Week Four | Silver Linings

SNAPSHOT

I can't remember the last time in my life I didn't feel safe.....its an unusual feeling and for someone with a rather colourful imagination I have had to rein myself in this week - I have two little girls constantly searching for my reaction on people and situations. Everything is new to them (and to me sometimes!).......

We have seen various shades of dark and light this week - the best and worst of a few different towns....the stark realisation of how privileged our family is.......we have a lovely home, good jobs and wonderful friends and family......yes we work hard for it but our children have never known or witnessed hardship.

They certainly have now. We navigated our way through the minefield of questions.......and came out the other side - compassion is an under rated quality but something they showed in bucket loads.....there was an element of guilt for me witnessing that hardship then swinging around and spending what seemed a large amount of money for flashy activities on the Gold Coast - it just didn't feel right at all but I guess life is all about balance sometimes - right or wrong 😞

WHERE ON EARTH ARE WE?

Coffs Harbour
I was so confused by this town. I had a preconceived idea of what it looked like. And it wasn't like that at all? Unfortunately we didn't stay long enough for Coffs to change my mind HOWEVER we stayed at Emerald Beach Big 4 which was awesome and The Big Banana was lots of fun especially watching "Torville and Dean" aka Miss 12 and Miss 8 try their hand (bums, hands and knees) at ice skating!

Grafton
We have been spoilt by Showground accommodation so far ....clean grounds, wonderful caretakers and acceptable (lets not get too excited!) amenities.....that was until we pull into Grafton - you know that old gut feeling? The one that tells you to run for the hills........I had that in epic proportions - however Leigh had no such reservations (even when I suggested he might not want to make eye contact with anyone - especially the woman who cycled in for her routine drug pick up!) -nope he had that van erected and ship shape in no time flat........awesome.😩

Okay it wasnt perfect but it wasn't horrendous either - I know I know, book + cover and all that jazz.....😳

Wardell Rest Area
We were homeless. Well for ten minutes. And okay, we are towing our home so not really homeless. STILL this is the first time it has happened and I'm hoping the last......basically we just took off too late from Grafton (car serviced, suspected dodgy brakes NOT dodgy yay!) - throw in some roadworks and impending darkness and our only real option was the Wardell Rest Area (yup that bit of gravel on a side road next to a major highway).

I had us murdered in our sleep before the stabilizers had touched the ground. Liv refused to get out of the car and insisted a Big Rig was going to fly off the highway and flatten us. Maggie said "are you scared Mummy?".....one look at those jersey cow eyes and I realised I had to pull my head in - they were bouncing off me and my wild imagination.

Three glasses of wine later, our playlist turned up loud enough to drown out the trucks roaring 6 metres away from the van and 5 hands of Uno and we were right as rain.....in fact I suspect the trucks thundering past making the caravan rock from side to side sent me to sleep .......ssshhh don't tell Leigh....

Until Maggie spewed.....don't ask.....

Lets just say that we were packed up and on the road by 6:45am 😅

Southport - Gold Coast

After stopping in Byron Bay for morning tea (and what a beautiful little place it was!!!) we were welcomed across the border from N.S.W to Queensland in typical "blue sky sunny sparkly" style......I think it was everything the girls had imagined and more - isn't it funny how all our cities are so unique? Seriously you could pick me up and drop me in any Australian city and I would know exactly where I was.....sorry I digress! I used some "highway" time in the car to jump on GroupOn and book some activities, once a multi-tasker, always a multi-tasker hah hah....

We wrangled with the best of them at Outback Spectacular (quite easily and equally the most cheesiest AND most smicko performance and show I have ever seen!) - well worth every cent!)....there is no leveller around like 500 strangers wearing "faux" stockman hats yelling like roustabouts. 😉Caught up with some old friends (awesome to see you Lynley Washington and Jessica Robb!), wrecked my back on the Scooby Doo ride at Movie World and rekindled my love for all things Gold Coast!!!

REALLY?????
This is just a funny one - and makes you realise that Australia really isn't that big after all. After being seated at Outback Spectacular a lovely lady, her husband and sons sat down next to us. We exchanged pleasantries as you do, turns out they are from Ballarat, in Haddon, in Taemore Close. Right next door to our close friends.

Seriously what are the chances? 😂

BEST PART vs WORST PART

🤸‍♀️Liv

Best part: There were so many best parts this week! I was so looking forward to Movie World and it was better than I imagined!!

Worst part: Sleeping on the side of the road - it was sooooo scary but I didn't get run over by a truck which was a bonus!

🐴 Maggie

Best part: Outback Spectacular was the best day of my life.....I wish my friend Mia could have come too! Cuddling Tweety at Movie World and The Big Banana were really cool too!!

Worst part: Scraping and bruising my leg when I missed the caravan step - actually the worst part was Mum trying to "fix" it 😞

🏌️Leigh

Best part: Without a doubt, Outback Spectacular - loved the Lighthorse WW1 and Battle of Beersheba performance.

Also starting to meet some really lovely travelers - not necessarily our age group either!

Worst part: Whistling my way down to the "dump point" to empty the toilet cartridge only the find that SOMEONE in our caravan had used Dettol cleaning wipes and flushed them.

Was there a grate on top of said dump point?

Yes.

Do said wipes disintegrate in the toilet chemicals. Nope.

Was there a brown log sitting on top of non disintegrating wipes.

Yup.

Did the hose magically push everything through the grate?

Negative.

Could anything be worse?

Yup. Turning around to find 5 other men patiently waiting to empty their cartridge too.

Was i happy. Absolutely NOT.

🌺 Rana

Best part: Oh this is an easy one this week! Rekindling an old friendship and catching up on 25 years.......it was hands down the loveliest weekend I have had since leaving (no offence family!) and we won't leave it that long before catching up again!

Worst part: A family reunion (of some description) in the Gold Coast Caravan park that consisted of loud, rude inconsiderate people that let their little children run wild around the park and stayed up until 3am yelling drunken obscenities. Every. Single. Night.

Management/security that clearly didn't find this a problem. It was like living in a terrible episode of Eastenders.........I know two wrongs don't make a right but we won't be packing up quietly at 7am tomorrow morning LOL

LESSONS LEARNT:

📝 By Liv and Maggie........Some families don't have homes made of bricks. Some families live in tents without cars and still send their children to school every day in clean clothes with lunch. Some families just make the best of what they have and still giggle and laugh.

📝 We are incredibly lucky and grateful to be able to experience this journey by choice.

📝 If a roller coaster warning sign says "please do not enter ride if you are suffering from back problems" then it is often ideal to heed those warnings.

📝 Disposable Dettol wipes don't disintegrate when flushed into a cartridge toilet.

SAY IT AGAIN???

Liv won this week: DAD!!! For the love of god please put some pants on.....or at the very least a VERY long t- shirt 😂😂

NEXT DESTINATION:

Bris-Vegas followed by Sunshine Coast and then we have no idea!! Watch this space.....