Trip Around Australia
In and around Australia
This was our trip around Australia. We started on 1 Feb 2007, more or less travelled clcockwise around the island continent and arrived home on 18 Dec 2007. It involved camping, enjoying nature and distance education with A & M our 10 and 8 year old daughters. Please read on ...
Route taken and entries by Real Traveler dingo divas
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Preparation & getting started
Preparation
We first thought about taking a year to travel around Australia in about 2004. It was really just a fantasy that... Continue reading »
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Chapter 1 - TASMANIA
We had a cabin aboard the Spirit of Tasmania II and arrived in Devonport the next morning. The first leg of our adventure was about to begin ... Continue reading » -
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Cradle Mountain
We headed straight for Cradle Mountain. We camped for 3 nights and did lots of bush walks. The campground had lots of wallabies and possums roaming... Continue reading »
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Stanley & Arthur River
On route to Stanley we stopped in Bernie to do some shopping and then stopped at a spectacular coastal lookout at Table Cape and walked out to the... Continue reading »
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Strahan
Driving in Tassie is all up and down on windy and often narrow roads. This is especially the case on the west coast.
We arrived in Strahan ti... Continue reading »
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Lake St Clair
Lake St Clair is the opposite end of the Overland Track that starts at Cradle Mountain. It’s Australia’s deepest lake (167m). Our main activity was... Continue reading »
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Hobart
Hobart was busy so we camped in the outskirts of town near a historic town called Richmond. Richmond is a colonial town known for its goal and conv... Continue reading »
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Port Arthur
We liked Port Arthur so much that we returned the next day for more. Port Arthur is an infamous penal colony that operated from 1830. There are rui... Continue reading »
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Maria Island
We passed several Echidnas on the roadside as we drove to Triabunna on the east coast. From here we ferried across to Maria Island with our bikes. M’s... Continue reading » -
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Adventure Bay
Rather continue down the east coast we backtracked through Hobart and headed south crossing the channel to Bruny Island on the car ferry. We camped... Continue reading »
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Launceston (picking up our post)
Before the travel log continues its worth noting everyone’s emotional state. M needs to be bribed with a mini Mars bar in order to shower, wash her... Continue reading »
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Bay of Fires
We travelled through St Marys and St Helens before arriving at a free camp spot (pit toilet, no shower) by the beach at the Bay of Fires. We enjoyed a... Continue reading » -
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Scottsdale
We stopped at: a yummy cheese factory, St Columba Falls (an impressive 220,000L per minute in winter) and did homework after lunch at the “Pig in t... Continue reading »
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Chapter 2 - GREAT OCEAN ROAD
We were up at 5:15am and shortly thereafter we disembarked in Melbourne. We drove past Geelong and on to Bells Beach at Torquay. This beach is famous... Continue reading » -
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Apollo Bay
We met a former lighthouse keeper, Pat Howell, at the Cape Otway Lighthouse and Telegraph Station. We learned what life was like for a lighthouse k... Continue reading »
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Warrnambool
The Twelve (or more) Apostles, limestone rock formations that have separated from the coastline, were magnificent. We stood looking at them and wal... Continue reading »
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Chapter 3 - SOUTH AUSTRALIA
We needed to get to Adelaide the next day to settle in before Womad (World Music & Dance Festival) started. It was a big day of driving but we man... Continue reading » -
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Adelaide
We stayed in a modern van park at West Beach. Other than bike rides (including M’s biggest ever at 6km) to Glenelg and a visit to Glenelg’s Beach H... Continue reading »
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Kangaroo Island
The ferry from Cape Jervis to Penneshaw was ridiculously expensive. Once on the Island we set up camp at Vivonne Bay, a secluded spot on the southe... Continue reading »
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Wilpena Pound / Flinders Ranges
We stayed at Wilpena for 4 nights, caught up on home work and did lots of short bushwalks and scenic drives. Highlights included abundant wildlife (gr... Continue reading » -
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Iga Warta
This was a highlight for all of us. We spent a few days at a campground run by a group of Aboriginals. It was called Iga Warta (native orange tree). W... Continue reading » -
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Oodnadatta Track
This was quite an adventure. We were excited to be on a historic track in the driest part of the driest state of Australia and had all the necessary 4... Continue reading » -
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Coober Pedy
coming soonWhat a unique place … The girls instantly got Opal fever and noodled (manual process of filtering through dug up rock to find bits of Opa... Continue reading » -
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Port Augusta
After our Outback adventure we chilled out in PA for a few days. We had the 4WD serviced, loaded up with fresh supplies, washed all our clothes and ha... Continue reading » -
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Coffin Bay
