Where are we …?
We are a 20-minute drive from Gympie, home sitting and minding four French bulldogs for the 3rd time.
It’s been a long time since a post went up on this blog.
Mental and emotional ability has been absent, due to many factors. I received a
wake-up call a few days ago when I noticed what the shops were selling – we are
heading for Christmas! 😱 A catch-up is overdue …
July/August
Early July saw us arrive in Gympie for the first time in
almost 4 months. We parked the van on our friends’ property to stow it for the
5 weeks that we were booked to housesit for a couple in Gympie, who have the
two most delightful elderly dogs … a Pekinese and a Papillon.
Here they are … 😍
Regardless of their need for medication twice a day for
congestive heart failure and other problems, they were so enjoyable to look
after. The oldest, the Pekinese, is mostly blind and deaf, and the other is frail. The latter fainted
10 minutes before her folks left the house … their owners apologised profusely believing little Papillon would be passing on to doggy heaven while they were away. Well, ten minutes
after they left she was prancing spritely ‘saying’ “what we gonna do next?” 😁
For the entire period they were both fine! In fact, they seemingly improved
over the next month. Lol. Perhaps because they didn’t get table food from us? *just saying* 😊
The home was a haven of peace. Orchids in the garden, with fountains and goldfish.
The house is an old Queenslander that had been moved from a small town some kilometres away to Gympie. It has been lovingly renovated and improved upon by the carpenter owner … the bathroom, so beautifully renovated, had us feeling every day as if we were on an exotic holiday. 😀😀
Mid-August found us in Coloundra. It's an hour’s drive from Gympie -- a beach town (hot spot) where the wealthy love spending weekends and holidays. A town that is always packed out. A cross between my hometown of Amanzimtoti and Umhlanga on the Kwa-Zulu Natal coast came to mind (if such a thing were possible).
We were booked to look after 2 small dogs as a trial sit for
4 days, in a retirement village, in a free-standing house with a garden, a doggy
door, etc. However, two days before we received a note to say, ‘This is our
temporary address until we move to our new unit.’ ‘Unit?’, we thought. 🤔
With the van still stowed away, we followed Google Maps and arrived to find the couple (who were off on
a 4-day cruise up the coast) in a holiday apartment on the 1st
floor while they waited for their new 2nd-floor apartment to be
renovated in town.
They had placed fake grass on the balcony. “That is where
the dogs go to the toilet. You only need to rinse it every 2 or 3 days,” they
said. The next morning, I thought I’d enjoy the view over my cup of coffee. Instead,
I was gagging. 🤢 The
smell!! Dog pee is very strong. Washing off said carpet was no joke. Fortunately,
no one lived downstairs at the time, so I washed it off right there on the
balcony. We then carted the dogs downstairs every 2 – 3 hours for the remainder
of our stay, for toilet breaks.
As the couple arrived home, we thanked them for choosing us
to home sit in November too (when they go on a cruise around the perimeter of Australia for 5
weeks), but politely declined the job. It had dawned on us that, should we
continue with the agreement, we would be perpetuating someone else’s extremely
poor choices and suffering for it. 😑
They took it well. They understood that they would need to re-advertise with new parameters. We were not partial to an apartment with dogs. The older one (15) was blind and kept walking into everything. Quite sad really, because he wasn’t used to the environment. He also had a weak bladder so there were constant spots everywhere. The younger dog is only 2 and FULL on energetic… she gave me a run for my money when it came to walkies. Far out, the cutest dog, but she has two speeds … motionless and running. The suburb is very hilly … so I was blowing like a steam engine during afternoon walks! It made me long for the days when I was fitter and jogging with Luke. 😆 How that couple look after those dogs in an apartment beats me – both husband and wife struggle to walk up and down stairs too. 😳 Sometimes you just have to wonder at folk.
At night we had to sleep with the balcony door open
so that the ‘grass’ could be used. 😣 In an area with high youth crime, it made us
feel rather vulnerable. (Sadly, Queensland youths are proving very innovative
and are terrorising households up and down the coast and in certain Brisbane
suburbs with car theft, vandalism, and break-ins.)
