so stoked to be a dad again
I put 2 x 210 litre water tanks under bus and we are now ready to cross nullabour. first to queensland again for home schooling requirements then we’re off
congratulations Digger!!!
always so glad to see this thread topped!
I’m so jealous of and happy for you!
Enjoy the baby!
Congrats mate, well done!!
di99er, you figured it out! The bus life is one I’ve been living the last few years…and now it’s hard to give up. No overhead, mobile… And very cozy and, well…freeing. If they loaded, these are pics of where I live. Now I’m ready to do another!
pics of one of the tanks
both 210 water litre tanks are done now and wired up with a new tap and pump put in. We are leaving port in a week and plan to head down the coast and cross the nullabour. Will be taking more pics for you guys and yanks, but some places wont put any names up. We also plan to go to canberra to teach the kids what the true anzac spirit is and why we should never change our flag just because a few idiots want to.
the new cyclone has changed our mind on going back up the coast, it looks like a ripper.
thinking i might write on the travels and submit to travel mags via the cmca groub for some extra pay, never know, they might publish em
love ya new jd beerfan
Its been three years since I have posted in Swaylocks. I suppose I just had very little time to post, I kept up my facebook but that was about it.
We were on the road four and a half years and now the journey is over. Well not really I suppose, my family is just on a different journey than travelling in the bus. I have changed so much since sitting behind the wheel of my 1986 Leyand Tiger Bus that I will never be the same. We are now renting in a house in Gympie, Queensland. Do I like life off the road, mmmm, not really. I am not use to paying for electricity when it should be free from the sun. We are not use to bills, rent, and waking up to look out the window at the same thing every day, day after day.
We set out on this journey from the sunny coast long ago with the dream of giving support to our two children that we could not give renting someone else’s house. Both our children were diagnosed on the A.S.D spectrum and they needed the stability of waking up in the same bed every day without the fear of having to leave every six months. Our bus life provided that, not only did they have the same bed every morning but they could look down the isle and see there parents when thier anxiety was at a fevour pitch high.
Now our family needs are different. Noahs anxiety has been brought back to a point where he is able to attend school. His first class for six years was two weeks ago at Gympie High School. Im so proud of what he has achieved, he is a little bit behind but not to much.
Rose needed challenging with her School Work so we enrolled her in Distant Education with Queensland. She will never attend High School as she battles with crowds and shrinks away if there is just to many people, unfortunately she gets so anxious around people she verges on panic attacks. So our plan with our beautiful daughter is gently gently. She is excelling at her school work so far and has written two 140 000 word novels that are better than I could ever write. I am trying to talk her into allowing me to self publish one but she is not sure. We plan to get her involved in some youth groups to get her out seeing people, as I said gently gently
We know have another member to our family, his name is Jethro. Jethro was born on the road in Port Macquarie, so blue bood runs thick in his viens come state of origin time. Go you mighty blues. Jethro has just been diagnosed on the A.S.D spectrum as well. Being that this diagnosis came through before he was aged six we now have access to Early intervention Help for our child. He will start Speech Theropy as soon as possible as he still cannot speak at three years of age just last week.
So basically we needed to stop travelling as it would not have been the right thing to do for our families needs.
Im now faced with the prospect of Back surgery in the near future. I am on the waiting list as a category one patient. Im in 24 hour pain and living day to day on pain killers and other meds. Im also dreaming of taking up were I left off with my shaping. Slowy ever so slowly im rebuilding up my tools so I can begin and setting up an area under the house. I have designed some shaping stands which will be built in the near future. I will begin to take photos of this when appropiate.
My dream for my future is to volunteer at my boys high school in whatever I can do. Hopefully the tuck shop everyday. I am on the careers pension for him so I intend to use this in the best interests of my boy and have let go off what society thinks is success.
He has got involved in scooter riding so I take him down to a indoor skate park ever day and will be here for him to burn off his anxieties that have built up while at school. Watching his launch himself over the edge of huge drops and taking to the sky is an absolute buzz. Last week he pulled off his first finger whip four foot up in the air. He is conquering his fear every day on that scooter, much the same as I did on my surfboard as a youngster. Maybe that is why I loved big waves as a youngster.
