The Last Post & Acknowledgements

In the 40+thousand kilometres travelled on this trip  I have had lots of time to think and I have often thought, especially in the last couple of months, about how I would finish this blog.

Firstly, I want to acknowledge this beautiful country of ours.

This trip has made me more patriotic than ever. I have always loved my country and knew of its vastness but I simply didn't appreciate just how vast or beautiful, until now.

I also have a new found appreciation for the hardships faced by our early explorers and settlers. During the journey I often wondered whether they got to appreciate the beauty of the country in which they'd arrived. It's harshness & vastness, coupled with the day to day challenges of landing in a foreign country, would undoubtedly have robbed them of appreciating the sheer beauty & diversity of this great land. There were no mod cons, no air conditioners, no cars, washing machines, electricity, need I go on. Put simply,  life would have been bloody hard work!

I have also realized that everyone who lives in Australia, no matter which part, has their own piece of paradise.

It would be an oversight if I didn't thank and acknowledge the many beautiful people, from all walks of life, that we met along the way. There are too many of you to mention by name but you helped add to the magic of the journey. I am so sorry if my husband kept you up well past your bedtime with his stories and travel tips. I am also sorry if your liver hasn't been the same since.

Next, I would like to dearly thank you all for reading and for coming along with us on what has been the adventure of a lifetime and at times, one hell of a ride (even with all the mod cons:-)

Knowing you were all reading and sharing in our adventure gave me the incentive to keep on writing. I hope you have enjoyed the read as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I know I will miss the creative outlet.

I may have to take up writing in some other form to fill the void. Who would have thought?

I also want to thank the main contributors to this blog... My three beautiful kids Jack, who can't help but lend a hand, Harry, who has grown into such a mature & confident young man and Nina, our ray of sunshine,  who wakes with a smile and goes to bed with a smile and my best friend & partner in crime, Richard. 

He is the one that dreamt the dream and then lived it. I want to thank him for his careful driving, superb reversing skills, his professional tyre changing abilities (he's had some practice of late) his ability to always see the good in everything & everyone and most importantly his unconditional love (even when my directions dont help him in reverse).

Thanks for making us part of your dream and for bringing us home safe and sound with enough memories to last a lifetime. 

Here's to the many more adventures ahead.

The places we've been!

Our Ode To The Road

We have travelled near and far in our caravan and car, slept under the stars and drank in lots of outback bars.

From climbing the Gloucester tree we travelled further south to learn about Albany's whaling history.

In Port Lincoln  we dived with a great white shark,  giving those back home a shock,  from there we went to a race day in a little town called Lock.

We spent a few weeks eating Oysters, fresh from Coffin Bay and saw Punter make some runs at Adelaide Oval on a stinking hot summers day.

The Blue Lake at Mt Gambier was a real cracker then we hit the beautiful Great Ocean Road where Jack spoke to Macca.

In Tasmania we  climbed mountains and dived for abalone in waters icy cold and Port Arthur was eerie and so very old.

We watched My Bently race at Caulfield,  and saw the footy at the G, and travelled south to Metung for a waterski.

We took a houseboat down the Mighty Murray where the odd line was cast then a flat tyre out of Echuca had us going nowhere fast.

Anzac Day came around quickly and the dawn service was in Bright and we continued on to Hotham where the first snows were falling,  what a delight.

Our national capital was cold but pretty it was nice to see Parliament House in the flesh but its all agreed, we like the War Memorial best.

Taronga Zoo  was lots of fun, it really was a must, and and after climbing the Harbour bridge we left Sydney town for dust.

At Casino we watched  a rodeo, those guys must be crazy, while up in Nimbin a veggie patty made us feel a little hazy.

The big blue waves at Byron had the boys learning to surf at this stage we were thousands of kays from the white beaches of Perth.

From there to Noosa where Richard dived on a sunken shipwreck, then up to 1770 where the boys threw in the odd crab net.

