Change Ahead

I can't believe its been almost a year since I've updated this blog.  Lots has happened, more than one blog can contain.

We have spent the last six months working on a dairy farm in South West Victoria.  It has been much busier than we envisioned and many times we wanted to move on but we gave the farm owner our word that we'd stay till the farm or the herd sold. So we buckled in and have all learned new skills that I am sure will be useful in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A couple of days ago the owner rang to say the farm had sold! Despite knowing this day would come it still was a shock to us all.  The change over happens in about six weeks but the cows go up for auction in four weeks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Having spent the last five months in a house it's going to be different going back into the bus. We don't know how long we'll be on the move or if we'll get another job after a short break.

In our spare time we've been working on some money making ideas. We have bought a sewing machine and made some capes for service dogs. We have the parts now for collars and leads.

Earlier this week we signed up to become DoTERRA Independent Wellness Advocates. Essential oils are something we are passionate about and can't wait to learn more them and start using them for our family. You can check our website at Aussie Oils if you are interested.

 

We haven’t had a lot of time for scroll sawing, but hope to pick that up again when we finish here.

 

Technorati Tags: Travel,Change,Farming,Dairy,Cows,Family,Wellness

From SA to Vic and almost back again and 33 point turns!

With our South Australian Rego due on the Odyssey we tried to reregister online, but were given the message that we needed to phone in.  So we dutifully phoned in but didn’t realise we needed a credit/debit card to pay over the phone.  All was set to go, we just needed to put money on our debit card.

Two days later we phone again, card in hand only to be told we now could not do it either online or over the phone, we needed to come in to a South Australian Branch!  We were by this time in Seymour, Victoria about 500km form the nearest SA service centre.  They would not budge!  Apparently our SA drivers license, that was to have been posted to NSW had been returned and now they would not release it until we fronted up in person. The operator we spoke to said they did not post interstate, yet when we transferred our license to SA the lady at the desk had no problem with it! 

We now had two days to get this sorted before our current rego expired!  A 500km trip in two days was not what any of us wanted to do!

We had mail to collect so decided to go and collect it and hope that our SA drivers license was amongst it; it was not!  As it was now close to 10pm we choose to stay put and hope that either SA would be kind to us and understand our situation or maybe we could transfer to Vic rego.

First thing Thursday morning with rego due Friday, we phoned SA again, explaining our situation again, they still would not budge!  So we phoned VicRoads asking about transferring our rego.  Yeah, they said, that’s no problem!  Phew!!  Appointments were made and we breathed a bit easier!

By lunch time on Friday we had our Vic plates!!  Woo Hoo!!

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On another note;  we took a trip out in the Odyssey and used the GPS to find our way out of one town to the next town.  Hmmm … bad mistake!  We ended up on a narrow road with a lot of traffic behind us, and in front of us a 3 ton load limit bridge!  We put our hazard lights on, and got out of access the situation. We thought that with a bit of skill we could get turned around.  So Sarah went up to the top of the bridge and stopped the traffic while Jasmine helped direct Michael and make sure he avoided a stake that was inconveniently placed on the side of the road!  After much skill and manoeuvrings we got her turned round!  The other motorists waved to us as we drove away feeling very relieved!

There was signage approaching the bridge, but when we checked them on the way back they did look like they were pointing to the side roads!

This is a pic from Google Maps of where we turned round.  Fortunately there was a side “road” not that we could go far down it, but at least we could put our nose into it!

First Time in the Northern Territory

After the show in Mt Isa, we were booked for our first show in the Territory!  We were all excited about it as we’d never been in that state before.

We left Camooweal around 11 am and embarked on what we think is the most boring drive we’ve been on in all our travels so far!  The distance to Tennant Creek from Camooweal was almost 500km’s with lot’s and lot’s of nothingness in between!  To quote Sheppard and Ford in Stargate Atlantis:  “I’ve never seen so much nothing!” “And I’ve never gone so far to see it!”