Exploring Coloundra was fun though. Although we could not be
out for longer than 3 hours, we took the opportunity to view the area and walk
along the beach. We also visited a sweet friend who lives in the area. Here are
some pics from those 4 days.
After Coloundra we looked forward to a month-long spell around Gympie in our van. First, we stopped at a low-cost camp close to the Mary River. The kids came for a visit on the paddock and enjoyed seeing the cows.
We then spent 5 days in our favourite caravan park, spring-cleaning the van and getting things done in town. I made wraps on the Weber BBQ for the first time, testing it out to see how it would work using the pizza stone. All while AJ was teaching inside the van. 😅 He bravely put up with my flitting in and out of the van, messing flour, rolling dough.
Winter temperatures hit again as we moved further inland to a caravan park in the showgrounds of the small country town of Imbil (click to see how lovely the area is). Although the days warmed up, the mornings hovered around 4 and 5 degrees Celsius.
AJ taught successfully from the van for two days while we were there. Then suddenly the rest of the week’s classes were cancelled. On that very day, we discovered that the phone/internet signal was non-existent. Phew. 😅 Could it be God?! The signal had gone down due to the upgrading of local infrastructure.
Imbil is enchanting. The rail trail is a special treat as it takes one into the Bellbird Reserve area – the northernmost area that these birds inhabit. It was incredible standing in that natural forest and hearing bell sounds all around. Yet, you don’t see a bird! They frequent the treetops and blend in beautifully with the trees.
Our van was parked next to another nomad couple. The husband, Gary, was very social and often popped around for a chat. They, in turn, were parked next to an odd couple who were drunk by 11 AM each day. 🥴 On the 2nd afternoon a severe storm hit … fortunately no hail. Driving rain and strong, really strong, wind gusts tore at everything.
EVERYONE in Queensland lives constantly checking a weather app! Clearly, not the strange ones, as they had just lit a fire in their fire pit and were sitting around it grinning at everyone else scurrying around and closing everything up.
AJ was teaching. It fell to me to get the car under a nearby cover and batten down the hatches. Eventually, AJ too had to stop teaching and switched everything off, as lightning and thunder raged. The oddities were forced to flee into their caravan – after first carrying their firepit under their awning!! 😆🥴😱 Probably the dumbest thing you could do when caravanning. Their awning was not strapped down or anchored and was waving like a flag in the wind, Gary said. And their bits and pieces were narrowly missing their fire, which stood quite solidly under the distressed awning. Says Gary, “If that were us, our caravans would probably have burned out!” 😅😄 But this couple survived that 30-minute storm, only to continue with their fire once things calmed down. Go figure! 🤣
The day after the storm, a mobile van pulled up and parked behind us. Finding our awnings facing each other, I was a bit annoyed, as they were supposed to reverse in so that their awning faced the other way. Your awning space is your ‘living room’ after all. The next morning we discovered the driver was a single widow in her late 70s. She has been travelling the country since her husband died 9 years ago. Amazing! She, her dog, and her parrot, go from camp to camp.
The next day, a Sunday, I went to her to invite her to tea. She was battling to walk. She then told us that while setting up her awning she had stretched a bit too much and had pulled a muscle in her hip. She was experiencing bad pain. We were able to offer her a medi-rub ointment and walk her dog for her for the next 4 days. In the end it was a blessing that we were facing each other; we could check on her, take her trash to the bins, see when the dog needed to walk, and she could call out to us when she needed us. She orders groceries online for delivery to wherever she is parked, and we were able to meet the driver and direct him when he arrived. Campers look out for each other’s welfare. It was a blessing to have the opportunity to do so, and a lesson not to complain about proximity issues.
I remember a post I once shared on social media that there are no coincidences in this world, only divinely orchestrated opportunities. This proved to be true as we were able to share the reason for the hope that is within us. She could not answer our question on whether she believed in a supreme heavenly God. She stated her uncertainty that God actually existed. She was amazed that we wanted to pray for her and let us do so. After we left, she sent us a message saying that her hip had improved faster than the physio predicted. We can only hope that she turns her eyes on Him who is her healer, before she lays her head down for the final time.
What do you believe? Do you know that ...