We camped at Yangie Bay and enjoyed the costal scenery. A & M made little friends with our Victorian neighbours. PL finally confessed that she mis... Continue reading » -
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Venus Bay
Everywhere was booked out for Easter but we managed to get a spot at the caravan park, fished from the jetty and rode our bikes. We seemed to be the o... Continue reading » -
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Nullarbor Plain
The DVD player finally got a work out … The girls were very well behaved on this long journey. Diesel peaked at $169.4 cents/ litre. The roadhouses ar... Continue reading » -
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Fraser Ranges Station and Norseman
Stopped at a real live station and stayed in a HOUSE overnight with was pretty nice!!! Had a tour of the station too. Not the life for us; too much ha... Continue reading » -
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Esperance
Lovely seaside holiday town complete with resident sealion (called Sam) who lives at the tanker jetty. Perfect spot for a family cycle – M is getti... Continue reading »
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Albany
After the crowded caravan park in Esperance we opted to stay 11kms outside Albany at the Kalgan River (to avoid snoring campers!). This was much more... Continue reading » -
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Margaret River
Our good friends C & J with children E and T were waiting for us in Busselton. We spent 3 action packed days visiting wineries, galleries, chocola... Continue reading » -
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Perth
With the camper trailer cleaned and packed away we moved in with our friends and spent a whole week doing very little …. other than eating, shopping a... Continue reading » -
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Bullsbrook & New Norcia
After just over a week in Perth we moved to the countryside about an hour north east. Another set of friends, E & J and their 4 children and grand... Continue reading » -
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Wave Rock & Surrounds
We are now back in the camper trailer routine. We spent 2 days at Hyden catching up on homework and exploring Wave Rock and its environs. Mulga Cave w... Continue reading » -
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Kalgoorlie
This town revolves around the Super Pit which was the brain child of entrepreneur Alan Bond – a massive open cut gold mine which produced 1 ounce of g... Continue reading » -
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Lake Ballard
We headed north following the now largely defunct gold fields. Bush camped at Lake Ballard (dry salt pan) for a few days. M learned to ride her bike w... Continue reading » -
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Gwalia & Surrounds
We visited various ghost towns heading further north. We met a modern day prospector and saw an impressive collection of gold nuggets – one weighted i... Continue reading » -
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Wondingong Station & Surrounds
We had a wonderful time at this sheep station. It seemed to have as many feral goats as sheep and there were many wedge-tailed eagles soaring above. T... Continue reading » -
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Walga Rock
Walga Rock near Cue was fascinating – we climbed the monolith (about half the size of Uluru) and saw the mysterious aboriginal rock painting of a Euro... Continue reading » -
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Onwards to Mt Augustus via Meekatharra
We stayed in Cue and Meekatharra en route to Mt Augustus National Park. Both are experiencing a mining resurgence which was nice to see after the depr... Continue reading » -
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Mt Augustus & Kennedy Ranges National Parks
Mt Augustus is referred to as the world’s largest rock – here we are relaxing, bush walking and having a few beers in the tin walled pub … We are c... Continue reading »
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Monkey Mia / Shark Bay & Francois Peron National Park
After covering lots of ground on dirt roads and tracks it was time to head for the coast and a break from the “red dust”. Monkey Mia was a highlight o... Continue reading » -
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Coral Bay / Ningaloo Reef
Coral Bay was as far north as we got on our last trip to WA. It was another highlight. Last time we took a tour run by the local dive shop to snorkel... Continue reading » -
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Cape Range NP / Ningaloo Reef
Now this was amazing. PL (I agree) says this is the best so far. We spent 5 days in the park, bush camping by the beach. We snorkeled with fantasti... Continue reading »
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Pilbara / Karijini National Park
I spoke too soon about the warm nights (refer Exmouth) – just a few hundred kms inland it was almost freezing at night. I’m quite sure that it hit... Continue reading »
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Dampier
In Dampier / Karatha we went to see Shrek 3 at the cinema, did countless loads of laundry, shopping (essentials plus more audio books and DVDs), an... Continue reading »
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Karratha to Broome
We took three days to travel from Dampier to Broome with strong headwinds. We stopped to collect shells at various places (fishing Mecca’s) en route (... Continue reading » -
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Kooljamon, Cape Leveque, north of Broome
This is an award winning resort on Aboriginal land about 4 hours north of Broome on largely unsealed roads which deters the caravans. There are on-... Continue reading »
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Broome
In total we spent about 1.5 weeks in Broome excluding a 4 day side trip to Cape Leveque (see next journal entry). Broome has a colorful history as... Continue reading »
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Derby
