It's been a while since l last blogged and it has been a time of mixed emotions, feelings and experiences. It's also been quite busy. Sit tight cause this might be a bit of a long winded blog with nothing too exciting to report.
After Geelong we headed back to Alana and Rhett's in Harston where we had a terrific catch up with a beautiful family and great mates. And it was still bloody raining!! We were fortunate to stay the night which was terrific seeing we didn't see each other much last time we were home. Ella and Marly had grown heaps and the girls had a great play together. Alana too Boo and Meg down to see Rhett at the pig farm and they loved it. They saw new piglets and they said it was very noisy with their screeches. Bit sad but they also saw a dead piglet, which didn't seem to faze them too much which was good. We had such a great catch up and an sure we will see them somewhere around oz in their caravan.
Next stop was to see Fiona, Chris, Mia and Nate for a couple of nights. It was great that our catchup wasn't rushed and l got to tackle some school assessments for Boo and get her books organised. Boo also got to go back to her old school, Grahamvale P.S. thanks to Fiona organizing it. She was so excited leading up to the visit but as soon as we got into the classroom she went a little shy. It was cool to see all her old school buddies so excited to see her and that they hadn't forgotten her. I helped her chat about our adventures around oz with the help of our map. I did most the talking but Boo warmed up and said a few things along the way. All her classmates were captivated by her adventures and stories, especially hearing about all the different animals she'd seen along the way. Was cool when they oohed and gasped about things we were saying. As usual, the Earls were awesome to catch up with and the kids had a ball. Marty and l even had our first ever taste of Thai food thanks to Fi and Chris (and Thai Orchid of course?). It was so delicious, can't believe we have never ventured our taste buds there before!!! Anyway, after two fantastic nights we packed up and said our goodbyes, again!!!
Next stop was just down the road to Nelly, Trev, Ethan, Reece and Cade's shack to get the van ready for our next exploration and also to spend time with the McKays. Boo arrived a little later after spending time with her bestow, Coco, which the boys were a little disappointed with but were still happy to play with Meg in the meantime. It was raining still when we arrived which was good in a way as we just got to chill with Nelly and Trev. As usual, they were great hosts, and we got to have a a few laughs and chats along the way. Later in the evening, after tea, the rain had finally stopped but there was plenty of puddles around. The kids thought it would be great to strip down to their undies and go splash around in them. Was hilarious to watch them come down the slide and land bumb first in the puddle below. Glad to see the kids be kids, love seeing them in action doing this sort of thing. The next morning we woke to get the van organised before heading off in the arvo. Our goodbyes weren't too bad as we had to swing back in a few days to pick it up. Was sort of good to have a break from final goodbyes...
After our productive few days getting the car looked at and fixed (steering wheel had been shaking heaps in Tassie which ended just needing to be re-balanced) which was great that it was a small thing. Was good to have car and van all organised before we headed off to Mel and Corey's in Tocumwal, meant we could chill for the next few days. So off we went, racing Ethan and Reece along the street as usual. Although the rain had stopped for now, the region was copping it with severe floods everywhere. This impacted on our route and meant we had to go the long way round thru Nathalia to get to Toc, an extra 45 mins. Bit of a bummer but we can't complain seeing there was so much devastation in the area and people were having to be evacuated from there homes. By this stage alot of northern Vic and up to 70% of NSW was under flood, and we predict this will impact on our future travel plans and itinerary.
Anyhow, we got to Toc and found it lucky to have a 4WD as Mel and Corey's street was flooded a tad. To the extent that it produced a big enough bow wave that their next door neighbour wasn't too happy with when the water went up to his garage. It wasn't intentional and we were going as slow as we could in 1st gear, but l guess they were sick of the water. We rocked up to an excited Melissa and an exhausted Corey. Corza had been out for the last three days with SES with the floods. We chilled and caught up and the kids played happily. Time flew so quick and by the time we knew it it was midnight. The next morning we had to get up at the crack of dawn as we had appointments in Shepp early and had to take the detour back again. Was sort of good in a way cause it meant that it was a busy and quick goodbye. Where it would have been another sad and teary time saying goodbye to my gorgeous mate Mel again.