My future will look after itself as me and my wife will look after our children.
Tomorrow be damned as today Im a father and my family will always come first.
Pics of our travels will start to upload this week sometime.
Cheers all and I hope everyone is scoring some great waves
that was a powerful post! the forum has been a lesser place without you. Looking forward to pics of your travels.
Good on ya for making tbe hard choices because it was right for your kids, you will never regret that. I made some hard moves and had to give up some things dear to me, including surfing, because of my daughter’s needs. Thankful every day that I did, now that she is grown. And hey, I’m back in the water now in my old age 
Hope you can get some relief from the back pain, sounds awful!
Looking forward to some surfboards coming out from under the house!
welcome back
thanks Huck. I never really spent enough time in a bay due to family needs in the first place back then. So Im far far away from what you would call a shaper. Im more what you would call a dreamer Huck. Funny aint it how easy it actually is to give up surfing for your family. Ive not surfed that much on my trip, sure I got some real good waves, but that wasnt why we left in the bus in the first place. Its encouraging to know that you managed to get back to the water. Im hoping this will happen for me as well when the planets align in the right way. Maybe when im a touch older I might find the time like you did.
Im lucky with my shaping as i have a crusty old seadog that I have come to know fairly well. He helped me the first time and Im now looking forward to working with him again and taking any suggestions he has for me. Hopefully this time I wont have to stop shaping and i might get to learn how to do a fine board before I slide in sideways into my grave so to speak.
You are right Huck. I will never regret the move i made for our family. It was a joint decision in changing our lifestyle. Its sorta funny that if I was not a surfer I dont think I would have been ever able to just let go of it all and live in a bus. I think its something in our blood Huck. As a surfer we get to see nature at her finest every day.
She throws perfect waves at us and wonderful sunsets to end a long hard day. Its nature that screams at us all. Nature demands that we sit up and look all around us to see her beauty every day. She demands that we look around the corner just incase there is something wonderful there. Nature gives us all that wonderlust of adventure and mystery, will the next bay be the perfect place to lay our hat, or is there another corner to turn. As a surfer we are just blessed to be given the opportunity to live our lives free from all that might entrap us if we just sit still to listen.
I may sound like a hippy wacko sort of tree hugging person. But im not. Im just a normal Joe Go Lucky person that is making up life as we go. We all have a journey to go and surfers are the lucky ones, we can see beauty were others may not. I reckon thats why there are so many backyarders or hackers like myself. There is just something beautiful in a blank when you can finally see what you can make.
Ahh, thats enough hippy bullshit. But I sorta reckon I may be right with the shaping bit. Its art and it sort of calls us all if we only sit and listen.
As a special ed teacher and with family members on various levels of the spectrum, I greatly appreciate your sharing your story.
Thanks, and the best to you and yours.
We all wanted to experience the Great Barrier Reef. It was one of our goals to snorkle over the reef before it was destroyed by mans greed. One of our friends told us about the reefs over in Western Australia that you could snorkle for free. To visit the Barrier reef was over 400 bucks so that was ruled out. The reef at Canarvan blow holes was just five steps off the beach. No boats were needed, we could just float over the reef. It was spawning and you could hear the popping loud and clear, the fish were extrodinary and it was an something that our family will never never forget. The blow holes at Canarvan should go down on everyones bucket list. The locals have told me that slowly over time the color is dying though we were lucky, plentiful color, free, and just off the beach. Just bloody incredible
the pitures dont do this place justice.
what a great experience
…hello man, I really have plenty of questions to ask if you may. Some are:
First I never heard about the problems that your sons have but if they do not get these, and you still on the bus, they did not go to the school? if so, how do manage all the problems related to the paperwork etc with the government? In some places they decide to take off the kids or the custody…
How do you managed to pass to other countries or all was done in Aussie land?
–I m out of the surf, now about 4 years due to a damaged shoulder, so I am not demand the body too much so in this way I still can work (to eat and pay the bills)
Regarding what you say about freedom from the system…I do not know, I cannot live where I want due to most government treat you as foreigner so illegal…simply like that; you cannot be free that way.