April surprises, updates, and rollercoasters

April surprises

We were in Mt Marshall for a week when our daughter arrived with the grandies! Instead of staying for two nights as planned, they ended up staying for 5, and that was fun!

We celebrated my birthday and Cassie’s birthday…

We chatted our chins off…

We had pizza, pancakes and hot cross buns without end…

We played ‘nail salon’ with yours truly giving everyone a foot massage …😂

Kiddies’ mum had a chance to catch up on some rest …

And the dog had many cuddles and lots of walks!

With three days of rain, we took a few days to adjust to an empty house. We were thrilled as the water tanks were filled to overflowing again. 😃  After the rain, we got stuck into completing some chores around the house and garden for a few days.

Because we’re attempting to save funds, we are not doing much sightseeing. But the panoramic scenery all around us is a feast for the eye and calming to the soul.

We also took some time to give the van some TLC.

Website changes

First, I’d like to explain some changes regarding this blog and our website. You received notices on social media that the blog has been separated from the website, only to then receive an auto-generated email to say a new blog is posted on the website … then you see it was a post from a month ago! Confusing, I agree. 😑🥴 And I apologise.

To clarify, I felt it safer to separate this faith-focused blog from the unDESERTED website as it (the website) is registered in Australia. Religious persecution is rising, and Australia is becoming a battleground for Christians. It takes one person to report ‘hate speech’ and you are facing a potential litigation nightmare. We pray that the tide turns soon, but we are not hopeful as the two main parties, the incumbent Labour (socialist, Marxist) Party in Queensland and its opposition, the LNP coalition (supposedly more conservative), are simply two sides of the same coin. The Labour Party also holds the national government. Unless the voters boot out the same old, same old, corrupt self-serving politicians and the woke socialists, I fear Queensland, indeed the whole nation is doomed to more of the same. The ACL runs an informative website and campaigns against the draconian laws that are being put forward nationally and in individual states. I hope you find the time to click on the link and read about what is happening here; it is no different to what is taking place in the US and the UK.

But I digress … back to the website …I have brought our info up to date to reflect our current situation. However, when I removed the blog, I made a ‘Where are we now?’ page instead but found that it was harder to let everyone know when it updated. So, I created a blog page again, but this time it will be purely a travel blog. As soon as I published the Mt Marshall entry, the website remembered the previous blog settings and let everyone know that I had published a new post. 😆 

I need to knuckle down and post more regularly, as I hope to place ads and eventually monetise. I am also hoping to soon complete an online store with a few digital items (mainly with a camping/travelling focus) for sale. I’m afraid my head is still off in 100 directions daily … trying to generate a passive, diverse, income. Perhaps I've bitten off more than I can chew, time will tell.

YouTube Channels

On the website are links provided to unDeserted on Youtube, where I hope to post more travel and van-life videos, as well as the Home Cook in a Van channel, where I aim to post a few easy recipes. If you like what you see (I know they're rookie videos 😆) please like, subscribe and share if you want to, to give these channels a bit of a boost. 

LibSandy Proofreading

If you explore the website, you will see a page for LibSandy. 

Some may know that I had this planned in 2019 before Covid hit. Because of Covid, I was unable to get going and the whole idea had to be shelved in subsequent years. I have now resurrected the idea to offer proofreading services and have been doing some refresher training to that end. My focus will be on websites, business docs, social media campaigns, etc. The tricky part is marketing it … while it may seem that we must have HEAPS of time on our hands, I still find the days too short to accomplish plans. My to-do list keeps growing. I would appreciate a mention here and there if you know of anyone looking for proofreading. And, no, AI (artificial intelligence) doesn’t cut it! AI is just not there yet, unable to understand nuances, style and overall tone of voice in writing. Not to mention proper grammar, picking up typos, knowing style guides and dealing with subjective errors. I rest my case, for now … 😄

So, to summarise, our website is found, as always, on https://www.undeserted.com with its own ‘Where are we now? ’travel blog page. For these entries, subscribers to our site will receive a notification email from the website when there is a new post, and new posts will be advertised on Instagram.  

On the other hand, this (Christian) blog with updates for friends and family is found at https://undeserted.blogspot.com (hosted by Google). For these, I will post 'new blog post' notices on WhatsApp and Telegram. 

Warwick

We make a trip every 14 days to Warwick for groceries. On one occasion we took the day to view the city. It is known as the rose and rodeo capital. We walked the route to many beautiful heritage-listed sandstone buildings, which are dotted about the city. 

Warwick Post Office bldg.

We viewed parks and gardens, one of which has an iron sculpture as a tribute to the many roles of horses in society. 

The well-manicured Leslie Park had hosted the ANZAC day celebrations the day before, so we visited the war memorial to view the many wreaths laid in memory of the fallen, before enjoying a KFC lunch in the park. It was a lovely day.