The week at the Gympie muster was a highlight for us all, the kids lined up for autographs on their cowboy hats, they had an absolute ball.

With our country music we made so much noise,  while The Man From Iron Bark was recited by Nina and the boys

From there we camped on the Diamantina for the iconic Birdsville races and on the Today show the country saw the kids smiling faces.

Those outback tracks were an experience, there was red dust through the van, in Longreach the Stockman's museum had us appreciating our harsh land. 

Sailing the  Whitsundays on a yacht,  the boys pulled a black marlin on the great reef, while Nina snorkelled the turquoise waters, to see what lay beneath.

The Atherton Tablelands  were beautiful, the soil so fertile and red, at Lake Tinaroo the boys caught hundreds of red claw and kept the family well fed.

The Karumba sunset was divine, Lawn Hill Gorge was a must, and when it hit 50 degrees our fridge decided to bust.

Rivers and creeks - we drove through our fair share -and when the  sun rose on Uluru we couldn't help but stare.

Out of Darwin there was helifishing and horseriding on a Station, and when we crossed back into WA - there was a mix of sadness and elation.

Kununurra  was amazing, Boabs the Bungles and Argyle Diamonds rare, in Halls Creek we lost a towball, thank God Richard had a spare.  

Derby was a blast, Jack  finally caught a Barra there, and crocs galore  at Tunnel Creek, gave Sonia such a scare.

Broome was a family affair with a visit from Mum, Dad & Lee, then back up to Cape Leveque, where we stayed in a hut beside the sea.

Point Samson was a hidden gem, and Exmouth we couldn't go past, Monkey Mia was so stunning,  we'd saved the best for last.

From Kakadu in the north  where the big crocs bite,  to Tassie  in the south  we have  seen many a sight.

We've met lots  of wonderful people and the freedom of the road we'll miss, but we have managed to tick lots off our bucket list.

In our country full of colour, so diverse and vast,  it was a blessing to share it with our kids who have grown so very fast.

But all good things must come to an end and Xmas calls us home to family and friends, we'll see you very soon, we're just around the bend

Written by The Bennett Family

Our Favourite Spots, by Nina, Harry & Jack

My favourite spot was the whole trip it is very hard to choose but the Gympie Muster was good and diving with the Tuna. I also liked the Taronga Zoo in Sydney. The whole trip was fun. The Houseboat was good too. I met lots of new friends and I feel happy and sad. I am sad beacuse its the end of the trip but I am happy to see my friends and family.

Love Nina 

When we left we started crying because we were leaving. Our first night was in Northcliffe. It was a very  nice spot. Then we headed down to Albany where we stayed for a week. 

In Byron Bay we learnt how to surf,  then we had a ball at the Gympie Muster. On the Gold  Coast where we said  hello to Tom and Lola. The Birdsville races were  good Fun.

In Dawin we went helifishing and had a trip to Bali. At Lake Tinaroo we had a feast on red claw. When we crossed the  border in to Western Australia we

stayed in Port Samson and Exmouth. Monkey Mia was good and in Geraldton 

we had a Christmas party. Wow, we are crying that we are  going home.

Thanks to Dad for getting us home and Mum for feeding us.

I loved the trip. Love Harry

I will tell you my 10 favourite spots in no particular order....

The Gympie muster was great we all had a ball

I loved the Birdsville races it was good because it is really hard to get there

The Witsundays were beautiful we got a little marlin

Down  in port lincoln Dad & I dived with the sharks

At Caulfield we went to the Easter cup to watch My Bently race

In Windorah  we watched the international yabby races

And up in darwin we went helifishing

In Bowen we fished in a fishing tournament

Uluru is amazing, it is huge

Monkey Mia  was stunning we all had our last dinner there

The trip has been amazing we all loved it and I can't believe how big our country is.

Love Jack

Home Sweet Home

Monday the 17th of December... After a great night catching up with the Vitalone Family, we were up and ready to head home...finally! We had a whole 8 kilometres to travel.
The boys couldn't leave without pulling the marron nets first. So off they went, coming back with a good feed.

