Faye Ripley - The adventurous spirit
EPISODE 12
This episode is about living outside of your comfort zone and realising that it’s actually an enjoyable space to inhabit. And so, meet Faye Ripley. A nature-loving, effervescent, go-getter who lived and traveled around Australia for two years in a Nissan Patrol with her partner Max. During this chat, Faye takes us on an entertaining journey through the trials and tribulations of living out of the confines of a vehicle, set amongst the backdrop of the wild Australian wilderness. And her trip was indeed just that. Wild.
We unpack many topics, such as what the trip taught her about herself, how she went about honoring her needs, and how traveling for so long without any first world luxuries is actually a gift and nothing to shy away from, menstrual cups and all!
She also shares how she ended up working in extremely close proximity with crocodiles at the Top End Safari Camp in the Northern Territory, with Matt Wright (Netflix’s crocodile extraordinaire). This was a paradoxical place for her to land, considering she has a strong aversion to crocodiles (understandably), but it also demonstrates her give-anything-a-go attitude. She leads by example here, showing us that even when something is daunting, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it.
Faye also shares her insightful learnings from her most recent adventure, motherhood. She is keen to try another trip on the road but this time, with kids, believing anything is possible if you plan accordingly and have a positive outlook.
We also talk about the over precautions that people imposed on her and Max as they journeyed through uncharted territory, but also the times when sleeping with a knife under her pillow felt like a perfectly normal thing to do.
I hope you enjoy getting inspired by Faye and perhaps consider hitting the road yourself.
SHOW NOTES;
Tracks: A Woman’s solo trek across 1700 miles of Australian Outback, by Robin Davidson’s
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Thank you so much for joining me on this journey of uncovering tales of inspiring women.
Brigid x
Transcript
*Please note that this transcript is automated and may not be 100% accurate
Brigid Moloney
Welcome to the Moved by Nature podcast. I'm your host, Brigid Maloney, and this is a show that celebrates spirited women who embrace life with Mother Nature. They inspire us through their stories of adventure, personal growth, and connection to something greater than themselves. This episode is about living outside of your comfort zone and realizing it's actually an enjoyable space to inhabit.
And so we chat to Favorite Place and nature loving, effervescent go getter who lived and traveled around Australia for two years in a Nissan Patrol with her partner Max. During this chat, they takes us on an entertaining journey through the trials and tribulations of living out of the confines of a small vehicle. Set amongst the backdrop of the wild Australian wilderness, and indeed, her trip was just that wild.
We unpack many topics, such as what the trip taught her about herself, how she went about honoring her needs, and how traveling for so long without any first world luxuries is actually a gift and nothing to shy away from menstrual cups and all. She also shares how she ended up working in extremely close proximity with crocodiles at the top end.
The safari camp in the Northern Territory with Matt Rudd, Netflixs crocodile extraordinaire. This was an interesting place for her to land, considering she has a strong aversion to crocodiles, understandably, but it also demonstrates her positive give anything a go attitude. She leads by example here, showing us that even when something is daunting, it doesn't mean we shouldn't do it.
They also shares her insightful learnings from her most recent adventure, motherhood. She is keen to try another trip on the road, but this time with kids believing anything is possible if you plan accordingly and have a positive outlook. We also talk about the over precautions that other people impose on her and Max as they journey through uncharted territory, but also the times when sleeping with a knife under her pillow felt like a perfectly normal thing to do.
I hope you enjoy getting inspired by Faye and perhaps consider hitting the road yourself. And for this podcast to grow your help would be greatly appreciated. Please consider any of the following meaningful gestures. Share this episode with a friend. Hit subscribe on your podcast app of choice. Write the show with five stars or leave a review. Thank you so much for joining me on this journey of uncovering tales of inspiring women.
Now over to Faye. Thank you for joining us for a rare recording on Banjul, Long Island, which is where we both live up here in the Northern rivers. Beautiful part of the world. The bay that we grew up into.
Faye Ripley
Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
So how the special lies in your heart.
Faye Ripley
Yeah. Really good. Been here since I was. And I think that all right.
Brigid Moloney
On a property, too. Yeah, yeah.
Faye Ripley
Super lucky.
Brigid Moloney
So I want to start this season by asking each guest the same question. The beginning, which is what is the greatest lesson that nature has taught you?
Faye Ripley
Okay, let's try to think about a question I know has been really trying to think about it because obviously, when we done like our travels and stuff, there's been so many different, like little incidents or big incidents that have happened. But I feel like to simplify everything nature's always taught me to, I guess, shut.Up.Slow down.Or stop.
You know, in those really little moments where you're maybe just going on a little walk and yeah, you slowing down, you're observing, you're being quiet, you're listening to yourself, you're listening to everything that's out there. And you just have those quietness within being okay with being quiet, within yourself, listening. To your own thoughts. And then even, like those really big scary moments. I don't know why I'm crying, okay. But. You kind of. Teach you to start to think, okay. Sometimes, like when I think about one of those, like, really big.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah. Certain memories coming to you, right? Oh. Do you feel comfortable sharing?
Faye Ripley
Oh, yeah. It's like it's it was like the moment. So we did that big trip around Australia.
Yeah. And there was one.
One moment where we thought we like lost it all. And I made the stupidest like decision ever. So we were we're beach launching our boat. So we're pretty remote. And we'd been told by like a group of people, you know, they will at, at one of the stations down the road. It's awesome for beach launched. Dana. You know, this bay were just like, yeah, the sand is really hard.
You'll be fine.
Like, launch your boat. And,
We went up there and we were confident, like, we drove on to the beach, super confident back the boat in and just got totally stock like the back of the car was, like, underwater. And there's just no chance getting out. We both got out of the car. We were like, what? The actual like? Like, this is not hard at all anyway.
Like, this is just a big time, like the most remote place that you could be in.
Brigid Moloney
So this is Western Australia.
Faye Ripley
Is Western Australia. I tried to remember the name of the bay because we were staying at Ningaloo Station. I don't know. That was Ningaloo Bay, sort of like drive, maybe like km at. So it's a remote station as it is. There's not a lot going on there. Beautiful, like surrounded by amazing coastline. And then you drive like km.
It might have been longer because when the car on the boat went in and so all that stuff was like, the water's like slowly coming into the back of the car at night. So we're in a yurt. Max is like, we're both freaking out. You know. We we try to use all of our equipment, which was pretty much just max track and all. But then we did try to, like, leverage ourselves with, you know, like, some weight. As I say. Had kind of had to. Explain. We'd used all of our own resources, though, and everything was getting in the water, and we were both freaking out, and we were like, what do we do? Like, do we just like, we kind of looked each other. We were like. Yeah, like, what do we do right now? Do we just leave it like and just wait here on the beach? Like, the tide's incoming? That. So we're totally screwed. And, like, lose all of our staff or, like, by that stage, then Max, us are, like, taking our stuff out of the car. He's like, right, I think the car's just gone.
I think that's it. Now you know? Yeah. It's like feels. And then it's like it's the end of.
The it's just going to be the end of the journey for us. You know.
Brigid Moloney
How far into the journey.
Faye Ripley
We still. Oh we were way in. Like I reckon a year maybe. Longer into the trip and we had come.
We, I mean we'd had a couple of like things like that had happened that we'd work through, you know.
We were driving, like another deep river ride when we flipped our boat.
On the trailer, like, the.
Whole boat just flipped, and we.
Were like, you know, just got, like, the. We stopped there. The boat just anchored us in the ground on these, like, dust corrugations. And we're just like, what happened? So there's like little things, and we just, you know, I look back now like we totally overcame those things with such ease. You know, Max is actually super calm. Like when he gets when a really stressful situation comes a bad. I'm like. A stop and. I need to, like, process things. Before I was going to do something silly. So when we, when the boat got stuck in the water, I was so hot, it was like degrees. And I was like, we need help. Like, I'm going to have to go back. One of us has got to go back to the bike, try and get back to the station.So I was a station a kilometers from where we were. They were contemplating walking.
Oh. He went, I was like, I, Max, I'm going to go. And one of us got to go. I'm just can't. Go.
Didn't pick a water bottle, didn't pick up anything. I don't even know if I had my phone on me, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway because there's no signal. There's there's absolutely no phone signal at there. We tried like, we had the radios who were trying to, like, radio to see if anyone was around. And I just started, like, running down a dust road. I'm not like, I'm. Not a massive runner. It's kind of like thinking in my head. I'm like, I've just taken on eight kilometers without even thinking about it. I've just said, I've just run a kilometer. So like, I'll go do that now in degrees heap, have my water bottle. But yeah, just like I can just ran and just randomly I put like I could see kind of like it was like the horizon, but look like the freaking horizon.
I could see this car coming over the hill, and it couldn't have been that far away because I knew whose car it was. It was this random person we've met. Oh, maybe like a month prior. So strange.
And I just that what are the chances?
I was just like. But there was a couple of turn offs from this main road to different, like, bait, like bays and fishing spots. And he's like, he was a really big fisher, like his name is. And I was like.
Oh my. Like, oh my god, look like.
I'm just like just standing there just like sweating. And I was like. Oh, how. How did I get his like attention? Cause I don't know if he can see me or not. Like, he feels really close, but really far away. And then I can see all these little turn offs and I could see I knew that one of the turn also was to this really popular fishing spot, and I was like, bent, then we're gonna take that turn.
And I think just as he was about to take the turn, he saw me in the middle of the road. We waving as we came down. So I was like. I was like, still running and, like, waving. And I was like, maybe if I just flail, he's seeing me. And he did too. And I was like, he, he when he came, he was like, I just. I just saw this person in like the middle of the road, in the. Middle of nowhere. And he. And then he, so, unlike you, realize who it was to really quickly. And he got to me.
