Day 2 Mt Gambier

Well we are happy to report that night 1 in the van went better than expected, Annie has NEVER slept in the same room as us (apart from in the hospital) so we really did not know what to expect with us all sleeping within the same 4 walls. With my snoring & Ness doing ladypops (a nice name for farting)I think not… we were worried that we would keep her awake & she might even keep us awake. But it all went smoothly, she went down at 730 SA time which is her normal time & went through to 230am for a quick feed then back to sleep till 6, awesome!!!

Blue Lakes Caravan Park is great, for those of you who ever get down this way. Luxury cabins right down to tent sites. We caught up with my brother Craig & his wife Helen today, they live in Mt Gambier, Craig is cooking dinner tonight! Last I knew Craig couldn’t cook to save himself!!! Hope he has improved. Annie had fun on Craig & Helen’s floor and loved Sasha the Beagle who is a 9 year old puppy. Campbell, Evelyn & Joe were there too (Annie’s cousins) she was a little confused by Campbell who looks a lot like Dan (her brother).

We decided to go for a look around Mt Gambier, Craig & Helen suggested we go to Port MacDonnell which is only 24km from Mt Gambier, wow you guys need to see this place, it is right on the coast with beautiful limestone cliffs jutting out for as far as you can see. It is also the Crayfish capitol of SA, pity we are here when it is not Cray season! Get onto a real estate website & search for properties in Port MacDonnell, there are properties with awesome sea views for $300K…..Anyone want to go halves in a holiday home? Great fishing, boating & coastal life only 6.5hrs from Melbourne! Although there is a funny picture of a wheelchair park at the foot of a set of stairs up to a lookout, check it out in the photos section.

Most of you know I work in safety, we were on the way back to Mt Gambier travelling at 95km/h behind a milk truck, there were three cars behind me and I happened to look in my mirror & see the last car pull out and proceed to overtake the other two cars and me AND THEN SLAM HIS BRAKES ON TO PULL IN BETWEEN ME & THE TRUCK!

But wait…..there’s more, he then tailgated the truck for a minute or so & then pulled out over double yellow lines on a bend and overtook the truck!

But wait…..there’s more, no sooner had he passed the truck and we saw in the distance the welcoming site of blue & red flashing lights coming towards us….. Yep, he was busted big time!!!         As he pulled over to the side of the road it was quite satisfying to give him a toot (The idiot, not the cops)….. I’m not being a wowser here, I’ve occasionally crept over the speed limit, but this guy was being stupid & dangerous.

Footnote to above story: Ness had the camera in her hand during all of this, its funny how when you are caught up in one thing you can switch off to another….would have made great photos!!!

Note to Dan, hang in there mate, his footy team the under 17’s got beat today, 111-7 no that is not a typo. They have only won one game this season so it’s getting tough for the boys to see the positives Dan said he played as hard as he could, well done mate that’s all I ever ask of you.

Fruit & Nut Saga update

Still in the car! I guess she didn’t need a snack today?

Annie’s Blog (the first part really was typed by Annie!)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Zadfstfvgdhsy645h5g3r43r43r342111111111342111111111fffeyewvb                                                        cvxs, vwb uuhnfffgcxaXEWTHEGK8RF  8G8

Today I woke up in the box on wheels, my whole life I have only ever slept in my bedroom, or at Nans so it was funny waking in a different place, I’ll get used to it, I have my favourite toys & blankets so it feels like home.

Mum & Dad said today we were going to visit Uncle Craig & Aunty Helen and my cousins Joe, Evelyn & Campbell. I was happy to see them, but even happier when I met their dog Sasha….She is funny & stole some jelly beans from under my Dad’s wheelchair, Aunty Helen says she can smell food from miles away….. Dad what is a mile?

After our visit to Uncle Craig & Aunty Helen Mum said we should go for a drive, I thought she said go to MacDonalds…… but I’m too little for junk food, it was Port MacDonnell….. I guess my ears are still forming huh?

