I have a soft spot for this castle. I photographed a wedding here many years ago and I would love to photograph another one here. It is one of those places that is full of surprises and difficult to exhaust, there are always parts left undiscovered, which is a good reason to go back I guess!
Part of the initiation into country life in Young, NSW is a visit to nearby Grenfell for the Henry Lawson festival. The highlight for me (two highlights) was (1) Grenfell’s fabulous art deco architecture and (2) the traditional Maori dancers, in particular the Haka, which, I mean, WHO does not love the Haka!? The festival had a NZ slant to it this year as, apparently, the esteemed Henry had spent some time there in the 1890s.
Chinamans Dam in Young, NSW is a quietly glowing sapphire on the Southern outskirts of the town. It is very close to where we are living at the moment.
As hubby is back in Canberra for the weekend the kids and I took a lazy Saturday morning picnic at the dam, fed the ducks, took some photos and paddled in the water.
This lion bears scars wrought by young Henry. That lower tooth is a falsie. I’m not sure how but somehow young Henry destroyed the original…! 
Over the bridge into the heart of the garden is where the real magic happens. Bridges, waterfalls, boulders, they even managed a Japanesey type balancing rock structure in the middle of their little pond.
Winding paths lead to many intricate surprises. The garden is compact, but cleverly laid out, some leading to the tops of small waterfalls, others right to the waters edge, there are stone seats all along the way, and Miss Imp and Master Dashing were constantly delighted.
I really appreciated the layering of a variety of textures of leaf, bark, berries. Garden design is very similar to interior design (though, not so trendy), colour, texture, layout, it all plays a part.
Here’s a picture of a man with a mo to keep you happy.
And the girl with imp eyes.
xo
Last week was a very tiring one. I won’t say ‘the most tiring of my life’ because that would not necessarily be true. There are many momentous moments in life and ones that tucker you out more than moving house like having a new baby – or for that matter just being pregnant, starting a new job, travelling away from home or organising a wedding, but the thing about moving house is that there is very little that is pleasant about it. Sure, perhaps the only good thing is that new house, but it’s just another house. You’ve just changed houses. In our case it’s not yet even another house (or bus, let’s just say), though it is extremely nice to be living in this large house on this large property in rural NSW. The aftermath of moving follows you like a stray dog. That final house inspection, changing addresses with thirty-odd interested parties & unpacking those boxes. I still can’t quite believe that that house I’ve known for so long, those couches, that home of my children’s first years is mine no longer! (Not that it ever truly was.)
With routine and rhythm thrown out the car window as we drove off into the sunset we are facing a varied reality.
Time at mum & dads was brief as we were out at Sutton every day for five days packing and cleaning. Thankfully I managed to spend a bit of time walking with the kids in the bush and on the oval of my youth.
Mum was so good to watch my kids, with no complaints as ever, but by the end she was exhausted. I don’t know if I could’ve done it without that patient help.
We passed this guy as we walked down to the oval. I was struck by his presence as I realised that this fellow, selling ‘fresh flowers’, has been here in his van – possibly even the same van! – every day since I can remember – 20 odd years! It is an anomaly in this day of fast changing, fast paced, high profile, ambitious careers. I was struck and I was also thankful. It is so nice to have something that remains steady and unchanging – even if just for one lifetime.
The end of the week came, house inspection over, I took the kids to see our old house on the way out of town for closure’s sake, and as we headed out we literally drove off into the sunset.
It sunk into me and I thought:
‘This feels good. This is right. This is what we need right now.’
Though it is somewhat bittersweet, with relationships I will miss, people I will long for. I still feel that for me, for my family, this is the logical, natural and proper course forward for us.
I drove away and I felt the walls fall off my life.
Here it is!
Beautiful Big Bedford. It has come in the nick of time, at the perfect time and is exactly what we were looking for. After doing over 3000 kms up and down the south east of Australia (from Taree to Melbourne) in the past week we ended up finding our ideal bus only 15 minutes from Henrys familys place, where we have parked it for all the adjustments we will need to make to get it registered and in running order. In the end we did not compromise on any of the essentials that we wanted which were: Fair price, Bedford, Diesel Engine in good condition, sturdy rust-free body, and minimally fitted out – as we would strip it anyway.
We are not kidding ourselves, this is not the end, only the beginning! There is a lot of work to be done, & still lots of research (though we are pretty informed by now!), finally though, action can be taken. We can begin kitting it out, moving out and moving in.
Apart from repainting the exterior we will also strip the entire interior, except for the framing which divides the main bedroom from the bunk & bathroom area and the kitchen and living area – all of that just so happens to be in the exact spots we were planning on putting them – fancy that! We are going for a clean and neutral look with all of the inbuilt furnishings; light wood floors, beige walls. We are thinking textured wallpaper for some feature areas (the curved part of the roof), most of the character will come from rugs within and the adjustable furnishings. Because it is such a small space it is completely necessary to keep things streamlined, light and bright in there. We are looking forward to buying our own stove and cooktop, LED Lights, solar panels, installing our own plumbing including a composting toilet and Henry has ideas for a passive solar ‘air conditioner’ he is inventing, and basically being able to alter things to be exactly the way that we want them. What a luxury after six+ years of renting!
It’s a lot of fun to be able to do all this debt free within our budget. Though home ownership is sometime in the future for us I am trusting that the time to rustle up the money for that will come. With houses and land so expensive in Australia I feel good about looking outside the box in order to move forward whilst having an adventure at the same time.
Living in a bus will suit our family down to the ground. I watched my children running and jumping around our bus when we brought it home (‘home’ which is now less about ‘where’ and more about ‘who’), and I thought, ‘this suits my kids perfectly!’, with their wild hair, their boundless energy and inquisitiveness.
Sophia shouted ‘Oolevoir’ (Translation: Au revoir) out the window and we really will be saying that in just a few months. But not yet. And not here in this space at least.
Tulitha King 