The vibes are mostly excited and just keen to hit the road. It is mixed in with a good dose of apprehension, and a little bit of sadness. Sad to be leaving behind our friends and community and of course our crazy dogs. We have already had some sad goodbyes and last-ofs-for-6-months. I am having to remind myself several times a day that this is an AMAZING opportunity for us as a family and has been on our to-do list since we started our family. I am under absolutely NO illusions that the next 6 months will be perfect all the time but I am committed to getting the very most of it that I, and we can.
So where are we going? And why for so long? What about school?
One of our favourite places to visit in Australia is the Ningaloo coast. We first visited back in 2007/8 to swim with the whalesharks. We went back in 2009 on our lap around Australia and swam with whalesharks again, Manta Rays and did lots of scuba diving. We started talking about a trip to Coral Bay with the kids about 18 months ago...and it just grew from there. It's a pretty big drive from anywhere and we figured seeing as we were going that far we may as well keep going and head through the Kimberley too. Planning started in earnest over a year ago and we mapped out a route which roughly follows the coast - although not always.
I started compiling lists of things to see and do, building on the trip we did in 2009, but this time with kids. We ended up with about 12 mini trips within the bigger trip. Very loosely;
Adelaide -> Flinders -> top of the Eyre -> Nullarbor -> SE & SW WA -> Perth -> Kalbarri ->Shark Bay -> Carnarvon & Kennedy Ranges -> Ningaloo -> Karijini -> Broome area -> Gibb River Road/Kimberley -> NT -> outback QLD -> NSW -> Home again.
Its a pretty big drive and we didn't want to rush it. Travelling and camping in WA has changed a bit over the last 16 years and the more popular spots, including national parks with very basic facilities, have to be booked months in advance. Andy and I spent a month or so on the highly competitive WA Parks website vying for camping spots, sometimes sitting in a queue for 20 minutes before being able to join to check availability. Due to the very high demand on campgrounds around Esperance for example in the Easter holidays we are heading to the Flinders first to time our arrival in SW WA with the end of the school holidays as there were ZERO spots available.
Load of donations
Essential travel snacks - $2/box at my local supermarket! I will be reporting Shapes prices on our travels : )We have some new hardware and technology to learn - solar panels, battery and satellite dish for internets when we are in the wild. Andy will be able to continue working remotely as needed - I'm sure he will have plenty to say about this.
New wheel bag and max trax (these did not exist on our first trip)The Patrol has new (actually 2nd hand as new parts had a 10 week lead and the leak was finally discovered a week or so ago) power steering cooler lines to replace the amazing job old-mate in Cloncurry did for us in 2022. We'd had a catastrophic power steering fail (pretty much undriveable) in Camooweal (no-one's fault) and we were lucky to get the Patrol back to Adelaide at all. We knew it was leaking and feel much better knowing that there are new pipes in there. The power steering disaster prevented us from visiting Boodjamulla National Park then, and we are to be thwarted again in 2025 by flood damage. Maybe one day.....
This week has been a flurry of clearing out wardrobes and drawers to make space for our live-in dog-sitters. I've done multiple Salvo's runs and had many hard conversations with myself about why I'm hanging on to things I don't love or use. My bag is mostly packed. I've updated the 'harmacy aka first aid kit. I've chucked any out of date medications. My lists are spawning lists. I still need to prepare some meals and finalise the travel pantry.
The clearoutThings I am looking forward to: outback night skies, card and dice games with my family, discovering new adventures and revisiting some old ones, whalesharks, seeing my kids faces after they first stick their mask and snorkel faces under the warm tropical waters of Ningaloo, wildlife, walks, podcasts and stories on long car trips, meeting other road-residents, country radio, wildlife spotting, early mornings when no one else is awake and I have the whole campsite to myself for at least 2 x cups of Jo (I'm an early riser), getting a good set-up/pack-down routine, working out how to use my Go-pro better, setting some streak goals, reading some good books, damper in the camp fire....
Things I am looking forward to less: flies and biting things, windy nights, windy days, cooking in the wind, all the wind, expensive diesel, expensive beer, dust everywhere and in everything, corrugations and rocky roads, flat tyres...
Things that keep me up at night: WATER (our itinerary has us doing some extended remote travel and camping with sometimes 10+ days between pit stops) - we have done this before and survived but we are 4 now and have reduced water carrying capacity. Meal planning - shopping and cooking.
Compiling the above list was a useful exercise - I am clearly looking forward to way more things than not. So that's a good sign.
Family dog walk - last one all together before we head off 