So Long, and Thanks for the Fish

This is it.
Johnstonstouraus

In a nutshell.

On the road

 

Total days on the road = 249
Total kilometres travelled = 37 647
Total litre of diesel = 4922
Total cost of fuel = $6930
Border crossings = 18
Time zone changes = 8
 Most kms in a day = 920

Accommodation

248 sleeps

207 sleeps in the caravan
41 sleeps out of the caravan, in 10 different locations

87 nights with 17 family/friends
62 nights at 22 caravan parks
34 nights at 23 free camps
14 nights in 6 National Parks
13 nights in 3 "resorts"
11 nights in 5 farm stay/private/bush camps
10 nights in 6 showgrounds
7 nights in 3 pubs
7 nights in 1 houseboat
3 nights in 2 truck stops

Total accomm cost - $3523.10 (not including $1000 Houseboat)

We packed up a total of 93 times.
We survived 81 days/nights without power.
Our longest stay in any one place was Noonamah, near Darwin.

Our favourite free camp/view was Fishery Bay, near Port Lincoln SA
Our favourite caravan parks were Lake Argyle (WA), Airlie Beach (Qld)

The most expensive accommodation was the Airlie Beach Big 4 Caravan Park @ $78 per night. 

 Planning & Purchasing

 

The most valued items we brought with us included the portaloo (with tent), solar panels and Uno.

Items regrettably left behind included binoculars, chainsaw, axe, shovel, water container and a soldering iron.

Items we could have done without include the generator, Giant Jenga, annexe, gazebo, massage table, satellite dish and the rollie.

The best purchase of the trip was the $10 fan heater.

The most ridiculous purchase of the trip was the giant op shop toys.  Closely followed by three African Djembe Drums.

 Experiences

There were so many wonderfully experiences, it was pretty tough to single any out.  These were what we came up with -

Bruce - Houseboat on the Murray

Andrea - Australia Zoo

Jack - Lake Argyle Sunset Cruise (specifically jumping off the roof of the boat)

Jarrah - Movie World (specifically the Scooby Doo ride)

Fletcher - the St Kilda playground

In the wild we saw cassowaries, crocodiles, eagles, emus, platypus, echidna, goats, horses, sheep, wombats, kangaroos, koalas, whales, sharks, seals, cane toads, camels, brumbies and a donkey.  The most memorable was the mother cassowary with her chicks, emu parents with a brood of 30 chicks, koalas at Cape Otway and wombats at Wilsons Promontory.
 

We went to 3 theme parks on the Gold Coast.

We went to ALL the playgrounds in Australia.  Every one.  I'm sure of it.

The family game most frequently played was Uno.

We met up with 12 members of our family from WA, in four different States, while on the road.

Our longest hike was 14 kms in the Carnarvon Gorge, Queensland.

My most surreal experience was bumping into a long lost BFF from primary school, Heather, at a lookout in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. 

The biggest rip off must have been the Gold Coast's Australian Outback Spectacular, but Kings Canyon Resort came in at a close second. 

We celebrated four birthdays on the road.  Jack turned 9, Jarrah turned 8, Fletcher turned 4 and of course Bruce celebrated his milestone 50th birthday.

 

 The best community event we attended was the Perlubie Beach Sports Day.  Hands down.

 

 

 

The meal eaten the most was the Aussie BBQ.

The meal missed the most was definitely roast dinners.

We limited our visits to regional hospitals to two.  We enjoyed the hospitality at Royal Darwin Hospital after Bruce trod barefoot on a broken bottle.  We were then welcomed to the Roxby Downs Community Hospital after Jack slammed his own finger in the car door.

I am happy to report that we minimised on road accidents and incidents.  Bruce and I both had a turn at nudging the caravan.  He took the near side and I took the offside.

Our biggest regret was West Coast vs Hawthorn.  A $500 ticket. A 1500 km road trip.

The worst bugs were the mozzies in Lucinda, the ants at Uluru and flies at Nanutarra.

 Items lost included jumpers, hats, crocs, balls, thongs, teeth (2) and our inhibitions.  In every State.
Items found included balls, thongs, shorts, coins, a boat, a chameleon and 10 kgs.

Items destroyed included one really nice gazebo and two caravan tyres.

Memories

10816 photographs

25 gig of video

207 blog entries
 

Farewell

All good things must come to an end and so here our journey ends.
  We come home with less money, more experiences, less worries, a stronger family bond.
 We come home with a changed attitude to life.

We've seen some amazing sights and experienced some amazing events.  But it's the connections we've made with people all over Australia, old friends and new, which will remain with us forever.