We headed off back to Shepp and did all our appointments. Went and saw Harvey for the last time until we finish the trip. This was hard and again, nearly wanted us to end our trip. Made it easy that he looked so well and happy. Alissa is being such a great surrogate mum to him for us!!! We headed out to Nelly's, said our farewells (at this point am over saying goodbye to all our friends, way too hard, cant hug them any tighter without causing harm to them!) and hooked the van up again. Felt so weird to see it in the side mirrors out the back. Has felt like an eternity since we have towed it. We called thru Kyabram on our way to Echuca to see Nan and Pop Hindson. The girls were so excited to see them. We had afternoon tea and we shared stories of our travels with them then nan played the piano for the girls, the girls just adore watching them play. Time flew and we had to make tracks to get to Echuca before tea time at Dusk and Peters. It was sad to say goodbye to nan and pop because we don't know when we will see them again, and they are the only grandparents our girls really know. We waved our hankies out the window, a tradition for nan, and made our way to the Gronows.
We were met by two eager boys who had been waiting all arvo for us to arrive. I couldn't believe my nose when l smelt the lamb roast cooking in the oven, Peter and Dusk knew it was my favorite! Over the next few days l caught up on Boo's schooling, Marty serviced the car and Meg and Liam played and fort all day. They have such a loving relationship were Liam annoys her to get her attention, so adorable but really hard to listen to when Meg sooks about it!!! Dusk, Meg and l went down the street and had the most delicious morning tea. We stopped off at a coffee shop and shared a piece of 'mortal sin'.. It's a three layered slice with choc moose, white moose and cheesecake. I have never tried to savor food for as long as l did. All l wanted to do was eat it but didn't want it to end, OMG it was heavenly!!! Enough about that though because l have started to drool just thinking about it!! Lol.... Boo also got to go pick up Jackson from school pne day which they both loved..... Like at Mel's, it was a quick farewell on the morning we left as Dusk and Peter had to go to work. Felt too quick, sad goodbye, will miss them terribly......
So after this hectic week, left feeling exhausted, saddened but excited, we took off to Mildura. A small 5 hour drive!!! Lol... We arrived and booked into Buronga Tourist Park for seven nights. It was just over the bridge on the NSW side and was only $31 per night. Decided not to free camp at this stage as needed to get jobs and school organized and needed power in the van too much. Overall, over our week in Mildura, we achieved heaps. We've got the ball rolling for our jobs in Alice Springs and have begun to catch up with Boo's schooling. We didn't do too many touristy things, just relaxed, but what we did do we enjoyed. One evening we headed into Mildura to see their annual Mardi Gras street parade. The girls loved watching the different done up floats go by. We also watched a little live entertainment after it, like always our girls loved watching live concerts. This time they even got up and danced around. We ended the night with a macca's soft serve and watching the fireworks from the car (it started a tad early while we were getting our icecreams!!). Another day we headed over to Wentworth and had a look around the old gaol. Cheap entry and interesting place, well preserved. Think we have been over stimulated with the gaol thing though with Tassie. Nothing will compare to Port Arthur l think?! We also went up to a viewing platform of where the Darling and the Murray Rivers meet. Was cool to see and could tell the difference between them, with the darling being really muddy in color. Learnt some interesting facts: the Murray is the longest river and the Darling is the largest in Australia. Overall, our time in Mildura was exactly what we needed. It helped us get back into routine of our travelling life which has felt on hold at times over the last couple of months. It allowed the girls to have some fun riding their bikes and swimming in the pool (which l think was bloody cold). It also gave us the opportunity to plan our next route on this amazing adventure. So, with the floods around we have had to make some minor and slightly disappointing adjustments due to roads closed. We have had to abort going up to Cameron's corner and doing the Streisleki road to Birdsville and the Birdsville track down to Maree. Instead we are going to still head to Broken Hill and then go east to go thru Flinders Ranges and take the Oodnadatta Track up to get to Alice Springs. Hopefully arriving in Alice at end of March to start work first week in April. Forgot about this stressful part of the trip with funds going down and needing to get jobs, been so long since we've had to worry.
Sorry about the long blog again. Next stop Broken Hill......no expectations just hope it will be something new for us to see!!!!
Bell Xxx