And I was like, look, we gotta go, we gotta go. We got to go, like super panicked. And he was like. Whoa, stop! Just what's happened? And like, we're gonna lose everything. We.
And it was so funny. I was like, I just grabbed onto the car and I think, you wanna.
Drive, you gotta drive. I love.
Brigid Moloney
It. Command.
Faye Ripley
Say. And he was like, I, I think you can get in the car and I can give you a bottle of water. Yes. You are so hot. Like you look really hot. I was like, so.
Brigid Moloney
You'd gone into like a distressed.
Faye Ripley
State, went into like stress state. Anyway, like Save the day came down. Yeah. And towed.
Car and to pull us out like it was pretty. It was really stark. It took like a couple of really good, like, rams to get it at with his car towing us at,But yeah, we. Got it had, but all the stuff, like when I got back, Max had fully emptied everything out of the car. He was like, that's it, car's gone. You got everything? I'll just say stuff. Yeah. Of value has got it all off. He was trying to, like, he was still trying to get everything. Like, still trying to get the car.
Like he'd managed to get the boat off of the trailer. He'd manage to get a trailer off. Of the car. Because obviously that was holding us back too. And we were trying to get it off together like it was stop. And could not Budget. So you must have found some kind of strength But,
Brigid Moloney
So, so when you look back, do you feel like you acted on impulse? But but a part of you, in hindsight, was wishing you thought about it a little bit more.
Faye Ripley
Oh, totally like. That was it? That would have been good. It did in the end.
Brigid Moloney
But you're saying it really could have gone either way.
Faye Ripley
It could have gone either way. And I think I do feel like I'm not too much of I like if it happens, it happens or like it's meant to be. I'm not too much of that kind of a person, but I feel like when it comes to like nature and your experiences in nature, I do feel like that's the case.
Brigid Moloney
It's testing you and taking you for a reason.
Faye Ripley
Yeah, yeah. And that was like one of the moments that I feel kind of. Yeah, made us really like. Stop. Shut up. Like, think about it. And proceed. With parting with. Caution.
Brigid Moloney
Because had you, did you even communicate with Mack? So you just like, see. Yeah. Was he like, they stop, like. Oh, he was like, go. Yeah. Great idea.
Faye Ripley
Yeah. Sort of like I think we were, you know, happening so quickly that, it none of us were like, that's a good idea. Yeah. I mean.
Brigid Moloney
And that's the issue in an event happens if you don't have the time. So it's just all this instinct that guiding your decision making. Yeah. Because you're not, like, cognitively thinking, oh, grab that bottle of water, cause you could be out there for two days.
Faye Ripley
Yeah, yeah. I do love the instinct thing, too. I think that was big when we were traveling. On the road. And even though we were doing, you know, lots of social media stuff, but we were also like, very disconnected from that kind of world for long periods. And I. I reckon would've been.
Yeah, social media just really interrupts. There your own instincts. Yes. Big time. Yeah. And. I noticed that more with like, motherhood too. You don't give it fully. Fully takes it away.
Brigid Moloney
Like that's a really good way of thinking about it because it, Yeah, I could be trucking along with my girls, making decisions and getting through the day, and then I'll go on Instagram for too long and I'll see what other mothers are doing. And I wasn't even concerned about an issue.
Faye Ripley
Say, yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Or Pat now and then. All of a sudden I'm like questioning everything. And that comparison comes in. Yeah, I have a rule now that if I go away on a holiday, which arguably is the time to take all the nice photos and post about them is I just don't post when I'm on a holiday or I'm trying to have a break or I'm on a hike. I just because before I used to be like, oh, I'll share where I am and this beautiful mountain or whatever, but now I'm like.
Faye Ripley
No, yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Because you just can't absorb your environment. Yeah.
Faye Ripley
We used to because so that was yeah, that was hard when we're taking photos and you're like, I want to get like this really nice photo. Like often before I'd gone. There, I kind of. Had like a vision of this photo I want to take, but. And, you. Know, I'd make Max get up like a.m.. So we get to places really early, like, oh, love that. Love getting up so early so that we could be there.
Like. Just us. So we would get there super early. And I take, you know, some time to just see it, absorb it. And then I would be I those times and I'd, you know Max would be like.Come on I like we need to. Just absorb this. You just need to like just see it. Just.
Brigid Moloney
According to photography because. Yeah. Your Instagram page, which has lots of followers, like the photos are beautiful. So you were into that beforehand and. Yeah. Yeah, I.
Faye Ripley
Did like taking photos. I just started happening. I don't know if that was like the plan that I really wanted to take all these like snazzy.
Brigid Moloney
They do look very professional. Maybe you could rewind a little bit in paint a picture for us of what life looked like before the trip and what what was the catalyst for the trip? Was it just an idea that you had simmering and you just chose the right time? Or were you feeling a sense of restlessness and you wanted adventure and like, how did how did the trip come about?
Faye Ripley
I feel like. It's sort of something that I had wanted to do, like, so we came over here from the UK, so I'm from Wales and we would come here for holidays.
Brigid Moloney
You and your family.
Faye Ripley
Yeah, that's my family. And we do, little like band trips around. Mainly just like this East Coast. We sort of seen.
Brigid Moloney
So you were in Wales from age to ? Yeah.
Faye Ripley
Oh, yeah. I didn't know that. Yeah, yeah. So. We came over here for holidays because. My parents. Sort of ran business from Bali and so kind of work to we'd be in Bali for quite extended time so that we'd come to hear. How are they doing? Yeah. Oh, they had like, furniture, clothing, all kinds of different import business type things. And my parents have been to Australia quite a few times through their youth as well. And I think they'd always wanted to move here to. So we'd had like little taste of everything, not everything of like little bits of Australia. So I've always had that in my mind that I've wanted to do that. And then I've started, my nursing degree looking at like job, prospects with nursing, but kind of like the idea of. Going to a remote, like somewhere remote. And nursing and doing that whole thing. So that kind of like, open my eyes up to the opportunities. And then I met Max when I. Was in my last year of uni, and it might have even.
Been sort of on our first date that we bought up this whole traveling Australia idea and how good it would be, you know, in a four wheel drive. Just kind of do it. Yeah. And. So I met Max, and like three months later, I was in Spain. Sent. Bougie. I was in Spain doing, my yoga teacher training. Oh, yeah. And I got a call from Max, and he was like, I think I found the car that we can go around Australia. And he's like, are you dead set? Keen to go? So we're going to be together for like. For three months. Whoa. Yeah. And I was kind of like, well, I. Am super keen. That yeah I am. Yeah I'm super keen anyway that that car fell through. But it really made us our conversations. Then whilst I was over in Spain, were all about traveling Australia.
And I got back. I was saving like I was really good at saving.
At that point in my life. I can't, but now. I can't be if I want to be. And we had, you know, we said a bit of a financial goal and this and and then a car came up. We flew to Rockhampton to get this car. So Max knows a thing or two about cars. And he had his eyes set on, like these two cars that were pretty much like, he was like, these are our options. He's one of these cars. One of them comes up, we'll go get it. And then and then we'll set like our timeline. So we got the car. I think it's February. So it's like a year and a bit later than that. We actually went. So we did a few little trips, test out the car, changed some things, added some. Things, and.
Brigid Moloney
It was what kind of car was it. Was it a.
Faye Ripley
It's a Nissan Patrol. Yeah it was a ute. It had this like Jack on and off camper on the back. It was like a big like turtle back. Yeah. You could jack it off and we put a rooftop tent on top of that. And so and already had sort of like this kitchen set up in one side. Andy. Yeah, I can't remember setting the date, but we were like, yeah. On March th.
Brigid Moloney
Let's use it.
Faye Ripley
Oh, that's a really good question actually. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I met Max in and. Then we went to .
Brigid Moloney
So the idea just snowballed. It was like a little say the got planted. Yeah. And then it just snowballed with the energy of both of you. It sounds like, you know, in one person bounces off the other and it just grows and grows.
Faye Ripley
I feel like that's been our maximize whole relationship is just like, you know, really if you're really like, you know, we do talk about things, but things just like evolve, like constantly bouncing off of each other and like going with the flow of like, maybe you go with the flow with me for a while, and I go with the flow with him for a while, and then all of a sudden, like, we've done heaps.
Yeah, yeah. You look back and you're like.
Brigid Moloney
I just went and I'm just really good for two.
Faye Ripley
Years. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Because were you planning on going for two year know. So we how did the link happen.
Faye Ripley
And yeah.
Brigid Moloney
So I guess the itinerary then you could talk us through.
Faye Ripley
Well we it was March, so, we sort of felt like our only option was to go north because it was the dry going into the dry season. Yeah. So we're still a bit early, but going into the dry season, I don't know if we said maybe six months at the start, six months to a year, I think we said, yeah, we started going and we were going up the.
Yeah, up the east coast towards Cairns. And then we had to, we were sort of like the first people to do the telegraph track, which is the four wheel drive.
Track up in, the very top end of Queensland. And then we kind of were like, we've been on the road. I think we must have been on the road for.
Becoming up to six months. And we.
We. We calculated we did all of our like budgeting. So I would. I had an app where I was like, keeping track of all the money that we were spending, and we were kind of like, wow, we doing like, really well, like we're not spending much money at all. Like, not what we thought. Because although I was a camper, I love being in that doors. I still really wouldn't of mind. Like before we went on the trip, I was like, I wouldn't mind staying in a motel every now and then. And so we always budgeted to have like one two nights in some kind of like accommodation or something all along the way. Every week. Once tonight and we got going and we didn't stay anywhere. And we like three camped heaps.
Brigid Moloney
So you had all your set up the solar and.
Faye Ripley
Yeah, so had some batteries. We've got, I had a fridge we had at the time we had a freezer too, like we were, we had everything with and it was so comfy like.
