A week in the life of....

Over the past few weeks we have had a lot of people asking us how we go about our day to day routine. I thought I would dedicate this blog entry to explaining what it’s like to walk a week in our shoes...

Dan is a mechanical Draftsman, so we are fortunate enough to be able to earn an income while we are travelling. However this means that we have to stick to a fairly strict routine so that his clients and the office can contact him on a regular basis.

Therefore, we spend each weekday morning staying at home (a.k.a the caravan) and in the afternoon we go exploring the area we are in.

Saturdays are usually spent catching up on anything we haven’t done yet or doing the ‘big day trips’ that we can’t do in an afternoon.

Saturday night after the kids are in bed, Dan and I usually start the pack up job. We have a safety fence the size of our awning, which takes a bit of effort to pack so we get this out of the way. This way we can wake up on Sunday morning, have breaky, do a final pack up and be ready to move on to the next place. By packing Saturday night we also get the chance to go to the many wonderful Farmer’s Markets held on a Sunday morning! Get to stock up on all the delicious fresh food for the week.

Sunday we will arrive at our new ‘home for the week’ and spend the afternoon unpacking, then wander around our new habitat to see what it has to offer. First stop is always the Visitor Information Centre.

While Dan is working in the mornings, I spend them doing schoolwork with Sam and Will, playing with Zaccy, doing the housework (which is really very easy in a caravan) and doing the washing.

Sam and Will are doing their schoolwork though Distance Education in Victoria and we think it is a fantastic program. Each ‘Unit’ is broken up in 10 days work and consists of a book for English and one for Maths. If the boys work hard, they can complete each day in about 90 minutes. At the end of each unit (2 week period) I post the corrected work back to DECV and then they will correct my correcting, and send it back with lots of feedback (and posters, certificates and stickers for the boys).

We are very lucky that Zac is such a happy little boy and loves to play by himself.  As long as I am in sight and he has his cars and his favourite car mat, he is one happy little fella.

After spending a small fortune at every Laundromat between Melbourne and Canberra, we decided to invest in a small portable washing machine. It is a 2.5kg twin tub and does a great job. I feel like I have stepped back in time though – most of the grey-nomads are very happy to tell me that my machine is “just like the one I had when I was a young woman. Well before they invented automatic machines.”  I have to wash a small load, then spin it, rinse it and spin it again. Each time I have to move it from one tub to the other. Over time, I have found easier and quicker ways to do the washing. It now only takes me about an hour to do each load!! The hard part is when we are not on power and I have to hand-wash everything!!! The more we are on unpowered sites, the more my arm muscles are growing!

We realise how lucky we are to be able to travel and earn a steady income. The boys love this life and we have all decided to make travelling a permanent part of our life (for now!)

Cruisin’ on the sand!

The Ellis and Woods families on Bribie Island

After a wonderful lunch with Dan’s cousin and her family, we took the easy drive inland to Caboolture. The hometown of singer Keith Urban, Caboolture is about 50ks north of Brisbane and is probably the last urban region of Brisbane.

Our camp at Caboolture Showgrounds

We’ve spent the last week camping at the Caboolture Showgrounds. We have discovered that most towns allow camping at their Showgrounds for a really cheap fee, and usually have power and drinking water for you to connect to. Another great thing about staying at Showgrounds is that most of them charge per site, and don’t charge for extra people. In the past (especially at caravan parks) we have been charged up to $15 per extra person (including our 2 year old) per night. Do the math – that’s an extra $45 per night on top of their normal site fee (usually between $25 and $40). If we travelled around Australia staying in caravan parks every night, we would very quickly have to turn around and go home - broke!

One problem with the Caboolture Showgrounds was the close proximity to the train lines. Zaccy loves watching the trains go past during the day, but by the end of the week the cargo trains at night were driving me crazy! There is a big intersection at the end of the Showgrounds and the trains would honk their horns (very loudly) as they approached the intersection. I am usually a very deep-sleeper, but the trains were waking me up almost every hour at night!

