CUT!! And thats a wrap folks......

SNAPSHOT 

by Rana

Well this is it folks! 2 years of planning, saving and preparing for this trip of a lifetime and in what seems to be a blink of an eye, it is all over - we arrived home feeling foreign, changed and started to contemplate how we could make sure that the experiences we had would hold meaning for us as a family.....

Without a doubt this has been the most amazing, challenging, invigorating and confronting experience of our lives. What had begun as an opportunity to see all the corners of Australia, follow the waterways that are cradled by dry barren desert, luscious rainforests, golden beaches and to embed ourselves in its history and culture, slowly become a story about us as a family.

We savored every moment of watching our children discover it all, and yet this trip soon revealed itself to be so so much more than even we expected....life is so fragile and yet we don't have any idea of the power we have in our own hands. We created two children and quickly realised we didn't know them as well as we should.  Moments of "what the hell have we done", "what the hell were we thinking", amidst "stuff it lets just NOT go home" made for a roller coaster of emotion as we weaved our way around 26,000 kilometres of Australia. As a family were all forced to face our demons and make changes to our behaviour, our weaknesses and strengths appear amplified when living in close confines - we certainly had moments that I am sure we would take back if we could 😂.....

Previously we were living a frantic, out of control lifestyle (not that I think we were even aware) - where we were "reactively"  instead of "proactively" parenting, where material needs were always within grasp (and taken for granted).

In layman terms, we had simply lost sight of the more important things in life.

• We witnessed hardship....and discovered our own wealth
• We questioned our own beliefs.....and had to accept each others
• We met incredible people who had their own story to tell, then weaved their way into ours
• We embraced all things new......and old
• We laughed, we cried......and unfortunately for those camped nearby, we yelled  
• We had moments of clarity and of immense of frustration 
• We learnt confronting things about ourselves, and couldn't hide from them
• We achieved things we never thought we could, or would ...but we did
• We learnt to live with less.... and love more

Dear Leigh, for being the incredible person you are. Strong in conviction, we ALL know this trip wouldn't have happened without you.  The rudder that steered the ship whilst I was often the unpredictable Captain Insano....thanks for seeing the funny side of things that actually weren't that funny and for believing in me when I questioned my parenting and new found writing skills!  Can't wait to do it all again - bring on 2027!!

Dear Liv - my beautiful, energetic, fiery little redhead - your ability to make or break a day travelling on the road was second to none - we expected that, but not your perseverance with it right up until the last day hah hah - I wish we had read the signs earlier on in the trip instead of pushing you past your boundaries......on the flip side I have never met a kid with such energy, determination and zest for life - your belief system and sense of social justice is years ahead of your age, you will take the world by storm and I can't wait to sit back and watch your life unfold.  I am so glad that on the cusp of you turning into a teenager that we got to watch the sunrise and sunset with our arms around each other more times than I care to count - we are so proud of you, don't ever change 💓

Dear Maggie - when we pulled out of the driveway on that miserable day in May, you were so broken - school was incredibly hard for you, struggling to make friends and generally just so sad.....I didn't know how to help and felt like I just hadn't been "present" for you......the most important part of this journey was re-establishing our relationship, building the trust and just spending time together.  You are the kindest and most sweet natured kid I know, with a compassion for people and animals that reaches into your soul. People see you as fragile but they are wrong - your will, strength and determination just isn't on display.  I've learnt how to communicate with you in a much more positive way and feel like someone has parted the curtains to your eyes and suddenly I can see the complex little character underneath - don't stop cuddling me whenever you feel like it, I promise I won't let go until you do :)......we are so proud of you AND don't you ever change either! ❤️

SNAPSHOT by Leigh

Considering all the horror stories I had heard about doing "the lap" I feel we were blessed with good luck.  Whether I had planned enough and put things in place in case of the unexpected, or the travelling gods were truly smiling on us, I do not know.  I'd like to think the former, but honestly think it is the latter!

I felt the predominantly unplanned parts of our journey were probably the best part of our planning (if that makes sense!).  Although we had a series of mini finishing lines, we basically went where the wind blew us.  Although Rana had to book the majority of the accommodation ahead, I think deep down she enjoyed that part of the trip.  Flexibility I think some call it!  Others may call it disorganised.  Whatever floats your boat!

Aside from the descent of the Macquarie Pass, we had no major issues with the BT50 or the Jayco.  And for those in the loop, we successfully made it past Darwin in the "Divorce-a-van" aka Expanda as a family unit :)

The more I've thought about it, the more I think we got the timing perfect in terms of the ages of the girls.  I've always felt that we have only got one chance with the girls to do a trip of this magnitude and I am so happy we stopped talking about it and just did it! When we left we had the motto "this is OUR trip".  These were going to be our special memories, And so, while we took and asked a lot of advice, we were mindful that we were going to do things the way we wanted.

Many people have asked what it was like living in such a confined space for 5 months.  I can honestly say it didn't bother me one bit.  Apart from the noisy eating (myself being one or so Im told:) hah hah.  I can honestly say I felt genuinely depressed as we rolled up in our Court on 3rd October.  Not because I had to got back to work.  Not because of the thought of having to unpack the car and van.  Not because of the state of the front lawn. But because the nomadic lifestyle I had become used to and enjoyed so much was over.

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Favourite Place / Least favourite place

Rana

The most common question we have had since coming home is:  If you could move ANYWHERE where would it be?  My response? I don't know?  I really really thought I would come home and have the ideal place to move to.  But I don't and the reason is pretty simple.  What is the point without family and friends? So the only place I would move to would be Western Australia, to be closer to my sisters and their children.  Funny because that is the same answer I had before we left when I was asked the same question. Maybe I didn't need to drive 24000km to work that one out LOL....still if I had to call it!  Hervey Bay, Coral Bay, Kalbarri and Coffin Bay (sense a theme here??).

