Wed 4 Dec 2013 – Snippets of Life in the Van - THE END of this journey!

We thought that we’d finish up with some snippets of how we lived in the van, so the following photos show Life in and around the van.

Wake up to a beautiful day

Rodger rolls up the bedding 

and secures it for travel

then gets the van ship shape.

Mel makes the lunches at the start of the day as we do not know where we'll be for lunch

Mel getting in some harp practice

Rodger practices on the road while Mel takes her driving shift

securing the board before travelling

happy hour just before the sun sets 

Mel prepares dinner

sharing dinner at the table

great gloves for the wash up while Rodger drys up

plenty of night time entertainment

So that's a snippet of life on the road in our great VW Trakka transporter!  So thus ends our travels for this trip.  We are grateful to all the people we've met along the way who have shared our journey and to many of those who have given us help, advice, direction and encouragement. We are especially thankful to God whose creation we were able to experience and enjoy, and for keeping us and our van safe on our 25,000 klm journey.

Tues 3 Dec 2013 - Home again and Mum's Party!

We got up early so Rodger could surf at "The Farm" again and, although the waves were very small, he had a good surf and I enjoyed having a swim. We had breakfast at the beach and then returned to the camping ground for showers.

We drove along the coast, through Wollongong, and along the Northern beaches, returning to the Highway at Stanwell Park and suddenly there was a sign saying,"Welcome to Sydney", and we knew we were nearly home.

We picked up the keys from the Real Estate and went straight to our place, getting a reminder of life in the City, as it took us 30mins to travel 2 Kms!

We met a neighbour as we pulled up and he filled us in on the local news. The house was very clean and tidy and our tenants had left us some beautiful flowers to welcome us home. It felt so strange, as if we'd never been away and all our adventures of the past 5 months were just a dream.

However, reality hit when we realised we had no power. It was turned off when the tenants left on Friday and AGL said they couldn't put it on until Thurs, unless we wanted to pay them an extra $100. We figured that as we've lived without power for 5 months, another 2 days wouldn't hurt!

At dinner time we went down to Bronte beach and had a BBQ, it was a beautiful evening and a lovely home coming. When we got back to the house, we boiled a kettle in the van to make tea and hot water for washing up and then went to bed by candle light, all very romantic!

Now we need to prepare for our next big event, Rodger's Mum's 90th Birthday party on Sat.  Mum's party was a great success.

Mon 2 Dec 2013 - Surf at Bombo and The Farm near Kiama and Shellharbour

There wasn't any surf this morning, so we drove into Kiama and found not only surf but a surfing competition! It was the Australian Junior surfing Titles and it was held at Bombo Beach, to the North of Kiama. The surf small but clean in the comp area, and Rodger had a great time surfing down the beach with some of the Juniors who had finished their heats, then we had lunch while we watched the kids surfing, they were very good.

We moved down the coast a bit to Minnamurra and then Shellharbour, where there are 2 beaches called "The Farm" and "Mystics", Rodger got some good waves at "The Farm" and was so tired when he came out!

The Farm

Mystics

There's a camping ground here too, in the Killalea State Park. There's a school camp on here too, with a group of teenagers with special needs. We joined them after dinner for a movie, but we lost interest as it was too hard to hear and the screen was blowing about in the wind.

We're really pleased that we're spending the last night of our trip in a State Park, as our favourite camping places have been National and State Parks.

Sun 1 Dec 2013 – Monopoly Continued then on to Gerringong

This morning Donna & Grant had to go and do a preseason life saving proficiency test, but the kids preferred to stay home with Rodger and me and finish our never - ending game of Monopoly.  Layton finally triumphed just as Donna & Grant returned, nearly 2 hours later!

 We set off for Gerringong, but on the way we stopped in Berry, the only place I know of that sells gluten free battered fish and chips! I enjoyed the whole experience so much, even the anticipation of walking up the road, clutching the hot, greasy paper parcels and inhaling that glorious scent.

The surf was good at Gerringong and it was a lovely sunny afternoon so I had a swim while Rodger rode the waves and then we booked in to a very nice caravan park, just opposite the beach.

Sat 30 Nov 2013 - At the Walshes place in Culburra

Getting to Culburra only took us 30 mins and it was lovely to see Donna & Grant and the children again. We were quickly invited to spend the day with them and stay the night and so we had a happy day joining in their activities. We shovelled soil (especially Rodger & Donna), to make new garden beds, had a surf and a swim and a very long game of Monopoly!

