Rainy Days

Today we're experiencing our first full night and day of rain (it is only the middle of the day, but looking at the map, I'm quite confident to say the full day).  I slept on the 'couch' last night - I have become so addicted to the Twilight books, that I'm staying up late to finish them .. one a day so far.  I'm trying to stay away from the third one today.. I need some sleep!  The rain started early in the evening and didn't let up until I went to sleep - and am assuming from the puddle (or perhaps a lake is a more apt description) that I stepped into when I stepped off the caravan step this morning, that it kept going all night.  

We were planning on Aaron doing a day of painting on the yacht (I tend to distract him apparently, so I was (self) assigned to chores throughout town.  As we left "home", it was overcast, but had finally stopped raining.  Coming into Yamba, it started bucketing down - not the kind of painting weather one usually finds advantageous.  There are signs up throughout town promoting a surf photography exhibition at the Yamba Museum.  In all the years we've been coming to Yamba, neither of us knew there was even a Museum in town!  It was my goal today to find that and check it out... until the rain.  As we sat in the carpark of the Marina, we thought we'd go check out the Laundromat in town (it's the new thing to do on a rainy day) - there were piles of laundry and you had to precariously step between them to the one table and chair setting they had there.  We decided to head back to the Marina, where it was $1 more expensive, but they have 3 power points (our phones had died and the computer hasn't been charged properly in days) - pros and cons people, pros and cons.  So here I sit, on a plastic garden chair, in a tiny laundry room that has two doors (allowing the chilly wind to have a thoroughfare to blast through), while Aaron is out at the yacht (the rain had slowed to a drizzle).  I can't go into town, as he doesn't have his phone with him (no powerpoint on the yacht), and I have no idea how long he'll be.. and it's not really fair to leave him stranded at the marina without transport or a towel for a nice hot shower.

We were lucky enough to be given a new mooring - it's right on the roadside of the Marina - prime real estate position!  So we'll be doing up some new signs and getting her ready for the Christmas traffic.  He's moving her into position now.  We'll nearly be able to walk out to her from the shore .. well almost.  It means that there'll be no more rocking from side to side (which put me to sleep every time I got onboard.. much to Aaron's amusement - I found it quite convenient when we went there to do work though.. heheh), as she won't be so exposed to the winds and waves.  

The last few days have been fairly non-eventful.  We had a bit of a road trip to Ballina yesterday, to meet up with Mum and Dad and my Aunty Helen.. which was wonderful.  They bought us the dinghy (if you can call it that.. a shell that Aaron's pumped so full of expandafoam that it floats.. just) for the yacht and some mail....  surprisingly no lotto cheque in there though, so we'll continue on with our thrifty travels.  Mum and Dad bought us a new gnome too - which will accompany Gnomeo.  I haven't taken any photos of him yet, but when you see it, you will laugh with me in thinking that it is perfect for Aaron.

The Council had decided that road works in the festive season would prove a great mood booster for all travellers.. needless to say the UHF radio was working overtime with some colourful truckie conversations, which is always great entertainment!  It was good to be in the Troopy without the tinnie on top or the caravan behind us - we were flying!!!

In more important news, did I mention how much I love our toilet?????????  Our new 'carabuddies' (caravanning friends) had warned us that with the influx of people the 'public toilets' (which are an ecofriendly long drop.. which is great if you don't mind spending your toilet time with a million flies.. which fly out of the toilet as you open the seat cover) would soon become unbearable.  We thought it time to set up the toilet and I'm pretty sure my bowels knew exactly when it was set up.. if you know what I mean!   Those of you who have been following our travels over the last year would know that I was a little skeptical about our little toilet.. but I can tell you, I am reformed!  And anyone planning on travelling without a toilet in their caravan, invest in one!!!!  Will be the best thing you do :)

So we have a little shower tent, complete with shower and toilet - and I'm loving it!!  The little 12V shower we have is also another great investment - soooooo good!  

