And with that - she is gone...

I have departed Australia on May 1st and returned to Canada on a semi-permanent basis. What does this mean? It means I'm here for a year or so until I figure out what my next adventure will look like. I'm wrapping up this blog as my Australian adventure has ended. Check out my new blog for what my return to Canada has been like and for details of what is in the wind...g'day mates!

Wrapping Up Life in Oz

So my time here in Australia is coming to a close after 4 years of adventure down under. I leave the country in about 35 hours headed for home. I have found a new home for Dundee with a family of four who emigrated to Australia from England last year. They had to give up two kitties to come here (quarantine is just atrocious here not to mention the long flight) so it just felt right. They have a big house with a big yard in a quiet neighborhood, so he will have plenty to explore. I was able to go back and visit him and he seemed quite settled and a bit nervous when I went to leave like he didn't want me to take him away and stuff him in that car again, ha ha. I spent some time with his new mistress and she is quite taken with him. He really is a lovely kitty, and though I am sad to see him go, I know he will be loved and treated well.

I'm in my apartment for the last night, surrounded by piles of crap, my baggage, and my temporary bed - air mattress covered with my foamy - the foamy I had in the Karma van actually, it has served me well. I will drop it off tomorrow at the home of one of the ladies as I think they could use it in the living room since they have no furniture and sit on the floor. Most of the cleaning is done, and I should be able to finish up in the morning. I have to lug everything down to my car, but it won't take too long. My suitcase and backpack are quite heavy and I expect I'll be paying extra for them, but it was unavoidable. I will be traveling for 4 months so needed to pack for that, and I am mailing out 5 boxes of stuff I could do without until I settle down in Edmonton. I'm also a bit of a clothes hog...

I have a busy day tomorrow - finish the cleaning, lunch with my bestie, henna on my hands with the ladies, supper and drinks with the friend I'm staying with tomorrow night, and a bunch of errands sprinkled in there somewhere. I will be so very happy just to get to the airport and checked in. Then I know there is nothing else to be done but fly home. I just hope our plane doesn't disappear...yikes...my mother is meeting me at the airport, and a little bird told me there could be a couple others. I arrive at midnight Friday night, and with customs and baggage, it will be a late night, but I just wanted someone to be there. After all, I've been gone for 4 years and haven't seen my mother in 5 years. I am so very looking forward to that momma hug!

I thought about writing a retrospective about Australia, but think I'll wait until I'm at the airport looking for something to do while I wait. Then my head will be a little more clear I hope and the words will flow...

Sewing With The Ladies

So I've been selling most of my things before leaving Australia to move back to Canada and one of my favorite items was my sewing machine. I listed it on Gumtree (like Kijiji back home) and before long I had two very orthodox Muslim men show up to buy the sewing machine. They wanted me to demonstrate the features of the machine, and then they tried it out themselves, speaking among themselves in their own language. it was a bit surreal for sure, and I thought that was the end of the story, however it has evolved into so much more. 

Some days later, I received a phonecall one evening from the wife of one of the men who came for the machine, and she said her husband bought the machine for her to sew but she had not sewn with one before and was having trouble with the stiches and the thread breaking constantly. This is a common problem when the machine is not threaded properly, or the settings are not set up properly for the type of fabric or stitching desired. She had found my name written on the box so called me to ask for help. I attempted to help her over the phone, however it was difficult as I couldn't see what she had done, and she couldn't describe accurately what was happening. I asked her where she lived and it was just one suburb away, only 1.5kms so I told her I would come over and go through the operation of the machine with her. She was quite happy about this so I drove on over and was greeted by a lovely young woman in full Muslim dress as well, without the face covering. She and her friend were trying to sew, but the machine kept breaking the threads. I had a look and it turned out they were using the embroidery stitches and stepping too hard on the pedal, so the machine could not keep up and snapped the thread. They did not want to embroider, simply sew straight stitches, so we sorted that out and the machine sewed well after that. We then visited for a time while 5 children were milling about the room, getting into things, needing their mother's attention. S  owned the machine and had 4 boys aged 1, 2, 3, and 5 while the other woman had a 6 month old boy. When I told them I had been sewing for many years and that I had made many different things such as dresses, quilts, clothing, and so on, they were quite impressed. A had sewn before in India, but with a different kind of machine and had taken no real lessons. They hauled out a huge bundle of lace curtains and said they wished to make dresses for themselves out of the lace, with a lining attached. They did not have fabric for the lining so would have to shop for this. The curtains were not particularly suitable for a dress, but then we agreed it might well be a practice dress and they could buy different fabric to make the real dress. We then wrapped up the conversation and I went home. Shortly after I arrived at home, S called me and asked if I could come back tomorrow to show them how to cut out the pieces for the dress. I told them sure, no problem, given I am not currently working and finding the days rather long until I return home to Canada. 

