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WOW! After 43,600kms, $35,390 in repairs, $12,613 in diesel, $7,526 in park fees today we arrive home to Woongarrah, forever changed as a family. I cannot believe that it's over. The time has passed so incredibly quickly.

I cannot describe the feelings we have about this trip. Yes, possibly not the best financial decision we've ever made. The troopy almost broke us but we pushed on. We never thought about quitting. We never doubted what we'd done.

We have seen the most incredible things & learnt so much about this stunning country we are lucky enough to call home. Australians, by nature, never give up. I guarantee 12 months living in a caravan with my husband and my four beautiful children, would not be for everyone. We have been given a gift of precious time with our babies. We have seen them mature & thrive whilst experiencing this new & simple life. They built cubby houses, made "weapons" out of sticks & string, play acted and then there are the fairy gardens (I think we left one in every town we visited). Life is not about the material things we possess. It shouldn't be about the new car, the bigger house, the designer clothes. We have learnt that the important things are life are the people you love & those who love you. 

School was the only contentious issue. I took three academic award achievers of last year & a pre schooler away with me. Apparently, school is not as easy with mum as your supervisor & with so many other things you'd rather be doing. Charlotte was not interested in any sort of education. I hope that changes with the start of school. 

We laughed, we cried, but mostly we celebrated the fact that we were brave, or crazy enough, to pack up our life into a caravan to follow our dream while we were young & healthy. A big thanks to my darling mum & dad. The kids will have memories with you that they will treasure forever. 

A HUGE thank you to the Kloe family who allowed Michael to remain employed in a part time capacity, to allow us to travel this year.

To all of you at home who followed our blog, we felt privileged to share this year with you. Your messages & words of encouragement when things were tough, meant the world to us. Also cheers to the fabulous new friends we've made along the way. A special mention to the Richardson family 😘.

My apologies if we are a little slow catching up with you all. The work ahead of us is a little daunting but, like all challenges, we will

succeed. This year we have set new challenges & look forward to achieving these. 

Enjoy every day! You never know what is around the corner 😘😘😘

Port Macquarie

A trip into town today. It was a busy one. A quick bodyboard in town, lunch with Erica (we even ran into Uncle Brian), a catch up with Matt & Catt & a visit with Barry. 

We didn't get home until 6.30. Toast for dinner I think :-)

Crescent Head

We had been keeping in touch with Mrs Pierpoint from Woongarrah school. We told her we'd be passing through & called in to say hello.

She had prepared a fabulous lunch & the kids were having an awesome time. She couldn't believe how much the kids had grown. 

The Kempsey clan had organised a BBQ for this afternoon. I did not know that nan, pop & Aunty Marcia were planning a surprise appearance. Surprise, they arrived early, only to find everyone absent. The BBQ was scheduled for 2pm so we'd all gone out :-( buggar! The kids would have been thrilled. 

Benji & Maya. 

Poppy & his little mate. As much as the house is chaos, I think these two will miss each other :-)

Collombatti

It's just so peaceful! What a beautiful part of the world. Uncle phill has a full house with the arrival of baby Maya. We are fully self contained though. 

Dion & Phill are hard at work getting the Smithtown house ready so we convinced Melissa to join us for a swim at the beach. We stopped for lunch at the park & then a quick dip at Hat Head.

Melissa left to get the kids home for a nap. Our kids got an early Christmas present, a bodyboard. They spent the next 4 hours surfing. They did really well.

Heading south

I know! It's a tradition to stop at the big banana. Charlotte had never been so we had to make a stop for a banana split. 

We were having trouble getting a 1 night stop at any caravan park so we decided to push on to Collombatti & uncle phill.

Bald Hills

We welcomed Libby & Graham home from their short break. I think we brought chaos to the street but I think the kids enjoyed Uncle Graham & Libbys company. They had a load of fun.

The neighbours will miss skateboarding at 7am & the kids picnics on the front lawn. 

Isaac finally, with the help of Graham, killed his first cane toad. He actually killed two!

Off to bed for an early morning pick up from the airport. Daddy is coming home!

Oops...11.00 alarm? Michael woke me at 12.30am to ask if he should call a cab. 

Fun times

Jason & Teal gave the kids an old skateboard. Tenae took up the challenge to dress it up. I think she's done a fab job.