Back together again, Jack, Anthony & Harry

We said goodbye and headed off down the hill.What would the farm look like? How much water would be in the Harvey Dam? There was excitement in the air.
The Harvey Dam was looking good and we were all a little choked up when we saw our front gate...

Home, safe n sound

The farm looked amazing and so green. Christmas decorations had been put up everywhere and there was a welcome home message on the front door of the farm house. It had obviously been all hands on deck in the lead up to our arrival home.
Thanks Rob & Minnie, Sam and Craig for all of your hard work.

A new sign erected and decorated 

Big red and the van, parked in the driveway - where it all began

Needless to say, the rest of the day consisted of beginning the mammoth task of unpacking a year's worth of accumulation inside the caravan and the car and setting up the farm house. I haven't even touched the surface yet. As I worked I kept going back over a year's worth of memories... I had the odd tear in my eye but it didn't compare to the huge grin on my face.

The kids helped in between wanting to ride their bikes and play with the toys they had forgotten they had over the course of a year.

By around 4:30, we all downed tools and took a motorbike ride along the boundary fences of the farm.

When we reached the top of my favourite hill and under my favourite tree, where Moet our dog is buried... I looked back down over the entire valley, the green paddocks, the Harvey Dam... and there I was. There we all were ... Home!

Home.....Almost! Harvey

Sunday the 16th of December... We were up early and leaving Geraldton  in the mid-west sunshine and under bright blue skies. Mother Nature was working her magic on the final leg. Not a lot was said... Truth be known, all the lumps in our throats were too big.

We stopped at a roadhouse near Dongara to pick up a toastie... as expected, it was terrible. I won't miss roadhouse toasties.

We reached Indian Ocean Drive around 9 and we were mesmerized by the beauty of our deep blue Indian Ocean on one side and the powder white Sandhills on the other. It had been a while since we'd seen sand so white. ..

Beautiful Indian Ocean Drive

The vegetation was also getting a lot greener,  a novelty for us.

We felt like we were reaching very familiar territory when we starting to see the odd spattering of bush Christmas trees and black boys or grass trees for the politically correct.

A beautiful sight, the Bush Christmas Tree

The cricket and Kerry o'Keefe's "mutley laugh" kept our minds occupied. Richard decided just after Jurien Bay to put some music on and with Troy Cassar-Daley singing Going Home, the lumps got a little bigger.

"We're  going home to where the people know you by your first name.

We're going home to where the people treat you the same, as they always have, Home."

By around 11:30 we hit the Mitchell Freeway, we hadn't seen this many cars for a good while...

Where did all these cars come from?????

By midday we got the first glimpses of our beautiful city. We may be just a little biased but it is still among the prettiest Australian cities. We spotted some new buildings and some familiar old ones.

Once we saw the city we all lifted. We called into Applecross to pick up some beef swirls Richards favourite meal, he hadn't had them for nearly a year and my attempts didn't quite match up.

Hello Lucky Bay

A quick call in to to say hi to Ron & Lee (Pop & Huggy)....

The kids wait to see their Pop & Huggy

...then via Mark and Lisa's (only Mark was home) and Browny's where we got to see the kids, Bree, Josh and Matty and how big they have grown. I took this photo of the rig with the city in the background at the front  of Browny's house....

Big Red in the big smoke

Browny took this photo of team Bennett

By around two we hit the Freeway south, getting  more excited as each kilometre drew us closer to home.

It was all too much for Nina, she retreated to the land of nod for a while....

Chook has a cat nap

Just after 3 we arrived in Harvey. We dropped into town to pick up milk and bread before heading into the hills.
The boys were desperate to see their mates Anthony, Matthew and little Andrew... so we drove up to their farm.
We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful welcome than to see the boys running down the hill when they saw our car. Within seconds Jack, Harry and Nina were out of the car running up the hill to see their mates.

