The sound was grating – like the scratching of nails on a blackboard. It was the hissing of air being let out of tyres of the armada of 4WD’s packed around us. Then there was the intermittent melody of the girls whining, “M-uuuuuu-mmmm. Alice’s newly found mobility climbing all over me was not helping my […]
RECENT WANDERINGS
Home Sweet Van
“In order to write about life first you must live it.” Ernst Hemmingway The words jumped out at me as I turned the first page of my new book. Perhaps the timing was serendipitous given it was the first day back in the van at the beginning of our summer adventure. It had taken us […]
A Proportional Reaction
Kim: ‘I think that reaction sounds proportional to the situation,’ the GP assured me. ‘You mean to tell me that you actually don’t think I need to be admitted to the psych ward despite me just telling you that I am slowly losing my mind and feel completely overwhelmed?’ I asked. It was week […]
Dear Alice
Dave: Dear Alice Grace, My darling daughter, as this special trip has drawn to an end, here are some thoughts to share with you about this incredible experience that you have been on with us as a baby. You will, it seems, grow up in strange times. Proof of that might be that a letter […]
Celebration and Grief… Returning Home
Kim: ‘What do you mean, there’s no electricity?’ I asked. I was desperate for a hot shower. The girls and I had just arrived home after our flight from Broome. Even in the most remote areas on our trip our faithful generator had provided enough energy for me to take a hot shower each day. […]
Happiness Like This
Kim: “I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity.” Oliver Wendell Holmes “This is what I imagined the whole trip to be like,” Dave commented. It was 3pm. We were all crunching on salt and […]
What do you want?
Kim: We have begun the final stretch of our trip. In less than two weeks, the girls and I will be preparing to board our flight back to Sydney and Dave, the six or seven day drive home. To say that the trip has gone too quickly is an understatement. Dave and I have caught […]
The couple who fishes together, stays together? [Part 2]
Dave: I clearly remember watching a documentary during my final year of high school on the battle to stop the Franklin and Gordon Rivers in South-West Tasmania from being destroyed by proposed hydroelectricity dams. One of the masterstrokes of those who pushed for the protection of this World-Heritage listed wilderness was to take a bunch […]
The couple who fishes together, stays together? [Part 1]
Kim: For the past sixteen and a half years, the ‘issue’ of fishing has, at times, been the single greatest point of tension in our relationship. It wasn’t the sport itself that had caused so many arguments. Rather, it was the sheer amount of time that the man who I loved most spent completely consumed and […]
Peedamulla Campground
Kim: I stood in awe of the sunset over the beautiful red earth of the Banyjima people. I pinched myself. Perhaps, like the beautiful stories told by the traditional owners of the land at Peedamulla campground, I was, in fact, dreaming. It was thanks to a recommendation from friends that we had found Peedamulla campground […]