Uncle Graham is enjoying the peace & tranquility of his new residents :-(

Graham & Libby do not believe that this will only last us 3 days. He thinks that we have more bread than Bakers Delight.

Australia zoo

An invitation to join the Ruchardsons at Australia Zoo sounded fabulous. After 10 days of solo parenting, I thought some adult company would be just what I needed. 

The croc shoe was definately a highlight, although after seeing so many in the wild we weren't as amazed as I was on my previous visit. It certainly is a very polished show. I think Steve Irwin would be very proud of the team that are running the zoo. 

Jed was comforting Charlotte during the croc show as she feigned fear.

We were lucky enough to come across this four year old Cheetah as it was out for a walk. The Cheetah's are not actually on display at the zoo so this was a bonus.

I must say if all the zoos we have visited, Australia Zoo would be up there as a favourite.

Thanks again to the Richardsons for a great day of laughs & fun, as always!

Solo

More Christmas craft. I fit so much into my day when the sun comes up at 4.45. This was before breakfast. 

Paper plate Christmas trees. 

After breakfast we headed out for a wheel alignment & a wander around the shops. I've agreed to host Friday night drinks, as is the custom at Graham & Libs. Noela suggested we transfer drinks to the pool so the kids can swim. What a fabulous idea. Carol, Noela & myself chatted & enjoyed a beverage, whilst the kids swam & ate chips. What a lovely afternoon. 

This hasn't happened for ages but it's a great way to save water.

What else would you do of an evening in Brisbane? Let's go cane toad hunting.

Today we headed to Jason & Teal's for a BBQ/swim day. The kids got on famously & really didn't want to leave. We may call in for a cuppa on our way past on Friday, as they are heading down the coast.

Aurora is a terribly unsettled baby. She fell asleep in the middle of all the chaos.

Being solo, with the kids, whilst travelling is no fun. International work trips are the WORST because I can barely even speak to Michael due to time differences. I especially dislike the weekends. No matter where you go you are surrounded by families enjoying family time & I really miss him. 

Having said that, we are heading to Movieworld tomorrow. I really don't feel like it but the kids are busting & we already have the passes. 

On a positive note, Roger is behaving!

Roger

Mechanic arrived Wednesday, as organised with my shiny new radiator.

As we were pulling the old radiator out we cracked a plastic cover from the radiator fan. We need a replacement because it's part of the support for the radiator. The only one we can find is from Toyota & it's $250.

Doesn't look like $250, does it. Another day at home. We'll try again tomorrow (Thursday). 

Christmas craft to while away the hours. we've baked, cleaned, done school work. One of our lovely neighbours even invited us for a swim. Hopefully we'll have a car tomorrow. 

Yes, after preparing me the possibility of further damage to the motor, all is good. Just short of $2,000 & I have to check fluid levels for a few days to make sure we don't have an air lock anywhere. I hope Michael is proud of me (lol).

There's no greater way to celebrate than with a swim at Redcliffe with the lovely Richardsons. We hadn't told them we were coming so the kids reaction was awesome. 

Nice selfie girls :-)))

Brisbane

The good news is that I found a mobile mechanic, on a recommendation from Graham & Libby's neighbour. He came out first thing Monday morning and....Roger needs a new radiator. How much would you expect to pay? $900 plus fittings! Just in parts we're looking at $1,245 and it's not fitted. We just have our fingers crossed that there's no other damage when he does the pressure test. 

Libby & Graham kindly offered use of their car so after a successful morning if school & the fabulous news about the car, we headed to Redcliffe for a swim.  A huge lagoon but it's fed by the sea which is nice. I even managed to reverse park the Suzuki. 

Today we did a few hours of school & then I mowed the lawn. After 12 months I was impressed that I could start the whipped snipper. I can hardly lift my arms  :-). This afternoon I though we needed some fun so our school sport was water balloon fights. It never gets tired for a laugh. I got smashed when they all ganged up on me!

Mechanic has the parts & will be here in the morning. Fingers crossed for another swim tomorrow afternoon. 

Farewell Gold Coast

So I farewelled my boy again but this time at 4am. That's just stupid o'clock. He's been booked on a 34hour flight to Germany. Should be a fun way to spend his weekend.

