According to the World Factbook, Australia has the sixth largest land mass on earth. That is a lot to explore without border crossings without the hassles of language or swapping to the ‘other’ side of the road. ‘Bland’ you may say, but oh there are so many cultural differences and more than just football codes. It’s a point to remember next time you surrender your veggies at a fruit fly check point. Continue reading There’s a Lot to Explore
How many times are you surprised at how differently others see retirement. You hear friends claim that they can’t stop work because they would not know what to do with themselves, or they need more money. Or, on the other … Continue reading Life is What you Make it
We have new neighbours. The couple on our right are from NSW and have stayed here in Broome fifteen times, I think they like it. And they’ve just sold their house to go on the road permanently. On our left is a couple from South Australia. He’s a retired maintenance man and she was a house mother in a boarding school. They do short term postings at caravan parks and farms, they were even rat catchers on a pig farm. They’re on their way to take up a posting at a cattle station that is run by the Indigenous Land … Continue reading Different Lifestyles
Is it any wonder that so many Aussies hit the road every year in search of an endless summer? I recently read that there are a million people out there just travelling the country, that’s 1/24th of the population! To wake up to an Australian summer morning is ethereal and they’re doing it every day of the year travelling north to south and south to north chasing the warm weather. Oh the smell of new morning freshness wrapped in warmth and the prospect of a hot day. It’s a sound, it’s a feeling and the warble of a magpie. It’s … Continue reading Endless Summer
I stand under a hot shower in our latest caravan, the water is both cleansing and refreshing. There is classical music tinkling in the background and as I smell the aroma of espresso coffee I remember… My mother often reminisced … Continue reading The Evolution of Camping
Don’t waste your partner’s best years of life by continuing to work just because you don’t know what else to do in retirement. Down the tools, close the books, turn off the computer and walk out the door into … your new life. Be it big or small there’s a rig waiting out there for you and it’ll take you to places you’ve never heard of and will never forget. Yes, Gulargambone is calling you! Continue reading It’s Not Just Your Life
Over a few Christmas drinks a friend asked “What do caravanners do? For a lot of people the well known ‘Happy Hour’ comes to mind or a quiet read. But no, they don’t all sit around gazing at the bush with a cold beer in hand. It depends on you and how active you are and what your interests are. I tend to lose a little weight on long winter trips as we walk more than we do at home and that is because there is more to see. I find that I become bored of the same old area … Continue reading What do caravanners do?
This week I’ve heard two heart warming stories. Friends of ours had a grown up daughter join us at our recent club muster. When our friends’ family was young they took the kids out of school for a year and travelled Australia in the caravan. The trip was so good that when this particular daughter accepted her boyfriend’s proposal it was on the proviso that they too would buy a caravan and take their planned family around Australia. The daughter and her husband now have four children and a brand new caravan with lots of bunk beds is under construction. … Continue reading Family Fun
Up in Normanton on the Gulf of Carpentaria it is winter, dry and hot. We drive our washing to the Laundromat to save it from walking there all by itself! The Laundromat is in the post office. In these parts every business multi tasks. As I wait for Woody to sort out the coin washer problems with the postmaster I lean on the verandah rail. I am overcome by a smell that takes me back to my childhood, but what is it? Then I hear brrrp, brrrp there are a few shrubs, a tank stand giving shade, a couple of … Continue reading Normanton Laundromat
