changes

There are a lot of things changing at the moment, not just where we live, though that is a big one. We have changed States and houses, consolidating two places into one. We have become a household of three most of the time instead of less than half the time. Johanna and I will be travelling (every third week Monday to Friday in Tassie so Johanna can attend school) and Colin will be staying at home. He will live and work in the same State and his commute will be by car or train not plane and will be most days rather than Monday and Thursday. Johanna will complete a lot of her schooling independently with support from her teachers and plans to work as much as possible as she saves for her gap year next year. I will no longer have the same caring role for my father. The rhythm of our lives these past few years has come to an abrupt end and we are tentatively finding our way with all these changes. For each of us 'life' has taken a major turn and we are navigating the unknown. It is exciting, exhausting and occasionally overwhelming...

barwon heads

One week in and amidst all the unpacking, cleaning and organising (and numerous visits to Bunnings and Kmart) have been walks along the beach and local paths, 

and a foggy Sunday morning walk (Colin's photos from his iPhone),

and we have checked out the local shops and cafes and it looks like Johanna may already have scored herself a job!

running on empty

Well, we now officially reside in only one place, Colin lives and works in the same state and all the family is in the Melbourne/Barwon Heads area. A massive few weeks after a full on year complete with a couple of major crises, some unexpected drama and a myriad of 'stuff' that is 'normal life'. To say we are running on empty would be an understatement. But we are here and mostly unpacked and in another week or so will collect the (heavily laden) cars from Tassie and then the end will be in sight.

An iPhone panorama from Johanna, the view at the end of her walk today.

Hoping the beauty of this place soothes our souls...