Mmm I don't know if I have a least favourite place but certainly a couple I didn't enjoy as much as I thought I would.  The lower east coast was disappointing, probably should have researched a little bit more but on the map it looked like the Bruce Highway was right next to the coast (stop laughing!) but its not and so really was just a looooonnggg highway that you had to drive out to the coast to see anything?  Not what I expected and feel like we missed a lot of the coastal beauty because of this - next time though!

Leigh

Without a doubt my favourite place of the trip was Kalbarri, closely followed by Tin Can Bay and Coral Bay...honourable mentions to Shellharbour, Eden, Croydon, Darwin, Broome, Esperance, Ceduna, Streaky Bay and Mannum......and definitely Coffin Bay!.

Least favourite is an easy one!  Daly Waters.....The most over rated place EVER!  I don't know whether it was the overcrowded, dusty mosh pit of a caravan park or the country and western music....or indeed, lets not forget the $90 carton of mid strength beer but odds are short that I won't be back. But hey, they did do a nice lunch and I could probably write a real nice country and western song after our stay there.  AND the beer was good, especially when shared with our neighbours in Mataranka which led to new friends and an awesome stay in Coffin Bay! Silver linings and all that!

Lessons Learnt

Not all Grey Haired Nomads hate children despite what the caravanning forums say!!	A myriad of child issues and tears can be solved with a simple hug and zero words.
Crocodiles are for water,  NOT 8 year old girl's heads with "reptile allergic" Dads holding them!	Every now and again. Leigh is right and I am not-so-right
If you get sick of hearing “MUM” 532 times a day change your name.	If a roller coaster warning sign says "please do not enter ride if you are suffering from back problems" then it is often ideal to heed those warnings.
It is ALWAYS cheaper to grocery shop by yourself.	If you want serious “Hero” cred with your kids, just rescue a bloody kangaroo!
Whatever the driving time is from place to place double it with kids!	You can live without TV for 5 weeks….. and actually be disappointed when it finally gets fixed.
When it comes to free camping to go with your gut instincts.	Eventually gas will run out.
Do your research on entry prices to activities! Nothing smells awkward like changing your mind when you hear the price at the gift shop counter.	Solar panels need cleaning to work ! 😂
Make sure EVERYONE has some “me” time	Corn does not digest.
There is an art to building a campfire. Try and work it out before you use all the kindling and paper.	You are only human! Its not a holiday but a journey .....ups and downs are completely normal.
Disposable Dettol wipes don't disintegrate when flushed into a cartridge toilet.	Check weatherzone and if need be, pack up the night before. If you didn’t check weatherzone then $4 ponchos in the tropics are an under rated accessory to any wardrobe.
Despite how rough things get at times, we have been bought harshly back to reality for the third time this trip about the fragility of life and reinforced that the decision to undertake this trip was 100% the right one.	Amenities blocks are next to useless when juggling a towel and toiletries whilst simultaneously trying to wash
Heat can bring out the worst in even the most patient of travellers.	We can live without wifi, also without power and water for 12 hours along with a van door handle if need be
Accept that people "are who they are"…..it's not our job to be their moral compass.	Fishing is a skill set all on its own.
Whatever the size of your medicine box, double it and fill it - being sick in the middle of nowhere not pleasant.	Western Australia needed double the time frame we actually had!
Wish we had found Amazon Kindle books earlier – audio books rock.  As does Harry Potter.	Don't judge a town by its weather.
Sometimes you are better to book ahead then change the booking if need be, than to not book at all.	Beer tastes much better out of glass than a can
It wouldnt have mattered if we had an extra $30k and another 12 months up our sleeves - we still wouldn't have seen everything this country has to offer so have decided to chill out, go home poor as church mice but know we did everything humanly possible to see what we could within the constraints of time and budget!!	By Liv and Maggie........Some families don't have homes made of bricks.  Some families live in tents without cars and still send their children to school every day in clean clothes with lunch. Some families just make the best of what they have and still giggle and laugh.
Memories are transient - if you don't like the ones you have create shiny new ones.	Leigh will never learn to appreciate country and western music....the girls are still malleable in my opinion!
Travelling time literally goes twice as fast as normal every day time (and caravans get smaller once you have a break from them hah hah)	I can tow a caravan!!! If you hold a licence and are travelling then you absolutely must learn to tow.  If only for an emergency.

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The Statistics

There were so many unknowns before we started, hindsight is a wonderful thing but we should have free camped more often, eaten less and pushed Telstra to do a better deal! Next time our budget will look completely different but we did the best with what information we had!

Distance travelled:	Total	Per week
Groceries:	$6,750.00	$337.50
Fuel:	$4,463.00	$223.16
Accomodation:	$6,075.00	$303.75
Telstra:	$2000.00	$100.00
Entertainment:	$5995.00	$299.75
Miscellaneous expenses  (national park entries, permits etc)	$1275.00	$63.75
TOTAL	$26558.00	$1327.91

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Where are all the photos you ask??

Thought I would step up the game for our last blog soooooo get the tissues ready, sit back and enjoy our video!  Just click on the link below!!

Round the Kookaburra Movie

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FINALLY

Thank you for following us, laughing and crying with us - I will miss knowing you guys are not all at the end of my weekly blog.

For all of you who have said you are jealous, GO AND DO IT!!  If we can YOU can :)