Round The Kookaburra 2017

Week Three The City Lights SNAPSHOT Travelling is like being a dog, well obviously not a dog but certainly dog years......one day is like seven days!! When the blog writing day comes around each week it only feels like yesterday I wrote the last one and it's hard reflect on how much we have actually achieved in a week - bizarre! This week has been a rollercoaster, we've found ourselves in places we would never dreamed of plotting on our map, thanked the lucky stars we made it alive through the Macquarie Pass (brakes now working - what a bonus!) and showed the girls the bright lights of Sydney (whilst also providing an educational tour of the perils and outcomes of drug usage 😉)..... WHERE ON EARTH ARE WE? Another big week but the palm trees are increasing and so is our opportunity to slow down!! Shellharbour This should read Kiama - however due to "someone" in our family insisting on detouring to the Don Bradman Museum 🙄 we ended up on

Week Two Friends in High Places WHERE ON EARTH ARE WE? More to the point where haven't we been? It's been a big week and we've pushed the girls travel boundaries which they handled surprisingly well...still we won't repeat it ANYTIME soon........ Tilba Valley Winery $20 per vehicle - you get a $20 voucher to spend on wine - yup you heard me! Batemans Bay   (meh) Bungendore Showground $20pn, power and water - fabulous! And only 30 min from Canberra Canberra - Alivio Tourist Park , okay for what we needed..... Crookwell  - stayed with friends on their beautiful property, was such an enjoyable night and the shower was incredibly good - it's the small things these days! REALLY????? This is the bit where I would normally regale you of some fascinating piece of information about a town we have visited - this week we just have information overload!! I'm just going to say YES to Canberra.....it's educational and lots of

Where on earth are we? Tathra N.S.W @ Tathra Beachside Family Park A gorgeous drive via Eden and 2.5 hours spent at the Killer Whale Museum (an amazing place rich in whaling history and the story of Ole Tom the Killer Whale who rounded up the whales during migration for the whalers in return for a feed of delicious whale tongue and lips 😱)  We meandered through to Tathra (meaning home of wild cats in local aboriginal dialect)- a small but vibrant seaside town with spectacular views but you also know you are somewhere really good when fresh oysters are only $7 per doz!! We parked up at Tathra Beachside Family Park - mid week it was almost empty which gave us some much needed breathing space for a bit! Really??? During whale watching season a horn sounds out when whales are in the bay - apparently the mothers and calves come in really close to wharf! Wrong time of year for us unfortunately 😌 Best Part vs Worst Part 🤸‍♀️Liv Best part: The water park!!

Where on earth are we? Mallacoota - a sleepy little seaside town in Gippsland that has a population of 1000 that swells to 7000 in summer - glad we picked this time of year to visit! Really?? There is a operations bunker museum that was built during WWII and used as headquarters for RAAF coastal activity in the region - we missed the opening hours but looked interesting 😂 Girls - best part/worst part  🌼 Liv Best part = great views and lots of green grass Worst part = playground broken and not much for kids to do at CP but town had mini golf which was fun! ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🌺 Maggie Best part = there is a seal that lives in Mallacoota and visits the jetty!  Worst part = you had to have a fishing license to fish ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Lessons learnt: 📝 It will be cheaper to grocery shop by myself 😱 📝. Whatever the driving time is from place to place double it with kids!😂 Say it again?? Dad joke no.231 :  Maggie: "hey dad! I'm going down to vi

Victor Charlie Charlie - alpha Sierra foxtrot.....on a bleak cold wet Ballarat morning it's finally departure day!!!  Woo hooo! We limped over the finish line, extended by one day merely to save our sanity and are super pumped to finally be making this dream come true!! ❤️ So a massive thank you to everyone for all their love and good wishes this week - we were farewelled in style that's for sure 🍾🥂 Today we will head towards Gippsland, with a pit stop in Trafalgar to visit Shaz Kelly and then through to Sale! See you in 5 months Ballarat!!! Roger that? Over and out 😂  

ONE WEEK TO GO 😬 This is our last post before we leave - it's been a rollercoaster of a week.....there's been a few highs and lows!  Everyone who knows me well was expecting a meltdown pre-departure and Thursday was it!! Nothing in particular happened - one minute I was making lists in my head and the next I was a mess - overwhelmed, excited, tired, stretched! Who knows......😂 nevertheless some good advice from a dear friend had me pulling myself together and I moved on!  We had a wedding on the Mornington Peninsula this weekend and it was wonderful - relaxing and just what Leigh and I needed to regroup - we enjoyed our last bit of time together before parenting full time for 5 months begins.......we've so got this!!! 😳 So this week I'm taking one day at a time - if we aren't ready by departure day then we will roll with the punches and leave the next day - what's the hurry - would rather leave serenely than with sweat beads 😂😂 Over and out........  

