Arrival

Whilst we were living in the motel with no home we were feeling quite uneasy because we had no idea if we could actually manoeuvre this beast onto our block. If it hadn't have worked we would have been homeless until we had found a rental house. It would also be a big financial set-back to have to pay rent. Luckily as you can see above we did squeeze it in but it was a nail-biting experience inching it into place.

Step one we had to get hold of a chainsaw and chop down this beautiful almond tree in full blossom. It wasn't an easy decision but it would have had to come down when the house is built so we felt less guilty with this in mind.

Next the chainsaw had to be applied to the back fence. It was sawn in sections so we could put it back up once the caravan was in (hopefully) in place.

Right on time the caravan turned up. It had been driven from Ballerat (where we bought it) by two brave people who are unafraid of towing giant caravans. One of the guys trains people to drive semi-trailers and he was the man to back it up the lane way with the help of walkie talkies and plenty of encouragement.

The neighbours gathered to witness the novel sight

Its hard to convey how stressful it was simply to watch let alone be the person manoeuvring such a beast in reverse. The driver got a bit overwhelmed at times and had to take breaks. The hardest bit was getting the angle right to get such a long thing around a corner, keeping the caravan, car and neighbouring fences intact.

Finally after many attempts and breaks and inching this way and that, our new home entered our patch of land. The boys then had to set up ropes to turn it further, winching it into place. We were extremely grateful and relived. Step one of our crazy plan had succeeded!

Since then we have set up two tents (you can see Richard's dad above helping). They are for storage outside of the van. I had imagined this one would take our bikes until I realised they need a wall to lean against.

Here I am enjoying some winter sun outside the tent set up in front of the van. It has been fun nesting in and I will have more photos and stories to share soon of caravan living. We have now been in for a whole week!