tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84897938926536136172024-03-14T07:12:33.564+11:00Our Big Aussie Road TripAussie Road Triphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16843031805218753713noreply@blogger.comBlogger12211tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8489793892653613617.post-14149866503628147442013-01-26T09:17:00.001+11:002013-02-18T08:29:43.761+11:00The End of The Road...<span style="font-family: inherit;">
Right from the start of our trip we knew that one day we would be looking
back at our amazing journey, and writing about all the trials and tribulations
we experienced as we travelled around this beautiful continent of ours!
However, now that we're actually at the point of signing off from our travels,
the reality that our journey is now complete has finally hit home!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">On the 3<sup>rd</sup> of January 2013, after 448 days on the road, we drove
into Sydney and saw our house for the first time in almost 15 months. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The kids were all very excited at the thought
of being back in Sydney - seeing friends they hadn't seen since we'd left; having
grandparents suburbs away (not states away); and having a full size house and
backyard just to themselves. When we unlocked the house and walked in, it seemed
absolutely massive compared to the home that we had lived in for the last 15
months!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It echoed with sounds of delight
as the kids re-discovered their bedrooms, the empty toy room and the backyard –
all of which would be re-stocked over the coming days with our possessions that
we would collect from storage at our parents’ houses, or from boxes we stored under
the house.</span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">After a brief look around, we unpacked the car and the caravan into the
house (and were amazed at how much we were able to fit into our rig!)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We setup our air beds, sleeping bags, camping
chairs, car fridge and other necessities and just camped in our empty house for
the first few days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was great to
catch up with neighbours, friends and grandparents, but it was also sad that we
had come to the end of our Big Aussie Road Trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a family, we reflected together about our
favourite parts of the trip and would constantly talk about when we did this or
that, or about friends we made along the way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As the days turned into weeks, we started talking less and less about
our trip, but the experiences we had, and the love of our adventure was as
strong as ever, and occasionally something would spark a memory of being on our
trip and there would be an excited flurry of conversation about it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We believe that our travels will be a foundation that our family will grow
from over the years to come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The trip
has instilled in Josh, Natalie and Sam a sense of togetherness and friendship
that will stay with them forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
have all grown in stature, but have also grown in an appreciation for the
country that they call home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were
schooled along the way, but the greatest learning they received was not from
their formal schoolwork, but from the things they touched, built, saw, heard
and experienced in hundreds of different places.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We would like to think that we have also
grown in appreciation for our family, our country and our wonderful God.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><br />
<b style="font-family: inherit;">Our Favourite Places</b><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The question that we are asked most frequently is also the most difficult
question to answer… “So what was your favourite place?”</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">We think that it’s impossible to pick one
place in Australia that was our favourite as there are so many different and
unique places that touched our hearts in different ways, however here are some
of our highlights:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">When Sam (who was just 3 when we left) is asked
what his favourite place is, he normally says something that we did the day
before you ask him!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So it’s a bit hard
to document Sam’s favourite place, however he did thoroughly enjoy swimming in
Litchfield National Park where he constantly jumped into the water from a small
cliff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also liked “K-Space” (a kids
area at the National museum in Canberra).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Natalie’s favourite place was Monkey Mia, WA,
where she got to feed the dolphins in the warm shallows of Shark Bay.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Josh had two favourites (for completely different
reasons!):<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Josh loved Uluru because it
was the one thing that he really wanted to see from day 1 of our trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He walked the 10Km around the rock and
thought that the area was spectacular because of its uniqueness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His other favourite spot was the Wyndham
Vacation Resort that we stayed at in Hobart because we stayed in the
Presidential suite which had a Wii game console (with a Wii Sports game) that
was played on a huge TV.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Josh also got
to sleep on a Queen sized bed all by himself in his own room – which he thought
was fantastic!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 36pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 36pt;">Liz’s favourite places were: camping along the Gibb
River Road where we stopped at many gorges and swam in their crisp, clean water
and under waterfalls cascading into deep plunge pools below.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 36pt;">Tunnel Creek and Windjana Gorge were also highlights
on the Gibb River Road.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 36pt;">Not to mention
the few days we had at El Questro at the end of our Gibb River road trip.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 36pt;">Liz also loved Cape Tribulation where we
spent time collecting coconuts, strolling along the beach and enjoying Tropical
North Queensland’s beautiful warm climate.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 36pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 36pt;">Another highlight for Liz was Cape Range National park near Exmouth in
