Things are moving along nicely :)

Bun and I spent last weekend in Sydney catching up with our brothers.  We stayed with Tim and Gail and Max on Friday and Saturday night then caught up with David and Natalie on Sunday.  Checked out the respective houses as they've both bought new houses and renovated in the last couple of years and we worked out that we hadn't been over to Sydney for 13 years!! It was way past time for that visit.  All in all, a relaxed weekend with family :)

Well I finished up at work yesterday, having holidays for the next 5 weeks. I will be going back for 2 weeks in August so that Ian and Narelle can have some time away then that will be IT!
We hope to pick up the tool/storage boxes for the truck on Tuesday and then spend the next couple of weeks getting the truck and van organised so that we can get away on our 'trial run'.  I borrowed a labelling dymo thingy from Kim at work and had a little play last night.



Loving how organised it looks :)

In the process of using the internet to get visas for the USA trip at the moment as that is getting closer. Callie is getting excited and I have to admit I'm looking forward to it too. Just under 11 weeks to go!

Bun finished picking oranges yesterday too so that's another thing off the list. We look like heading off from here during the second week in October so that is going to come around pretty quickly with everything else going on.  It's starting to feel like it's actually going to happen now as there was a long time with nothing to show for the planning going on in the background.

Cheers :)

Something to ride in and something to sleep in!

Unfortunately I think the dogs think they'll be coming too :)

A couple of big weeks!

We had a lovely family type celebration at the start of June for Callie's 21st.  She was happy to have family and a couple of close friends go out for tea and then they kicked on later at the Renmark Club. Of course, the big payoff comes when we head to USA in September, 12 weeks and counting!!

Finally the caravan is in Winkie! We picked it up on Saturday afternoon and spent a few hours with the dealer being shown how everything worked. The bed is made and a few things have been put into drawers but as someone said, it will take weeks probably to work out the best spot for everything :)
So now we have something to ride in and something to sleep in!

Bun has managed to get a crew of backpackers to pick the oranges, they started yesterday and so hopefully the crop will be all off by the end of next week.  That's also when I will take a break from work so we should get a chance to get away for at least a couple of weeks with the van to have a trial run.  We want to make sure that everything works with the truck and the van and also see how good our packing skills are!

We are heading to Sydney on Friday for a very quick visit with Bun's brother and my brother before getting back Sunday night.  Ben let us know that he will do a quick road trip and catch up with us at Tim's on Friday night.

Although we still have a few months before we leave, things are going to be busy so time will go quickly, after all it's already about 11 months since we first made the decision :)

Cheers

Something good! Something bad :(

Well, as of today, I am licensed to drive the truck! I did my driving test late this afternoon and although I got told to check my mirrors more often, I did well enough to pass.  Now I just need to practice a lot more and become more confident.

Unfortunately we don't have the caravan yet. We got a phone call that the van had arrived, the same day that Bun's Mum died so all thoughts of that went out the window for a couple of weeks.  We were scheduled to pick it up on Friday last week but apparently there is an electrical problem that is intermittent. We decided with the local saleswoman that the best option is to send the van back to the manufacturer in Melbourne so that the problem can be sorted out there. Hopefully it will only be a week or so before it's back, looking pristine and ready to roll!

Josh has started a new job in Adelaide this week and it looks like he has found a house to rent already so that's a relief.
Ben has moved house again and has scored an extra room along with his bedroom so looks like he will have a study/quiet room to himself.
Callie will be home next weekend to enjoy a quiet family celebration for her 21st.
The big trip to USA is getting closer now so she's starting to get excited. She's also found out that Justin Bieber will be having concerts in Vegas and LA while she's there so I think the plan is to get tickets for her and Steven to go. She's really excited about that, Steven hmm not so much :)

I think that's enough for now.  Fingers crossed soon we'll have good news about the caravan.

It's been a sad place here.
Two weeks ago, Bun's Mum, Fiona, had a massive heart attack and passed away. She had been fine earlier that day and we are thankful that Bun and his two sisters were at the hospital with her.  We are also thankful that everyone in the family, including all 8 grandchildren, were able to be here to farewell Fi with a lovely service and spend a few days together.

A big week!

Okay so plenty has happened this week!
First we went to Thredbo on Friday to meet up with Ben and following an unexpected cold snap, it was only 3deg and icey (according to the car) when we arrived at 6pm.  The trip took a bit longer than usual as there is still some floodwater around and we had to detour.  On Saturday morning we looked at the weather and made the decision not to do the walk that we intended.  Instead we went on the chairlift to the restaurant to find very big winds and the temp was, with windchill factored in, a very cold -9deg!!!
There was SNOW!!  So we sat there by the fire with hot chocolate and hot scones, because that's how we handle snow :)
Anyway we had a relaxing weekend spending time with Ben and managed to also have lunch with my brother, sister-in-law, niece and great-niece (that makes me sound old).  Monday was another long day driving with another detour. Arrived back around 4pm with the last grapes harvested that night, starting at 8pm.

