Are we there yet? How much longer to go? How long have we been driving? I don't think we have been asked these questions the whole time we have been gone until today!!! The kids are so excited to be getting back home to see their animals and be back in their own rooms. Glen and I are pretty excited too. We are very much looking forward to a bit of space now, however, I am not looking forward to unpacking the van and catching up on 3 months worth of paperwork. A phone call from Glen's Mum confirms my worst fears that we have had mice, so who knows what mess awaits me when I get back.
The road to Southern Cross is pretty horrible, but from there onwards we head to Bullfinch, on Dad's advice, and the road is excellent, no traffic and a shorter distance. It is a very strange feeling as we start to hit familiar towns like Koorda and Cadoux. It is so dry and dusty and we thank our lucky stars we missed out on the heat this year.
By the time we drive down the Sheoak Springs drive way the temperature as reached a pleasant 26 C. It is very nice to see the house and the sheds and we call in to Peter and Marie's for a cuppa on the way. The kids are off over to the animals almost immediately. We have lost one guinea pig while we have been away, but the others are as fat as anything.
We drive the very familiar road home with a couple of gates to open on the way. It is dusty and windy but we are glad to be back. As expected the mice have had a bit of a party while we have been away, but Marie has very kindly been over and tidied up a bit for us. What a saviour she is.
So the rest of the afternoon is spent cleaning the house. It is going to take quite a few days before we are organised I am afraid. The van is our first priority as as soon as it is cleaned it will be up for sale.
So I can't quite believe our journey has come to an end. It has been so many years in the planning and the trip itself has been drawn out over nearly a 9 month period. We have seen so much of our beautiful country, and have only just scratched the surface it seems. What a wonderful experience we have had with our children. They were a perfect age to travel with and Glen and I know we will never have another trip quite like it with them. We have learnt so much about each other and spent so much time together, the school days and work days ahead are going to take a bit of adjusting as we all go our separate ways once again.
Thank you for sharing our special journey with us. I hope you have enjoyed reading the blog. We will not be moving far from home in the near future but would love to catch up with you all if you would fancy a trip to the farm. Bye for now.......Nat :-)
Thursday, 22 March 2012
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
Pt 2 - Day 68 - Our last day on the road
Well, this morning we are all very aware that this is our last day on the road. Kids pile into bed with Glen before breakfast as they know that once we get home they won't get much of a chance to do that for a while. It is freezing in Kal today with a maximum of 19C forecast.
This morning we head out to the bush to collect some rocks for our little gold miner. We come back with a bag full of quartz that he can crush when we get home, in search for gold. That will sure keep him busy!! Then up to Mt Charlotte for a view of Kal fromt the lookout. After that we grabbed some lunch and ate it at Hammond Park which is a great park for the kids. A fantastic playground and there are heaps of birds for the kids to see. Cockies, emus, budgies, peacocks, ducks etc. There were a couple of schools there and we saw the camp school with all their gear for lunch and Michael the bus driver!!
After this we drop Glen off at the Royal Flying Doctors so he can do a tour. The kids and I head down the street to get some souvenirs.
This afternoon I go down the street on my own to make some clothes purchases, as none of mine fit anymore!!!! I also start thinking about school and buy contact, pencils etc as the kids will be able to go back for the last week and a half. In the afternoon the girls have hair appointments and then we just get organised for an early departure in the morning. It is about a 530km drive which we can easily manage, it will just be a big day. We had considered heading out this evening and camping on the side of the road, but the thought of another stop over somewhere didn't excite us much and we knew everyone would be bounding out of bed tomorrow.
Everyone is very excited about going home. I take one last photo of them all lined up in their bunks and we all have a good sleep for the very last night in our van.
This morning we head out to the bush to collect some rocks for our little gold miner. We come back with a bag full of quartz that he can crush when we get home, in search for gold. That will sure keep him busy!! Then up to Mt Charlotte for a view of Kal fromt the lookout. After that we grabbed some lunch and ate it at Hammond Park which is a great park for the kids. A fantastic playground and there are heaps of birds for the kids to see. Cockies, emus, budgies, peacocks, ducks etc. There were a couple of schools there and we saw the camp school with all their gear for lunch and Michael the bus driver!!
After this we drop Glen off at the Royal Flying Doctors so he can do a tour. The kids and I head down the street to get some souvenirs.
This afternoon I go down the street on my own to make some clothes purchases, as none of mine fit anymore!!!! I also start thinking about school and buy contact, pencils etc as the kids will be able to go back for the last week and a half. In the afternoon the girls have hair appointments and then we just get organised for an early departure in the morning. It is about a 530km drive which we can easily manage, it will just be a big day. We had considered heading out this evening and camping on the side of the road, but the thought of another stop over somewhere didn't excite us much and we knew everyone would be bounding out of bed tomorrow.
