Monday, October 11, 2010

A new chapter

We made it...

3,500 kilometres,
One week of driving,
Three horrible motel rooms,
Three surprisingly lovely motel rooms,
More fast food meals than any person should really consume, 
Two mostly happy, occasionally cranky, toddlers
Countless memories,
And a fantastic new chapter in our life.

Moving house is never really fun, but moving to a new house 3,500 kilometres away is both stressful and exciting...


Being without internet or mobile phone for days on end was surprisingly refreshing.  

I did enjoy being out of touch with the world...just for a little while.


~*~


Our trek across the country was an adventure...



We saw plenty of red, red dirt...



Seas of buttercup-yellow canola flowers...



And blue sky that seemed to stretch on forever...




We saw where the outback meets the sea...




We crossed the seemingly endless, treeless plains called the Nullabor...




We saw how fertile the outback can be...



We saw funny signs...


And yes, there really are stray camels in the outback...we saw a whole herd of them *eep*

We drove in a straight line for 146kms...really...



We had a few 'Are we there yet?'s...




But we also had lots and lots and lots of fun...



Isn't life good when you can have an adventure like this!


~*~


So the newest chapter in our book of life starts in Melbourne now.


And I'm itching to create!


21 comments:

  1. Congrats! We're looking forward to the new creations that the new inspiration will bring!

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  2. Welcome back! It looks like a great trip - some of the scenery looks beautiful. Poor India looks exhausted and not very impressed bless her!

    I remember when we moved from NSW to Queensland. We packed the entire contents of our house in a truck and off it went. My husband and his dad made the trip with a very sedated pussy cat in tow. I made the trip 2 weeks later by train (14 hours!) after having cleaned the rental house!

    Anyway it's great to see you back online and I know it won't be long before we are seeing some gorgeous beaded pieces from you again.

    Karyn

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  3. Hi lovely Belinda .. so glad you are there and gathered some great memories and moments and junk food (what would we do without them!!!) along the way. And thanks for sharing. I really enjoyed that. Was a much shorter trip for me (reading about it) .. but that is why living vicariously is always fun!
    Welcome to a new chapter in your lives ... yay!!!

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  4. Wow Belinda, what a trip. I hope you enjoy your new home. Your children are beautiful, one looks so tired, and the other extremely happy. :) Thanks for sharing.

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  5. Thanks Marcie! I can't tell you how inspired I am after driving across the country. I couldn't take enough photos to fill my inspiration book! LOL

    LOL Karyn, India definitely had her moments but all-in-all she was an angel...we couldn't have asked the kids to be more well behaved! Although I dare say the in-car DVD player helped a lot ;-) hehe You poor thing having to clean the rental house then sit on a train for 14 hours! I bet you never want to go through that again!!

    Thanks Hel, I'm really happy to share the trip with you and I'm glad you enjoyed coming along for the (short) ride ;-) We have been in Melbourne for a week now, so the trip already seems like it was a lifetime ago. We're still getting settled in, sorting things out, unpacking, etc. My beads are still packed away for now, but hopefully not for much longer!

    Thanks Gloria! Yes, India was pretty much sick of driving on that particular day...some days we had to drive for nearly 800kms, which is not much fun for anyone, but particularly an energetic toddler!

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  6. Wow - what a trip that would have been!! Now more importantly, have you unpacked all your metal and tools?!!!!
    It would be hard not to be inspired from those pictures - I bet you're just itching to start create again :)
    K

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  7. Wow! I cant't find the words... It was really a great and long journey! And you made it!!! Congratulations!
    Thanks for all those pics you shared with us. It was absolutely fantastic to see some scenes of the land you crossed.
    I hope you will enjoy settling down in your new home and I wish you all the best to the new chapter of your life :)
    Love, Niki

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  8. Kath, I wish everything was unpacked! All of my beads, metal and tools are still in boxes sadly...but hopefully I can pull them out soon and start creating ;-) I hope you're having fun playing with metal! I can't wait to see what you've been up to!

    Thanks Niki! Driving across the country gave us a better appreciation for just how large and vast Australia really is! I'm so happy to share these photos with you :-) Thanks for your lovely words, as always B. -xo-

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  9. Oh Sweet friend I am so glad to hear from you that all went well and you have made it safe and sound! I have been thinking of you often and was so glad to see your post! Give those sweet babe's kisses for me that was a long trip and portable DVD's are a piece of technology that I won't give up! I hope you take your time and enjoy this (not like me and a power 4 days to unpack and put away an entire house when we moved it took me a month to recover from it and I was only 28 at the time!) Knowing your move was good I am looking forward to the inspirations you got from it!

    Hugs and Welcome Home

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  10. So glad your trip back east went smoothly...and that you were able to turn it into a life experience and adventure!!! You must have passed by pretty close to me on your way out of WA!!!!

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  11. LOL.... LOVE this post. Glad everything went well and I hope you'll settle in real fast at the new place in Melbourne. Can't wait to see what it looks like. AND what new lovely stuff you'll create once the studio is up and running. :)

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  12. I'm delighted everything went smoothly, Belinda!
    And what adorable little guys you have:)You must be so relieved to have it all behind you. Enjoy settling in, although I'm sure the sight of unopened boxes is quite daunting! xx

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  13. What an exciting and loooong journey Belinda. Your two children are super cute!
    Have a happy stay in your new home!! :)

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  14. Thanks Kristen :-) I can assure you that I will not be looking to beat your 4-day unpacking record! LOL It will be a long process because we are living in my Grandpa's house which is already full of his things. So many of our things will be staying in boxes for some time. My beads were unpacked yesterday though, so I hope to get creating soon!

    Julz, yes we passed very close to you! We stayed at Merredin on the first night, and Norseman on the second night :-) We stopped in Coolgardie for a break too, which is only about 40kms from Kalgoorlie?

    Thanks A-K, I particularly love sharing the photos of our country with my overseas friends :-) I don't imagine you have desert and wild camels where you live!! LOL

    Thanks Lenita, the little ones were very well behaved so it made the trip much easier :-) And you're absolutely right, I think the sight of all these unopened boxes is more daunting than the trip itself!

    Thanks Geanina, it certainly was an adventure! Thankfully the kids have settled in really well, so I'm hoping to squeeze in a little creative time soon ;-)

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  15. Isn't it wonderful when you go on a ride and nature creates inspiration!!

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  16. Aleta, I think the best inspiration always comes from Mother Nature! Her colour palette is endless :-)

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  17. Love your photos! Travelling really opens your eyes to the world. Good luck in your new home. xx

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  18. Thanks Wendy! Yes, travelling is a wonderful way to open your eyes and find inspiration :-) I feel very fortunate to have been able to take this trip with my husband and children. We're settling in to our new home in Melbourne, but we are hoping to be back in Perth within a few years to settle permanently! ;-) B. -xo-

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  19. Belinda, I'm so glad you got there safely! Here's to starting a great new chapter!

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  20. Thanks Brandi! We're enjoying starting a new chapter in our life. Although I haven't unpacked as quickly as I would have liked! LOL

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  21. I'm glad you made it there in one piece! My best college friend's husband is from there, and she told me about how FAR away certain cities were from one another! Took a lot of planning to make your trip, no doubt! And I'd be interested in what made those three horrible hotel rooms so horrible! :-)

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Thank you so much for taking the time to leave me a comment!

B.
-xo-