We didn’t get a photo at the border because of the graffiti on the sign.

We arrived in Tennant Creek , a town of around 3000 people at around 7pm.  Lots of Aboriginal people were just wandering the streets.  We checked out the town then headed to the showgrounds to set up camp.

Next day we talked to the show secretary who had only found out the day before that the Superdogs were even coming to the show!  We walked around with him while the thought about were he could set us up to perform.  Really the only place to set up was round the back and mostly in the sun.  We asked for some chairs so we could set up a place for the audience only to be told “we don’t have any chairs, all the locals will just sit on the ground.” 

Our first performance of the day didn’t have many people watching which was disappointing and made it hard for the girls and the dogs to stay positive and perform their best.  After that performance we headed off in search of some chairs (that they apparently didn’t have) and we found all of seven (7) of them!  And for our next performance we actually had people come and sit in them!    Never once did we have people come and sit on the ground!  Lesson learned: if you want a present audience, set up some chairs!

Another piece of advice we were given by an elderly gentleman who watched our final show of the day was:  give it your best even if there is no present audience and then the dogs will also give their best.  He was right!

It was a hard day, about 31 degs and we were looking forward to spending the afternoon/evening relaxing.  We bought some cold drinks and headed back to camp.  As we were relaxing and thinking about dinner we noticed a very drunk Aboriginal male heading over to our camp.  He came and stood beside Mike (who was washing the dishes) just looking over his shoulder!  Rather disconcerting to say the least.  He then staggered round and sat down under the tree about 1 metre from our table and watched us from there!

On looking round we noticed all the other showies packing up and getting ready to go and decided we didn’t want to be in the showgrounds on our own!  So we told the girls that we had a change of plan and we were packing up (at 7pm) and leaving as we didn’t feel that it would be safe in a tent.  I’ve never seen our girls pack up so fast!  By 8pm everything and everybody was packed into the van!  Our usual pack down is about 2-3 hours!

We headed off, had dinner outside a gas station and hit the road back to QLD!  Spent the night in our small (3 person) tent with 5 people in it and the older girls and dogs sleeping in the van.  We woke to a beautiful day, being Mike’s 50th birthday!  With still about 400k’s to go we decided to postpone his birthday till later and packed up and headed east!

We are now regrouping after a busy time and preparing for our next gig at Mt Isa’s Paws Hoofs and Claws Christmas in the Park fundraiser on July 27.

We put the chairs in the only patch of shade!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chana and her crazy dog Lassie!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jessica and her energetic dog Tess!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jasmine and her smart dog Sparkie!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chantel and her pretty puppy Freya!

If you want the Superdogs to perform at your show, festival or fundraiser, please don’t hesitate to contact our agent, Mac Brothers Circus.

While in the Territory the Superdogs were also interviewed by ABC Radio.  You can find the audio HERE.

Technorati Tags: Circus,Superdogs,Northern Territory,Performance,Travel,Tent,Family,Dogs

Change

I asked a question of Facebook recently “Change is good, right?”  Most people said it was and that one could not move forward without it.  One person said that if it was change for changing sake then it was not good.

On Monday, 4 March 2013 a guy rang up asking if we still had our bus for sale and could he come and look at it please.  A couple of hours later, he’d looked at the bus, told us he’d buy it and given us a $500 deposit! We’ve had the bus advertised off and on for about 3 years, had a lot of tyre kickers, a few fraudsters and then finally 1 genuine buyer!  It took us all by surprise!

The bus (The Auroara) has been home for four years.  Jireh was bought home from the hospital to the bus.  Serenity was born in the bus … so there were many memories.  When it hit home that she was really sold, it was a bit emotional for us all!  There wasn’t much time to dwell on it though as we now had to source another vehicle!

We’d been looking on Gumtree and Ebay consistently and knew of one that sounded like a go, but it was in Newcastle (we were in Carcoar Dam).  We phoned about it and found out it was gone!  Now what?  The new owner wanted to take possession of The Auroara as soon as possible.  No pressure at all!!

