Intergenerational Conversations

At the end of the day…
I get tears in my eyes watching these two girls of mine!
This space and time is priceless and I am beyond grateful. So a massive thank you to all who have supported us in all the different ways ❤️

Yes, there is still laundry to do, meals to make, arguments to police 👮‍♀️ and parenting to navigate, but the joy and the calm and the time together is the BEST!! So very happy to have the chance to do this trip.

We are finding that now the school holidays are over we are meeting more ‘travellers’ and ‘full-time van-lifers’ on the road, whereas in the holiday season we met lots of people on holidays … makes sense right?

What this ‘non-school holiday’ time is bringing is lots more people who are up for a chat and have lots of time.
Junee has been a real town of connection in this way, a welcome surprise.

After a slow morning at camp where we met a fellow traveller with a hobby horse called Crazy Maisey (I never thought this would happen!), which Gem rode around for a good hour, we then hit the chocolate and licorice factory where the girls made their own ‘choccy road’ as Gem likes to call it and we discovered new loves. Gem loves raspberry licorice and I love ‘choccy road’ made by Gem, while Harper loves the gigantic full brekky served at the chocolate factory. Then we went over to the shed across the road to see a great display of antique cars. Two lovely old men had all the time in the world for us; they happily shared their knowledge about old cars and lawnmowers, and took so much time to show us around. I fell in love with a 1958 Ford Zepher and a vintage lawn mower! Love that I can get excited about anything.

I am loving the conversations, and I am loving the experience of my girls talking with a variety of people and sharing the learning that is happening.

 
In Junee we camped next to a retired 73-year-old man living full time in his camper, and he not only cooked us some delicious Dutch croquettes, but he sat with us and shared his life stories of travel and love and loss. Then Gem wanted to play horses again, so Harper continued chatting while we played. An hour later Harper and the ‘neighbour’ had covered many topics – aspirations, safety, herbs. Then later in the evening Harper chatted to a grandma for a good while and returned to me to tell me all about the best-paying jobs for juniors in the takeaway employment arena and about her family.

I cannot believe how many kind and open people we met in Junee. Another woman who stands out in my mind is the lovely woman who, while we were at the lake fishing, was riding her rodeo horse. Spotting her ended the fishing quickly, as Gem’s love for horses is HUGE, and we got chatting and later went to her horseriding and agistment place and the girls got to ride a horse! What a day!

People are so kind ❤️and people sharing stories really is a beautiful thing ❤️ Yay for great little inland towns and their people ❤️