Our two first nights in the car

The first two nights in our new car is over, and it has been quite an experience so far. On Friday we arrived Southport on the Gold Coast late at night. We had found a camping site on the Internet, but due to the dark, and I guess also the tiered people in the car, we couldn't find it. We drove around looking for other camping sites, but everywhere we went, they were closed. We were tiered and wanted to get some sleep so we drove around more remote places to find a spot where we could park for the night. When we finally found a spot in a neighborhood close to a park with public toilet we tried to go to sleep. Our backpacks were just thrown into the car, so we tried to lie down in the middle of everything. With no curtains we felt like people could watch us from the street and we got a bit paranoid... JT could not sleep in the back so he slept a little bit in the front seat. I managed to sleep after a while, but only very light. I remember I was thinking "What the h*** are we doing!?! This is crazy!" In the despair of not knowing what to do and where to sleep I started having doubts about this whole living-in-a-car lifestyle. 

Saturday, in other words; yesterday, we woke up (if you can call it to wake up when you haven't really slept) around 5.30 or something. I wanted to try to drive (the day before JT drove) so we drove around the block a bit and then we started to head for a place where we could buy some storage boxes and other stuff for the car, and a place to wash the car. When the car was washed we went to this big store where we got boxes, and then we packed everything out of the backpacks. After some hours in the parking-lot, with red shoulder that had been forgotten in all the box-business, we started looking for a place where we could find a mattress and some curtains, or fabric to make curtains. Three people tried to explain the way to the same store, but a misunderstanding regarding the motorway made it very hard to find. We finally found it and bought a mattress and some curtains that were on sale. It started raining, for the first time since we got to Australia, so we went back into Southport and found the camping site that we tried to find the night before (the reason we didn't find it was because we were looking in the wrong place). We got our spot for the car and we made the curtains fit. We now have privacy and, in our opinion, it looks pretty good :) Tonight we slept like babies! All the doubts from the first night are gone! We have made this car into a home in just a few hours :) 

We have to stay here in Southport until Monday because we have to go to the Department of Transport to get the car signed in our name, and we have to do that in Queensland. After that we're planning to go a bit south before heading up north. I don't know where we're going first, but we want to go to Byron Bay and Nimbin (the Amsterdam of Australia) and anywhere along the way where there's a beach calling for us :)

Love our life :)

Lotte  

Thinking about the journey...

Sitting in our room, relaxing and thinking about the whole journey from we first decided to travel, to being here in Australia. Feels like a long time but it has also gone very fast. Feels as odd as it sounds… I am so grateful for all the help we have got from our families and friends on our way. We stayed for two periods at my parent’s place. That was like a hostel with laundry service and food-serving. My sister opened up her home to us, even if they have a busy household, she also made us food, we have been spoiled for quite some time. Then Lotte’s parents let us stay there for two and a half month. Here we also got showered with love and care, homemade meals and take-away. We got to save up a lot more money than we expected because Lotte’s parents insisted on paying for everything all the time. All of this is true blessings, but the things I appreciated the most was the time we spent together, with all of our families, brother and sisters and their children, doing stuff together and making memories. Thanks all of you, you’re forever in my heart.

It’s also a blessing to have so many friends near and far giving us support, help and tips on where to go and what to take into account. I appreciate all good advices from our more traveling experienced friends. And the last time we were in Kristiansand visiting Mari and Nedvin they introduced us to frisbeegolf. This is a sport I have become to enjoy very much. Brought my discs with me to Australia and hope to continue with the sport here.

To travel gives me a lot of impressions and new things to relate to but also give me time to think about stuff I probably should have taken a settlement with before. So my purpose with, and my goal for this journey isn’t just to explore the world but also to explore myself. My ambition for changing my environment is to brake free and change my thoughts and conception (and the limitation) I have about myself, my potential and what life can be. I want to be in and indulge myself to the Now, where the past nor the future can be. In the Now; all that ever is. Because in the Now there is no worries, no regrets and no room for doubts. In the Now life’s potential flows free in an eternal never-ending experience. My goal is through cultivation and being true to myself to reach a state of mind where I am in balance and harmony. Thank you to all of you that follows us.

JT

Leaving Brisbane soon

Our stay in Brisbane is soon coming to an end. It has been an interesting experience being here for us that looks at Oslo as a big city. I think Brisbane is nice, easy to get around, both walking and with public transportation, and it's easy to get the overview where things are. There's nice parks here as well, Roma Street Parkland was our definite favorite, with all the beautiful flowers and the numerous and curious iguanas. It still feels a little bit like a ordinary vacation, but now when we are moving out of the hostel into a car I guess I will feel that the new lifestyle begins. Looking forward to getting to the beaches and smaller places, 1,7 million people in Brisbane made it a bit too crowded for me after a while. We have really enjoyed our stay here at Kookaburra Inn. The location is nice and central, and the staff have been so friendly and helpful.

A new lesson learned today; we didn't think ahead when we were going to buy a car so we thought we could withdraw the money from the ATMs, but with our visa cards we apparently have a limit on 1000 Australian dollars withdrawal per day, so we're short because we`re getting the car tomorrow. So we have to withdraw the rest from the teller at the bank, and they informed us that it would cost us 150-200 dollars extra. So we are really in the start of our learning to travel, hehe. So the next project is to get Australian bank accounts. Maybe there is a "Travelling for dummies book" on the market..?

JT

Any suggestions?

By the way... If anybody knows any good places to go, things to do or people to meet in Queensland we'll be grateful for any suggestions:)

We just bought a car!

