A Fun-Filled Few Weeks!

I lied again.  We did not leave on Wednesday - our car broke :(  We were stuck without a car until Friday.  After we got the car back we got in - left the caravan behind - and drove up to Victoria for what was supposed to be the weekend.  When we where up there our car broke again!!!  The same problem.  SO, we were stuck in Victoria for a week instead of 2 days.  We had heaps of fun though :)

We were staying Mum's partner, Arny.  While we were there we did a list of fun stuff!!!!  Some of the things we did was: learn how to fish, we did a few driving lessons, played in the creek on his 40 acre property,  I made friends with his cows, rode on the back of his ute for ages,  learnt how to cook jaffles in a fire, had a marshmallow bake-off (I won), and watched some movies.  It was a fun-filled week!

I also got through to the auditions for The Voice Kids!!!! I am really excited and have TONNES of work to do!!!!!  It is one month away!  It was the morning we found out about the auditions that our car got all fixed, so we went down to the city and I am staying with some friends who know a lot about the music industry.  They are helping me prepare.

So that is all for now - will keep you updated.

Happy Travelling!!

I Lied

Ok, I lied.  We did not leave today.  We are staying for a few more days because we did not get the house done in time.  We will now leave next Wednesday.

Therefore I will not start daily updates until then.  For now I will fill you in on what has been happening.

We are not getting a new car after all.  The car we were going to get was not quite right for us.  So we will stick with our 4wd :)  In case you did not know our 4wd is called Rocky Road.

We are STILL packing!  The house is slowly getting better.  The removalist comes on Tuesday to get rid of all the boxes and few pieces of furniture we are keeping.  That will empty the house a bit more :)
That is about all for now.  Update you some more later :)

Happy Travelling :)

Three More Days To Go!!!!!!

Right!  Well - the first and most important thing I should tell you - is that we leave in three days!  We are madly packing and moving everything into the caravan.  We have to go to the city on Thursday so really only have had today and tomorrow to finish up!

Our eReaders arrived - well one of them.  They forgot to send the other one so we have to share for two weeks while we wait the other one to arrive.  I love the eReader.  It is so easy to use and even has sudoku on it!!  It is about the size of a normal novel and is very easy to read with.

Last week we went to Victoria to stay with a close friend of ours.    We had a campfire and played in the creek he has on his 40 acre property.  He has an EPIC climbing tree - but unfortunately it had been raining so we were unable to climb it because it was too slippery.  His place has a nice outdoor kitchen with a wood oven.  Beside that is a couch - conveniently placed beside the large fire pit :)
While we were there mum got us some new welly boots called Bogs.  They are quite sturdy and not as heavy as wellies normally are.  I practically live in them now :)

The caravan is really starting to look like home now :)  It has cutlery and cups, beds and clocks, school books and pencils - the works!!  We have lots of quirky figurines and knick-knacks blue-tacked to the window sill.

I helped Dad fix the water pump under the caravan today.  He also taught me how to chop wood with an axe!!  I did quite well if I do say so myself :)  I was very proud having a piece of wood, to put in the campfire we had tonight, that I cut myself :)

So!  I think that is just about it!!  As of Friday you will start getting daily reports!!  Stay tuned!!

Happy travelling :) :) :)

The bonfire at Victoria

Catching Up

Goodness me!  We have been so busy I had completely forgotten about writing in this blog!!!!

Well, We have sold our house!!!!  2 and 1/2 weeks it was on the market and it has been sold to a family of 3 and they move in next month.

We have extended our stay a couple of weeks so that we have enough time to get completely packed and move our stuff down to my big Sister's place.  We are doing quite well with our packing. only a bit more to do :)  

My sister and I have bought ourselves some e-Readers :)  We have bought them from the other side of the world though and are anxiously awaiting their arrival :)

Some more exiting news - we are buying a new car!!!   I can not wait!  It is bigger than the one we have got and is a lot more comfortable.  It is a big red van - we have officially named it Cherry Ripe :)

We have also bought a new camera.  It is a nice camera and has an awesome zoom.  I have been practising my photography skills with it :)

Practising my photography skills :)

My dad is coming down to visit next weekend!  That will be lots of fun - I can not wait to see him :) :)

Everything is moving along quite quickly and we will be off around Australia in not time!!!

A beautiful sunset that I accidentally captured last night :)

Set The Date!

Ok!  We have talked and we have set our departure date!!!  We leave our home August 17.  That leaves us exactly 2 weeks and 4 days!!!  We are all very excited!!

We have some interesting events happen over the last week and a half.  We had a family come and have a look at our house and everything seems very positive so we are keeping our fingers crossed.