We spent the rest of the day scouring the internet and found a couple that sounded sort of interesting.  I emailed them both and next morning heard back from one of them (still waiting to hear back from the other one!). We phoned him up, made a time to view it, packed up the bus and left.    We arrived in the small town of Bowning, NSW a bit later than we’d expected, had a quick look at the van and decided we’d wait till morning to test drive it.

Morning came and everyone was up early excited to be test driving a car!  It drove nicely, looked ok on the outside and inside so we put a deposit on it! 

The next couple of days were spent sorting out the “stuff” in the bus and dealing with the RTA!

On Friday at about 1pm we met up with the guy who’d put the deposit on the Auroara to do the change over.  His wife said to him, “Do you realise you are buying these children’s home?”  Was sad yet exciting to see her drive away.

With mixed emotions we watch what had been our home for 4 years drive away without us!

Our new van the “Puddle Jumper”, was waiting across the road.  When all the formalities were over, the kids all piled in, we drove across the road and collected out stuff that we’d left under a tree!

Adrenalin was running high as we drove off to start the next chapter in the life of Wheel Education.

 

 

 

 

 

Quick Catch Up

Time has gotten away on me and I haven’t updated here in ages!  Sorry!

 

We had a great time staying at Ariah Park, NSW ($10 per night, power, showers, toilet, camp kitchen with free BBQ) where all the girls learned to swim or gain confidence in swimming.  By the time we left almost all the kids had jumped off the diving board, dived in at the deep end and all (except Jireh) had swam a width unaided. 

When the time came to leave we headed slowly north.  We found ourselves at a lovely free camp between Cowra and Bathurst, Carcoar Dam.  There was plenty of space, clean toilets, cold showers, dam water and a couple of rain water tanks. 

The best part of staying here was having neighbours who we’d already met on facebook - Highway-Dreams Around Oz!  We didn’t know they were there so it was a very pleasant surprise.

The worst part of staying here was the wind!  The camps 6 book stated that it was a windy area, and they were not joking!  In the two weeks we stayed there …. we had about 2 days with minimal wind!

On a trip into Blayney to do shopping we noticed the local district show was coming up and that they had a pet dog show with a best trick section!  With less than two weeks to train, the girls got motivated!  The day of the show was a freezing cold and very blustery but the girls and dogs did well.

The results were:

Sparkie - 3rd in Best Tricks, 3rd in Speed Sit.
Tess - 1st in Best Tricks, 2nd in Speed Sit, 2nd in Best Biscuit Catcher, 3rd in Waggliest Tail.
Lassie - 2nd in Best Tricks, 1st in Speed Sit.

 

Stay tuned for our next adventure!

Mini Tornado

It was a hot and sleepy afternoon.  There was no wind when suddenly the trees behind the bus started shaking!  We ran outside to see the dust and debries being flung high in the air!  The motorhome on the right of the picture suffered a bit of damage to their awning.

This was the best picture we got … taken on the phone!

Jessica grabbed her movie camera and shot the following video!

 

Jessica’s video of the mini tornado that blew through camp today!

It was no longer a sleepy afternoon … everyone in the campground was now awake and outside!! 

The Best of 2012

As the year 2012 draws to a close we can thankfully say it was easier than 2011, although it too has had it’s share of tragedies.  I’m not going to talk about them here.  This post is going to focus on the good that has happened.

January

Explored and swam in some lovely beaches in South Australia and witnessed some beautiful sunsets..

A kite surfer at sunset at Whyalla, SA

February

Revisited Peterborough, caught up with Sarah’s Nephew and his now wife.



March

Due to the heavy rains in the north, we took a detour through Monash where there is an awesome playground, and a few k’s east the beautiful lake Cullulleraine.



















April

Making it back to Queensland, catching up with friends and staying at Wallumbilla again!



















