We Are Alive, Well, and Enjoying Our New Home!!

Hi Everyone and Angie too: We departed Melbourne 28 May shortly after giving each other exceptionally short haircuts.
What you do not see in the first picture is the 10' trailer containing all of our "worldly possessions." Enroute to BTi we stopped for a couple of nights in Nimbin to check out the alternative life style reported to exist - it definitely does exist! We also stopped at Anthony's to deliver all of his - our former - surround sound system, and
Angie's 20" flat screen (the picture is fantastic), and Angie's VCR. The next few nights were in a cabin at Forest Glen climbing over all of our "worldly possessions" and wondering where it would all fit. After some minor hiccups we took delivery on Friday, 4 June, and slept very peacefully in our new home that first night parked outside of our cabin which was still filled with our "worldly possessions". Saturday was frantic! We had to vacate the cabin by noon; we had to have everything stowed in either in the BT or the Effie in time to move from the cabin area to the caravan area and get settled before dark. At 4:00 pm I told Jackie to just start putting the boxes onto the floor so that we could move before 5:00 pm. The pictures at the cabin area and inside our new home provide some insight into what we were attempting to accomplish in one day - no way! The next week was spent packing and unpacking the Effie - our onsite storage as we stowed our Land Yacht. Every night all of the boxes were piled on the seats and in the canopy and every morning they were put onto the slab so we could see what was left. It soon became clear that even with all of our cabinet space (we opted for lots of cabinets and access doors and minimal counter space), we simply had too much gear for the space. Anthony promptly announced: "All donations cheerfully accepted." Boy did he receive a lot of donations - cooking stuff, tools, storage boxes, et cetera. Additionally, we shipped back to Melbourne two large boxes and two large duffle bags. AND, we are still working on cutting back on what we brought. I anticipate that when we return to Melbourne in November, a lot of "stuff" will be left behind before we go to Tasmania and Cape York next year. After a week of stowing we deserved a break. Saturday morning we departed Forest Glen and met up with Anthony and family at Neerum Creek Bush Retreat for the Q-bday weekend. A fantastic weekend was had by all. On Sunday we were joined by Cracker and Kim for the afternoon - note the pics of the boys under our BT looking at the Webasto fuel tank. We departed Tuesday and went to Conrad's place to have our wind deflector installed; then went to Broadwater caravan park for the balance of the week. Great place to stay; we were backed to the beach. 21 June found us back at Forest Glen for the week as we had planned on going into BTi for a three-week fine-tune <grin>. Didn't happen as planned as I had some dental emergencies. 25 June was incredible. The head photographer (Rob) from Express Publications flew up from Sydney and met us at 8:00 am for a photo shoot of Big Red. After the detail photos, we hitched up the Land Yacht and took off for the Glass House Mountains. You should have been there - picture (hopefully it will be on the October/November cover of Australian 4WD Monthly) Big Red towing TGINTL's Land Yacht at 60k down the dirt bull dusty track and Rob is in the middle of the track with a 2' long lens shooting us as we get closer and closer and at the last minute he steps out of the way as we go past. We did that several times at different locations. The effect was a picture of Big Red outlined by the white of the BT, and dust is completely surrounding us to create a halo. Will not find out for a while if we have a cover shot or an inside pic as part of the article. We returned to Forest Glen for lunch; Rob spoke to his editor and then requested to shoot our Land Yacht. It turns out that Express Publications also owns Caravan and Motorhome and apparently hasn't had the opportunity to review a Bushtracker for many years. Of course we agreed; promptly called Tracy at BTi and suggested he send technical photos and information to supplement the article. We are now at Cotton Tree for the next couple of weeks restowing each and every nook and cranny, dealing with my dental issues, and generally enjoying our new lifestyle. In addition to the interior pictures which are self-explanatory (if anyone has questions send me an email), I have included three of the annexe which is built in three layers (totally open with only the netting, totally open with the plastic windows closed so that you can have light and see out during the day when the weather is lousy, and completely closed for privacy), some exterior photos that are labeled, and three of our Effie during a bush driving course (it was a lot steeper than it looks in the photos). Hope you enjoy the photos; we have enjoyed living through the experience.Look forward to seeing all of you at Copeton. Cheers, TGINTL/TGINTL 2 JAY/JAK We are currently exploring the vastness of Australia. Details of our adventure are posted at www.geocities.com/luvntravln