Category: Travel

The day that nearly didn’t have a blog post

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I’m happily exhausted. It has been a bumper weekend of driving around and catching up. So much quality time has been spent with friends and family; the kids have had a blast and went to sleep immediately; and I’m about to hit the pillow also. I’ve just spent the last hour online booking flights (ie spending more money) and researching Marriage Celebrant professional development options. I’m more confused now than when I started, which suggests to me it’s time to go to bed.

On another positive note, we sold the falcon today! (Which just reminded me to log in and remove the online ad!!) We’re going to miss the old girl, but I’m very happy to have it out of our hands and on it’s way to new adventures. Hubs and I are discussing possibilities for our next car which is always fun and exciting. Especially when we dream, and disregard any budgets or practicality. I’m pretty keen for a family van and Hubs is certainly a van man, so he’s doing a lot of the research into it. But mostly it just entails us pointing out cars as we drive around and passing judgement. Which is always fun.

So that’s me done for the weekend. Only 1 more week and I’m back with Hubs again in Mount Isa. I’m really missing him now – 5 weeks is too long to spend away from home. Hubs is home and I miss home.

Ni-night.

In case you’re wondering…

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… here’s what we will be up to for the next few weeks:

The kids and I will be flying down to Brisbane on Tuesday thanks to relatively cheap flights. We were going to drive down but circumstances changed so I booked flights last week. I must say it’s a bit of a relief. That drive was going to be long and boring! And it really would have eaten into the short amount of time Hubs has off to visit. He will fly down on Thursday, and then we’re leaving the kids in the capable hands of grandparents while we live it up in an apartment in South Brisbane for a couple of nights. We have a wedding to go to Saturday arvo/evening – the reason this trip came about – which will be a lovely excuse to doll up and have a dance. (As if I need an excuse!)

Hubs will be staying until the following Saturday so we’ll just be catching up with friends and family in that time. After we farewell him Saturday morning, the following few weeks will be filled with socialising and a good old relax. I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to all that sleep! I can barely keep my eyes open as I type this.

We’ve had a lovely few days with Hubs’ Dad and our nephew visiting and working on the kombi. They are driving it back to Brisbane and left this morning. It was a little sad, but for the last 6 years, it’s just been sitting outside our various houses and not being driven, so hopefully that will change in Brisbane.

I should really go and pack now! Might see you soon.

Continuing with the theme…

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… of late blog posting, here is a photographic run-down of our trip to Brisbane. A month ago. Oops.

Waiting at Mount Isa airport

Fun in the park with Poppy

Cuddles with Nanna

Bottle rockets and flying a kite with Gran and Grumpy

Fly fishing practice with Grumpy

Super fancy High Tea for Nan’s 80th

So many more memories without photos, but always in our hearts. Our next trip to Brisbane is a mere month away, and already I’m excited 🙂

Racing around

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I’ve been a bit slow with blogging about stuff as it happens, so here’s a post about what we got up to 2 weekends ago. Hubs and I have been whinging a little that there’s nothing much to do up here, so when opportunities get presented to us, we really try and take advantage. So when we heard that the races were on, we thought we’d go along and check it out. They started around 2pm on the Saturday, so after Quindy had her nap, we all got dolled up and hit the tracks.

Isn’t it fun trying to get your 3 year old to pose for a nice family photo?

We had NO idea what to expect – how big it was going to be, how much it would cost, what the place was actually like – so we just went in head first and hoped for the best. We knew there were going to be a few doctors there that Hubs works with, and a few of the mums I’ve met through playgroup were heading in too, so we would at least know a few people.

By our standards (we had only really ever been to the Wang races on Melbourne Cup Day) it was quite small, but that suited us just fine. Quinn was happy to wander around looking cute:

And Chance still had a bit of a cold, so he was happy just to chill out and watch movies on my phone:

We’re really glad we went along and had a great time meeting new people and spending time with new friends. Speaking of which, Hubs met the friend of one of the doctors he works with and he mentioned a group of his friends were going 4WDriving the next day, and that we would be most welcome to come along. So in the spirit of taking people up on their offers to do things, we said yes!

We met the group around 10am Sunday morning and after a little rendesvous, we put the kids in the car…

and headed off! (ha ha.)

