WickedWitchofWest

And more specifically, has anyone done with children?

I am planning to do with my children -- and husband, in case the car breaks down


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wmoore

Would love to do that. Who knows, we're due our $100k bond back in 5 months

HiddenPaw

Done part of it - but had no kids at the time. Decided to take a few months out when we first moved to Oz, bought a 4WD and went up the middle from Adelaide (via family in Vic) to Darwin (and everything on the way - red centre, Katherine, Kakadu, Lichfield, etc, etc), across to Qld - via Mt Isa, Gulf of Carpentaria, then Cairns, Daintree, GBR, down the east coast.

We did a lot of camping and met quite a few families with kids who were touring OZ. I'd love to do that with my children - what a great experience for them.

We eventually had to dash back to Melbourne as Mr HP got called for a job interview. In hindsight, there was no hurry....we should have done it for longer. For some reason we felt nervous about being out of the workforce for too long, but I don't suppose we needed to have felt like that.

If you have the opportunity, do it...it was the best thing I ever did.

johnnyboy

I'm planning to do the same with my wife and young daughter.

Not sure at the moment how much it's going to cost in total for approx 9 months of free spirit living.

HiddenPaw

You know, that's exactly how we felt. Free spirits....no ties, no work, no stress, no home, no responsibilities.... brilliant!! I am envious of what you're about to do. Hope you have the most amazing trip!

johnnyboy

We will have to eventually become responsible and get a job, i'll have to hold my nerve so that we're not tied down too early.

So looking forward to my taste of retirement, I can't stand the thought of working till i'm old!

HiddenPaw

he, he, you'll certainly find that - I reckon the majority of campers that we met were part of the 'grey brigade' - retired Aussies who spent 4-6 months of the year towing their caravans around Australia (or at least, to warmer parts.)

mickagnew

When I first visted Oz in 1990 done the trip in a VW camper van as follows
Sydney - Canberra - Melbourne - Adelaide - Ayers Rock - back to adelaide - Perth via nullabor (long way doing 60mph) - Broome via monkey mia - Darwin -
down and acroos to Cairns - Brisbane - Sydney. All a very long way apx 18000miles I believe in 5 months, not long enough but glad we did it. we were though minus kids but was 4 of us, great time, only broke down once in the middle of nowhere, bought a secondhand petrol pump for 10 bucks and were off again. Great trip, great places to stay even in the bush and great people, you will never forget the memories of something like that.

Good luck and go for it.

Mick

WickedWitchofWest

You said a few months. Do you remember how long did it take? johnnyboy talked about 9 months, but I am a bit scared being out of the market (actually, IT husband, not me )for so long ...

Nice to hear that it was the best thing. I guess it will be the same for us.

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scottyboy

I too did a fair bit of Aus in a VW kombi.
I can REALLY reccomend buying a camper. We had friends who had cars and tents and they used to look on in envy as we lowered the pop-top and slung our gear in the back ready to set off.
We didn't have kids at the time and now we have two.
We intend to do it again once we get over but I think the big diference having kids would make would be to the amount of driving you could do in one go.
Some days we would drive from dawn till dusk to get the huge distances covered but I can't imagine my two putting up with that.
Make sure you do it though, it's the best thing I ever did.

Good luck.

Scotty.

S J Jackson

Hi

Will rewrite my reply as computer keeps p###ing me off and crashing every time I write a long post!!

Well, my sister , her hubby and her 2 kids aged 4 and 8 are 6 weeks into their 12 month trip around Oz. They left the sunshine Coast just before christmas and are currently in WA somewhere!!
She like a few of our friends from the UK who are backpacking are using a website called www.getjealous.com to record their travels - this includes a diary, map, message board and space for a number of photos. It is free unless you need more photo space.
If you pm me I would give the name of their diary and her email address. I am sure she will be able to give you information about cost, home schooling etc.

Sarah

scottyboy

Sent you a PM Sara. Hope it's ok to jump on the band wagon.

Scotty.

scottyboy

Sorry.

SARAH not Sara.

S J Jackson

Can`t find your PM so I PMd you.

Sarah

WickedWitchofWest

Just sent you a PM.

I'm so happy to hear about that!!
Thanks a lot

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