The one thing that all of our adventures seem to have in common is that, in the midst of them, decisions have had to be made.  Some have been less consequential than others but all of them have resulted in an outcome that had an alternative been chosen we certainly wouldn’t be who or where we were today.

Since I last wrote, we made the big decision to relocate our tribe 550km north of Sydney at the end of 2019.  Had we known of a looming global pandemic, a season of home schooling, and the challenges of a new business into our decision-making process who knows whether we would have been brave enough to actually do it.

Upon our arrival we simultaneously reflected on the passing of our old life and celebrated the joy of our new one. So much of what we had experienced joyfully wandering in WA acted as a catalyst for us to grow as people during a time when the whole world seemed to be turning upside down.

Changing schools, resettling and the new normal through lockdown were not without their fair share of first-world challenges.  After a few months of waning between the overindulgent psycho-analytic mother to the hard-core “drink some concrete” one, Dave and I caved and bought an eight-week-old golden retriever puppy, who has now become everyone’s therapy dog… and so much more.

What our new postcode lacked in fine dining options and pretention, it more than made up for community and adventure.  No longer constrained by the Sydney traffic, we have relished weekend sorties ranging from exploring world heritage rainforests, to having humpback whales breach repeatedly all around our boat, reuniting with SUP and surfboard, and spending hours knee-deep in saltwater pumping yabbies (well, it’s Dave and the girls for that last one).

Although no postcode change erases the chaos of three young children and their associated activities and shenanigans, for us, this sea change has offered the opportunity to be more intentional with our time and continue to joyfully wander.