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Wallaby Wanderers
Welcome, come in, take a seat and enjoy the view!Darryl and Sarah
We were lucky enough to be in a position to make one of our dreams come true and it's hard to believe that we can now say we've 'been there and done that! It was the sort of adventure that 'normal people' like us could only dream about, taking a year out of work and travelling around Australia in a caravan towed by a 4WD. Somehow though we managed to turn it into a reality and between April 28th 2009 and April 26th 2010 that's exactly what we did.
Our beautiful home and much loved cat in Moira, Derbyshire, UK were looked after by family while we explored the nether regions of Oz. What a year we had, we'd do it again in a heart beat.
We wanted to have a good reminder of what we'd seen, where we'd been and the people we'd met along the way and this travel blog is it! Our daily diary of life on the road where most days started with a different view and ended with a whole load more memories.
This trip won't be our last, of that we are now certain and we're already planning Project Outback - the sequel!
As for the blog, well we're passing the mantel over to Mum and Dad (Sarah's) for the time being as they are just arriving in Australia for their 2nd outback adventure of a lifetime! Look out for the Pootling Possums!
All that we have to do now is update the original google map of where we thought we'd get to in Australia against where we did actually manage to get! There's quite a difference in some places!
So here's to the next adventure, we hope it's not too far away for us but while we're saving up and working hard we'll enjoy watching Mum and Dad relish every minute of the freedom that is Australia!
Here's to travelling, the experiences, the opportunities and the memories.
Darryl and Sarah aka The Wallaby Wanderers!
Travel Blog Posts
April 18th 2010
Day 356 - Box Hill Resort (Day out on Puffing Billy) All the times we’ve spent time in Melbourne over the past few trips, never mind this one, and we still haven’t managed to see one of its highlights - Puffing Billy. Well today’s the day and we’re very excited. We couldn’t possibly do the trip justice on our own so we’re taking the girls, Charlotte and Amy with us plus their young cousin Luke. We're excited to be going on the train and excited to be leaving behind the plumbing problems at the ‘Box Hill Resort’! For some reason what you 'do’ in the toilet is re-presenting itself in the shower. It’s not good and what started last night as a minor problem is now turning into a bit of a drama. Hopefully with four ... read more
April 17th 2010
Monday 12th through to Friday 17th April Our plan this week was to get the caravan sorted in the shortest amount of time possible thus making time for a couple of day trips towards the end of it. Sadly it didn’t quite work out the way we’d hoped - cleaning and packing takes ages! Despite having loads to do, Darryl doesn’t neglect his favourite duties and still manages to get the girls lunchboxes ready for school, visit the bakery (to see his ‘Chinese friend’) and grab the paper for Grant. I’m back in the old routine too and that’s walking the dogs with Anna as soon as we’re both up and about. It all works very well and leaves Grant to get some sleep after his first shift on nights. With the girls delivered to school, ... read more
April 11th 2010
Day 350 - Bridge Creek to Box Hill To our credit, despite feeling the after effects of the night before we were up and about as soon as we sensed children were within 20ft of the caravan! They’d had a great night with Jake looking after them but were now full of the joys of spring - literally! There’s nothing like a yummy breakfast to sweep away the cobwebs and that’s exactly what sorted us out this morning. There’s no time to waste though, we plan to head back to Box Hill later this afternoon so in record time we tidy the caravan and get it ready for the final journey (for this trip!) down into the city. At some point this morning Mark presented us with a small travel book on London and then proceeded ... read more
April 10th 2010
Day 349 - Bridge Creek (Mansfield) After our few days out bush we can’t deny it was nice to have a hot shower this morning! Everyone was having a bit of a lie in this morning, the last Saturday before the end of the school holidays. We wanted to find out a bit more about the animated theatre at Glenrowan which depicts ‘Ned Kelly’s last stand’. Ken and Beth have mentioned that they’d love to go and a quick phone call to the chap that runs it gave us the all clear that the place is open today and we’d easily be able to get on to any of the 40 minute ‘tours’. Perfect! Zoe wasn’t being left out (it’s not that we don’t love her as much as the other two!) but she’s got a ... read more
