Home again

Here we are back at home.

It has taken me a few days to write this final post as we have been trying to put our home back together.

Tonia has done 26 loads of washing!!!!

Our back deck was full and we were all bewildered that all of it came out of our van.

How did the car tow it???

We have driven nearly 24000 kms.

We have stayed in a huge variety of caravan parks, free camp sites and even rest areas.

We have been on numerous boat rides and lots of tours.

But more so we have spent lots and lots of time together, enjoying each others company, growing together and experiencing so much of the natural beauty that this country has to offer.

Yes we are very sad to be finishing.

Yet very happy to have had the chance to go.

Very pleased to have been able to give the kids this amazing experience.

Truly amazed at how much we have seen and done and yet how much there is still out there.

Hoping that the last 20 weeks will be with us for the rest of our lives.

We know that this 140 day adventure has changed us all and hope that on the most part it will be for the better.

Definitely in awe at what an amazing country we live in and pray that we will get a chance to see some more of it as time goes by.

Really hopeful that the people we have grown into because of our experiences don't get forgotten when the real world starts knocking at our door.

We went away with this verse as something we liked and have come back hoping to take even more notice of it in the future.

"for a long time it seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life, but there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, a debt to be paid, until at last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life, this perspective has helped me to see there is no way to happiness, happiness is the way, so treasure every moment you can have and remember that time waits for no one".

Happiness is a journey not a destination!!

 

 

 

 

The final couple of days of our adventure.

We left Brisbane knowing that we were rapidly approaching the end of our journey.

The idea was to get to Forster or as close as we could but the drive was a lot harder than expected.

The roads down the East coast are shocking. Between the huge volume of cars and the never ending stops for road works it took us over three hours to cover just a couple of hundred kms. So by the time we got to Woolgoolga we decided to stay.

It was early afternoon when we pulled up. It is a lovely little town and the caravan park is right on the beach.

 

We spent the afternoon walking around the town and along the beach. Just beautiful.

 

The next morning we went straight down to Forster which although only less than 300 kms again took us a lot longer than expected with lots of road works and way too much traffic for my liking.

 

How I longed for the open roads of WA where we would cover that sort of distance in less than 3 hours and only see a handful of cars.

 

 

Drove past the Big Banana.

 

Anyway the caravan park is in a beautiful spot, right on the lake and just back from the beach as well as being across the road from the township. Again we walked around town, across the bridge and even took the kids to the playground on the waterside.

It was hard to believe that this was our last park.

 

We decided to go out for dinner to celebrate what had been an amazing adventure that has been everything and more than we ever expected.

 

So with a lot of sadness, a bit of rain and a lot of excitement and apprehension about returning home we spent our last night in our caravan.

Although we would have liked to stay on the road longer the real world has caught up with us and other commitments have determined that we should return.

Milly is singing with the school choir at the Opera House on 3 Sept and we are very excited about the opportunity.

We are really looking forward to Chris and Kirby's wedding on  Sept 7.

Promotional opportunities have come up at work that I have been waiting four years to occur.

So we find ourselves heading back home and getting straight back in to life after putting everything on hold for the last 4 1/2 months.