We headed north about 40km before we turned off onto the track. It was a pretty tame drive, but there were a few squeals of excitement/fear from me at a couple of creek (dry) crossings.

There were 6 cars in the convoy and a lovely bunch of people emerged at the swimming hole we arrived at:

Unfortunately our friend hadn’t mentioned to bring togs, so Hubs just jumped in with his clothes, and the kids had spare clothes so they went in too. It was so lovely. I was very sad I hadn’t brought my togs 🙁 Next time! It was a really lovely few hours and we hope to head out with the group again sometime soon.

We arrived home to unpack, change, and head out to a friend’s place for a BBQ. So yeah, a very big weekend for us! The following weekend, Hubs had to work, so this is his first full weekend with no plans for some time. We are thinking about heading out to Lake Julius tomorrow just to check it out, but no firm plans at this stage. The weather is finally a little more bearable today (only getting up to 32 today! Woo!) so a trip to the park might be nice too.

We’re trying to make the most of it, and slowly getting there.

Leaving “home” to come “home”

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Hubs and I left Brisbane and moved to Melbourne in June 2008, just before I started this blog actually. Every place we lived in from then on, I seemed to prefer to Brisbane. Melbourne had amazing coffee and beautiful food, the public transport was incredible, and Hubs and I were newlyweds living in an exciting town, exploring it together. Wangaratta was a nice change of pace and it was where our little Chanbe was born. Mount Beauty was, well absolutely beautiful, and we met some lovely people there.

In the time we lived in Victoria, whenever we visited Brisbane, I always complained about how bad the traffic was getting, and I was generally excited to get back “home” (ie wherever we were living at the time).

I wrestled with so many emotions during my trip to Brisbane in the last fortnight. It brought up feelings in me that I hadn’t felt about the city in a long time. I was homesick for my hometown. I miss my friends who have made so much effort in the last six years to keep in touch and to catch up when I’m in town. And my family. I miss my family so much.

I miss the city I grew up in.

As I was driving to West End on the second day of my trip to meet up with a friend for some yoga (and wine) (together!) (Best. Yoga. Ever!!) I went through the northern suburbs where I attended church and youth group, and later became a youth group leader; I passed friends houses I used to drive to for Melrose nights back in the 90s; I drove the familiar route from Aspley to Kelvin Grove, and reminisced about all I had been through in those streets and suburbs. I drove past my old primary school, high school and uni (all in the same block) and through the city where many a fun night was had with my gal pals.

I had come home. And it hurt that it was only going to be for a short time.

Of course my home is where my Hubs and family are, but I just wish that physical place was Brisbane at the moment. I’ve kind of touched on how I’m finding it a bit tough up here, but it runs much deeper than that. I know it’s early days, and things might turn around, but Hubs and I are wondering if we made the right choice moving out here. Hubs has had a few disappointments at work which has taken away from his enjoyment of the job, and I am really struggling in our very small house with no yard. And there’s really not much to do here with the kids in the afternoons. It’s a question of “do we go to the lake, to the family fun park, or the pool?”

And it’s so hot. So so so hot.

Hubs and I are already talking about where we want to move to next year and the list just keeps growing! So far we have discussed Cairns, Perth, Broome, Melbourne, Ingham, Brisbane, Bundaberg and even South Africa! Hubs and I have come to the realisation that the “place” we move to isn’t going to make us happy, instead it’s our attitude and feelings towards our life that will determine our happiness. We know we have to stop looking outwards at things and places for happiness, and start looking within. Which means regardless of how we feel about being in Mount Isa, we can be happy here too.

It just might take a bit more effort than we thought. Now. It’s Sunday afternoon. We went to the lake this morning, and the pool is closed, so it looks like it’s off to the family fun park!

And then it hit me…

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The smoke stacks (or as Chanbe calls them, “smoke snacks”,) loom over the city. The ground is brown and bone dry, and it looks like it hasn’t rained here in years. Honestly, I started to panic a little. But then I saw the look on Hubs’ face. The look of recognition. The look of “coming home”. Hubs starts pointing things out to me; familiar places and new things since he left here 19 years ago. We drive past his old house, which I find lovely and exciting. He doesn’t feel it until a few days later, but he has come home. And I feed off that.

