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.