Another planning dinner tonight at our place- for the first time we actually had the maps out BEFORE the wine!
We were joined by Shannon and Neil who are planning to join us for the Mataranka, Litchfield, Darwin, Kakadu section of the trip. Although they are a bit like us and are still planning how they are going to get there. I thought I had a plan and now after talking to Matt and Maree I think we are going to revise it.......again. This will be it - the next plan for how to get to Mataranka is it and we will have a firm leaving date.
Maree bought the Pat Callinan Kimberly DVD for us to watch tonight which was good because he drove the Gibb River Rd. So after a lot of "isn't that beautiful?" and "we have to go there" we have a good idea of the places we "must" see but I think we are planning to keep it pretty flexible. General plan is to spend between 2 and 3 weeks in the Kimberly.
Our other firm plan we have made is that we are going to keep our Prado. Basically came down to finances and the fact that we can extend the lease for another year and we like it more than the new one. Well, Paul and I like it - Claire and Thomas aren't all that enthusiastic about having to sit in the back of it for long periods of time. So that means we can start making the long list of modifications - bull bar, driving lights, cb, upgrade the suspension, roof tray and snorkel.
We will also need new tyres before we go - I told the kids they would all be getting a tyre for christmas - 4 kids, 4 tyres - seems perfect to me - not sure why they are unimpressed......I mean they are REALLY good tyres.....
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Well I totally forgot to blog the last planning dinner - which was a shame because it was very productive. We have a rough plan for what we want to do and see in Litchfield NP, Darwin, Kakadu and Katherine.
But the biggest news since my last blog is that we sold our old camper trailer and have bought a 2009 Jayco Outback Swan. It all happened a bit fast but it had what we wanted at a really great price so we picked the kids up from school on the Wednesday afternoon and drove to Lithgow to pick it up and spent a couple of hours with the lovely couple we were buying it from. They took us through how everything works and helped us hook it up and off we went (after a bribery pitstop at the golden arches).
The kids have had a couple of sleepovers in the driveway, Sam was apparently a pain in the but wanting to sample all of the beds and eventually settling with Paul. I had to forgo the first sleepover because I was at work, the second one I didn't have that excuse but I couldn't bring myself to sleep in a camper trailer knowing my comfy king size bed was only a few feet away!
We are really looking forward to going away over the October long weekend to give it a real test. It is surprisingly easy to put up and everyone will have a job - goal is to have it set up in 10 minutes or less.
Next planning dinner is to talk about Katherine to Broome on Aug 14th at our place. Maree came up with the idea of sampling easy meals we can cook while we are away. I am thinking Risotto.......
But the biggest news since my last blog is that we sold our old camper trailer and have bought a 2009 Jayco Outback Swan. It all happened a bit fast but it had what we wanted at a really great price so we picked the kids up from school on the Wednesday afternoon and drove to Lithgow to pick it up and spent a couple of hours with the lovely couple we were buying it from. They took us through how everything works and helped us hook it up and off we went (after a bribery pitstop at the golden arches).
The kids have had a couple of sleepovers in the driveway, Sam was apparently a pain in the but wanting to sample all of the beds and eventually settling with Paul. I had to forgo the first sleepover because I was at work, the second one I didn't have that excuse but I couldn't bring myself to sleep in a camper trailer knowing my comfy king size bed was only a few feet away!
We are really looking forward to going away over the October long weekend to give it a real test. It is surprisingly easy to put up and everyone will have a job - goal is to have it set up in 10 minutes or less.
Next planning dinner is to talk about Katherine to Broome on Aug 14th at our place. Maree came up with the idea of sampling easy meals we can cook while we are away. I am thinking Risotto.......
Friday, June 11, 2010
Another Planning Dinner
I feel bad I didn't update as soon as we had our dinner but after having spent the afternoon at a dance eisteddford (that was running 2 hours late), I was exhausted.
Dinner at our place this time and my wonderful husband did everything from the cleaning to all the cooking.
We are actually getting down to some serious planning now - Matt came with a day by day plan to work with which was great - every group needs a leader who knows what he is doing and Matt is ours. After a bit of discussion we have decided to meet in Mataranka (at the hot springs) on July 6th 2011.
I so wish I had taken a photo of us with all our travel books and maps spread all over the table interspersed with glasses of wine and beer bottles, not to mention a laptop and printouts or Matts itinerary - we looked terribly professional and serious!
Our homework is to look up everywhere we want to go from Mataranka, Kakadu, Darwin and Litchfield NP and get some idea of cost.
Paul and I need to sit down and work out how much time we want to spend to get there and then which way we want to go. I still like the idea of going through Alice but I am a bit concerned about time - am now thinking it might be better to do Uluru and Alice as a completely separate trip.
On another note I have finally listed the camper trailer on ebay. Paul said I wasn't allowed to seriously look at Jayco's until we had sold it and I have seen one in Nowra that I think is worth a look - it's a bit older than Paul wanted but it has heaps of extras like roof rack, solar panels and hot water.
Paul is a bit concerned about taking the Jayco some places (particularly river crossings) but was cheered a bit the other night when Maree said Matt was trying to convince her to get one too!
Next meeting is tentatively scheduled for 3rd July - depending on Maree's roster.
Dinner at our place this time and my wonderful husband did everything from the cleaning to all the cooking.
We are actually getting down to some serious planning now - Matt came with a day by day plan to work with which was great - every group needs a leader who knows what he is doing and Matt is ours. After a bit of discussion we have decided to meet in Mataranka (at the hot springs) on July 6th 2011.
