It was the holiday that was constantly in danger of being remembered as ‘that holiday’… Exmouth 2016… probably the last time we venture there in July. Rain, wind and jam packed caravan parks made for an unpleasant 10 days so it may be time to consider other options.

By day 3 I found myself saying to Danelle, ‘maybe we aren’t caravanners any more?’ Driving rain and obnoxious neighbours (yes the people I was trying to think the best of in a previous post…) were taking their toll and I was becoming a little grumpy. Maybe more than a little…

I like to remember the holidays we have had so this is nothing more than a collection of random reflections – read on if you are up for a brain dump.

Friday lunch time we hit the road – new van yet again and towed by the Colorado and ready for some fun. We rolled into Dongara mid afternoon and had barely unhitched before Sam and I hit the water for some good waves. A warm sunny afternoon and glassy conditions were a great way to start. The Wesleys were on their way but wouldn’t get there till 7 so we kicked back and relaxed. We had checked Exmouth weather but couldn’t really believe what we were reading – heavy rain for 3 days at least – one day up to 270ml they were predicting.

We had a fun first night in Dongara and hit the road for Carnarvon. Well, when I say hit the road… we made it to the S bend for fuel, then stopped in Geraldton for coffee and shortly after for a wee break, so it was a while before we were rolling at full tilt.

Neither Stu nor I like to do the grey nomad thing of sitting on 85kph to save fuel, so we hit cruise control and drove and drove at 100kph for most of the way. The fuel economy took a hit, but when we worked it out, it seems we may have paid an extra $15 for fuel and saved 3 hours of travel time. No brainer really… And driving in cruise control in so much easier than trying to keep the pedal to the floor.

Carnarvon was chilly and wet. We got there in time for a run and some late dinner before hitting the sack. The next day we drove to Exmouth and by the Minilya turn off the clouds were forming. By Waroora turn off the rain was smashing down and we were wondering what was happening. Not what you hope for…

We arrived and set up the van in the rain. Even with a minimal set up I got soaked. Stu & Carolyn had a nightmare set up with the power, gas and water not working on their hire van initially. The gas and water were an easy fix but there was no power until the next day. Still not sure what went wrong, but it righted itself and was good.

And it rained… and rained… and rained… We now know for sure our van is watertight.

On day two we decided to put the annexe up. I’m not an annexe fan, but every time we opened the door we got wet and cold so this gave us some shelter and a place to gather. I almost left it at home, but so glad we brought it.

And it rained…

Then our neighbours arrived on day 2. Sadly they weren’t warm friendly people, like most of the rest of the campsite. They had booked 3 adjacent sites – sites we needed to walk thru to get to the ablutions, but early in the piece it became clear they weren’t happy about that. The kids got told off several times and then as I walked across for a shower I heard them comment, ‘there they go again… walking across our site’. I walked another few steps and then stopped, turned around and decided to ‘hear’ the passing comment. In the end the reason they didn’t want us walking on their site was because it was ‘theirs’… hmmm… I couldn’t argue with that so I left. We met as families and agreed that it wasn’t worth causing a fight over and we’d walk 30m up the road a bit to cross thru someone else’s site.

Unfortunately that set the tone for the rest of the week as they yelled and screamed at one another descending into full frontal arguments at times and making the whole vibe pretty unpleasant for anyone who happened to be around. I could go on, but I won’t…

We got out of camp as much as we could to escape their yelling, but with the weather what it was there were only so many things to do. We had a couple of lame surfs, went fishing to no avail a few times and splashed the cars around in the mud, not remembering how difficult it would be to clean them later.

I had started ‘running’ again, well, ‘intervals’ is what we were calling it – walking and slow jogging, which felt so pathetic, but even with that low impact work my knees were arcing up. I pressed on hoping they would get better. They didn’t, so I began popping anti inflammatories instead!

After 7 days in camping purgatory we escaped and went to the National Park where we had 3 nights booked at Osprey campground – well we thought we had three nights, but in reality it was two, as I had stuffed up the booking. Even in a busy campground it felt peaceful as we weren’t listening to people bicker all day. The rain had stopped, but in its place were strong winds for most of the day. Osprey is a beautiful area and the campground is great, but on the 3rd day when the campground host came to ask why we hadn’t packed up I think we weren’t that bothered because the winds were forecast to get stronger and we were ready for a change. So in the space of half an hour we cleared out and began the trip back to Carnarvon for the night before planning to land in Dongara for 3 nights. (We had heard our previous neighbours plans to go to Kalbarri so we ruled that out as an option.)

