Get out there - travelling with a medical condition

About three years ago our eldest son (aged just over three at the time) was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.  It was a bit of a watershed moment in our family, causing a readjustment of priorities in our lives.  We embarked on a strict diet regime, overcame our fear of needles, and learnt how to administer insulin to our young son.  We were (and still are) determined to give him every opportunity to live a normal life, and don't make a big deal of his diabetes.

As such, the aim of this blog entry is to share some techniques we have found helpful in getting the most out of going camping and exploring with someone who does have a medical condition that requires constant vigilance.

Our philosophy is simple.  One of our sons has a pancreas that doesn't work properly - in the same way that people who wear glasses have eyes that don't work properly.  We all have little quirks and ailments, and we consider diabetes to be just one of these things.  We, as parents, just need to be a bit more organised that we would normally have been and a little more selective in what equipment we use.

In a way his diagnosis galvanised us into action.  At the time, Project 2014, our year long camping trip around Australia was but a distant half conceived dream. We took a long hard look at where we were, and committed to our dream.   We have been since been slowly refining our travelling and camping in order to ensure we are ready for our trip to give both our boys the opportunity of a lifetime.

So how do we do it?

A shiny Terry returns - but it isn't long before I break something!

It seems that everything happens in the lead up to Christmas, and of course we don't seem to do things by halves in our family.

With a busy schedule of school concerts, assemblies, swimming lessons, BBQ's, community breakfasts and the rest in the last few weeks of school, Jo and I have been having nightly planning meetings to make sure we get everything both of the little helpers to their assigned activities.  How families with more than two kids do this is completely beyond my comprehension and my sincere admiration goes out to you.

Somewhere in the middle of this, Terry was booked in for repairs, following our little mishap a few weeks ago.  With careful examination of the calender, we chose a week and a half block where living with one car would have the least impact on our family.  So on Monday 5th of December we dropped Terry off to get a new bumper, to be picked up on the 14th.

A New House For Terry

After three years of frosty winter mornings and living outside, we decided it was time for a new house for Terry and Suby.  Whilst we chose a simple 6m x 9m carport design, we decided that we didn't want the standard colourbond K Panel cladding.  We were fortunate to know of an old hayshed that had long fallen over, and with kind agreement of the owners, we removed the old iron.

The old hayshed iron is loaded into the trailer

After my efforts building the cubby house, and knowing the limitations of my building experience, I decided that the main construction of the carport was to be outsourced to local contractors.   We thought that this would be a straightforward operation, but no it was not to be.

What Terry Gets Up To In His Spare Time, Part II

In my last installment we looked at two of Terry’s primary duties - Taxi for the Little Helpers and being a mobile tool-shed.  Of course Terry has many other duties....  

iPhone Cover Load Tester
Not an intentional role at all, but on one occasion I dropped my phone whilst removing a stick that had been caught up under Terry. A few kilometres down the road I realised I didn't have my camera, not even realising at this point that my iPhone wasn't in my pocket either.  I returned to find the camera unscathed by the side of the track, but my phone was lying face down with a dirty great Cooper STT tyre print running right over the top of it.  

I thought my shiny new iPhone's days were over, but full credit the the Otterbox Impact cover – the phone escaped with nary a scratch, and eighteen months later it is still going strong!

Firewood Collector
Our house is heated with 100% renewable, ecologically friendly firewood, collected from a nearby farm. Terry hauls an empty trailer to the farm and watches by whilst the trailer gets filled with timber.

What Terry Gets Up To In His Spare Time, Part I

Nearly all my blogs so far have been about the wonderful camping adventures we have got up to as a family, and a few misadventures too. Now whilst it would be a great thing if we could make a career out of exploring Australia, reality is a little more mundane.


We lead fairly normal busy lives around our two active young boys. We live in a small village, are involved with the school and all the associated social events that it entails such as birthday parties, community morning teas and the like. It is all good healthy fun. Somehow around all that I work full time, and whilst the tax man considers Jo’s employment part time, any mother would agree that being a mum is anything but a part time job!


As this blog started on the Australia4wd forum, it is only fitting that we look at what Terry – our 2005 Hyundai Terracan gets up to in his spare time. After all it is a well known fact that the majority of four wheel drives never venture off the blacktop.