Tuesday was the really big day because the truck arrived! It looks really big but at least my feet can touch the floor when I'm sitting in it :)   I went for a little drive in it with Josh after work but I know it will take a little while before I really feel comfortable driving it.

Next big news is that Bun has a job! Again it's not what you know, but who you know.  A friend from Winkie has a friend interstate who runs a contracting business with his son.  The friend was visiting Winkie this week and after a bit of a chat, Bun has a job to start in October driving a harvester for the grain season.  The boss is happy to train him and work alongside him so it's great to know that there is something lined up to go to as soon as we leave here.  It will probably mean that I will be driving the truck and towing the caravan while Bun drives a machine between properties so I need to get some practice in.  Also it means that we will be heading east not west!  The guy works through NSW and down into Victoria so a 'slight' change of plan there but we had said 'no rules, no plans' so it doesn't fuss us at all.

Finally for news this week, Josh has just got word that he has a job to go to straight after Easter.  He will be heading west instead of us :)  He will be working for 3 months or so, somewhere around Geraldton.  He only heard this morning so we don't have a lot of details yet, but I think it is on a station doing welding and stuff.  Accommodation and food are included but he has to cook for himself. Sounds like a good deal to me. Oh, and Stevie dog will be going with him so he's happy about that too.  The job was sourced through a job agency that I've been keeping an eye on for a while, with a view to us using it.  They work at placing people into short-term, casual vacancies (backpackers, grey nomads, etc) and I think once Josh has done a placement with them, he'll probably have no trouble getting other positions.

Hopefully the caravan will be arriving soon (it's due in April) but I'm not holding my breath.  Still, it will be great when we get that as we'll be able to have a couple of long weekends away to start settling in to it.

Okay, just got some more details on Josh's job. He will be working with a guy who plants sandalwood trees, employs backpackers, needs a tractor driver/supervisor, maintenance, welding, etc.  Near the coast near Geraldton somewhere so apparently there are opportunities to go fishing, shooting goats, riding motorbikes, go to pubs, etc.  I told Josh it sounds like it's just made for him :)

Waiting patiently (sometimes!)

Well we're still waiting for the truck to be ready.  We had requested that they fit an extra fuel tank and apparently when they went to order one, all the ones in stock were dented.  So... we're still waiting :)
However on the plus side, at least we had put back the date for going to America because I guess it's just as likely that the caravan delivery date will be late too.  This way we aren't stressing that things aren't happening when they should and we'll still have plenty of time to test things out before we make the big move.

I had planned to finish up at work at the end of June to allow time to get everything sorted here, however now I will have July off and go back to work full-time for 2-3 weeks in August so that my boss and his wife (also a co-worker) will be able to have time off with his sister when she visits from America. It will make life easier for them and doesn't make a big difference for us as we can still head off in the van for a couple of weeks at the end of Aug - start of Sept.

We head off to Thredbo on Friday to meet up with Ben, the plan being to walk up the mountain on Sat morning so long as the weather is fine. Then off to Canberra at the end of the day and catch up with my brother and his family on Sunday before heading home on Monday.
Only catch with it all is that we now have to harvest grapes from about midnight on Friday morning before we can leave at 6ish for a long day's drive. To top it all off, the last of the grapes are booked to be harvested early (and I mean early) on Tuesday morning after we get back late Monday! Timing is everything!  If I hadn't booked the accommodation through Wotif, I would have tried to reschedule for the following weekend but whatever?!  We'll just go anyway and see Ben.

We have also booked to fly to Sydney for a quick weekend catch-up with Bun's brother and my brother at the end of June.  Both families have moved house in the last year or so and done renovations.  We haven't seen the houses yet and thought we'd better see them soon before we head off.

I'm really starting to look forward to October when we finally get to leave.  It seems like such a long time to go especially when people start saying "I thought you'd gone already" and we have to say no, that it was just a really long lead-in time for the whole event :)

At least I have been using my spare time productively, having finished off some long-term projects (and a short-term one) in the sewing room.  I completed a king-size quilt for Kerry, about to finish a queen-size one for us (maybe for the caravan) and also about to finish a queen-size one for Ben's friends who are getting marrried in November.  Also completed are a baby quilt (to go in the cupboard!) and an applique wall quilt that has been on the go for about 3 years now.  Steadily working my way through the fabric and supplies that have filled the wardrobe so that I will just have some smaller, more manageable projects to work on while we travel.  I decided that some of the smaller cupboards in the caravan are really not made to store big things but would be perfect for 'stashing' fabric and patterns! :)

Hopefully the next post will be soon to say that the truck has arrived.