TWO WEEKS TO GO....😬 OMG this is getting very surreal people!! Just realised that we will be rolling into Darwin around school holidays so we thought it best to make a tentative booking at the Darwin Free Spirit resort for a week......arggghhh!!! 🏖🏖🏖🏖 We are actually doing this?!?!? Someone get me a paper bag stat 😂

4 week to go (and only 3 weeks left of work for one of us - not you Leigh Stollery 😂) In light of last weeks blog about Miss 12 not wanting to go, I have taken on suggestions and got her involved in the organising.....and what a turn around! Now wants to leave tomorrow 🙏...... Here is the smallest Stollery's home sweet home for the next 5 months! Would give The Block a run for their money I reckon!  

5 weeks to go!! This week's dilemma (although not really cause we are going on this trip regardless!) 8 year old super pumped about this adventure and wants to leave tomorrow. 12 year old NOT pumped about this adventure and wants to stay here and live with Nana and Poppy (obviously not happening but I had to listen to her 10 minute powerpoint presentation anyway). Everyone keeps telling her she will LOVE it and how lucky she is, which is making things worse? In her tweenie mind she is missing out on so much by going (leadership team, friends, dancing, singing etc)  but can't see that she will actually gain so much more. Sigh........not sure there is any advice you can give us to be honest but feel free.....otherwise this is just a pre-departure rant!!  

Okay followers: to take the annexe or not to take the annexe?  We attacked the annexe erection with gusto and trepidation and 45 minutes later (with no arguments I might add!) it's up! It really wasn't that hard (with the help of google videos 😂) I was thinking we wouldn't need it but now wondering if better to be safe than sorry? What do you think?    

Something for the old useless fact file!!  Lots of followers asking how we came up with our FB page name??  Turn the map of Australia on its side and it looks like a Kookaburra 😂 and in 9 weeks time we will be going around it! Woo hoo ☀️  

AUSTRALIA DAY FREE CAMPING TEST Lessons Learnt So we packed up the van, the dog and the kids and decided to test out our free camping skills....here are some lessons learnt! Lesson #1  Always check the taps are turned off before turning on the water pump.  We managed to salvage ZERO rolls of toilet paper from the ensuite floor following a flooded basin episode! Lesson #2 The decision not to take our beloved, boisterous, loveable and naughty labradoodle Max on our 5 month adventure was a sound one to say the least. Max 1 | Stollery Family 0 Lesson #3 We might not need to purchase a $1000 Waeco fridge/freezer after all.....I managed to fit $200 worth of groceries and drinks into the fridge and pantry.  Our pull along Coleman worked a treat for adult drinks and after three days the ice was still frozen......pls note we might change our minds once we hit warmer weather! Lesson #4 I think it is fair to say we could have some serious wifi and power withdrawals for a little while - thats all

16 weeks to go 😬 We are officially on the countdown. How do I feel? Overwhelmed. Nervous. Excited......all in the space of two minutes! This is probably the point where I should remember that I am a control freak/over thinker and tell myself to "calm the farm" but nope.....I feel some frenzy whipping coming on fast 😂 So this is just a quick update....for you guys of course but also to remind myself we have actually achieved shiteloads so far after all!! 1.  Mazda BT50 purchased ✔️ 2.  2009 Jayco Expanda purchased ✔️ 3.  House decluttered and everything caravan worthy transferred to it. ✔️ 4.   School notified of travel plans ✔️ 5.   Map purchased, basic travel route planned ✔️ 6.   Checklists made and printed ✔️ 7.    Work notified of travel plans and leave approved ✔️ 8.    House and puppy sitter confirmed ✔️ 9.    Portable BBQ purchases ✔️ 10.   X 2 test trips done @caravan park - need to do some free camps ASAP!!✔️ See not bad at all!! 😬😬

It is April Fools Day 2016. We are going to travel Australia in a caravan for 5 months with our two daughters in 12 months time. This is no joke! I am not sure what we are thinking? Some part of me yearns for a simple life where working full time and juggling 5000 different commitments at one time is a distant memory….but part of me is scared shiteless. I know deep down that if this trip is going to be tough on anyone it will be me. Slightly OCD, ridiculously organised – I am definitely that person that isn’t always fun to go on holiday with….but aren’t all Mums the same? Whereas my family switch into holiday mode at the mere smell of a flight confirmation it takes me a week to wind down and savour the coconut cocktails. So who are we? Dad (Leigh) is a “so laid back he is horizontal” 47 year old, maker of fine chocolate and the yin to my yang, Mum is me Rana), a 40 year old, “self-confessed control freak kiwi”, education employee and mum to two girls, Olivia (10 years old, going on 1