We headed south and into a strong headwind. At 100kph the Colorado got 23l/100 with the van in tow – not pretty at all, but we weren’t going to sit on 80 to save a few $$. With a tailwind a few days later it got 15-16 at 100kph, but usually its around 18l/100. I guess you spend time or money and we will choose money.

We enjoyed another cool night in Carnarvon, people had showers and then in the morning headed for Dongara. Along the way the coffee machine had died and the chemical toilet opening mechanism had failed. No coffee wasn’t an option so we picked up a new machine in Geraldton and also got the toilet part. Sanity restored.

It was a really nice few days in Dongara, relaxing, surfing, reading, and chatting. The surf was still pretty average, the fishing was lousy but we had fun as two families together. As a holiday it could well enter the realms of the forgettable, if not for friends.

With lousy weather, bad surf, no fish, wacky neighbours and a collection of breakdowns you could lose your cool. Or, as we did, you could just be glad to be in another space for a period free of responsibility and work.

We cruised back into home on Saturday morning hoping the rain that was predicted would soften the mud on the car prior to washing. But for once the rain didn’t come and we drove home dry. The only event of the drive home was watching the caravan window cartwheel back up the road near Wedge Island. We were fortunate it didn’t hit anyone or even get damaged in the dust up. It had wiggled open as we drove and then the force of the side wind had snapped the rivets and dislodged it. I fixed it this morning and its all good – which is nice because as I reviewed online prices for parts and repair it was ugly.

So here we are back in Perth in mid-July… all thanks to our kids now having a regular edukation. I haven’t spent this much of a winter in Perth for quite a while so it will be an interesting change. Normally I come back from holidays and hit the ground running as the retic season kicks off, but being mid winter I’m not sure what to expect. It seems I already have nearly 3 weeks of work booked up and I’m not sure how that happened. But maybe its a good thing as we need to generate a bit of income again.

Next year’s mid year break won’t be in Exmouth though…

So we just got back from a great two weeks of holidays and driving to church today I asked the family – so what was the highlight of the last two weeks of holidays?

Ellie – ‘hmmm hanging with our friends’

Sam – ‘yep – fun with the Wesleys’

Danelle ‘same’

Me – ‘haha – yeah that was it for me too’

Then Sam asks ‘what about your low points dad? Got any?’

Me ‘the never ending rain, the dipstick neighbours, the wind that came once the rain ended, the lack of surf, the coffee machine dying, the toilet breaking, our crap fishing efforts, my (other) knee giving me pain, stuffing up the campsite bookings…’ I stopped there.

I’m sure there was more, but the point was made. When you hang out with good people you can have a great time even if the weather, surf, fish and everything else conspire against you.

We won’t be heading back to Exmouth again in July, but it was a fun holiday anyway!

My Facebook feed does that ‘on this day’ thing, where it pops up memories of events in previous years and lately its been peppering me with images from our trip round Oz in 2009. Each time I see a pic something in me goes ‘boom’ and I want to be back there. Here’s one of Danelle and Sam at Ubirr in Kakadu. Danelle is showing Sam the way to Arnhem Land – and possibly hoping he and his teddy would take off there because he was being a proper little turd that day! That’s where we were on June 8th 2009…

If I had a memory/memories I would choose to carry with me every day of our life as a family then it would be the 6 months we spent on the road travelling around this country. As soon as I see the images I think ‘we should do it again!’ It triggers one of those ‘feel good’ chemicals in my brain and I want to quit everything and hit the road once more in anticipation of an awesome experience.

Then I come back to reality.

It’s not that we couldn’t do it, because we probably could make it happen. But the reality comes in knowing that part of what made it special was that our kids were 8 & 6 and still loved hanging with us. We had a ball together. They are teenagers now and while we get on really well, the thought of 6 months away from friends cooped up with us just doesn’t inspire them like it did then. Now when we go on holidays the primary question is not ‘where are we going?’ but rather ‘who else will be there?’ and often ‘when will be home?’

