Sparkling Adventures Blog

[Guest Anonymous]

First she's mentioned it. Weird. Especially because she says "this March we're exploring Victoria". Wonder where the bus is? She must be due for a blog because we haven't seen anything about Dancing Ground yet. Maybe she'll have some sparkly explanation for us. Is David due in court?

Doesn't sound like anything planned.

[miffy]

There's a huge amount of long term parking at tullamarine (Melbourne) airport. So I'd've might have left the bus there. However I wouldn't be surprised if its out the front of a 'friends' place.

[lilith]

I would imagine something has progressed with David's legal situation or DOCS have scheduled another meeting. I hope it's the latter.

It certainly wasn't planned - she lists her travel schedule months in advance. I'm glad she had cash for five plane tickets up 2/3 of the east coast handy. Even with generous parenting payments I have no idea how she affords her lifestyle.

[Guest Anonymous]

I'm glad she had cash for five plane tickets up 2/3 of the east coast handy. Even with generous parenting payments I have no idea how she affords her lifestyle.

Would she get a travel grant if there were some legal imperative to travel?

ETA: She says the bus is parked, awaiting their return from 'a brief trip'.

[lilith]

Would she get a travel grant if there were some legal imperative to travel?

ETA: She says the bus is parked, awaiting their return from 'a brief trip'.

It's possible I guess. When I was working as a legal secretary I'd sometimes refer people to DOCS to get cash for a bus fare to their court date or visitation with their kids or to get to their mandated drug test (if you don't have $2.50 for a bus to a court mandated drug test odds are good that you're going to fail anyway though), but I've never heard of them footing the bill for a plane for five.

Courts will pay plane fares for subpoenaed witnesses, but Lauren should have more notice if she was a witness, and she could only be a defense witness I think.

[happy atheist]

Can you imagine how fun it would be to sit near this crew on an airplane? Delaney would be allowed to bawl without intervention. Aisha would hide with her ipad. Brioni and Calista would go around begging for food. Lauren would gloat about what an awesome parent she is for allowing her children the freedom to annoy the everloving fuck out of everyone else on the plane.

[lilith]

And we already know she doesn't make them wear shoes in airports.

I have no issue with no shoes while on the plane, but airports are filthy places just from the amount of people who walk through them, and they are also an ideal place for little feet to get run over by luggage, caught on moving walkways etc.

[princessjo1988]

Or it is possible that the kids are witnesses. In which case, I hope they get as much support as they can get. And it is possible that she was waiting for final confirmations from lawyers etc that it was going ahead - often (here in QLD, at least), things get adjourned at the last minute - weeks, or even months.

I was actually in the area that Elijah passed away recently, although I didn't have desire/time to go the actual location. Coincidently, I was doing my induction for PACT - an organisation that supports child witnesses through the court system. In all likelihood, they would be supporting these girls if they were to be called as witnesses - and they (PACT) would do an amazing job. Hopefully Lauren will be sparkling enough to allow that to happen - because those girls need much more stable support then they are getting.

I still believe that that Lauren is running. And ultimately, she won't be able to keep on running forever. I am just terrified of how those girls will cope when it all catches up with Lauren. :(

[wild little fox]

And we already know she doesn't make them wear shoes in airports.

I have no issue with no shoes while on the plane, but airports are filthy places just from the amount of people who walk through them, and they are also an ideal place for little feet to get run over by luggage, caught on moving walkways etc.

You most likely do not have this problem in Australia, but we have to remove our shoes at airports in the US. My father was in a wheel chair and even though I was not flying I accompanied him to the plane. I did not think ahead of time and did not have socks on, only sandals. I ended up with a raging fungal infection on my feet that took some time to die off. I'm easy going about the shoeless thing, but there are times and places that they should be shod.

[lilith]

You most likely do not have this problem in Australia, but we have to remove our shoes at airports in the US. My father was in a wheel chair and even though I was not flying I accompanied him to the plane. I did not think ahead of time and did not have socks on, only sandals. I ended up with a raging fungal infection on my feet that took some time to die off. I'm easy going about the shoeless thing, but there are times and places that they should be shod.

We have to remove our shoes to go through security, but they are typically taken off while standing in line then replaced once through security.

[wild little fox]

That's what we do here.

[August]

First she's mentioned it. Weird. Especially because she says "this March we're exploring Victoria". Wonder where the bus is? She must be due for a blog because we haven't seen anything about Dancing Ground yet. Maybe she'll have some sparkly explanation for us. Is David due in court?

IIRC the date given was March, but maybe it's very early March?

ETA holy fuck, I hope she had some warning. To book today for the same flight next Monday is $1500 for the five of them. The most discounted fare is $1000. Who has that kind of money when you live in a fucking bus and have zero commitments? Drive to fucking Brisbane and continue your sponging from there. By my calculations for a brand new Toyota cruiser it would cost $325 to drive there. And they left Dancing ground early to do it.

I went to an online calculator to figure out her income but when I selected four children it broke.

https://www.centrelink.gov.au/RateEstimatorsWeb/cre.do

It seems there are multiple credits and things, but the main one gets you $300ish a week.

Now I'm on a roll. That ferry there and back? $1000. Seahorse world? $60.