We drove out to this place and all of a sudden the road stopped and there was the biggest bath in the world, everything just turned to water and it was blue & white and came towards us in big walls, Dad told me they were waves! I reckon you could have a bath in this water with all your friends and still have room for more, this is the first time I have seen the beach this close.

We drove through this town and along the edge of this bath (or beach) for ages, Mum and Dad kept stopping and saying “Oooh isn’t that beautiful” Dad stopped at this lookout and there was a wheelchair car park there but then it had steps to get to the lookout! I’m only 8 months old and I know that wheelchair folks can’t climb steps, what sort of dummy designed this?

Then we drove around the town and looked at some houses that were for sale, Dad said they were cheap but Mum said they were a long way away, I like it when my Mum & Dad discuss things, they both listen to each other’s views, then Dad just does what Mum says! It works.

Dad pulled into this carpark near the beach and all of a sudden a zillion magic flying fairies came over to our car, they were beautiful & magic and could just float in the air, but one of them must be a nasty fairy because it did a poo on the man’s car next to us! Dad and Mum called them Seagulls but to me they are magic flying fairies!

We were driving back to Mount Gambier following this big truck when my Dad said “What the Truck!”…..or something similar (My ears again!) and this man overtook us in his car but then pulled in, in front of us. Dad called him a dick head, I’ll ask him what it means when I can talk.

The man then passed the truck and Mum said it was double lines (I’m sure I’ll understand one day… I got lots to learn)

But then Mum & Dad started laughing because coming the other way was this car with Blue & Red flashing lights, it made the silly man stop and Mum and Dad said he will get a ticket? Another question that will have to wait till I can talk!

So today was a fun day, I saw some family, went to MacDonalds, saw the world’s biggest bath & watched a dick head get a ticket (not sure about the last one….. can’t wait till I’m a big girl)

Love from AnnieInAVan

Day 1 – Home to Mount Gambier

Well after what seems like endless days, weeks & months of preparing & packing, today was the day we drove out the driveway for the start of our 3 month adventure.

Do any of you realise what is involved in preparing for a trip like this, you would think it is a simple matter of hooking up the van & driving off into the sunset (or rainclouds as it was for us)

Nooooooo! There is much more to it than that. First we had to arrange enough work to support the trip, this started 12 months ago with us sending out an email to clients in the area we will be visiting. Then it was follow up, logistics, & all the other stuff to make it fit. You try getting 20 or 30 clients to fit into what you want to do!

Then preparation for the van & Discovery, Van service $1500, car service $1400 new tyres $1750 new seat for Annie $450….. I’ll be working half the trip just to cover costs!!!

Then you have Annie & Ness preparation….. for those of you who have had kids do you remember what it was like just to be able to go somewhere on a whim? But when kids come along you have to take a truckload of “Things” we almost need a trailer behind the caravan just for Annie’s things! I was just getting used to Brad & Dan being independent & now I am back at square one.

Ness has learnt from our last trip though, she took 10 pairs of shoes with her when we did our last trip, this time she only has 7, and that is only because she can’t fit more because of Annie’s stuff!

I have to give her credit though, Ness has arranged most of this trip while I have been working all over the country, in her usual extremely efficient way…. (See honey I didn’t say painful!) she managed to pull it all together & have us driving out the driveway only one hour behind schedule. Well done darling, all those days where I only had two tasks & got one of them done…….and you had 10 tasks & got 15 done have paid off.

The trip today was interesting, with the van in tow we decided to go the freeway journey to Geelong, this meant Annie’s first trip on the Monash Freeway. For those of you who don’t know the Monash it is one of the main arterials leading into town. And it is CRAP! We got just a short way onto it & started crawling!....Off to a good start.

Crossed the Westgate & down to Geelong, now here is a city that has changed, I have not been to Geelong for over 5 years & I reckon it has doubled in size! Farmland 5 years ago is now housing estates!

