Rats in a Cage

There's a perception that going places with kids is hard. Sometimes too hard. Dreaded outings that come to mind include the weekly supermarket shop, late night dinner parties and pretty much any type of appointment whether it's with the the hair dresser, dentist or accountant. The process of getting our tax return done this year with two children in tow was definitely highly comical and somewhat embarrassing. The fact that the chariot didn't actually fit through the door into the building only added to the impending shamozzle. But it seems even a presumed family friendly outing to the local park or playgroup can quickly turn into chaos with an overtired infant and overstimulated toddler.

When what seem like simple and necessary daily outings are in fact anything but, it's no wonder that an attempt at an overnight, week or month long journey into the wilderness is viewed by many as either over ambitious or just plain delusional. Yet we seem drawn to it. Maybe it's the fresh air and natural light or maybe it's the lack of physical boundaries; the feeling of being freer to some extent. Time seems to slip away without the usual restlessness that comes with doing nothing. Life's stresses and problems appear somewhat more insignificant. In the bush the kids are noticeably happier, less demanding and content. They can entertain themselves for hours. They wear themselves out - but in a good way.

We've been thinking lately about the way in which we live. Living in a house means we are inside unless we go outside. What if we could live in a way that we were outside unless we went inside? A seemingly subtle difference yet potentially quite a profound one. So in the tradition of seeking challenge and adventure we're thinking about doing an experiment: Twenty Eight Days in a Tent.

It's not meant to be a holiday nor a way of escaping the 'real world'. We're not starting a commune and we have no unrealistic expectations that we could actually live this way in the long term...although I guess you never know what may eventuate! It would be purely an experiment to see what happens when we live outside our cage; an experiment that we dreamt up only a few days ago, one that is not overly well thought out or planned at this stage, but is nonetheless quite exciting to think about.

The Shakedown

We have now successfully made it through a 'Southern Highlands Winter' and to celebrate the first day of spring we decided to head out on our first full day ride with the kids. A bit of a 'shakedown' was in order after the arrival of some much anticipated online purchases. Since investing in racks and panniers for the rear of our bikes we now have the capability to each carry around 50L of 'stuff'. Pretty exciting .... but this also means that our bikes are heavier than ever!

Next purchase is a bike stand.....

......and a map holder

For those who are interested in such things; we decided on Freeload Racks which are specifically designed for off road riding and Ortlieb panniers which are pretty much top of the range. We figure if we are going to do the Mawson then we really need to be prepared, and I'm sure we'll be glad that we spent the extra dollars once we arrive at the end of our journey without having left a trail of broken parts behind us. 

So to put our newly acquired gear through it's paces we packed a gourmet picnic lunch, first aid, repair kit, spare clothes, picnic blanket, rain jackets and nappies and ventured into Belanglo State Forest for what was a bumpy and quite hilly 22 kilometre circuit. The kids were amazing. I don't think Zephyr made a noise the entire five hours and Tahlia coped surprisingly well over the rocky and steep terrain.

Climb a tree....check!

Being Fathers Day weekend our morning tea break wouldn't have been complete without donuts ..... Marty's favorite ....  and it was a bonus to find out that Tahlia actually doesn't like donuts - all the more for us. We then had a picnic lunch after descending a couple of hundred metres into a stunning valley on the Wingecarribee River. Plenty of lazing about and enjoying the sun was had by all here! Pity it wasn't a bit warmer as there were some great swimming holes nearby.


Although not overjoyed at the prospect of climbing back  up the valley, it had to be done, and Marty did amazingly well to ride the entire way with the chariot in tow. The track had a lot of loose gravel and so traction was a bit of an issue. At the back of our minds was always the possibility of needing to push our bikes back up out of the valley! So it was a welcome sight to round the last bend and see what we knew to be the intersection at the top.




It feels great to now have scuff marks and a little dirt on what were shiny new black panniers. I guess it's sort of like after you wear new runners for the first time. They feel like ours now; like we deserve to have them!