Brigid Moloney
And you tested all that out on your little trips.
Faye Ripley
Yeah. But still I didn't. Did you know what I was doing? We knew what we were doing, but it still didn't feel the same as, like, properly being like, this is it now this is home. You know, when you go on those little trips, you like all you might do for a week or whatever, and then you go home to creature comforts, and it's a different mindset. Yeah. So then you get in the car and you're like, no, this is home now. We come back here with this home.
Brigid Moloney
And did you know how to set all that up? Like all the electricals and the power and to be off grid.
Faye Ripley
Max is an electrician. So I feel like it's one of the handiest trades.
Yeah. That you can. Do. Like, you can do a bit of. Everything. And the wiring like. Yeah it's cool. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Because I feel like that's a thing I'd love to do a trip like you've done. Yeah, but neither Luke or I have no skills.
Faye Ripley
Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
And I just have a few that we, we just get stuck in the middle of the night. Yeah. And not be able to get ourselves out because we don't have.
Faye Ripley
Yeah. The skills or the experience. I think. You sort of figure it at. Home and. You meet people. I mean, there's obviously going to be the opportunity for you to get stuck in the middle of nowhere and no one to come past you and help you. But every time, really, that we got stuck even in that, you know, when we thought we'd lost everything, someone turned. Up, you know, when we.
Rolled our boat trailer, someone turned up, you know, it took a, like. It didn't take. Well, it didn't take too long for those people set up, either. Every time someone's sort of turned up and they're willing to help. And everyone on the road, I think is helping each other. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
At so like a camaraderie.
Faye Ripley
Yeah. I mean, the setting up though, the electrical side of volt systems and stuff like that. Max was obsessed with it, you know, constantly looking at the battery readings, making sure we had enough charge. You know, it had to be like a certain number all of the time. Right? And that took a while for him to do that on that side of things. But yeah, he set very simple, like, because we only had a fridge and the solar panel. We weren't. Really. Running. Anything else. Like, occasionally we'd need to charge our phones or cameras, toothbrushes or something like that. But yeah, take the electrode switch cultures brochure where you go, you. Gotta have that.
Brigid Moloney
I don't know one of them. Well, then my dentist told me recently I should, I should have. I can't believe you did.
Faye Ripley
That epic.
Brigid Moloney
You take look great. Yeah
Faye Ripley
Thank you. So, yeah, I we where we at?
Brigid Moloney
Oh, yeah. You were talking about how it ended up being two years and how. But you didn't, so you didn't set off with that goal. You were like six months to a year. Yeah. We were tracking really well with the money. And you just kept going.
Faye Ripley
Yeah. Because we, So we went up the East Coast. We didn't go up to Darwin. We just sort of went to like Madaraka, which is like kind of where you come in across from Queensland. And then we went straight down through Alice Springs, did like Uluru, Kings Canyon and then went down to Adelaide. And so I'm trying to think how long we get on the road by then it wouldn't have been, we wouldn't have been on the road a year yet. And we thought maybe we should just do. A bit of work. Let's just top up the funds. And just kind of see what happens. So Max end up flying back to Uluru to work for a month, and I stayed with his aunty and grandmother in Adelaide and did some agency nursing down there. Oh, cool. Yeah. It was cool, but it also was like, I'm probably not going to do that again. So we talked about the funds. How would we do that, thing with is.
Brigid Moloney
You know.
Faye Ripley
That. I love that. Oh, that's so good. I like. It. There's such good.
Brigid Moloney
Heat on me.
Faye Ripley
It's. Yeah, it can be hit or miss. No, there was such there. Such a good time there. So funny is grandmother's like mine. She's now, but she's like, oh she's amazing. Okay, well, still light travels. And good on it.
Brigid Moloney
So what was it about?
Faye Ripley
It was agency nursing, I think.
Brigid Moloney
Oh, okay.
Faye Ripley
It's hidden. Miss was really good here on on the Gold Coast doing agency nursing here. But maybe that's because, like, every state has its own. Just different, like, just little differences that are enough to, like, throw you or not throw you. But I don't know, I've. Funny, some funny conversations about really my neat stuff. And I should know what I'm like, like doing national live. I get to me. But I was like, it's enough. To be, like, happy. But like.
Brigid Moloney
I just made the work a bit difficult and challenging. Yeah.
Faye Ripley
And like, not a good enough reason. And, Just things that wouldn't, I don't think would have happened in Queensland. Or Queensland Health as well. English sake might have, but it just wouldn't have happened there like, but it was a good experience. And. You know, to see how I Coped with it too and got on with It But then I didn't, didn't do any nursing Then. The rest of the trip I was planning to maybe in Darwin, but then I just.
Brigid Moloney
Other plans used.
Faye Ripley
To switch To crocodiles. We took the crocodile job instead.
Brigid Moloney
Tell us about that. Well, it's so hand. So you you're wife from Max for a month. Which was that a good reset or did you miss him terribly? It's. Pretty good reason. What? When you've been, like, living with each other . Seven. Is probably Quite Nice in some ways. Yeah. Some way. But then, yeah, it was good. And it was. Yeah. Think it was difficult. It might have been difficult for him because he's probably out of his comfort zone. You know, somewhere he was, you know, living in a dog.
Faye Ripley
And stuff in the heat And digging trenches. Added Uluru. And I was in his nice family home with his grandma and rice lambs for dinner and stuff like that But yeah. So anyway, we did that bit of work, and I think that's also when we realized that we don't really need to work, and we could keep going for a long time if we wanted to. We both had like a portion of money that we wanted to go home with at some point. If we, you know, we'd like to stop with that amount of money, but we had enough to just kind of like keep on going. And so we just did, and we did.
Brigid Moloney
And we did.
Faye Ripley
We did, and we just kept Going. Yeah. Until we got to Darwin and ended up with a really random job.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah. Tell us about the random.
Faye Ripley
Job that's. Spending less money. Like thinking about how we got it as well. You know, like, we met this awesome Girl Pretty much where we're going to go and live. And Western Australia there. She was traveling with another couple. Mary. Mary frickin knows everyone. You know those people. But you want to, like, everywhere you can go, like anywhere. And she knows someone where someone calls at her. So, so bizarre. And so we were in Darwin, and there was this person. His name is rowdy, so obviously he's he's a bit of a character. But she introduced us to him, and he was already working. At top ns. Are you or Matt? Right. And we. Just kind of got chatting and saying, you know, we sort of sort of like, open to a job. We're thinking of coming to Darwin and looking for something we hadn't really decided yet. I think at that stage, too, we were kind of thinking of going because kind of worked at timeline wise. They've we kept going, we could make it like dad to Tassie because we hadn't we hadn't done that bit yet. We, we did like a figure eight trip around Australia. Tommy was like, maybe we just go down to Tassie, or we could slowly go back to, like some of the places we liked in Queensland or something.
Yeah. We got the cool and we were like, oh, cool. Yeah. We'll, you know, we can kind of meet you. And then we went to Limbo Land for a couple of weeks. So we I'm not really sure what happened. I think they wanted, they were thinking of putting us at. So I've also got Tiwi Island retreat, which is like one of the remote, islands just off Darwin there. And they were sort of thinking maybe we could be a good fit to go out there. And so maybe they hadn't decided what they wanted or what they needed, because top end safari camp, all this was quite new to them at that time. I think they'd been running for a year, maybe two years, with really minimal staff.
But then we ended up getting here placed at top end Safari camp. And again we went to leave again before we actually got the call to be like no, no we do need you. Can you come back like we need you on Tuesday. We. Oh okay. We'll come back. We'll come back. And we went For our Trial. Do you know what? I'm not even sure. We got one day With the girl that Was originally working there. And we were supposed to do, like, three day sort of training to see what happens because it's like crocodiles, helicopters, airboats, feeding people, campfires, like, you know, it's an overnight tour where you kind of cram everything in it. Housekeeping. It's sort of like an everything job. Yeah, right. I knew we would be living on this property, so like an hour, two hours out of Darwin. And so we had one day kind of like seeing what was going on. And then the next morning, I got a message from the girl saying I can't, I can't Come back. You could like, it'll just be you and Max. And the chopper pilot will be running the. I mean, they can't come. We were like. Yeah, right. Yeah. Cool. Because that's the first day we went to do the shopping with her, because that you also had to do that. So you to go drive to Darwin, do the full supply chain too, because you were preparing. All of the food we went up. To Darwin, had to collect food enough.
For people per tour. Like Max was driving the bus like he drive the bus down to pick the people up to bring them back to us. And he, on the way, like part of the tour, was stopping at one Of the like hot Like not hot springs, but one of the springs for swim and then one of the local pubs for a drink and then come to us and then we cram everything in like you get a helicopter ride, then you fly out to this, pontoon out in the river. Then you get an airboat and you have an airboat tour.
So Max learned how to drive the airboat as well. I did too, but I wasn't that didn't get to the actual touring people in the boat stage.
And then they'd come back, we'd be like, we had these pens of what some might call a rescue crocodile. So just like, too big for where they were living. So Matt Wright would take them all and bring them out to this property. It be the way they were living. Top End Safari Camp, Northern Territory.
Yeah. Like so they might come from, like, you know, out in the wild somewhere where they shouldn't be. Not necessarily. They shouldn't be. But they were causing an issue, like maybe they're eating a lot of cattle. So then Matt would bring them into this place and they good pens. And then some of them were sort of like from the Farming, good ol farming Industry, they get too big to eat there. So they would come. At us as well.
Brigid Moloney
Girl farming as in all the leather.
Faye Ripley
Yeah, yeah. The in dock It's like.
Brigid Moloney
This.
Faye Ripley
Big. Yeah. Oh really? Yeah I think they do.