Everyone is very excited about going home. I take one last photo of them all lined up in their bunks and we all have a good sleep for the very last night in our van.
Tuesday, 20 March 2012
Pt 2 - Day 67 - Kalgoorlie
Well, the rain has stopped over night but it is a cold day today. It is so nice to be able to relax this morning knowing we are not moving, however, I am awake at 5:30 and the family is not far behind me. I decide to go and do a grocery shop at 8am so when I get back everyone is ready to go and do the tourist thing.
Next we have a look at the Super Pit shop and across the road the pub which has part of the floor which has been panelled with glass. It has an 11m mine shaft which goes under the pub. Apparently, years ago, the miners used to smuggle some of their findings into the cellar under ground, then at the end of their shift go and have beer at the pub, where the publican would give them their gold, after taking his share of course.
Tori is loving being in Kal as she was here in November on her school camp, so it is like having our own personal tour guide.
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| What a responsible parent!!! |
After this we head to the museum where we do half hour tour. The museum is great. They have replica houses and original buildings from years gone by. It is amazing to think that during the gold rush so many people lived in the one spot with no water supply, no medical services and no food on hand. However, it wasn't long before there were 92 pubs in this area and quite often water was worth more than beer.
Then it is time to eat again, one of our favourite passed times!!! We decide to have one last meal out at a restaurant before we go home. We go to DeBernales on the main drag. Very strange to be here during the day with the family, last time I was here was nearly 20 years ago........a scary thought.......the band was pumping and it certainly wasn't lunch time!!!
Tori and I head to the shops for the afternoon, she still has some of her Diva voucher to spend from christmas and is dying to look in Supre again. When we get home everyone is huddled in the van as it is so cold. Soup for tea tonight as a barbi is out of the question in this "brass monkey" weather!!
Monday, 19 March 2012
Pt 2 - Day 66 - Kalgoorlie
Well, this morning the whole van is up with the sun at 5:30am and eating breakfast. It is very hot and humid. Everyone is grumpy and our bodies are totally confused by the change of time and the weather. Glen and I decide to have showers as we will be in a park tonight and don't need to save water. We are on the road by 6:20am and we have full sunlight. We stop at Cocklebiddy for a toilet break and we are all looking for lunch by 9am!!!! The outside temperature on the car reaches 34c by 9:30am. I was the lucky driver to get the 146km stretch of straight road, not one corner in sight!!!!!
At this stage we still don't know where our destination is today, Kalgoorlie or Esperance. We figure we can put in another 750km day of driving to reach our destination, however, with the rain forecast we are not sure which direction to head. The original plan was to go down to Esperance, enjoy a few days on the beautiful beaches and show the kids, then head up to Kalgoorlie for a couple of days before we head home. However, with the cyclone, the weather is not so conducive to beach time and we don't want to travel 500km out of our way to spend three days sitting in the van and playing cards. We have no mobile reception to get an update on the weather so we decide we will wait until we get to Norseman, check our the weather forecast then and make a decision with the kids.
We stop at Balladonia for a quick break on the way. They have a great museum there and Skylab displays. When we leave Balladonia the rain sets in. There has been a lot of rain in this part of the country over night by the look of the water on the side of the road.
By the time we arrive in Norseman the outside temp has dropped to 20C. We can't believe the difference in just a few hours. It is now 1:30pm and we have to make a decision. A check of the forecast shows tops in Esperance over the next few days of 19 and 20 and rain.........mmmmm......not great beach weather. Kalgoorlie isn't a lot better, tops of 22 and less rain, but you can look for gold in that sort of weather. So we reluctantly make the decision to head north. Glen and I had our hearts set on Esperance, but the kids are stoked to be going to Kal, especially our rock boy who is determined to find gold and be rich!!!!
We drive all the way in the rain and set up in the rain. Looks like this damn rain is going to be with us until the end!!! We had the idea in our head that when we hit the west we would be back in the heat again, but not so. We wonder what ratio of wet to sunny days we have had in this last half of our trip!!!!
At this stage we still don't know where our destination is today, Kalgoorlie or Esperance. We figure we can put in another 750km day of driving to reach our destination, however, with the rain forecast we are not sure which direction to head. The original plan was to go down to Esperance, enjoy a few days on the beautiful beaches and show the kids, then head up to Kalgoorlie for a couple of days before we head home. However, with the cyclone, the weather is not so conducive to beach time and we don't want to travel 500km out of our way to spend three days sitting in the van and playing cards. We have no mobile reception to get an update on the weather so we decide we will wait until we get to Norseman, check our the weather forecast then and make a decision with the kids.