We hosted our first 'sundowner' drinks on Tuesday night - perfect opportunity for me to bake!  I made some chocolate slice (have been having chocolate withdrawals after our pig out at Aaron's Mum and Dad's), and did up a nice plate of nibbles.. yummo!  

The surf hasn't been awesome but we managed to get in 3 surfs (I surfed twice.. Az 3 times) on Tuesday - I think my body had forgotten what sun looked like and has given me this awesome tan line.. of my bikini.  I surfed in my bikini, while Aaron wore my rashie (ironically, it was giving me a rash) and I might add, I think he was secretly loving wearing it.. every time I looked at him he'd be posing ... making him look gayer than he already did in a female's rashie.. lucky it wasn't pink!  We surfed for probably 2 hours at Brooms Head .. water was beautiful.. and as we were traveling back home, we both realised that we'd forgotten to put suncream on .... so each time I sat down for the next day or so, I was reminded that I had a beautifully sunburnt bum!

I had finally taken some photos of the set up and a few around here and there .. so will share them with you today :)

The above 3 photos are of Redcliff - the beach we are camped at

 Our campsite - complete with 'ensuite'

Aaron introducing Gnomeo to his favourite beverage

The view from our 'balcony' .. bit of bush and bit of beach .. perfect

 From where the car is parked .. can still see beach 

Aaron and Gnomeo doing the dishes

 Aaron's eating fruit!!!

But like a kid with broccoli, he has to share it with his 'friend'

When we were at Aaron's Mum & Dad's .. nice rig!

The New Addition to our "Family"

We would like to introduce "Gnomeo" to you all .. he's tagging along on our adventures & is proving to be quite entertaining for us.  You can imagine the shots he'll be in can't you?!  Aaron wants to play 'Where's Wally?" in the photos, to see if you can all find him .. as you can tell, we are working on our own forms of entertainment.. hehe..

So.. this is Gnomeo .. very fitting for us we thought

Broom Head

I'm pretty sure I've started our blog with, "I can't believe we've actually left" a few times now... but seriously, we've REALLY left this time...  We have waved goodbye to the Gold Coast for the last time and are now fully, really, and truly on our way to the trip of a lifetime.

We've waved goodbye to Aaron's parents and spent an early Christmas with them - which was fabulous.  I don't think either of us have eaten as much in a very long time.. and we're both sure we were just subconsciously stockpiling fat for the 'leaner months' that are sure to follow.  That's our excuse anyway!  On our second last day up at Toogoolawah, we went on a family day outing - tip shopping.  I was in heaven!  I'm not sure if any of you watch American Pickers, but we were just like those two..  Aaron was even doing the narration, 'Picked for $4, Valued at $50, Profit $46' .. hilarious!

So I guess you're wondering what our picks were... welllllllll, we got an amazing little tricycle for $4!!!  Imagine when we do this up... oh yeah baby!

And a Universal Two Tone sewing machine for $10.. which was a present from Enid & John.  It's amazing to see the underside, with it's mechanical workings - Aaron was more excited about this one than I was I think.

So the tip shopping ended a great week up at Toogoolawah.  We then headed back to the Gold Coast for a few alterations before continuing the big trip .. boy was it hard to say goodbye!  We'd left a few times, but we knew that we'd always be coming back .. so you can imagine the tears on my behalf..

With great timing, my Sister and her son were down on the Gold Coast, so we all went out for dinner at the local Chinese restaurant.  There was a huge Christmas tree up in the Shopping Centre, so my nephew took our photo.. I think he did a pretty good job.  You can tell by our smiles that we were loving him acting all professional - he even told us to say cheese!!  My nephew is 6 years old and can already take great photos! Remember me when you become a famous photographer Riley!!

We're now staying at Brooms Head in the Yuragir National Park until Christmas.. we got here in time to get a great spot - right on top of the hill.. the wind is crazy though.  We stayed at a different spot in the NP last night and the wind was so strong that it felt like there were a bunch of kids outside pushing our caravan from side to side.. . a little unnerving to start with.