The following day I headed over and spent the day with the ladies and their 5 children while we made up a pattern for a dress by tracing around another dress onto the lace and onto a sheet I had brought to practice sewing with. I had brought a large box of crayons and some paper to keep the children busy. We saat on the floor as there was no table and chairs, nor was there living room furniture other than a couple of side tables. They had many questions about sewing and sewing tools such as straight pins and a stitch ripper. A could not speak much English so S translated for her most of the time. She could understand much of what we talked about but could not speak much other than a few words here and there. The hours passed and we were able to cut out the lace pieces and the lining pieces out of the green sheet I brought. We needed a zipper to start with so we organized to go to the shop tomorrow to purchase a zipper. Then they surprised me with some supper - noodles and vegetables, which were tasty enough but oh so hot and spicey! S said she did not put much chilli in it but it still burned my mouth. They did take pity on me and gave me a fork to eat with out of my own plate while they gathered around a big plate on the floor and ate with their hands as is the tradition in their culture. Along with my plate of food they gave me a bottle of Coke, which was rather odd, but much welcomed to settle down the fire in my mouth. At one point one of their friends came in for a short visit just before I was leaving and was insistent that the lining should be white, even after I told the ladies it would look like a western wedding dress. The ladies agreed with me, despite their friend's protests. 

The next day I returned and it was agreed that I would run out to pick up some zippers and come back and sew together the bodice. They had never sewed in a zipper or used a zipper foot attachment on a machine so videoed the entire process to help them remember. They did this as well when we were cutting out the pieces. They had also spoken to their husbands about what we were sewing and the husbands found it rather hilarious that we were making dresses out of curtains. They told them they were foolish and that they would be happy to purchase nice fabrics to make beautiful dresses out of. The ladies then explained that they would simply practice with the lace and sheets so they would know what to do with nicer fabrics. S's husband told her he was going to stand her in front of the window in her curtain dress. I showed them photos of Scarlett O'Hara in her curtain dress and then Carol Burnett's spoof of Scarlett's curtain dress with the curtain rod left in. We all had many laughs over this comparison, particularly given Scarlett's dress was also green! We were able to finish the bodice pieces, sew the zipper in, and before we knew it, the day had passed again. I was unable to come back the following day because I had my apartment sale for most of the day so we made plans to continue sewing on Sunday. 

We discovered that A lived just one street away from me and wanted to attend the apartment sale to see what I had for sale. She and her husband arrived at the sale and her husband spoke very good English. He told me that he was so very happy with A's mood and attitude this week as she had been very shy and quiet since arriving in Australia last year and he worried for her. He said that she has been talking non-stop about me and about sewing and how much she wants a sewing machine, so he went out and bought her one and surprised her with it that morning. A was very excited about this surprise and could not wait to get sewing with it. Then she proceeded to buy over half of what I had for sale - I did give her some great bargains as I was anxious to move things along so I didn't have to box it all up for Salvos. (Second hand store run by Salvation Army). She was very excited at all that she bought and how generous her husband was. He talked a fair bit about how shy A was even in the hospital when she gave birth to their son, and would not speak to the nursing staff. Now she is talking a great deal this week and he knows it was because of our sewing lessons together. This was a proud moment for me, to have inspired this shy woman into opening herself up and voicing her needs to her husband who bought her a sewing machine simply because it would make her happy. She also showed me a little girl's dress that she and S sewed the night before after I left, using the techniques I had showed them. A was so excited to show me a photo of it. It looked great! 

