The Wanderer
Most of my holidays as a child were spent travelling around Europe with my parents and my brother in our 1974 VW Kombi. I’d been to about twenty countries by the time I was twelve - relatively easy when you grow up in Europe and include the tiny nations of Andorra, Monaco, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and San Marino. I was keen to give my children the same kind of nomadic experiences, and to explore Australia, so I bought a second-hand Toyota HiAce campervan
Last year my older son Matthew, who was nine at the time, bought me a book on the Red Centre for my birthday and told me he’d like to drive there in our campervan. My younger son, Jono, had an amazing teacher who was running from Darwin to Adelaide for charity, and pointed out that if his teacher could run all that way we could drive there. Having been on a couple of smaller trips around NSW, we were ready for a bigger adventure. So after making my boys promise to never ever ask ‘are we nearly there yet?’ our blended family journey around our huge country began.
Stage 1: Sydney to Darwin, April 2011
Matthew, Jono and I started driving west as soon as the April school holidays started. After six days, my new partner Michael, flew to Broken Hill and joined us. Michael was a bit unsure about a campervan trip, and being the father of three grown up girls, he was even more unsure about being in such a small space for so long with two young boys. But luckily he soon became more comfortable with the idea and started to enjoy our travels as much as the rest of us. Highlights of our first stage of the trip were: enjoy our travels as much as the rest of us. Highlights of our first stage of the trip were:
• A night in the remote Kinchega National Park where we met a friendly couple from Adelaide who taught my boys how to catch yabbies and shared their freshly caught dinner with us.
• Learning about the geology of the Flinders Ranges, and then spending a memorable evening around our campfire as Michael cooked kangaroo stew in our camp oven - the full moon was so bright it didn’t really get dark that night.
• Sleeping in a proper bed in a dugout in Cooper Pedy, followed by a mine tour, and then the fun of ‘noodling’.
• Splashing out on expensive ice creams to celebrate finishing our longest day of driving - from Cooper Pedy to Curtin Springs.
• Walking all the way around Uluru and appreciating how big it really is.
• A camel ride near Kings Canyon.
• Jono explaining that Wycliffe Well is the alien capital of Australia and that there’s an Incredible Hulk there - and he was right.
• My boys finding other kids to play cricket with at the campsite near Devils Marbles.
• A night at the Daley Waters’ Inn where we treated ourselves to a ‘Beef and Barra’ barbecue dinner and enjoyed the live comedy show (I’d never seen Matthew laugh so hard).
• Meeting up with Jono’s teacher, Bec, at Katherine Gorge two weeks into her long run.
• Swimming at Edith Falls and enjoying the fun of the natural water slide there (Matthew and Jono both tell everyone who asks that this is their biggest highlight of the whole trip).
• Seeing crocodiles in Kakadu.
• Arriving in Darwin and having crocodile stir-fry for dinner. We left the campervan in Darwin with Michael’s relatives and flew back to Sydney just in time for the start of the next school term. Thanks to the amount of money I spent using my credit card, we got all our flights through frequent flier points.
Florence Falls in Litchfield National Park
Stage 2: Darwin to Broome, July 2011 Michael and I flew back to Darwin and did this section by ourselves, as Matthew and Jono spent the July school holidays with their dad. As independent consultants, we were both able to do some work on the road to help fund the trip, but this was mostly a really relaxing holiday. Highlights were:
• Cooling off in the various swimming holes in Litchfield National Park.
• Enjoying the company of a couple of young hitchhikers from Germany as we gave them a ride to Wyndham.
• A night out with the locals in the Fitzroy Crossing Inn.
• A scenic flight over the Bungle Bungles. • Walking through Geike Gorge.
• A stay at the Broome Bird Observatory.
• Watching the sun set over Cable Beach, then catching a movie at Broome’s open air cinema. Before flying back to Sydney we managed to get in touch with some friends of some friends of mine who agreed to look after our campervan for a couple of months outside their vet surgery.
Stage 3: Broome to Perth, September 2011
Michael and I couldn’t get away again before the Northern Territory wet season began, so Michael’s oldest daughter Ashley and her boyfriend Martin did the trip from Broome to Perth for us. I’m delighted to report that they also surprised themselves with how much they enjoyed their journey and except for a small dent in the side of the van where Ashley bumped into a post; they had no problems with the van. Ashley was able to show Martin, who’s from Sweden, some parts of Australia that not many visitors get to see.
Stage 4: Perth to Adelaide, January 2012 I think our campervan trips helped bring Michael and I much closer and our relationship became more serious. We got married and bought a house together in December 2011. After selling both our places, somehow moving two households’ worth of stuff into one house, and negotiating whose furniture should go in each room etc, we were certainly ready for another holiday. Michael, Matthew, Jono and I flew to Perth soon after Christmas. After a relaxing few days of staying in Michael’s friend Liz’s penthouse apartment overlooking the Swan River, we were set for the next stage of our adventure. Highlights of this stage were:
• Cycling around Rottnest Island and seeing quokkas.
• Wine, chocolate and cheese tasting around Margaret River. • Climbing the Gloucester Tree and Bicentennial Tree near Pemberton. • Numerous pristine beaches and amazing stars.
• A pub meal in Kalgoorlie, which also involved all of us taking it in turns to sneak into a deserted men’s shower block Michael found at the end of a very long corridor (including me, as there was no women’s shower block!).
• Picking up a $5 golf club from a charity shop then having a go at the Nullarbor Golf Links - the longest golf course in the world.
• More wine tasting in the Clare and Barossa Valley.
As we were approaching Adelaide we still hadn’t worked out where we were going to leave the van until our final stage of the journey. Michael and I had been quietly confident we’d find someone willing to look after it for us by asking around, but a few days before we arrived in Adelaide we hadn’t come across a volunteer. A few phone calls later we found a friend of a friend of a friend who was keen to have our van parked outside their place for a couple of months as they had relatives from overseas coming to stay and needed a spare room.
Stage 5: Adelaide to Sydney, April 2012
Michael’s two younger daughters, Edwina and Hannah, joined us for the start of this trip and slept outside the van in a small tent. Hannah had recently turned eighteen and was excited about being able to come wine tasting with us. Matthew was on a scout camp over the Easter long weekend then spent a few days with his dad. Edwina and Hannah flew back to Sydney after a few days, leaving just Michael, Jono and I until Matthew joined us a few days later. Highlights of the final stage of our journey include:
• Introducing Edwina and Hannah to some fine wines in the Clare Valley, Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale.
• Seeing sea lions, and of course lots of kangaroos, on Kangaroo Island.
• Driving the Great Ocean Road.
• Meeting up with a friend of Michael’s who shared a bottle of Grange Hermitage with us.
• More wineries in the Coonawarra, Rutherglen and the King Valley.
Matthew and Jono have grown so much over the last couple of years that now they’re too big to sleep on the bunks in the van. Now we need to decide whether to upgrade to a bigger van, or sell the one we’ve got and go on holiday overseas next year.
Category: Unknown
Written: Fri 01 Feb 2013
Printed: February, 2013
Published By:
Faye Woodward N64293