Saturday 18th Feb + 19th

A After a nice sleep in this morning, we woke up to the sounds of the birds. It is a lovely spot here in Somerville, there is a lot of wildlife about including possums, many galahs and other birds of which we need to find out the species. We spent the day re-organising the bus and are feeling much more on top of it all now. (Not on top of the bus….. you know what I mean….) The boot and the trailer are all set up so we are raring to go. Tomorrow morning we head back to Mt.Waverley for our picnic, and then we are off. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz……………………………….. (Fell asleep on the beanbag…..Oops……….. SUNDAY 19th 9.30 pm. Wow, sitting in Inverleigh, on the beanbag, in the bus, at a rest area 28km east of Geelong on the Hamilton Rd (B140), starry, starry sky. Just got the kids to bed, Jarra was up a few times. It was late for them, into bed at 9.30 after an exciting day. Tal was looking out his window as he was lying in his bed and said, “Look at all the stars Dad”. I told him about how hard it is to see out of a car at night when the interior light is on, and that is what living in a city is like when trying to see stars. It is going to be a fairly slow trip, she’s an old girl and pulling along 10 tonne of bus, car and trailer, people, food, fuel, and water aint easy for an old girl. Al Jack said that if we receive a speeding fine on this trip he will pay for it. Watch out all you school kids in the 40km/h zones, here we come!! I would like to run a poll to see if I use too many commas in my posts? There is ongoing debate in this family about my use of commas and I would like to see what the general public think about my use of commas. Do I use them unnecessarily at times? Did I spell unnecessarily properly? We finished sorting the bus before we left Somerville this morning. We are in the process of “moving in”. Seeing where things fit, and what slides out of which cupboards when we are moving. Everything needs to be tied down, and plugged in. Thanks Marc for the call. He told me that our right indicator on the trailer was not working as we left today, so we stopped at a service station and I bought some indicator globes, and replaced it. Went and tried it, still not working. Must remember to plug the trailer in…… Is very peaceful out here, there is the occasional passing of a big truck or car, breaking the silence of the night. Our picnic today was sensational. So many of our family and friends turned up to help see us off and we appreciate the support of everyone, the spread of food was great, it is nice to share food and see all the different tastes. Thanks also to everyone for keeping an eye out for Jarra, He is all over the place these days, so it was great having all those eyes out there. It was an amazing feeling driving away from the crowd of friends there, just seeing a whole bunch of great people in the rear vision mirror, as we tried to catch the two official “dunny paper ribbon holders”. Thanks Al and Richo!! Nice running!! I learnt something today. Put down the rear wheel ramp/ tailgate and drove the Subaru into the trailer, squeezed out the gap between the wall of our aluminium clad enclosed trailer and the car. Strapped all four wheels down. Close the tailgate. Tow bar in the way. Oops. Put down the tailgate again, undo four straps. Squeeze back in, move car forward three inches. Squeeze out door. Restrap wheels. Put up ramp. Whew……. I Went over the West Gate, past the big leaf sculpture in Hoppers Crossing, great name that. Sometimes names like Hoppers Crossing just roll off my tongue without me even thinking about the actual words I am saying. Funny that. Been a great start to the journey Around the Massive Stone. Helen here. What an amazing day. They say that moving house is up there with funerals and weddings when it comes to stress, which I agree with, but I never thought leaving would be just as emotional too. It was splendid seeing everyone there today to see us off. It really made me realise what wonderful friends and family we are surrounded by, not to mention all the good wishes from overseas. Thank you all. It was great to show everyone our rig, all decked out and ready to go. Finally I started to get really excited. I hardly ate a thing and as we headed up the hill and off on our grand adventure two things really struck me 1) I was starving and 2) I was dying for a wee!! A quick stop at Cash Grove to visit our friends, the new owners – they have already improved the place with a lick of paint - a visit to the loo and I was feeling much happier. Heading over the Westgate it was funny knowing that we won’t be seeing that view for a while. Dinner was late tonight, snags etc. but it never tasted better. After a long day Rennie finally got the rest she needed and we patiently sent Jarra back to bed a dozen times. He has had a lot to contend with in the past few weeks, and now he is in a bed in a room with his big brother and sister on a bus…. quite a lot to handle when you are not yet two! Apart from bedtimes he has been great. Our only drama is keeping track of where he is. He’s very quick! Tal & Rennie are taking it all in their stride. Rennie is still not quite well yet, still got that cough, but no temperature today.