Appreciation post.
Time for an appreciation post, and to update you all after a few interesting weeks..
As is the case for most of us, the last few weeks have not gone to plan. The trip to the snow that Jaiden has been looking forward to for 6 months was cancelled, as was our stay at Barcoos Farmstays Bathurst, a place we consider our second home. After 10 months in central QLD we were looking forward to some time on the coast, that quickly changed as we headed inland again to find a place to bunker down. The decision to spend some time isolating at a 100+ acre campsite with mountain bike tracks was cut short due to Scouts closing the campsite, the day after I spent a decent chunk of money buying Jaiden his first mountain bike.
Alternate arrangements were made at one of Jaiden’s favourite places Carnarvon Gorge, only to have the parks owner change his mind and decide to close and forcing us back on the road. Probably the hardest thing for him to take was that we would finally be back in an area with lots of homeschool meets and his friends, only to find out he could not visit them.
A constant barrage of letdowns has resulted in a fair few tears, but overall Jaiden has taken it all very well. He’s continued to pitch in with jobs and has even learned how to hitch up the caravan solo including the weight distribution hitch. He has patiently sat in the car as we did 8 and 9 hour days on the road after being moved on.
Thankfully, a lovely friend Nat offered us a long term place to park our van on her spectacular property, the same place we were this time last year. Thanks to recent rain the grass was rather overgrown so whilst I went to work with a whipper snipper, Jaiden went and sat patiently for 40 minutes with a pair of secateurs and cut the thick weeds so we had a clear path to walk to the caravan.
Despite the annoying setbacks, I’ve spent a lot of time reminding Jaiden how lucky we are. We’re on a lovely property in the mountains where we have a huge amount of space, with a mountain to hike, fresh water creek to play in, horses to pat, a shed to service our car, and we wake to a beautiful view each morning. It’s easy to be disappointed at the plans that went south, or the money we spent un-necessarily. Instead, we are looking at the positives and doing our best to make good use of the time together. Nobody could have planned for this, but rather than wallowing in self pity, we’re using it as an opportunity to get things done.
I also want to thank Hanni and Mark for giving us a place to park on our journey south, the same goes for Scott and Julie from Curtis Tribe Travels Oz who messaged our page offering us a place to stay which was great because finding places to park for the night was not easy. A massive thanks to Nat for allowing us to park on her lovely property once again, I can’t think of many other places I’d rather be isolated, having access to a hoist is pretty damn handy, too!
Finally, a huge thanks to my little sidekick. He’s been such a trooper through all of this and has continued to be a great help whenever and however I need it, I couldn’t have asked for a better partner in crime. Things don’t always go to plan, but it’s how we react to those setbacks that makes the biggest difference.
How are you all holding up in this weird and wonderful moment in history?
