovely parks for the kids to play at.

We found a lovely cafe that was great value for chips. $7 for all 5 of us, plus really yummy.

So its been a while since we updated and we have been busy. I've been hesitant to post on our travels due to covid and how some full time travellers were treated...

Thankfully we have only met lovely people and only had a few issues.

These pictures are from a diary farm we were working on up in Queensland north of Bundaberg. We all had a fantastic time learning from some very knowledgeable people and helping everywhere we could. On our way back down south we stopped at movie world and the kids had an amazing time. It was the best time for us due to reduced crowds and distancing, it made it more enjoyable and less stressful with the kids.

Hey everyone we are finally back on the move. It's been a long 9 weeks, and we were lucky to be able to stay with an amazing friend during that time but we are happy to be moving again. We are now working on a farm north of Bundaberg and all of us are having fun. We are following all guidelines and being as safe as possible.