I was unwell on Sunday to agreed to come over on Monday. We were able to finally finish the dress and everyone was pleased with the results. The dress did turn out well, however it wasn't anything I would ever wear. The process was more about teaching them various sewing techniques such as hems, zippers, easement, gathering stitches, finishing the edges with zigzag stitches, and so on. S tried the dress on and showed me how it looked and it fit her perfectly. She was very happy with the dress and didn't think that it looked like curtains anymore at all. I have to agree! They fed me once again, this time with potato and rice pancakes, and spicy potato and some kind of peanut sauce, which was far too hot for me, but the pancakes with potato were quite good. 

All through the sewing lessons we also learned a great deal about each other and our respective cultures. Both women were happy to openly discuss what it meant for them to be Muslim women, and what the traditions were. S's husband did not want her photographed by anyone so I was not able to take a photo of her with the dress on. Instead she hung it on a hangar and we photographed it that way. Her husband also did not want photos of his children taken either, however they are able to facetime with family back in India and Saudi Arabia. S and A told me all about their traditional arranged marriages. For S, her father answered an ad in the newspaper that her husband's parents had placed, looking for a wife that was a certain height, weight, and willing to move to Australia and have children. For A, her parents met her husband locally and chose him for her. Neither woman saw their husband until after the marriage ceremony when she would see him for the first time. There was also a dowry that was expected from each bride - usually their bedroom furniture, and a certain amount of clothing - saris. Both women spoke about how strange it would be to have a "love marriage", and that they trusted their parents to chose a good husband for them. 

When I went back to sew for the third day, the desk we were sewing at was moved to another window. I was told that the window we were in previously faced the mosque and that other people could see in through the window and S's husband did not want her to be seen. While we are in the house with just other women and children, they are not required to cover their face, and seem quite happy to take off the chador as well, so have just a head scarf on with their saris. S then explained to me that there are only four types of men that can see her face and hands - her husband, her father, her brothers, and her male children. There are also very clear rules about who may touch who as well. Her husband must not touch any other woman than his mother and sisters and his daughters. He is not permitted to touch his sister-in-laws or to speak to them, and S is not permitted to speak to or touch her brother-in-laws or her father-in-law. He is also not permitted to touch any of his neices on either side. I realized I came close to breaking those rules when I shook A's hand as she came to my apartment sale, I was going to shake her husband's hand but immediately got a read that it shouldn't happen, so backed off. Good thing too as I wouldn't want to offend him or my new friends. 

We also had a discussion about the idea of sewing and how S's mother-in-law was very unhappy that she was learning to sew as she felt she would not be able to sew and to look after her four children, and wanted S to give up the sewing because her grandchildren were more important. I was happy to hear that S refused to do this and assured her mother-in-law that her grandchildren were well taken care of. She said she had to tell her mother-in-law that I gave her the machine, and that no money was wasted on it. She then told me that she had to confess this to her husband who was unhappy for the lie, but will not make an issue out of it with his mother. S told me her mother-in-law wants to know every dollar that is spent and must approve of her daughter-in-law's purchases when her husband was away. It just so happened that S's husband was in Canada for meetings for the rest of the month. She spoke about feeling quite lonely with him away as it is too difficult to get out with her four young children, given she does not yet drive. She would like to learn so I encouraged her to seek driving lessons as she said she already knows her husband will be yelling the instructions! I told her this is pretty common among western couples as well. She chuckled at that. 

