The Busy Mum Hub - Half Lap of Aus

A small amount of regret as we try to settle back into the routine with work and school... I know we're only away for a short time (8 weeks) and there are plenty of families that do massive trips, but this is my spin on things after coming back. We had good intentions to do as much school work as we could while away... The first two weeks are school holidays, so they get some time to enjoy the holiday. The third week we did do school work each day and then it got a little later each day and then we started missing days then we only had like 10 days and we'd be home. When we got home, we gave the kids a few days to bum around, then they went back to school on the Thursday and Friday (nice short week to start with) It went well, all their friends were happy to see them back. The first full week back and a few things are starting to become noticeable that they have had almost a full term off. I was getting reports back from school that the kids were a little behind! I hon...

Let's get real about the cost of a trip like this... When I started to process the thought of this trip and how much it was going to cost us. I started to follow FB groups and one thing I found was that no one talked about MONEY, and how much it would cost to travel with a caravan and three kids on a half lap of Australia. So here it is... I've kept every single receipt for the whole eight weeks!! The Caravan - 5 birth   First off, we don't own a caravan - we decided to hire one. I didn't like the thought of buying a 50 to 70,000 caravan for our first trip (what if I didn't like it, what if the kids hated it) and what if we get home and the caravan would sit there and not be used for a while.  So to hire the Van for 9 weeks, it was a total of $6900, $1000 was a bond! Which we didn't get back (we had a few minor things that went wrong and needed to be fixed) which was fine. The petrol - Big Expense Petrol was a BIG one that we didn't budget enou...

Day Fifty-four - Harrington - Colonial Holiday Park Population 2258 Accommodation - $47 per night (30% discount) $141 for three nights 212km Fuel $96.34 Harrington is 15km Northwest of Taree. I used to come on family holidays when I was about 10 with my grandparents. I still remember the shop up the road, the rock wall and the massive hill my brother, Ben and I used to climb every day.  A lot has changed since I've grown up, I reckon it would have to be about 25 years since I've been here and I'm super excited to show the kids and Adam around.  As we roll into town its still very overcast and I'm almost 100% sure it's going to rain for the rest of the day, which is fine. We arrive at the caravan park and check in. The park is almost full and very well maintained. The toilet blocks are new (which is nice). We get the caravan set up and the kids head once again on their bikes to see what the park has to offer. No playground, but the concrete r...

Day Fifty-one - Moonee Beach / Coffs Harbour, NSW Population is 1933 Free camping - Friends Fuel - $92.45 226km Another exciting few days ahead... Michelle and Leigh 😝 R E S T    D A Y  Thank you so much for offering us your driveway for a few nights, along with your bathroom and loo. This will be the third place on our trip that we can just veg out and relax. I first met Michelle over a Zoom (work meeting) each week we would catch up and have small talk about the business and help each other when needed. This soon turned into quirky messages and even exercises together of a morning online. We have since had two trips to Perth (work) and on the last one trip, I got to meet Leigh.  I was keen about having some time with you guys and for Adam to meet you in person. And don't forget the kids 3 + 2 will be a nice mixture.  This is one thing that I really love about embarking on something new! The people that you meet along the way and the ...

Day Forty-Five -  Kirra Beach Tourist Park Accommodation 4 nights - $75 per night - Powered Fuel - $94.60 Lunch - 67.00 176km (as per the previous blog) V 8   S U P E R B O A T S -  This was the only place we had locked in and a date to be somewhere.. Great friends of ours race V8 Superboats and we really wanted to catch up and support them. Cabarita has a caravan park that was closed for renovations, so we are booked in at Kirra Beach Tourist Park, Kirra. This park was really spread out and the Laundry and Toilet blocks are really nice and clean. We have three nights booked, which turned out to be 4, cause we loved this area. Once again the washing is filling up the end of my bed and you know who much I love washing!  The kids are playing at the Mummies Tummy, so this gives me time to get the caravan back into living order. It's amazing how something so little (with 5 humans) can get so untidy and messy... But on the flip side, it doesn't tak...

Day Forty-Two -  Kin Kin, QLD Population is 764 Free camping two nights Fuel - $122.94  243km  ...Justin and Kerrie... Adam first met Justin at work (Lake Cowal) and soon became really good mates. Justin would come to our house for dinner when in town and Adam would go out to dinner with Justin the next night. This went on for a few years. Justin no longer works for the same company which means they don't get at catch up like that anymore. So when we started planning our trip Adam said that he really wanted to visit.. So we locked it in! They live in the Hinterland on the Sunshine Coast. On an acreage block on top of a hill with magnificent views. Now when I say on a hill, I had no idea the incline was going to be this steap.. as we drive (whilst towing a 27-foot caravan) Adam put the ute into 4WD and I honestly thought that the front wheels of the ute are going to come off the road...  Now I trust Adam with my life! But this makes me feel very uneasy...

Day Thirty-six -  Giru Grass area Free camping - one night Fuel - $67.00 We've driven a long way and the kids have been amazing again. We have lunch at Ingham and hit the road again. Townsville was on the list to stop and check out as I've met this lady named Tabitha Jane..... I know right! Who would have thought that there was another lady with the same name.. Love it! I came across Tabitha on social media, who also has a side hustle (different to mine). So we pull up at The Strand and found a nice park for the kids to play at and we just got chatting, it was like we have known each other for years. Thank you, Tabitha, for taking time out of your busy day to catch up in person 💗 We drove a few more Km's and land ourselves at Rockhampton. Day Thirty-seven -  North Rockhampton - Riverside Tourist Park $75.00 powered site 683km Fuel $161.07 Food shop $119.08 Washing and dryer (3 loads) $32 We get in at about 5pm, not leaving us much time to check anythin...

Day Thirty-one -  Cairns  Ellis Beach Oceanfront Bungalows - 30 minutes up from Cairns $66 per night - 4 nights Fuel - $67.00 97km  I get up this morning with a huge smile on my face... Now I'm not much of a swimmer but I LOVE the beach, the sound, the smell and most importantly the way it makes me feel...  When we planned this trip I really wanted to do the coast last and enjoy this leg and we head home (back to normality)  Two nights ago I did ring ahead and we managed to get a beachside caravan park for a few nights. Ellis Beach Oceanfront Bungalows.  O...M...G... we are about 4 caravans from the beach! Can you believe it, I'm so excited that we have finally reached to coast. A little tight but it will do (LOL) We spend that afternoon walking along the beach. The kiddies have a swim, even though it was a little cool. Day Thirty-two - Sleep on the beach I said... Stay as close as I can... I want to hear the ocean crashing at night... ...

Day Thirty -  Atherton Tablelands Big4 Atherton Woodlands Tourist Park - $68 per night - Powered site - 1 night Fuel - $63.51 Reserve Diesel 40 litres 613 km  We get up today with no rush, no time frame, no plans which was the whole point of this trip.  We haven't pre-booked any accommodation ahead of time. We mostly sit down at night when the kids go to bed and work out what tomorrow plans will be, where we want to pull up and what we want to check out along the way.  Today was an interesting one as I sat in the co-pilot seat (and feed the driver, very important job) I watched the surrounds change from dry desert to beautiful lush forests as we came into the Atherton Tablelands. The temp dropped from 32 to about 16 degrees. Now, not booking ahead of time can be a pain in the bum, Cause sometimes I have to spend half an hour or so ringing around trying to find somewhere that will fit a 27-foot caravan. This seems like a small task!! ...