[lilith]

Lauren would be getting approximately $1500 per fortnight in parenting payments and family tax benefits if she has no reported income. But I don't see how that would cover fuel for constantly driving her van around, food, entrance to festivals, the electronics and the data and service packages and incidentals. Fuel alone would cost her a fortune. I certainly don't see how she has the funds to take the kids to a homeschool conference in Bali, and I wonder if she realises that she won't be paid some if her benefits for days spent out of the country.

I don't think the trip to Brisbane was planned - she always publishes her plans, and this is the first we've heard of it. She'll have to get back to collect the vehicle too, so she's going to have to either book another plane or get a train back down, which would take a good 20 hours and would be hell with four kids.

David's court date has been set for mid march for a long time, and I had assumed that she'd be slowly making her way back up north for that, then slowly going further north and flying out of Cairns to go to Bali.

If something has come up or changed with David it puts her first mention of religion in a long time in an interesting light.

I do hope that things are resolved a little after this court appearance, that he either pleads or goes to trial and either way that he gets a sentence soon. I think Lauren needs to know if and when she can expect him to return to her life. When that is settled it may prove a catalyst for her, and maybe she will finally grieve and allow the girls to do the same, and then maybe settle into some form of routine.

[CheeseDeprived]

Lauren would be getting approximately $1500 per fortnight in parenting payments and family tax benefits if she has no reported income. But I don't see how that would cover fuel for constantly driving her van around, food, entrance to festivals, the electronics and the data and service packages and incidentals. Fuel alone would cost her a fortune. I certainly don't see how she has the funds to take the kids to a homeschool conference in Bali, and I wonder if she realises that she won't be paid some if her benefits for days spent out of the country.

I was on the same payments (single parenting, FTB) in the past, and you were able to leave the country for a fairly generous amount of time before it affected your payments. I think at one stage it was several months. They've changed that now, but from memory I think it's still 6 weeks before any payments are reduced or cut. So theoretically she can go to Bali for a whole month without losing any of her benefits.

Having said that, I don't know how she does it either. I think she must have some other income.

[Blahblah]

She's probably selling drugs. Her lifestyle trotting up and down the east coast visiting hippies as she goes = perfect cover and unlimited customer base.

[lilith]

She's not selling drugs.

She doesn't have the connections to acquire drugs wholesale or to create a customer base. Plus I really do believe that she's a Puritan at heart who doesn't really believe in any form of bodily pleasures.

[miffy]

Its possible that DOCS or Centerlink may have paid for the airfares. The partner of somebody I used to work with had to pick up the pieces for his drug addict daughter who had her children taken away & sent to live in Townsville with their dad. They would come down to Melbourne to stay with him & have visits with his daughter, the government fronted some money for at least a few of the visits.

[shedemei]

I'm betting massive credit card debt.

[Blahblah]

She's not selling drugs.

She doesn't have the connections to acquire drugs wholesale or to create a customer base. Plus I really do believe that she's a Puritan at heart who doesn't really believe in any form of bodily pleasures.

True. Didn't take that into account. I was thinking from a logistical point of view.

[lilith]

I'm betting massive credit card debt.

That's entirely possible, especially if she still has the cards and credit limits that she applied for when both she and David were working full time.

[August]

Wow, $700 a week is nice. I might dispose of my husband, have a couple more kids and buy myself a camper.

She doesn't drive around all that much, and since they don't pay to camp the fuel's nowhere near what rent would be. It's the extra few thousand here and there for airfares and annual ferry fares that would kill you. Although, allow $200 a week for groceries, $200 for fuel and car insurance. And there's still $300 to spend on dancing festivals and jaunts to Bali.

[lilith]

Wow, $700 a week is nice. I might dispose of my husband, have a couple more kids and buy myself a camper.

She doesn't drive around all that much, and since they don't pay to camp the fuel's nowhere near what rent would be. It's the extra few thousand here and there for airfares and annual ferry fares that would kill you. Although, allow $200 a week for groceries, $200 for fuel and car insurance. And there's still $300 to spend on dancing festivals and jaunts to Bali.

The way they eat has got to be expensive though. They can't buy anything in bulk, and they seem to rely a lot on pre packaged and prepared soy products, which are expensive. She can't do stuff like big pots of rice and beans or dhal cause she has nowhere to cook it or store it.

Mobile plans for five iPads and her laptop have got to add up too - I spend $30 per month on my iPad data, and that's only for 3 gigs - I don't watch video or download on my mobile plan, I do it on my cheaper wifi plan at home.

They would get by very comfortably in the home that they own outright - when I was a single mum on parenting payment it was the cost of rent that was the killer - but the sums still don't seem to add up for their current lifestyle unless they are relying heavily upon the kindness of strangers and friends.

[August]

Who, Lauren? Rely on strangers? You must have her confused with someone else.

[lilith]

Who, Lauren? Rely on strangers? You must have her confused with someone else.

You're right, in her world of sparkles strangers are just friends we haven't met (and relied on for food, shelter, indoor plumbing, Internet access and child care) yet.

[miffy]

I think she might be getting a 'birthday card' every month with cash from the people living in her house or she may have drawn on the equity of her home. + plus the charity for middle class homeowner.