Driving driving driving

on the road

well, we made it.
sort of.

We got out of Melbourne. Not that it was easy. we ended up waiting for the package to arrive till 4pm on Monday. But we were so ready and waiting, we left by 5pm. yes, I know, only crazy people will leave on a drive from Melbourne to Canberra (a drive of about 8 hours if you go fast and dont break) at 5pm. But we just didnt care - we so wanted to get on the road.

So, we drove, stopped at Wodonga to use the internet at the McDonalds when it was quite late and Littletree was already asleep, and I slept in the back of Sunshine while Purple worked from his laptop in the front seat.We slept at a pretty little rest area about an hour from Wodonga, and in the morning hit the road again, stopping at the Yass service centre McDonald's for Purple to work.

the freakiest thing we saw on the road was a huge navy submarine. yes, a SUBMARINE, about 300km from the sea, just planted smack bang in the middle of a quiet little country town. what's really funny is that there was a little plaque next to it saying that $100,000 was donated by the widow of the captain of said sub to put the damn thing there!

Well, we got out of the car and had a look at it - unschooling opportunity, of course ;) Littletree was very interested in it, and also in the big torpedo mounted next to it, and led us to a lot of discussion on military and war and stuff.

We got into Canberra in the afternoon, did a little tourist drive around the town; saw capital hill and the lodge - funnily, The Lodge (the house of the Prime Minister of Australia) had less security than the average supermarket in Israel would! We dropped into a homeopathic shop to get a remedy for a friend in Cambodia and then cruised over to our friend's place.

We got there a bit after 4pm, but they weren't home. Their next-door-neighbour said they would probably be back from work about 5, and let us use his bathroom while we waited.

It was really nice to visit them, we stayed the night on their living room floor, ate turkish pizza for dinner and chatted while Purple worked.

Next morning we hit the road early, drove through Sydney, stopped for Purple to work in some McD's while Littletree played on the PlayLand. Slept again in a little rest area just north of Taree, continued on again, stopping in another Mackers. and on we go.

Wisdom of Littletree

Littletree is singing a song, it sounds like this:

This is the end of the song, if you want to listen again, turn the tape over
[giggles] This song is called, "There's a fairy on a flower eating babies"
[more giggles] Starts singing...

Hillarious

Long Drive to Nowhere

Ooof.
Yesterday started out a day like any other. Only warmer and sunnier, a welcome break from the recent chill. We hung around, pottering, doing little things inefficiently and mostly wasting time, waiting for a package to arrive by DHL. It was sent last monday, and they paid a lot for it to arrive in 48 hours. but here we are, saturday and it didnt arrive yet.

Anyway, I got fed up of hanging around the house and I got this irresisstable URGE to go for a drive to the Dandenong forest. Its a place I've been back in 1998; this amazing forest full of huge old growth trees. a kind of rainforest that makes you believe in fairies. I just had this sudden and desperate need to go there and walk in the forest.

but it was already noon, a bit too late, when it was an hour or more away and we were waiting for this package.
I dithered.

so, 2pm, and I couldnt stand it any more. I was so jumpy, I just threw some stuff in a day bag and dragged Purple and Littletree to the car. Turned out to be a much longer drive than I thought, took us almost 2 hours.

But we arrived, and started driving around the park. Only we never found this picnic ground that I remembered, this awe-inspiring place with massive trees and man-ferns. we drove around some more, went for a little walk in some mediocre (but still beautiful) forest. I got depressed and ate most of a packet of Mint Slice.

By then the sun was setting, though it seemed we'd worked out on the map where to go, it was too late :( so we just drove back in to town, and met with a friend for dinner. We went to a trendy veggie cafe that was very loud and crowded and noisy. but the food was good.

On the street I ran into an old love; I guy I've not seen or had contact with in about 8 years. It was a trip to see him again.

but we had a good drive anyway.

Today was even worse...

Realising that the package wouldnt arrive till monday, we decided to go for a weekend away, just to test out travelling with the car and packing and everything.
So, we looked at the map and decided to head for the Great Ocean Road, and maybe camp the night in the Otways, hike around and come back tomorrow.
of course... its after 3pm and we still didnt get the car packed to satisfaction.

So we wasted another sunny day.
Sigh

At least Littletree is having fun

unschooling day

hey ho, its a bright sunny day so i washed my hair (quite a feat), but the wind is still blowing chilly.
We prepare to leave this house by doing a big spring cleaning - we found a big shelf in the garage stacked celing-high with old jars of preserved fruit - some of them dating back to 1976!!
Purple was brave enough to open some of them and even tried one that still looked okay! He said it was still good, though I still think they should just be composted straight up. The jars are good though.

Meanwhile, Littletree is playing about by herself, at the moment teaching her coloured markers to speak different languages. She holds up the pink one and the green one, and says "hello" with the pink. Green says "hola, yo no hablo much inglais, hablas espanol?" pink says "sorry, I only speak English and a bit of Hebrew. In English, we say 'hello'!" green says, "hello! en espanol, es 'hola'." Then yellow comes in speaking Hebrew. and Orange arrives and introduces herself as yellow's mama. Turns out the orange mama knows German too. and on it goes.

Who needs TV when you've got a 4 year old around!?