Brigid Moloney
We export a lot of crocodiles in.
Faye Ripley
They must I'm not like a totally sure, but, you know, like those big names were thrown around to.
Brigid Moloney
Big Bash and.
Faye Ripley
The big. Yeah. Like expensive that use the crocodiles And it's pretty hectic. That's not.
Brigid Moloney
Well documented. No, unless I'm just oblivious.
Faye Ripley
Yeah. I'm not, I'm not sure because they I don't know if it's part of the keeping the numbers down in some way of the crocodiles because, you know, Matt and his team at the time, I don't think they're allowed to Now be Able to go out and collect eggs. Actually, I think there's still teams that do it. You fly out and you collect eggs, which is super dangerous. Like really dangerous job. Over the wet period, they go and collect crocodile eggs and those eggs then be brought. Back and and then hatched. And then they kept they're kept in the farms. Paul. Mum, I took it off and I was back into the garden. Or she'd really fend for them. Like she'd really give The boys a go, like, if she could. That's really. It is.
Brigid Moloney
So how many crocodiles were in it's top in safari?
Faye Ripley
So we had where we. So we were in, like, this little shack, that we would live in. And we had, we had two crocodiles there. We had tripod, who's been in captivity for a really long time. I'm thinking. Maybe years or something like that. He's been in captivity. Yeah, real long time. He's got three legs. I can't remember the story, which is so bad. It's got a bit more membrane space.
I can't remember.
But he's been out there for ages, and he gets sort of, like, fed for the tours, or everyone comes and sees him. Don't know if it's because he's, like a bit slower. He may make some Sipho three legs. If you've seen any photos from top in Safari Camp, it's with tripod. Okay. They you know they will get a you might get a photo with him, which is what like next to him.
Pretty much like pretty close. Like it's a close. As close to crocodiles anyone could possibly ever want to be, like couple of meters.
Brigid Moloney
With no fence.
Faye Ripley
With no fear.
Brigid Moloney
Oh, yeah. Just a total amateur person. Tourist.
Faye Ripley
Yeah. So? So he get fed. So he's pretty like satisfied. He's kind of satisfied and oh man.
Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
So I guess he's lost. He wills his natural prowess to hunt.
Faye Ripley
I'm sure he'd take you out if he. Crocodiles is so opportunistic,
Brigid Moloney
That you talk to.
Faye Ripley
This. So.
Brigid Moloney
Personality.
Faye Ripley
Oh, they're so sneaky. Like so on the pontoon. Pontoon that you'd fly at two. There's a crocodile At there called Otis, and he's huge. Huge. And you'd like you wouldn't see him coming. And then all of a sudden you'd be right there, right next to the pontoon. And he's clocking you like they watch you. They calculate everything that you do. Like Otis knew what we were doing. Otis knew, you know, that we'd come in at this time. I reckon he just. He knew. So on this pontoon, they had, like a swimming cage.
Brigid Moloney
Is it shallow water?
Faye Ripley
They're not really. No.
Brigid Moloney
I think he would do swim out to you.
Faye Ripley
It was like a freestanding pontoon. It's not attached to land. It was like in the middle of the of the river there.
Brigid Moloney
Okay. So is it a river? Yeah.
Faye Ripley
Yeah, there's it's it's a really big river system out there. And that was Oasis's area, like the territorial, and on this pontoon, they have a swim cage that you can Go in the water and Otis will, like, come.
Faye Ripley
Bright.
Brigid Moloney
Like a shark.
Faye Ripley
Okay. Like a shark cage. But Otis.
Brigid Moloney
That be like. That's just a bit scary with the crocodile.
Faye Ripley
I know I.
Brigid Moloney
I can't get a bite through a cage, basically.
Faye Ripley
Yeah. I just feel like crocodiles. The my least favorite animal Like, oh, you do this. I calculated this. I did lot for the I girl last night. An appreciation, a respect. Definitely like the whole time.
Brigid Moloney
So you're just on edge.
Faye Ripley
All time in the territory and. Yeah, you're, Yeah, you. I feel like you're. Well, I was always thinking about it because you launched the boat, and you got to be careful when you're launching your boat into the river. I'm so glad we did have a dog. That would have been so stressful taking a dog to the territory. Man, a heaps of people have Dogs up there. But for me, that would have, like just give me the most crazy anxiety ever. I'm trying to make sure he doesn't get,
Brigid Moloney
Live bait.
Faye Ripley
Yeah, yeah, because they just, they honestly, they're so they are really, really quite smart. And, you know, I think you hear stories of people like, if you go and fill up water, for instance, from the river, like camping, that you're supposed to do it at different spots because if you keep going to the same spot.
They'll know. They know, and they can. You can't. You just can't see them. They can see.
Brigid Moloney
Super stealth.
Faye Ripley
Still. You can't see them. Yeah, yeah. When you and the airboats, they come up like full body. So you can see them, you can see how big they are. Like if Matt right, came out with us on the tours, you'd give us like the Full Croc show. So he'd get out, get.
Brigid Moloney
That famous guy that had the Netflix series.
Faye Ripley
Yeah, Netflix. I'm trying to think I think it's the latest one is also Netflix. Two others, another one. Yeah. I haven't watched it and I they might have been one on like the big National Geographic Channel or something as.
Brigid Moloney
But so you worked with him.
Faye Ripley
Yeah. So he wasn't always there. But occasionally he would Come at and like do a quick.
Brigid Moloney
Show. What entailed show?
Faye Ripley
And whatever he wanted. You just get like get out of the boat. There's a couple of they sort of knew the crocs in the river. They had named them and they knew them. They didn't like, you know, those one called Bonecrusher? Oh, Jesus Christ. He's passed away now. But he used to be in an area of the river, and he had, like half of his bottom jaw missing. From.
Brigid Moloney
Another croc.
Faye Ripley
Yeah, they get in big fights they like. That's generally how they're all, like, missing limbs and sometimes just fights.
Think when it gets dry and the water levels drop, they have less room to have their territory. And so they float into other people's, not people, other crocs territories.
Yeah. But Bonecrusher was a Popular I didn't know much about Matt before I went, but people who come on these tours, especially if they're from America, they know a lot about Matt Ryan's
Brigid Moloney
Bit of a celebrity.
Faye Ripley
Real. Yeah. Like big celebrity And if he came out on the tours, they just loved it. But Dion Cruncher was One that Had obviously been in the TV show a lot. So Bonecrusher, ODIs, tripod had all been in. This has all been In this TV show A lot. And so when we'd come to meet Bone Crunch, people knew Bone Crunch and Matt would get out of the ward where Bone Crunch lived was quite shallow. And, Matt maybe felt like him and bone contractor relationship. And they trusted each other. He's that,
Brigid Moloney
In your opinion, is that quite ignorant or.
Faye Ripley
I don't think you can trust a crocodile. But they. Yeah. He used to get and just, I don't know, just, like, interact with the crocodile. I don't know how you can really. Like, explain it.
Brigid Moloney
Just get up really close.
Faye Ripley
Super touches. Touch it. Yeah. Hand on the. Snapped.
Brigid Moloney
Oh, yeah. So this is a wild crocodile.
Faye Ripley
Wild crocodile. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
These aren't the ones in the pens.
Faye Ripley
No no the ones in the pens are probably way feistier. I've seen some really feisty action from the ones in the pens, but bone crunching seemed calm and relatively.
Brigid Moloney
How did he get his name.
Faye Ripley
Might have been like. Cause I do know that they used to put things on Instagram to be like, help. Us name this crocodile Could have Been something like.
Brigid Moloney
That. Makes more sense because.
Faye Ripley
Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
If you got his name from, like, a punching bag and, yeah, you wouldn't want to be in an alley.
Faye Ripley
Yeah. No, I don't think that was it. I think it was okay. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
So this bloke was a real go getter.
Faye Ripley
Yeah. Oh my gosh. His cane. As has he ever.
Brigid Moloney
Got into a precarious situation that he couldn't get out. No.
Faye Ripley
I don't think so. Hey, he's one of those people that. Well if he had, he'd Be dead by now. But be very confident. So like, a couple of times, like I'd be taking photos every so often. They'd have, like, these special two groups that were just like private booked sort of thing. So Matt would always come out to those, and I would get out of the boat with Matt and stand behind Matt to take pictures.
Brigid Moloney
While the croc was there.
Faye Ripley
Yeah. Hey, I know, and that's trusting, isn't it? That's you try To get up.
Brigid Moloney
That is so trusting.
Faye Ripley
Maybe, like, come on, get in closer. Let's get this. Pilot. Holy shit. Yeah. Know it's funny. Like, Matt is very confident.
Brigid Moloney
Do you trust.
Faye Ripley
Him? Yeah, but you didn't.
Brigid Moloney
Trust the croc. But you trusted.
Faye Ripley
Matt, which is wild.
Brigid Moloney
This was. What was your partner, Max?
Faye Ripley
Oh, Max is like. Yeah, I go, I don't know if Max.
I think. He would have been. On the boat when.
Brigid Moloney
In the Or there any moments where you were like, that was too close. I'm not doing that again.
Faye Ripley
No, not for me. I saw like, other people. There was one. So up near our house where we were living, there's two crocodiles, there's tripod. A couple like me remember the other crocodiles name. But he was quite new to being in the enclosure. I remember what had happened to him, for him to be people there. And he was feisty. And, they're in. So they have, like, a small.
Deep puddle of deep pond of water that they put in these enclosures. Like they really they have to be a specific. Amount, like deep or deeper than. But they're still really small. So, you know, like maybe like as big as this room. And so you. Could be what we have three, two, three like that. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Tiny for a.
Faye Ripley
Big of it. Yeah it is. But it's like I guess enough for them to like fully submerge themselves. Obviously it's not like, like exercise or anything like that. Don't. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
No wonder he was feisty.
