Let the Adventure Begin

A tearful farewell

So, the big day finally rolled around. After all the dreaming, planning, and wrapping things up, not to mention the endless goodbyes with everyone, it was time to hit the road. Letting go of our three girls, Heidi the hound included, was a tearjerker for sure. It's like empty nest syndrome flipped on its head. We've done our bit raising two amazing, independent ladies, and I know they're going to be just fine, but gee, does my heart feel heavy.

Our home

For those unfamiliar with our set our up, we're travelling in our (still shiny) Land Rover Defender towing our 7-year old Ultimate offroad camper trailer.  Here are some pics of the cozy micro space we now call home:

Rookie error

A few hours into the journey, while I smugly congratulated myself for having prepared and froze 40+ delicious meals, I realised we had nothing for dinner. As we stopped to retrieve a solid brick of chicken cacciatore from our freezer, I feared we’d be eating at midnight by the time this little gourmet delight defrosted 😩

Inspired by my aching plantar fasciitis flare up from dancing in the mosh pit at Pink's concert the previous night, I had the genius idea of speeding up the thawing process by using tonight’s dinner as ice pack therapy to sooth my poor inflamed heal. Don’t worry, it was carefully vacuum sealed and double wrapped in a Woolies bag!  

One of the many things I’ve learnt from my Big Lap research is that everything you take must have at least two purposes - so there we have it - dinner doubles up as first aid!

Our first camp

Having done the mid north NSW coast extensively over the years, we decided to head 5 hours west to a free camp at Ponto Falls Reserve near the town of Wellington.  Hailing from Wellington in the UK, it felt like a sign - the perfect kickoff point for our 'adventure before dementia'.

             

Wellington

Just like its namesake in Blighty, Wellington is a town steeped in history with a gorgeous park (plus seven pubs to boot). We totally played the part of tourists, taking on the self-guided walking tour before kicking back and relaxing at the camp.