We sold dear old Johnny Be Good.  He went to a lovely lady who will use him to round up cattle and ride 10km to her farm each day :)  We all agreed he would have a great time doing that :)  I miss him dearly but it is nice not having to go out and feed him morning and night :)

We have been packing a lot.  The house is looking quite good! The only thing left in my room is my bed!  We are using it to store boxes in.  We have sold lots of stuff but there is still a fair bit left!!

The most important thing to happen though is that our car is broken :(  It is in at the mechanics and we have not had it for about a week now!!  We are using a courtesy car instead to do what little errands we have to.  Apparently it is something to do with the fuel pump which is not good :(  We hope to get it back by the end of this week.  Fingers crossed.


So, I think I have filled you in on all the important stuff!  We are busy and excited.  I think we are all starting to get anxious to get on the road.  I can't wait!!  I will keep you updated.  Bye for now :)

Our Own Op-Shop

We have been working like crazy recently!  Mother has gone into nazi mode and working us to the bone!  We had the house go up onto the market, three people have booked in to see the house this weekend already!!  Two today and 1 on Monday!  We did not expect things to happen so quickly!  So we had been rushing to get things done and we have made the house inspection worthy in about two days.  It has been mayhem!  Lots of cleaning and tiding.  I even mopped a few massive floors for the first time!  My arms were dead by the end of it.  Our house is now beautiful though.  Now all we have to do is keep it that way until monday.

The other thing we have done is turned two of our rooms into our own personal op-shop!  It is chocker block full and even though we have had three or four people come and take heaps of stuff away you can only just notice the dent in the amount we are selling!  I have sent some of my beloved items on to good homes and have also put my guitar up for sale!  we have at least a hundred books for sale!  About 30 DVDs and lots of kitchen stuff.  Apart from that there is a collection of furniture, toys, and decorative ornaments.  Lots and lots of stuff!

We have received lots of welcoming invites for places to stay on our caravaning trip :)  We have been enjoying this adventure but it does take a lot of work!   Will keep you updated on anything interesting that happens!

Sorting, Sorting, Sorting

About 3 weeks and 4 days until we leave

Today we started sorting out the house.  We have to decide, out of EVERYTHING in our house (which is a lot), what to take in the caravan, what can be binned, what can be sold and what can be packed and stored.  Today we have done about 4 1/2 hours of sorting!  With breaks in between of course :)  We have finished sorting out the school/dining room and done a bit of the kitchen.  The school room  has become the 'stuff for sale or give away' room.  It is going to be a big job but we have definitely started off well :)  

I can not tell you how hard throwing stuff away has been!!!  I look at something and say 'I will throw it out - no wait I will keep it, awww, no just get rid of it.' I have so many pictures I have drawn that I have to get rid of because I simply can not keep them all!!  It is hard to choose what can stay and what can go!

Last night I slept in the caravan again.  The more I do it, the more fun, exciting it is becoming!  I have grown quite fond of the old thing :)  

Johnny is still here.  I love the old boy to bits and I hate to see him so sad :(  He just mopes around in the paddock all day.  I do take him on walks as often as possible but it has been raining today so I could not walk him.  

We have been busy and the excitement is growing!!  Not long now and we will be off on adventures!!!  Can't wait :)

Bye Bye Ned - For Real This Time

3 Weeks until we leave!  (well around about that long)

Few!  I have a weeks worth of catching up to do!!  Where to start??

Well the biggest news is that we sold my dear, faithful companion Mr.Ned.  He went to the best people I could have hoped for though!  They loved him a lot and you could just tell Mr.Ned liked them too :)  The other tell-tale sign they were the right family was that it was not raining when they came to have a look at him.  I miss him greatly and poor old Johnny is very depressed.  He is all on his own now!!  Poor old boy!  I took him for a walk the other day and he loooooved that!!!  He is just the best horse!  He behaved himself really well!

The other news is that my sister and I have slept in the caravan!  We tested out how comfy the beds were and how well the fridge and electricity works :)  I would give about a 3 star rating :)  It was fairly comfy and everything worked just fine!  It was great fun.

So the good does balance out the bad and I am sooo excited!  Travelling will be so much fun!!  The house is finally on the market with some pictures on the internet.

Things are slowing down now and we are not so busy.  It is nice to not be so busy with everything.
I think I have caught up with everything important now.  Will let you know when something else fun happens :)

Just Relaxing

4 Weeks until we leave

What a nice day!!  We did not have to do anything today!!!  The only productive thing we did was move the caravan into the yard.  Someone is coming to have a look at Mr.Ned on Friday.  We will see how that goes.