Faye Ripley
He was feisty. So because we go in and beat them out he would be one of the crocs. They'd be to show people. That they did.You crocodiles are like like a bit of a bit of an educational experience. I would never feed them when other people when we had any tool groups or anything like that. So there's like another allotment of crocodiles, sort of maybe a kilometer away from our accommodation that we would have to feed.
Brigid Moloney
And what does that entail going into the enclosure or just throwing it over the fence?
Faye Ripley
Well, if you can throw it over the fence, you can, but it's quite those, those ones a big those like so the pond might be, you know, it's bigger as big as this room. But the enclosure in itself is really is quite big.
And so you would have to sort of go in because, because the trucks, they stay in the water like they, you don't see them really.
That they don't. Not a lot of them.
Brigid Moloney
Just like they're not backing out like dinner time.
Faye Ripley
Yeah. So you'd go in and you'd get like, the big old leg or whatever. I need. Throw it all.
In, like.
Throw it away to the water. And then this huge croc would just emerge from nowhere, like, because the water's so muddy, you can't.
You can't see the little only Throw as soon as you throw meat in or anything is there's anything like big touches. The water, they explode out of their.
Brigid Moloney
It's just standing. Oh.
Faye Ripley
Yeah. Wow.
Brigid Moloney
How fascinating.
Faye Ripley
So. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
And you weren't scared.
Faye Ripley
Yeah. I don't know, I. I guess I didn't like, I don't feel like I put myself at risk at any point. I was very cautious. Max would sometimes get a bit like. You know, confident. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Did the crocodiles do anything? Spending time with with them?
Faye Ripley
They can't trust them. But I already knew I think I already knew that I Didn't like, I've always said That for me.
Brigid Moloney
I need to end up in a job where you're eating.
Faye Ripley
I know, I know, I just.
Brigid Moloney
They've always been a bit.
Faye Ripley
Cautious. Yeah. Like. Yeah. As soon as we got to, when We were driving North from here to like, things like Mickey and I was like, are they crocs here? Like, are we getting close to croc country? And then I just became so cautious. And I feel like they ruin the fun a bit, you know.
Like, I just Want to swim in the sea, and I want to swim in the rivers. Yeah, I want to swim in the nice places.
Brigid Moloney
That would be.
Faye Ripley
But there's crocs.
Brigid Moloney
So hard traveling up there and not be able to swim in the water.
Faye Ripley
Yeah. What is this? Heaps of places you can swim that you can go to. But, you know, Max would love to move to Cairns, but I'm like.
Brigid Moloney
No, just the heat and not being able to submerge yourself in.
Faye Ripley
Wherever you wanted to. I want to submerge myself in water wherever I want to. Yeah, yeah.
I don't want to think about it.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah, I yeah, I, I hear.
Faye Ripley
And even the places where they tell you you can swim, it's not for certain. So the wet season like keeps the swimming places, closed because the crocs can get into them. And then they have like this period where they put traps at to get them out of those public swimming, like places that they open up in public swimming holes. But a Croc can, like, get back in.
Faye Ripley
Or they can just miss, you know, they might miss one. So I think I'm trying to think there's a place where Wangi falls in the territory. I don't think it's that long ago that someone got bitten. Like, I don't. Know it.
Brigid Moloney
I mean, yeah, there I was just thinking in how shark attacks make such headline news. But we don't often hear about crocodile attacks. But does that mean there aren't many or.
Faye Ripley
No, that's just a locality thing, isn't it? Because we're here. Sharks are our predators. Like we're very aware when we're in the like along this bit, of course, of all of the shark attacks. So we hear about them. But I think when you're in the territory, you don't really hear about the shark attacks. But you hear about the crocs.
Brigid Moloney
Oh, okay. But I feel like we would hear about it. Shark attack in Perth or like.
Faye Ripley
Yeah, but again.
Brigid Moloney
Is it because you've got to you've.
Faye Ripley
Got shark there don't you. So it's like what interests you have, you're not really interested in the crocodile attacks because you don't have crocs there.
Brigid Moloney
They're saying the news channels in the area would report it.
Faye Ripley
Yeah I feel like.
Brigid Moloney
So there are fatalities often?
Faye Ripley
Don't know. But I wouldn't say that. There's not usually like I wouldn't say fatalities.
Brigid Moloney
But the yeah one on average one a year died. One person died. Yeah. I think it's it's similar to shark if you average it out over the years.
Faye Ripley
Yeah. And I wonder. About like injuries to You know because. The same with sharks isn't it. There's quite a few people who survive.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah, yeah. That you, you were saying that you've got less chance of surviving a crocodile?
Faye Ripley
I reckon so I don't know.
Brigid Moloney
I do too. I don't know why I didn't have the just bait.
Faye Ripley
And they take you to gnarly. Yeah. They like and they, they take you down like spear. All the way around. Oh Shove you under a rock from.
Brigid Moloney
Man, I'm glad we don't live with that.
Faye Ripley
Yeah. Steam hat is super. To think about. And like those waterholes where the rangers go in and they clear all crocs and stuff. And then. Every so often, like, one gets through so, yeah, one guy falls. I think that was last year. There was a croc in there that managed to. I think, just a better person. So if they're small, I think you you might, get by.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah. Yeah.
Faye Ripley
But it's not there's any no hope they take your whole.
Brigid Moloney
All right. So you do not have a love for crocodile anything. Where were you?
Faye Ripley
Glad to get out of that? We were like, we were so ready to go back again because it was so. It was fun. Like, the territory's, like, lawless. You. It really is another world. Hey, it's, very much like a do now ask of forgiveness later type place. Yeah, yeah. Not that we did anything like. Did you see that bit? No, but it just kind of, when you're living amongst people who are doing that.
It's, it's logic rubs off. It's like, yeah, you kind of.
Brigid Moloney
Enter the rule break,
Faye Ripley
Yeah. Well. This is a different it's a different type of people as well, isn't that they're different. It's quite amazing up in the territory because everyone seems to be Like a bit of an orphan. It's like people come from everywhere and go to Darwin. I wish I knew what the saying was, what they say about Darwin, but it's like, you know, people trying to escape something, escape their lives, escape the law. I think I that.
Brigid Moloney
Is a saying similar to that about Alice Spring.
Faye Ripley
Yeah, probably. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Did you spend any time in indigenous community? Well, to know any.
Faye Ripley
I can't know. We we Really didn't. Which is such a shame. That would have been so good about staying if we ends up in the Tiwi Island retreat, we would have been working, like A little bit closer alongside those communities and doing, you know, they've got such good Art, but like an art, really good art program up in,Tiwi. But we I Can't say that we did like We. It's a shame that people kind of warn you against it whilst you're traveling. Like, warn you against going through communities, but we never had any issues like we.
Brigid Moloney
Why do they want?
Faye Ripley
Probably because they, are uneducated. Maybe. I mean, you know, everywhere you go you're going to have, like, issues. They could be an issue, couldn't you? Like some of the biggest issue, like issues with people. We had but definitely not indigenous like. Yeah. You know, we Had awful like some really awful experiences with people. But indigenous we had we did have some, you know, when we went to the Cape, we did kind of go into the communities there a bit more, you kind of pass through all the different communities, and that was really cool But and we. I can't really say that we've interacted too much in that regard. We did do like a little bit of like fishing, in some of the communities. But yeah, but it's people. It's it is just such a shame how people warn you against it when that is quite literally the least of your worries. Like it's it was always white folk, but we had such shit experiences. With what.
Brigid Moloney
Were some of the things that happened?
Faye Ripley
Oh well.
Brigid Moloney
Are they do you think they're the most challenging part of the trip.
Faye Ripley
Or. You know, the times where we felt in day, like in danger. Really? Yeah. So I remember, this we were at the back of Charters Towers one night as a first night. Max and I both took a knife to bed, but didn't tell each. Other what the.
Brigid Moloney
Fuck.
Faye Ripley
Yeah, I Know, I was like, we I don't know why we didn't tell each other, but you're so gangsta. I didn't. What plan was? I'm like,
Brigid Moloney
But you just mistook each other for a straight.
Faye Ripley
Just got each other. We were at, like, in this campsite, Nicole Dalrymple National Park, and it was cold. And there was only one other person camping there, and us. And he was this guy was fully set up like he'd been there for quite a while, had a quad bike, just had this big, like, tent set up, had his kayak, everything. The river sort of like wraps around the campsite there And He came out like he was drinking. He came over and we had a little chat with him because, we were like, yeah, that's cool. Have a little chat with you. And he was telling us how he was at there, like escaping his life the six week to get six weeks away from the family. To enact do like him doing. What I know I, I was like, are you kidding Me? I hope his wife gets this. Yeah.
And he came over, so we had a chat and then he came back over on his quad bike, and he had, like, this massive knife, like, attached to the front of the quad bike. He decided that he wanted to launch his kayak. Through. Our campsite. And we were like. Well, do you. Like, there's so many other places that you could launch your kayak? And I think from what we were told, maybe looking back, there probably wasn't that many crocodiles. But, there was still like some crocodiles in that river. And he was launching his kayak into this river. He's just super uneasy. He really kind of wild. Just the knives. And I guess you don't know what else. Maybe they. We didn't, like, know what else he might be bringing with him. If he's. Bring your knife, if he's into, you know, pigging and stuff like that. So we had this super uneasy night, and I think we'd gone to bed when he came back to get his kayak to. Because he. Went for, like, a bird in his kayak and managed to come back and pull it up at the front of that place, but then didn't come back and get it until like at night and mean like we were in bed and we. Were like, what is going on? Like, why is this going on?