We stop at Balladonia for a quick break on the way. They have a great museum there and Skylab displays. When we leave Balladonia the rain sets in. There has been a lot of rain in this part of the country over night by the look of the water on the side of the road.
By the time we arrive in Norseman the outside temp has dropped to 20C. We can't believe the difference in just a few hours. It is now 1:30pm and we have to make a decision. A check of the forecast shows tops in Esperance over the next few days of 19 and 20 and rain.........mmmmm......not great beach weather. Kalgoorlie isn't a lot better, tops of 22 and less rain, but you can look for gold in that sort of weather. So we reluctantly make the decision to head north. Glen and I had our hearts set on Esperance, but the kids are stoked to be going to Kal, especially our rock boy who is determined to find gold and be rich!!!!
We drive all the way in the rain and set up in the rain. Looks like this damn rain is going to be with us until the end!!! We had the idea in our head that when we hit the west we would be back in the heat again, but not so. We wonder what ratio of wet to sunny days we have had in this last half of our trip!!!!
Sunday, 18 March 2012
Pt 2 - Day 65 - WA border
This morning we have an early start. Well, as early as we can anyway. We drive out of the park at 7:45am just as the sun is coming up. We would have liked to get away earlier but it is just too dangerous driving in the dark. Today we plan to drive about 600km and get as close to the border as we can. We still have fruit and veg that needs eating so I night free camping before we cross over is what we planned to do.
A fairly uneventful drive. We stop at Ceduna for fuel which isn't too badly priced for this area. Impossible to get a decent coffee now though. We pay $2.50 for one I have to make myself, then discover the urn isn't even hot!!!! Insignificant you may well think, but this is important stuff when you have to sit behind the wheel for the next couple of hours!! The roads in SA are really good, so we can relax a little and enjoy the drive. We also have a tail wind so we are just hooning along at around 100km and just under 2000 revs, great for the fuel economy.
We stop at the Head of the Bight and walk down the walk way to see the water crashing against the cliffs. It is really quite warm now, about 32C and we sure feel it in the middle of the day. It does look like someone has taken a big bite out of Australia, as the cliffs are just a sheer drop to the water. We see a couple of sea lions frolicking in the waves but it is the wrong time of the year for the whales. We could stand and watch the waves forever, but we must move on.
At about 70km away from the border we stop at a rest area to have a look. It is only 4pm which is a bit early for us to stop at a rest area as there is nothing for the children to do, it is hot and windy, Glen and I will just start eating and drinking, plus we don't feel 100% happy to be camped so close to cliff faces with our exploring kids looking for something to do. We have the wind behind us as well, so we decide to head across the border after all. So I jump in the van and cut up my remaining salad and throw some dressing over it, as Mum said quarantine are happy for you to have salads made up. I hand out some fruit and off we go.
The border inspection is the most comprehensive one we have had so far. The inspector checks all eskies in the car and hops in the van and checks the pantry and fridge. They take the last of our apples and a couple of onions and the last of Shannae's creamed honey that she bought on Kangaroo Island. She wasn't too impressed about this. Then off we went.
We then turned all our clocks back. So instead of being 4:30 and time to start thinking about stopping, all of a sudden it is 2pm so we can still fit in another couple of hours on the road!!!! We don't of course, we drive for about another 100km before we find a rest stop with a toilet and decide to stop for the night. The weather is starting to get very windy and threatening now. We eat tea at about 5pm, which is really 7:30 to our bodies, and we end up in bed by 8pm, which is really 10:30. It is completely dark by 6:30 which is very strange. It is a hot night, vehicles come and go from the rest stop and no one gets a great night's sleep!!!!!!
A fairly uneventful drive. We stop at Ceduna for fuel which isn't too badly priced for this area. Impossible to get a decent coffee now though. We pay $2.50 for one I have to make myself, then discover the urn isn't even hot!!!! Insignificant you may well think, but this is important stuff when you have to sit behind the wheel for the next couple of hours!! The roads in SA are really good, so we can relax a little and enjoy the drive. We also have a tail wind so we are just hooning along at around 100km and just under 2000 revs, great for the fuel economy.
We stop at the Head of the Bight and walk down the walk way to see the water crashing against the cliffs. It is really quite warm now, about 32C and we sure feel it in the middle of the day. It does look like someone has taken a big bite out of Australia, as the cliffs are just a sheer drop to the water. We see a couple of sea lions frolicking in the waves but it is the wrong time of the year for the whales. We could stand and watch the waves forever, but we must move on.
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| They are standing on a fenced off area at a rest stop right at the edge of a cliff here!!! |
The border inspection is the most comprehensive one we have had so far. The inspector checks all eskies in the car and hops in the van and checks the pantry and fridge. They take the last of our apples and a couple of onions and the last of Shannae's creamed honey that she bought on Kangaroo Island. She wasn't too impressed about this. Then off we went.
