funghi and fronds

Notley Fern Gorge is as its name suggests full of ferns, of every imaginable size and variety. A leaf strewn path winds its way down into shade and dampness, decay all around. The temperature drops as you descend and everywhere is a shade of green and brown. The sun penetrates the canopy every now and then, bright light flickering across moss and bark and fronds that hang like curtains.
Oh and it is a bit slippery and there are leeches!

lines

The winter sun spills into our apartment most of the afternoon filling it with warmth and light. Late afternoon the shadows are long and our living area is filled with lines; shadow and light, yellow and black...

drive

A Sunday morning drive to Greens Beach and Badger Beach. A 'sea' fix for Colin, but no shorts and thongs here. The sky might be blue but the temperature is half what it was last week when we were in Caloundra and that doesn't take into account the wind chill factor...

walking

Saturday and back at home. Walking shoes on and a mid morning start before the forecast afternoon showers. We walked the familiar path to the Gorge and then continued onto to Duck Reach, two and half hours or so later returning home hungry and with tired legs...

the start of the suspension bridge at Duck Reach

why does the water look so green

almost over

the view from the bridge

Duck Reach Power Station

heading home

a splash of autumn colour along the way

last days

Our last days in Caloundra were marked with blue and grey.
Such a strange feeling to have visited this place and to be leaving again. It was a reminder of what we have left behind, the end of a wonderful and beautiful two years of living by the sea. And at the same time our leaving coincides with our selling the van, the end of another wonderful and magical chapter of our lives. We are filled with feelings of endings and loss and along with it are conscious of creating a 'space' for new beginnings and the next chapters...

end of an era

It is time, time to sell our caravan. 

We have toyed with the idea for a while. The van is getting on in years, we don’t use it as much these days, it costs to have it in storage and lastly and perhaps most importantly it feels like the right time. Gone are the days of long summer holidays and gone are the days when the caravan overflowed with all six of us. We have so many wonderful memories and this van symbolizes so much; that is what has made the decision a difficult and protracted one.

But it is done. On Monday the van will be left at a sales yard when we return home. And so the week has been spent sorting and cleaning and distributing quite a few years of ‘stuff’. It’s kind of sad but feels kind of right; there are lots of ‘last times’ at the moment and so many memories associated with each nook and cranny of this little house on wheels.

Part of a text from Heidi, “…lots of good memories of 500, Dad’s breakfasts, squeezing around the table for dinner, reading on your bed…”

We have had such fun and adventures in this van, so much joy and laughter and the occasional catastrophe. We are so glad that we documented these times, our yurting blog (link here) is a record, a visual memory of something so very precious…

the maiden voyage Inverloch 2009

Byron Bay 2009
we have returned at the same time every year since

cleaning up 2015

almost empty

subtle

A touch of pink and purple as the sun goes down...

slow

More sun, less rain and very humid. Taking it slow, not doing very much and re-acquainting ourselves with familiar and favourite places. Johanna occasionally drops in to shower, repack her bag and eat something healthy before disappearing again...

a different grey

A different State and a different kind of grey. We arrived back in Caloundra last night, instead of the sunny blue we remember so well it is rainy grey, which we also remember quite well. Last year when we lived here we were feeling sorry for all the Easter campers when the weather was so wet, this year we are among them walking through puddles at the local caravan park.

When we drove in last night it felt like we were coming home, everything so familiar, like we had just been away on a long holiday. Except of course we didn't drive 'home', we drove our van to the caravan park around the corner from our old home. And so here we are for two weeks to pretend like we haven't left. We are kind of on holiday but kind of not. It is strange to holiday in the place where you have lived.

Within an hour of arriving Johanna surprised her friends two days earlier than they were expecting her. I think most of Caloundra heard the happy reunion, especially the crowd at the local Domino's where there was a lot of screeching, squealing, hugging and kissing. Colin and I pretended we didn't know them for a few minutes, their joy and happiness bringing a tear to our eyes. we have hardly seen her since.

Despite the rain forecast for the coming days we are enjoying being back in a place that we love so much. Surely some time over the coming two weeks we will experience the colour of blue and feel the warm rays of the sun shining down on this beautiful place.