Back in the Caravan Park

So after the shattering events of Saturday morning (to read about it see here and here) we are back in the boring caravan park.  There is nowhere open to get the windows replaced till tomorrow so hopefully the predicted storm won’t come to much!
The only one that really likes this caravan park is Lassie … there are lots of rocks for her to pick up and drop on my lap so I’ll play “rock fetch” with her!  She will spend hours fetching “her” rock.  Even amid lots of other stones she’ll find the one that I threw!

Lassie picking up her rock

Lassie waiting for me to throw her rock

I need to sort out my attitude and accept the fact that we are in this caravan park until we can get the windows fixed. Grumping about it won’t change it so I may as well accept it and enjoy the constant power and air conditioning!

Fun in the Sun

After a slow start to the day, we all went outside to spend some much needed time in the sun.  While staying at the Whyalla Caravan Park, we spent most of the day inside.  There was nothing to do outside, not even any grass to play on, only gravel which got old pretty quickly!

Jireh spent ages playing with his trucks and cars, while some of his sisters, with sunglasses on to protect their eyes from the sand that was being kicked up by the dogs, played with their Schleich toys

                          

Mike went for a short walk and Jireh and the dogs ran to meet him on his return!

              

Jasmine did some training with Sparkie getting ready to put on a show for Australia Day.

Late this afternoon we finally got to see what the girls had put together for their Australia Day routines.  Amid bouts of hilarity they did really well … check it out below.

                         

Chantel with Sambo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chana and Lassie

Jessica and Tess

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sparkie (and no Jasmine!)

The Superdog Team

And on to the fun!!!

We are on the road again!

So after 4 long weeks stuck in a boring caravan park without even a swing or a swimming pool we are back in the bush! Technically it’s not bush, more scrub!!

The girls were thrilled to be able to let the dogs run free, and even the cat seems to enjoy the scrub!

     

The sunset from our campsite            The long road in to our campsite

Here we all are relaxing on our rebuilt master bed! Most of us are looking pretty tired, we’d had a long day finishing off the bed.  It has become the favourite place to relax!

Our plan is to now slowly head north east to be in Newcastle in March for the first anniversary of the birth and death our precious daughter Serenity . 

The A-Z of What We Love About This Lifestyle

Ever wonder why we live with 9 people in an old school bus? I was inspired by this blog to write our own A-Z.

A.  Amazing sunsets!  There are so many beautiful sunsets that we have seen and we never tire of it!

 

B.  Our Bus!  Without our bus we would not be living this lifestyle!  It’s not perfect, but what accommodation is? Our bus is a work in progress … we bought it off a school bus run 3 years ago.  Within 3 days we’d taken most of the seats out, put up curtains and moved in with mattresses on the floor.  Whenever we talk about selling it the girls protest!

C.  Camping!  Couldn’t resist this one!  Sometimes, on hot summer nights we set up the tent and go camping outside our bus!  Some of us sleep in the tent and some sleep outside under the stars!

D.  Driving!  It is exciting, after we have been parked up for a few day to hit the road again.

E.  Eating!  We get to eat inside or outside.  With 7 children we get to eat a lot!!

F.   Free camping!  Love that we can pull up almost anywhere, stop for the night without paying a thing!  Some free camps are set up so well with power, running water and flush toilets (some even have hot showers), and others have no facilities at all.

G.  The great outdoors!  We spend many hours outside.  Enjoying the sunshine, the bush, the stars. 

H.  Not much housework!  I’m thrilled with the lack of housework!  We can sweep in 5 minutes! We never have to clean a shower (we don’t have one!).

I.  Interesting.  Everyday is a new adventure.  When we are traveling no two days are the same.

J.  Junk! Or lack thereof.  Living in a small space you cannot collect junk.  If it doesn’t have a use, then out it goes!

K.   Keeping together.  A family who plays (and or prays) together, stays together.  We spend all day everyday together.  I love the company of Mike and the children.  The older they get the more fun we are having together.

L.  Love!  Living in close proximity to each other promotes love!  We are a close knit family and when one hurts we all hurt.  Love seeing the older ones care for the younger ones.

M.  Money.  Living on the road can be as frugal or extravagant as you make it.  You can free camp (as we do most of the time) or you can stay at a 5 stay caravan park (as we did once!).

N.  New people!  We love to meet new people.  People who are travelling this vast continent, locals, or families visiting the playground make our life interesting.  Some enhance our life and we treasure the memory of that meeting.  Others, well, lets just say we hope we don’t meet them again!

O.  Wide open spaces!  When you live on the coast (or in New Zealand) you don’t get to experience the vastness of the outback!  Places where you can almost see the curve of the earth!  Places were there is not a building in sight!

P.  Playgrounds!  We get to visit a different playground almost everyday we travel!

Q.  Quick set up times!  We used to have a Jayco Eagle camper.  It would take us over an hour to set it up just for one night!  Now we can be all set up in about 15 minutes, or more if we want the awning.

R.  Risk!  Living this life is a risk!  We have left behind the comforts of a house, a secure job in favour of the road!  We have no house, no permanent job but we are all learning to live with what we have and to be content.

S.  Stars!  There are never as many stars in the sky as on a clear night in the outback!  We have seen shooting stars, satellites and various other interesting night sky activities.

T.  Time!  We have time to stop and smell the roses!  We don’t usually have any specific time to be somewhere, so if we see something interesting on the way we can stop and check it out!

U.  Unity!  Because we spend 24/7 together in a small space there is a greater unity.  Sure the kids have there sibling squabbles, but they don’t last long.

V.  Variety!  We get to see new things, go to new places, meet new people.  Some weeks we drive somewhere new every day.  Some weeks we stay put and rest or explore the local area or just do some renovations on the bus!

W.  Wildlife!  Australia has so much wildlife to explore.  It’s not hard to find a Blue Tongue Lizard, a Lace Monitor or a Wild Goat!  Many hours are spent searching for lizards, frogs or rabbits.

X.  Excitement!  The look on the faces of the children when they discover some new reptile or bird or a shell is so rewarding! 

Y.   Yawn!!  What we all do when we hop into bed after a busy day exploring this great country!

Z.  Zzzzzz!  Yes, we get to sleep in till we want to get up most days!

Some photo’s from our day

 

The day started out pretty typical, coffee, breakfast, dog exercise and training, then the older girls had an hour each on the computer.  While Chantel was on the computer Jasmine and Jessica rehashed some old dog toys into some cool new ones!

A close up of the dog toys

After lunch we went grocery shopping!  We love to take the bus out after being parked up for a few days.

Following the shopping we went across the road to the playground.  The little ones had been looking forward to this all day!

     

                

               

                

While at the park we found power outlets!  So we boiled the jug and made a coffee!

Following the playground we took the children to the beach for a swim and to try out the water toys they’d gotten for Christmas

                                                    

While we were at the beach we watched a guy kite surfing!  Then watched the sun go down!

When all was said and done … it was a good day!