Let the adventure begin!

Saying goodbye was so hard, especially since we left Scarlett with nana and grumpy in Sydney. But driving 5500km's towing a 3 ton caravan for the first time and keeping an 8 year old entertained, was not the most ideal situation. So the decision was made to leave Scarlett in Sydney and get nana to fly her over later in the month, once we were settled.



Shane's Uncle Jo and his OEM

Our first stop was at Shane's great aunt Glady and uncle Jo's place in Gundagai for lunch. We spent most of our visit scanning family history documents for Shane, and learning about the 'Order Of Australia Medal' awarded to uncle Jo for his work in the local community, not bad for being over 90. That night we also visited and stayed with his great aunt Jean in Wagga Wagga, where here the family history lesson continued way into the night.

We decided we were going to free camp the entire way across Australia to Exmouth, proving you don't need a lot of cash to do this type of travelling. Some of the camps were awesome, we even had one on the bank of the Murray river that was so beautiful.

Murray River Free Camp

Day 8 on the road saw us make it into Perth for some R & R, and let Shane do some much needed mechanical repairs. Shane did a boat tyre on the way into Perth, and on the way out of the tyre repair place did a second tyre on the Pajero. We also had caravan fridge problems, and door troubles in the caravan that Shane fixed. Shane also had to get the windscreen of the Rodeo repaired after a 'near death experience' on the way into Perth. Oh, and we had to replace a deep cycle battery in the caravan too!

It was awesome to catch up with old friends Robyn, Martin and their girls, Geoff, Lachy and Geoff's new fiancé Michelle, and my old flat mate Dave too. While in Perth, we stayed with Shane's old Navy mates Donna and Shane, they were the most amazing family and so welcoming.

Coral Bay

But after 4 days of drinking and eating it was time to make tracks. We stopped just short of Carnarvon on our first night (again another free camp), and on day 2 rolled into Coral Bay. We had made such great time we were only 100km's from reaching our goal, but two days early; so we decided on two nights camping here to relax and recover from our drive. WOW this place is so amazing, we did come here on our earlier adventures, and I had such wonderful memories. It was just as beautiful the second time 'round......

We arrived at the base on a Friday and everyone was so welcoming and happy to see us. The removal went smoothly, with the truck arriving early on the Sunday! After a week of unpacking and putting furniture together till 10'o'clock each night, we were finally settled..... mostly!

Scarlett and nana arrived a week later, and it was so good to see them both. I think it had been 25 days since we had left Scarlett, (the longest time I have ever spent apart from her), and it was so good to have her back with us.