Trip Around Oz.....

Hi Lee-Archers

Apart from go north in the winter and south in summer, and take your time to allow your youngsters, particularly your young son, plenty of time each day to run around, if we all told you the best places to go, you'd be on the road for at least ten years!

I recommend first up go straight to Tasmania; you could easily spend three months there and you'd have mostly lovely weather. Then you could head north wards. Come down through the centre when it gets to hot, and zig zag your way around for as long as it takes.

The best plan (apart from the Tassie ferry) is no plan - just a general direction and be responsive to what you all like, and pick up tips from locals and other travellers about the wonderful places that aren't in the tourist brochures.

Motherhen

Hi Lee-Archer's

We are currently (2 Adults 3 Kids) well on the way on a similar trip. The above advice is definitely very sound and makes a lot of sense.

the only things I would consider are, perhaps to leave Tassie untill later. We just got back from Tassie and it was great. However if we had or time again I think we would leave it until we get itchy feet again and head there for a few months then. Just a thought

The other thing i would add are, take a caravan rather than a camper, we set off with a camper with the rational that we might not be able to get to the really remote places with a caravan. Well we may not, but in reality there are plenty of places that you can get to with a van that are worth seeing and it is sooooo much easier to fond a place to stop the night when you dont have to pitch a tent. We have just set off on leg 2 with our new 24 foot van with shower and toilet and it is absolutely fantastic.

i would also ensure you have a set up that allows you to free / bush camp for a few nights. A good solar set up with an inverter and a few batteries is best but a generator is also good for this, but bear in mind generators are not able to be used everywhere.

I agree that the best plan is to have no plan, however ensure you do your homework on what you can do to keep the kids enthusuastic about the trip. They will miss their friends, they will get bored in the car and they will drive you nuts at times, but ultimately they will thank you for the awesome experience you are giving them. Try to ensure they are engaged in the planning process so they have some ownership of the trip, this will help them to remember it a a great time and will help yo keep sane. An in car DVD player is highly recomended.

Finally I would recommend talking to heaps of people along the way this is the best way to find the best information.

enjoy your trip we might even bump into you out there somewhere.

cheers Dave

The wife and I travelled around the block for just over 12 months, no kids but met heaps of people with 2 - 3 kids on board.

We travelled clockwise, leaving in Feb, and leaving Tassie till last. Had Xmas at Cradle Mountain Lodge (nice). Travelled a total of 34,000k and loved every miniute of it.

Great not to plan too much, but some places had to be booked, like Coburg, but we had 8 months to get there.

By the way had to go back to FNQ for 4 months two years later to finish the trip off properly.

We are a family consisting of 2 adults and 2 boys aged 10 and 8 and we are currently travelling around this awesome country of ours having left from Victoria too.
Our original plan was to be away for 12 months and we have already been away for 18 months and are only half way through the trip. Although it was a daunting thought at first to pack up everything and head off into the unknown we have enjoyed every minute of it and have no regrets at all.
We enrol our boys through the Distance Education Centre in Melbourne and have found it to be great - you just need the dedication to take he time and sit down and get the work done.
When we left we had a very basic route in mind and pretty much just made the rest up as we went along. We also learnt not to take other peoples opinions as gospel about places to visit etc. What some people may not like, your family may enjoy.
Our boys have travelled well and not once have we heard "Are we there yet??"
I wish you well in your plans and would be happy to chat to you more if you have any questions..

Hi

We left Brisbane November 2008, sold up ect ect, we have 3 kids (15,9 & 8) we had no plans and started the wrong way round (we were in Longreach December 08!!!). We have really enjoyed the journey and have no regrets. You will meet plenty of families on road our kids have made heaps of friends that they still keep in contact with.

Have a look at our website/blog http://www.travelingoz.webs.com

We started out with Home schooling however this year we are doing Distance Ed thru Brisbane - I have to admit that this year we have found the education process a LOT harder.

We really only travelled between 200 -300 klm's per day so the kids didn't go nuts.

Enjoy

Cheers
Caz

You are about to undertake a wonderful adventure. Apart from all the practical and safety decisions you must make the most important thing every member of your family can do between now and when you set off is learn as much as you can about your country by any means you can but especially by reading books and studying maps. Read about the explorers, Aboriginal customs and art, agriculture, mineral resources, geology (how Australia was formed), flora and fauna. Gain an understanding and appreciation of the way people live in different parts of the country so that when you meet them you can ask intelligent questions and gain greater understanding.

Having knowledge does not take away any of the wonder of surprise, it gives you the confidence and clues to seek out experiences that you may otherwise miss.

As you travel make the effort to meet the locals. Don't just talk to people you meet in caravan parks because sometimes all they are interested in is discussing what they have in their vans and what they'd like to buy next! Having said that fellow travellers can also be a mine of information and a comfort when things are not going quite to plan.

We have seen a huge amount of this country over many years, but have only scratched the surface.

I wish you all a wonderful, mind blowing, eye popping, thought provoking journey of discovery that will last a lifetime.

Min

We spent a year 'going around' with a caravan and kept a website:
Smithsdownunder
There are details of the camp sites and loads of photos.
We visited Tassie on another trip (We are from the UK) and rented a campervan which was OK (the campervan) but the caravan gave us much more freedom.
Last year (2009) we drove from Melbourne to Perth via the centre but this time with a tent which gave us the freedom to get to places we couldn't with the van.