And then there’s the reality that seeing somewhere twice is never the same as the first time you encounter it. 2009 was a trip of ‘firsts’, of saying ‘wow!’ often, of waking up in strange new places or sometimes just on the side of the road and unsure of what the day would hold. It was our first extended time of camping and figuring out how to live on the road. We’ve been to a big slab of this country now and seen it at its best, and I know that having revisited some places since, the magic of that first visit can’t be replicated. We’re experienced campers / caravaners now and it all seems less of an adventure now.

But how good is it to have memories – thoughts that spark feelings of good times – that remind us of how good life can be?

I sometimes have to remind myself that while on that trip we lost a job and $250K in a bad investment, because those are not the things that come back to me. What does is the beauty of our country, the joy of family travel and the fun of adventure.

I’m hoping that one day we will do it again, most likely just the two of us, but who knows, maybe our kids will take their kids and invite us to join them…

And just for fun here are a few random memories that still make me smile:

Homeskooling in Exmouth – ok so this is going well…

Breakfast somewhere on the Stuart Highway on the way to Queensland

Evening at Barn Hill… hooahh!

At Seaforth in Northern Queensland with the grey nomads teaching the kids how to feed the birds.

Our first ‘capital improvement’ to the camper. In Mission Beach we bought a portaloo and Danelle was excited.

We stayed with Ken & Leanne in inner city Brisbane and it was one long narrow driveway to back the van up.

Cold water surfing in Pambula – scored some great waves in those few days!

Dunny at legendary Oz surf break – Cactus in the desert in South Oz

Morning waves alone at Cactus – sharky

A stormy night in Yambuk made better by this crazy slide

And I could keep going as I’m having another winter day off from retic, but that’ll do for now, or I really will want to hit the road again

So we got home last weekend and have been adjusting back to reality.

Eight weeks is a long break. I noticed that after 2-3 weeks I had some sort of a tug to ‘go back’ and get on with work and life, but 8 weeks took me to a different place, almost like I had ‘forgotten’ that old life, so coming home was harder than I imagined.

We had got quite used to life on the road and were enjoying the time down south as a family. Someone asked me if we were feeling ‘cramped’ in the caravan. It seemed like an odd question… ‘Cramped?… Nope…’ Funny how you just adapt to things. 17 square metres is plenty once you get your routine sorted. I felt we could have rolled on indefinitely, but it was time to come back and replenish the bank account.

It was hard heading home knowing that with the kids going back to school next year, this was going to be our last big holiday for a while. School holidays are now setting the tone for our life… Blech…

So this week I launched back into work and went pretty hard – even fell asleep on the couch a couple of nights this week… I haven’t quite settled back into this life yet, but I’m hoping it will come, because it kinda has to…

The final part of our time away was great – probably better than the first 5 weeks even. Koh Samui was nice, but I’m glad it was free as I probably wouldn’t pay money to go there – a bit like a clean and expensive version of Bali. We had a good time there away from the kids, but the long flights and travel time weren’t great.

We came back from there and headed down south where we spent another 10 nights. We skipped our old favourites of Busso and Margs and headed inland to Bridgetown, before heading for Walpole, Parry’s Beach, Albany and the Stirling Ranges with a final night staying with friends in Narrogin.

The real value of this trip was that it reminded us again how much we love the southwest. Its been a long time since we had been there as most of our holidays are in winter, but this was beautiful… cold, often wet, but still really nice. We dodged the weather a bit as we travelled, but did get caught in a few storms here and there. One night in Walpole I remember going to sleep and reflecting on how good it was to be in such a remote, quiet and peaceful place, then at 5.00am we woke to a strong winds making our awning flap like crazy. Danelle and I hopped up and packed it away in the cold, raining darkness before tucking back into bed, only to hear the bed end flys trying to take off. So I was back out 3 more times tying things down before finally settling again at 6.00am. Of course by then I was wide awake…

All things considered the caravan served us really well and while we aren’t deeply attached to it, I think we will keep it for a bit. The extra space, the onboard bathroom and hot water system made life a lot easier. The hills and winding roads of the south west meant driving a little more concentration and the fuel bill was a little steeper, but given we only did a total of 2000ks it was hardly noticeable.

We had some wonderful moments while away and the beauty of being ‘cramped’ up in a caravan is that you simply have to interact as a family. We had some fun and games, DVDs, some deep conversations and then other nights there was silence as all 4 of us read books.

