Adrian Gaspari and Josephine Hayes
AJG and Jo
Adrian Gaspari and Josephine Hayes
After meeting each other in the middle of Scottish nowhere at a rather mystical music festival, we travelled to Prague and fell in love - riding trains into the countryside of the Czech Republic, excited about what our world had to offer and enjoying the simplicity of being able to play music and laugh wherever we pleased. From those early days, we knew that travelling would be an important part of our lives together - which was fantastic, because coming from opposite sides of the globe would have proved much more difficult otherwise!
Intrigue and our love of nature further developed into an interest in Tasmania. It was a far away land, to which neither of us had ventured: rich with clean air, untouched native forests and seclusion. The opportunity to live a ‘sustainable’ life, and the possibility of building our own home there became an exciting focus.
Soon after Christmas, we delved further into Scottish nowhere, springing from our cold but homely flat in Edinburgh, across the land to Sky and over the sea to the Isle of Lewis. The three months we spent there contrasted greatly to the fast pace of the city. Whilst the 'chill factor' remained just as strong, the traditional stove with which we baked our bread and boiled our broth was a great companion to us both. With a huge house to ourselves and amazing scenery outside, we turned our creativity to artworks of all sorts - driftwood woven together with jute and washed up twine, a few rather abstract paintings, lots of music and some amazing food. We came away from the Island feeling very refreshed and ready to enjoy our last month in the UK with family and friends, before setting off on a 28hour journey to Albany, Western Australia.
The beginning of April proved to be quite the rollercoaster, what with hellos, goodbyes, new countries, reminiscence and returns. Albany and the South West of Australia was the scene for our initial adventuring in Australia. The continuous comfort of forest, both in the UK and in magical places like Walpole and Pemberton, continued to urge us towards Tasmania. The obvious (!) way to get to Tazzy was to travel away from Albany’s winter, and chase the Sun to Darwin, moving from there to Melbourne via Alice Springs - and living an incredible journey on the way. Our mission in Albany, therefore, was to arm ourselves with a monster van that would carry us all the way and be a comfy home for us to rest in whilst not driving. And, by gum, we found it! A gorgeous Sheila who we like to call ‘Sexy Sadie’ or ‘The Walrus’. A trustworthy mechanic sold it to us with 100,000km (60,000 miles) on the clock: a ‘Super Custom’ AUTOMATIC Toyata Hiace, complete with LPG conversion, very smooth engine and a much adored CD Player.
Happy with our load, we now had the task of ripping out its seven passenger seats and making it habitable for a young couple. We were lucky enough to have the use of Adrian’s father’s extensive range of tools, and Nonna’s sewing machine: The result is amazing - a very comfortable fold down bed, with boxes of practical food, a fantastic 40litre Engel (fridge) and an innovative awning. Days were spent wiring and rewiring a second battery, allowing us to power our fridge, and all necessary mod-cons. Our efforts contributed towards feelings of total luxury, and to the realism of being suitably self sufficient. Costs were kept to a minimum: we used our own labour and lots of important components were recycled. We cruised away on the 17th June with an ancient land breathing all around us.