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| Cody, being camouflaged!!! |
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| The kids go feral after being cooped up in the car!! |
We then turned all our clocks back. So instead of being 4:30 and time to start thinking about stopping, all of a sudden it is 2pm so we can still fit in another couple of hours on the road!!!! We don't of course, we drive for about another 100km before we find a rest stop with a toilet and decide to stop for the night. The weather is starting to get very windy and threatening now. We eat tea at about 5pm, which is really 7:30 to our bodies, and we end up in bed by 8pm, which is really 10:30. It is completely dark by 6:30 which is very strange. It is a hot night, vehicles come and go from the rest stop and no one gets a great night's sleep!!!!!!
Saturday, 17 March 2012
Pt 2 - Day 64 - Streaky Bay
I start the day again with another delightful walk around the bay, I don't think my body is capable of running any more!!!! Today is a day of preparation for the couple of big days of driving we have ahead to get across the nullabor. So we do the washing, fill the water tanks, check the gas bottles etc, etc.
Just before lunch we go into town and walk along the jetty to see what everyone is catching. We have lunch at the local bakery which is very nice, then we head back to the van for a bit of R and R. It is warmer today, a top of 27C forecast so good to have some sunny weather.
In the afternoon is spent playing more board games, the kids go for another swim and I do some blogging. Glen decides that he actually would like to see the NAB cup grand final, so this fills in the remainder of the arvo trying to get the dish to work. Unfortunately we don't have any luck, but discover we are able to tune into channel seven on normal tv, not such a good reception, but at least we can see the game. We pack up what we can tonight and hook up the car ready for a big day of driving tomorrow.
Just before lunch we go into town and walk along the jetty to see what everyone is catching. We have lunch at the local bakery which is very nice, then we head back to the van for a bit of R and R. It is warmer today, a top of 27C forecast so good to have some sunny weather.
In the afternoon is spent playing more board games, the kids go for another swim and I do some blogging. Glen decides that he actually would like to see the NAB cup grand final, so this fills in the remainder of the arvo trying to get the dish to work. Unfortunately we don't have any luck, but discover we are able to tune into channel seven on normal tv, not such a good reception, but at least we can see the game. We pack up what we can tonight and hook up the car ready for a big day of driving tomorrow.
Friday, 16 March 2012
Pt 2 - Day 63 - Streaky Bay
This morning I got up at 7:30 with the sun and went for a walk around the bay. The tide is right out and people are walking about 200m out from the shore, trying to find crabs I think. What a beautiful time of the day. A Japanese man is out on the beach with his tripod and camera, snapping away as the sun comes up. All the grey nomads are up cleaning their car or van or emptying their porta - loos!!!!
I get back to the van and enjoy breakfast and my crossword before the family finally arises at about 9am. It is pretty cold still, only a top of 24C forecast, but it is really only pretty early as far as the sun goes!!
We don't do a great deal today. I spend most of the morning doing bookwork. I am just doing the bare necessities, so I think my first week at home will be catching up in the office. The kids play on the play ground and Glen reads the paper. We are trying to make the most of our final days, as we are very aware that it is all about to come to an abrupt end, however, after 9 weeks of living in the van we are all starting to get a bit "over" living on top of each other. The kids are thinking about their animals and all their friends at school. Glen is thinking about all the things that need doing on the farm and I just long for a normal size fridge, my beautiful big kitchen and our own toilet!!!
In the afternoon the kids do some school work, something they haven't done much of on this half of the trip, they play boardgames and go for a swim. This evening, we have the usual barbi which always includes meeting someone new and sharing travel stories. We do like it here and decide to stay just one more day.
I get back to the van and enjoy breakfast and my crossword before the family finally arises at about 9am. It is pretty cold still, only a top of 24C forecast, but it is really only pretty early as far as the sun goes!!
We don't do a great deal today. I spend most of the morning doing bookwork. I am just doing the bare necessities, so I think my first week at home will be catching up in the office. The kids play on the play ground and Glen reads the paper. We are trying to make the most of our final days, as we are very aware that it is all about to come to an abrupt end, however, after 9 weeks of living in the van we are all starting to get a bit "over" living on top of each other. The kids are thinking about their animals and all their friends at school. Glen is thinking about all the things that need doing on the farm and I just long for a normal size fridge, my beautiful big kitchen and our own toilet!!!
In the afternoon the kids do some school work, something they haven't done much of on this half of the trip, they play boardgames and go for a swim. This evening, we have the usual barbi which always includes meeting someone new and sharing travel stories. We do like it here and decide to stay just one more day.
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