Nothing to say

Happiness is the key, enjoyment the drive,
to what so ever, one strives.
knowing where to go and what to do,
throughout life, easier for you.
with huddles about, in life is a norm,
not to pull you down, but strengthen your ground.
When happiness is there the mind is at ease,
decisions  you make most often will please,
so sit back and enjoy your journey through life
With happiness the key and enjoyment  the drive.

MD Gypsy.

Horrible histories

We've spent the last few days driving through New South Wales country areas: sheep, cattle, farming. Lovely countryside  with friendly folk. But when you look deeper into the history of these towns and cities, it looks less friendly, and to be frank, we might just talk about horrible histories instead. Not that the kids' educational TV-show - to my knowledge - has ever showcased the massacres, poisoning and disease that nearly wiped out all Aboriginal people in early 19th century. This happened to the Ngarabal people of Glen Innes, for example, whose culture and hunter-gatherer lifestyle was nearly totally replaced by Scottish newcomers, their culture and a farming lifestyle.

This land is only loan to us all, and it is something I, as a relative newcomer to Australia, have lots of gratitude for. It pays to be respectful and understanding towards the modern Australian culture for one, but even more importantly, towards the original Australians who allow us to camp in the land they belong to, since 1788.

- M -

Welcome to Glen Innes, celtic country. For some reason I always thought this was Aboriginal land, and at least the flag still flies for them, if only in the background.  Aussie, Aussie, Aussie.

Thanks to farming of introduced species, we got to enjoy these beautiful local fruits in Applethorpe.

Here it is, "Tender to phantom", also known as the shopping trolley when we can't park near the shops - or fruit stalls in this case.

This old Ford tells about the farming history of this area. For the kids it was great entertainment at a rest stop near Stanthorpe.

Road show

Absolutely cold waking up along side beautiful Curtis park. What do you expect, being 1000 meters above sea level in the highest city in Australia. Tamworth was great and a relief to leave because the shallow pockets were starting to get holes in them at the big Tamworth show..... Not to mention the politics and persuasion that took place, because every ride was to be ridden according to the kids. Got over that huddle with them using Armidale and the exact words "Let's see what Armidale has to offer."

Ok, what was it. The Friday 13th pastafarian prayers (good for the kids) or just my bad luck.
We drove straight in to the Armidale Autumn Festival: rides, rides and rides. The kids have one over me as to being able to go to two festivals in two separate cities in one day. At least we sat right under the fireworks! If we were any closer we could have lit them ourselves. That's enough shows for the year, let's get back to some serious travelling, whatever that may mean.

Australia is growing up - or growing down - whichever way you want to look at it. I've hiked these roads 15 odd years ago, and I must say, the cultural diversity now is unbelievable. Just while writing this line, it is so good to hear the church bells on a crisp Sunday morning. Hope that never changes. Aussie, Aussie, Aussie.

- D -

Keeping the peace

Totally under control

Three in one, encouraging each other

Dad unwillingly filling in

Where's the guns?Australian armoured troop carrier

The only free entertainment at the show, haha...

Good day, good try

I got up rather sluggish this morning, must be all the lollies, no, no, not the beers. Anyway, had a coffee and a slice of rye bread with the wife,  started up the old girl. Good bye The Entrance! I must say they have a great walk along the lake to the best lolly shop I've ever seen. Wife and kids thought they were in heaven!

Tamworth windy, cloudy and cold, and it still doesn't dampen the spirit for the big Tamworth show tomorrow. Tried to get a spot at the show grounds......ha ha ha , well I have a show guard dog I told the gate keeper.😊 So we park across the road from the grounds. OK Friday the 13th: prayers the pastafarian way with capsicum and beans. Quick easy good food with a sprinkle of instant blessings from parmesan cheese, yum-men and good night.

- D -

Lolly shop

Jiniba acting like a show dog, giving the blind eye

This is where you end up when you're refused entry to the showgrounds in the background 

Happily sad

Happiness comes with suffering, or maybe sadness to some extent. I have been so looking forward to this day, when I sit behind the steering wheel of the Phantom to leave Sydney. But at the same time  my heart is aching, not just leaving my Mum behind, but leaving her in a huge lifechanging situation.