For the 2 weeks or so leading up to the move, Chance was going through his usual adjustment period, and it was especially hard work this time. It had been so hot (and horribly humid in Ingham and T’ville) and my patience was pretty thin. We had quite a few stand-offs and tantrums and lock downs etc etc. Nothing seemed to make any difference. I really tried to stay calm and give him lots of positive attention, but he was just out of sorts. On our final morning in Townsville, he completely lost it, and it broke my heart. This poor little boy. My poor little boy. We’ve moved him again and he’s finally cracked. I dreaded the days and weeks to come.

We arrived in Mount Isa, and I kept talking about how exciting it was going to be in our new home, and he agreed in his 3-year-old capability. We moved his aeroplane bed upstairs into his room, and hoped for the best that night. Not bad, not bad. Both kids slept well and we had a nice morning together. We then went to church and Chanbe was a bit of a handful, but no more than usual. The rest of the day passed without too much drama. And then Monday rolled around. We dropped Hubs off at work around 9am, and by 10am I was going crazy. Lots of deep breaths and hoping for the best. Hubs came home for lunch at which time I had a little cry and tried to move on. The afternoon and Tuesday were much the same, with lots of meltdowns (both of us) and negotiations.

We were both exhausted and I wondered how long this transition period would last. And then Wednesday came and Chanbe, my little trooper, turned a corner. We were having such a fantastic day, that at around 2:30pm I decided we could all go shopping together. I laid down the ground rules (no asking for food or toys), and off we went. It was one of those shopping trips where I walked around with my 2 beautiful children in the trolley, with my head held high, beaming with pride (and relief!) He was amazing. And he’s been his old self ever since.

Kids astound me. Chanbe surprises me every day with his resilience and his ability to adapt. I know I need to take lessons from him some days. We both need to take more deep breaths and just calm down and be still. We’ll get there.

23 days and 1000km (west) later…

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Aaaaah…. sweet sweet internet. Moving sucks. And not having internet in the interim makes it even worse. We have signed up for our usual ridiculousGB per month deal, but it won’t be connected until the end of the week, so in the mean time, we’ve paid a ridiculous sum for 3GB of data to get us through.

It’s been too long.

Normally it wouldn’t bother us as we use the internet on our phones, but the connection out here is terrible with Optus, so we have (almost) accepted the fact that we have to change our mobiles over to Telstra. Ugh. The things we do for good phone and internet connections…

Moving on. SO much has happened! But in a nutshell (with photos to come soon, hopefully) I left Ingham with the kids on the 12th of January and spent a few days in Townsville catching up with friends and family and making purchases that I wasn’t sure I’d be able to make in Mount Isa. We then headed back to Ingham on the Thursday to pick up Hubs and the trailer and pack the rest of the house up, then spent our final night in Townsville with friends, though our 6pm getaway from Ingham turned into 8:30pm, so we didn’t actually get to hang out much.

Friday morning we threw the last few things in the car, and started heading west. We had a rough idea about where we wanted to get to on day one, and it was a really easy drive. We stopped at Richmond for the night, but not arriving until after 5:30pm made our dinner choices somewhat limited. There was the pub, or the other pub. I went with the other pub and grabbed a few takeaway meals that turned out to be fantastic! We shared the lamb roast and garlic prawns – both restaurant quality! I was very impressed, especially considering the, shall we say, “rustic” appearance of the pub.

We woke up around 7am the next morning, which just happened to be my birthday, and set off again. It really is such an easy, albeit boring drive. No traffic, not many towns to slow down through, and some very interesting landscapes. We stopped for brunch in Julia Creek, and then we were in Mount Isa by about 3pm that afternoon.

And then it hit me…… We’re living in Mount Isa…… Happy Birthday to meeeeeeee!……

to be continued…….

5 weekends, 5 towns

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2 weekends ago we were here in Ingham, last weekend we were in Mission Beach, this weekend we’re going to Cairns, next weekend we’ll be in Townsville, and the following weekend (my birthday!) we will arrive in Mount Isa. The enormousness (and no, I don’t mean enormity) of the next few weeks (and the previous few) is starting to catch up with me. We’ve had a steady stream of house guests in the last month which has just been so lovely, and now that we have an empty house, it’s hard to get motivated to do anything. So we’re just having a quiet morning to regroup, before packing for Cairns this arvo.

