So, we are about to embark on a 'big holiday'. Husband (I can't remember what I called him, in the more recent posts, for privacy - I know I call the kids c1, c2 etc, would H1 be appropriate?!) has taken next term off with long service leave, and since I'm casual teaching this year, I've made myself unavailable. I did think that we would be more prepared, since I wasn't contracted to work this year, but as it happened I worked a fair bit and we are not prepared at all! I'm in denial, but we are also stalled by the fact our caravan won't even be ready for a few days. I think once it comes, and we can pack it, it will feel more real.
I'll find the other blog thing I started and copy the into post - since I wrote that, we extended the 9 weeks to 15 (but that's going to be more like 14 by the time we head off).
Since our last big trip almost 5 years ago, one thing has changed - these kids are now so grown up! Not only do they physically take up a lot more space, which could be an issue given the number of hours we are going to spend in the car together, but they have their own ideas about what they would like to get out of this trip. We are also conscious of taking them out of school for almost one whole term - they are in Year 2, 4, 5 and 6 this year - but we are hoping by involving them in the planning of the trip, using the blog as a kind of travel diary and maybe accessing work through their school, what they learn will exceed the expectations of the curriculum. Hoping!
So far, what we know, is that we have about 9 weeks of travel ahead of us. We are heading to Broome, and then heading south and following along the bottom of Australia until we get home. The biggest question for us at the moment is whether to go on the Tanami Track to Broome from Alice Springs, or to head north until Daly Waters before heading west. This is just a basic map I found, to show the different ways, I wouldn't mind going across the top, and seeing the Devil's Marbles (Karlu Karlu) and Mataranka again, but we are mindful of running out of time. I'm not sure which way would take us closer to the Bungle Bungles (Purnululu), but I think we should make that happen.
And since I wrote this, we were lucky enough to be able to trade in the Jayco and buy a new van. It's a big'n.
About Us
If you are here, there's a fair chance that you have been given this blog address and you already know all about us.
Since this is the world wide web, we've made a few name changes. I'm going to leave it up to the kids to name themselves (their bios will be below), and we will just known as Mum and Dad.
This is the last year before Miss 12 starts high school, so we are cashing in some of Dad's long service leave and hitting the road! Our last big trip was up to Darwin almost 5 years ago (see pics, when they were all so little), and I hope this trip can be just as amazing and memorable.
We travel by 'The Stormtrooper', our Landcruiser 4WD, and hopefully we'll all still manage to sleep in the smallest Jayco ever.
So I might try to record some of the memories from the trip in here. I'll be uploading pics galore to facebook, but this will be my place to write things that will help me relive this trip, 8 years into the future.
