50 days to go!!!

We sat down yesterday, and for the first time counted the days to our departure... Today we are 50 days out from what we hope will be a great adventure, our 12 month journey around Australia!

Friends have been asking me how the planning is going?  And yes - whilst the concept has been on the table for many years now, we are not much closer to having our trip planned out.  There is so many little jobs to do in order to get us prepared to go, that we have hardly had a chance to think about what we will finally do, when we haul down our driveway, get to the end of our road and flip a coin.  Heads = turn right, Tails = turn left.

The journey to this point begins back in 2009, when our eldest son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.  We made a decision then that we would make a concious effort to live life to the full.  We had just started camping as a family, and a few months later we bought a four wheel drive - our faithful Terracan. In April 2012 we bought our camper trailer, Matilda.

Our first journey with our camper attached.

Our first camping weekend with the camper ended in failure (http://project2014australia.blogspot.com.au/2010/04/our-weekend-in-pictures.html), but we were hooked, and our dream grew and grew.

A Day On The Green - Mudgee

As we hit the fifty days to go mark, and started wondering how we are going to get everything sorted before we head off, we decided to accept an invitation to A Day on the Green at Mudgee with a bunch of old friends.  And what weekend it was.


All set and ready to go - and yes - no camper trailer this time!

Of course if you're going to a concert, the most important thing you need to pack is your tickets...  everything else can be replaced, or you can manage until you get home... 

We took off after work on Friday, planning on eating dinner on the way (Thanks to the Thermal Cooker).  All was going well as we pulled through Gunning.  We had decided on the most direct route to Mudgee via Gunning, Crookwell, Tuena, Bathurst, then on to Sofala and Mudgee.

It is a very pretty drive - scenic undulating grazing country, with a bit of dirt road between Binda and Perthville.  We were hoping on being through the worst bits before dusk.  But as they say, best laid plans...

Sydney as a tourist

We had long desired to give the boys a taste of Sydney different to their normal impression of one long traffic jam.  So almost a year ago, we booked an apartment near Circular Quay for a week with the intention being to live like tourists and show the boys some of the classic sights of Sydney.  We were extra fortunate that the Navy decided to host their International Fleet Review on the same week, so we also scored a fantastic firework display and parade of warships!

This week was quite unlike our normal camping adventures, however having rented an apartment, we were able to cook our own meals and make our lunches, saving a fortune on meals.  The other trick we used to sustain our lads on the days when we walked seemingly everywhere, was to buy a four pack of ice creams from the IGA or Woolworths or Coles supermarkets that were always just around the corner.Thankfully ice creams are the one food every one in our family likes!

So, live like tourists we did.  The Little Helper was fascinated by the public transport system, and it took him three days before he stopped pointing out each train and bendy bus crossing the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The boys with the view from the apartment

The Little Fisherman was fascinated by all the warships, in particular the 5 inch guns - and was thrilled with a tour of the HMS DARING and the HMAS PARAMATTA.  A highlight for him was being able to hold one of the boarding party shotguns during the tour of HMAS PARAMATTA...

Oh dear... what have we created

Kanangra Walls - Boy's Weekend Escape - Close to Sydney

Sometimes it takes a woman to get a bunch of blokes together for a weeekend away.  My wonderful wife had succeeded where we had failed and managed to select a weekend for a group of old friends to get together and designate an official Big Boys Weekend!

The passage of time had seen us go to school together, cut our teeth in the big smoke, before dispersing.  As we all have children now, fitting a little time for our own friends is rarer and rarer as our social lives increasingly revolve around our children's schooling / sporting / music / scouting interests.

We met at the Boyd River Campground, in Kanangra-Boyd National Park, as it was almost the exact same distance for all four of us to travel to, from north, south and east.  As we all started closing on the park, the weather was looking pretty ominous.  It was about 3 degrees and raining sideways, when the suggestion that we bail and head to the Oberon Pub was mentioned...  but being tenacious males, we decided to persevere.

And I'm so glad we did. The weather cleared as soon as I arrived, and continued to improve all weekend.




Boyd River Camp

Pigeon House Mountain with kids!

With our lap around the country fast approaching, and free time seemingly disappearing from the calendar, we decided a few months ago to lock in a date to hike to the top of Pigeon House Mountain on the south coast.  After all, it is not just the car we need to get ready! We picked our date carefully not to clash with any likely major events... until Kevin Rudd decided to change the election to our day of reckoning.

Initially we were going to plan a camping trip at Yadboro Flat, where we have camped previously.  Yadboro Flat is conveniently located in the upper Clyde River, and is a popular free camp, with plenty of space.  In the end we decided we would simply do a day trip, leaving early on the Saturday morning, and returning home after our hike.

We enjoyed an uneventful trip to the Pigeon House Mountain carpark, where we quickly topped up our water bottles, enjoyed morning tea and then set off to the summit.

The climb to the top is in three main stages.  An initial steep climb followed by a flat section, before the climb becomes steeper again, culminating in a series of steep ladders and steps to the peak.  We were interested to see how Master 8 and Master 6 1/2 would go, not just with the hike, but also the ladders at the peak.

The first bit was easy