The missing school packages from Karijini finally caught up with us so Derby became our homework catch up spot. With some coaxing the girls got thr... Continue reading »
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Gibb River Rd: Part 1
Where do I start… We had such an adventure in this remote and beautiful part of Australia. The lasting memories are: swimming in crystal-clear rock... Continue reading »
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Gibb River Rd, Kalumburu & Mitchell Falls: Part 2
We drove on to Drysdale Station which has a restaurant so I had a sirloin steak for my birthday (A looked at the menu and thought I had ordered a S... Continue reading »
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Gibb River Rd, Kununurra: Part 3
On the last leg of the Gibb River Road we stayed at Home Valley Station for 3 nights. The pub/ restaurant is excellent; great atmosphere and food w... Continue reading »
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Purnululu National Park (Bungle Bungles)
We drove to Purnululu via Warnum (formerly Turkey Creek) and stopped to visit the Aboriginal artist centre. The 4WD road in to Purnululu is rough with... Continue reading » -
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Tanami Track
At Halls Creek, hundreds of kilometers after Purnululu, I noticed that our hi-lift jack was missing. It occupied a prominent position attached to t... Continue reading »
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Alice Springs
A highlight was going hot air ballooning. We got up at 4:30am and wore several layers of cloths – actually pretty much all our cloths. It’s a very... Continue reading »
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Uluru and Kata Tjuta
We camped for 3 nights at the Yulara campground with dingos howling at night. It was cold at night and some days took till midmorning to warm up. W... Continue reading »
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Watarrka NP (Kings Canyon)
With A in Year 5 and M in Year 3, this is their year for the NSW Basic Skills Test. We administered the test in 4 parts over 3 days: Writing, Langu... Continue reading »
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Finke NP (Palm Valley)
Within Finke National Park, we 4WD’ed into the valley and walked amongst the “red cabbage palms” that are unique to an area that amounts to 1 squar... Continue reading »
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West MacDonnell Ranges
We returned to Alice Springs for a big clean up and some repairs such as oil change for the car, thorn proof tubes for M’s bike (at last count she... Continue reading »
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Gemtree
We went fossicking for garnets at Gemtree which is about 100kms down the Plenty Highway. I did the heavy work – pick axe, shovel and first screening.... Continue reading » -
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Karlu Karlu (Devils Marbles) & Tennant Creek
We camped at Devil’s Marbles – where only PL was well enough to get up to see the sunrise. The girls had running noses and were a bit under the weathe... Continue reading » -
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Nitmiluk NP (Katherine Gorge)
Bring back the cold weather… it’s really hot and humid now... too hot to do anything other than find a water hole. The rate of progress on homework... Continue reading »
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Kakadu National Park
After a short detour to Edith Falls, we entered Kadadu via the newly graded unsealed road and stayed at Gunlom (Waterfall Creek) for 2 nights/ 3 da... Continue reading »
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Darwin
We’d heard that Darwin was even hotter than Kadadu and so decided to look for a cabin with air conditioning. We stayed 3 nights in a one room cabin... Continue reading »
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Berry Springs
Not too far from Darwin, we next stayed at a great little caravan park called Tumbling Waters. We arrived on the day of the weekly croc feeding and fa... Continue reading » -
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Litchfield NP
We camped at Wangi Falls for 3 nights. M loved the natural spa which was just big enough to fit the four of us. It was a small pool fed by the wate... Continue reading »
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Katherine & Daly Waters
We arrived in Katherine just in time to go to the post office and arrange for the trailer to be inspected for rego. At the caravan park we were rea... Continue reading »
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CHAPTER 6 - QUEENSLAND
We had just one more night in NT; a road side bush camp not far from the Queensland border where PL was pleased to try out our new solar shower bag... Continue reading »
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Lawn Hill NP
This is a spectacular oasis within the arid dessert and just south of the Gulf of Carpenteria. It’s a long drive even by Australian standards on so... Continue reading »
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Mount Isa
This is a major zinc, lead, silver and copper mining centre. Mt Isa Mines produces $7 million in copper per day. The mine is now up to 2 km deep wi... Continue reading »
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Charters Towers
We drove about 900kms in 2 days to get to the coast (Townsville) in order to meet good friend JH and son AH. En route we followed the Dinosaur Trai... Continue reading »
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Magnetic Island
It’s so nice to be back on the coast – green grass, ocean breeze and 10 degrees cooler (28C instead of an unbearable 38C)! still a bit humid though... Continue reading »
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Townsville
We loved the foreshore at Townsville. It has a kid’s water park, a rock pool and a climbing pyramid. These are all connected by an extensive cycle... Continue reading »
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Mission Beach
NSW school holidays are over and we needed to find a place to hang out and get started on Term 4 (last one). Mission Beach was it.