The boys were so excited to see each other

After giving each other cuddles they realised they were cool dudes and acted accordingly.
Anthony and Matthew hadn't been counting down to Christmas this year, they had been counting down until the Bennett boys got home... too cute!!
Nick and Ange were there about to host a Xmas party and so we thought we'd stay for a drink and head off, but as is the case with us and with everyone was having so much fun, we ended up setting up the van with a million dollar view and staying the night.

A Vista Ridge View

A Vista Ridge sunset

So it was the day we almost got home, but not quite.

What's another night when you've been away for a year? 

Tiresome Tyres & A Mid-West Xmas, Geraldton

Saturday the 15th of December and buoyed by a beautiful night but deflated to be leaving Monkey Mia, we began packing up the caravan, for one of the last times on our trip. With everyone doing their designated jobs, we were done and hooked up in no time. 

We stopped at the resort coffee shop for a cuppa, said goodbye to our caravanning friends and we were on our way.

Again, the scenery on the way out was just as beautiful as on the way in. It was blue skies and blue waters for as far as the eye could see.

We stopped in Denham for brekky and we all smiled when we saw this Emu and chicks having a morning stroll along the Bay, in the main street of Denham. 

An Emu and her chicks

Once we reached the North-West Coastal Highway we continued on, stopping at Billabong roadhouse for a toilet stop.

By around midday we passed a sign that welcomed us to the Batavia Coast. It was just after that we heard an almighty bang. 

Holy Shite! Richard pulled over to see what had happened. It was another tyre but it hadn' t blown. Instead, this relatively new tyre was completely shredded. That made it two tyres and a tow ball in 5 weeks. We were starting to think that maybe Big Red didn't want to go home.

The shredded tyre

Richard took the spare tyre off,  only to be faced with another dilemma... The spare tyre was also sick. It had a big bubble in it. So what to do? Continue on the shredded tyre or the bubble tyre?

We had no mobile service, so Richard waited for a road train to drive past to ask his advice on what to do on the CB.

He thought it best to go with the bubble tyre, but very slowly.

So Richard went to work, detaching the caravan, hoisting up the car and swapping tyres. It was 38 degrees in the shade and the flies were feral. Within 10 minutes and a few liters of sweat later, the bubble tyre was on. Richard has become a literal TyrePro.

The Tyrepro gets to work

We took off very slowly, we still had 200 kilometres to Geraldton. At 70kms an hour and having to listen to the cricket... it was going to be a long innings.

We managed to get mobile reception eventually, and Dave, who runs the Geraldton dealership, part of the Magic Group, organized some new tyres for us on arrival. 

By 3 o'clock Big Red limped into Geraldton. Richard dropped the van, the kids and I off at the caravan park, opposite the beach (you know it well Angela:-)and took the car into the dealership for some more new tyres.

Other than a few new buildings, Geraldton hadn't changed too much in over a year.

Richard was back a couple of hours later with some new tyres. On the way into the caravan park, he bumped into some caravaning friends  we were next to in Darwin, then in Derby and now Geraldton. So he went off to have a beer with them. 

Before long it was time to get ready for the Mid-West Auto Xmas Party. 
It really was like a comedy act, the 5 of us trying to get ready at the same time in the caravan. There were clothes flying everywhere and needless to say we were all in each others space. But, with plenty of time to spare we were ready and on our way.

The party was at the dealership and the theme for the night was Casino (Mum, you would have loved it).

Richard did a speech and thanked Dave & Carol for doing a great job and the party was on. 

Everyone was given 22 casino chips and had and hour and a half to play with them on 4 gaming tables. 

Carol oversees the roulette table

We had brought the kids and they did a good job of remaining concealed until Harry heard Casino and then he, Jack & Nina all wanted in. 

So they all got their maths lessons for the day. Adding up their chips and counting to 21 in the blackjack game :-)

All the staff and the kids had a ball.

