Weekly Photo Challenge : Change

For 3 years we have followed the sun around Australia. We have had continual summers. Matilda, our van, has been our constant companion, accommodation and transport. Now we are going to fly south instead of north and leave Matilda behind.

We are on the cusp of change.

I have felt a restlessness growing. Destinations have called me. I love to discover new places. The mystery of what is over the hill and round the next bend intrigues me. Australia is a diverse and dramatic land with huge distances to cover and I loved exploring the endlessly changing landscapes. A hard drive filled with digital images is testament to my love of this country and the many places we have visited.

But I can also feel a physical slowing down, a need to savour the time left to me.

Then comes one of those decision-making moments….

So we are going to Tasmania.

Friends look at us quizzically and say “Tasmania?” “Do you know how cold it is down there?”

Other’s say “Tasmania it is incredibly beautiful, you’ll love it”

So what was that decision-making moment?

For a several weeks I have had destinations swirling around in my head. Gradually they became short-listed to 3…

1. A road trip through the red centre of Australia, watching the sunset on Uluru, then spending winter in the tropical north– again…
2. A trip to Cambodia to see the amazing temples and statues of Angkor Wat
3. Tasmania. But it was down the bottom of the list due to the climate in winter.

Then a message arrived in my in-box from the “House carers” site we belong to. That message changed all our plans.

A lady in Hobart needed someone to look after her house and care for and love her little dog for 8 weeks. Now just to back-track, we have done house sitting when we travel  and always enjoyed the experience and the home owners have become friends. So I applied for the position, we made contact and after a few emails back and forth and a phone call the decision was made and so in 16 days we will fly to Hobart, the capital city of Tasmania.

During the past couple of days we have dug out our winter clothes that where stored away in boxes under the bed for 3 years. Now comes the difficult job of deciding just what we will need and even more difficult job of selecting only 23 kilogram then squeezing it into a suitcase.

Is it going to fit?

 

The flight is booked for May 1st, but there are lots of things to do before we leave. So with our thermals and winter woollies packed we will soon be up up and away….

Tasmania has always been on my must see list so I am looking forward to our stay there. No doubt there will be lots of photo opportunities so stay tuned.