Monday, October 4, 2010

The next adventure.

A funny thing happened to us on the way to Bendigo the other day...we came across this fella taking himself for a walk down the highway.

We pulled over to take some pics (of course), to discuss whether or not he would be friendly and to try and remember any tiny bits of trivia we could about emus.

Emus are the second largest birds in the world but the largest native to Australia, they are flightless and although they can travel at speeds up to 50 km/hour we thought it was best to call the wildlife rescue as he was travelling down a highway where cars were driving at double that speed.

From there it was smooth sailing to Bendigo to pick up our new/old caravan. Yay!

Although it is true that living and working on an organic farm is a dream come true, after almost 10 years the dream is becoming a reality and we have new dreams of spending the off seasons traveling gypsy like around Australia.

The 1982 van does need a lot of love and attention but it is in pretty good condition, it has triple bunk beds and a fold away bed for us, it has no smell and is clean and we are really excited.

After we signed some forms,

we stuck on the sold sticker and off we drove.

Now its sitting up near the shed and we can't stop looking at it and discussing upholstery fabrics, exciting camping gadgets and why we can't just take off now.

Watch this space for many, many caravan centred creative spaces.

See ya. XX

57 comments:

  1. How exciting! I can't wait to see new curtains and cushions all made by you for the van :) Maybe your travels will bring you up this way one day? One can hope!

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  2. Jealous!!! I absoloutly ache for a cute vintage van to spruce up & take on mostly-beach-bound adventures, The Boy is less about the cute & vintage & more about the mod cons but we're both out of luck where the finances are concerned & quite a way from picking up our own piece of portable history... doesn't stop me perusing eBay mind you.

    Can't wait to see what you do with her! (...and emus freak me out a wee bit...)

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  3. I love those bunk beds! and that would be so fun thinking about upholstery fabrics and camping gadgets- I would probably get as much joy from doing it all up as I would travelling in it! happy travels to you :)

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  4. Lucy over at http://attic24.typepad.com has been writing about their new/old "Connie" van...and the redo of her...

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  5. Very very gorgeous caravan and how fab that it has triple bunk beds! What a wonderful way to travel. And I'm with Vic on the emu front. I have never seen the words friendly and emu in the same sentance before!

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  6. OOOOOH! The potential! I think you should start by doily-ing up a little caravan cover - you can't stop at the interior!

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  7. How wonderful! Both the emu and the camper! YOu will have such fun traveling about like gypsies! :-)

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  8. Brilliant! That is so exciting, I can't wait to see your makeover, yay! It's our dream to do a trip like that..one day...

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  9. Thats very exciting Kate - can't wait to see how you spruce her up ready for some great adventuring!

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  10. so exciting - can't wait to see the transformation!

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  11. Wow Kate. I will be living vicariously through you in this adventure. From the refurbishing to the actual travelling... I have such romantic (and I'm sure unrealistic) notions of family caravaning. You can be the pioneer...

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  12. ahhh, soo very awesome Kate!!
    my MIL keeps going on about buying one to travel around Australia & we hope that we can one day do the same.
    have fun decorating, such fun!!

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  13. oooh - I'm already imagining all the prettiness you'll be making for that caravan. Happy travels!

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  14. Ahhh! Love it!! That triple bunk is the best, my kids will be so jealous xo

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  15. Oh lucky ducks! Jealous here too.
    I have great memories of many caravan stays and I remember those triple bunks!

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  16. NO WAY!! Seriously I had a dream about you guys having a caravan!! I thought you must have seen one at your place and had forgotten! lol! Of course in the dream we were staying in the van at your house teehee ;) Hope the gypsy travels have you guys up here. You know June July is the best time to visit ;)

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  17. How Exciting Kate!! Love an old caravan and love the idea of you guys wandering you way around the country gypsy style. Perhaps you could wander over to South Melbourne in your travels....
    Can't wait to see it with the Kate and Bren, touch xo

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  18. How exciting for you all! I have been reading about Lucy's adventures too and how cute her van looked after she spruced it up. I can just imagine how fab yours will look when you have finished with it. Emus freak me out just a little bit after we took the kids to Ballarat Wildlife Park once and thought they were going to come up and attack us, lol!

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  19. Yay - see you soon (wink:)

    Looking forward to seeing what becomes of it and the fun travels you have in it.

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  20. i'm sure you will have it looking like home in no time. Is it a Franklin. I think my caravan spotting ability might be getting a little low these days. Cherrie

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  21. JEALOUS!!!! and super excited for you!! We moved to Tassie a year ago and I thought it would be the move I needed but I am a gypsy at heart and have such a strong desire to travel and visit other places. Cant wait to read about your adventures!

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  22. Congratulations! If your travels bring you through the Territory i expect you to call in! Happy Caravaning!

