Another adventure begins

So often people ask are you enjoying your holiday and there are two parts to the answer. When we decided to sell our home we never aimed to go on holidays for ever, we aimed to slow down our life, change our jobs, finding either paid work or accommodation in exchange for volunteer work to pay our way as we went discovering new places. And that is what we are achieving. Bill is completing our volunteering hours (and more) by doing a variety of work, hence bringing in our rent, electricity etc. for the week. Last week his job was clearing the 'backyard' of the caravan park which has had 'junk' dropped in it over many, many years when no one quite knew where to put it. This has given him a chance to drive a big Kenworth, (which he's done before) but never towing a side tipper or with the Road Train signage. He chuckled when I asked him about the size of the tipper, "Kath" he said, and when he starts with my name I know he can't quite believe the question ...

Five days ago, Kev, my brother rang to tell me that Kerry's dad, his father-in-law for close on 40 years had died. I don't think of Kerry as an in-law, she's Kerry, she's my family, she's been part of my life since I was about 12, she and Kev have been my rock in tough times.  I remember the people who supported me when Dad died and I remember feeling angry that other people's lives just went on - did they not know my world had changed forever?? As I watched the Queen's funeral I knew that Mr Kip's funeral, although it would be much smaller, would mean just as much - someone's world will never be quite the same - Kerry's, Mrs. Kips, Rodney, Murray, Kev, Megan, Damien, Sarah and little Ailsa to name just a few.  I watched from a million miles away as the family grieved today, hugged each other and supported each other. I kept myself busy, but right now, oh I wish I could repay one of the million hugs Kerry and Kevin have given me when my world was...

  It’s been an odd week, this one. A dear friend asked me, ‘How’s your head, Kath?’ and to be honest it’s been a little muddled lately but last evening, as I chatted to a very nervous 38-year-old, who, along with myself was serving canapes at the art gallery opening, it cleared nicely. So, what’s been going on – I think the familiarity we have with the campground and our volunteering roles had left me feeling at a loss, wondering when I was going to start exploring new places and adventures. Without a vehicle to drive, my spontaneity of popping off to do my own thing added to my sense of ‘What am I doing here?’ But how quickly things change. Speaking to Elk last night reminded me to savour the small moments. So, in the last week my new experiences include: ·         Meeting the crew of ‘Blokes World’ and being filmed (probably will be cut, but who knows) as they prepared a show, to be filmed in about 4 weeks, featuring the Road Transport Hal...

Wow – what a huge 8 days since I’ve last written. As always when a big event is about to get underway the pressures start to build, the anxiety increases and the sleep seems to slip away and then the event starts and memories are made. The memory making started when shared an evening meal with friends from back home, Jen and Wes. I started teaching with Jen something like 22 years ago so it was lovely to catch up with them. We went to the Gillen Club for a quiet dinner on the Tuesday night and caught up again on the Thursday night at the Alice Springs Brewery, famous for its pizzas. This year I shared my birthday with Fish Creek, Birdsville and Alice friends, which was special. Monday through to Thursday is a bit of a blur – along with all the other volunteers we moved trucks (just Bill, not me), lots of cleaning, wiping of 350 chairs, pressure washing, finalising stories, checking and triple checking the order of certificates, medallions and frames.  Friday I started at 6.30am...

Some days I'm not quite sure what our 'category' is - we aren't locals, we aren't grey nomads, we aren't employed, we aren't retired, we aren't really tourists because we aren't moving, we aren't locals - I'm just not sure what our category is.   We often do what we did at home - just here, in our smaller home. Lots of things are the same but just a little different. We still cook dinner, but we cook outside, mostly bbq-ing, in the mild evening air. We still have to do the dishes, but we boil the kettle and wash in the plastic tub. We do the washing, it dries in half a day and gets put away, mostly that night, because when 4 things are out of place the 'house' is messy. Monday to Friday we head off to 'work', volunteer doing whatever is needed. Today, it was moving dirt and filling pot holes for Bill, for me it was trimming back shrubs and cleaning plaques. Other days I pop off and 'work' - like real work, with pay and...

  Bill and I travelled to Uluru in 2015 but it was just one of those trips that didn’t go as planned. We arrived after dark, the peaceful walk around Uluru was not so peaceful thanks to a grumpy guide and so on and so on. Going back has always been on my to do list, but not Bill’s. So, when his sister Val offered me a ride in her hire van with her daughter Ash, it was an easy decision to make. Let’s go, let’s do a girl’s road trip! It’s amazing how much quicker you get somewhere when you aren’t towing and therefore aren’t restricted to 100km an hour. Before I knew it we were at Erldunda Road House, fuelling up and getting reading to turn onto Lasseter Highway for our 245km run to the Ayers Rock Resort at Yalara which is about 15km from Uluru. Our campfire mates, Jim and Louise, had told us about a salt-lake you can see if you walk up a hill opposite the lookout to Mt Conner. Many people apparently, mistake Mt Conner for Uluru, it is huge and spectacular and it looks even better...