We also talked about how they feel when westerners do not want to be near them, shy away, won't talk to them, and think they are terrorists. I told them that while I understand there is a great deal of racism in Australia (it is quite ridiculous at times) but I think part of the issue is that most communication among westerners depends on body language and when the entire body, including the face, is covered - we cannot easily tell if they even want us to speak to them, whether they are happy or sad, and if they want to be approached. It was interesting to note that while outside the home and among men who are not in their four categories of being permitted to see their face and hands, they are fully cloaked from head to toe, but then at home, the face is uncovered as are the hands, and at times the headscarf slips off while working and it is not immediately put back on, and both ladies were breastfeeding and just whipped out their breasts to feed the babies, sometimes taking care to lift their headscarf over the breast, but not always. 

The ladies had many questions about western women and had no idea what dating meant - they thought it only referred to sex, so I explained that one a little better, although many dates may end in sex, heh heh, and how things have changed over the generations with regard to our own traditions of marriage, virginity, sexual education, chaperoned dates, etc. It was so interesting to speak with them, and I think both sides were quite uninhibited in our questions which was great. I was able to gain a very unique inside look into their culture with no judgement imposed by either side, simply an exchange of information among women. A's husband commented while at my place for the sale - how do you know what she is saying when I do not speak Urdu (their language). I told him simply - we women have a short-hand that trancends the spoken language and I had come to know his wife over the past week as we spent many hours together (6-7 each day!). Much of our communication had been hand guestures and I've always been pretty good at interpreting body language, and she has had her face covering off all week while we were together. When she arrived at the sale, she took it off immediately. 

The ladies wish to know how to knit next, so I will spend more time with them. They also want to send to India for a sari for me, and have invited me to come back to visit the day before I fly out so they can do henna on my hands as a going away present. Lovely! 

These last months have been very lonesome for me and often times quite a struggle to get through each day with my anxiety however spending time with these ladies this past week has been an amazing adventure and I am forever grateful for having met them and taken the time to show them what I could. They presented me with presents yesterday, a bracelet, earrings, scarf pin, and a shawl, all from Saudi Arabia. 

Final Weeks!

I am nearly counting the hours...cannot wait to get home to the motherland! I've had my first apartment sale, and the last one is this coming Saturday. I've managed to sell a great deal of my things, most of the stuff worth anything much, with just my bed, sofa, and fridge to sell for some good coin, and then all the little tidbits, odds and ends. What doesn't go this weekend will be dropped off at the nearest Salvos (Salvation Army Op Shop aka second hand store). Then I'll be pared down to the sofa and fridge, and whatever is going with me in my suitcase and backpacks. I have held onto a few basic dishes to get me through. I've cleared out most of my kitchen cupboards of food - no more baking or fancy cooking. I'm not sure if all of my stuff will fit in my suitcase and backpacks, so might do a dry run after the yard sale when there's not much left in the apartment to get in the way. 

I have weeded through my clothes and most all that I have left is what I'm taking with me. I have taken 4 bags to Salvos, and another big bag to my friend with the bus. I had entirely too much clothes, and yet I'm still buying more. Much of what I wore here though is not that useful in Canada as the weather will never be as hot as Australia, so no need to slog it across the Pacific Ocean. I'm also not planning to work in government so got rid of all that stupid clothes I bought for work and replaced it with clothing that is more my style - bohemian/hippy. I have ditched all my tiered skirts though as they were just too long and I kept tripping in the damn things. They weren't able to be hemmed as they all had edging and lace. Just as well - too much fabric in a big tiered skirt. I also embraced the "fisherman pants" and find them quite comfy. I've been stocking my closet mostly from a shop near here called Tree of Life. They stock their items from Asia and Indonesia where they have contracts with women who sew the items. I like that. 

I've finished with work. I've decided that I cannot return to work before going home. My anxiety is just not settled enough and I struggle just to enter the building. My last technical day of work is April 30th. I'm having a going away party at St. Kilda beach, but not really inviting anyone from work. It's a long story, and not one I want to write about here. I don't expect a big crowd as I hadn't made many friends here in Melbourne. Most of those coming will be friends I made in Alice Springs that have since moved here. I've been knitting up a storm for months now, and have all but wrecked my poor hands with it. I have carpal tunnel syndrome that has flared quite badly now, and I have numbness most of the time whether I'm knitting or not, so need to take a break from it once I've used up the last of my wool. I have a ton of yarn left but posted an ad on Gumtree and already have someone who wants it, so will post that out tomorrow. I love knitting so much though, and hate idle hands, so not sure what I'll do with them after the wool is gone. 

