Still here!

Hello to anyone that still looks at this. If I were you I wouldn't bother either seeing we are so dam slack at keeping the thing updated!

So what's been happening since Christmas? Not much really we have had a couple of visits from some Taswegians, some fishing of course (but not enough) and just waiting to meet our new addition. We have been having some fun taking the troopy on the beach for some fishing and camping, the fishing hasn't been all that successful with only a few small herring etc caught on plastics and bait. We are still getting used to the driving on sand thing, 4x4ing for us both has always been in the wet and mud and this is taking some getting used to. There also appears to be an unhealthy amount of sand driving 4x4 bogans on the beaches too which makes for a less enjoyable getaway. It all sounds rather relaxing to sleep in the tent on the beach but neither of us got a wink of sleep as the waves were too noisy and crashing only a few feet from the back of the bus.

Brons has also been trying to deceive the local population of mullet with the fly rod. There are heaps of the buggers about of a good size and would put up an excellent fight on the lighter weight rods but even after throwing in some bread and making bread look-a-like flies, they could not be tempted. So much trying and even more frustration is as far as this as gone.

The troopy is now family ready. A back seat has been installed but we have lost the use of our full length drawers and heaps of space. We will have to see how things go with a couple of smaller camping trips planned for a weekend away here and there as a threesome before our bigger road trip in July/August. It could be interesting, but this little one has to learn the ways of life on the road with its trout/fish bum parents eventually!

Will keep you posted but as at today we are 40+4 days, so already overdue. So by this time next week we will have a baby - ready or not!

Take care and much love to you all

xxx

About time for an update! Happy New Year

We know, we have been incredibly slack. Nothing since we were on the road moving to WA, some three months ago. And I (ruth) don't really have any excuses not to blog as I am a woman of leisure! Brons has been working since we got here and things are going well for him, nothing too taxing but nothing really mind stimulating either. He comes home with ink from tip to toe - think he must be printing himself more than the newspapers. We are living about 10km south of Mandurah in a place called Falcon. After a few drive arounds once we got here we realised we wouldn't be living in the rolling green hills that we are accustomed to in Tassie, so compromised and are now only a 5 minute walk from the beach. Its a nice neighborhood, a little older than most here - we didn't want to live in a ticky tack box on the canal that we would only know was ours if we checked the number outside before trying the door. Everything looks the same over here! We have a veggie patch in pots (there appears to be a shortage of soil over here - sand, sand and then some more sand!) which is yielding well for tomatoes, lettuce, snow peas, herbs and hopefully some capsicums soon too.

The fishing has been a little disappointing. Only turning up a few small whiting and some chopper tailor so far. There is a beautiful big estuary only minutes away but no flat head in it??!! Not sure why, but apparently there are some closer to Perth so we will have to take a look further afield.

Other news.....we are now Uncle Brons and Aunty Ruth! Wow it's all very exciting, Erin and Lachlan welcomed little Uki to the world on the 9th December. Albeit a little early, we are very excited to have a new member to our family, probably more excited than Flossy the farm dog that is now living with Erin. His arrival has made us get even more nervous and excited about the pending arrival of our little one. Still a little way to go but we are hoping to get ourselves organised better over the next few weeks (so far we have a cot in pieces after a paint job). My dear friend Belinda has just moved back to Australia after 3 years in the UK and will be coming over to WA for a week or so to whip us into shape to get ready for parenthood and have a much needed catch up after so many years apart. Bron's mum Lyn is also coming over in a couple of weeks to spend some time with her new grandson so no doubt we will get spend some family time together too.

So all is well on the western front - not sure that it is quite the spot for us. We plan to see out 12 months here but think that once our lease is up we might need to hit the road again and find somewhere with a bit better fishing - maybe north (WA) or north east (QLD). By then we will be three and hopefully Brons will have suitably modified the troopy to carry us all safely.

We miss you all terribly and are longing for the cool breezes of home. Apparently it is 39.7 degrees in the shade on our back deck as I type. Oh wow I'm so looking forward to the next 12 weeks of pregnancy! We hope that the start of a new year brings good fortune and happiness into your lives - Happy New Year!

A picture of us doing Christmas with Erin, Lachlan, Uki and Flossy.

Way out west...

Ok a quick update first. We have sold Lulu on the gold coast, and yes she is still running - Tegan has sighted her! We flew home at the end of June and have spent the last couple of months hanging out with our families and bludging off them! Bronson has accepted a job in Mandurah WA and we are expecting a baby in March. So we come to you now from somewhere on the Nullarbor Plains. We have a new trusty steed! She doesn't have a name but The Troopy appears to work fine.

This is her all set up for the night. Yes, we're sleeping on the roof! We boarded the Spirit on Monday night, had breakfast with Bel in Melbourne on Tuesday morning and then made our way to Aunty Liz's place in Ballarat. Wednesday saw us camping at Mannum and being kept awake half the night by a group of unruly youths. Thursday night was spent just off the road side in the middle of nowhere. Much the same as tonight except we do have a rough idea where we are. Approximately 150km east of the WA border. We aim to be in Mandurah next Thursday ready for Bronson to start work at Rural Press the following Monday. After 15 months adrift it's going to be a bit of a shock to the system but it will be nice to set up home for a bit in a place we can call our own. Many new adventures await us. Not least, parenthood! There are exciting times ahead! Love to you all.