Thursday, 25 April 2013

BusTed in Culburra Beach NSW




Headed from Mittagong through Kangaroo Valley to Nowra to pick up some wiper blades, my goodness what a road. Eight  hairpin turns on steep inclines and descents, plenty of  "trucks use low gear signs. We stopped for a cuppa half way down because the brakes were smoking. You can imagine the two of us sitting drinking coffee in a smelly haze! Alright that was a litttle exaggerated. The  road was in excellent condition.  

Travelling across the valley floor was lovely with an old bridge crossing, beautiful old shops and miles of lush flat countryside. Of course all valley floors must, at some stage, be edged by more mountains. Yep, you guessed it, more hairpins on ridiculous slopes. However, no smoking brakes after this lot. Yeah for Michelle! Scary yes, but the views were just magnificent. Michelle has now mastered steep windy roads.
We turned off at Nowra and headed on to Culburra Beach, which is where Michelle spent many a happy childhood holiday at her Nanna and Poppa's home. She was like a pig in mud, nobody could have wiped that smile off. We stayed in the beach carpark and wandered down to test the water. So beautiful and rather fresh, got some great evening shots. It's a very peaceful place.

Till next time, hope your life is wonderful,
Love  Michelle and Ellen.

Thursday, 18 April 2013

BusTed in Mittagong NSW

Hello again,

Well it was wonderful spending days with Jade in Blacksmiths and the roast at Yvette and Ian's was yummy. It's wonderful to see both my girls so content and happy.
We headed off early to Sydney, it's so fascinating seeing the world from bus height. All those fences suddenly have scenes behind, people's backyards showing a variety of lifestyles. There was one old house with security screens covered in spider webs, and a bare front veranda except for two, obviously favourite, old lounge chairs. I could almost imagine the old couple sitting there of an afternoon watching the world pass.

Driving through Sydney was a hair raising experience. Michelle was quite calm as usual but I was stressing as we passed closely by trees and telegraph poles, then,when our mirror missed another trucks mirror by a whisker, I almost lost my bundle. Ahh. Anyway, we got to Janette's safely and everyone was suitably impressed. Michelle took Janette and Erin for a run in the bus which aparently involved a 16 point turn, they've changed the road since Michelle was there last.
We had a stormy trip south to Mittagong, Michelle's really had an extreme lesson in bus driving. But staying down near Lake Alexandra was beautiful. We woke up on Michelle's birthday to these beautiful scenes. We had a delicious birthday roast and a lamington cake at Mum and Dad's Michelle felt  very spoilt..... that was the plan.

Michelle suggested we add a 'Where's BusTed?', so here is the first one just for fun.

Hope you're enjoying travelling with us. We are totally enjoying ourselves but do think of all our friends and family. We wish for each of you the same joy that we are experiencing.

Till next time, Michelle and Ellen.

Friday, 12 April 2013

We're Off

Yeah we're on the road!
Hello everyone.












  
After a month of waiting and waiting. Theodora bus (BusTed) looks fantastic we've completely fixed her up to suit our needs and designs and thanks to Pete's special touch she is running like a dream. Here's some before and after shots.

 




We headed off on Friday the 12th of April (Jade's 19th birthday)  via Tea Gardens to visit Jamie, Kowan and the kids and show Theodora off, then on to Blacksmiths, Newcastle to see Jade.
Stayed our first night out in the real world, carpark at Blacksmiths beach.
Michelle is so relaxed and comfortable with driving and parking overnight she's amazing, I tend to be more nervous. It's interesting fluctuating between excitment and fear.
The control centre in BusTed ( no cockpit in our bus) is so noisy. We shout to speak to each other and our attempt to listen to music failed miserably. Going to need much bigger speakers.
It's fantastic to be moving, we'll be in Newcastle till Monday with a lovely roast on offer at Yvette's on Sunday night then on to Sydney to see Michelle's sister Janette and her family.
More later
Shell and Ellen.