I got up this morning to go to the "awesome" toilets (complete with hundreds of flies) and opened the caravan (or as our friend's son calls it, a caraban) and was welcomed with about 25 kangaroos... so the walk to the toilet was quite quick... and my eyes were to the ground, no eye contact made.. except for the little joey that was leaning out of it's Mum's pouch to eat some grass.. so cute!

On the way back, the joey had exited the pouch, and as I walked passed them they were hopping away.. the joey was trying to get back in to the pouch as the Mum was hopping away - I had a quiet little giggle & wondered if she was hopping away from me or the joey!

We stalked some school kids this morning for their camp spot - they were leaving today and we wanted prime position.. of course.  It took them FOREVER to leave.. am sure they knew we wanted their spot and were just teasing us.

The van looks great all set up - will take some photos tonight and upload them tomorrow - the internet service is pretty bad, as is phone service.. so if you need to contact us, text is good.

Until the next post.. 

xx

Geronimo!!!!!

After 8 months, Aaron has finally fulfilled his dream of jumping out of an airplane.  I got him a tandem sky jump for his birthday - way back in April.. and it's taken this long to finally jump. The weather was against us for the first two attempts and when we awoke on Monday, we thought it might be the same - but turns out third time lucky!  It was overcast and the wind was howling.  We later found out that they were actually ideal conditions .. who would have thought?

As soon as he woke up and all the way up until he got his suit on, I kept asking him if he was nervous and if the butterflies were starting to invade his tummy.  I'm not sure if he was just trying to be tough, but he said he wasn't nervous at all.  He's been looking forward to this for so long, I think the excitement was overpowering the nervous energy.  He was so caught up in the moment, that he didn't even say goodbye to me before he left for the plane!!!  In saying that, I was so excited for him and caught up in the moment as well, that I didn't even realise until the plane had taken off.. hehe.

[Az filling out the pages of paperwork .. I loved the sentence on the left .. "Parachuting is Dangerous" .. for those that don't notice the obvious!]

He had a French Instructor/Tandem Jumper.... and you know how Az is with accents - he had no idea what he was saying!  Which was quite funny when he started pulling at straps around the family jewels!  The suit that he was given was quite snug and the funniest part was the bum was nearly worn through .. hilarious!  The Instructor had me worried for a bit - he was a bit late and as he came past me, he mumbled, "I've only been awake for 5 minutes".. and proceeded to get the parachute pack and check it over .. I wanted to throw a cup of coffee at him and get him functioning a little more before he started looking at their lifeline!  The majority of the boys around the drop zone were hungover .. imagine jumping with a hangover . . no thanks.  Actually, I think I'll just pass on the whole jump thing all together.

The instruction part was so brief that his parents were able to come down and see him jump, which was great, as we thought they'd miss it.  They kindly bought the DVD of his jump, so he can relive it as often as he likes.  Am sure he'd like to take the hobby up but after finding out that the initial costs in getting your license starts from $10,000, don't think he'll be taking up that hobby!!

[Az looking mighty snug in his flying suit]

[Walking with his instructor to the plane and then showing the boys his moves]

The plane seemed to take forever to climb to the 14,000ft that they were jumping from.  We kept losing it in and out of the clouds, but finally heard the shutes being opened.. looked up and saw him like a fly in the sky.  You should have seen the smile on his face - I could see it before he even landed!  Needless to say, he was absolutely buzzing from the adrenalin and the experience.. and wanted to go straight back up and do it again!  The bank balance was keeping his feet firmly on the ground though :)

[Aaron's reaction to his jump]

[The plane...]

[The Aaron...]

[Aaron with his Nan - so happy she was there to see it]

His new plan is to do another tandem jump, as often as he can .. need I say more??

Final stage of Operation: Getting Faulkners off the Gold Coast is go!

We've finally done it!  We thought it would be end of October that we'd be leaving for good.. but as with all these things that take time, this took a loooong time.  We left on 1 December 2011... heading up to Aaron's Mum and Dad's first, then maybe Noosa  (we've still got new boards we need to break in) for a  bit of a surf and then heading down south.

