Change

Life changes.

Life is like an ocean, fluidly ever changing with new adventures and challenges over every wave, calm seas are great and while you are having such a great time, you never realize just how good it is. You cannot however control the ocean and things can go from smooth sailing to a ferocious storm in the blink of an eye.

Wild winds and rough seas of a squall can appear from nowhere with little warning, massive waves that toss around like a rollercoaster, flinging you from side to side and with each pitch threating to sink you, anything that goes over board sinks down into the murky depths lost forever…. but ride it out, and eventually the storm will pass, smooth sailing and clear waters will return…

After the storm however it is never the same, the experience will change as the memory of that sudden storm will stay for you forever. What was lost during the storm can never be again.

That is life, and that is how life as you know it can change.

Times have changed for us and the story of our adventures with the Waldron’s will never be as they were. In January this year, Mark and Kate separated, forever closing the book on our two families adventuring together. I won’t go into the why what or how here as this is not the place, but the memories of our adventures together, a distant but joyful memory, will be forever chronicled here on the blog so we don’t forget just how much fun we all had together.

This is not however the end, simply another new chapter, different and new. The story is not over, simply changing. I’m sure there will be new adventures to have with Mark or Kate, but not with Mark and Kate again.

Anyway, it has been awhile since I wrote up here, our amazing 6 week adventure up the east coast of Australia and through the remote outback of central Australia almost seems like it was a lifetime ago.

There was another caravan trip I missed on the blog, our annual Australia Day Weekend to Inverloch. Let’s just say it was a good trip, we still managed to have a good time even though the changes were still so raw and it was strange to be on a family holiday without Kate. I was not yet in the frame of mind to blog about it, so will just leave that trip in the minds of those that were there.

New adventures are on the way though and as life is full of change, it is time for a little change for the Morton’s as well. We recently purchased a 36 acre property in Violet Town Victoria (up the Hume half way between Euroa and Benalla).

While there will still be caravan trips away to blog about, the plan is to turn Violet Town into a weekend destination, a little piece of the country for ourselves, friends and family to get away from it all. It is only a 2 hour drive from our place to the block, so close enough for weekend trips.

We take possession of the block (got to come up with a new name for it) on the 31st of March, and I expect our first trip there will be on the following weekend so we can get a feel for the place and start to plan out what to do with it.

Already I have purchased a new toy, a quad bike that will become my “farm bike”. A work horse but also a good bit of fun. Below is a photo of Tara, Jess and the neighbor’s kids on the bike… let’s just say the kids love it almost as much as I do!!

Now the problem with the bike is that to take it up to the block, I need to tow it on a trailer and most times we will be going up there we will be taking the van… hard to tow two trailers, so number one priority is to build a shed so we have some good lockable storage. Got a few ideas on the type of shed to build (I like the style of the American Barns) and ideally it will be about 10m x 10m, but it will be dictated by budget so will see what happens as the plan matures.

We will also need some water, so the shed will provide a good roof catchment area and we will need water tanks off the side. While there are two dams on the property, they are muddy water and not suitable for drinking. The summers up there are hot, with little rain, so water will need to be collected during the cooler winter months.

Mostly the water will be used for drinking and showering, which can be done in the van but with a family of 5 the onboard tanks won’t last long and we will need to be able to refill them.

Our other problem is the toilet. Somehow, the toilet in the van can be filled daily and that is only with the kids using it!! Don’t really want to be digging holes and emptying the chemical toilet into the land, so we will need to build another option.

I originally started with the idea of installing a septic, but after some research I have discovered that a septic is expensive to install, requires a fair bit of maintenance, annual council inspections and soil tests (at my cost) and longer term are not that good for the soil.

So I am leaning towards going the greener option (yes I know weird for me right!) and looking at a waterless composting toilet.

Now you can stop screwing up your face and nose as everyone else does when I mention this! It is not as horrible as it sounds, and from my research, there is no smell! The claim from what I have read on forums is that it is the liquid that makes the smell and these compost toilets remove the liquids leaving the solids to break down into good compost that can be safely buried in the land with maybe a tree planted on top.

To reduce the chance of smell, we will put a sign on the door – “Number 2’s in the loo… Girls can wee but the boys find a tree!”

The one I am looking at is the Eco weekender, a fully self contained composting unit, so I should be able to build it as a DIY project. Check out this link if interested in finding out more.

Anyway, shed, tanks and toilet are the bare essentials for the block (as dictated by my lovely wife) so now I just need to see how far I can stretch the budget to achieve the best results. Once they are done, it will be an awesome place for camping, riding bikes and exploring the land. Maybe Zac will finally get the chance to use his bow and arrows and there is already talk of a cheap kids quad bike…

The kids are all very excited, Tara asking if we could head up there the day after we get the block. Her idea was we could go after school…. I pointed out that it might be a little too far for an after school trip (2 hours each way would be a late night!).

They all love exploring the place, on our first trip up there, Jess found a dinosaur bone (that turned out to be the jaw of a cow), and Tara found a old horse shoe! Must be a good luck sign as we got this block 😉

As I mentioned before, the property does have two dams on it, but there is little else. The land is a good mix of open areas and shady trees, but not too much scrub so you can easily see where the kids are playing. There is also a “winter creek” feeding and coming off one of the dams. Can’t wait to see that with some water running through it…. just not too much as we don’t want the whole land to flood!!!

Anyway, we are all very excited and patiently waiting to take it over. I’m spending most nights scouring the internet for information on Sheds, tanks, toilets, permits, grass slashers, stocking a dam with yabbies’ etc etc all in preparation.

A new chapter in our Adventures awaits and I’m sure you will all love reading about what we end up doing on the block (really need to name the place!!).

I have uploaded some photos of the block to Drop Box, you can view them by clicking here.

Oh and to answer your question (the one everyone asks…) the big square box thing is an old Wool Baler. Yes the property used to have sheep on it, so I assume they used to shear the sheep and put the wool in the baler.

It is also home to a rabbit that scared the shit out of me the first time we were there as it bolted between my legs to the laughter of the children….grrr… rabbit might end up being stew if it is not careful!!!

Bring on April!!!!!