Vanland

Here are some snaps from the weekend. As you can see above the boys seem to enjoy pottering around in the little carpeted living section of the van. Its a perfect kid sized space to hang out and do some lego. When we lived in a much larger space the boys tended to play under my feet and that hasn't changed. So far living in a small space hasn't been much of a challenge. The main problems have come from lack of facilities ie running water. I think I'll dedicate a whole post to this issue! Not being able to wash your hands or face or anything without first collecting water (from our neighbours tap), boiling a kettle (btw we have to turn off the heater to do this so we don't short out the power) then putting it in a bowl makes many normally instantaneous tasks a much longer & tedious exercise.

Luckily the many inconveniences associated with camping in our van are outweighed (so far) by the soulful benefits of our leafy location. Next to our house is a track down to the Merri Creek and we are a quick 5 min scoot to CERES. CERES is an environmental park that has an organic cafe, twice weekly farmers market, large wild playspace for the kids, great plant nursery and wholefood food-store, workshops and much more. It a powerhouse of progressive ideas and family friendly facilities. I'm sure I have banged on already about the other things we love about being in our spot, the proximity to school, Lygon St shops, across the road from the park etc etc. We feel very lucky to be able to enjoy a bushy community setting whilst living so close to the city - what more could we want?

Some classic 3 brothers WWF action on their parents bed (note to self must find a fabulous bedspread to up the gypsy style stakes in this space)

Back to the problems column, one big one is that there are delays getting our street address sorted out. This means no post, no bins, no electricity (we are depending on our lovely neighbours so far), no water (again neighbours) etc. So far we are doing trips to the tip once a week. Other new & exciting trips of note are to the coin laundry, swimming pool (showers) and Granny Ros's nearby flat (showers).

It's been raining all week so mud management is another issue consuming my time. The dog has to get her paws wiped every time she is allowed inside, gumboots are removed yet still the mud creeps in…. So far our crazy caravan experiment has been hard work but totally worth it. There are uncomfortable moments but on the whole we are feeling close and adventurous and tough and tired and happy!