Our first few days

Storyteller  

Johnny says I’m a story teller, that I exaggerate things. It makes a good story. My best friend Nathalie says, don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story.  Just so you know, I don’t make things up. In my mind it was 500 fish jumping out of the water, not 50. It was amazing by the way. All these fish leaping out of the water like something under water was projecting them out of cannons. Massimo gets his storytelling from me. He says there was a billion and they were jumping two metres high. Incredible, I’ve never seen anything like it. They were mullet getting chased by tailor getting chased by a shark. Day one and a sight so amazing. I wonder what is to come if this is setting the bar.

When friends asked if I was writing a blog this time, as I’ve done in the past, I said no. It all seemed like work, and I was off work. My children are making video blogs to send to their classmates (imposed by me). Johnny said once I’d get out there, my passion for writing would reignite. I didn’t believe him.

He was right. He always is. He will read this and it’s annoying for me that he knows, but he already knows so, so whatever. The truth is, on our first afternoon in Horrocks, I picked up a book from the General Store. A light-hearted fiction – and I was hooked. I read it in two days. I don’t remember the last time I ever read a book. Reading is for people who aren’t tired after a day of work. Who has the energy to hold a book and not just flake out and watch Netflix – either binging, or in my case, falling asleep within 15 mins of starting anything? But here, I’ve got all the time in the world to go for a beach run, to play with the kids, to read a book and spend hours in a car to write. I am happy.

Happiness 

Initially, for me, this trip was all about Johnny. He’s done the trip once before in his 20’s and was hoping it would happen again with his family one day. Working his ass off, physical labour all day, then paperwork any other hour, an occasional time out for footy and less occasional camp trip. He needed this. I, on the other hand, have a job I love, I have the time for beach runs and kids sports, and my sports, coffees with friends (and that annoying stuff like laundry and dishes) so it has come to be a major surprise at how happy I am right now. A different happy that I didn’t know. I can’t stop smiling and singing. On reflection, I always did those things, so why is it different? Knowing that I don’t have to get up to go to work tomorrow? But I love work. Seeing my kids playing knowing they’re happy they don’t have school tomorrow? But they love school. Seeing Johnny happy because he doesn’t have work tomorrow? That’s it. You can see his joy in the way he’s playing with the kids and tinkering with caravan and car parts. He says he’s at peace with the world. You know, you feel guilty about being happy knowing that others in the world cannot be, what they’re going through, Covid, or no Covid. Happiness: a guilty pleasure.

The day before

We’re loaded up and take the car over the weigh bridge and are shocked to find we’re over by 100kgs not including water (180kgs) and extra fuel. How can that be? The caravan can take 3.3 tonnes and last time we checked we had 60kgs free and we were full of water – so that means we added 280kgs of clothes, food and, what? I’d already donated my whole house of belongings to my community buy nothing page. I borrow some scales and hesitantly weigh each item I might remove. I say might. I need all these things:

• Mum’s pasta sauce 12.6kgs
• Pasta 6kgs
• Bulk pantry items 8.4kgs
• Alcohol 14. 8kgs
• Olives 2.5kgs
• Lemons 2kgs
• School work 10.1kgs
• Toy box 8.4kgs
• Lego 0.9kgs
• Air fryer 5.6kgs
• Skateboard 7.3kgs
• Books 9.8kgs
• Toy cars and tracks 2.1kgs
• Travel brochures 3.9kgs
• Dart board 4.1kgs
• Colouring pencils 1kg
• Dartboard 4.1kgs
• Extra power cable 2.6kgs
• Removing some (kids - not mine) clothes 3.7kgs

I have to compromise. I’m leaving the olives. And some sauce, pasta and lemons. Kids toys – definitely. They can play with sticks. Books – fine, we’ll read online books. Johnny’s electric skateboard – he can make that call. I long lost hope of bringing my electric scooter. My last ride painstakingly blissful. The joy it brings, air swishing past you, but then, knowing it’s something to look forward to when I get back, I’m resolute on that one. We’re bringing bikes and WILL use them. It’ll encourage family time, keep us physically fit.

Departure Day

We’ve spent the last night at my mum’s house and I hug her a few too many times and say we’ll see her soon – the intention is for her to fly over with my mother in law (who was crying so much about us leaving) and spend a week with us here and there. I’m trying to be ignorant of the Covid situation but know it’s a deterrent for them flying anywhere. We’ll wait and see.