In the late afternoon, the children went to Nippers and then a disco, and we adults had a big omelette, made from eggs laid by their own hens. We were all tired and stiff after the shovelling.

Fri 29 Nov 2013 - Touring for surf again!

It was a hot night but we woke up cold in the early hours, looking for the duvet, as a cool change came through. At 8.00 am we woke again and it was gloomy and raining. Due to the Southerly wind, the surf was blown out so we left and visited a surf board factory owned and run by the infamous Mark Rabbidge, who Rodger had met in the surf at Mollymook. He was a great guy who showed Rodger through the factory and explained operations.

As all the surf was blown out everywhere we went, we travelled further North than we intended and at 4.30pm we ended up at Currarong, which was so sheltered, there wasn't any surf at all, We decided to move on again, but before we'd gone far, Rodger noticed a car by the side of the road, with a man changing in to a wet suit. He stopped the car, went back and asked him where he was surfing. The man was a bit embarrassed and said it wasn't very big, although well formed. Rodger asked where it was and it was down a small dirt track through a hedge - we never would have found it ourselves. They both went out and had an hour and a half, having fun and catching lots of waves.

When Rodger came back, he got changed quickly because it was getting late and we drove off, back towards Currarong, where we'd seen a caravan park. Suddenly, Rodger realized he'd left his swimmers on the bumper bar, but when we stopped the car, they weren't there anymore! We drove back and looked everywhere but couldn't find them, so we set off again and finally saw them in the long grass by the road!

We found the caravan park and the man kindly gave us a powered site for the price of unpowered so, after our BBQ dinner, we were able to watch one of my favourite movies, "Midnight in Paris".

Thurs 28 Nov 2013 - Visiting Mr Duffy

Nobody disturbed us and we got up at 6.00am and went down to tour the beaches. We came back to the first one and by 7.00 am the surf was right and some other people arrived too. It was a beautiful morning and I went in for a swim while Rodger was in the surf. Mollymook are hospitable because they don't lock their toilets at night and there was a nice beach shower too!  (Mel finally gets some shots of me surfing!)

Rodger met some guys from the Baptist Church near the shower and after a short conversation, they invited him to visit their Men's Shed. I dropped him off there while I went to do some shopping 

When I picked up Rodger we drove into Milton to visit Mr Duffy - a very special friend, wise mentor to us at The Lighthouse.  We're so grateful that we have this opportunity to visit Mr Duffy as he was very ill in Sept and it didn't seem as if we'd see him again. We arrived mid-morning and had such a lovely time remembering special times together, that it was suddenly his lunchtime and we had to go.

 We had arranged to meet Mr Duffy's daughter, Vivien, in the park for a picnic lunch and it was great to catch up with her too.

From here, we went on to one of Rodger's favourite surfing spots, Mañana / Benelong Pt and he found some surf and people to go out with. There's a caravan park at Bennelong, so we stayed there. There were lots of kangaroos wandering about and grazing. It had been a hot day, 35C, and so we were able to cook and eat outside, until the mozzies came out!

Wed 27 Nov 2013 – Congo, Surf then to Mollymook

Rodger got up at 6.00am to good surf running off the reef and one other surfer to go out with. It was a bit strong and fast, but he had a few good rides as well as some wipe outs!

some dolphins joined us in the surf

There were no indoor showers, though they did provide shower rooms, with a hook to hang up your own bush shower. As we don't have one, I used a bucket instead, but it's amazingly difficult to throw a bucket of water over yourself!

We had planned to visit Rodger's uncle and aunt when we went through Bateman's Bay, but Rodger's mum reminded us that they are up in Taree. We also planned to visit our friends Michael and Sara Anna, who also live there, but they weren't home either!

After lunch at Dolphin Pt and went through Ulladulla to Mollymook. We decided to stop here as it's close to Milton, where we'll be visiting Mr Duffy, a special friend, tomorrow morning. We went for a walk on the beach and then found another beach further on called Narrawallee, where there's an inlet good for fishing and a nice park with a BBQ, where we can cook our dinner. It was only 4.00pm, so we went for a walk and then Rodger had a go at fishing, I went and sat with him as it was such a lovely afternoon. Rodger caught a whiting, which we BBQed with our lamb chops. 

We stayed at the park until 10.00pm and then drove round to a street we had picked out, one back from the beach and we quietly set up for the night and slept there, in our clothes, just in case.