It was in the kayak. He went in the car, he left his quad bike there. So we walked back and came and got the quad bike. It's just things like that.
Brigid Moloney
And just you just had to be on your toes.
Faye Ripley
It's people with knives actually not thinking about this in Tassie we had we were in another place in Tassie and this guy who'd been like or something in Boardshorts and a t shirt, but he had a belt on over his boardshorts, a knife belt over The top.
Brigid Moloney
Is not.
Faye Ripley
So weird We Were camped up next to it and it was just so strange. Just bizarre. Little things like that That would happened So. But yeah, there wasn't too many times the right that we felt like. Okay, properly. That was the time when we found danger. I think that's the only time we took a knife to bed. So the other times was just more like uncomfortable and probably, like, annoyed.
Really? Yeah. You know, I think it's.
Brigid Moloney
Always good to on the side of caution.
Faye Ripley
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Brigid Moloney
And what about, just being in the natural environment? Did you end up just completely sinking in to the rhythms and the patterns around you? Yeah. Like, did you just feel at one with nature? Like you're not living in a conventional Or by four Wall house and you're just know a vehicle and.
Faye Ripley
You live by like, the seas. And so we were constantly moving depending on the seasons and then weather, like weather dictated everything. You know, how your day would go Or. Where you try and go. To, Which was so nice, like every.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah. What was the the effect of that on you living in LA?
Faye Ripley
It's a very slow life Which is Amazing. You know, when you go on holiday and you feel someone, do you, like, feel like I need to do everything, so we should get up at five and we should, like, eat these foods, go to this place, eat that next bit of food, like go. Yeah, take it off. Yeah. But because you were just kind of going with the seasons and the weather, it was you just kind of Yeah. Slowed right down because you were like Well, you don't really. Go to that place now, but we can't really go anywhere. So maybe we'll just start, we'll wait and then we'll go there later. You know, like there's a few times that we ended up well, heaps like you'd end up in a free camp, which is kind of like a dust bucket. Like a gravel pit. Just kind of waiting. Waiting your time, having fires. Just real quiet time. Read a book or whatever. Just so, so wonderfully slow. Just totally the opposite to a holiday.
Brigid Moloney
Or life now.
Faye Ripley
Yeah. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Do you think back to that time in which you could bring slowness into your current block?
Faye Ripley
I feel like having a baby has sort of done it. And we've been very fortunate In that Max. Has only. So this first year of life, O'Meara has only had to work like six weeks. And so we have been able to be really quite nice and slow, like I've well, Max has probably, you know, really held the to allow me to be super slow, you know, and really like go with Mira and, let her I don't say dictate that. Don't ever take off your life and your rhythm. Yeah, yeah. And that we've just fully been able to do that this last year. And I guess at the start it was important like that. You felt like, you know, they need to nap at this time. They'd be sleeping eight at this time. And then you finally got under on the rhythm and you're like, you're and you're allowed to go with mum.
Brigid Moloney
And just sit in those moments with them.
Faye Ripley
Yeah. Just like I think about, you know, getting her to. Sleep and stuff like that. It's just the. Stress of the stop and now it's quite nice. It's like a slow. We both just, you know, I've only got one kid, so yeah, I get to kind of lie down with her and just Not Wait until she goes to sleep.
And I've been able to do that for so long that. Yeah. It's so nice. And then. And then realizing that being a mum is heaps easier when you're. Not in that.It's much easier to parent when you're like, outside.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah. In like.
Faye Ripley
That. Yeah. Yeah yeah. You know she's. Full water baby. So if we're struggling like, you know, some people it's, you know each to their own. But You always hear about, oh, I had such a shit night last night, so we can, But I just need to stay in. We just need to stay in and. But that's that's not been how it works for us at all. Like, if we've had a crap night, we need to get at, like, today. Nature. Yeah, we need to get out. She needs to go swimming. We need to go see some stuff, go see a bit of nature, feel some, let it crawl, Mustang. Let it eat a bit of it.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah, yeah. All that sensory stuff.
Faye Ripley
Yeah. And then just.
Brigid Moloney
Resets them doesn't.
Faye Ripley
It. Yeah it doesn't it. And then you actually, then she will. And then the time she goes down for a brilliant nap and then it just that just like goes through them to the next, you know, the next little white period of. Yeah. And then the next nap, then the next.
Brigid Moloney
It's a bit, it's there is the right word. But I was at swimming lessons and I was overhearing, like my daughter's swimming lessons, another mother asking another mother which sensory toys she had for her kid, and they were going through all the toys. And then another mother was like, oh, why don't you just take them outside? And I thought, sometimes I get caught in that because if I just want to be at home for a little bit, which is very rare, I want them to be semi entertained.
Yeah, but I just was like, I just had one of those moments. I was like, oh yeah, that's it. I mean, that's what I do. We just here at the creek or the beach or the park every single day. Yeah, twice a day. And a day on my one year old is just, yeah, picking up everything, all the sensory stuff, like, there's no way I'm going to take a toy to the park, I just refuse.
Yeah, because it's all there. Yeah. They come back and they're tired in a good way. Yeah. And you ready for that?
Faye Ripley
Sleep so good. It's good. It's like it's very simple.
Brigid Moloney
It's just a bit scary that society. I just feel like especially in motherhood, the culture is what can we sell these desperate mothers, whether it's the sleep consultants or endless baby toys for all the different ages of the baby. So you just you just never have enough. Like you're told. You never have enough stuff to keep your baby happy.
Faye Ripley
And we're suckers.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah, but because we vulnerable and sleep deprived. Yeah. And it's all new. So you know, and you go on Instagram like you were saying before, and you see someone else who's doing it, and their baby looked very happy. Yeah, yeah. So you fall for it.
Faye Ripley
All the different sensory toys that people make as well like more DIY stuff And I'm like, yeah, like. Because, you know, I, I can understand that you want to be maybe you want to be at home. So you want to try and occupy your child for some time whilst you do something. Yes. But at the same time you've spent like two hours preparing that activity for them to, like, look.
At it for . That's so true.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah, that's a good point that have been made. Yeah. I'm always like, oh, I should lift my DIY game and I just never get around.
Faye Ripley
Yeah, yeah.
Brigid Moloney
I should just let it go through. Endo. Yeah.
Faye Ripley
At the minute. Mirrors like favorite thing to occupy herself is this like one big tub of Shells and crystals That My mum has collected over the last year. I don't.
Brigid Moloney
Know how awesome.
Faye Ripley
It must be. Like years old This big bucket thing Pulls them all out, puts them all back in again. And that's been going on for ages. I yeah, I don't again, I constantly think like, am I. Supposed to be doing more? Should I be buying more?
Brigid Moloney
What do you think your trip helped you at all with some of that respective.
Faye Ripley
Yeah, I think so because yeah. And we met so many families at the Who would like doing that.
Oh, slow living with their kids and they didn't have like hardly anything with them. We did meet one, family who, I like, almost idolized. They were so beautiful. They've got they've now got three beautiful girls. But at the time they just had to and they had become the most self sufficient little girls, just exploring all around the care of what it.
Brigid Moloney
Took to get a child.
Faye Ripley
They were just unreal and like, so at the time, with a. No, I reckon Three and five. And they were like making their own lunches, you know, they can make their own sandwiches, get in there, make their own things. But the Thing that their mum did Bring with them was. Heaps of craft supplies. But they would take all that, like, out into nature and, you know, make little shell necklaces or, you know, just. Yeah, really like creative
Brigid Moloney
And did they what did those kids seem like? They seem quite regulated. Like emotionally.
Faye Ripley
Yes. Yeah. They was. They was So freaking lovely. And the parents as well were just so wonderfully calm about everything to, you know. They were they were all just, like, loving, loving life on the road.
Brigid Moloney
Do you want to take your baby mirror on the road and do a trip?
Faye Ripley
Yeah, yeah. So I think our plan. So we move to Karratha for we're sort of aiming for three years.
And we're kind of hoping. That maybe we have ourselves set up to get a caravan and do a.
Trip, maybe with two. And yeah, and we've. Got like people we've met on the road. I've had babies within the same year. So there's like a few people that we travel quite a bit with, but they've had a baby in the say within the same year. So there's like four couples. And we.
The other day we All Night group Message we were like at is like . And they were like, yeah, we were. Thinking the same thing, maybe . So that's good.
Brigid Moloney
So you've kept in touch with the people you met on the road.
Faye Ripley
We've caught up with them more times than we have, like a lot of our other friends. Well, since the road it's been, I don't know, like five years since we actually saw each other on the road. But we've caught up twice a year or more. That's good. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
I think. Do you what do you attribute that to that you've just got this love for travel and adventure in common, and you just make it happen because you are those kind of people I think.
Faye Ripley
So, like, right. It must be the that must be it I. I mean they're, they're honestly like the most beautiful, amazing people ever. Yeah. There's also that But. Story, I think we've had so many like shared experiences that you know when you come together nothing's hard like.
We've Learned a lot from each other and we've all life's evolved kind of similarly, but Not As well since the trip. That, I don't know. Every time we come together, it's like, I Know Time has passed and you talk about all those trips like you've you can reminisce about that trip But,
Brigid Moloney
I mean, we would have not even scratched the surface. Really? You were gone for so long.
Faye Ripley
Every day. You can bring it up every day, Max. And I like, like, constantly, constantly.