The caravan is still not 100% finished, but that's probably a good thing.  Within the first 8 hours, Aaron got bored and was asking what he could be doing.  Luckily we have kept a few little jobs for him on the caravan for these occasions.  He seems to think he'll be finding work pretty quickly.. funny stuff!  I, on the other hand, have been busy getting photos edited and baking.  As well as the decorations for the cake of course!  What's a cake without decorations??  I'll upload some photos later on - after our Mexican Secret Santa tonight - Aaron and I made THE best present.. although it's rivaled by his Secret Santa present (in his opinion) .. and when you see what it is, you'll do exactly what I did.. just look at him and shake your head.

I asked Aaron how long it has been since he's had a Christmas with all his family - he couldn't remember and gave a rough .. "oh, about 10 years".. so I'm glad we are here for their early Christmas dinner.  So it will be an evening full of yummy food, new relatives (I still haven't met everyone... even though we've been together for over 4 years!) and Mexican Secret Santa - for 18 people..  There will sure to be a few laughs.

The van towed quite well and while we still have to work out the weight distribution a little more, Aaron feels quite comfortable towing it - which is great, because I'm scared sh*tless of having to drive it.  I think we have to find a VERY big industrial area, where I can't hit anything and there are absolutely no cars.  Or he can just wait until we are on the Nullabor Plains and I can just drive in a straight line (without any wind, thank you universe).  

Our departure was such a rushed chaotic mess, that I didn't even have a chance to take photos of the van and car driving up and out of the driveway.. so I'll have to take some set up in our first location away from home.  We are both in love with 'The Brown Bomber' - our call name for the van.  You'll know why we've called her this when we put up our annexe walls - very sexy (maybe back in the 70/80's)..

Hope you'll keep tagging along to our journey .. feel free to comment or send us an email or give us a call;

chicmermaid@yahoo.com.au

Kesti: 0411-404-559
Aaron: 0422-472-088

Until our next post xx

Back on the Road Again

What we thought would be a short stint turned out to be about 4 months.  We're planning on being back on the road around the 31 October - and boy do we have a lot to get done!  Aaron has been working on the caravan, and it's looking AMAZING!  We've been here for my Mum's 60th, which we spent over at Fraser Island and my Dad's birthday.  It's been great being back home before we head off again - we're both getting anxious and keen to get back on the road.  I'll post some more photos of the caravan very soon xx

A short stint back home.. before more adventures!

After 5 weeks on the road up to the tip of Australia, we have come home ... temporarily.  We are back to finish the caravan and tie up the loose ends of our possessions and then the world (known as Australia) is our oyster.

We've been back for 3 days and both Az and I already have itchy feet - which is great, because we've found motivation that was long lost before we left for Cape York.  Within a day of being back, Az and Dad had paved an area at the top of the driveway and had moved the caravan up there so Az can easily work on it.  So it now sits, no axles, up on blocks and ready for him to work his magic on.  I need a small ladder to even get into it now!

I've done 10 loads of washing (no exaggeration!) and did the mountain of dishes that came out of the truck (they weren't dirty don't worry)... I seriously have NO idea how we fit all the clothes and dishes etc that I've washed, into the truck - it's like Mary Poppins' bag!!  I wasted no time in getting the computer in for fixing - the hard drive is being replaced - which means that I lose everything on the laptop.. all the photos from the beginning of our trip - bugger, with a capital B!!  Oh well, it's not the end of the world :)

To fill you in on the last few days of our trip....