WA where we camped for 10 days and did lots of fishing, snorkelling, hiking,
swimming and watching beautiful sunsets over the water.</span></div>
<div style="text-indent: 36pt;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;">Mike’s Favourite places were: Fraser Island
National Park because of its abundance of wildlife and the uniqueness of the
world’s largest sand island.</span><span style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;">
</span><span style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;">His second favourite was Cape Le Grand National Park near Esperance,
WA.</span><span style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;">It had beautiful white sandy beaches
where Kangaroo’s would hop along the sand.</span><span style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;">
</span><span style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;">The massive granite boulders which flowed into the pristine water were
awesome, and Mike climbed to the top of Frenchman’s Peak with Josh, which was a
lot of fun and had great views of the entire area.</span></span><br />
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<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">Although we have talked about a few specific
places that were special to each of us, there are so many other places that
fill our hearts as we think about our time there, Like the Devil’s Marbles (Karlu
Karlu), Wilsons Promontory, The Nullarbor plain and the Murray River – just to
name a few!</span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">As you can tell, it’s very
difficult for us to pick a favourite spot, but if you ask us what is our favourite
country…</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></span>
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_qQg7BCHjMQ/UQH4Oru2TII/AAAAAAAAE34/c3WSGDj0uY8/s1600/DSCF7278.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="111" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_qQg7BCHjMQ/UQH4Oru2TII/AAAAAAAAE34/c3WSGDj0uY8/s400/DSCF7278.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">We stopped at 6 BCA Churches on our travels (Holbrook, Red Cliffs,
Strathfieldsaye, Wickham, Karratha and Kununurra) where we met fantastic people
and got to briefly experience the community as an ‘insider’ not just a tourist. As we served their communities by doing a
small amount of volunteer work, they embraced us as friends and invited us into
their homes and lives. It was often
these times that meant more to us than spectacular scenery or beautiful
beaches, because without the Australian people, Australia would definitely not
have its character. We were really glad
that we incorporated the BCA work into our trip.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">For all of us, Western Australia was definitely our favourite state
(reflected by the fact that we spent 5 months there).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is an amazingly remote state with lots of
big distances between towns or attractions, but there is so much variety in the
environments, so much amazing wildlife (both on land and in the water) and such
amazing colours across the landscape.</span><br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: inherit;">Our Vehicle and van<o:p></o:p></span></u></b><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We spent as much time planning our trip before we
left, as we did travelling around the country and one of the biggest considerations
for us was the vehicle we would take (Toyota Landcruiser) and the type of
accommodation we bought (a full size caravan).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So now that it’s all over, were we happy with our choices?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">‘Bruiser the Cruiser’ (our basic model,
non-turbo, diesel, HZJ105 Landcruiser) ended up being the perfect vehicle for
us on our trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bruiser got us
everywhere we needed to go (albeit slowly sometimes because he was non-turbo) but
we really didn’t have too many troubles along the way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had an overheating problem on the Eyre
Peninsula, but it was 45 to 47 degrees outside, windy and humid at the time
(not to mention that Bruiser was pulling a 2 tonne van along) and although we
had it all checked out, we didn’t have any expensive repairs that needed
fixing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only other trouble we had
with the car (other than 3 punctured tyres and a couple of door-lock issues)
was that the alternator died in Darwin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Other than those times, Bruiser performed flawlessly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had enough room in the cabin and in the
boot,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The kids were high enough to see
the country as it passed by their windows and we were comfortable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we did the trip again, we would probably
opt for a newer model vehicle (with a turbo), but if the budget didn’t allow,
then we’d definitely take Bruiser again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Throughout our travels, we collected bumper stickers to remember some of
the places we visited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was always
nice to look for a new sticker for Bruiser.</span></div>
<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aMTNB5gl3mM/UQH4njaBtsI/AAAAAAAAE4I/c_zEju6gxYs/s1600/DSCF0698.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aMTNB5gl3mM/UQH4njaBtsI/AAAAAAAAE4I/c_zEju6gxYs/s400/DSCF0698.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Our caravan (a 30+ year old Newlands caravan that
had been renovated by the previous few owners) broke down within the first 2
months and needed extensive repairs to the axle and undercarriage, but once that
was all sorted, it performed beautifully for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It really felt so much like home for the
duration of our trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was spacious,
could handle a little bit of off-road (although admittedly, whenever we went
off-road we seemed to lose something, including a full water tank one time!),
we could free-camp with it and it had everything that we wanted and
needed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We love our van and will be sad
to pass it on to the next excited family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If we had our time again, we would probably think about an off-road
model caravan or camper trailer (however the convenience of a full size caravan
that is ready to jump into every time you stop the car definitely has its
advantages over a trailer).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the
budget allowed then we would probably opt for a newer model caravan (or