Yes! We just bought a Mitshubishi Pajero :)

We found the car on the Internet and we planned to meet the owner this afternoon. We were so excited I was giggling the whole time while we were waiting (around an hour or so, because he had some trouble finding the way to our hostel). We had already started to make plans for what to do with our new car before we even saw it so in our minds we had already bought it; and when that's the way we feel - that's the way it's going to be according to the law of attraction (which is as powerful and real as the law of gravity). The law of attraction says that whatever you give your attention to (which actually means what you feel) you will bring into your life-experience. So today we felt that we had bought this great car, and at the end of the day we had actually bought a great car :) We are so pleased. We'll stay at Kookaburra Inn until Friday and then we'll get our car and start heading out of the city and to the coast and the beaches :) We have learned now, just like we did after living three years in Oslo, that we are not city-people. We like it more quiet and closer to nature:)

Today JT bought a new t-shirt at Kathmandu with a fabulous print: Living the dream. I just LOVE it! That t-shirt just says it all! And on the back of our new car there's a sticker that says: Count your blessings. We could count for days! We have so much to be grateful for. We are truly blessed :)

Life is good :)

The other day JT got a language lesson. He went into a restaurant to use the bathroom and asked the waitress if he could borrow the bathroom (that's a direct translation from what you would say in Norway). The waitress then asked him where he wanted to take it. JT didn't understand what she ment, and stood there really lost, mumbled and went into the bathroom thinking that it was an australian joke he didn't understand. When we went pass the same restaurant today we finally got it: in english you ask if you can USE the bathroom, not borrow it! Not everything can be directly translated from norwegian to english... Even though it took us a couple of days to figure that out, we don't ever stop learning new things (I guess we are slow-learners)

The next thing we really have to learn is to drive on the left side of the road. Scary!!  

Lotte

A small update on our new life so far

Monday, Oct 22nd 2012

It’s now 7 o’clock in the afternoon (the Internet is down right now so when I get to post this it will be later, or maybe even tomorrow), we’re relaxing in bed after a long walk around Brisbane (including a little shopping spree at KathmanduJ) . Today we have been looking for a campervan all morning, sending so many e-mails that when people answered we didn’t remember which car was which. Tomorrow we will decide what to do next with the replies we got. We’re too tiered to think straight now… J

Yesterday, Oct 21^st we went to Stradbroke Island. We spent some perfect hours on the beach and were finally able to swim in the sea without freezing to death (the water is very cold in Norway, especially on the west-coast where we lived). It was a long journey to get there; first we had to take the train to Cleveland (1 hour), then a short bus-ride to the ferry and then we took the Gold Cats-ferry to Stradbroke Island (23 min) and then, finally, the bus again to get to the beach (maybe 30 min or so). On our way home I actually fell asleep on the train, and I didn’t even sleep on the 7 hour 40 min flight from Singapore to Brisbane so I’m not the one who can sleep anywhere, but I was so tiered and worn out after a long day in the sunshine, I just couldn’t help it. It was a wonderful day and the long journey made us more eager to get our own car so that we’ll be able to stay at, or at least close to the beach all the timeJ

-          Lotte 

We're in Brisbane, Australia

Wow! Now we're finally here... It feels a bit odd to actually BE HERE in AUSTRALIA! We've been talking about it for such a long time that when it finally happens I'm so excited that I almost can't believe it. When we were on the plain earlier and I saw that we were flying over Australia on the map it really became reality - we weren't actually IN Australia, but we were certainly OVER Australia and that felt like a big step for me:)
Now we're waiting to check into our room at Kookaburra Inn in Brisbane. Can't wait to take a shower and wash off the airplane-smell, and start this adventure with a clean body and a clean and clear mind :P Today I guess we'll be relaxing and just letting the feeling of this new life settle:) The temperature is good and the sun is shining. What more can we wish for!?!
-Lotte

Waiting in Singapore

We're now at the airport in Singapore. The flight to Brisbane take off in an hour or so, and we are very excited :) We went to the city (we arrived here very early in the morning, and the flight leaves late in the evening) but we were too tiered from a 12 hour flight with no sleep so we went back to the airport and got some sleep in the snooze lounge (it also started to rain...) We have to go to gate now:) Woohoo!

It starts NOW!

Our backpacks are ready, and in a couple of hours we'll be on the plane heading for Brisbane (via Copenhagen and Singapore)! We're on our way!!

ONE WEEK TO GO!

I can't believe it! In one week we'll be packing our backpacks, getting ready for take off the next day. We have been waiting for this for such a long time that I got used to waiting, so now that the waiting is over it feels almost unreal. I guess sometimes it's easier to believe in something that's not present than to believe in your own dreams when they're right in front of you, in the present. It's a wonderful feeling... manifestation.... When I think of it we manifest things all the time, so it's weird how little faith we have in ourself and our ability to manifest. We get an idea for something we want to have or experience, and even though we actually get what we want (I would say, most of the time) we don't think that our dreams will come true every time a new idea or wish pops up... What if we took for granted that our dreams would come true.. Wouldn't life become more fun and filled with more happiness and joy..? We could use our time looking forward to "manifestation-day" instead of being frustrated about how we "never get what we want" (cuz that's not true at all, and you know it!). We have used this waiting-period in our life to get excited about the journey that we know is ahead of us, but I'm not going to lie and tell you that we never felt doubt or got sick of waiting; we did. But every time we felt like our dreams were a million miles away and it did't seem to get any closer we reminded each other of our truth; when you feel the joy of manifesting, even though it's not here, the manifestation will come - our thoughts and feelings need to be on the same frequency as our dreams for our dreams to come (and dreams are always on the frequency of joy). And here we are! One week and one day to go... It's amazing.... -Lotte