Canberra to Townsville: Coming Home

I started my blog, which has grown into my business, in 2002 when I moved from Townsville to Canberra. At the time I started it as a way of journalling my life. I’d kept a written journal since my early teens and the move to an electronic space just seemed like a natural progression. I registered on LiveJournal and the rest, as they say, is history.

In 2008 I registered my domain name and moved off LiveJournal and on to my own website. I knew nothing about websites and spent so many hours teaching myself HTML coding just so I could make it pretty. I wrote about my life. How I met my now husband, what life was like in Canberra, my friends and our exploits. After we were married I wrote about our struggles with IVF and the joy of finally becoming a parent. When I found quilting I wrote about that.

My website grew as I grew and it changed to meet my needs and the goals I had. Now 20 years later my website and the business I’ve grown from it look nothing like that first foray into online publishing. It’s amazing really.

Now, here I am 20 years later and it seems fitting to get back to what started it all and document the move from Canberra back to Townsville. This time I’m moving back with a husband, a 9yo (nearly 10yo!), and a business. It’s completely bonkers! So, here goes…

27 January 2022

I can’t really recall the process that lead to us making the decision to move. We’ve talked about it on and off over the years. I’d go through a period of being really homesick and talk non-stop about moving. I’d visit and that would recharge me and we’d forget about it for a bit longer. But when COVID hit, like many people, we found ourselves on the wrong side of the border.

My Nana passed away in 2021 and for the first time in my life I couldn’t be there. My Mum went through some medical things and again, I couldn’t be there. It was heartbreaking.

In January I got the urge to think about moving again, this time I was thinking of moving to Toowoomba. I’d lived there before and loved it. It’s a beautiful town and the climate is more cold than hot so that appealed to me. Hubby and I started googling properties and talking about what our options could be. We talked with my parents about all of us moving to Toowoomba to be together and they were keen.

However, we really couldn’t find something that worked for what we were looking at. So the conversation moved to moving to Townsville. Hubby’s work have an office here and they were happy to have him work remotely so it seemed like a no-brainer.

We met with an agent that we’d had dealings with in the past and signed to list our house for sale.

24 February 2022

After nearly a month of frantically getting the house ready for its beauty shots she was ready. The photo’s were taken, the advertising copy written and just like that it was listed for sale.

5 March 2022

We had one open house. One cancelled open house due to the weather. It sold to a couple that had seen the house on that first open house. We couldn’t believe it. Reality was starting to sink in – we’re moving.

7 March 2022

For the past 2 months my parents had been lovingly going to open homes and drive-by’s of properties in Townsville that we’d seen online and were interested in.

We needed a place that was big enough for our family needs and could house the business. We wanted somewhere that didn’t need a lot of work and that was central to school and church.

We saw a couple of places that looked like they could suit our needs but for one reason or other they didn’t work out. In the process of looking and talking with my folks we decided that if it was possible we’d like to all live on the same property, but in separate dwellings. So now the hunt was on for a property that had either 2 homes on it or gave us the ability to put 2 homes on it.

My parents were out doing a drive-by of a place we’d seen online when they passed a house with a for sale sign out the front. They decided to stop and have a look over the fence. Turns out the owners were in the yard doing some maintenance work and invited them in to have a look at the property.

I remember the call from my parents to tell us they’d found a property that suited our needs. It was the first time in all the weeks of looking that they were excited about a property. It still makes me smile to think about that phone call.

I looked up the address online and found the agent’s number. I showed Hubby and he agreed so we rang and put in an offer. The owners accepted our offer and now we found ourselves with somewhere to call home.

28 March 2022

Nearly 2 months to the day of signing to sell our house the removalists came. They started at 8:30am and they were done by lunchtime. 20 years of memories and accumulation of things packed into 2 shipping containers for the long journey to our new home.

It was so weird to be in the house empty like it was when we moved into it 10 years ago. It was not the house I wanted to buy, and really it was a complete accident that we did come to buy it. But it was our home and I had come to love it. I am so grateful to the Lord for providing us with that home. It enabled me to start a business, to raise our son in a stable and safe environment. It contained so many good times and a few pretty sucky times. I was surprised at how sad I was to be leaving it behind.