I so wish I had taken a photo of us with all our travel books and maps spread all over the table interspersed with glasses of wine and beer bottles, not to mention a laptop and printouts or Matts itinerary - we looked terribly professional and serious!
Our homework is to look up everywhere we want to go from Mataranka, Kakadu, Darwin and Litchfield NP and get some idea of cost.
Paul and I need to sit down and work out how much time we want to spend to get there and then which way we want to go. I still like the idea of going through Alice but I am a bit concerned about time - am now thinking it might be better to do Uluru and Alice as a completely separate trip.
On another note I have finally listed the camper trailer on ebay. Paul said I wasn't allowed to seriously look at Jayco's until we had sold it and I have seen one in Nowra that I think is worth a look - it's a bit older than Paul wanted but it has heaps of extras like roof rack, solar panels and hot water.
Paul is a bit concerned about taking the Jayco some places (particularly river crossings) but was cheered a bit the other night when Maree said Matt was trying to convince her to get one too!
Next meeting is tentatively scheduled for 3rd July - depending on Maree's roster.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
April Planning
Finally had another dinner to work on planning the trip. Note to self - next dinner Deb and I need to plan and then get into the wine - not the other way around!
We have totally changed our approach to the trip mainly due to time constraints. But the most exciting part is we have a leaving date!!!!! The Garments will be heading off on June 16th 2011. We will be heading straight to the centre and spending some time around the Alice (I have one year to gdet fit enough to climb the rock). We are meeting the Wooldridges and Burgesses in Katherine on July 7th. We will then spend four weeks in and around Katherine, Darwin, Kununara, Broome and down to Geraldton.
We are planning to spend some time in Perth and and then continue around the coast of WA and across the Nullabor and then home around 25th August.
Obviously there are a lot more details to work out but Paul and Maree are putting in for holidays this week - so we have a time frame.
The kids will miss four weeks of term 2 and then the first four weeks of term 3 - something they are very excited about - they are a lot less excited about the fact that I am planning for their homework to be emailed to them!
I am getting so excited about this trip - I am kind of wishing away the next 12 months - still a lot to do though - not the least of which is to pick a new car and buy the Jayco.
We have totally changed our approach to the trip mainly due to time constraints. But the most exciting part is we have a leaving date!!!!! The Garments will be heading off on June 16th 2011. We will be heading straight to the centre and spending some time around the Alice (I have one year to gdet fit enough to climb the rock). We are meeting the Wooldridges and Burgesses in Katherine on July 7th. We will then spend four weeks in and around Katherine, Darwin, Kununara, Broome and down to Geraldton.
We are planning to spend some time in Perth and and then continue around the coast of WA and across the Nullabor and then home around 25th August.
Obviously there are a lot more details to work out but Paul and Maree are putting in for holidays this week - so we have a time frame.
The kids will miss four weeks of term 2 and then the first four weeks of term 3 - something they are very excited about - they are a lot less excited about the fact that I am planning for their homework to be emailed to them!
I am getting so excited about this trip - I am kind of wishing away the next 12 months - still a lot to do though - not the least of which is to pick a new car and buy the Jayco.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
First Planning Dinner 13th Feb 2010
The planning has begun! The Wooldridges and the Burgesses came over for dinner (a terribly exciting meal of Dominos pizza - but we did supply decent nibblies and pavlova). we did comment on the fact that we could be sitting around having drinks and nibbles together every night for three months! A very appealing thought!
Thank heaven for Matt! He had everything ready for us - a complete table of 'must do/have', "recommended' and 'optional' things for the trip which was great because us novices really didn't have a clue - in fact after reading through all his info quickly realised I had less of a clue than I thought I did.
The Wooldridges also bought their laminated map of Australia - which can I just say took up the best part of out dining room table. We managed to get a pretty good idea of where we wanted to go - although Debbie and I were marking it on the map with the black whiteboard marker and we had both had a few wines so we are probably going to want to check it!
We have decided to head in a clockwise direction with the aim of getting across the Nullabor as quickly as possible so we can spend the majority of our time in WA and NT. Matt is still dead keen to do the Cape - we won't be, but that was the logic behind going in that direction - if we want to split so they can do the Cape we have got the bulk of the trip behind us. I really hope he does do it and doesn't feel like he has wasted a whole heap of time redoing stuff with us that he has already done when he could have been doing something he has a real desire to do.
I think, after Saturday night, Paul has decided he needs to take an extra couple of weeks on top of the 10 he was planning - so we are looking at a full 12 weeks away. WooHoo!!!
Thank heaven for Matt! He had everything ready for us - a complete table of 'must do/have', "recommended' and 'optional' things for the trip which was great because us novices really didn't have a clue - in fact after reading through all his info quickly realised I had less of a clue than I thought I did.
The Wooldridges also bought their laminated map of Australia - which can I just say took up the best part of out dining room table. We managed to get a pretty good idea of where we wanted to go - although Debbie and I were marking it on the map with the black whiteboard marker and we had both had a few wines so we are probably going to want to check it!
We have decided to head in a clockwise direction with the aim of getting across the Nullabor as quickly as possible so we can spend the majority of our time in WA and NT. Matt is still dead keen to do the Cape - we won't be, but that was the logic behind going in that direction - if we want to split so they can do the Cape we have got the bulk of the trip behind us. I really hope he does do it and doesn't feel like he has wasted a whole heap of time redoing stuff with us that he has already done when he could have been doing something he has a real desire to do.
I think, after Saturday night, Paul has decided he needs to take an extra couple of weeks on top of the 10 he was planning - so we are looking at a full 12 weeks away. WooHoo!!!
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