The things you read {Words}

traveling is like flirting with life

it's like saying

'i would stay and love you, but I have to go'

~ esther ~

The Facts

Here goes...

After leaving on the 4th April 2013, as of today we have been traveling for 17 months. We have yet to leave our home state of WA at all in that time!

We have traveled I suspect almost 50,000km {I lost our starting ODM reading}
We have stayed in 75 different locations,
We have set up the camper a total of 70 times,
We have seen some wonderful things,
We have meet some wonderful people
And we have barely scratched the surface of our trip around Australia.

Here is the list of places we have been since we started, it really is getting very VERY long and that doesn't include day trips or named exploring locations... Imagine how long that list would be??

Yallingup - 4th April 2012 till 10th May 2012
Karridale - 10th May 2012 till 20th May 2012
Busselton - 20th May 2012 till 21st May 2012
Perth - 21st May 2012 till 28th May 2012
Gingin - 28th May 2012 till 29th May 2012
Jurien Bay - 29th May 2012 till 31st May 2012
Geraldton - 31st May 2012 till 2nd June 2012
Kalbarri - 2nd June 2012 till 6th June 2012
Denham - 6th June 2012 till 13th June 2012
South of Carnarvon - 13th June 2012 till 14th June 2012 {10}
Point Quobba {Blowholes} - 14th June 2012 till 18th June 2012
Carvarvon - 18th June 2012 till 20th June 2012
Kennedy Ranges - 20th June 2012 till 23rd June 2012
Mt Augustus - 23rd June 2012 till 26th June 2012
Winning Station - 26th June 2012 till 7th July 2012
Warroora Station - 7th July 2012 till 21st July 2012
Exmouth - 21st July 2012 till 24th July 2012
Winning Station - 24th July 2012 till 26th July 2012
Cheela Plains Station - 26th July 2012 till  16th August 2012
Karratha - 16th August 2012 till 19th August 2012 {no camper} {20 19}
Cheela Plains Station - 19th August 2012 till 24th August 2012
Koordarrie Station - 24th August 2012 till 20th September 2012
Carnarvon - 20th September 2012 till 23rd September 2012 {no camper} {21}
Yanrey Station - 23rd September 2012 till 5th October 2012
Karratha - 5th October 2012 till 8th October 2012 {no camper} {22}
Yanrey Station - 8th October 2012 till 9th October 2012
Winning Station - 9th October 2012 till 21st October 2012
Nerren Nerren - 21st October 2012 till 22nd October 2012
Dalwallinu - 22nd October 2012 till 23rd October 2012
Perth - 23rd October 2012 till 7th November 2012 {30 27}
Dwellingup - 7th November 2012 till 8th November 2012
Manjimup - 9th November 2012 till 21st November 2012
Peaceful Bay - 21st November 2012 till 27th November 2012
Manjimup - 27th November 2012 till 6th December 2012
Perth - 6th December 2012 till 11th December 2012
Yallingup - 11th December 2012 till 16th December 2012
Manjimup - 16th December 2012 till 4th January 2013

Karridale - 4th January 2013 till 5th February 2013Donnybrook - 5th February 2013 till 6th February 2013
Bridgetown - 6th February 2013 till 10th February 2013 {40 37}
Pemberton - 10th February 2013 till 15th February 2013
Windy Harbour - 15th February 2013 till 28th February 2013
Peaceful Bay - 28th February 2013 till 5th March 2013
Albany {Cosy Corner} - 5th March 2013 till 9th March 2013
Albany - 9th March 2013 till 12th March 2013
Holland Track - 12th March 2013 till 14th March 2013 
Kalgoorlie - 14th March 2013 till 20th April 2013
Mullewa - 20th April 2013 till 21st April 2013
Carnarvon - 21st April 2013 till 24th April 2013
Winning Station - 24th April 2013 till  28th April 2013 {50 47}
Lyndon Station - 28th April 2013 till 15th May 2013
Winning Station - 15th May 2013 till 16th May 2013
Karratha - 16th May 2013 till 18th May 2013
Roebuck Plains - 18th May 2013 till 19th May 2013
Gibb River Road Windjarna Gorge - 19th May 2013 till 22nd May 2013 
Gibb River Road Silent Grove - 22nd May 2013 till 24th May 2013
Gibb River Road Barnett River Station - 24th May 2013 till 25th May 2013
Gibb River Road Drysdale Station - 25th May 2013 till 26th May 2013
Gibb River Road Mitchell Falls - 26th May 2013 till 28th May 2013 {no camper} {55}
Gibb River Road Drysdale Station - 28th May 2013 till 29th May 2013 {60 55}
Gibb River Road Home Valley Station - 29th May 2013 till 30th May 2013
Gibb River Road El Questro Station - 30th May 2013 till 1st June 2013
Kunnarra - 1st June 2013 till 4th June 2013
Bungle Bungles - 4th June 2013 till 6th June 2013
Fitzroy Crossing - 6th June 2013 till 7th June 2013
Broome - 7th June 2013 till 11th June 2013
80 Mile - 11th June 2013 till 14th June 2013
Robe River - 14th June 2013 till 15th June 2013
Winning Station - 15th June 2013 till 7th June 2013
Lyndon Station 7th June 2013 till 14th June 2013 {70 65}
Winning Bush Gymkarna {Towera} - 14th June 2013 till 15th June 2013
Koordarrie Station - 15th June 2013 till 5th August 2013
Lyndon Station - 5th August 2013 till 12th August 2013
Wyloo Station - 12th August 2013 till 9th September 2013
Onslow - 9th September 2013 till