So the countdown continues - not long now! I hope the weeks fly by, as long as I'm able to keep up and get all my shit done. There's still cleaning the apartment, dealing with my car, and many calls to services and companies to redirect my mail, bills, etc. Then I'll be on vacation for a few months and loving it. 

34 Days and Counting

Well, the time is drawing near for my flight home to Canada. Just 34 days before I land in Halifax. I cannot friggin wait. It has been a very rough patch these past few months, but with just under 5 weeks until I leave, there is light at the end of the tunnel. 

As some of you are aware, I have been struggling with PTSD these past few months and have not been back to work full-time since before Christmas. The road has been rough, and I've felt so very isolated and alone here in Australia, so far from family and long-time friends. The road to recovery has been bumpy and I'm just not sure where that road will take me or if I will be the same person I used to be, or if I want to be that person again. What I do know is that I am not likely to ever work in child protection again, and I'm not sure I even want to work or can work as a social worker again anytime soon. So I will be looking at some other options upon my return to Canada, and will be weighing them all. For those of you who have sent well wishes, kind thoughts, a quick hello, or a long thoughtful message, thank-you. Your support has been very much appreciated. 

Now that I'm on the home stretch, there is still so much to do - I have to find a home for Dundee, sell/return my car, finish selling off the rest of my stuff, mail my boxes home, call to cancel all of my services, organize to do something with my mail, and so on, and so on, and so on. I wish I could just wiggle my nose and be landing at Halifax airport riight now, however the east coast is still being battered by snowstorms, so I'm much rather be here in Australia for a little while longer to enjoy the sand and sun. I have had one apartment sale, and sold a bunch of stuff on Gumtree, but there are still piles and piles of stuff left to go. I've given a great deal away, and there have been many people looking for something for nothing, as usual. I'm currently trying to sell my sewing machine and people are trying to make me feel like they are doing me a favor by offering me a fraction of my selling price. I bought it 3 years ago half priced for $150 and am selling it for $75 with $60 as my lowest price. Someone got quite shitty with me when I wouldn't take $30 for it. The machine is in excellent condition and looks brand new, with the box and manual. WTF, I'm not running a fucking charity here. I'm trying to raise money to live on back home, and I'm not willing to just give shit away all the time. I'll just be glad when it's all done and all that is left here is my suitcase and backpacks and what fits in them. I reckon I'll pick up an air mattress for the final week as I'll need to move on my sofa and bed - they are the last big items, besides my fridge. I can do without the fridge in the last week as I'll just snack and eat out. There are shops and restaurants within walking distance here so easy as. 

It has been hard to let go of everything - it isn't a materialistic feeling, but just yet another loss. I'm sitting in my near empty apartment that has been stripped of all paintings, photos, posters, etc - in other words, personality. The only things left on the wall are my map of Australia and a photo I rescued from my desk at work of Cinq Cerf. The rest at my office were ruined when they ripped them all off the walls in my absence, but that's a story for another day. I'm still so very angry about it and will wait until I leave the country for that tale of woe. 

The days have often been long and seemingly endless. Cabin fever is real, but it has been a battle of cabin fever versus anxiety. As much as I am tired of this tiny apartment, I'm not always in the mood to leave the apartment and get rather anxious about it at times, and in the end, just stay home. I don't want to have a panic attack in public again, and feel very vulnerable when I'm out and about. It may well be an ongoing battle, but I sure hope it improves when I get back on Canadian soil. 

So that's the latest. I may post about a few road trips I've taken this past month but for now, I'm off to bed, glad to see the end of another lonesome day at home with kitty.

