Charlotte + James Maddock

WOW! What a day out with Rottnest Cruises! 🩵🛥️ 🥰 From catching our own fresh crayfish for the onboard barbecue, to mooring up at one of Rottnest’s turquoise bays for a swim, and of course indulging in a seven course gourmet seafood feast (with unlimited drinks 🙈😮🥂), this experience was nothing short of incredible. 🤤💦🦞 The menu is all about our local WA seafood and is curated by our good friend and legendary chef Tony Howell (see fifth slide - thanks Tony for making me look tall hehehe - usually it’s Char that does that job 😉). And speaking of Char - I absolutely can’t wait to come back with her so she can experience this luxe day out too!! (Char is currently with her family in NZ)❤️🥰🩵 watch this space ☺️

While we may finally have a vehicle that’s from the same decade we’re living in, and a more luxurious and spacious touring set up (caravan life is such a luxury!) we of course have to celebrate our very first adventure mobile who has just had his 50th BIRTHDAY!!! 🚎🥳❤️ VINNIE THE VW! 🚎🥳❤️ In honour of Vinnie and all the adventures, escapades, and quite frankly, break downs we have had in him, we thought we could celebrate this milestone by reminiscing some of our favourite moments with him. ✨🥰 Cover pic: Marlborough Sounds 2. The first EVER camera photo we took with Vinnie - on a dirt road near James’ farm - the night before we took off on our year long roadie in Australia (2016) 3. The gumtree add that spoke to our souls at 3am on a sleepless Saturday night (when we were absolutely not in the market for a 1975 VW Kombi Van) (2015) 4. The weekends, late nights, and early mornings spent scraping, painting, building, breaking, crying, laughing and crying some more (2015) 5. Our year long road trip around Australia and bringing Vinnie to the heart of the country - Uluṟu (2016) 6. When James spilt the spaghetti bolognaise (that we had so carefully budgeted for) all over Vinnie in Tasmania. RIP our new, beautifully laid floorboards that have had shades of tomato and mince on them ever since (2016) 7. When our starter motor went in QLD so we push started our way across the Whitsundays region for a total of 1600km (2016) 8. Celebrating Vinnie’s 41st bday on the side of the road in the Pilbara and splashing out on a red velvet cake from Woolies (2016) 9. The major breakdown in Kalbarri. Where we had travelled 42,000km all across Australia and then broken down just 600km shy of Perth. We were devastated (2016) 10. Going on mini getaways from Perth when we returned to our Government jobs in 2017 and Vinnie had had his engine rebuilt (2017) 11. Having Vinnie as a photo booth (and a guest!) at our wedding (2018) 12. Shipping Vinnie over to kiwi land/Aotearoa/ New Zealand and learning allllllllll about temporary imports (2019) 13. Vinnie deciding his handbrake was overkill so we had to park everywhere with four rocks (2019) **CONTINUED IN COMMENTS**

Some of our favourite features in our new Gypsy King caravan 🙌😃 What’s your favourite?! Charlotte’s is definitely the last one 😂🙈 #gypsykingcaravans

How about last night’s sunset Perth?!? ❤️🧡💛 WOWEEE

James and I are absolutely thrilled to introduce our new caravan!!! 🙌✨😌 Some of you may know the last few years have been a bit tricky for me (Char) health wise. In a nutshell, my endometriosis has caused a whole host of issues and diseases throughout my body.❤️‍🩹 Whenever I have a flare up or am going through a particularly testing time, the one thing that reminds me that better times lay ahead is thinking about our life on the road.🌍 When I am sick, I close my eyes and this is what I picture. This is what I dream of. ☁️ But as time has gone on, my health needs have become greater and greater. And a simple life on the road has felt “harder” and “harder”. 📉 ‘I need a toilet’, ‘I need a freezer’, ‘I need to rest’, ‘I need, I need, I need’ 😔 I found I was still closing my eyes but I could no longer picture our life on the road. Instead, all I saw was my ever growing list of needs. 📝 Fast forward to the caravan and camping show earlier this year where we stumbled upon the bearded legend Scotty - the founder of a new, WA, family owned caravan business - @gypsykingcaravans and began chatting about it all. 🧔🏻‍♂️❤️🏕️ For the first time ever my “needs” and “restrictions” didn’t feel heavy. Instead they were met with respect, kindness and the most infectious can do attitude we have ever witnessed - “easy as - we can build you a caravan that gets you back out there”. 🥹🙏 The optimism we felt was palpable. 💖 And from there, one wonderful thing led to another. 🫶 So, while we are BEYOND elated to have our brand new, custom built (and super pretty hehe!) Gypsy King caravan, to me, and to James, it represents so much more. ✨ It represents a promise. ❤️ A promise we will continue travelling and seeking joy no matter what comes our way. It’s a promise we will continue living a life that ignites and inspires. And it’s a reminder that hard times come with opportunities too (it’s just sometimes you may need a bearded man to guide you towards them). 💛 Now when I close my eyes, this is what I see. Our new caravan. Our new adventures. Our new chapter in life.🙏 And I cannot express how blimmin’ special this feels ❤️✨ #gypsykingcaravans

