Ok, so this is it.

We have decided to be brave and make this monumental decision of selling our beloved home, taking long service leave and taking 2 out of the 3 kids out of school for 6 months. We figure it’s now or never. Time is very rarely on your side and Wayne and I think if we don’t do this now, then before we know it the older girls will be in high school and would be a lot harder , firstly to convince them to leave their friends and come traveling around with their parents, and secondly it’s too hard to take them from school at that age. So whilst Frankie isn’t the ideal age, being the 3rd child has made Wayne and I both a little less ‘nervous’ I guess is the word I’m looking for, she’ll just have to come along and grow into a toddler on the way. I’m sure there will be moments of ‘why did we do this now’ but we are hoping that those moments will be few and far between.

I’m not the first person who wants to keep a journal of where we’re planing on going, and writing this blog again is like a diary entry for me and also a chance to keep those (who are interested) in what’s happening in our lives and where we are at in our travels. I thought for my own memory I would start now, as I’m guessing that the pre-planning of this trip will uncover some moments that I may want to remember down the track too.

It’s been said by many people that my  memory is pretty good, although of late it’s not so much. Thank goodness for technology. It’s so much easier to grab the laptop and type out what’s on my mind, rather than putting pen to paper, although once upon a time I was a great pen pal. Anyway, so that’s the reason why I am writing this and you can decide to read on, subscribe or delete at any moment..

So far nothing much has happened. Wayne has spoken to this employer and has his leave all worked out, as in how many weeks are owing to him. We still need to get confirmation on when his leave  can start, but at this stage that’s more up to us than his work. They are very flexible. It all comes down to selling this house first, then we’ll buy a 4wd and upgrade our van (which we plan to sell when we get back home).

I have to say I’m amazed at some comments we’ve received about selling our house. I suppose people know how much blood sweat and tears went into it, Wayne slugged his heart out building it and we truly love it here. It IS just a house though, we are at a point in our lives where all our money is tied up in this house and for what ? There are other ways to watch an investment grow but more importantly for us we are in a lucky position that we have another home that we built, yes a lot smaller, but still in the same area and new and we can move into that when we get home and reassess our options. Will I miss this house ? Yes I will. I will miss silly things (that the other house does not have ) such as my beloved ‘spice drawer’ my ‘ducted vacuum’ my awesome funky ‘wallpaper’ in my bedroom. Of course the swimming pool too, but we live near the beach which is another excuse to get out and get down there more. All in all, all superficial reasons and nothing that I won’t forget about as soon as we are on the road.

For the moment the fact that Olivia and Sarah have to share a room when we move into the smaller house has  not been given much thought as they are just thrilled at the thought of bunk beds which will be essential for them. They’ve already discussed a rotation of 3 months each for the top bunk !

Wayne and I and the girls spent a few days mapping out a route, of course we know this will change once we start talking to people about where we plan to visit, and the time of year that we can actually go (as soon as house sells and that could take a long long time in this current market) but it’s been fun, as well as ‘frustrating’ trying to accommodate everyone’s wishes. I’ve never proclaimed to be an ‘ouback’ kind of girl. I do want to see the ‘aussie outback’ of course, but not spend my whole time travelling the inside of OZ, I would much prefer to spend the majority of the time exploring the coast and thankfully Wayne is on board with this THIS time.. but he has told me that whilst we won’t do WA this trip (too big and too long) we will be doing that the year after next. Fine by me..

Wayne has formatted an excel spreadsheet within an inch of it’s life, making it very easy to track the days spent in each town, the km’s we use and also how many ‘travel days’ we have left. We’ve gone from Albany, Esperance then across the Nulla stopping in some place called Streaky Bay, before heading up to the majestic red rock… then after a few stops in and around Alice Springs we’ll head up to Cairns and make our way down. So many places to see and we won’t even scratch the surface, but we will get to spend time in some amazing places along our travels. Spending XMAS in Sydney with the family, then onto Batemans Bay and then in and around Melb, hop on the ferry and travel around Tasmania for almost a month (if needed) and then along the Great Ocean Road.. Spend some time in Kangaroo Island and see how it compares to Rotto and then onto the wineries of SA and then heading back home again. There will be a short trip to Tamworth (although not in time for the CMF) and we’ll obviously spend time in Noosa, Bryon, Bribie Island and the GC for the theme parks etc.

Our first hurdle I guess you could call it, is the CAR. The car we drive will also become the ‘everyday’ car that I drive back home, so I don’t want it to be this bush bashing truck with poles and cylinders that hold fishing rods and snorkels so it can go underwater type of vehicle that I’ll struggle to park when shopping at my local IGA. I was thinking more along the lines of a new (newish) LandRover Discovery or Range Rover ( I know I know, I may act like one, but i’m not actually a princess) Wayne had the decency to explain to me that firstly, he doesn’t like those 2 cars (or the price tags I’m guessing) and that either  a Prado, Landcruiser or Patrol is probably the car we’d be going for. . mmm I guess I’ll have to manage. I also like the FJ Cruisers, and not because I can choose from pretty colours either !! It’s in our price range for 1, but it’s not Diesel and doesn’t have 7 seats so unfortunately for me it doesn’t get a look in.

So that’s where we are at. Trying to get organised to sell this house, and then purchase a car and a caravan, we’re pretty much on the same page when it comes to the type of van so that shouldn’t be a problem..

It feels great knowing that we have made a decision that feels right, I just hope that it all comes together. .

Remember, if anyone has any places that they think we should see, please let us know. It will go in the spreadsheet.. (we have sub-categories) x