My mission is to find my way back to Libby & Graham's. As is always the case, something is bound to go wrong when Michael is away, or about to leave. Roger has started overheating. I watched that temp gauge the whole way home & left the air conditioning off. I got home but we still have a problem. 

On the way home we made a detour to the Carrera markets. It was so hot that we only had a very brief look before Keira started to feel sick. The worst thing...I couldn't put the air conditioner on & it gets so hot in the back of that car.

 We spent the afternoon creating beautiful headwear. What do you think Libby?

I think I'll try to track down a mobile mechanic on Monday. I got under the car & we are losing coolant. I don't want to risk damage to the motor &, if I do drive it to a repairer, how do we all get home...grrr! I do love a challenge. 

Gold coast

It was a stinker here today, as it was everywhere else. Michael has been booked a 5.55am flight out of Brisbane. It is not possible for the Lynns to be packed & dropping dad at the airport at 4.30 so dad has booked a hire car. The cheapest is a Nissan micra. He's taking the little girls on a tram adventure to pick it up.

They are very excited. 

Even a new hairdo for the occasion. When Michael returned Keira & I had a date to Pacific Fair shopping centre...OMG! It's ridiculous. My biggest concern was that I wouldn't be able to find my HUGE car...the micra. 

It looks as though we'll escape the Gold Coast just in time for schoolies to kick off tomorrow :-)))

Tweed Heads

Ok...so as we've travelled around this great country of ours, we've come to realise that crossing from one state to another makes you feel like a Mexican. Rules are different, costs are different, terminology is different. What you can & can't take across the border is different.  Well, car rego is no different. We decided that, to save the hassle, we'd just drive down the road, into NSW & get a roadworthy, pick up rego papers & done. Queensland do not need an annual inspections, and therefore do not have an e-check system...grrrr!

Michael dropped us at Kirra Beach for a swim, while he dropped the car off. Of course, in troopy style, nothing is ever that easy. E-check turned into five hours. There were a few repairs needed to the shocks. Let's just say we are all a little sun kissed. 

Tough spot for a picnic!

Remember, before children, when we could have had an afternoon nap...instead a tower (lol). 

A quick trip to the RMS to get a copy of the rego papers & I should be able to pay online tomorrow. Job well done!

Gold Coast

An early morning outing. 5.30 & the beach is packed. 

It's not a great photo but believe me, hundreds of people along the beach. It's because there's no daylight savings & your eyes pop open at 5am.

This would have to be the coolest putt putt course ever. The kids are actually quite good & having a ball. 

A picnic lunch & a swim in the surf....heaven! I have to say the Gold Coast is not my new home. It's lovely but I've never seen so many silicon implants & spray tans...and that's just the men (lol). It's lovely for a few days though.

Surfers Paradise beachside markets. The kids got conned into boomerang balls. They are a rubber ball tied to elastic...what the? Anyway, it's their pocket money :-)

Gold Coast

Today we ticked off the final theme park in the trifecta...SeaWorld. I think it was my favourite. The park is spread out so the lines don't appear as long, the wait times are very reasonable, & there was loads to keep Charlotte interested.

We even managed a few rides for Chatlotte!

I love that even though the older kids have become daredevils, they are still happy to go on kiddy rides with Charlotte!

Doesn't Michael look good sitting aboard the first pink jellyfish. 

Keira had been eyeing off the storm coaster all day & finally, at 4pm, she decided she was going to do it. The line wasn't long do that was a bonus. We got aboard, lap belt locked & Keira says "I want to get off"...too late. She started shaking uncontrollably & I thought she was going to pass out :-(

Gold Coast

Five nights in a 2 bedroom apartment on the Gold Coast. When we booked it 11 months ago, as part of our Accor membership, we thought it was forever away! Now it's here & our "gap year" is nearly over. 

The kids are very excited...big TV, bath, washing machine. A small fridge, obviously bigger than the caravan, because Isaac says its enormous. Wait until he sees ours when we unpack at home. 

An afternoon spa...don't mind if I do. They even have a gym. I might visit in the am and try weights. I might start with lifting a fit ball & see how I go :-)))).

We've reached the age where dining out is a possibility, in relation to the kids behaviour. Proud mum & dad...

An evening walk found sculptures along the waterfront. Check out this cool koala.

Ocean that you can swim in without fear of crocs or stingers!