Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Final Day: More adventures just waiting to be had!

From Rich .............. So we are finally home after 20,000 km and 2.5 months. We have had a wonderful time together, with only 2 ‘ bumps’  (or fights if you can call them that – certainly no raised voices, but just vibes – you know what I mean). Both of our ‘disagreements’ were associated with grotty mining towns and driving with no fixed agenda i.e. just ambling along the coast, so perhaps we had differing expectations – there must some lesson in that. However, the rest of the 2.5 months was blissful harmony and shared experiences. On the whole journey the car and van gave absolutely no trouble at all and purred all the way – pretty amazing that you can take a car, drive 18,000 km, then spend a day hammering through thick sand on Fraser Island, wash off the same, load the van and drive 2,000 km home. It really is a bit of a shock to come back to daytime maximums (in the sun) of 15 degrees!
 Horsham - our first stop

From Kim ................... well here are the positives of being home:
·         to sleep in a big bed;
·         to get up in the night to go to the ensuite (instead of falling out the van into wet crocs and slogging across a wet lawn to a cold toilet on the other side of the park ... won’t go into the details of the alternative option – although it is mainly to not embarrass my girls – I personally think it would make a great little story! J) 
·         to turn on the tap and get hot water instead of having to boil it on the stove;
·         to be able to tuck in the sheets of the bed without herniating;
·         not having to read a map (Kim has many strengths – just not map reading);

Canoeing in Katherine Gorge, NT
·         to wear my ‘ nice’  clothes and perfume;
·         to have the rubbish bin at the other end of the house instead of a meter away from my bed;
·         to have a shower without having to plan it like a military campaign (have I got my towel, soap, shampoo, conditioner, hair dryer, makeup .....)  heck just to HAVE a shower!
·         To hug my girls;
·         To cuddle my animals;
·         To put on a load of washing without wondering if I have enough one dollar coins and whether I can be brave enough to leave it without getting into trouble with the old girls of the van park;
·         Catching up with my friends;
Blogging in the van at night (no TV reception on the laptop)
Here are the things I miss about being on the road:
·         The sunsets and sunrises (sundowners together most nights);
·         Being with Rich 24/7;
·         The simplicity of life;
·         Never knowing what the day will bring or where we will sleep that night;
·         The warmth of the northern part of Aussie;
·         Grey nomads to make me laugh;
·         Being able to get away with not brushing my hair or putting on makeup because no one knows me ( don’t believe this one – it just took longer);
·         Doing the blog and looking at the photos of the day;
·         Philosophising with Rich about everything from God to politics to human nature (with Kim studying I feel like I could now write her Psychology or Anthropology exams);
·         Waving at every passing caravan (yes we did that the whole way around!) (we did try many variations of waving, just to see if it could be more fun);
Sunset at Coral Bay, WA
So here we are at the end of our adventure .... we could be sad about it, but actually, we choose to rather think about it as the start of many, many more adventures – If there is one thing we have learnt from this trip ... Australia is a big place, and we might have gone right the way around it, but we hardly saw any of it – there is still so much out there to discover, to see, to learn about and to do.  More adventures just waiting to be had!  
Sundowners on a hill in the Bungle Bungles, WA
Want some advice??  You can do it too – just find a bit of time, and get in your car and go – it will be more fun than you could imagine.  So adieu, goodbye, and thanks for reading our blog.  Until next time, and there WILL BE a next time, this is RichMaxaRoundoz signing off! (Sniff...)
Sundowners on the Broome beach, WA

Sunset at Fitzroy Crossing, WA

1 comment:

hailey said...

Hi, Great information! Would you please consider sharing my link to your readers? Please email me back at haileyxhailey gmail.com.

Thanks!
Hailey