I did actually blog from my phone on Christmas day, but that is very hit and miss, and unfortunately that post missed. We had a great week away at Mission Beach with family and friends, and in a huge group effort, put together a beautiful Christmas lunch.

This was the view we had for the week:

And on Christmas eve, I made the best pierogi I’ve ever made on my own. It felt so great to know that I can do it now.

The kids had a great time away, and Chance loved swimming at the beach in his stinger suit:

And Quindy didn’t mind just hanging out with Mama and eating crackers and dip 🙂

Who knows what the next few weeks will look like for us. Again, as usual, we’ll be on and off line during the move, and internet connection will be a priority once we arrive in the Isa.

It’s hard to believe that, once again, our time in our new town is coming to an end. It’s emotionally and physically exhausting, even NOT being 36 weeks pregnant this time! This time last year was hard work, and we know that this move won’t be as hard, but it will still be challenging, and we are looking forward to being in our new house and starting the settling-in time once again. The uncertainty hasn’t really bothered me until now – we still haven’t been allocated a house in Isa – but now I just want to know where we will be!

I have been ticking quite a few things off my 101 things in 1001 days which is exciting; like horse riding, flying a kite, and making a(nother) batch of pierogi. I’m really enjoying this list and am happy every time I cross something off.

3 women, going in 3 directions

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We have new friends. They are awesome. They are friends we met through church and we just clicked. I joked with them that it’s like a summer romance that we don’t want to end. We are cramming in as much time together as possible, before we go our separate ways. The mum of the family and I have been hanging out a lot the last three weeks, and it feels like her, her husband, and four beautiful daughters have been a part of our lives for so much longer than that. It’s so hard to believe we only met weeks ago, not years. And I’m convinced Hubs and “the dad” were brothers in a previous life. They are ridiculously similar in so many ways. It’s awesome.

I was also introduced to the mum’s bestie up here, and she is just as delightful. It still blows my mind how many amazing, beautiful, like-minded people there are out there to meet, and how we keep getting lucky with meeting so many of them.

And in a few weeks time, the three of us will have left Ingham. One to the west, one to the north and one to the south. This is truly one of those God moments for me; I know he has ensured we crossed paths, and that there is so much more to come for our families. Maybe not now, but some day.

Happy 6th Wedding Anniversary

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Hubs and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary in the first weekend of December, and we took full advantage of my parents being here, and went away for 2 nights. Well, sort of. I’m still feeding Quinn, so we needed to stay pretty close to home so Mum could bring the kids to us for the day on Saturday. But we had 2 nights away and that’s what counts!

We stayed at Hinchinbrook Marine Cove Resort at Lucinda which was rather nice. We had a great view which was my only request when booking the accommodation. Hubs ended up having to work late on the Friday night, so I went and checked us in around 5pm since the place was only 20 minutes away, and put the champagne sparkling white in the fridge to chill for our arrival. I’m glad I did, as we didn’t end up arriving until almost 10:30pm!

We had a nice evening and a pretty good night sleep (nothing is as good as your own bed though!! Shame ours is in storage…) and Mum brought the kids up on Saturday morning, arriving around 8:30am.

I’m not sure who missed who more!

This is what happens when you don’t own a TV… My poor, deprived children…

Dad had gone fishing for the day up at Cardwell. Poor Mum had a bit of a rough night with Quinn, but in a cute way. Quinn woke up around 3am and just wanted a chat. For almost 2 hours!! So we took Chance to the pool while Mum and Quinn had a little rest.

It was quite hot and the pool was SO lovely. The shade cover made it very easy for us to hand around for over 2 hours! We had an easy lunch, and then I don’t really know where the rest of the day went! We just hung out and watched the boats and lazed around. We said goodbye to Mum and the kids around 6pm and said helllloooooo to Moet:

Happy Anniversary Hubs. This year has been one of our hardest, but definitely our best, and I know things with you will just keep getting better and better. I love you!