We are very excited to being doing our first update from “ON THE ROAD” !
We set off on Tuesday morning as planned and after a late night of packing and an early start. It seemed quite surreal to actually be on the road starting our trip ! As usual we are going through everything in our heads hoping we have packed all the things we may need. It has been a long time in the planning and we have been thinking , dreaming about it for so long and now it is happening .
Our first and only real hiccup was Bianca vomited all over herself and her seat , and as you would expect she was very upset . We are no stranger to this occurrence and quickly pulled off the road and swung into action cleaning and changing her . We bagged up her yucky clothes until we have a decent amount of water to wash them properly , a quick hug and we were on the road again ! ( we were to do all this again the next day and have decided to not give her milk in the car to see if we can stop this not so pleasant experience !
We covered almost 600kms and arrived at Kalgoorlie by about 3:30 pm . The kids have been great in the car . We don’t have ipads or any screens , just talking and playing with a few small toys . They each have a luch box with lots of snacks to keep them happy and really they enjoy seeing the things out the window , like a crop duster going super low over the road , road trains and wild life . Of course there are times when they say they want to get out and camp right here , but we have found it best to try and explain our plan to Luke so he can understand what we are doing . We draw maps in the dirt and try and relate it to things he knows like number of sleeps until … and once he is on the same page he is happy to continue . I think leaving them in the dark about what you ae doing will cause confusion and insecurity and possibly tantrums or alike ! Camping is far from routine and kids need a central point to ground them , to base their day on . So it can be good to pick a small routine and try keep to it so they can feel they are in control of a little something ! ask them to be part of decision making and helping out around camp and they will soon feel much more in the situation rather than a stranger to this camping world.
We had looked up a spot near town that we went to but realised it was far more like a carpark than camping so went back to a free campsite , lake Douglas . This was exactly what we were looking for . It was off the main road so was quite , it was huge and spacious . Although there were a few others camping we were far from them and didn’t hear or see them. It is a beautiful bush setting with lots of trees and open areas , there are no real “sites”you can just find an area that suits your needs . There is, as the name suggest, a lake but we didn’t explore this as we didn’t have time, but you pass it on the way in and it looked beautiful ! Camp fires were allowed so of course we did that as it was quite chilly !! We are well prepared for the cold and have lots of layers of clothing, gloves , beanies , ugg boots and warm sleeping bags for everyone ! Winter camping seems to put people off but if you are prepared you will absolutely fine and the kids don’t even seem to notice ! So really this is actually a great time to go and see many place without crowds !
So were we all very happy with this site and would recommend it to anyone wanting to camp around Kalgoorlie !
Our set up was quite quick and we seemed to slip back into camping life easily, The kids were quickly off on their balance bikes exploring the area. It is so great to give them some freedom to just do as they like, to be kids and not need entertaining. They seem to find there own way of playing in the bush. I think they really enjoy their own space and responsibility, they look after each other and they are learning so much as they roam. The play with sticks , rocks, trees and dirt for hours, whereas at home I can’t get them to play with any one thing for more than 15 minutes ! There is something about the realness of the bush that intrigues them. This is one of the reasons I love camping.
With the fire going , we enjoyed pasta for dinner we were all ready for an early night after a big day , although the kids did take a little bit of time to get settled in they were ok .You need to understand this is a big change for little people and it may take a few days for them to really understand camping so if you just go for a 1 or 2 night trip you might say camping with kids is not for you but for them you need to give it a change to sink in . Bianca still wakes a few times during the night but this is no different to what we would be doing at home so doesn’t bother us and Luke sleeps right through it .
Camping is a different style of living in many ways , It is slower , calmer and you are more focused on the now . pressure from the outside world are far away and you become more in tune with a natural rhythm of life , Going to sleep when the sun goes down and up when it rises .
So really of first day was Great !
We’re Camping !!!