Gumtree Sucess

I began selling off my belongings through an online service popular in Australia called Gumtree. Very much like our Kijiji back home. I was able to sell all of the furniture easily so far. I have only bare bones left now, my sofa, bed, television and camping tables/chairs, and my coffee table. I've bad people traipsing through my apartment for weeks as I sold as much as I could to those who stepped inside. I'm only mailing back 3-4 boxes to Canada, and the rest will have to fit in my suitcase and backpack. So that leaves me with a WHOLE lot of household stuff. I feel like I am living in a yard sale, with boxes and bins of stuff everywhere. I've packed all the artwork, so the walls are very bare. I've left my map of Australia up as I'm going to take that on the plane with me so I can show my mother where I've travelled. 

It is an emotional thing to let go of one's things. Some items, no worries, move that shit on. but others that just made me feel happy, like my blue cabinet I found in an antique store in Victoria, BC. And  my sofa. I just love my comfy sofa. I'll be reduced to clothing and souvenirs for the most part, awaiting my next home to settle into. I'll be spending two months on the east coast, sharing my time among my friends and relatives. Then off to Vancouver Island to spend the summer living in the Karma van again, based in Victoria. I will at least be able have my own bed and space in the Karma van. I remember sleeping quite well in there. I'll be living out of my suitcase and backpack for about 4-6 momths depending on when I am able to pick up a bus and get to work on my winter home. 

Surrounded by the piles and boxes of stuff is hard for me. I prefer things to be organized, tidy, and aestically pleasing. The only thing in my bedroom is my bed and a milk crate with my lamp on it. The sooner this part is completed, the better. I'm planning on an apt sale sometime next month to move the last of it all on and I'll get by with my sofa, fridge, and a place setting of dishes. I cannot wait to get settled into my completed tiny house bus with everything in it's place again, surrounded by those favorite things that remind me of the adventures I've been through. I've tried to keep my souvenirs to a collectable standard - not too heavy or big, and easy to transport. So I have a lot of tiny figurines made of metal and stone, paintings and cloths for the walls, and a small collection of books. Then of course there is my jewelry/ While my collection is not worth any great thousands needing insuring. they are a a variety of stones, crafted glass, and other interesting bits, like a piece of a topographical map with tiny golden flake attached to the map where it was found and enclosed in a tiny glass box. My daughter has given me most of them, and she always seems to know what to get me. I lost a few in the fire, but she has more than made up for it since then. I saw a neat way to store my necklaces behind a box-framed artwork on hinges. I'll be searching for the most space saving ideas in the bus. 

I'm still off from work. It has been a rough road, hardest I've travelled in many years, but I am still standing and determined to look after myself and have been doing a great deal of soul searching these past months. I try to explore somewhere new when I can, but it hasn't been as easy as it once was. I did go hiking in the Grampians to a place called The Pinnacle, and was quite proud of myself for making it to the summit in spite of my asthma, poor fitness. and anxiety. Then of course I rolled my foot on the way down. I scrabbled the last bit before it began to swell as I did not want to be stuck on the mountain! I saw several lizards scampering about, many birds hunting from the sky, and a handful of other hikers. 

Let The Mess Begin

And so it goes for moving, weeks of mess, living out of suitcases and boxes, with piles for several destinations, finding a place for everything and handing the keys back to the estate agent. I'll walk out the door with a suitcase and my backpack. I'm sending about 4 boxes ahead to my daughter's place, with the few personal items, mostly souvenirs and books, artwork. It is not an easy task as I'm using many of the items up to the last week. I don't want to live like I'm camping though, so I'll hang onto a few things to the last days. I'm selling some things online through gumtree (like kijiji back home) and planning an apartment sale for a few Saturdays in April. Even though I've done this several times before, it doesn't make it any less daunting. It is acheivable, but exhausting. Pack, sort, sell, give away, throw out, send by sea, and so on. I'm not just moving onto a new town, I'm repatriating back to my home country after an absence of just over 4 years. I  couldn't be happier. So I'll take the mess, the chaos, the hard work, and all those bits and pieces (an Aussie term) as I bid a fond farewell to my home of 4 years. Australia, it has indeed been a slice, and then some. But I'll save that for another post closer to departure time. 

