Heading to South Australia {Traveling}

We are on the road, leaving Perth for South Australia!

I am sure that everyone, myself included can hardly believe that we will be finally leaving the state or that it will actually happen {I might not even really believe it until we are across the line} but that is the plan as we head out of Mundaring slightly later than planned.  Given we left later we decided to stick to the road well traveled and followed Great Easter Highway until Coolgardie.

Heading towards Norseman we stopped around 80km before, just in a road side rest area.  Nothing fancy bit it serviced it purpose.

I did however learn two very important things when picking somewhere for a quick overnight stop:
#1 Trains can be LOUD when they're long and one is trying to sleep
#2 Trucks drive heaps at night, big trucks, big LOUD annoying trucks at all hours of the night






We packed up bright at early and hit the road again.  A refuel in Norseman, including taking in the local lookout and a drive around the town {My Mum's family did live here for a time} before we hit the Eyre Highway.

It wasn't anything like I expected it to be, the Eyre Highway that is.  Whilst, yes it does contain 'Australia's Longest Straight', it had a surprising number of changes to the landscape.  This doesn't even include the trip up a massive range. That is right there was a HILL, I totally didn't expect that!

The drive was uneventful and relatively painless.  We again stopped in a rest area, but this time moved further back from the road {for a much better night of sleep}. 














Being 40km from the border means we will be in South Australia bright and early tomorrow morning.

Jurien Bay {Caravan Park}

After a trip into Hill Springs and an overnight stop at Wooramel, we headed away from Carnarvon and made the trip further south.  

We could easily have made it to Perth but we decided we would take the coast and have a night in Jurien Bay instead.  It was lovely to stretch our legs, watch the sunset while eating fish & chips on the coast.  A perfect night, perfect start to our next adventure.

 

I couldn't help but take a picture of this sign, was a first for one of these.  This was south of Jurien on the Indian Ocean Drive.

All good things come to an end {Caretaking}

All good things must come to an end and by end I mean that we moved out of the homestead and back into the camper, ready to start our big adventure!

Hard to believe that we have been here for 8+ weeks, that it was a pleasant temperature when we arrived and now, in our leaving week {after me having been chilling, literally in Perth} over 40.

We had a great week and a bit.  Feeding 'Chocolate', sewing, catching up with friends, minimalising our 'stuff' and a night with cousins.

 

  

 It has been a great experience, busy and hot but I know that Justin has enjoyed every minute of it.  I am relieved to be heading to cooler weather, to some time with the family and some fabulous exploring.

 

 

Mia Mia Station {Caretaking}

We are still here and still care taking at Mia Mia.

The weather has been kind, and by kind I mean over 45 most days but still under 50 {oh how things change, I used to refer to 35 as hot!}.

 

 

 

Not much has changed, well not really.  We've had some rain and we all enjoyed sitting back and watching the storm, roll in and provide us with some relief.

We do however have a new house pet, 'Chocolate'.

 

Happy 9th Birthday Kaleb {Celebration}

A good friend said to me on the phone earlier today 'I didn't realise that Kaleb was 9 today.  You do realise that he is half way to 18?'

Yeah! Great! Thanks for that!

And my biggest thought before that conversation was how quickly 9 had come up and how I only had 12 months before double digits!

Kaleb is a fiery, independent little man who has a presence.  A presence that makes you think that he has always been here but at the same time it feels like only yesterday he made his entrance into this world.

 

 

We had a wonderful day in Coral Bay celebrating with new friends and old.  Chatting, swimming, snorkeling and camping in our tent.

Goodbye 2014 {Reflection}

Another year has passed, 2014 is soon to be no longer.

It has been a big year, not the easiest of year but also not the hardest of years.  We’ve meet new people, learned new things and seen new places.  Learnt to move past things with cannot change and embrace the things that are most important.

2015 will see us enter our 4^th year on the road and highly likely our last.

I’ve got high hopes for all that we can achieve in 2015, a big year, with so very much to offer!

Lyndon Station {Visiting}

Even though it was inland and certainly warmer, Lyndon was a time to stay in the amazing little cottage that Cath has put so much work and love into.  A place to escape the heat, to allow the kids some entertainment {in the form of four other children} and a place to just be.

We moved the day before my birthday and to be honest didn’t make a big deal of my 35^th birthday.  It was hard, surreal, different and a whole array of other words come to mind when you are celebrating a day you arrived into your mother arms, knowing that she is no longer here.  It was a hard ‘first’ and as much as a birthday is always nice, I expect it will continue to be an odd sort of day knowing that she is no longer here.

 

The next week was a blur, to be totally honest.  I remember saying goodbye to October and dreading the arrival of November.  But it arrived, the 3^rd saw tears, quiet moments and memories.  I survived it, made it to the 4^th and kept on going. I still miss Mum, eveyday and those moments I think 'I should just call and ask' are hard.  Sometimes it takes a moment to realise that I can't do that anymore. If I am honest though, I think of her daily, which is more than before and enough to keep me going.

Justin’s two weeks on the mining camp had now become 4 and we drew a line in the sand that he would be finished by the 12^th!  This gave us time to relax a little before our next ‘house move’, a chance for the kids to enjoy playing in the newly painted pool while it filled, a chance to make a little art and a chance to cook dinner for the Lyndon family to say thanks for letting us take over the cottage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mia Mia Station {Visiting}

We had passed by Mia Mia several times, and have even managed to stop in but this time it was to say hello and relax for a few days before we went further north again.

As always it was a pleasure to hangout, see some sites and learn some new things.  Being school holidays meant that we could take the time to spend the whole day out and about.  Don’t tell the kids but I’m sure they learnt plenty doing the monitoring sites.

 

 

 

Hill Springs Station {Working}

Hill Springs.

A new stop for us this year, a quick stop but it was a lovely place.

I was quiet sick and Kyla ended up ill too, so it wasn’t an overly exciting couple of weeks.  Justin set to work right away, as he always does and we plodded along with some schoolwork before the holidays started.

We even managed a sneaky weekend to Lyndon for a play during the holidays.

With Hills Springs happy with the work that Justin had done and somewhere else to visit, we moved on.