Tasmania...why not?

So, picture this...you wake up one morning, the sun is shining, birds singing and life for you and your hubby and 2 year old is pretty good. Well, certainly it's not perfect but you're starting to achieve things, to create a life, make progress on projects to our home, establish some excellent friendships, feel part of a community...then your hubby comes home with some news.

Actually, he calls and tells me that the cement manufacturing plant where he has worked for the past 7 years is closing *GULP*.We were naturally shocked but perhaps not surprised that this happened, the closure of the NSW plant had been discussed before. His job there is effectively over *DOUBLE GULP*, but that the company has offered him a job at another of their plants...in TASMANIA! Simply as that, all in one day.

To be honest we made the decision pretty quickly, it seemed like eerily good timing with a very small child and we had recently discussed what might happen in the near future if a job ever came up at this particular plant in Tasmania...but it was truly just that, a discussion. And here we were with the actual option before us. Sure there were going to be some cons, though nothing seemed like a deal breaker at that stage. We very quickly made a first trip down from the mainland, our first EVER trip to Tasmania, to see what we think. We fly home 4 days later, the lease to a new house signed and the newly cut shiny keys pressed firmly in my pocket.

Then a few weeks of planning and packing and a few back and fros for hubby. To be honest, it all seemed too easy until it came to the crunch and on the day of the removalists arriving to load the truck and hubby 1,500km away in Tasmania, our 2 year old is rushed to hospital with suspected pneumonia. That put everything into perspective. With our whole life in limbo and our only child so sick and in hospital life seemed to have shifted into overdrive. Husband promptly arrived, and together we worked it out, one day at a time. Our dear daughter spent about 5 days in hospital and the stress seemed like it might never end. Even after she was discharged we flinched and worried with every cough, any sign of laboured breath. It.was.horrible.
The amazing thing is how resilient kids are and how strong you can be as a parent, even when you think you are about to break.

So we set off on the long journey to our new home and a new chapter in our lives. I won't go into all that now but here we are, 3 weeks into our Tassie adventure. Lots has already happened and I will certainly post on all of those things soon. I won't post every day as I want to be out there, living this taste of Tassie. Posts will be often enough though and they will be just that, a real taste of our life in Tasmania. I hope you will join me and share this unbelievable experience and give me your thoughts, ideas and tips. Until next post xxx.
Katie