Brigid Moloney
Actually, that might bring me to. I wanted to, read you this quote from, you know, the the woman, Robin Davidson, the camel lady. Oh, yeah. She travel trust. Yeah. km across Australia with the camels and the dog. And there was the book in the film called Track. When I read you this quote that she, I think she read it in track, which I want to see if I resonate. You that she said as I look back on the trip now, as I try to sort out fact from fiction, try to remember how I felt at that particular time or during that particular incident. Try to relive those memories that have been buried so deep and distorted, so ruthlessly. There is one clear fact that emerges from the quagmire. The trip was easy. It was no more dangerous than crossing the street or driving to the beach, or eating peanut. The two important things that I did learn were that you are as powerful and strong as you allow yourself to be, and the most difficult part of any endeavor is taking the first step, making the first decision. And I knew even then that I would forget them time and time again, and would have to go back and repeat those words that had become meaningless and try to remember. I knew even then that instead of remembering the truth of it, I would lapse into a useless nostalgia.
So it kind of ties into what you were just saying about reminiscing about the trip.
Faye Ripley
Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Because I was curious to know, I guess, what your emotional state was like before the trip. During the trip, and then after the trip. So when you're looking back on it and you've got, I guess, the beautiful perspective of hindsight, were you feeling differently when you were on it, like when you were on the trip? What was your self talk like? Were you struggling? Did you think it was super hard or you just so relaxed and like kind of those learnings we were talking about with nature, did that all come after or was it all just really clear while it was happening for you?
Faye Ripley
Probably not clear while it's happening, is it? It's like in hindsight, the whole thing was. Like.
Beautiful and amazing and like everything lovely. And you Got To remember all of the hard points because the hard points were little, I feel. I mean, I can't say that I've done any of the feats that she had with nationals across the desert. Like, that's just amazing.
Brigid Moloney
All of our level of comfort. It's different for everybody. Totally still stepped out of your comfort zone. Yeah. And for a long time.
Faye Ripley
Yeah. And I remember my parents, my I think my parents said to Max, like, I think she's going to do. This in school because I hope for you guys. Thanks, mom. Yeah. Which is Funny. Like, I don't understand. I don't really understand why they bought that. Yeah. Looking back, everything seemed easy. But they know that the challenges was tiny and and overcome very quickly. I feel all I can think of right now, which is so stupid. It's like things like dating and like your menstrual cycle. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
And I was she talked about in the book. She's like, I just had to let myself bleed down my leg. Like, she obviously had no products with her or used anything that. Yeah, would help with that situation. And she was like, I just feel like an animal because I am an animal. I'm out here. There's no one here. It doesn't matter.
Faye Ripley
Yeah, yeah. Isn't that like mice to be so tree free? But also, I guess so alone, though, to. Be.
Like in this society that you can do that and it doesn't matter. You'd have to feel really alone.
Yeah. Thank God for menstrual cups. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Well, how did you overcome that? Did. Well, which is an inconvenience.
Faye Ripley
It just No, it didn't. It became. Just became a thing, an instrument to make things so easy. Hey And.
Brigid Moloney
But did you have access to good, clean water all the time?
Faye Ripley
Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Or did you often find yourself somewhere we like? Shit? I cannot wash it properly. Not sterilize. It.
Faye Ripley
Always had good clean water because we had we did have, like two quite big tanks, like on our, car. And we never, we didn't really get to a point where we were like, yeah, okay, we're running out of water We need to sort this out Because we used to bucket Bar, so We like showers. That was only if we have a state of the campsite, really, that we'd get a shower. There's a couple of, like, free camps that have showers. So we just have, like, a bucket of warm water and a washer, and we just, you know, that was nice to be so alone that you could just take away clothes off and have, like, a bucket bath at in, like, nature and ran campfire.
That there would be some, like, our best memories. I.
Yeah.
So we always had like some boiling water and stuff that You could clean up for Sure. Max loved me using our only, like, pot to boil up. Oh, well, at the camp, everyone, and then, like, figuring out how to, like, change. It didn't have to be, like, too discrete because We were, aren't we?
You know, we camp. We tried to camp mostly alone, like just us. We probably quite unsocial, like I think about, the start of the trip, we didn't meet too many people. We really kept to ourselves. It wasn't until later on that we may be met a few more people, and maybe that was Instagram as well. Helped with that. Like we had people being like, oh, are we like, you're traveling like we've seen you on Instagram. What I see. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
So which was this from following a hashtag? Oh no.
Faye Ripley
I just love I don't know, I guess the algorithm like if you're traveling around Australia kind of like and you're in like the vicinity of other people, it kind of like jumps you together. Doesn't it? So it didn't. Oh, you know, sometimes like I'm like, oh, it must be famous. But I think it's just Instagram being like. You guys are quite close together and seem like doing the same thing actually. Come back that. Yeah. So yeah, we were always quite like alone and so changing. Yeah. Menstrual cup wasn't very much of a challenge. So yeah. Is it isn't it finding like there, there. That's the kind of challenges that I could.Kind of.
Brigid Moloney
The a lot of people listening would find that difficult because especially if they're on a traveler or camp. Yeah. What you've done probably sounds wild.
Faye Ripley
Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
You know, depending on how much that person has done. And like I say, everyone's bar of what's uncomfortable is different.
Faye Ripley
Yeah. But I think.
You know, when we used to did used to stop meeting people on the road, especially women, you would end up speaking about menstrual cycles and shaving and like, yeah, you know, people, they are the questions that people would ask. You know, back when we were like famous on Instagram.
People would be, you know.
Give you a little Q&A and people would be like, how do you shave your legs? Like, how do you keep on top of you menstrual cycle had like, you know Were.
Brigid Moloney
You did you let yourself go know because of Instagram you kept yourself in check?
Faye Ripley
Danny, you really see hairy legs. Can you imagine? Like, no, but it's quite nice to sit next to a campfire and shave your legs. That's the something. Not too often. Yeah, just not very often.
Brigid Moloney
Sometimes a bit of selfcare is nice.
Faye Ripley
Yeah, definitely.
Brigid Moloney
So what do you think the whole trip taught you in the end? Was it what you were saying before just to stop and slow down?
Faye Ripley
Yeah, probably. Probably all of that. And I think being able to reminisce on something like that too, is so, I feel like it's like good for a relationship, you know, to have done something.
Brigid Moloney
So relationship with Max. Yeah. So.
Faye Ripley
No, no. Well, I guess myself, but because it was, you know, especially say the challenges were small, it definitely, you know, impacted my own relationship with my self in those little, those little moments. But carrying On Into our relationship like Max and I, being able to constantly reminisce On those little Stories just kind of very like grounding because the whole trip was very grounding, you know.
Brigid Moloney
Did you ever have conflict with Max, or do you just got to a point where you're like, can you just f off? I feel like a bit of.
Faye Ripley
What else can I? I can't really remember too much conflict, to be honest.
Brigid Moloney
That is amazing. Yeah.
Faye Ripley
I think. It was so funny. We were in Tasmania and I was hating it. I'm sorry to all the Tasmanians, but I absolutely frickin hated it. Oh my god, like, there was probably like three days out of the two months that we were there, I enjoyed myself. It was really close. It was January, December, January, a bit of February.
Brigid Moloney
From Wales Main.
Faye Ripley
Oh, I know, and the whole time I stayed in the northern River. This is why we don't live here. We don't live in a flat climate like this. We were in Tassie and they just got the better of me. Like the cold, the rain. That's, that was we had a lot of crappy experiences with People in Tassie too. Was the school holidays there? So everyone was trying to be at camping. And, you know, like, we'd been traveling for a year and a half or more at that point. And I guess we felt like we had good. You know, you have good Kent. There's like, good camp etiquette there. There is. And then you go somewhere on school holidays where everyone's like, they've bought a tent for Christmas. And they've they're That good. Yeah. And they've got like, the whole extended family in an eight man tent. And they've never camp before. And it's just it was all just like a lot. And we were at this campsite, it was coming up to my birthday And I really didn't want to be there for my birthday. Like, I just got in my head and I was like, this is not where I want to be. I just f off right out of here. And anyway, I we we are this looking back, the campsite that we were at that night was so nice. It was beautiful. And we had the campfire going. It was on this river. There was like a platypus in the river. Anyway, I said to Max, I was like, Max, is it? I've had enough. I've honestly that this I'm at my end now. And Max looked at me and was like, what? And I was like, I honestly cannot stand this. And for like a second longer. And he was like, I can't. I wish I could remember quite what he said. He was like, I just need to go for a walk. Then I just really need to go for a walk. And I was like. Okay, okay, did.
Brigid Moloney
I use the friendship?
Faye Ripley
Yeah, walk then. And I just sat there in the car. I was like freezing. And he came back and he was sort of like, so it's like, I'm just really trying to get my head around this, that like, I don't really know what's happened for you to want to, like, end the relationship now. And I was like.
Sorry. What? Oh my God. It's like we just said like, dude, that's this is it It's done. And I was like, oh fuck So I'm done with Tasmania. So heaving off the like a walk for like two hours or so, like mulling over the fact that our relationship was not quite that. And he comes Back And I was like No, I'm Over this and I'm over the cold and I'm willing to fly home for a bit if you want to carry on traveling. And then I'll come back. And he was like, oh, oh, that's not how I heard that at all.
Brigid Moloney
Oh, wow. Isn't that interesting? What we think we say and then what someone else is. Oh, do you think that he was having he had an underlying anxiety about the potential of that for him to jump to that so quickly. If you think you so clearly we're talking about Tasmania.
Faye Ripley
Yeah Well maybe, maybe I'd been. A bit bit excited about it because, yeah, I hated to. Who were you communicating that. Yeah. Yeah. And we did like we'd made some like Tasmania small. But we did make some big moves because of like the weren't.
Brigid Moloney
Happy.
Faye Ripley
And we weren't happy, you know Yes. And when we had this argument he was like, right, well where do you want to be? Like, let's go. Where you want to be? I love you. Yeah And I was like, I want to go to Cradle Mountain for my birthday. And it was also super expensive to stay in the caravan park up there. Not that it was like out of budget at the time, but it was, you know, January. And so we went We went up there and it just so happened that we woke up on my birthday and it was minus four degrees and bucketing it down with rain. And I was like Buckle.
