Don't Cry That It's Over, Smile Because It Happened

Contents of the caravan, mercilessly dumped on our deck.

How do you even start to write the post that brings your life changing experience to a close? And what do you call it? Done and dusty? The Last Post? Or is it simply the default "untitled - I'll let the rest speak for itself"? It's like saying goodbye to your childhood teddy knowing that you will never see it again. Not quite a eulogy, but far more than a casual goodbye.

Fifty one weeks of a different life has taught us all a lot about Australia, our family, ourselves and other people. We lived with little space, few possessions, a small fridge, no pantry, but the joy of knowing each other. And it really was a pleasure to be in each others company without the stresses of modern day 'house and city life'.

On the road back to Brisbane, we were all asked the question  "what are the five things that you are looking forward to seeing again at home?"

The responses were amazing. Coffee machine aside, the answers were not about possessions or things or organised sports events. They were about something that has a pulse. Some of the answers might have been a metaphorical pulse, but a pulse nonetheless. No responses about plastic toys or some crappy American pre-teen television show. Personality, touch, feeling and culture. Okay, one exception: the smallest of us who wants nothing more than stability and his very own bed.

We never set out with a list of what a successful sojourn would be, but we reckon the result would have to be pretty close.

So we stepped into our house and were overwhelmed with a sense of familiarity. Like a turtle that hatches and makes its way to the waters edge, we have almost instantly fallen into our old life and habits. Yes the house feels big, and the kids are so far away now, but there doesn't seem to be enough room in the fridge, breakfast takes half an hour to clean up instead of five minutes, and that list of household jobs is long and has all the appeal of a root canal.

But kids need education, dogs need to be collected from long suffering relatives, and money needs to be earned until we come up with the next crazy idea to cheat society for a while. You never can beat it though. People want payments, cameras always check you, and the bureaucracy will summons you for ridiculous court cases.

Setting off for the last time

Big F received Dad's travel hat when we pulled into the driveway

The only one of us who was truly happy to set foot back into the house.

When you've been away for a while, new family members arrive.

Re-acquainting with old toys occupied several days while Mum and Dad unpacked. 

First day back. It was painful for all.

Little F had his very first day of real school.

Week 1 - Skennars Head

Week 51 - Skennars Head

So, for those of you out there that want to know the nitty gritty, some hardcore stats:

44,000 kilometers travelled since departing last year;

19,380 shutter releases (photos) between the Canon 550D and the Canon 6D;

2 flat tyres, both on the cruiser, both repairable, and both in the town centre of a place with a tyre dealer;

8 new tyres;

0 breakdowns;

137 camps, ranging from friends houses, caravan parks, community camps, national parks, rest stops or whatever sneaky spot we could find;

0 television shows watched;

Longest Stay: apart from our final 15 days at Broken Head and 10 days of Christmas at Bunyip, roughly a week a piece at  Dorrigo, NSW; Merimbula, NSW; Exmouth, WA; and Broome, WA.

Favourite Place: Australia!

Random! Most random sight was on the west coast of Tasmania where it was cold, windy and raining. We drove through the rolling green hills to find, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, a young boy standing in the middle of a paddock in the rain with his guitar belting out a tune with much gusto.


Thanks to all who followed. Your comments inspired us to keep posting. At the end of this, our last post, are a selection of photos from NSW and bits of Victoria from when we hadn't yet got our blogging act together.

It seems only just that the most divine piece of wisdom that we collected came from a stubby holder pinned to the wall at the Daly Waters pub in NT. It was a tribute to someone who died too early, but simply said "Don't Cry That It's Over, Smile Because It Happened."

Day 1

Adjusting to a new way of life - Dorrigo, NSW.

Dangar Falls, Dorrigo

Games of UNO were popular in the van

Abercrombie  Caves

Black Mountain, Canberra

Questacon, Canberra

War Memorial, Canberra

Sea fog at Depot Beach, south coast NSW

Thredbo, and our snowman that looks more like our dog.

Point Hicks, Victoria.

Goodbye!

Homeward Bound

Heading south along the top of the Great Dividing Range from our last camp at Goomeri, the realisation that we would soon be home was hitting us all. Thoughts of a return to our house, work and school weren't always far from our minds. But, we shrugged it off and decided to live in the moment. From Goomeri, we visited Toowoomba, camped at Girraween National Park, and then re-entered New South Wales for our final two weeks at Broken Head.

Years ago we did a three month stint in Toowoomba and loved the parks. They are still there, just as good as ever. Little F was actually enjoying this despite the looks.

In preparation for the Toowoomba flower festival.

We camped at Nobby and had a cold one in Rudd's Pub.

In Girraween National Park

Not sure what would happen here if the thing actually budged.

The orchids were out

When we arrived in Ballina from Tenterfield, for the first time we saw a part of the highway that we drove south on nearly one year ago. We've closed the loop, done the lap, we've been everywhere man. Driving south along that bit of the Pacific Highway one year ago, we were excited about what our big adventure had in store for us. Now, one year on, we are seasoned travellers, experts at reversing long trailers, suntanned, taller and with a very different perspective on life. The excitement that we felt was well justified, and the desire to turn right, go south and just keep on driving was immense. But alas, normal life beckons.

We always planned to end the trip with two weeks just sitting in one spot and relaxing. Broken Head was that place.

Broken Head, sunrise.

M turned 40.

Our lighthouse tour of Australia ended here at Cape Byron.

J gives surfing a go.

Big F's handstand.

An old favourite, the Bangalow Pub.

Little F rekindled his love affair with 10 pin bowling.

At Bangalow Pub and not looking forward to going home.

Catching up with cousins.

You should always bury your cousins.

Last day, pondering....

The final night of the trip, and of course, the last time in the van.

Up early for the sunrise.

The leg home

We made it back to Brisbane on the 1st of October, 51 weeks after setting off. Stay tuned though, one last wrap-up blog entry to come.........

Closing the Gap

On the wall of our caravan is a big map of Australia with our travels marked all over it. There is only a small gap now between where we are and where we started. Oh well. 

Since the last post, we visited family in Townsville and have wound our way down the Qld coast.

At Uncle Rod's Farm in Townsville

E finally got to ride a horse on her own.

Near Airlie Beach.

Finch Hatton Gorge.

E at the Pine Islet Lighthouse at Mackay.

Rockhampton Zoo

It might look like the Thunderdome, but it's just a big bird cage.

The boys right at home.

Not happy about a haircut from Mum (with good reason too!)

We climbed Mount Archer at Rockhampton for the sunset (climbed in the car that is).

No trip to Australia's beef capital is complete without a trip to the bull sales.

Auctioneering. Sorry, we missed all of that. Can you repeat it please?

Today we are camped at the showgrounds at Goomeri. Lucky for some.

Route since last post.

Tomorrow we will pass through the 27 degree latitude on our way to Broken Head in NSW for two weeks of sitting in one place. 27 is Brisbane. So it's fair to say that tomorrow we will have done the lap of Australia! But we still have two and a half weeks until we hit Brisbane, so more to come.