So, we might just be leaving tomorrow. though it looks more realistic to say saturday will be the big day.

well, I'm heading back to the sun so my hair can dry...

Sunshine

YAY!!!
We bought a van!!
She is big and bright Yellow, and amazingly, her registration plates start with RAY, so of course we named her Sunshine.
Sunshine is a 1982 Mitsubishi express, with a bed in the back, a bunch of storage space under, and came with a heap of camping gear we didnt really need, but will be nice and usefull anyway.
So, we shall be on the road again soon.
We are going to try to get up to the Rainbow scout meeting, which will be in a week. just 1700km away.

anyway, we are having fun cleaning Sunshine up and decking her out all nice and fancy, and packing our stuff. Gee whiz!

Stress

watch out, i'm feeling like a whinge is coming on...

Well, i realise I'm so tense you could flick me and I'd explode.
The whole situation is just getting too much for me, hey, I'm just a little green majik faerie, I'm not cut out for all this stuff.
I get swept up in the fantasy of all the wonderful things we are going to do, the gorgeous little cottage we are going to live in, how we're going to be wonderful and settled and have good friends and be involved in the community and join a capoeira group and have lots of friends for Littletree and all that kind of stuff. But then the thought of actually settling down and committing myself to be in one place terrifies me.
I've been on the road since 1998! I didnt even stop travelling when I gave birth - literally, Littletree was born in the back of a car on the side of a road next to a footballfield, in the mud, in the rain, in Brazil. We had travelled 3 days before she was born and we moved on again 2 weeks later.
Pregnancy didnt slow me down; I was in nine countries in the nine months of gestation, not even getting dysentary stopped me travelling. and now, here we are.
Everything is so much more expensive in Australia than I remembered it, and not just normal inflation, which is expectable. Veggies are double than they were. Petrol too. and property prices are more than triple what they used to be.
At least cars are still cheap.

We are looking at buying a van or campervan, for around $3000 or $4000 Australian, pretty good, really. But it just involves so much hassle. So many questions I cant answer.
And moving to a new country isnt just moving house. we need to deal with new bank accounts, and there are so many banks with all different deals, how the hell do we decide? and Mobile Phone deals to choose from, and its all very confusing. Medicare and health insurance. Local Drivers' licences - do we just get them here in Victoria or wait till we are in NSW? Probably we are moving to NSW soon, but we arent sure, and we might be there for just a couple of months, and then moving back to VIC. is it better to get a car registered here or wait till we are north?
and meanwhile, we are staying in a friend's house and I feel uncomfortable all the time that we are invading his space, that Littletree is disturbing him with her 4-year-old antics, and that he disapproves of our parenting methods.

I'm supposed to be taking care of everything, and making sure Purple has nothing to worry about and he will love it here and everything will be fine.

and I just feel lost and alone and stressed. I cant sleep at night. and now my computer has gone on the blink, it just wont boot and I'm afraid of losing all my files.

And of course Purple is flying back to Israel in 6 weeks for work, and he wants to be settled in our own home before that. but what if we arent??

AAAARRRRRGH
huhuuuhuuuu

okay, rant over ;)

continuation

Well, its cold.
too cold.
and the winter didnt even start yet, its only mid-may.
So, this little black duck has decided the best will be to fly the coop and head north. Not only the weather, but I start to get the feeling that we are overstaying our welcome here. Or at least, I'm starting to overstay my comfort zone.
We are staying with an old friend, more like an acquaintance, in his mother's big fancy suburban McMansion. A huge brick monstrosity in an outer suburb housing development. Its all very clean and all the houses are the same and very upper-middle-class. Like Neighbours. Over our back fence is a massive Shopping Centre nightmare. It goes on for miles. 3 department stores, 3 supermarkets, 2 food coures, a multiplex cinema, a few pubs, a public library, 2 gyms and about 200 specialty stores and more. good grief.
So its very easy to just get sucked into hte lazy routine and stay and stay. But i think we should be going.
As soon as we can find a suitable car and drive out of here.

My gorgeous darling Lady Demelza came over for the weekend, goddess that she is.
Ahhh, if only she had known we could have been something special. Well, even if we arent lovers anymore, it is still special.
And she's just the same as ever. Planning to take over the world of Burlesque.

So the master plan:
To buy a vehicle, probably a van with a bed in the back, or else a station wagon.
Drive said vehicle north, stop in Canberra for a couple of nights to visit Brian and Jen, then more north till we get to Nymboida. Visit Laena and Mali and everyone, then start to find a place to live, to rent a home in northern NSW for at least 6 months. Settle in, make friends, connect to other homeschoolers, join a Capoeira club.
Then I want to apply to every direct-entry midwifery course I can find.
In September we'll go to the rainbow gathering, and then early next year, we'll move to wherever I get accepted into Uni, or if i dont, then just stay where we like.
Then we take over the world MMMMWWWHaahahaaa!!

Its not easy being green

Melbourne

Well, we've arrived to the land down under; safe and sound. though its bloody freezing!
Staying with a friend I know from rainbow years ago. its a nice big empty house and everything is pretty comfortable and convenient. slowly we get settled in and adjust, but we dont even know where we want to live in this wide brown land.
wait and see...