From Kalgoorlie to..... {Driving - Caravan Park - Driving - Tilt tray}

Well we have finally left Kalgoorlie and decided to head the road less traveled rather than following the main roads.  We left just before 9am after packing down, saying good-byes and of course filling up with fuel.

Saturday saw us driving Kalgoorlie - Menzies - Sandstone - Mt Magnet - Mullewa

Goodbye Kalgoorlie

Sunset heading into Mullewa

 Sunset at the caravan park in Mullew

Not too bad timing wise, we arrived in Mullewa just before 6pm and spent the night at the local Caravan Park, it was packed {NOT} with only one other van there.  A quick set up, dinner, a lovely hot shower and then to bed ready for a day of driving Sunday.  It was actually really good priced, non powered $13.50.

Sunday started out well, easy driving lots of wildlife {think emu's, lizards, eagles a plenty, kangaroo's, sheep, cows and even goats}, we stopped a few times for a break and lunch.  We got to Gasycone Junction and decided to head to Carnarvon for the night as planned because we still had plenty of time.

This not so little bloke was in no hurry to get off the road

There is something interesting about old telegrah poles that are still standing.  I imagine everything that they told, the stories of them being put in place and everything they have seen in the time they have been standing in that one place.

Murchison Roadhouse
{a lovely new building and nice looking caravan park grounds}

Sunsets just before we... STOP!

Then at 4.30pm about 30kms out of Carnarvon {or planned stopped for the night} our right car tyre went flying past the window, closely followed by the disc brake....... NOT what we had planned just before we hit town or at in in fact. It is easy to laugh about the fact now but I can tell you it scared the pants of me when it happened.

One's tyre is not supposed to go flying past one's window, EVER!

It was however a beautiful sunset, even over a tilt tray.

Thankfully we had finally organised our roadside assistance and that covered us for the tilt tray that we needed to put the Patrol on {and also to tow the trailer}, they are covering our extended stay in the motel in Carnarvon and also for a hire car while we are stuck here.  J is stocked to spend so much time in his most favourite of places.

So Sunday saw us driving Mullewa - Murchison - Gasycone Junction and slightly past.  And saw us towed to Carnarvon.

Monday has seen me trying to entertain the smalls with none of our normal 'things'. Although the park that they had started last time we where in town in actually finished, so we went there while waiting for the washing to finish. Even us adults had some fun.

Tuesday should hopefully see the caliper arrive for the car {thankfully all of the other parts needed where in town already} and Wednesday should see us leaving town.

This 1400kms of driving has by far been our most exciting and has also {now} given us the most laughs.

A year today {Reflection}

A year ago today we hooked up the camper trailer and hit the road.

A year ago today we started the adventure of a life time.

A year ago today we changed our lifestyle for the better.

A yer ago today we embarked on adventure that would change us all, in many ways.

I can't believe that in 12 months we have traveled the more than 25,000 kms, have been to more places than I can imagine, meet people we wouldn't have had it to been for this new life style, seen so many things that other people could only dream of and more importantly spent true quality time together as a family.

We have done all of this and are still yet to leave our home state of Western Australia and it doesn't look like happening anytime in the near future, but that is alright because we have no plans and no body standing in our way.

So here is to the next 12 months{at least}, to everything that we are yet to discover and everything we are yet learn.