It’s now coming to the end of February 2019 so maybe it’s a bit late to say it but here goes anyway. Happy New Year to everyone out there in this particular blog land.
So these 3 months have just flown by seeing us spend quality time with family, and more importantly, the grandchildren. We had a great time at Boorowa with Emma and Graham, Josh and Ellie, the first Christmas in their own home which they bought earlier in the year. We arrived in time to see Josh get an award at school, proudly watching him take his place on stage and accepting his books that he couldn’t wait to read. We enjoyed the hot summer temperatures, making the most of the beautiful town pool which hardly anyone else seems to use and the fantastic newly refurbished disability friendly playground just opposite their house. They are very lucky to have these facilities right on their doorstep. All the benefits and none of the costs, or the time it takes to maintain.
Another thing they are very fortunate to have is the large array of fruit tree in their new back yard, including peaches, apricots, nectarines, pears and passion fruit. The kids were having fun selling and bartering with some of this years harvest. We had hoped to take the kids cherry picking in Young (famous for their cherries) but we left it too late as the day we planned to pick turned out to be the last day of the season and by the time we had been to the movies and then lunch at McDonalds, we were too late. The picking had finished. Never mind, maybe next year!
Josh and Ellie’s other grandparents, Ray and Viv joined us on Christmas Eve (Ray’s birthday) where we enjoyed a couple of relaxed, fun days playing with some of the kids new Christmas presents and a game of cricket in the park. Viv and I were also held captive in the caravan by Ellie while we helped her make a sock unicorn, another Christmas present and one of these things that you wonder how the kids themselves are able to make without adult help. We struggled with this but we all had a good laugh anyway.
After Boxing Day we left Boorowa to head for Banora Point, stopping off at Coolah on the way to pick up a few things from Jo and Phil’s place.
Jo and Phil were already at Banora Point and were busy moving into their new home with just the basic of furniture as they will only be using it as a holiday home for this coming year. Their plan is to move back to the coast by the end of the year and take up new jobs in the area.
We got up to the Tweed Shire in time for Olivia’ 5th birthday and to also celebrate NYE with everyone. It was a hectic few weeks there, catching up with friends, family and visitors that came to stay, sleeping on air beds in the many spare spaces that this new large home of Jo and Phil’s has. It’s a beautiful family home with everything that Jo and Phil had on their wish list, including being in a quiet cul de sac close to schools with 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, solar, swimming pool and most importantly a large yard with room for our caravan.
We had a few days where we house sat for friends of Jo and Phil’s who live close by, while at the same time my 2 brothers Simon and John and families came to stay at Jo’s. Our caravan came in handy for John and Vicki and their granddaughter Lenni made good use of.
As Jo and Phil went back to Coolah after the school holidays (and of course going back to work as they now have 2 homes to pay for) we have agreed to stay on here for longer. It works well as we are residents house sitters for them and we are also close for me to see lots of Mum. My poor mum is really not good, we didn’t think she would make it to last Christmas but she still struggles on. With no quality of life or hope of improving, you have to be pretty heartless not to wonder if it’s all worth it.
We had a weekend up at Noosa where we again caught up with the brothers and families, joining in on John’s birthday celebration before coming back again to Banora Point.
The weeks are going by so quickly and it’s probably the longest time between blog entries but we always seem to be busy doing something. We have spent a little while looking at houses for sale in the area, just an exercise to see if our monies could still buy something that we would want to buy and if we should buy now rather than in a couple of years time. The answer is yes, we are still well in an acceptable range but we will not be buying yet. Having a house, either as a base or as an investment property would be a big draw on us and we don’t want that. We still love our nomadic lifestyle and are not ready to give it up just yet. (7 years this May and still counting!) We are as well, looking at changing our van again, only to keep up with up grades and future sale prices. If we manage to sell this one at the right price, the new one won’t cost too much but if not, we keep this one and will still be happy. We do like this van but we’ve had it nearly 3 years already so are we mad or what?
I should mention that this weekend we have been on cyclone watch. Cyclone Oma has been heading towards the east coast and causing havoc with severe weather warnings from Sydney right up as far as Bundaberg. So far we’ve only seen very strong winds and some heavy rain showers so let’s hope things don’t get any worse! The beaches are certainly taking a hammering though! Fingers crossed that everyone stays safe and not too much damage is caused.
We’re not sure how long we will stay here at Jo’s, it does work well for both parties but we are getting itchy feet to go off again so maybe we will think about doing small trips, not too far away and keep coming back. We’ll wait and see.