Our kids were brilliant. At the end of week 1 I was worried as they were making unhappy noises about not having friends and being stuck with us for another 7 weeks… but we talked and they chose to enjoy the time rather than endure it. They made it as good for us as hopefully we did for them.

Sambo got right into the fishing standing outside in the freezing cold until dark some nights, we all climbed Bluff Knoll together, caught up with old friends and generally had a really memorable time.

Given it was so good I think we might do the shorter southern trips a little more often from here on it.

So now I’ve just got to adjust my mind to the demands of real life, a business to run and a church to lead… all very different to waking up when you like and the hardest part of the day being deciding what to have for dinner!

So we pack up the Expanda – by now we are experts (and experts always get complacent) and trundle off around the cape 70ks to our new home. On the way we drop in at Dunes to check the surf – the girls have given permission for Sam and I to have one last surf before we disappear down the coast another 50ks. That said it is the kind of permission that says ‘ok… You surf and we will wait patiently doing nothing until you get back…’ Ellie is less careful ‘they’re doing what? You’re kidding!’

So we drive van and car into the carpark hoping there are no unexpected events happening that will necessitate a careful maneuver reversing out. Quite the opposite – the carpark has 4 cars and we have come to realise this means the surf is small. A couple of young Aussie blokes head over the hill to join the one Euro Touro in the water waiting for whatever waves may appear. It is high tide but the small swell is barely breaking so after 5 minutes of enjoying the view we agree  together that there isn’t much point in paddling out. Sam is agreeing less than the rest of us – he has just found his surfing legs so any wave is better than no wave. He is a compliant kid though so the family ‘no vote’ wins and we hop back in the car bound for the North Kurrajong campground.

30 minutes later we arrive to a half empty campground and locate our area, a huge bay next to Martin and Rosemary, a pair of nomads from Queensland. They seem friendly enough and are your typical senior cit on the road, traveling frugally and passing on all of their accumulated wisdom to anyone who will listen.

We set up the van – we are now experts remember?… Unfortunately none of us remembers to switch the fridge to gas and in the morning there is a distinct sense that all is not cold. It looks like we have caught it before it got ugly so we should survive without a long drive back to Exmouth to replenish.

The wind has turned strong northerly as Sam and I head up to check out the beach. On the drive down we had discussed the surf that breaks in the reefs around 600-700m offshore and agreed we would paddle out to see what we could find. Sam is keen to go. He wants to ‘get some barrels, slam some cutties, smash the lip…’ In reality he may stand up and stodgily flounder down the face of the wave before stacking it at the bottom, but I choose not to erase his grand vision.

We wait until 4pm to paddle out and give the wind a chance to drop. It mellows a little and we begin the paddle – me on my 8’8″ mal and Sam on his short board. I stop every 3 minutes to allow him to catch up. It’s mid tide, but by the time we get close to the reef my fingers are getting scratched by coral as we paddle. Each stop has me trying not to rest a foot on the increasingly shallow ocean bottom. Sam is now worried about sharks, coral, the distance and pretty much everything you can imagine. He finds fear in the strangest places…

As we reach the edge of the reef it is quite obvious we will not be going further. It would be a foolish and very un-Eco friendly walk over sharp coral to get to waves that were now much larger and dredgier than they had appeared from shore. Sam is visibly relieved when I suggest we turn back. By comparison to other days we have been here this was a very small surf day so I can only imagine the size of the waves on those reefs at other times.

The paddle in is slow and punctuated with regular breaks, but we eventually arrive and Sam heads off in search of crabs, aka ‘bait’, around the rocks. Two hours later he reappears victorious having caught and pummeled with a large rock one small crab. He is proud of his hunter gatherer achievements and heads off back to the van to pack the crab in a zip-lock bag ready for the next day’s fishing. (Yeah… We could have just bought bait…)

We sit on the top the dunes and have a quiet drink (of tea…) with the other campers and the day ends as the sun goes down and the cold of evening suddenly sets in. Danelle is now wearing a jumper and zipping up everything on the van that can be closed. I brave the ‘cold’ to bbq the chicken outside but after 15 minutes discover that with the increasing wind, there is barely enough heat to keep the chicken warm let alone cook it.

