Five go off : 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."