trailer), however we did find that people with new vans were unwilling to get
them on dirt roads for fear that they would break apart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So would we take our caravan around if we did
it again?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Absolutely (and we’re positive
it would hold up to it too).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here are some of the stats from our
trip</span></b><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">
Nights Travelled – 448 (1 year, 2 months and 3
weeks)<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">
Kilometres Travelled – 51,662 Km<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">
Average Fuel Economy of Bruiser – 20.1 Litres of
Diesel / 100Km travelled (we were about 5 Tonne in total with the car and the
van both fully loaded)<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">
Average Cost of Diesel – 160.38c/L (Minimum was
133.9c/L in Melbourne, and the Maximum was 216.5c/L at El Questro Station on
the Gibb River Road).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We did see fuel
for 232c/L at Kings Canyon, but we didn’t fill up!<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">
10,334L of Diesel consumed<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">
12,600 Photos taken<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">
We crossed 15 State or Territory borders (as we
went in and out of some states/territories multiple times) and spent the
following number of days in each state or territory:<o:p></o:p></span> </li>
<ul>
<li>WA – 149 days (33%), QLD – 95 days (21%), VIC –
65 days (15%), NT – 55 days (12%), SA – 34 days (8%), TAS – 23 days (5%), NSW –
21 days (5%), ACT – 6 days (1%)<o:p></o:p></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span>The 4 most expensive cost categories (from most
expensive to least) were:</span></li>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span>Food and Groceries (we had to eat, but we were
quite surprised that the most expensive cost category was food and groceries!),</li>
<li>Fuel (we chose to drive)</li>
<li>Accommodation (even when you BYO caravan, it’s pretty
expensive in most places), and finally;</li>
<li>Car & Caravan Maintenance (This excludes any
cost from our breakdown in VIC.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We kept
the car and caravan well serviced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On
top of the servicing, there always seemed to be something that needed
fixing!).</li>
<ul>
<li>Surprisingly, these 4 cost categories
comprised 75.2% of our total spend on the trip.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">In our 15 months of being on the road full-time,
we were only breath tested once!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
even more interestingly, this breath test was on the most remote road that we
went on in our entire journey – the Great Central Road (300Km West of
Uluru)!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Needless to say, we didn’t
test positive!!<o:p></o:p><br />
</span></li>
</ul>
<u><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Our Favourite Things</b></span></u><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In May 2012, we wrote a
<a href="http://www.ourbigaussieroadtrip.com/2012/05/mike-and-lizs-favourite-things.html" target="_blank">‘Favourite Things’ Blog</a> (http://www.ourbigaussieroadtrip.com/2012/05/mike-and-lizs-favourite-things.html).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The list of our favourite things didn’t
really change after we’d written that, so you can have another look there if
you’re interested in some of the useful things we took with us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I would add 3 very useful items to
the list (that aren’t really worthy of adding to the ‘Favourite things’ blog)
and they are: Silicone, Gaffa Tape and Zip Ties!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There isn’t too much around a car and caravan
that can’t be patched with a combination of these three items.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll never leave home without them again!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: inherit;">No Regrets…<o:p></o:p></span></u></b><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Many people that we met
along the way commented that we were very brave (or maybe they meant stupid!)
for doing what we did – uprooting our family, pausing our careers, removing the
kids from school and friends, and heading around the country;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we can definitely understand the
sentiment that this seems like a crazy thing to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re not exactly sure what the future will
hold for us… It is a possibility that we might not land back on our feet in
Sydney – and this would have been a horrific thought for us prior to our trip,
but having been through the last 15 months, we now have slightly different
perspectives on many things (and feel so blessed with what we have) that even
if things don’t turn out exactly how we hope them to, we’ll be content in
whatever circumstances we find ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Throughout the trip, we have felt a deep sense of God’s presence as He;
protected us on our travels, Blessed us with sublime weather for the entire
trip (this sounds very spoilt, but sometimes we caught ourselves wishing for a
few clouds - after 10 months of cloudless blue skies and not seeing a drop of
rain!), He kept us healthy, He ensured that all the bad things that happened couldn’t
have happened in better places (with positive outcomes that we couldn’t have
planned even if we wanted to), and He grew us closer as a family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are extremely thankful for everything, and
if we could have our time again, we wouldn’t change a single moment.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G0_pWBFGIXs/UQH5AwtLblI/AAAAAAAAE4Q/zSqyo9AA8jc/s1600/DSCF3710.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="160" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G0_pWBFGIXs/UQH5AwtLblI/AAAAAAAAE4Q/zSqyo9AA8jc/s400/DSCF3710.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Finally, thank you to all those friends and family who have followed our adventures,
commented on our blog and kept in touch with us via Skype, phone calls, emails
and allowing us to drop in to their place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We are very appreciative of the support and prayers that we received.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mike, Liz, Josh, Natalie and Sam Mason</span><br />
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<br />Aussie Road Triphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16843031805218753713noreply@blogger.com3