Aunty Em teaches the kids how to gamble

Harry, Emily, Richard, Nina & Dave

Nina has a dance

Carol & Dave had done such an amazing job of organizing the whole event... Thanks guys.

Jack gets into the Christmas spirit

Richard & I

Richard, Dave, Sonia & Carol

By 9 o'clock anyone who had chips left had them counted and prizes were given out.

It was a great night and we were so happy to be there to thank the Mid-West team for their amazing effort this year. 

Tomorrow we continue on the final leg and home.

Our Last Day & A Special Family Dinner, Monkey Mia

Friday the 14th of December... I was up early and off on a walk. The day before I had come across some walking tracks so I was on a mission to walk them and get in some exercise. 

This was our final day in Monkey Mia and with the sun shining and the waters blue, we were all determined to make the most of it.

I arrived back at the caravan in time to pick up Nina (who was the only one awake) and head over to watch the dolphins come in.

They took a little longer to come in than the last time and only two came in, Nicky (the oldest dolphin in the pod) aged 37 and her calf Missile, aged 4 weeks.

Missile was never far from its Mums side the whole time and carried on as all kids do, frolicking and playing. Too cute!

Nicky & Missile say good morning

Missile is never too far from her Mum's side

 

With the boys all still fast asleep, Nina and I then decided to treat ourselves to a nice breakfast in the resort....

Nina and I have brekky in the resort

Before we headed back to the van with a coffee for Richard, who'd stumbled in sometime before the crack of dawn, just!

The kids went off for a while and came back with eyes wide and Harry told of how Jack had saved his life by stopping him from walking on a rock fish.

By midday we had the dinghy in the water and the kids and their friends were having the time of their lives on a biscuit and kneeboarding. 

Richard the skipper 

Jack has a kneeboard

Then gives Nina some tips

Nina has a kneeboard

So does Harry

This was in between pulling up the boat to watch dugongs frolicking offshore.... This is such an amazing place.

A dugong lurks beneath

All aboard the biscuit

Fun times

We had a late lunch and then chilled for a while before our big dinner ahead... Our last family dinner on the trip. We had booked the resort restaurant for the special occasion.

All dressed up in our Sunday best we headed across to the resort where the kids played a game of boule.  The stakes were high because the winner got to choose the seating at dinner. 

The kids playing boule

Richard and I sat and watched the kids and had a private cheers over a bottle of champagne to our beautiful year and the memories created. I could tell then, that this was going to be an emotional night...

Richard and I

We headed to dinner and after Jack, the boule winner chose the seating arrangements, everyone ordered their meals.
Harry was disappointed we hadn't taken him to a good restaurant for our last special  dinner because "only good restaurants have pizza on the menu."

A special family dinner to celebrate a special year

It was then time to present some awards and gifts to the kids as a thank you from Richard and I for such a wonderful year.

They were all presented with an Australian certificate to congratulate them for doing a lap of Australia...

 ...and then each was presented with a Principal's Award by their retiring Principal for the year.

Jack was given his award for "being the best big brother possible and a great helper at all times."

Jack receives his award

Harry's award was for "maturing into a responsible and beautiful young man."

Harry's turn

And Nina's award was for "always being happy and caring about her family. And also for her beautiful cuddles."

And Nina

Their Teacher (a very bad one I must confess)...  then presented the kids with a momento of their trip around Australia.

Harry receives a black pearl necklace

Nina receives a Boab pearl necklace

Jack receives a Marlin necklace

By then, we were all reduced to happy tears. I am sure everyone sitting around us thought us a bit weird, which is probably right,  but we weren't too concerned with anyone else. One lady commiserated with us and offered to take another family snapshot....

All together

And because I wasn't enough of a mess, Richard decided to surprise me with a gift which was very naughty of him and not part of our plan.  Too spoilt.

Yes, ok...now I am a mess! All happy tears, of course.

I received a pearl which Richard brought in Exmouth so I can design my own pearl ring... such a beautiful gift! We returned back to the van happy and grateful but exhausted both physically and emotionally.