Thanks for following us.

Until we meet again.

Home Sweet Home

Day 1

2nd May 2015

Our first day on the road.

 This feels like just yesterday!  Though Jarrah's hair has grown quite a bit since then! 



 Day 249

5th January 2016

Our last day on the road.

 



Funnily enough, this morning we were woken by the boys just after dawn.  They were eager to pack up the van and get going.  We were on the road by 6am, beating our earliest ever previous departure by 2 hours!!  We were all so keen to get home, we didn't even make time for breakfast.

 

So it was a greasy Chicko Roll breakfast from the Merredin Roadhouse.

 

The boys weren't the only ones keen to get home.  I couldn't even get Bruce to stop to get a photo of the Ettamogah Pub as we flew past it in Cunderdin.

 

The time just raced by.  The boys were really excited and we had to endure several hours of Fletcher singing "we're nearly home, we're nearly home, we're nearly home".

And then we were home.

 

The Welcoming Party

 

The welcome home began before we even got to our front gate.  Best friends re-united.  Annabelle & Fletcher, Kade & Jarrah, Jack & Ben.  I'm not sure if I've ever seen six happier kids!

 

We have such lovely friends.

 



They brought bread

 

 And wine

 

Even after all the hugs and kisses it took us a while to actually get to our gate.  After all, we had a lot to read -

 

Eventually we made it in the door.  It was a nice feeling to be home.  The boys went straight to their bedrooms to conduct a toy inventory while Bruce and I marvelled at how well our house sitters Dale & Geoff had maintained the house, gardens and property while we'd been away.

 

Dale Dovey - World's Best House Sitter

 

Luckily, Danielle and I weren't left alone to drink the two bottles of champagne.  We were surprised with visits from Bruce's sister Barbara and niece Sarah, and my sister Jacqui with Caitlin, Josh, Kaleb and Griffin.

The drinks flowed, travelling tales were told and not much unpacking got done!

The Nullabor Plain

As expected we've covered a lot of kilometres over the past two days.  We've travelled over 1600 kms, spending almost 20 hours in the car, with yesterday being our longest travel day of the trip, at just over 920 kms.  That's a lot of Eragon!

Ceduna was prettier than I expected

 

Soon we hit the Nullabor Plain.  The Nullabor Plain extends approximately 450 miles from east to west and from the coast it extends 200 miles to the Great Victoria Desert in the north - covering an area of 77 000 square miles - almost as large as the State of Victoria.

 

 

In 1867 a surveyor named the treeless plain the Nullabor from the Latin Nullus  and Arbor meaning 'no trees'.  The Aboriginal name for the Nullabor Plain is Oondiri meaning 'the waterless' for the average rainfall of the area is about 8 inches per annum.

 

The first crossing of the Nullabor by a motor car was in 1912.  Imagine that trip!  A formed road was made in 1941-42 during WWII as a back up to the Transcontinental Railway.  Sealing of the road on the western side of the border was completed in 1969 and on the South Australian side in 1976.

 

 

Water is so scarce in this, one of the driest places in the world, that even the air conditioner water must be saved and recycled.  In that case you'd think they'd install toilets with a half flush function!

 

At least they haven't lost their sense of humour!

 

Here's a pic we didn't take at the Great Australian Bight because we didn't stop for a photo....

but it looked nice from the Highway!!  (yup, sore point)

 

Border Village

We're pretty happy to be home

 

 

Here we are going through the Quarantine Station at the border.  You may be able to see the boys busily munching on carrots.  Waste not, want not.  Had a giggle a few minutes after this when the (very hot) quarantine guy told us that carrots can be taken across the border.

 

The border of WA and SA crosses the road here at 60 degrees.

 

Poor Jarrah got left in South Australia

 

And I thought Yamba was Hub of the Universe!

 

 This bit of road between Caiguna and Balladonia is the longest stretch of straight road in Australia!

 

Chips from the Balladonia Roadhouse.

Must be the end of the trip!

 

Meet Squirt

 

Squirt was a gift for Fletch from Jack.  Unlike the two older boys, Fletcher doesn't receive pocket money and thus has no cash flow to purchase useless junk at each and every Visitor Centre, Roadhouse, Museum, Souvenir Shop or corner store.  Fletcher adores Squirt and as I speak has gone to bed with him firmly attached to his back (he's a backpack).

 

We had lunch at Norseman.  Home is now just a stone's throw away.

 

As tempting as it was to drive the last few hundred kms home, we resisted the urge.  We wanted to enjoy just one more night together.  Just the five of us.

 



One more happy hour.

Karalee Rockhole.