Now I really wish I went home I don't know, I get I next definitely a better time in Tasmania than I did. Yeah. He doesn't remember being so crap. He does remember like been some negative experiences we had with people.But Max doesn't tend to let things like that. And I get to him that.
Brigid Moloney
Well good on you guys. The traveling for so long and not coming to a new breakup. Yeah, for a misconstrued.
Faye Ripley
One, I know that honestly. Dude. Off to yeah, I Guess part of it I feel is having your own interests to, I think, really help. Like Max is a big fisher and that's like I realized on that trip like that his meditation. So I did really enjoy like I came to really enjoy fishing, but at the same time, I had a respect that I was like, you can go on your own. Like, I'm fine to be here to read. Maybe I'll go for like, this little walk. Or it was usually just like stillness that I needed in those times. And obviously he need the same and taking the boat out. And Going fishing. So we we Weren't in.
Brigid Moloney
Each other's grille the whole.
Faye Ripley
Time. Yeah. There was space we were able to have. Okay. Yeah, that's a good thing to know. Have moments. Like that. Yeah. And I feel like we knew when that needed to happen without having to be like. I'm going to kill you if you don't go now. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Well, maybe that was a, like just being on a trip like that where you just intune, you know, when there's not all the distraction that you have in modern life with content and billboards and supermarkets and you just.
Faye Ripley
You just seeing.
Brigid Moloney
Are you just more in tune with yourself and your partner? Yeah. And you can read those signs. Yeah. That sounds about refreshing it.
Faye Ripley
Definitely.Like that's such a big thing in like, family like, doesn't it? Not necessarily social media. It's like just you and you're like, you're that little family unit. And You know, you're not even influenced by your family and friendship groups either. So it's not just social media. It's like it's just Yeah, that's actually that's good.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah. Do you think the trip changed? You are as a person.
Faye Ripley
Oh, God. The question what are they do know about that.
Brigid Moloney
Like was the fact that left different to the father returned?
Faye Ripley
I wish I could say yes, but I'm not sure I Can I can say, yeah I find it hard to see change in myself Maybe someone else might Say differently but I yeah, I can't say that I Cannot exactly look at Max because like a slow burn is not when you travel. Yeah To say it's like a Slow burn change. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
And then hindsight even years down the track I think things make sense. Yeah. That can take time to like you go back, look back in ten years.
Faye Ripley
And go, yeah I think maybe it's made us more willing to Not work so much. That's good You know, to be willing to find those spaces where you don't have to be constantly on the grind, like.
Yeah, well, you.
Brigid Moloney
I, I would imagine I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, that being able to live so self efficiently would give you a sense of confidence and reassurance that you could do that again. And if you imploded, you could do it again.
Faye Ripley
Yeah, yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Because I remember when Covid hit and when everyone just panicked There was just this fear around, oh my God, what if there's no food on the shelves in the supermarkets soon? Like there's no toilet paper now, what if what if it gets to a point where there's no food? Yeah. And then people who don't grow their own fruit and veg or can't fish, what would they do? But I guess you two would just. Maybe you better ride that out with a sense of calm because you've done it.
Faye Ripley
Yeah, yeah, totally Not like Max At. Oh, and myself, I'm a very good fisherman on that journey. That was something that was like, I don't think I was expecting to provide so much of our own meals. Like, I did. Not think that would. You know, I didn't think I'd get that into fishing, like filleting fish and stuff like that, or spearfishing. Even having a go at spearfishing. I did not picture that. Did you do that? Yeah. How did you go? Well not like amazing. That got like better But we So Max had like a proper speargun and then I had like. This little, like a, like a manual speargun that I would. Also go out. So there's also like my little protector, my little trident. Protector. But I yeah We used to, I used to catch things like cuddle fish and I think we were Again, it was all in Western Australia. So that's why I feel like we're moving like all of our, like, craziest, beautiful memories all In Western Australia. So that's Like a meant to be that is meant to Be moment I feel and going for that
Brigid Moloney
For this next big move. Yeah. Just circling.
Faye Ripley
Back. Yes. Yeah I, I want to do it like I want to do it again. I want to go back to that space because under the water that's the place to be Hey, is that, just. Yeah Being under the water and that that quietness is, like, amazing That is really, really cool And try to chat turtle on the water when you spot one But yeah, we, I guess we did, we let alone Gods, we did also learn that red meat is a wonderful thing because when you've eaten like seafood for So long, you are great.
Brigid Moloney
Red meat.
Faye Ripley
Hanging for meat. Yeah. Oh, gosh Again, I think that was coral Bay, Western Australia, where we just We had fish for so long. We were at like This place called Barra Station. I been there for like weeks and eating Fish and and we both just really went waiting like juicy and Right Oh yeah But still, like, so, so cool To have, like, been able to. Yeah Provide all of our own food cooked in so many different ways.
Brigid Moloney
Do you do that now?
Faye Ripley
Not as much, Max. I don't do any of the fishing that Max. Max. So goes out fishing.
Brigid Moloney
Well, maybe when you move back over to.
Faye Ripley
Yeah, it'll be almost like easier over there. Like here. It's where a bit like overpopulated, overfished kind of a vibe Whereas over there I like fishing when it's Easy to catch fish. Yeah. Like going up. That's a good point. Yeah. When you go up into Cairns and, like, fishing just became super easy. Didn't have to be awesome to catch like, great fish, you know. Yeah. Barramundi and mangrove jacks and stuff like that and yeah, crabs like you. Mud crabs and stuff like that. So yeah. Yeah. Here it's just not Cracks like Well, we have had a couple of mud crabs in The last couple of weeks. Oh, just like at the back of the hat. Oh, well, yeah. Pretty expensive. That is cool. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
And do you reckon anybody could go and do a trip like you did?
Faye Ripley
Yes. Yeah. I definitely.
Brigid Moloney
Don't need any special skills.
Faye Ripley
Or no one You just meet people on the road with all those skills. If you don't have Them, like If you really need that kind of help, anyone can do it. You know, if you really prioritize, like your nails and your eyelashes and stuff like that, then maybe not. But at the same time. I like you totally do it. Yeah. I don't think there's any.
Brigid Moloney
Reason there shouldn't be anything that holds.
Faye Ripley
Someone back from going on a trip like that. No, I don't think so.
Brigid Moloney
And next time you do it, you'll have a little baby.
Faye Ripley
Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Well, she's one now.
Faye Ripley
She's one that hopefully we'll have another one day.
Brigid Moloney
You'll have two babies.
Faye Ripley
That two babies take one another, daddy And hopefully they'll be able to just maybe old enough.
Brigid Moloney
What do you think is a good age?
Faye Ripley
I see people like quite a few people that we met on the road of traveling now with their families, like they've kept on going and they've had families and it just seems to be working for them. And it's like, you know, like now Mira is really into like that sensory stuff, or any kid is really into that sensory stuff And so if you're on the road, you're constantly in a sensory play area, aren't you New environment Yeah. There's there's just always stuff for you to be touching And playing And submerging and seeing So I don't I'm sure they have their own challenges. You can have challenges with any age, kid, aren't you? So. And I want to say if she's old enough to enjoy it, but I remember I think that's the thing is remembering, isn't it? But at the same time, she's going to enjoy it. And you're remembering. Yeah. So it's like your little time capsule Yeah. Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
What's it the the parent.
Faye Ripley
Yeah. And but also like I think about some of my friends like I have, I've had friends of travel done like a similar trip when they were really young and they can't really remember it, but it's still something that they get to be like, oh, we did like a two year trip around Australia.
Brigid Moloney
What maybe it does are anxiously.
Faye Ripley
Yeah. Yeah okay.
Brigid Moloney
Like affects them. It's all conditioning isn't it.
Faye Ripley
Yeah. It definitely affects them. It's definitely like your whole parenting is really quite different I think when You when you're in that environment and, you know, going Just with the flow.
Brigid Moloney
Will you disappear off. Right.
Faye Ripley
Yeah. Well you're not like, well you might be working but you've work's probably going to be adaptable isn't it, whilst you're on the road. And so you're able to just be there and again be it like in their routine and the kit like I still think I would do it in the routine of the child rather than trying to get them to Adapt everything that I want to do I don't think I'd be trying to wake me up at a.m. to get to like the top of the hill to get some photos, but, you know, she might wake up a little bit.
Brigid Moloney
Early then.
Faye Ripley
Anyway. Yeah, she might wake up. Molly, listen, if you're on the road But, yeah, I think you just Can't really say when a Good aid is Can you? Because there's so many benefits to being able to hold your baby everywhere, and then there's so many benefits to having the baby walk everywhere by themselves. Yeah Like.
Brigid Moloney
Oh, how exciting that Mary gets to go on this next adventure.
Faye Ripley
Fingers crossed. Let's hope it all work.
Brigid Moloney
Yeah, yeah. And if it doesn't, you can just come back.
Faye Ripley
Yeah, exactly.
Brigid Moloney
I think that's a good place to wrap it up.
Faye Ripley
Yeah.
Brigid Moloney
Thank you so much. This has been a great year. I loved every
Faye Ripley
Second of it. Thanks, babe. No, I.
Brigid Moloney
Thank you for carving out some time to listen to this story. You can see any links in the show notes. This show is produced, hosted and edited by me, which is a huge undertaking. So if you would like to sponsor the show or know anyone who would, please get in touch. In the spirit of reconciliation, I acknowledge the traditional custodians of the bungling nation and their connections to land, sea and community. I pay my respects to their elders past, present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today. I hope you'll join me next time for another creative inspiration and told through the lens of Mother Nature and these incredible women. Thanks and bye for now.