My Maiden Voyage

I finally got up the nerves to tow the caravan myself. I haven’t had much experience towing and was very nervous about pulling along our home and all of our belongings along the road.



I decided that the trip from Mendooran to Premer was along fairly quiet roads, with no big mountains to climb and no steep winding roads.

I’m still not sure who was more nervous, me or Dan. Dan is never a good passenger, he’s the sort of passenger that has his foot pressed into the floor of the car trying to brake and he holds on to the dash so tight his knuckles turn white! Come to think of it, I think Dan is the sole reason I was so nervous towing the van!!



Other than nearly getting pushed off the road by a HUGE truck, I did really well. Dan even admits that it wasn’t the worst experience in his life. However, I do think I will leave the driving to Dan, but at least I know I can tow the caravan in an emergency.

Premer was a great little campground. Run by the local Lions Club, it only cost $10 per night and you get a powered site, water, and use of their hot showers and BBQs. The campground backs on to the local primary school and the boys thought it was a bit weird sitting doing their school work while watching the local kids going to school. They started missing their old school until they realised they had finished their schoolwork for the day before the schoolkids had even had morning recess!



I was doing our washing one day and was talking to Dan about my fear of mice. I kid you not – I was just discussing with Dan whether I would scream or simply hold my breath in panic if I saw a mouse. I picked up the washing I was sorting and a mouse ran onto my hand. I now officially know – much to the amusement of my Dad and Dan, I’m a screamer!

We left Premer a day earlier than Mum and Dad and headed to Tamworth. Sam is in Grade 3 this year and is taking part in the NAPLAN testing, so we had to get to Tamworth Post Office to collect his test.



After a quick trip through the centre of town (in peak hour traffic – which is never fun with a huge caravan on the back) to the Post Office, we headed to a little campground on the banks of the Cockburn River. It was dark by the time we arrived there and we soon realised that we had no telephone service. One of our requirements when choosing a place to stay, is that there must be phone and internet service. Dan needs to be in contact with the office and his clients for work.



We decided to stop there for the night and get up early to find somewhere else to stay. However when we woke up we realised that the campground was just beautiful. A big sheltered area with tables and chairs, fire pits and lots of wood, and the river was simply gorgeous. So after a quick discussion we decided that Dan would drive into town every hour to check his messages, retrieve emails and return phone calls. As it was nearly the weekend, we decided to stay at Cockburn River and move on Sunday afternoon to find somewhere else with better reception.

While Dan was out making phone calls, I set up the NAPLAN test for Sam. Will sat on the picnic blanket and did his schoolwork while Zac played cars next to him. We had a lovely morning, and had all finished by the time Mum and Dad arrived after lunch... just in time for Dad and the boys to go exploring the river.

While we were at Cockburn River we ate all our meals at the outside table next to a roaring campfire. It got very cold at night, and with no power to run the heaters, I sat snuggled up by the fire in the evenings.

On the weekend we went for a drive back to Tamworth to find the Golden Guitar. I was inspired by all of the cowboys in Tamworth and bought myself a new hat. We went shopping then drove up to the Oxley Lookout.

Whilst at the lookout we got talking to another family that is also travelling around Australia. As we were talking we soon discovered that we had a lot in common. We both live in Eastern Melbourne, both decided to travel for similar reasons, both bought the same caravan from the same caravan dealer, and both have travelled almost identical paths from Melbourne to Tamworth. The big difference was that they have been on the road for almost a year and are on their second trip around Oz.

After chatting for a while (“sooo long” – according to the boys) we exchanged numbers and arranged to try to meet up soon (we were also heading in the exact same direction!).

One of the many great things about this trip so far, is the wonderful people we continue to meet. We have a lot in common with most of the people we have met so far. We all have an obvious love of travelling the country, seeing and meeting new people, and living the simple life.

“Getting back to basics” is a bit of a theme that Dan and I have chosen to live by. Over the past few months we have learnt a lot about ourselves. While living in Kilsyth we were by no means making the most of our lives. It is very easy to get carried away with complications that are really not as important as you think. It felt like we never had time to ourselves, let alone time to spend with our family and friends. We spent most of our weekends running around looking after the house, and doing jobs.  This trip has taught us that the less you have to look after, the less time is taken up with looking after it! Quite simple really, but we seemed to have forgotten that lesson somewhere along our lives. I’m grateful that we have remembered it now, before grow up any more!