30 March 2022

Huxley, Llink and Sonic all went to the airport at 5am to fly from Canberra to Townsville. We’d debated bringing them with us on our drive but in the end decided to send them on ahead of us. Best decision! We didn’t have to stress about their comfort during the drive, find accomodation that was pet friendly, stop for pet comfort breaks or wonder “what’s that smell?”.

[They flew with Jet Pets. I would recommend them to anyone who’s looking to fly their pets somewhere. I’m in no way affiliated with them, I’ve just had a poor experience with another pet flyer company and so I really want to give these guys a shout out because they were so good.]

1 April 2022

It seems like such an odd date to leave; April Fool’s Day. But after a morning of rushing around, panic posting cartoons of stuff to our new address and general tension we hit the road about lunch time. We did one last stop at The Bielenberg’s home before we left. It seemed weird to be saying good-bye because it’s not really a good-bye these days. Thank the Lord for technology which enables us to keep in contact!

We drove from Canberra to Coonabarabran on the Friday, which is roughly a 6 hour journey. The landscape in central New South Wales (NSW) is amazing. The colours are just so unlike what you’d see on the coastal journey. I loved it. Even the 9yo was fond of looking up and exclaiming how “beautiful” it was.

We’ve not done much travel domestically via road. We’d generally fly where ever we were headed or we’d get there in a day, so the kid has never had the joy (and terror) of staying in a roadside motel/hotel. Oh boy, was he in for a treat!

Our first night on the road and we stayed in what can only be described as the quintessential exposed red-brick walls, with a dodgy bathroom complete with it’s paper hygienic seal across the toilet, motel. He didn’t do well. It was like the emotional wave of what we were doing caught up with him in that motel. He cried. I cried. We talked about what we were leaving and what we hoped to be heading towards. We prayed. My heart broke a little for him in that moment as he started to understand a bit more about the world and that not everything is fixed in time or place.

I know that this move will give him a lot more experience and access to things (and people) he wouldn’t have had in Canberra, but it’s still hard to see him leave his friends behind.

2 April 2022

Saturday started at 5am. I’m an early bird so it didn’t bother me, but the boys were a bit bleary eyed. To the kid’s credit he woke happy and excited to be back on the road.

After 4 hours (give or take) we crossed the New South Wales border into Queensland at Goondiwindi. I was so excited to be back in Queensland. I don’t know why or how to explain it, but mentally crossing that border made it all seem a little closer and a little more real.

We spent a bit of time in Goondiwindi trying to work out the best way to get to Townsville. For the past couple of weeks New South Wales and Queensland had been battered by rain and flooding so a lot of our journey was planned to take this into account.

We’d delayed our leaving Canberra by 2 days so that we could give the flood waters a chance to subside so we wouldn’t be at risk or have to stay in a place longer than we wanted. I’m very grateful to Lauren (Molly and Mama) and Kristy (Quiet Play) who both live in Toowoomba and were able to give us updates and recommendations for the best way to get to the coastly highway. Wish that we’d been able to stop in Toowoomba and catch up, but as many of you will know, once you’re on a big road trip you’re best to stay on that road trip till you get to your destination!

We drove until we reached Gin Gin which was 7+ hours away.

Now, a bit of a side note, Gin Gin is not a massive town. In fact it’s a pretty good example of a one street town. But on this night in Gin Gin there was not a room spare at any of the motels. Turns out that there was a wedding in the area and a memorial service so everywhere was booked except the pub! Now, the thought of staying at a pub with a 9yo did not fill me with joy. But when you’ve got no choice you make the best of it. Turns out, it was an awesome night’s sleep. The room was big, the bed comfortable, and it was super clean. Food from the restaurant downstairs was great. Only downside was that it was a communal bathroom situation so we didn’t hang around for showers in the morning. We’d give the Gin Gin Hotel 2 thumbs up. So now the kid has had the experience of a roadside motel and a pub.