Driving through the Western districts in Victoria we were amazed by the beautiful stone fences, these things go for miles & are dead straight! The work that has gone into these fences is amazing and I’m assuming that some of them are quite old?

Another thing that caught my interest was Hedges, man I’ve never seen so many Hedges in my life, some of them are 20 feet high & extremely well trimmed, makes our hedge at home look puny by comparison!!!.... (And much easier to trim DG)

There are some really pretty towns down this way, Camperdown in particular is really pretty & clean.

The Fruit & Nut Saga

I have to share something with you though, at Christmas time we were given a hamper with an assortment of goods in it, one of the things was a small plastic tub of dried fruit & nuts. In January sometime Ness put the Fruit & Nuts into her car, where they have been for the last 5 months still unopened. I asked her many times why they were still there & she explained they were there in case she needed a snack if she was out & about.

Imagine my surprise when pulling out of the driveway I looked over & saw on the seat this exact same tub of nuts!!! What The…. I guess she now has 3 months to see if she feels like a snack!

We arrived at Mt Gambier in the evening & set up the van, for those of you who don’t know about Bart stay tuned & I’ll fill you in on a later blog (The van is named Bart because it is a Trakmaster Simpson…..So therefore Bart)

Annie’s first day in the car was a dream, stopped twice for food & Nappies & then just enjoyed the ride…..Hope this is the sign of things to come.

Annie’s Blog (Written for me by my dad…..Coz I can’t type yet)

I don’t know what all the fuss is about, Mum has been running back & forward to this big white thing with wheels on it for the last few weeks, and yesterday dad parked it behind the flash car (I call it flash because it is better than his old ute!)

And then today we got into the car and took off and the big white thing followed us! Dad tried to lose it but it just would not go away!

Dad asked mum which way to go, mum said to take a road called the Monash, but I could tell that dad wanted to go his favourite way. When we got to the Monash it was like a big car park and all the cars were going slow, Dad looked at Mum & didn’t say anything but I could tell what he was thinking!

We went through a place called Geelong, then Colac & Camperdown, Dad & Mum were amazed at the fences that were made from stone, I just thought it looked like hard work….Imagine your hands after building a fence like that!.....Not for me.

Mum & Dad were talking about sheep & cattle, we saw lots of sheep & cows, there was even a farmer moving his sheep on the road, it was so cool and they are soooo cute, but then Mum asked Dad what happens to cows when they stop giving milk, Dad didn’t know so mum used her phone & they then said that after a cow stops milking it is taken to market! That’s so cool of the farmer to take his cows to the market as a reward for giving all the milk, I hope the farmer buys the cows something special…… Or am I missing something here?.....Mum?? Dad??

We stopped at a place called Mount Gambier, Dad got out of the car and hooked up some pipes and hoses to the white box while mum took me inside & guess what? It has beds and everything in it! Even a TV. Mum said we will stay in this box for the next 3 months while we all travel together, how sick is that? So stay tuned and I’ll tell you all what my Mum & Dad really get up to on our adventure,

Love from AnnieInAVan

Here we go again....

Hello Family, Friends and Assocaites,

Many of you will know that each year Vanessa and I take off on our annual road trip.

Last year we were a litte busy with impending birth of Annie Lea Wood but this year we are heading off for 3 months with 8 month old Annie in tow. (And no i dont mean we will be towing her behind the car).

On our last trip we shared our adventures with many of you and you provided us with many hours of companionship when we were a long way from home. So we will be doing it all over again.

For those of you who weren't on the journey with us last time, you can catch up on some of our adventures here.

You have two options...

Option One

If you receiving this email at the address you would like to receive out blog updates you dont' have to do anything.

If you would like to receive it at a different email address please forward the new emial address to woodfamily@cnbsafe.com.au

Option Two

Let us know that you do not wish to receive daily reminders of the blog...this means you will have to access the blog here.

We look forward to sharing our adventures with you all and hearing your messages.

James, Vanessa & Annie

AnnieInAVan Tour....starting soon