Our Travel Blog

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Day 41 HOME Tassie to Darwin

The sailing was rough and I have to admit I felt a bit ill at one stage! 

But we got off the boat early and after the usual Tassie rigmarole getting off we were finally on home soil.

It was a lovely day but still had snow on the mountains in the distance.

Home safe and sound after a fantastic holiday. 

We did over 11000 Kilometres over 40 days. Set the camper up and packed up 19 times.

All our fears of the kids travelling and having to set up camp so many times didnt come true. Everyone got in and did their piece making it easy for all of us. Michelle and I are really pleased with how the kids went with everything. 

We had our adversities to overcome with the Patrol and camper but once again we all stuck together and got through everything that was thrown at us. And now that it is over its is those things that help to make the memories.

We did our holiday as cheap as we could. It is expensive bringing a family of 5 over on the boat and doing a road trip from one end of Australia to the other but we managed it on the budget we had allowed ourselves....just!

We met some fantastic people along the way, so many like minded families and individuals. 

And that pretty much sums up our 40 days Holiday :) Until next time...............

Day 40 BALLARAT TO BOAT Tassie to Darwin

Well the time has come to pack up for the final time and head to the boat. We have no real plans today expect to be at the boat by around 5pm so we were in no hurry to leave the cabin.

On the road towards the big smoke.

We stopped at a couple of large shopping centres along the way to fill in time.

And before you know it we are back in the City and head over towards the boat.

We met some friends and had a coffee before boarding the boat which was good, although I was now starting to get the man flu and didnt feel the best. It must have been the swimming in the freezing cold the day before LOL

No photos of our friends regretfully but heres proof...the coffees!

We had quite a wait boarding the boat but was relieved to drive on knowing we had made it! We spent some time on the boat chatting to a Tassie friend and having a few drinks, the sailing was pretty rough but we survived.

Day 39 BALLARAT Tassie to Darwin

We were keen to do the Sovereign Hill touristy thing but the weather so bad we decided that for the cost of getting in it would probably be spoilt by the freezing cold winds and rain so we just did as much as we could in between the rain in town.

The beat up tug and camper looks almost relieved to be parked up for a couple of days!

A couple of pics of the sights in Ballarat.

We went and had a look at the Eureka touristy thing!

The actual flag!

We had a look around the shops in town and grabbed a drink :)

Then it was back to the cabin to make use of the facilities. A spa, sauna and swim! Yep Tasmanians go swimming when its -2 outside LOL

We spent the rest of the night relaxing indoors again.

Day 38 MURRAY BRIDGE TO BALLARAT Tassie to Darwin

Its fair to say we all slept pretty good after our long days driving the day before. I know I did. Todays aim is to get to Ballarat which is not that far away really so its a pretty easy drive day.

Our cabin was a dump to put it blunt but thats all we needed.

Some of the sights on the drive to Ballarat.

A brand new truck burnt out??

A great man gone way too early in life. RIP Andy Caldercott.

And the border crossing. We are back in Victoria and confidence is growing that against our failing rig and camper we are going to make it home!

Only in Australia, you bloody ripper :)

Not long down the road we arrived at a sunny but freezing Ballarat.

There had been a lot of rain, the ground was drenched and it looked like a lot more was on the way so we grabbed ourselves a nice cabin at one of the local big 4's to treat ourselves after everyone being so good setting up and packing up the camper for the last 6 weeks.

A really nice cabin it was too.

Anyone would think the kids have been deprived!!

We got settled into the cabin, went into Ballarat and did some shopping and that was pretty much it for the day as it was pouring down with rain and windy outside so we relaxed in doors. It was a novelty to see rain though after 6 weeks of sunshine!

Day 37 COOBER PEDY TO MURRAY BRIDGE Tassie to Darwin

We decided we had seen enough of Coober Pedy so we were up pretty early and decided to see how far South we could get before the kids had had enough of driving.

Our radiator for some reason decided it would leak every morning but stopped once the radiator was warm so I gave it a dose of the old fashioned stop leak.....black pepper!

The iconic shot that we all take when arriving or in our case leaving Coober pedy.

Our or should I say, Michelles lasting memory of Coober Pedy

And "On the road again" :) This time highways, no more outback tracks for us.

I wont do a lot commentary for this section of highway so Ill let the pics do the talking

We stopped at a roadhouse for lunch to save time, the name of it escapes me but it was your typical take away crappy food

And not too long later we drove through Port Augusta. In fact we grabbed some diesel and supplies while here.

The landscape was finally changing to something we are more familiar with....green grass and rainy weather.

And then it was into the hustle bustle of Adelaide

We dont have tunnels in Tassie!

We were pretty much over driving but pushed on to get out of Adelaide and was now heading east towards Victoria.

And after driving a record 920 kilometres we decided to grab ourselves a cabin and after cooking tea we all slept very well. The cabin wasnt much, but we chose a cheap one as we knew it was only an overnight sleepover.

In fact we had set up our camper 19 times during our holiday so we decided once we got to Ballarat we would get a nice cabin and treat ourselves to some indoor luxury for our last two nights.