Friday, February 24, 2012

Home


It could have been a 90 minute flight from A to B but instead we chose the long route - three months and over 15,000km with the KIA Grand Carnival towing our little Matilda Van. It was the most amazing thing we have done as a family and we have made so many memories. Memories that are like jewels around our necks, becoming more and more precious as the years roll on.

The only way to get over something so fantastic is to know that you may do it again someday. And as I look at our map and the wonky loop we took around the country, all that I can see is a big fat discrepancy over Queensland that screams "The Big Adventure Part 2"!!

But for now we will regain some sense of normality at the place we have been missing for two years - our little Farmlet in Tasmania.

While we are still in unpack mode on the inside, I thought I'd take you on a little tour of the outside.

This is the front gate.


We travelled over 15,000km to get here, accidentally driving on 4WD tracks in The Flinders Ranges and through a cyclone and floodwaters in Western Australia. The KIA Grand Carnival did us proud. It couldn't get Matilda up our driveway :-) Ironic, no?

So here she sits just inside the front gate until we get a 4WD to bring her up.


Here is the house. Two years of neglect has meant the gardens have turned to weeds. Except the Agapanthas - they are thriving amidst the neglect!!


The once thriving veggie patch is now non-existent. The one exception here is the Artichoke which we planted 2 years ago and has now sprung up amongst the weeds. Isn't is pretty!?


The cubby house is still here.


And here we are at the top of our hill - my favourite place of all. Does the view look familiar?


When I started my blog six months ago I just thought I'd use a photo of our place in Tasmania as a header so I could get a little excitement burst every time I logged on. 

Below is the original photo I took almost 3 years ago. It must have been Winter time as the valley is so green. Look how young Miss Fancy and Blue Eyes are! I cropped the kids out of the photo as I wasn't going to have photos of the kids on the Blog. That clearly went out the window!

I also wanted to call my Blog, The View From My Porch. But a quick search revealed the name had already been taken, by a fellow Tasmanian Blogger funnily enough. So I settled on Coal Valley View as we have a gorgeous view over Coal Valley and the Coal River.


Here is a photo taken today of the little boys in the same spot. The only difference is the chair is broken and the grass is long and brown. Same gorgeous view. I will never get sick of looking at the view. It is always different, changing colours daily with the weather and the seasons.













And finally, here I am on the porch tapping away this evening. Can you spot the little Kangaroo there? The kids are watching a movie and eating popcorn. We're having a drink and will enjoy a movie when the kids are in bed. Just a regular Friday night here. 

What are you all up to?


27 comments :

  1. Beautiful pictures, you live in a great place. Thanks for the map it helped me visualize where you drove and visited on your great adventure. Wish I could do that one day. I eat artichokes all the time and never saw them grow they are beautiful. I am confused the place where you live now is a place where you used to live years ago? And was it empty for that long?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Lisa, yes this is our home when we lived in Tasmania before we spent the last 2 years in Sydney. We rented it out while we were away but it was poorly looked after. It is a lot of land to look after but we'll get it back looking lovely again....

      Delete
  2. Beautiful view. What a wonderful adventure, and one (of a few caravan blogs) that's inspired me to do something similar with my wee ones this summer.

    ReplyDelete
  3. How wonderful it must have felt to drive through the gate back to your home. Looks delightful!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, I'm looking forward to seeing your new place too!

      Delete
  4. Replies
    1. Thanks Annie - to think we had this place on the market to sell. For once I am grateful for the sluggish property market that started 2 years ago!

      Delete
  5. The photos in this blog post just proves that you live in a gorgeous environment! I dream to have a view as beautiful as that one day......

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a trip!
    What a view!
    Welcome home.
    :-) xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Shar, and thanks so much for keeping me company these last few months :-)

      Delete
  7. Hello Gorgeous! Can't wait to see that view for myself. J x

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hello
    I have really enjoyed reading about your journey around Australia. I now look forward to hearing your Tassie tales.
    Therefore, I hope you don't mind, but I have nominated you the Leibster Award.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh my goodness, what's this then? Thank you so much! I'm just a little bit chuffed about this :-)

      Delete
  9. Ah, I just love everything about this post Mel... and your adventure... and your blog. I am so fascinated by your stories. I have an aunty in St Mary's (East Coast), an aunty and uncle in Deloraine, cousins in Launceston and a long running connection with Tassie as a result. It is such a beautiful part of the world.
    That map with your traced route is fantastic. You MUST see Qld, it is an absolute gem. And I do find it rather ironic that your caravan couldn't make it up the driveway, who would have thought!? xo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow, that's quite a connection to the Apple Isle, maybe we'll see you guys down here one day?? I spent all day everyday looking at this map and I can't believe I didn't put a photo of it on my blog sooner. Yes, the situation with the caravan is quite funny isn't it - we had a friend come over on the weekend with their 4WD to tow it up - there is just a little steep part of the driveway towards the top that if you were to go up it with a caravan and got stuck then you would be really stuck!!

      Delete
  10. How funny that the Kia could not make it up the hill with the caravan. Maybe she was just tired after her big trip....
    Being home must be like a whole new adventure for you all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sure is Fiona, it's all new and exciting again (other than the unpacking bit!) so it really does take the sting out of the post-holiday blues :-)

      Delete
  11. It must feel so good to be home Mel and know that you're settled for a bit.
    Lovely photos of your gorgeous home.

    ReplyDelete
  12. It's a wonderful view, can't wait to see the rest of your home! It must be nice to settle in again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's quite the shambles on the inside - I keep moving things around and still in unpack mode but i'll get there. There will be plenty of before and afters that's for sure "-)

      Delete
  13. I've just discovered your blog and realised that your trip around Australia was nearly identical to one that my husband and I took a few years ago, except in reverse, and we started and finished in Melbourne. Can't wait to read some of your older posts as I'm sure we both visited some of the same amazing places. Snorkelling at Shark Bay was one of my favourite experiences, what about you? Enjoy settling back into your home. I look forward to reading some of your future blogs about the development of the farmlet as well - your chooks are gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  14. . . . and so i have just spent the entire evening reading your blog! Love it when a new (to me) blog captivates me like that. It looks like your travels took you right near our place (Denmark/ Albany in WA). We did a bit lap around the edge pre children, taking 14 months. Dream of doing it again some day. We missed Tassie last time and it's one of my greatest regrets.

    rachel xo

    ReplyDelete