Guess what???

Wow, it never ceases to amaze me how many there actually are travelling oz with their kids! I'd love to read your (and those responders above) blogs. I'll certainly be starting one soon (first to cover the caravan renovation, then the actual trip).

Out of interest, where are you all starting from and which direction are you heading? We're leaving Adelaide and going straight up then down the west coast, home for Christmas, then on to Tassie and east coast.

Good luck all, maybe see you on the road. :)

be careful .... we did it 9 years ago, for a couple of years, yeh right, 9 years later we are still doing it....
It does get harder when the kids get around the 7 to 10 yr old as it is at that stage they need to make permanent friend's and it gets harder to leave one spot and move to a completely new location, you also find you are back tracking a bit to "catch up" with there friends but that is not so bad anyway ....
We started in Tom Price, 18 months at Cygnet Bay pearl farm (Kimberly's), 18M living at Cooinda (Yellow Waters Billabong) Kakadu, Lake Cargelligo, Leeton (NSW), Darwin, Maningrida (Arnhem Land), Bickerton Island (Gulf of Carpentaria) 80-100 people on the whole island, back to Darwin to have baby Number 3, Yarralin in the Vic River Nat Park, Nyirripi down on the Tanimi and now in Doomadgee in QLD and our plans are to work our way up the Cape to the islands over the next few years and get to see QLD ......
Started with a 3 month old, now 10 yr old, 8 yr old and 3 yr old .....
THEY ARE THE luckyest kids in the world .......

In hindsight...... do it when you are YOUNG and if you have kids, when they are YOUNG, 2 months old and they are ready to travel, it is fun for the kids when older but hard to move ...

"be careful .... we did it 9 years ago, for a couple of years, yeh right, 9 years later we are still doing it..."

I'm counting on it! :) My secret plan (sshh) is that we all love it so much we just keep going.

Where do you stay when you stop for extended periods JGD, do you rent?

And you just answered another question I'd been wondering about which was, how long will having another baby (if that happens) stop us in our tracks? Not long, it seems!

A story for you....... 10 years ago... sitting at home in Tom Price watching the video of the "Big Wet" based on a wet season in Kakadu and i said to my wifey """""one day i will take you there to see it for yourself"""" ( i had already been there), bubs 3m old took a job at Cygnet Bay Pearls for 18m with house (check out there web site) wifey pregs, job at Kakadu came up with accom close to Darwin for birth, took it and moved 3 days after starting wifey had bubs, stayed at Cooinda (Kakadu) for bout 2 yrs took job at Leeton NSW, never seen snow, saw, played rolled snow, moved back to Darwin with job and rented house, hated citys took job at Maningrida Arnhem land for 18m, moved to little island off Groote called Bickerton Island in the gulf of Carpenteria, wifey got pregs again, no idea how ?? moved back to Darwin rented house, bubs no3 few months old and took job at Yarralin in Vic River Nat park with housing, was transferred to Nyirripi down the Tanimi with housing, always talking about going to QLD, position came up at Roadhouse at Doomadgee QLD with 3br house, good schooling ect so took it and that is where we are now.....
The beginning of our new adventure exploring QLD, we plan on working our way up to the cape and out to the islands over the next few (most likely 10) years .......
Regrets..... not doing it sooner when we were younger...
Advice 1 ....... take everything as it comes and be prepaired to radically change your plans at very short notice and at VERY GREAT cost .......
Advice 2 ...... do EVERYTHING with the kids in mind, sometimes that is hard but YOU can change at the drop of a hat, kids can not, if they are not happy wifey will not be happy and daddy will end up NOT happy and that is cr@p ...
Advice 3 ......... when the kids get to 8 and over they need to make "long term" friends and you need to spend time in places for them to do it, in that i mean 1-2 years, they will lose "social" skills if you do not let them spend time learning about friendship/s .....
The hard bit........ to really get out there and enjoy it you will lose contact with a lot of people incluiding your family, they will/may go a bit dark on you for that, they cannot understand why YOU cant come over and see them yet dont seem to think that is the same distance for them to come and see you ..... that will hurt you at some stage/s but it all heals over time ....
And finally ... YOU WIN ..... why? because you will have done it and been there and seen that and your kids will be as tough as nails yet versitile to fit into any situation that comes up in this world and will love you dearly for it .....
Good luck if you still want to do it, you wont regret it in the long run ...

Nope no secret :-))

Toyota Landcruiser 100 series with a 6.5 Chevy Diesel..

Van is a Coromal Family van 610

:-)

Good on you. We are 3 weeks into doing the same with a 14yo daughter.

Thats a challenge with distance ed, getting her to do the work. But she's learning a heap more on the road than in a classroom.

She has her own blog which is part of her schoolwork. Its a good way for the kids to learn about how blogs work as well as keeping her friends and family up to date on where we are.

Our only arguments these days are where to next? We also have to keep reminding ourselves to slow down, stop longer in places, theres no hurry.
Also with a Coromal 616s

Would love to see and hear more about your Landcruiser with the Chev!

Mark.

Hi Guy's,
Just finished reading your blog...loved every word and photo. You will never forget this experience as a family and it's wonderful that you were brave enough to take this opportunity. Good for you !

Thanks Mishy! Must say I'm impressed you've read the lot, when we were putting it together we were surprised by how many pages we ended up with. The kids are still writing stories about it at school 2 years on; so lucky we had (or made) the opportunity to do it.

Cheers,

Mark.