Day 1. Tahmoor to Gundagai

Let the journey begin!

Today we finally left mum's in Tahmoor to begin our big trip. Mum and dad had an open day yesterday for everyone to call in and check out the van and say goodbye. It was so sad saying goodbye to everyone, and hard to imagine we wont be catching up again for at least six months. It was no mean feat fitting everything in the van and it took until lunchtime to finally get out on the road.

We were meant to start Scarlett's school work today but that never happened, will now have to work Saturday to keep on schedule (not a good start).

We ended up taking 3.5hrs to get to Gundagai (after our first "hitch" being a broken bracing ring that attaches to the bike rack on the back of the van - a quick fix and we were on the road again). After a well earned ice cream and a visit to the famous "Dog on the Tucker Box", we arrived at Shane's great aunt Glady and great uncle Joe's property.

Uncle Joe turned 90 a couple of weeks ago and doesn't look a day over 70. Good country living has done wonders, he and Glady still run black Angus, and Scarlett had the best time feeding them hay. Their property is 41 acres and has been in the family for over 90 years.
Can't wait to hit the bed and have a good night's sleep!

First class of school for Scarlett tomorrow before heading off to Wagga Wagga to meet up with another of Shane's great aunt - Jean, who has promised to take us on a tour of Humula and visit all the original "Cheney" places of interests. This is the birth place of the Cheney family in Australia.

Happy Australia Day

I have been putting off doing this post for over a week now, but it's time to let everybody know what's going on.

Today as you know was meant to be the day we left Sydney to start our big adventure. Unfortunately, this will not be the case. We have had a huge set back with the flooding in Ipswich. We lost just about everything we had in storage.

After a tense few days watching the devestating flood events unfold on TV, the roads finally opened and we were able to get through on the New England Hwy from Sydney to Ipswich. As we drove into the street the storage centre was located on, our wost fears were realised. The debris and the piles and piles of furniture and personel effects on the side of the road took my breath away.

We were really lucky that some very good friends were there that day to help us go through our stuff and try and salvage some photos and Scarlett's day care art work. Without them I would never had got through, THANK U!

We, like most, wont get anything from our contents cover. And because we live in a caravan and don't have a residential address within the effected area, we are also not entitled to any government assistance either. We will still go through all the paperwork and jump through the required hoops to see if we can get anything, but at this stage it doesn't look good.

So "D Day" is now Monday the 1st of Feb. We may not be able to go for as long now as planned, but if we don't go we would have lost everything for nothing. We will keep you posted.....

Almost There......

G'day from the Southern highlands of NSW. This is my 1st blog, so please bear with me.

Since arriving here from the so called "Sunshine State" of QLD, I've been very busy upgrading both the Pajero and the Expanda to what I hope will meet our needs on the open road.

The latest set-up info to both vehicle and van are listed to the right of this page. I'll continue to update this list as we go along, so keep an eye out for any new additions.

If you have any questions about our setup, or would like to make a recommendation on what you think I might need to make life easier, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Bec and I have just returned from a few days rest down at Currarong near Jervis Bay. We vanished from the known world to spend New Years together with some close friends and relax. We have now returned to Tahmoor to continue the sorting and preping for the next leg of our Journey.

We are now preparing the van for a trip up to Tamworth to enjoy the Country Music Festival. We have prepaid for a number of concerts, and are looking fwd to spending a few more days with friends before we start our big adventure!

We have now made the big 'D', and we depart family and friends on Australia Day to begin our epic journey across and around this geat big land of ours we call Australia. We thought Australia Day would be an iconic day to start our journey and begin the next chapter in our lives of discovery.

Bec's parents - Wendy and Russell - have provided amazing support during the planning and prep for this trip. I've heard on the grape vine that Wendy is organising a morning tea for friends and family to wish us farewell the morning we leave. So..... if your local or in the area, please drop in and say G'day! That way anyone who is interested can visit, have a look at our set-up and have a chat about what is yet to come - all over a hot cuppa and nibblies. Wendy and Russell have been fantastic! Not only have they both opened up their home and their hearts, but Russell (the great inspiration and all round nice guy that he is), has also opened up his beer fridge during our stay! What can I say except thanks! We are definately going to miss you guys!

Soon, very soon, its just going to be the three of us.........

Shane