September
The 1st of September saw us celebrate a year in Australia. We are immensely thankful to God. We have had a year of good health. We have experienced falls but without injury. We have always had food on the table and fuel in the tank. Only God knows the reason for the major car accident we had, but we walked away from it in one piece. Yes, we have PTSD on the roads, but God has kept us safe. We have met amazing people and have made friends wherever we have stayed. We have been given opportunities that few enjoy in their latter days. As we travel the road ahead with all its unknowns, may we always bring honour to the One Who keeps and guides us – Jesus Christ our Saviour.
The last weekend in Imbil we visited the town of Kenilworth, especially the famous Kenilworth Dairies and the Bakery for their respective delights.
In the small town of Kandanga we had a picnic lunch with our children and grandchildren. A happy day indeed.
On the day we were booked to move off from Imbil, AJ was due to teach from 2 PM. We had booked a spot for 5 days in the very next town, 10 minutes away. Arriving there around 11 AM, we found their signal to be non-existent too. We had no plan B, with AJ having to teach in 3 hours! A music festival in the area effectively ruled out any caravan park. They were all packed out. We quickly phoned up our friends who had offered for us to park on their property whenever we needed to (it’s where we are now, home sitting 4 Frenchies). We headed here and AJ was set up just in time to give class. 😅
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Because this home sitting was two weeks off, they kindly offered for us to camp on their property until they brought the dogs up from where they live on the coast (this is their weekend retreat). We were SO thankful, as that meant we no longer had to pack up and move every few days.
AJ got to do some work around the property, keeping himself busy with the rake, and more. I had a chance to catch up with work online, do our washing at Nadya’s (they have town water, whereas this property relies on scarce rainwater), and also helped her with some grandparenting duties, aka, child-minding, fetching, and transporting. 😄
While we’ve been in the area:
- AJ had a birthday that our kids got to share in.
- We arranged to have our van weighed again after some additions to our set up. It was touch and go. 😣 With a bit of adjustment regarding where to place certain loads and with less water on board, we met the legal weights. 😅😬 Luckily the toilet doesn't need water. 😄
- We also managed to attend ‘Grandparents’ Day’ at the grandchildren’s school. What a blessing!
- We visited Cooloola Berries farm nearby to go strawberry picking and enjoy an afternoon treat.
Homesitting duties
Soon it was time for the dogs to come up. We are now in the middle of this 2-week stint, thoroughly enjoying their quirky personalities. 😄 Of course, we move into the house with the dogs, so it allows us the chance to spring clean the van, catch up with online planning, and do things we often don’t get to while on the road.
I’m embarrassed to admit that a little while ago I was rather verbal about not housesitting anymore. Since then we have accepted bookings until mid-May next year. 😅 We love our times in the caravan. It truly is our happy place. We love the minimal lifestyle that it brings, even though every move (literally) must be carefully planned, or else. 😆🤭 The reality is that, in this current economic climate, homesitting helps us to survive. During these past months, not only our needs but also our wants have been met by pure providence from above. We are incredibly thankful to our Father. Some months have been dry, and some have seen many days of income.
I am still planning Sandy’s Essentials as a side hustle. Step by step will see me arrive at a point whereby I’ll be able to start selling a small range of products from the van. God willing.
We appreciate your prayers for AJ’s work. His contract is to be renewed and is overdue. A certain number of training days per month are a must to meet our needs. These past months we have walked a road of reliance on the Lord even more than we ever thought possible. It’s strangely calming … it truly is a peace that passes all human understanding. And even then, we only really get it right every other day or so. So prone to anxiety, we are. John 27 v 14 is a promise that we hold on to...
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. ... I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
This week we received good news … our permanent visas are approved and we have
been requested to pay the final instalment. Thereafter we wait for the issuing
of the official visa, which allows us to remain in Australia indefinitely. Four
years from that date, we will be able to apply for citizenship, if we so wish. Also,
for ten years from the date of issue, we need to be totally self-supporting.
Regardless of whether we become citizens or not.
Completely reliant on the Lord we will be, for guidance, wisdom,
work, health, safety, and more.
Next month we are housesitting in Hervey Bay again, for the
same couple we sat for last October. We are looking forward to their immaculate
yet functional home. There are no pets so we will be able to explore the area a
bit further.
Until then … thanks for stopping by.
Blessings 🌼
👍🏼
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