Thanks to the staff at Shangri-La nursing home, they have been so helpful and encouraging. I don't know how other people do it, but for me it has been weakening and hurtful and at the same time totally loving and mentally strengthening the love and connection between my mum and I. The reason why we've been in Sydney, I won't say has been accomplished, but at least we've reached some ground, and I hope my Mum will come to terms with it and will understand why.

When we begin life, everyone takes it with happiness and joy, and throughout our life we are often happy. And like I told Mum today, we should also embrace old age happily. You might be wheelchair bound, but we still enjoy the taste of peaches and the colours of the rainbow. All is not that bad. We've just got to accept the situation, adjust to our conditions, and enjoy what we can. And when death comes upon us we should embrace it happily, after all life was given to us unconditionally, free, with no rules, and all that the majority ask from you is to be a good person. I love my Mum but I have to leave her, and we shall meet again. Hopefully in good health, and we both can have a peach together.

Thank you Sydney, its been great. Nearly three months there, not by choice but conscience on my behalf, and a real big thanks goes to my best friend and love of my life, my wife, for putting up with me during this some what stressful time. Also to my friends that came around for kava and getting our kids to meet up, thank you.

- D -

Let's go bush

"Australians all let us rejoice,
For we are young and free..."

Those words are so true when you live like we do. Especially in the best country on Earth. So all you anthem loving, dinky di, fair dinkum, fundamental Australians, stop dreaming and start living. Check it out, you'd be surprised how amazing your home country can be. Like the famous Australian Ernie Dingo says: "Go on. Get out there!" And I must say, it is so much more pleasurable doing it in your own home, be it a Ford econovan or luxury motorhome  you can still enjoy it all the same. As for my wife and I, before we grew up, we started in a mozzie dome in the back of a Nissan Navara ute for more than three months around the Kimberleys. And at the time that was luxury (maybe just being together). Funny enough, after five kids it's still luxury being together.

Now that we have the phantom, life is much more simple. Don't get me wrong, because it still doesn't stop the sink from blocking up, the black water from being dumped, and all the other little hiccups that took the place of mowing the lawn and cleaning the gutters, etc. But the one thing I haven't got away from is picking the dog  poo up. Thank goodness he doesn't do it inside the home, or that would be his last poo. 😀

Now that the power source is functioning at full capacity, the man cave is reasonably sorted and the family is all geared up for an inland change as we have been on the beautiful NSW coast for a couple of months. The itinerary for departure is set! Justthethought of heading out bush brings on the craving for a roo tail over the fire, even a bit of roo kidney or liver or some wild goats... We're heading up New England Highway, so property owners up that way who will swap a good day's work for a hunt on your land, drop us a line.

- D -

Check...

...check...

...check. All set to go!

We LOVE the beach too, and will be back after some bush bashing

No power, no ice cream, and my beers are getting warm

Patience is a virtue, so they say. At the moment that line is very thin. For the past week I've been monitoring the amps on the battery bank, and for some reason it has halved. We have a bank of 16 batteries, and we're running at 24 volts. It would have been ideal to get 200+ amp batteries each, but in our case, because of our low-cost budget recycling lifestyle, and the depth of our pocket, we had to go through the good old ABC Wreckers and use lead acid batteries at 100 amps each, which has worked absolutely fine for the past three months, giving us 2-3 days power through rainy days.

The battery bank is in the man cave, and it is so clustered in there that we have been forced to move from a beautiful spot and look for a truck stop so we could make path to inspect and rectify this patience thinning problem. While I'm writing, the ice cream is melting, the kids' 2015 schoolbooks (tablets) - modern day slates - won't work. The dog keeps barking, because his fan is not working. The wife seems to be cool headed about it all, and as for me, I know that at some stage this afternoon/evening, I will be quietly swearing. No cold beers. So on that note, I better get to work. Because of the thought of Kimberley cools (warm beers) and not getting to watch the 6 o'clock bad news, I've got to get my priorities right and fix it!

P.S. Luckily when the going gets tough, you can always depend on the petrol guzzling 2.5 kva generator. Cheers, it's time for a beer (problem not fixed). There's always tomorrow... Oh, the serenity!

- D -

This is the entrance to the man cave.

Battery bank with reorganised storage. At least I can get to it now.