We arrived on Sunday afternoon, which was the last day of a week-long equestrian competition. After setting up (next to mark and Amanda’s caravan) I took Zaccy down to see the horses. He has never seen a horse up close and was amazed at the different colours and sizes they come in.

The boys were all very excited to see Charlotte and Jake and we couldn’t wait to hear about their day at Australia Zoo. Charlotte is a huge fan of Bindi’s so they had spent the day there for Bindi’s birthday. Charlotte made Bindi and present and got to give it to her in person and they even spent some time together chatting and taking photos.

While Dan worked one afternoon, I took the kids and followed the Woods family to a local strawberry farm. It is the perfect time for strawberry picking and the kids picked bucket loads. We sat on the hill overlooking the farm and ate fresh strawberries dipped in chocolate sauce for afternoon tea.

The kids pickings

Enjoying our fresh strawberries

Mark has put a new winch on his 4wd and was keen to try it out. One evening while I was cooking dinner I asked Dan to entertain the kids. So Dan and Mark hooked up the winch to a big gum tree, attached the pulley and made a flying fox for the kids.

I told Dan and Mark that they had to do the ‘test run’ and I’m not sure who had the most fun – the dads or the kids!

Unfortunately Marks new winch wasn’t working properly and wouldn’t wind back in. At least we found out at the showgrounds and not out in the bush somewhere! Mark got up early the next day to go and get it repaired.

Dropping the tire pressure for some sand driving

After an early start to school, the boys had finished by 8.30am so we packed a picnic and headed to Bribie Island for the day. We purchased a permit to drive on the beach and in the National Parks and headed off along the Surf-side of the Island. The kids all thought it was very exciting to drive along the beach talking to Mark and Amanda on the CBs. We had a race with some dolphins and watched the sea-eagles catching their breakfast.

The kids playing in the sand dunes

Enjoying having a beach to themselves

After some poor navigation on my behalf, we drove along the beach to the North end of the Island and saw the remains of WWII forts. Then we headed along the sand tracks inland to a beautiful little picnic area called Lighthouse Reach and had lunch and a glass of wine.

We LOVE it out here

Some minor repairs

After a few hiccups with the car (our roof racks managed to nearly bounce themselves off the roof – along with the roof boot and all its contents) we arrived back at the beginning of the Island. We went to the jetty and Mark and Amanda had a go at fishing (no fish, but lots of reeds) and the kids played in the playground while I took some beautiful photos of the sun setting over the Glasshouse Mountains.

On the way home we stopped off at the Caboolture RSL for dinner. Two meals, two children’s meals, soft drinks, beer or wine and desserts for $35!!!  Great food too! They even threw in a meal for Zaccy for free.

Caboolture is located at the base of the Glasshouse Mountains.  Our last few days at Caboolture we spent travelling around the Glasshouse Mountains.

We had a lovely walk through the Melaleuca Rainforest in Mooloolah and took in the beautiful views at the Glasshouse Mountains Lookout. We also walked up the incredibly steep track up the side of Wild Horse Mountain. Sam, Will and Charlotte were little troopers to get to the top without complaining, but the real heroes that day were the dads – Dan with Zaccy in the backpack and Mark with Jake on his shoulders! We were all huffing and puffing by the time we reached the lookout at the top. It was worth it though – 360^o views, from the Glasshouse Mountains to Brisbane, to Fraser, Bribie and Morton Islands and all the way up the Sunshine Coast. It was spectacular!

Zaccy found a "great walking stick"

Very proud to be the first up the hill!

We were exhausted but it was worth it

We spent the afternoon in search of some 4wd tracks and headed out to Donnybrook. After lots of private roads and dead-ends, we finally found a sandy track through the state forest. Dan was keen to get the Patrol dirty and we had great fun playing in the mud. Unfortunately one patch of grass was disguising a very boggy patch of mud and we got stuck! Even more unfortunate was the fact that Mark’s recently repaired winch couldn’t pull us out! The sun was setting quickly and the kids were getting restless. Thankfully the guys managed to get us out using the chains but Mark was not a happy camper!