3 April 2022

Another early morning start which nearly didn’t happen when we thought we’d been locked into the pub carpark. At this point in the trip we were all starting to get antsy to be at our destination. We’d drive for another 12 hours before reaching Townsville. (Normally only about 10 hours, but there was roadworks nearly the entire way.)

It was so good to reach my parents place. To be re-united with the pets and to have a home cooked meal and shower. I slept like the dead, I think we all did.

4 April 2022

Odd experience to go and pick up the keys to a house you’ve brought but never actually seen in person. It’s weird, but I’ve realised in the past few years that it’s not the place that makes it special it’s the people you live with. But with that said, this house is pretty amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it, let-a-lone lived in anything like it. It’s the complete opposite of what we were living in in Canberra.

I’ve never even lived in anything like it when I lived in Townsville. We’ve made a sea change but really it’s more like a tree change. The house is on the bank of a major river in Townsville and the property is a lush mix of trees and palms. The house that we live in is made up of 3 pods; 1 for the bedrooms, 1 for the master bedroom and bathroom and then 1 for the living and kitchen area.

It’s got cathedral ceilings throughout and the living pod has this giant pole in the middle of it that supports a tent like roof made of timber. (Promise, I’ll share more photos inside the house as it gets settled.) The house is so much bigger than the house we had in Canberra. I have decided that I will never build or live in a McMansion style home – I don’t like being so separated from everyone. We spend half our days singing out to each other trying to work out which room we’re in.

The shed on the property will become my studio/business space. I’ve got a contractor starting in May to do the conversion so that I can move the business out of the master bedroom where it is currently set up. (Our bed is currently set up in the living space, right next to the fridge!)

7 April 2022

The removalists delivered. It took them all of 4 hours to get the stuff into the house. In what can only be a by-product of moving back to my home town one of the guys on the team and I went to high school together. My world just got a whole lot smaller!

Before we left Canberra we went and ordered new beds and mattresses to be delivered to our new home. Only problem, they weren’t due to arrive until the middle to end of April. We ended up buying 2 caravan mattresses from FB Marketplace and making a giant bed with the couch and my vast collection of quilts. It was fun, but not so great for my back. Those mattresses are wafer thin and this house is wall-to-wall slate tiles!

12 April 2022

We had our first guests! The Bielenberg’s came to visit. Their 2nd eldest son lives here and so they were in Queensland for a holiday and came for lunch. It was so weird to have them here. It was like being at home, but not being at home at the same time. It was so great to be able to have a meal with them and spend time together in our new environment. I confess it also made me a little homesick when they left as I wanted them to stay.

We’ve been in the house now for nearly a month and we’re still not completely unpacked. We left so much of our furniture in Canberra as it was all Ikea and we knew it wouldn’t survive the journey. It’s meant that we’ve had to buy furniture here and that’s been an adventure. I’ve gotten some great pieces of FB Marketplace and then we’re waiting for a few more pieces to arrive that we’ve bought from retailers here.

The kiddo has done 2 weeks at his new school. My heart breaks for him as he goes through the process of making new friends all over again. But I’m confident he’ll find some friends soon. He has a similar pattern with the other times that he’s started a new year of schooling. Takes him a couple of weeks to settle in and then he hits his stride. He’s already singing and laughing when he goes to school and when we pick him up so I know it’s not that horrible.

We’re all adjusting to our new normal. The weather has been the biggest thing. It’s autumn here but that means nothing to us as the temperatures and humidity are more than our summer would have been back in Canberra. It’s rained solid for a week which has been beautiful and frustrating.

We’ve been attending our new church and everyone has been so welcoming. We’ve got invites to meals and we’re slowly remembering faces and names. I miss our church family in Canberra, but I know they’re only a text message away. The Lord has been so very good to us through this whole process. I know that we couldn’t have done it without him and that he has guided our steps along the way.

I’m excited to see how our lives will change and evolve with more time here. I’ve loved the time I’ve spent with my family and it’s only going to become more exciting and random when my folks move into their house on the property. I’m really looking forward to sharing more of our life via this medium. I’ve missed writing about our life and capturing the memories before they fade and time plays tricks with them.