Throw Back to the Start of Our Journey
- Dannyelle & James Tansey
- Mar 11, 2019
- 6 min read
Wow we have reached the 12 month mark since we packed up everything we owned and hit the road, we have realized we never really blogged our trip properly or gave any reviews of where we went.
So with the big anniversary here and our exciting move into our bus in a few weeks we thought we should do a throwback series over the next few weeks to share where we went, what we loved and what we may not have loved so much. We also want to share with you, as we are asked all of the time, how we have found being a family of 5 in a soft floor basic camper trailer for so long.
Find my Insect Repellent Blend here
So without further ado lets throwback to March 2018!
Our decision to do this would have seemed very very sudden to everyone around us, as we decided 5 weeks out from the end of our lease that this is what we were doing, however this has been a dream of ours since as long as we can remember, we had just let life , expectations and limiting beliefs get in our way of pursuing it (does this sound familiar for any of your dreams?). So really it wasnt sudden or random, it was just us going “Do you know what? we are just going to do this and work it out as we go because life is too short and we are sick of not living the life we want!!” and so we did and will continue to do so and will not let anything or anyone stop us or make us doubt how our life will be lived!
This was our Test run of setting up the camper trailer, the kids were super excited.
So our First stop over was super close to home, just 20 minutes away actually, we decided on this spot for a few reasons :
we were still doing the boring and huge job of packing and cleaning our rental so we needed to be relatively close to continue with that.
we needed to make sure we were set up and prepared with what we needed, as really since we had the kids we hadn’t really been camping even for a weekend except one very unsuccessful, stressful and cold attempt one long weekend – a story for another day i think – but I will say it was actually at this very same camp spot hahaha.
and we had already booked in to this spot for the Easter long weekend to camp with some friends before we headed off, so we just extended our stay.
Cedar Grove camp site in the Amamoor State Forest in Qld, was our first 3 weeks stop, and a great beginning to our journey.
A quick bite to eat – chicken and chips from the local corner shop before setting up before it got dark
While we were at this beautiful campground we were able to really enjoy peace and quite and nature. It really helped us to unwind from the hustle and bustle of life before, we were able to be switched off from technology as there is no reception there (great for the soul, not so great when you have a business, but great all the same). The creek and swimming hole were just amazing, if not a little cold some days, we enjoyed chillin out and having a drip at least twice a day and the kids just loved it. The water was fresh and lovely due to some recent rains but it may not always be so if it has been a period of drought, so if you are heading here and want to swim just double check what the local weather has been. There are a couple of bush walks of varying distances there as well, bush walking especially on my birthday (which we celebrated while here) is a family bush walk so we absolutely loved having this right here, plus there are others located a really short drive away as well. One thing we were sad to learn about here though was about the Cats Claw weed which is wreaking havoc on the bush and local habitats. It did however respark and ignite a fire and idea of doing more to look after and conserve our native Flora and Fauna so future generations are able to enjoy it.
We really enjoyed our regular fires and we tried out the cast iron camp oven for the first time! we tried a few different meals: roast lamb and veggies, Gluten Free damper (pretty much a fail) and chicken casserole were some of the meals we made while here. The camp oven became our favourite way to cook meals when we could have fires (however not our favourite to clean up after).
There was an abundance of wild life which lead to many learning opportunities for the kids and they excitedly pulled out their new wildlife books I got them for our trip, which lead to “schooling” activities. We enjoyed bird life of different sorts from bigger sized bush turkeys to tiny wrens, tiny guppies in the creek that liked to nibble toes when standing still, different insect and lizards. We didnt so much enjoy the daily ambush from the Goanna’s or Mozzies but that was about all we didnt love about being there.
With Miss Maliyah being so little (just 8mths old and freshly crawling when we began) we were a little unsure how she would go, or actually probably more like unsure how we would go with it with her. But as we strongly believe if it wasn’t for her and her amazing healing abilities and her nack of grounding people into alignment, we wouldn’t have made the jump to do this, so really the doubt shouldn’t have been there, and perhaps it wasn’t any more then doubt planted by others opinions (but that is a different topic of discussion altogether). She certainly very quickly proved any doubts what so ever to rest, she was in her absolute element! loved crawling in the grass and exploring, she enjoyed the rainy wet days with a massive smile you couldn’t wipe off her face, she slept so incredibly well even though she got her first 5 teeth in the 3 weeks we were here and she was the always the first one to instigate what became a ritualistic morning and afternoon stroll around the camp ground or the bush or surrounding area.
Our final weekend here was Easter Weekend and wow did the peace and quiet promptly get disturbed that weekend, haha. It was full to capacity, but it was a very enjoyable time and we got to meet a great group of Indians who were experiencing their first ever camping Trip. They were so lovely to talk to, the kids enjoyed playing with a group of children with them and they graciously shared some of the food with us, they said they gave us the “mild” versions of the dishes that they cooked for their kids, haha, but still a bit too spicy for me (but still so tasty) James enjoyed it very much. The Easter Bilby managed to Find us (as did the Tooth fairy) so the kids were relieved, He even had the amazing thoughtfulness to bring the children Sugar free, Carob Easter Eggs which they were able to eat and enjoy and they were absolutely over the moon!
While we were here we did have unpleasant experiences with our Solar and Battery Set up with many nights moving the fridge to the car and even having to run it to my parents one night, Like we said we had to be close to home so we could make adjustments as needed. we purchased more solar panels and another battery while we were here. And make adjustments to our set up before we headed on our official journey. We did experience continual issues along our entire trip so we will share some tips on how to set up your solar and battery set up to, James will need to be involved with that post, so stay tuned for that.
The Technical stuff
Cost & what is on offer at Cedar Grove campsite Amamoor State Forest.
the cost is nice and low which is perfect for travelling families : $6.55 per person per night, or $26.20 per family per night bookings through Queensland parks and forests website
What you get there
Camper fire rings
non potable water
swimming
flushing toilets
bush walks
open grass campground
nature
pay phone – takes 50c coins
What you dont get there
showers
phone reception
drinking water
dogs arent allowed
A word from the Kids
Amira says: I loved going for the bush walks and the warm fires.
Quade said It was so peaceful and quiet and I loved the creek to swim in.
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