We were all planning on leaving Caboolture and going to Maleny together, but the Woods need to stay here a bit longer to get their winch repaired... again!

Enjoying a drink (or two)

Queensland. Beautiful one day. Perfect the next.

After completely missing BOTH ‘Welcome to Queensland” signs with the camera as we crossed the border, we finally arrived in sunny Queensland. It has only taken us 6 months to do a journey that most people complete in 2 days!

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The boys were keen to try out 'Queensland water'

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Zaccy and Grandad playing around

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Our home for the next three weeks


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Palm Beach



It was good to meet up with Mum and Dad, and Tony and Bernie again. My older brother, Steve and his wife Jodie flew up from Melbourne with my three nephews, Jaycob, Josh and Jamie. It was great to see them and my boys were so excited to see their cousins.

Steve, Jodie and the kids hired a villa at the Palm Beach Mobile and Tourist Park where we were all staying. It was great having them close by so the kids could play together all day and at night the grown ups could still get together when the kids were in bed.

Mum and Dad had already explored the area and told the boys about a pirate playground. We spent a great afternoon there with all the boys and went back there many times throughout our stay.

A couple of days after we arrived in the Gold Coast, my younger brother Chris and his (new) fiancé, also flew up from Melbourne. They also stayed at the same park with us all. I am very close to Chris and while we have been away he proposed to Leah, and they have set a date for the wedding. I was very excited to hear all about their wedding plans and it was fantastic to finally see Leah’s engagement ring. Mum, Leah and I spent hours sitting on the beach, talking ‘weddings’, while Uncle Chris buried the boys in the sand!

Chris has recently discovered a passion for fishing. Since being on this trip I have tried to give fishing a go. I really enjoy the relaxing environment when fishing, but am yet to catch anything ‘keepable’. The fish I have caught were either too small (caught lots of those), poisonous (toadies) or inedible (carp)! Chris, Dad, Sam and I gave it a really good go while we were on the Gold Coast but didn’t have much luck. Chris managed to catch a decent sized flathead, but mangled it a bit when he tried to fillet it. Ah well, we shall keep trying!!

We found some very pretty spots to fish from, some with great views. It was a really good excuse to spend time with Chris anyway!

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Tallebudgera Creek

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The view from Tweed Heads

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Beach picnic at Tallebudgera Creek

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Leah and Chris

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Dad and the boys hand feeding the fish

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Another beautiful rainbow over our campsite


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White Water World



Both our parents bought us season tickets to Dreamworld and White Water World. We went to White Water World with Steve and his family and had a fabulous day. Sam loves rides (the bigger the better), and Will and Zac had a great time playing in the pools.  Zac discovered the water slides at Wiggle Bay and spent the rest of the day going again, and again, and again......





Sam disappeared with Dan and Steve to see which ride was the scariest and Will and Jay had a great time in the wave pool.

The day we had planned to go to Dreamworld, Zaccy wasn’t feeling well. Mum and Dad (very kindly) offered to look after him for the day to avoid disappointing Sam and Will. They took Zaccy down to the beach and had a really nice time with him and Chris and Leah.

Obviously we love having Zaccy around, but we forgot how nice it was to not have to drag around nappy bags, prams, endless supplies of food and drinks to accommodate a toddler. We lathered on the sunscreen and walked into Dreamworld empty handed. This enabled us to go quickly and freely on any ride we chose.

Since going on a really scary water slide that last time we were on the Gold Coast, Will has had a fear of rides. If you know Will, you will know that he is a bit crazy at times and does some really reckless things. He is often throwing himself off things that – in my opinion – are far too high, and he loves anything that gives him a bit of a thrill.  It surprised us that he was still scared of the rides and Dan and I had thought that if we could get him on one ride, he would soon get over his fear and realise the fun he could have.