May

As is a tradition each year, we watch the girls perform and win ribbons and cash at the Gympie show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2nd Place in the dog high jump at the show

June

On the last day of May, Lassie had 9 puppies!  June was spent watching them grow!

Don’t nobody touch my babies!

July

Building shelves/storage units in the bus.  Had a friend help put in 12 volt lighting.



August

Family get together in Townsville!  Unfortunately one brother couldn’t make it.

Most of the “Thomas” Cousins

September

Staying with the other side of the family in Sydney

Two Mackay families!

October

Exploring the lovely Lake Macquarie, NSW

Rainbow over Lake Macquarie

November

Found a park named after us!



December

Swimming at Ariah Park Pool almost every day!

Alphabet of Habits

I’ve been thinking of all the habits of successful people.  Some of which would be beneficial to incorporate into our life.  I’m not expecting to incorporate all these immediately into my life!  Change takes time.  New habits take time.  I’m thinking of incorporating a new habit every two weeks or so.

Before I go into my list of habits of successful people we need to define success!  To me success is living a deliberate life, achieving the goals and dreams you were born to achieve.

So without further ado here is my alphabet of habits!

A.  Alone time.  Time with just you, no distractions; no electronics, books or music.   Spend time listening to yourself.  Feeling your feelings.

B.  Be proactive: choose your response to stimuli.  Instead of just reacting.  You alone have the power to choose your reaction.

C.  Embrace change:  be adaptable, embrace the new and unfamiliar.  Change brings new life and creativity.

D.  Live deliberately:  consciously choose your life.  Make decisions that will help reach your life goal.  Live the opposite of auto-pilot.

E.  Eat well, stay well.  A healthy diet leads to a healthy, happier you.  Healthy eating and living a healthy lifestyle can stabilize our mood and boost energy

F.  Stay focused; when you have set your goal, don’t waiver from it.  Keep focused on the big picture.

G.  Set life goals:  know where you what to go in life.  Have clarity and certainty about what you want and don’t want.

H.  Humility:  never forget to admit and apologise for mistakes.  Be willing to learn from others.

I.  I need help:  never be too proud to ask for help.  Learn from others who have been successful before you.

J.  Find success in the journey.  The journey is as important as the destination.  Have fun and enjoy the journey.

K.  Keep relations harmonious.  Never get so busy with success that you forget the important people in your life.

L.  Laughter: include intentional laughter in every day.  Laughter relaxes you, releases positive endorphins, and brings joy into your life.  Laugh everyday!

M.  Be motivated by lessons learned.  Don’t let setback hold you back, forgive yourself, learn from it and move forward.

N.  Never give up!  See each setback as a learning opportunity, and grow.

O.  Opportunities.  See opportunities and run with them.

P.  Practise what you preach.  Don’t talk theory, live reality!

Q.  Quell your fears.  We all have fears, choose not to be controlled by them.

R.  Relax: know when to hit the off switch.  Take time to enjoy what you have and have fun doing it!

S.  Slow down:  make time to enjoy the journey.  Slowing down allows more time to be present with yourself. 

T.   Be thankful: each and everyday choose an attitude of gratitude.  Gratitude refocuses our attention on what we do have bring with it contentment.

U.  Seek first to understand.  Before judging understand.  Before criticizing understand.  Listen with empathy, and seek to be understood.

V.  Visualise:  have a clear picture of what you want you life to look like.  Plan your best reality.

W.  Except your weaknesses; learn the value of always learning.  Be constantly learning as this gives room for personal growth.

X.  Execute your plan.  A plan no mater how perfect will not be a success unless executed!  Set your goal, make a plan and work to actively achieve it.

Y. Don’t use someone else’s yard stick.  When you fall into the comparison trap, you’ll never measure up.

Z.  Get more zzzz’s: as the old age saying goes, Early to bed, early to rise makes men and women healthy, wealthy and wise. It has been said that the first hour of the day sets the tone for the whole day … going to bed early helps with that!