We are now doing our house sit at Varsity Lakes, for the people who heard of us through our last sit at Robina. After 7 weeks at Robina and 4 days back in the van we are now here for 5 weeks while the owners are in the States.This is their first holiday in 3 years as they haven't been able to leave the dogs before. It's a great thing this house sitting. It works very well for all concerned and the main thing is the dogs are happy staying in their own homes.
Since getting back up the coast from Tasmania, we have changed our van, trading it in for a new one with all mod cons and more "bells and whistles" We haven't been able to spend much time in it yet though which has been very frustrating and we are looking forward to getting back on the road again soon.
Thinking of the previous van, a huge coincidence that I must mention was the caravan we parked next to in a caravan park in Dubbo. As we pulled up we saw the van next door to us was a Majestic Knight like ours, and on further inspection we noticed it was purchased at the same place and the number plate was the same all except the last 2 numbers, ours ended in 200 and this one was 220. Later in the day we met the owners and while sharing happy hour, further discussed the similarities of the vans. It turned out that everything inside the van was the same, from the layout to even the choice of fabrics, cupboards and flooring. Keeping in mind that we had both chosen from a wide selection and combinations of colours and designs when we ordered the vans, this was quite a coincidence. The vans were purchased within a month of each other, ours being the first of the two. How strange that this should happen only a month before we changed our van for the new one.
It's been a very expensive time for us over the last 18 months. If anyone noticed in our previous blog photos, we changed our car in February 2015 from the Nissan Patrol to a Toyota Landcruiser. Chris got his dream brand new car at last! We've had 2 trips to Thailand for all our dental work and now the new caravan. It's a Majestic Knight Garoova this time, very modern, light and airy and just slightly bigger. We are set up again for a good few more years on the road and barring any mishaps or health issues, long may it last!! After spending all that money though, there'll be no more big purchases on the horizon for a while!
So what have we been doing with ourselves while we are here on the Gold Coast? Apart from sorting all our stuff and swapping vans, and getting extra electrics done on the car to take the new van. We've caught up with family and friends and go to visit and take mum out on a regular basis. We've enjoyed the company of the dogs we are looking after, both Poppy and Gabbie and the 2 collies here, Ninja and Mishka.
We've done the regular round of doctors and blood tests while around this area and I've had a couple of physio treatments for my heal and leg muscle pain that I've been having. We are also both on diets at the moment and would like to loose 10+ kgs each. Watch this space! All in all we are both in good health which is great.
While we were staying at Robina, Jo, Phil and Olivia came up the coast for another visit, themselves doing a Housesit while here. We were lucky enough to have Olivia stay over for the night. She was so good and loved playing and cuddling with Poppy and Gabbie.
We celebrated Chris's birthday on May 18th by having breakfast at Burliegh and then in the evening we went to the Outback Spectacular. A dinner and show combined, telling the story of the legendary high country. We had been there before, about 8 years ago, it was a great show then and it didn't disappoint us this time around either. We had a great night.
Good news to end this blog on is that Jo is pregnant again and we are expecting a new little granddaughter around the end of September. This means that we will not be heading off too far on that open road as we will be heading to Coolah and Gunnedah pretty soon. Woohoo, I can't wait!!