It was wi... Continue reading »
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Cairns / Palm Cove
This was our next planned rendezvous with the family in the Double Decker Black Bus. The girls were so excited to see their friends that we skipped... Continue reading »
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Cape Tribulation
We camped at Noah’s Beach in the Daintree National Park. The rainforest, said to be the world’s oldest, runs up to the beach. The beaches are lined... Continue reading »
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Bloomfield Track
In the 1980’s, under protest from environmentalists, a rough 4WD track (Bloomfield Track) was built through the rainforest that connects Cape Tribu... Continue reading »
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Cooktown
We visited the James Cook Museum, which was very good. We enjoyed learning about Cook’s voyage, the gold rush, and early encounters with Aboriginal... Continue reading »
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Laura
We drove to Laura to see some famous Aboriginal rock art featuring spirits called Quinkans. The rock art here is prolific and some is over 33,000 year... Continue reading » -
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Atherton Tablelands
Atherton is part of The Tablelands which are about 500m above sea level and about 60kms from the coast. It has hot days (not humid) and cool nights... Continue reading »
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Fossicking for topaz in Mt Surprise
As we approached Mt Surprise it was dusk. Seeing kangaroos at dusk is an everyday occurrence. I expect them to behave erratically and always slow d... Continue reading »
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Townsville again (no fotos)
We put the finishing touches on the penultimate batch of homework here. Then we started heading south down the Queensland coast. Continue reading » -
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Ailrie Beach
We caught up with the big black bus (R family) here and had a great time. We mostly relaxed by the Lagoon while the kids played. The Lagoon is a la... Continue reading »
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Cape Hillborough NP
Picking up the final school package in Mackay provided the opportunity for a weigh-in at the courier office: PJ 86kg, PL 62kg, A 30.9kg, M 25.5kg.... Continue reading »
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Carmila Beach
We got as far as Carmila Beach and camped for the night. It was another rainy and windy night under canvas. In the morning as we packed up, we were su... Continue reading » -
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Yeppoon
This was not a particularly noteworthy 4 day stop. We concentrated on completing the final homework for the year. The next 4 weeks of schoolwork do... Continue reading »
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Hervey Bay
We skipped past Bundaberg and met up with the black double-decker bus family at Hervey Bay. Finally we are able to swim in the sea without fear of dea... Continue reading » -
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Fraser Island
About 5 weeks ago we made arrangements to share a beach house on Fraser Island with some good friends, the Gs, for a 4 day weekend. With the traile... Continue reading »
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Mary Valley
Back in Hervey Bay we picked up the trailer, cleaned up and re-stocked our supplies. The next day we headed for the Sunshine Coast. As the coast he... Continue reading »
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Gold Coast Hinterland
We stayed in Tallai in the hills behind Surfers Paradise with the K family. We were pleased to be comfortably indoors and able to relax in familiar... Continue reading »
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Iluka
We said hello to a friend at Lennox Head and set up camp a bit further south in a National Park at Iluka. We did a bit of snorkelling, did a few wa... Continue reading »
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Forster
My current boss from Westpac (one of the large national banks), RC, is a water ski fanatic. In fact, his holiday house started out as a water ski s... Continue reading »
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Home again
So here we are after 319 days and nearly 41,000km. We were very pleased to find the house clean and tidy and the pool glistening. The backyard gold... Continue reading »
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