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  23. oh how much fun! I love the promise of "doing up" the van and the fun to be had in gypsy like adventures...

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  24. Ahhh, what a wonderful dream to be working towards! It sounds like great fun - both the preparation and dreaming as well as the actual travelling! I'm looking forward to hearing all about it :-)

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  25. Fab times to come now look forward to the make over and seeing the wonderful places you will visit
    Have loadsa fun
    Hugs Suz x

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  26. Looks fantastic - can't wait to see the start of the interior decorating!

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  27. I am so GREEN over the van purchase. We have been looking for AGES on the trading post for an oldie but a goodie!!! Oh...you are going to have so much fun in that there VAN!!!

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  28. How exciting! I regret selling our van years ago, but now I dream of a Kombi Camper...

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  29. three cheers to gypsy travelers in oz.hip hip..

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  30. so cool! i'd love to do this one day :)

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  31. It's a great van Kate! We have been having similar convos in our house -whether 2011 is the year to pull the kids out of school for a while and do a big trip and see some of this huge land we live in. It feels like if we don't take the opportunity while the kids are still relatively young and still happy to hang with us, we might miss the chance all together. I'd love a caravan to play with and do the gypsy thing! One day.

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  32. I have caravan envy!!!

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  33. Oh how exciting!!! It's like a cubby house for adults ;) ... and probably for the kids too :) I have caravan envy too! Have fun planning. Kx

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  34. What a great reward for all the hard work you guys put in on the farm. May you have many exciting adventures exploring our great country. aeonie x

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  35. Wonderful!...:)

    I always wanted to travel round Australia.....

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  36. How exciting. I can't wait to see what you do with it, not only decoration wise, but travelling too. I rather suspect there might be some 'negotiations' as to who sleeps where on the cute bunk beds.
    Jak x

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  37. Bellingen followed by Byron Bay?!!!

    Serious caravan envy going on here - you're about to live one of my dreams Kate! Absolutely love it. How exciting!

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  38. how wonderful for you Kate that is so exciting I am totally jealous of course, I have dreamt of owning a caravan since I was about 7 and we first stayed in one...maybe one day, yours is fabulous xx

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  39. http://www.baby-boudoir.com/search/label/caravan%20refurb

    Sorry I forgot the link. xx

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  40. I would love to do that with the boys but unfortunately Billy works ALL the time and won't let us go by ourselves...will have to look into train trips I think? How dangerous can they be??

    Have fun doing up the van, I can see lots of 'granny' crochet going on :-)

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  41. Congratulations - a great purchase with plenty of fun ahead! We have a camper trailer which we love, but times are too busy with renovations at the moment to get out and about. After you've deceided on curtain fabrics, have fun choosing destinations!

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  42. PS well done for ringing the wildlife carers, that little guy was an accident waiting to happen. Wonder how he managed to get himself into that predicament??

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  43. Oh that looks like fun! Many happy family memories just waiting to be made there. Can't wait to see what you do with the interior!

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  44. yay, you got one .... how much fun dressing it up...not to mention actually fluttering away in it :-)

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  45. Oh that is the acest of ace! We had a caravan very much like that (same colours, different layout inside)when I was a kid. Some of my happiest memories revolve around trips in the van!

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  46. Being Australian, I should know if emus have claws out of the inside of their legs, a bit like roosters (chickens) do .. do they? That caravan is going to provide a lot of adventures .... enjoy!

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  47. YAY!!! The time will fly by and you'll be in my part of the world in no time :)

    Are you sure the cassowary isn't larger than the emu?

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  48. So cool! Love that last photo, Kate. Classic.

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  49. Lucky you. Love the photo of your daughter peeking inside.

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  50. So excited for you that is awesome!!! Can't wait to see what you do with it!

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  51. I'm so jealous!! I'll just live my dreams through you I think! The caravan looks fantastic. Can't wait to see what you do to it.
    xx

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  52. How exciting, an emu and a caravan all in one day! I am on the edge of my seat with anticipation for all the creative spaces and adventure posts that are sure to come. Have you got a name for it yet? (The caravan, not the emu)

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  53. While I have no ambition to go caravanning, I am really excited for you and your family to do this. Can't wait to see how you decorate it. And does it (she/he) have a name yet?

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  54. congratulations. it looks brilliant. i cant wait to see the renovation in progress. if anyone can give that old girl a new lease on life it's you (when i say old girl i mean it in a very respectful and affectionate way)

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Thanks so much for stopping by...

I do read every single comment you leave and appreciate it very much, but I should let you know that I can be a wee bit on the useless side when replying to comments, that's just me, everyday life sometimes gets in the way....so I'll apologise now, just in case.

Kate XX

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