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.