This is what we’ve been waiting for, for the last two months. The last two sleeps before we take over from the Hussy Hicks’s commandeering of the famous Ambassador Van.
Last night I had my first nervous jitters. Jett’s started coughing a little (a sure sign he’s winding up to something ‘big’), and Albert’s fingers don’t stop drumming.
We’re still to pack what we’ll need for the next two months on the road, and we have a few e mails to send. According to Murphy’s Law, at the last minute, we’ve had some surprising troubles with the tax office in three different countries that require immediate attention because of previous lack of foresight (yes, yes we take all the blame) and I’ve been blocked on facebook for spamming (absolutely NOT true). While waiting for these situations to rectify themselves by utilizing our famous charm and persuasion through the use of e mails… we say our final goodbyes to my family here.
Thank you Mumsy and Bill for being super good about letting us stay with you for some time (we’re GREAT nomads, couch crashing at our parents – see more tips on how to stay a teenager for ever here). Sorry about lecturing you about the wayward mind and other meditational issues but since leaving Espern I lack my usual mind and body audience and I’m suffering withdrawal symptoms. (Also could you stop telling people we’re USING your house as a base for a year, it sounds so selfish (of us). I’d like you to use to words ‘visiting’ or ‘keeping me company’.)
As you can see, I’m nervously chatting. Let’s come back to the point of this post.
The VAN!!!
We are super excited and Jett thinks its going to be so cool to sleep SO close to us EVERY night and have a little house on wheels. He’s been talking about this every since we had the idea to travel around in a camper van last year. As long as he has a little broom and dust pan, we know he’ll be happy. (He has a cleaning fixation stemming from our total lack of care about chaos with regards to house hold goods, including shoes, handbags, jackets, dishes etc)
Albert is the master mind behind the planning of the trip. Although our itinerary is more or less planned on paper, we are aware that its eventuality is subject to the realities of every day events. Two months, though they may seem a long time for travel, are not much when you have to cover 6000 kilometers packed full of varied attractions, all seeming 'musts' on first sight. We will try to visit thoroughly, the following places: the city of Darwin: Litchfield and Kakadu National Parks; kilometers and kilometers of a reddish and charming nothing, villages and ex-villages, caves and mines; the tropical forests of the Daintree and Cape Tribulation; the islands and the fantastic snorkelling (I guess) of the Great Barrier Reef, and, finally (even though it extends for a couple of thousand kilometers) the idillic coast of Queensland. All to end up, peacefully, with a bulk full of new experiences and some thousands of pictures, again in the Gold Coast, where we are right now.
If you want to see details of the route that we plan to follow, take a look here.
I’m looking forward to seeing the red earth. I want to get OUT BACK. It’s a yearning that’s been building up after years of living in the lush greenery of farmland Norway. I want to see ghost gums and swim in water holes. I love our trees and want to hug as many of them as I can (depending if they have biting creepy crawlies on them – of course).
Albert discovered The Van after crawling the internet (while in Norway) for a suitable van to hire/buy for our travels around Australia. When we saw the offer to write while on the road, we were happy to apply. Several months later, we heard we’d been considered as the ‘April/May 08’ Crew, and happily we acquiesced. (Hello Amanda! Thank you for dealing with Albert’s e mails. You did a commendable job!)
And here we are. Just two sleeps until we are on our way. Every journey starts with the first step. Sowing seeds for our future.
Thank you and we hope you enjoy our travels.
(We do ‘do’ requests – so if you know where we are, and think we should see something, tell us. If you never never tell, we’ll never never experience.)