Apart from that we have not done much, just relaxed :)

Can We Relax Now?????

From about 4 weeks and 3 days to 4 weeks and 1 day until we leave

Sorry for not writing in a while - we have been flat out!!  Everything is happening waaaaayyy to quickly!!!  

So everything that has happened in the last few days:

• We have a caravan
• We still have 2 large horses
• We sold the float
• The real estate agent has been and taken photos

Sunday was a reaaaallly long drive!!!  Not to mention we got up at four o'clock instead of five.  we left at five-thirty instead of six and got to our first destination about 45 minutes early.  The people we were selling the float to were also 15 minutes late so had a bit of a wait in the car!  After we did that we drove for about two hours until we got t the city where we picked up our new home :)  We can not decide what to name the caravan - I want to name it Matilda.  Anyway, we drove home and got back about seven at night.  We were all tired and mum went for an early bed.

Monday was just as busy.  I had my french lesson - yes I do french - and after that we had to go to town again.  We got back about three in the afternoon.  then we set to work cleaning more of the house ready for the real estate agent on Tuesday.  

Today I got up, had my morning hot chocolate, had brekky and got stuck into tiding.  we started at nine and we were ready for the real estate agent at about three in the afternoon.  We were busy all day and did a lot of cleaning.  That is all over now and we do not have to worry about it any more.  Until someone wants to come and look at the house of course. 

Tomorrow we SHOULD have a day off.  A nice, relaxing day.  Not busy.  Those are the key words.  Do not know how well that will turn out though!!!  

My little sisters birthday is on Friday though so that should be fun!! 

One other thing, Mr.Ned did not sell so he is still with us.  Which is nice :)

So I am stuffed, Mum is stuffed and my little sister is stuffed.  Only one thought is running through my head at the moment:

can we relax now??????????

Another Busy Day

About 4 weeks and 4 days until we leave

We have been flat out today!!  I have exercised Johnny for the first time in 4 weeks, we have tidied up the outside of our house ready for the real estate agent this Tuesday, the people came to look at Ned and will let us know Monday if they want him and we have been getting ready for our loooooong trip tomorrow!  I, personally, am stuffed!!  My body is not used to all that riding!!!!!  No interest for my boy Johnny yet.  Hopefully he will find a nice and happy home.  We pick up our caravan tomorrow!!!  I am so excited!!!  We will get to make it our home sweet home and really get the ball rolling :)

Not much else to tell!!!  Just flat out preparing for our big adventure!  Should be fun :)

Uneventful Days

About 4 weeks and 5 days until we leave

Yesterday nothing very exciting happened so I am not going to bother writing about it!


Nothing very exciting has happened the last few days.  We have been pretty stuffed with everything else we have been doing.  So I do not have much to talk about!

I have enjoyed having Mr.Ned still in the yard.  Tomorrow someone is coming to have a look at him though.  I know I have said this but I am going to REALLY miss him when he goes.  However my excitement is growing as the days countdown until we bring home our new home :)

Not much else to tell!  I will tell you how it goes with Mr.Ned tomorrow :)

Bye Bye Ned - Or Not?!

About 5 weeks until we leave

What a day!!!  I am sooooooo stuffed!  The lovely dogs woke me up at about 5:45am  which was ok because I had to get up at 6:00 anyway.  We got ready for the trip and then went out to put Mr.Ned in the horse float.  That did not happen the way we planned!  I walked him in the float and he freaked out and stepped out of the float.  After that we tried to get him in but he utterly refused.  I think he knew he was leaving us.  Pokey left and never came back so he thinks the same is going to happen to him.  Smart horse.  In the end we gave up and put him back in the yard.  We talked to the lady who was going to buy him about the floating problem and she decided not to buy him.  So we have let some other people know that he is back up for sale to see if they still want him.  So we have Ned for a few more days :)

We did end up going to town anyway to look at the caravan.  We have bought the caravan and pick it up Sunday :)  It was just lovely!  Lots of cupboards a big fridge and a oven!!!  I love it so we have bought our new home for the next 1-2 years!!!!!!!!

We got back about 5 and a lovely neighbour invited us for tea.  We accepted and had a delicious meal to finish off our day :)

Roman Feast

About 5 weeks and 1 day until we leave

What a fun day!!!  This morning I got up and practised making my own Toga (the clothing the romans wore) out of a sheet for the Roman Feast that day.  After about 20 goes I finally got one that worked.  My sister and I then put together a delicious roman fruit platter to take with us.  We went to  the feast and had a great time and enjoyed lots of delicious food.  We left the feast early in order to meet the people having a look at Johnny.  They played with Johnny a bit - throwing a bright blue hat near his feet and waving a neighing hobby horse near him - and not once did Johnny do anything terrible.  He really is an awesome horse!  However they decided not to take him so Johnny is still here and we get to spend a little more time with him :)
Tomorrow we go and look at a caravan and drop off dear old Mr.Ned :(  It will be very hard to say goodbye to my old friend.  He looked after me in every way he could and we all love him to bits.  One less horse to have to feed though :)

So a nice easy going and fun day.  Can not wait for tomorrow!!!

