Project Oz - 2019

I thought we had done well “down sizing” when we made the decision to sell up on the Sunshine Coast and move to Finley NSW to be closer to family and have a base for visiting southern Australia.....almost 2 years ago. But, with the overwhelming decision now made to travel full time, “down sizing” has new meaning. We are giving up the home we are renting, selling almost all our furniture and keeping only a few keep-sakes and sentimental things in storage.  Minimilism doesn’t sit too well with me, but I am trying very hard to see it all as just “stuff”.  Clothes, shoes, furnishing, books, craft, kitchenware, these are the hardest things for me to part with.  Derek is much more realistic, but is still being very kind to me when it comes to not being able to let go of something.

We have given ourselves 2 months to sort ourselves out before we do our first smaller trip at the end of February. We are not doing a Big Lap of Australia as we want more flexibility to fit in visiting family and friends and with the Aussie seasons. 

I am calling this year Project Oz. I am more able to prioritise myself if I feel I am working on a project, much as I did when I worked fulltime. I approach it with a more organised and “make it happen” attitude rather than just thinking of it as “this is life” , the reality is just too overwhelming.  Derek assures me I will feel differently once we are on the Slow Road Ahead permanently.

Merry Christmas

The beautiful photo is from our Christmas Tree, the grand kids did a great job.

Fun Fact #2 Dead Strange Names

Australia has a very turbulent heritage and it is recalled in many of its place names - “Murdering Point”,  “Skull Hole” both in Qld and “Murder Dog” in NSW to name just a few - you can see where I am going with this!

We wonder whether this one would make the short list in 2018.

Just before the township of Coolah NSW

Fun Fact #1 With a Twist

I’m starting a new segment to share amazing odds and ends we come across during our travels.

To start off,  Moree in outback NSW has a Christmas connection with a Twist.....

Charles Dickens’ youngest son is buried in the cemetry at Moree.  Edward Bulwer Lytton Dickens (13 March 1852 – 23 January 1902). He immigrated to Australia at the age of 16, and eventually entered politics, serving as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1889 to 1894. He died in poverty, childless, at the age of 49...Wikipedia.   It was an unmarked grave, until distant cousins from Sydney errected the obelisk.

It was a must see for me after an overnight stop in Moree.

What a difference a day makes

Our trip back home - sunset near Glen Innes NSW

And today, same time,  one hour north of Finley

Peak Hill Gold Mine

We didn’t find it difficult to spend an hour in Peak Hill. The original gold mines on Peak Hill NSW operated between 1893 and 1917, producing about 60,000 ounces from 500,000 tonnes of rock. They were reopened as opencut in 1996 to 2002 earning $55,000,000 from 4.9 million tonnes of rock. The achievements of modern machinery.

The site is just a mere 300m from the town centre, and you can wander the site freely, which contains 5 opencut mines. It was great to be this close, and couldn’t help scouring the ground for that missed nugget as they say there is still more gold in the remainder of the hill to be found.