GETTING THE HANG OF IT
After settling into our new lifestyle for a few days, it was time to pack up and head south. The trip to Brooms head was just that little bit better than our first attempt. The kids lasted most of the way in good spirits, with Jade warning Henry along the way that they had to be quite for Daddy. But Henry couldn’t help himself and started annoying Jade by touching her. But all in all, nothing like that first memorable trip.
Lost.
The trip would not have been too long either if I had not taken the wrong turn and ended up in Yamba. Roadwork’s near the turn off, and two entries into the National Park made for an unscheduled stop in Yamba before setting back off to Maclean and eventually on to Brooms Head.
We settled quickly into a nice spot in the National Park, right on the beach.
The kids had the best time on the beach and we were soon joined by a mob of Kangaroos, who came so close they were virtually swimming with them.
We settled in for an early night with fish and chips and introduced the concept of movie night to the kids. One of our aims on the trip was to minimise TV, so we thought a once a week movie might satisfy them. It went down well, and they haven’t stopped asking each and every night since, ‘is it movie night yet.?”
Jade and the Flies
It was such a beautiful location we were in, we decided to take it all in with a bike ride. You would think that would be quite an enjoyable experience in a place like this, but you must remember we have Jade with us. We were quite fortunate back home, there were minimal mosquitos and almost no flies. So for our Jade, flies were something new, especially in any sort of quantity. Within meters she was complaining that a fly was following her. She could not work out why the same fly was still following her sometime later. She was sure she would out-cycle it.
It is also amazing to see how DNA is passed on from generation to generation. Without warning she spat the dummy, just like her dad would have years ago. She threw her bike to the ground and abused the fly like it was really listening to her. The fly had no option but to leave her alone, for a few minutes, but then they were back, in numbers this time. We had to stop ourselves from laughing long enough to explain to Jade about flies, and why there are so many of them. Needless to say, this did not help, and needless to say, the bike trip was not so enjoyable. Henry on the other hand had a ball, mainly laughing at his big sister with comments like, “What’s wrong with Jade”
We got back for a leisurely breakfast at our campsite and then I took Jade to the lake for a bit of a cool down. This was quite enjoyable, but of course the main topic of conversation was flies and why they would follow her and no one else.
Over time, Jade was slowly getting used to the flies, and by the end of the day she was talking to them, or in particular one she named ‘Jack’ At one stage we heard her say,
“ Shorts Jack, not skin. If you want to live with me, land on my clothes.”
We spent our time exploring the area and nearby towns, and hours down at the beach with the Kangaroos, there were heaps of them here, and in the afternoon they would head down to the beach for a quick dip and cool down.
Our Little Angel
It was now about two weeks into the trip and we are all settling in quite well, especially Henry, he has taken to his new lifestyle easily, Jade is still quite unsettled, but we are hoping another week or so will smooth things out for her. And then, low and behold, the very next morning we woke to the sound of cutlery and plates being put away. Here was our dear little 6 year old daughter putting away the dishes from the night before. We both lay in bed, quietly, not daring to make a sound, just in case it was a dream. But it wasn’t, there she was, Jade, of her own volition had woken up at 6.30am and started cleaning the van. The Gods were finally kind to us. Of course we waiting in silence until we were sure she had finished, and then we woke to fill her with praise.
Jade and the Plovers
And the day only got better, she was a little angel all day, and even provided entertainment for us. On one of our walks, not being one to stay on the main track, she wandered off and found what was probably the only Plovers nest on the headland. Those that know Plovers, know that they are very protective of their young, and will swoop to protect them. Well, our Jade just about stepped on this things baby. Within seconds, down came two large birds swooping down on her.
As she realised they were after her, a look of sheer horror crossed her face. Her eyes just about popped out of her head as she took off faster than Cathy Freeman at the Olympics. I swear she covered over 200meters in less than 10 seconds as she tried to avoid being attacked by these birds. The look on her face was priceless. Lucky she also saw the funny side of it.
Camp Stories
We ended up back at the campsite still laughing and settled in for dinner and then a session by the camp fire. The kids loved telling stories by the fire, and wanted to hear all about us and what we did when we were younger.
It was our first night by the fire for a while and we stayed up till after 10 with a bottle of wine and an open fire by the beach and a great sunset. Loving Life on the Road.
[sc:Honky ]
Hi there, congratulations on honkey, you have done a wonderful job!
We have recently purchased a newham bodied hino rk just like yours, I was wondering how I could get in touch with you about your build to use as ideas for us.
My email is [email protected]
And again, congratulations on a wonderful home on wheels