My Darling Ned and I

Productive Day

About 5 weeks and 2 days until we leave

Another good day.  This morning we tidied he house up a bit.  It actually looks a bit bare!!!   One room is a bit echoey!!!  We did the schoolroom, the main bedroom, my little sisters room, and my room!  Not a bad start!!  At this rate we will be well and truly ready when the real estate agent comes.  We have also moved dropping off the float to Saturday.  That eases up Wednesday a bit.  Tomorrow we go to a neighbours house to have a Roman Feast!!  That should be lots of fun :)  Also the woman coming to have a look at Johnny has moved her visit to tomorrow.  So another flat out day.  Oh!  We sold the chickens to day too :)

Overall a productive day.  Looking forward to tomorrow :)

Home Sweet Home

Busy Busy!

About 5 weeks and 3 days until we leave

Well, today was a bit successful.  We tidied the house a bit and took some photos of stuff we want to sell.  We also sold the float today!  However we are delivering it halfway.  The fact that we sold the float means we can now start looking at caravans!!!!!!  We rang up about the one we all liked and it sounds great.  So on Wednesday we will have to:  drive for 3 hours  to drop off Mr.Ned, followed by driving for 2 hours to look a the caravan, followed by driving 4 hours to drop off the float and then drive the 5 hours home again.  That is 14 hours of diving in a day!!!!!!!!  We will leave about 7am and get home about midnight.  It is going to be a loooooong day!!!!!  We are also moving along the real estate agents visit another week.  Giving us more time to pack and clean up.
Someone comes to have a look at my boy Johnny B Good tomorrow.  It will be interesting to see how that goes.

So an overall productive day :)

Bye Bye Pokey

About five weeks and 4 days until we leave

Today we said goodbye to our sweet little pony Pokey.  She has gone to a new family with a little girl who will love her and ride her.  We will miss her and we were all crying as the new owners drove away with Pokey in their float. One of our other horses, Mr.Ned, Has also been sold.  However he is not being picked up for a few days thank goodness.  Tomorrow we hope to get packing.  We have only a few days until the real estate agent comes so we have to get the house spick and span.  My little sister and I have been caravan hunting on the internet and we think we have finally found our new caravan home!!!  It is all very exciting!

Dear old Pokey and Mr.Ned

Yesterday

About five weeks and six days until we leave.

Yesterday was not too exciting.  We were a bit slack.  However a lady did come to look at our fabulous horse Mr.Ned.  She loved him as any would do because he is a horse worth loving.  

I am a bit sadder today because I am finally realising that once the horses are sold we will probably never see them again.  Someone is also coming to have a look at our sweet Palouse pony Pokey today.  They will probably take her home :(  I will talk about today later though so that I can give you ALL the details.

This is an interesting road we are travelling down but will bring us lots of education and interesting experiences. Should be fun :)

Our beautiful horses

Recipe For Success

About Six Weeks Before We Leave

My family and I are going travelling around Australia.  My sister and I are home schooled by our mother.  Part of our school work will be to write in our journal each day.  I will have to write in my journal about our everyday adventures on the road..  I will use this blog as my journal.

I am starting my journal about six weeks before we plan to leave so that I can write about the fun of preparing to leave.

So, things to do before we leave: 

• Buy a caravan and sell most of our stuff,  
• Sell our horses and chickens, our cats will have to stay with my sister.

Once we have done this we will be able to go and see all the sights in Australia. See Uluru, The Great Ocean Road and travel the length of the Murray River are just a few things on our To-Do list!!!!! 

Our Recipe For Success-

Contents:

• My Little Sister
• My Mum
• Me
• Two Dogs
• A Caravan
• Heaps Of Stuff
• Car
• Map

Method:

1. Start driving with directions from the passenger reading a map and a general idea of where we are going.
2. Passenger read map wrong and get really lost.  
3. Blame being lost on the map.
4. Enjoy being lost and trying to find where we are supposed to go - it is an adventure!!!  
5. Return to Adelaide SA to stay with friends.
6. Repeat steps 1-5.

Should make:  1-2 years of adventure and fun!!!!!