Glengallen Homestead

We visited nearby Glengallen Homestead and Heritage Centre, located on the northern slope of Mt Marshall. 

Side view and kitchen entrance

Fascinating to see a project underway to restore the sandstone homestead to its former glory. Thought to be only half of the dwelling as originally planned but never finished, it was constructed in 1867, and has a colourful yet sad history. It stood empty, neglected, and left for ruin well into the early 2000s.

These protruding blocks are thought to be where an
exact copy of the existing wing would have been attached.

Its heyday was during the late 1800s and early 1900s, as successive owners invested in sheep farming, particularly merino sheep. I must admit, that walking around the property brought back memories of the beautiful mansions we visited on ostrich farms in the Oudtshoorn district, South Africa, where the booming years of ostrich farming allowed owners to live lavish lives in the late 1800s, before crashing to a sad, inglorious end by the time WW1 had ended.

Drawing room, Glengallen Homestead

Various factors contributed to Glengallen’s neglect by owners and caretakers, with the property being sold in 1993 at a fraction of its value to the Glengallen Historical Trust. The latter made a case to the Queensland government for its heritage status and won. One of the interesting facts raised was that it is one of only two sandstone homestead mansions built over two storeys. With grants from the Centenary Federation Fund, restoration commenced in 2002. Restoring the balconies and verandahs alone cost over $1 million. 

Kerry Raymond, CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

On our travel blog, I hope to cover the story of Glengallen a little more fully.

With 2 weeks to go before heading to Gympie, we know we will miss these views and the glorious walks in the countryside. As winter approaches it has become quite cold already. God willing, we are aiming to take a week-long camping trip back to Gympie, stopping at a few new places we haven’t visited before.

Roller coasters are fun … right?

Why do people pay to go on a roller coaster? This I read in a discussion a few weeks ago. You take the roller coaster, they said, because it gives a rush of adrenalin and thrills per second, delivers scary twists and turns, fills your gut alternately with butterflies, fear, and tremors, and ends in a rush of victory! Safe at the base station and still in one piece. It provides belly laughs to all the spectators, who provide the photos to prove the contortions in your face, eyes bulging, hands gripping wherever they can, and hair waving wildly. If only photos could capture the screams …but we have videos to thank for that. All in all, roller coasters are fun.

Photo by Mitchell Luo on Unsplash

But when the roller coaster of life’s tumultuous circumstances takes you on a ride, you are not enamoured! You wish it away. With raw fear, silent screams, and real tremors in your belly, you wake up many a day wishing it was just a dream. That elusive base station is always one more bend and two more mountainous climbs away. One day you’re strong and face the wind. On another you’re down in the dip, approaching an imaginative hair-raising bend with a steep cliff at the edge of a very narrow road. Most days you know that you know that you know you are going to struggle to get through with no fuel in the physical, let alone the emotional, tank. 

And then God steps in! For the hundredth time you are reminded that you’re not alone. That He has a plan. That He is working behind the scenes on your behalf. You hear Him say that He will direct your paths. You find sudden peace amidst the storm; energy to put the next foot forward. The sun rises each morning, and the birdsong is new again. Our Lord’s brother James, in James 1 vv 2-4 encourages us with,

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.“

Oh my! Isn't that another form of thankfulness? Here is a quote from something I read last week: 

“… life is still an incredible journey. It is a gift from God, a never-to-be-repeated experience wherein we get to walk by faith and not by sight. And the key to thriving in a world that can be topsy-turvy is thankfulness.”

And this too,

“The thrill ride of life enriches us in a variety of ways. It challenges and convicts us. It develops character and intimacy through pain and perseverance. It shows us glimpses of glory beyond what we could have imagined. It takes us beyond ourselves while making us deeply aware of ourselves. All of it is an opportunity and a cause for thankfulness.” (From, The Transformational Power of Gratitude, by Yellow Balloons and Grace School of Theology.)

Hope

And then there’s hope!  Endless hope, because our Saviour, Jesus, is for us and has promised to not leave us or forsake us.

We are still very much in the ‘waiting room’ as it were. We have faced trying moments as God continues to work in us, on our fears and insecurities, teaching us to cope with disappointment as a few of our plans have fallen flat. Living remotely has helped us to think in isolation, and the Lord God has taken this time and place to put us through the refining fire.

In a devotional I read last week by Reinhard Bonnke, he was discussing having the ‘eyes of faith’ when things seemed impossible. He said, 

“We have got to get a new set of eyes first. We’ve got to have the eyes of our hearts opened, and to do this requires that we abandon our fears to our King and trust Him absolutely.” (From, “Watch With Me Series 2, on YouVersion.)

“Lord, I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” Mark 9 v 24

May His name be glorified at the end of this road.🧡

Well, that’s us for now. Thanks for stopping by. We appreciate each of you, your prayers, your messages and your encouraging wishes. 

Blessings, Sandy (& AJ). 🌼