What a bad idea!!! We convinced him to go on the Rocky Hollow Log Ride. It was good because when you line up, you can’t get a good view of the actual ride. We kept telling him that it would be fun, he might get wet, but we will all be safe. Ok, so we were trying to trick him into thinking it was less scary than it actually is.... are we bad parents? I will let you decide that. Anyway, we get to the start of the queue (after lining up for about 30 minutes) and Will sees the grand finale of the ride – that part where the log carrying the passengers, comes hurtling out of the tunnel, down a huge slope and crashes into the water below. He starts to beg us not to make him go on, but we stand strong.

We all board the ‘log’ and Will is doing alright. Until we start to climb up the mountain... then he starts crying and tries to climb out. I am behind him, hugging him and saying soothing things in his ear, all the while thinking we have made a huge mistake! Will cries the entire way around the ride and screams his little heart out as we plunge down the last drop! We promised him we would buy the photo if he went on the ride. So now we have a permanent record of Will crying, Sam grinning and Dan and I feeling like the worst parents in the world!

After all that, all it took was Sam to say to Will, “Come on the Kite Flyer with me. I promise you will love it. It’s just like being Superman”. Will went on the ride, absolutely loved it, and went on as many rides as possible for the rest of the day.

So basically, we had the right idea about getting him over his fear; we just went about it completely wrong!

Once Zaccy was feeling better, we took him to Dreamworld too. We had another lovely day. This time we went slower and enjoyed more of the shows and less of the rides. That’s not to say we didn’t go on any rides. All week I had been challenging Sam to go on the Tower of Terror II with me. He was bragging to Chris that he’s not scared of any rides, so I set the challenge. It wasn’t until the very end of the day – just as they were closing the rides – that Sam worked up the courage to go on it. It was a sight I will never forget. He face changed from fear, to petrifaction, and then to excitement as the ride concluded. He was breathing so heavily and his little heart was racing. I was so proud of my little ‘ride buddy’.

The highlight of our trip to Dreamworld was having a family photo with Lola the koala. It was out of Dan and I who got to hold her. Of course I won! She was a beautiful 4 year old koala that was born at Dreamworld. The boys loved stroking her and giving her cuddles. On the way out Zaccy saw a little teddy koala and fell on love with it. Sam was very generous and bought it for Zaccy, using his own pocket money. Of course the koala’s name is now Lola and has become Zaccy’s favourite bedtime teddy.

When we first planned this trip, I was worried about the safety of Zac. We were planning on doing as much free camping as possible and that usually means camping by water. You usually pull up next to the beach, a river or a lake. We decided that to keep me sane and Zaccy safe, we would buy a fence to go around the awning. We purchased two big wooden playpens and they have been fantastic. However, after being used and abused and exposed to the weather, the fence has finally fallen apart.  We decided that our longer than usual stay at Palm Beach was a great time to build a new fence. We spent a few days (and lots of money) planning, buying the equipment and making the new fence. It was worth it! The new fence is stronger, lighter and looks so much better than the old one ever did.

Dan’s cousin and her family live in Brisbane, so we had to catch up with them. Sian, Martin and their two beautiful girls Olive and Hazel invited us to their gorgeous house in Brisbane, cooked us a fabulous meal including a magnificent lemon tart (made by Martin) and showed us a really good time. The kids all got along really well and had great fun playing in the garden, running around and telling bedtime stories.

We decided that one night together was not enough, so they all came down to Palm Beach and pitched their tent on the site behind us for a night. Once they set up, we went to the beach in search of good surfing waves. Dan and Will were keen for Martin to give them a few lessons in the water. Unfortunately the waves were huge and would have broken not only the boards but bodies too, so we had to settle for playing on the sand and paddling in the water.

After a great BBQ dinner, we got the kids into bed and spent hours drinking a few wines and catching up.

The next morning we all packed up ready to leave and headed to the beach for one last swim. The kids had a great time playing in the sand then we went to a local cafe for lunch. We are hoping to get back to Brisbane on the way home so we can visit Sian, Martin and the girls again.