Eventually we cook in the van and settle in for dinner with chicken and salad before an evening movie – a quirky weekly Danelle picked up from the Exmouth video store. I watch the first 30 mins, fall asleep, snore loudly and get nudged, before waking for the last half hour. ‘Julie and Julia’ is less than awesome but it did wile away a couple of hours…

Ellie has decided she wants back in the family home this evening (she has a tent she erects to escape us) so we fold the dining table down into a makeshift bed that I have constructed and Sam – being still the shortest – finds himself on there yet again. iPads and tablets light the caravan as we read but slowly one by one they extinguish as we nod off.

The night is still and quiet – it seems too good to be true, but for 9 hours the only sound is the gentle crashing of the waves and we sleep wonderfully and wake to a dead still, and even somewhat warm morning.

It has been a much needed relief from the noise and bustle of major caravan parks.

The homeward journey is a bittersweet thing. There is the end of holidays and relaxing, but also the anticipation of home comforts and friends… And of course work… Which isn’t as negative as it sounds. I enjoy time away but a life without purpose beyond relaxing and doing what I want is not what I am made for.

We left Denham this morning after 2 days there and began the drive south and tonight we are in Port Denison listening to the wind and rain as it beats down on the camper. We had ‘finished’ in Denham and felt the need to move on, but on reflection one more day might have been wise. I always misjudge how I will feel when we re-enter clouds, wind and rain. I expect this part of the world to be like the north – sunny only colder. I don’t know why. It isn’t rational! So when we we were approaching Northampton today and the first signs of cloud and cold were appearing I suddenly felt flat and annoyed. I think next time we head north we might make the final drive an 8 hour straight thru.

Shark Bay/Denham was really nice – beautiful beaches and cool sunny days minus the wind. The school kids had all gone home so it was just us and the grey nomads – some of whom had been in that same caravan park for several months… I can’t fathom that, as there is so little to do in 2-3 days… What must a month be like?

So it was nice to enjoy some peace and quiet at last. We did the Monkey Mia dolphin thing which I really think is highly overrated. Still whoever stumbled on a way to get those fellas to rock up to shore 3 times a day every day must be laughing all the way to the bank. We explored a bit of Francois Peron Nat Park and also some of the western bays on the drive out. Its pretty stunning through there and if it were a bit warmer we would love to head back there. If I were into fishing I reckon Denham would be awesome. But as a surfer it’s probably the worst possible scenario with no surf even possible on either side of the peninsula. The local pizza shop does a great woodfired pizza though and that was one of the high points. If you get there then be sure and try one – although the nomads weren’t so excited about the pizza shop as it seems the owner turns up to work when he feels like it and goes to he pub when he doesn’t…

We drove back out to Great Northern Highway, stopping here and there to sightsee and then set sail for home. Usually we find ourselves stopping at Galena bridge on the murchison river, but today we headed thru a bit further to make the final run home a short one. We have never camped in Dongara/Denison so I suggested we head there.

It’s actually been a lovely night kicking back in the camper with the kids and chatting – two hours of questions around God, faith and the universe and the opportunity to sit there and discuss some of life’s biggest issues with your own children. Gold.

Right now though the rain is belting down and it’s probably as stormy a night as the old camper has seen since we stopped halfway across the nullabor and hoped for the best. I just stepped outside in my jocks to wack a tentpeg back in and managed to drop my little sledgehammer on my toe… Ouch!

We have a day here tomorrow exploring and then home on Thursday, but we might have to see how things look in the morning…

Once home, work kicks back in and there is already plenty lined up – the beauty of being away and letting it back up. There may be some new developments there too, but that not in the immediate future.

We have been tossing up selling the camper as next year’s big holiday is set for Ireland and we might not get a lot of use between now and two years time. It would mean booking chalets every time we went somewhere or hiring another camper. Not sure yet… I regret selling our last Patrol and I’m wary of making the same mistake with the camper. The car has been great in every way except fuel economy, where it has been a complete dog and it seems there is no explanation for it. If I could remedy that then I’d be stoked, but for now I am contemplating moving it on again… A big call though as everything else about it is great.

Anyway, that’s the homeward journey. I’ve actually got a control box to install in Gingin on the way thru and then a lot of clean up before conducting a friend’s wedding on Saturday. Thankfully I’m not doing any teaching on Sunday – that would really take he edge off the last few days!