Adventure 2025

 

It's time to hit the road

For those with limited reading time:

Highlights	Less of a highlight
Getting ready & knowing I can blog again	Getting ready
Catching up with family and friends	Preparing to say goodbye to family and friends
Knowing we are only a week away from seeing our Alice Springs mates
Making it to Sea Lake for night one as planned

 

It’s almost time, the winter wind is icy, the night air cold and damp and although the days have remained mostly autumn like, the call of the road has come. For a while, the idea of preparing for a trip felt like a chore as there was no researching of new places or the investigating of where we might like to explore as we are heading once more to a favourite destination – Alice Springs. But, with just a few days to go before we leave, suddenly my mind and body feel like they are on holidays and the idea of packing the van is no longer a task that must be done but a challenge to do well.

No doubt, the fact that Bill finished work a week ago and has been able to do some of the more mundane tasks has helped enormously. After approaching a bloke for some part time work, Bill has spent most of the last 7 months working full time, and is his custom, working long hours, because he believes ‘If I’m going for the day I may as well make it worthwhile’.

During those 7 months we have also been setting up our new second hand home which involved stealing bits and pieces out of the van, so packing the van is a bigger task than usual. We’ve spent more hours in the garden than either of us have for years and we’ve begun the process of gaining permits to have a shed built. I’ve worked part time, written my regular magazine column and almost completed an 80,000-word manuscript. So, we’ve both had a busy time. (I’m starting to think we’re not much good at semi-retiring.)

Having our new home has meant that we’ve created routines with the granddaughters, which involves a weekly sleepover and the ‘Presentation of the Clock’ walk. Each night I kiss the girls goodnight and say, ‘Love you to the moon and back, I’ll see you when the clock turns yellow.’ To which they reply the same. Why yellow? Their bedroom clock turns blue in the evening, at a time selected by Grandma, usually 6 o’clock, (but I have been known to sneak it forward an hour as Lily is still too young to read the numbers). As soon as the clock is blue Lily happily announces it is bedtime and runs off to do her teeth. Then, at a time, once again selected by Grandma, the clock turns yellow (6am – blah), signifying they can get up. So, each morning when they sleepover, I wake to the pitter patter of two pairs of feet, with Lily’s smile as wide as the room, and her hands hidden behind her back. Each morning, I say, “What are you doing in here?” to which she replies, “The clock is yellow” and presents it to me, just so there is no doubting they can get up and the cooking of the pancakes can start. Lola loves to choose the colours the pancakes will be for the day.

Autumn has come and gone

Over the last month I have begun reading Ursula, my 94-year-old aunt, poetry. Her sight has gone; her hearing is diminishing but she can callout, ‘Siri, ring Kath’ and once we are connected, she announces the name of a poet and the poem she would like to hear. I’m sure I frustrate her as I read too quickly but we are managing. Yesterday’s poem, Postscript by Seamus Heaney, compared the wide, wild ocean with a calm lake and Ursula asked which would I like to be at. My answer was I would want a little bit of both and I feel like that now as I write my getting ready blog. I am excited to be heading out on the road again, not knowing what really lays ahead, but I’m already feeling a little sad to be leaving the safe haven of home, with friends just around the corner, granddaughters popping in and daughter-in-law and son not far away. 

Departure day has arrived and as usual neither of us slept well however, we were up early so by 8.30 am we were on the road. The first stop was to buy a metal detector, something we've talked about doing for years. We then travelled through and made it to Sea Lake. I enjoyed a walk and a look at the silo art, while Bill checked out the new toy.

Farewell catch ups began weeks ago

 

Four generations all together

My mum with myself, Kyle, Jade, Lola and Lily

Lucky I had a helper to get the garden ready to leave!

My youngest sister, Clare, Mum, myself and our sister, Joan

Sea Lake Silo Art

A new toy!

Could I have just one more sleepover Gran?