Christmas 2011

I have approached Christmas with mixed feelings this year.  The bus is nearly finished and we are excited to finally be moving into it, but at the same time, the nerves are starting to set in.  Are we doing the right thing?  Will we be able to find work once we leave here and are on the road?  How will we cope with the heat on the mainland?  I have been reading posts on Facebook and people are commenting of the heat, we are lucky where we live, the climate is very temperate and it's never really that hot. (although, trust me, 22 degrees here can feel like 30 on the mainland).  Yes, we are getting nervous, but at the same time, we are also excited about our departure.  Along with those comments about the heat, we are also seeing some fabulous photos that other travellers are posting, and we hope to be able to post some equally fabulous photos ourselves soon.
We have spent the last couple of weeks getting quotes for water tanks and fittings for number 3.  Unfortunately, we left our run a bit late, and we wont have them until the middle of January at the earliest. We really wanted to get it all fitted during the 10 days Terry had off over Christmas.  Never mind, there's still plenty of other things we can do.  Once we get the water connected, we can take the bus to be weighed and hopefully registered, then we can move into it.
I put the tree up later than usual this year.  I wasn't even going to bother actually, for some reason, it just didn't feel like Christmas, but when you have children in the house (I do family day care),  who are excited by it all, you really need to go with the flow.

Our tree

 I thought putting the tree up would help me get in the mood, but it didn't really.  I was a bit sad because this will be our last Christmas in this house for who knows how many years.  It will be the last Christmas with my family, and I don't know, but it could be the last Christmas we will all be together.  Well, all except for my oldest brother and his wife who live in Queensland.  I know we can always fly home for Christmas, but that's not the same, and we ARE looking forward to having Christmas on the road, catching up with fellow travellers and sharing stories and experiences, but there is something inside of me that is just a little apprehensive.
Christmas day turned out to be a fabulous day.  We went to my niece and her boyfriends place.  They just bought their first house and only got the key the Friday before.  They spent the weekend painting, then moved all the furniture in during the week, put the tree up and the place looked lovely on Christmas day.  You would never have believed they had only just moved in.  They did a great job getting it ready.

Waiting patiently

Unwrapping some presents

Handing out the presents

We spent most of boxing day cleaning out the shed.  We got a bit lazy this year, and just threw things in wherever, and it was getting really hard to move around in there.  That took most of the day, but it was well worth it.  Now we know exactly what else we have to put in the bus, and what we are leaving behind.  Problem is, I think we want to take far more than what will actually fit.  I think we are going to need a bigger bus.