Homeward maybe?

Mixed emotions came over me this morning. Nat had a spring in her step because she could sniff home, as did Zander because he just wanted to tell Nanna & Grandad about the trip. Maverick just wanted to keep going to new campsites, & Dad wasn't sure what he wanted to do, but really was on the same page as Mav!!!

Whilst I wanted to get back to some routine & structure, (which was one of the motivating factors to go initially) I know I will want to get back into the trailer after a week or two at home. Perhaps I should just open it in the back yard permanently!!!!

In saying that my gut feel was that it will be good to get home and have a couple of weeks to get settled and have a break, but I certainly did have a sad face about me today.

We spent an hour or so looking around Coffs and went to the Big Banana for a smoothie before we set out in the direction of home. We had no commitments so Nat kindly assured me (after sensing my depressed state) that if we got to Yamba or Byron and wanted to stay we could, but I think I was in the minority today, the rest of the family was excited to get home.

North of Woolgoolga we had a call from some friends from our triathlon club (Darren & Jo) who are doing a similar trip to us next year after wanting to do it for years & maybe being inspired a little by ours. Coincidentally they were driving north from Port Macquarie and wanted to catch up for lunch at Woodburn, so we did.

It was great to see them all and to also see the excitement they are generating through their own planning phase of what to tow and where to go, along with the nervousness of the unknown living the gypsie lifestyle. They too have a similar holiday time period though their kids Zac & Emily are about 12 & 10 respectively. A little easier to manage because they can feed, dress & go to the toilet themselves! Given they are soon to embark on the journey & we are finishing ours both excited & saddened us a little - yet at the same time reaffirmed we are ready to get back to reality.

We passed Yamba without so much as a look sideways, as we did Byron, too close to home now and we just kept going. I rang Mum to let her know we were on our way, she was stoked and kindly asked Dad to move the caravan so I could barge my way back into their lives - & space!!!! Just quietly I think they are looking forward to seeing us.....

The boys were itching to get there, but I needed fuel, to pick up a high pressure water cleaner, and of course stop at Zarraffas for a coffee, so I drew the the holiday out as long as I could until we beeped the horn on arrival at about 3:30pm.

It was brilliant to see them, hugs all round after which Dad & I did our customary check over the trailer & car. He then said with a smile "Well Jase, they don't look like the sparkly things you took away!!" & they certainly don't that is for sure. This was compounded when we had it in for minor repairs at Cub in Sydney and I looked in the showroom at all the brand spankers. It's amazing what a road trip around all points of this country will do to your possessions.

We wound out for the last time on Dads driveway, brought a few things inside and sat down for a while....at least until the boys wanted something. As always after a day of driving they had heaps of built up energy to expend plus there was the added excitement of Nanna & Grandads house with their toys, so they needed some attention.

Mum cooked us home made pasta and we had a couple of drinks, then Nat spent an hour trying to get the boys to sleep. I think we are in for struggle separating them when we move back home, and when I go back to work. I feel like I am going to miss them already so I imagine it will be harder for a 3 & 5 year old given we have been stuck together like poo to a blanket for all this time. Maverick will relate to that phrase given the 'undie-pooing when he was in cold water' period he had for 3 months while we were away.

The last thing I did tonight was get out all of my riding gear, pump up the tyres on my bullet proof Trek, charge the Garmin & fill the water bottles. This is one part of the arrival home I have looked forward to mostly & at first light tomorrow I will get back in the saddle.

There is a lot to do over the next couple of weeks in terms of cleaning and moving, we also have some things to do to the house before we move back in as well. The plan is to do it all by the end of next week so we can just have a full week at home settled before I return to work.  

In the next day we will assess the trip and put a summary on the blog for anyone interested in doing something similar. We will continue the blog indefinitely for all of our family trips so that in future years we can look back at our time together and have a good laugh.

Good to be home, but it's not really......but it is, if you know what I mean.

Jase.