After an amazingly refreshing swim in the Longreach Community Pool (complete with hot shower afterwards) we had bacon and eggs in the park and then took a stroll down the main street.  We were both surprised at how the temptation to spend money was so strong after not being near "proper" shops.  We have been so good (aka.. tight) when it came to spending money on the first part of our trip and it gave us a great start to new habits that will hopefully stay with us for many years to come - of buying out of necessity and not want (or greed).  I managed to stay strong and only bought a magazine and 2 puzzle books (and trust me, this was out of necessity, after the awful stretches of roads of nothing nearly killed us both .. from boredom).  We moved on to the Stockman's Hall of Fame, which was pretty interesting.  Aaron will tell you that the QANTAS museum was much better, but I would rank them very similarly.  We decided that as there wasn't too much else we were really wanting to see in Longreach, we drove to the next town of Barcaldine - which is home to the 'Tree of Knowledge'.... a definite must see.  While the town boasts 6 (or possibly even more) pubs in the mere stretch of about 600m, it also boasts a beautiful tree come art installation.  It really is spectacular - even Aaron was impressed!!  This tree has quite a history behind it and has been beautifully protected by a shroud of individually crafted timber beams suspended by steel rods - with a pattern that emulates the branches and leaves of the original tree.

http://www.treeofknowledge.com.au/history.htm

We stayed in a free camp outside of town and the next day were on our way to the gem mining towns of Rubyvale & Sapphire.  After winding our way through a few mountain ranges, we came across a town called Willow Gemfields and decided to drop in and see what the 'town' was all about.  The town consisted of 3 streets, 2 caravan parks and a mine called "Bonanza Minefield"... You can get a fossicking permit for $9.50 for the month and just find a bit of dirt and start fossicking.  We stopped where a couple of older gentlemen were digging a very deep hole and got a crash course in Sapphire fossicking.  We were considering having a go at a spot around there, until old mate told me that he'd just found a Brown Snake - which had shed it's skin twice and was still quite active... we decided to move on.  We were asking  how big a Sapphire they had found.. one of the guys had been at it for 40 (!!!) years and his mate had only been doing it for a "few years" .. which turned out to be 17 years!!!   Old mate who'd been at it the longest said he'd found a 420 carat Sapphire!!  I nearly fell over.  He quickly told me that it wasn't quite the same as a diamond being that many carats.  Still - pretty impressive.  I asked what he did with all the Sapphires he found, which (and I had to suppress a bit of a chuckle) he informed me had gone to all his previous 'lady friends'.  And the kids & grandkids of course.  They told us to be careful, because this fossicking gig can get very addictive - he pointed over his shoulder and told me one of his ex-s and her new husband were over there fossicking.... he'd got her hooked and she's not been able to stop since.

We decided to head over to Sapphire and looked into a more 'touristy' option just to give us a taste and see how we felt about it.  Ended up at Rubyvale and did an underground tour of an old mine and bought a bucket of 'wash' - that we could fossick.  It was hard work, and we only did a bucket each!!!  By the end of it, our backs were sore and we were well and truly over it.  In saying that we also decided that it was a bit of a dud set up and were convinced that the crew that run it, just get a bucket of dirt and put in a few tiny gems to get everyone into it.  We thought we'd give an open mine a go, but after learning the price of such a daytrip, we decided to get back on the road and ended up in Emerald.  Where we stopped at another free camp, under a railway and next to the main road into the town .. slightly noisy.. until we went to sleep and then didn't hear a thing!

By this stage, we were both getting super super keen to get home and start on all the projects that were now swimming around our heads.  We had 2 more stops before home - my Sister's house in Dalby and Aaron's parents' house in Toogoolawah.  As we arrived at Neika's house, we looked up to see Riley (my nephew) peering out the window waiting for us to arrive.  Neika informed us he'd been like this for about 20 minutes - cute!!  We had a great time!  I introduced Riley to sliding on tiles with your socks... he still needs a little work on that one .. hehe.

The next day we dropped into Aaron's Nan's place, as we hadn't seen her since we got married (1.5 years ago!).  Had a great chat with her and left with the promise of a game of Scrabble the next time we saw her.  We surprised Aaron's Mum and Dad at Bowls - which seemed fitting as we had originally started our journey there.

And then finally the day we returned home - we were both so sure the trip would take hours and hours (usually 2.5 hours) because we were so excited about getting back.  But we made it!!

We had a great trip and are now even more so looking forward to our next chapter.   The goal - to leave by early September so we can catch the last of the snow season - oh yeah baby!!

I'm working on photos now, so will be posting photos from our trip soon. .. so stay tuned
xx