April 9th 2010
Days 345 - 348 Box Hill Resort to Sheepyard Flats (Tuesday 6th April to Friday 9th April) It’s very weird being at Box Hill without the caravan. It means we have to sleep in the house, in a bedroom with a full size bed and everything! Not only is the bed in the house twice the size of the one in the caravan but it’s also twice the size of the one at home in the UK! It’s the Australian Way to like things big! Tonight however we won’t be in a house or the caravan, tonight we’ll be under ‘canvas’ in the heart of the High Country with a full array of stars above us.. Luckily we’re both feeling A OK this morning, any ill effects from the “12 hour bug” had completely disappeared. Grant, ... read more
April 5th 2010
Day 345 - Box Hill Resort My beautiful Mum is 60 today. Happy Birthday Mum. We’re very sorry to be missing such a fabulous birthday but we’ll make up for it when we get home. Enjoy your day at Twycross! I woke up this morning feeling a little bit under the weather, infact I felt lousy. I was pretty sure it wasn’t the effects of alcohol, I don’t think they start when you’ve still got a drink in your hand. Grant was having a worse five minutes though, he’d lost his wallet and despite searching the house ‘from top to bottom’ we couldn’t find it anywhere. After about an hour it was time to retrace his steps and it was eventually uncovered in the girls bed which is where he’d stolen a quick cat nap this ... read more
April 4th 2010
Day 344 - Box Hill Resort We've got two birthday shout out today, one gets a constant mention through the blog but the other we'll do here and now! Andy Gardiner, Happy Birthday mucker! We hope you have a great day with 'Stella' and we'll be home soon to sink a few more in person. Lots of love mate x x With bleary eyes we scrambled out of bed not quite believing the time on the clock. It said 7.45am but it felt much earlier. Darryl had volunteered to pick Jordan up this morning and bring him to the house ready for church at 9am. It’s Easter Sunday and Anna has requested that the family join her at New Hope. Darryl was just about to leave the house when we heard the girls and Anna getting ... read more
We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo!
Published: April 21st 2010Oceania » Australia » Victoria » Box Hill
April 3rd 2010
Day 343 - Box Hill Resort We’ve got a big day ahead of us today, we’re off to the Melbourne Zoo with the girls and Luke (Anna’s sister Paula’s son!). The girls dobbed fairly early on that they actually didn’t go to bed at 8pm last night at all, it was well past 10pm! It did not go down very well with the Chief but she’s got a whole day to sort out Mr Adams for his disobedience as we were out of the house early on! These are the best behaved kids in the world, I’m sure of it. If there was a competition I’d be pretty confident of a win! Pom Pom (Charlotte’s new name for our Tom Tom sat nav!) was leading the way to the zoo and doing a very good job ... read more
April 2nd 2010
Day 342 - Bridge Creek to Box Hill Resort It was hard work dragging ourselves out of bed this morning but we had to do it. We wouldn’t have missed out on last nights terrific party but we could have done without the after effects this morning! The house was in utter silence when we crept in. Mark was in bed asleep, Simone was in Kens bed asleep, Beth and Ken were in the front room asleep and Jake was on the sofa … asleep! We got ourselves ready, locked up the van (it’s staying here at Bridge Creek) then crept through the house to say our goodbyes. Next stop a house in Kew, Melbourne for lunch with people we’ve never met before! I promised faithfully not to fall asleep on the journey so kept myself ... read more
April 1st 2010
Day 341 - Bridge Creek Hurrah for Dar for he turns 52 today! Happy Birthday Hun, I hope you really enjoy your day. Love you millions! There were a few presents to open which was nice, a couple from me, one from Mum & Dad Kettle which arrived here at Bridge Creek yesterday. Then there was the card from the Coulsells back home in the UK which has travelled with us for the entire trip! Dar finally got to open it this morning which gave him a smile. The house was quiet this morning when we first got up, we needed to get our car into town for a service so we decided I’d drive Simone’s in and Dar would follow behind. There was no need to look for the keys, we knew exactly where they ... read more
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