Johnny asks me to put up the stabilisers. It requires using a drill and I have too much ego to say I don’t really know how to use it, but he already knows that fact and instructs me and I’m silently grateful. He leaves me to it. I break a drill bit on my first try. I freeze, he laughs. I go again, break another. This time I’m laughing – only because I’m scared of getting in trouble and need to hide it. I ask, “Are you going to divorce me in the first six weeks?” He smiles and says ‘No’. Then after a pause, ‘In seven’. He smiles and fixes the drill, again. I stuff things up one last time locking the drill bit on and I can’t remove it, again he saves the day and we’re ready to go. The reality is, things would be a lot quicker if he did it all himself, but he’s hell-bent on teaching me, and I’m wanting to make him happy (not caring less about learning but caring about making him happy, thus learning).

Ok, we’re ready to go. 

Straight up I’m into the home schooling. My goal is to do it on the long road trips so it doesn’t eat up any adventuring time. Massimo instantly groans and procrastinates. Rio is eager and happily obliges. Its’s slow though. I envisaged we’d do a lot more than what takes place in the hour I designated. It's only the first day, we’ll improve. The rest of the trip is spent watching movies and playing on the iPad. We stop at Jurien Bay for lunch and a play at the skatepark and playground. The scooters were definitely an after thought and now I’m so grateful we threw them in. In all the planning I only considered the bikes but the last few weeks, scooters have been the in thing again and are quick and easy to get out and play on. Let’s hope the fascination lasts, living next to a skatepark and beach, I’ve been wishing (trying to impose) skating and surfing – free activities - as their pastimes.

Horrocks

We arrive early afternoon. The boys are already out on their scooters and we set up the van – hoses, electrical chord, annex, etc. It’s all done pretty quickly compared to when we used to set up the tent requiring sandwiches and beer to get us through. We have plenty of time to go for a beach walk, watch the amazing sunset and cook up a great dinner.  

The next few days are so cruisy. A word no one would ever associate with me with my twenty activities in one day kind of lifestyle. It's my version of cruisy: I get up early for a beach run, enforce the home schooling, go out and play tennis, footy, go swimming, fishing and sightseeing. 

I’m keen to go to Port Gregory to see the Pink Lakes – but it’s overcast and not so pink. It looks better in others’ pictures. Maybe they're touching them up. Who's exaggerating now?

Next up, Little Bay that my friend Elina recommended. I groan at the colossal sand dune we just have to climb and sandboard down. It’s so steep there’s a rope to help you up it. I’m cursing her on the way up, but, she was right, the view was worth it. I gain too much momentum on the way down I force myself to stop and then regret it as I can’t gain the same amount of speed for the final descent. Oh well, I’m not climbing that hill again.  

I love the boys joy and don’t know why I’m surprised by it. At home they’ve always had their school friends around or their neighbours Caleb and Nathaneal to play with. Rio had to post them a letter on the very first day and they’ve rung us every day so far. But, with only each other they’ve been playing non-stop and are in such high spirits and excited to see and do everything. We’ve seen dead kangaroos and rabbits and they can’t wait to see a dead dingo. My weird family. Massimo is genuinely excited about doing the cooking, barbecuing and fishing and catches our first fish, a 41cm tailor. We’re going to get good at this!

We talk to the old fellas in the caravan bays next to us, Norm and Ron, they’re on the same route so we’ll see a lot of them I’m sure. They advise Johnny on where to fish and share their fish with us. We need to make friends with boaters and crayfishermen! We hear about their travels and tell them we’ve just started and our recent upgrade from a tent to caravan. The tent sits atop our car for the remote bits and keeps me humble and proud to rough it out... sometimes. I think of my friend Talia who left for her road trip two weeks before us in only a car and roof top tent and can’t imagine doing this year-long trip without everything including the kitchen sink. When we were both packing for the trip I asked her what pot she had to make pasta as I couldn’t find a decent camping one bigger than a 20cm diametre and she says they don’t eat that much pasta so didn’t need a big pot – that baffled me. 

I’m very happy in our luxurious caravan. I tell Norm and Rob that Johnny wanted a caravan years ago and that I said no, we didn’t need to spend money on something like that, then when we started writing each destination inside the tent each time we went away, it amounted to 17 times in one year, so then finally, a caravan did seem worth it. That’s the storytelling bit: Johnny says, it wasn’t 17. I’m going to count it next tent trip. I’ll let you know next time (if I'm right).