Willow and I started 2020 off in Hobart, Tasmania with the completion of our new camper van build, were reunited with Steph in Melbourne for our trip back to the city of Brisbane, and the three of us finished the year off in the sleepy village of Comboyne, NSW on an avocado and blueberry farm.

It’s now the first day of 2021 and outside the Comboyne Plateau rain has set in once again. We plan to see out the rest of summer on the farm in this idyllic part of the country where we feel safe from these turbulent times.

The three of us saw in the new year in 100% Van Cat Meow style, fast asleep, having spent a quiet evening sipping Blueberry Glüwein – or Blüwein as I prefer to call it!

For many of us it might seem untimely for celebration. For those who are not with their families and for those who fear for their health. We are thinking of you.

For us, we are lucky. We achieved what we set out to achieve in Brisbane, Steph and I got married, and we returned to our dream of life on the road.

Now I have a rainy day to look back on the year that has been, I reflect on the places we visited and all the cats we met. I wrote them all out below, as if to cement those moments forever in my mind.

So here goes..

In March Willow and I left Hobart in our new van and crossed Bass Strait on the Spirit of Tasmania to be reunited with Steph on our road trip back to Brisbane.

On the way we visited bushfire affected areas and raised money for the injured animals.

I completed one of the finishing touches of our van, a new scratching post for Willow.

Back in Brisbane we all went on a mission in the forest and on May 22nd Steph and I got married, woohoo!!

In July I met Marion who told me the story of her cat Tit-fa and their life on the Queensland stock routes in the 1950s.

We met the most adorable forest cat Hamish as he showed us around his backyard hiking trails on the Sunshine Coast. The cheeky lad even snuck a kiss from Willow!

We travelled to Harvey Bay where we met Miow Miow aboard the SSSV Jezebel and even went swimming with him!

Back in Brisbane we stayed at our friend’s property and spent a week in the paddock with the horses. During that time I built a deck on top of our van so we can sit and watch the sunset.

We had a great chat to Ryan as we were featured on the Wild Lives podcast.

Willow and I shared a reflective afternoon with you as we dreamed of leaving Brisbane.

We spent an evening on a houseboat as we met the amazing Cici, an Italian travelling cat who has more stamps in her passport than most humans.

We travelled down to the Gold Coast to meet Pierre, a beautiful Himalayan who spends most afternoons at the beach.

We caught up with Nathan and Winnie the swimming cats in a bush reserve in Brisbane.

Willow visited the vet for her checkup and had her teeth cleaned.

On Halloween we attended the Silver Lining adoption day and met lots of cats awaiting their forever homes.

In November we finally said goodbye to Brisbane and returned to full time life on the road in our campervan. Although things didn’t quite go as planned when we nearly didn’t make it out.

Back on the road I focused a lot more time on sharing our day to day lives through video. We shared with you an afternoon spent at Evan’s Head – the day we finally received Steph’s Visa approval.

Willow discovered her new favourite tree when we stopped in at Kingsliff and we met a water dragon at Woolgoolga.

And finally, we discovered a blueberry farm where we decided to spend the rest of summer. We spent many an afternoon waiting for the rain to clear and spent Christmas day eating berries right of the bushes.

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So here we are, 2021. Happy New Year everyone! All we wish for is that everyone makes the most of every moment and receives the strength and kindness to get through another year.

– All the best from Steph, Willow and I.