Dundee enjoys the mess of moving, as would most cats - boxes, paper, plastic, new smells, old smells, a changing environment. I'm going to miss that little bugger. Again, I'll leave that for another post. The back to work plan is being reevaluated, so in the meantime, I'm distracting myself with making the mess, as well as researching tiny houses and bus conversions. There is a lot of information out there, and doing my conversion over the coming months with the goal of being in by Christmas, I'll be living out of suitcases, boxes, bags, and surrounded by mess for the months to come. I'll have to find ways to minimize and organize the mess as it will surely drive me crazy otherwise. And then with any luck, it will be my final unpacking for the forseeable future. The bus conversion/tiny house is part of my longterm goal of freedom and independence to follow my own paths. I've missed having a home of my own to customize - loved my house in Newfoundland for that reason - I designed it for us. 

I'm tiring of changing my living environment so frequently as I find it exhausting both physically and mentally. I just want a place to call home that I can move to be wherever I want to be and still have an affordable and comfortable home. I had thought I could do this in my VW Camper, aka the Karma bus, however it was too small for my needs and not having a toilet/shower meant I had to depend on a serviced site for those services. I prefer to be off the grid as much as possible, using solar and potentially wind power to charge the batteries. I am looking at using propane for cooking, on-demand hot water, and heating, with a woodstove to supplement heating. I also want to source the most efficient way to supply air conditioning off the grid as well. Part of the long term goal is spending only 6 months per year in Canada, and the other 6 somewhere south of WINTER. This is why I need the mobility. With being able to function off the grid as much as possible, I can keep my costs down to the bare minimum, making it possible to work for 6 months of the year in Canada, and then travel/live somewhere down south during the winters, escaping snowdom. I'll have to suffer through the next winter as I can't possibly have it completed in time, and want to spend one full year at least with my girl in Edmonton. Hence the wood stove. All I need to move in is the bathroom and the woodstove. The  rest can be completed over the winter. I've still got the VW Karma van to travel around for music and camping while the conversion is in progress. 

The choice for a school bus style conversion came after doing a bit of research. The typical Canadian school bus from a rural setting is what I'm seeking. They tend to have strong body, good suspension and able to handle the rugged terrain of country roads. The squared off buses ride too close to the ground to be able to handle the bumpy roads I plan to travel on at some point, particularily south of the US border. A stripped school bus can potentially give me 35' x 7'5" x 6'5" interior. It's a low ceiling, but I'm short, so there is plenty of clearance for me. I'm not planning on standing up all day. School buses are constructed to be much stronger than the average manufactured RV, which have been referred to as tin cans. I'm ok with the shape of the bus. A low ceiling means cheap to heat. Those tall ceilings of the loft tiny houses meant an upstairs bed - hot as hell, and heat loss from the main floor where I would spend most of the time. The bus can also be longer than a typical tiny house, at 35'. That gives me enough downstairs room to enclose a sleeping chamber for myself. I don't need a full bedroom. Just a bed I don't have to navigate stairs or ladders to get to. And a short distance to the toilet. Funny what things become more important when designing a living space as one ages. I had initially thought about a slide away bed but then realized I don't want to have to move stuff to go to bed, or to put the bed away. I want it just to be THERE. I can build a ton of storage beneath it, and I don't need a full ceiling above my bed, so will utilize what space I can based on the quirky spaces that are available around the wheel wells and other stuff I'll be trying to hide in the cabinets - batteries, inverter, power controls, pipes, wires and so on. 

So that's the latest on the project, ha ha. Stay tuned for updates about the Nomad Project at my new blog, judesnomadproject.blogspot.com. I'll be closing this one down after I depart the land down under on May 1st. The posts will remain, but I won't be adding any new posts. Thanks for reading these past years. I have a few posts in me yet for Australia, so keep on reading.