Incredible views from the top of Mt Trio. Hiked up in overcast weather hoping for a break in the clouds! It held out to the last possible minute, the sun coming out just a few minutes before sunset and bringing the most intense colours (had to desaturate this image significantly). Feels good to be back in the mountains 🥰 #stirlingrange #westernaustralia

Sometimes we feel overwhelmed Defeated. Fatigued by receiving countless sets of ‘ less than ideal’* news. But sometimes it helps to remember this. This feeling. This exhilaration. This moment. When I danced and giggled and got extremely muddy feet with my person, my partner, my everything, out in the middle of what felt like nowhere but also everywhere - our favourite - pink lake in Port Gregory. It helps to remember. And it also helps to dream. __________________ (As many of you might know, lately I, [Char] have had a pretty testing time health wise. (A heap of new issues and diagnoses caused by my endometriosis, chronic nerve pain and PCOS). I am [and James is] still trying to process it all (thank goodness for TSITP for a distraction!) but I want to thank each of you for the kindness, compassion and all-round loveliness you have sent me over the past few weeks). There are many things I am fortunate for - my lungs that still breathe in and out each day, the beautiful flowers from my lovely mother in law that seemed to bloom and change daily, my team of superstar specialists that treat me with respect, kindness and grace, my wonderful and loving husband who quietly takes my guidance on whether we’re laughing or crying each day, my phenomenal best friend who just always seems to know what it is I need (often before I know myself), you reading this and being a part of our story, our community, our joy, and of course, 101 other things. It helps to remember this too. All the good we have. Because there really is so much good. And I believe there really is so much good still to come. *I actively choose not to call news bad

During our recent time in Shark Bay we were treated to a heap of stormy weather, gale winds and passing showers. ☔️😬⛈️ While initially frustrated by this unexpected weather, I was surprised to quickly realise that these conditions have actually become my (James’) favourite to shoot in. Epic cloud formations, dramatic dappled light and of course rainbows galore. 📸 🌈🤗 This incredible sight came just after sunrise at one of our personal favourites - Big Lagoon/Thalganjangu Warabadi in Francois Peron National Park. ❤️🧡🩵 This amazing park now sits in my top two national parks in all of Australia, making the leap after going on tour with the legendary Capes @wula_gura and learning about the cultural significance and heritage of this phenomenal place. 🖤❤️💛 Even after plenty of visits over the years, you can guarantee we will be back. Maybe even to see a triple rainbow?! 😉 🌈 🥰 #francoisperon #westernaustralia

You might see a girl spinning amongst the wildflowers. 🌺 But I see more. I see resilience and strength. 💪 You might see the WA wildflowers in full colour and bloom. 🌸 But I see more. I see determination to life live to the fullest - to not be weighed down by the constant pain and health struggles. To actively seek out joy 🙏 Keep seeking that joy Char, and don’t ever stop spinning ✌️ #wildflowers #westernaustralia

Waking up to rain on the roof, we weren’t sure if we’d even see the lunar eclipse last night. Decided to live by this year’s mantra - don’t spend time worrying about things you can’t control - and headed out to Lake Ninan hoping for a break in the clouds. There were actually some brief clear patches during total eclipse but we preferred the shots with the clouds. The moisture in the air was creating a beautiful red glow. We had both cameras set up next to each other - capturing this epic tree and the stars at 28mm while the moon was captured at 200mm on the star tracker. Will post the individual images in our stories 😍 A sleepy rainy eclipse, yet one we’ll always remember 🌙 #lunareclipse #westernaustralia

Another landscape from the Murchison region that absolutely blew my mind - this one near Yalgoo. 🙏❤️🥰 I (James) took a risk with this sunrise as I didn’t have a chance to scope the location beforehand in daylight. Satellite imagery looked interesting so I arrived well before first light and set off exploring. 🤠 🗺️ 👀 As the day broke, I could see the gamble had paid off with the most amazing colours and textures on the lake below, and a stunning hill in the background. It also helped that the sunrise was amazing with beautiful soft clouds. ☁️ ☀️💞 Will most definitely be taking Char back to this lake to explore even more as she absolutely loves her pinks 💖 #murchison #australiasgoldenoutback #westernaustralia

When a side road on your way into Carnarvon becomes a great adventure.✨🙏♥️ With sunshine, your soul mate and a sense of excitement 🥰🫶👯 With pink and yellow wildflowers blooming in every direction 🌸🌼🌸 And a local family of emus that couldn’t help but join the fun. 🙌👀🙏 A great reminder of how much we love the spontaneity of travel ✨♥️🫶 #carnarvon #emu #wildflowers #australiascoralcoast #westernaustralia #australia