The Busy Mum Hub - Half Lap of Aus

How we saved with a family of 5... A lot of people have been asking me how did I afford or save for this trip, seems people like talking about money so I'm going to fill a few blanks in with the $$ and please let me know if I can help with anything. For about 12 months Adam (my adorable husband) has been NAGGING me to commit to this trip! Think I'm joking... I'm not! So after month and months of small fights, I finally caved after he said: "If you don't want to go, ill go by myself!" Selfish hey... Rewind... November 17 (OK OK ILL GO) Now to work out how we are going to afford this trip! So we both have really good jobs but as a normal Australian family we have overheads right, and they won't be going anytime soon. We sit down every couple of months a talk about our finances. So we had a rough idea how much we could scrape by with and for how long to be about to save  $10 000. Now, I don't know any normal working family that can save...

Day Forty-nine    -  Lennox Heads Accommodation 2 nights - $76 per night - Powered   Population - 6407 Fuel - $94.60 Lunch - 67.00 176km Lennox Heads was starting to cool down a little, the days are really nice if there wasn't any wind. The nights are great sleeping weather. We are about 500 metres from the beach (So I can still sleep!) The kids loved this park, very spacious and bike friendly. No park to play on, but the office had loads of board games, balls, cards, buckets and spaids for the sand. and Reception was wonderful. Nothing was a bother when the kids went up for stuff. Washing it is (story of my life) $4 per load and I reckon I had four loads to catch up on but didn't use the dryers. The clotheslines next to the washing rooms were in full sun. So I let mother nature do her job. I really love to walk along the beach and just absorb the ocean breeze and the sound of the crashing waves. So off we toddle, the kids with the buckets and spades fr...

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 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!! ...

Day Twenty-six – Attack Creek Camping Area Karumba Free camping ground Fuel - $270.25 - three fuel stops 863km We head off about 7.30am so that Brooke and co can head to work and school. Now we have a massive three or four days coming up with a trip across the Barkley highway to Cloncurry Qld, then the Matilda Way to Normanton before crossing the Gulf Development road to Cairns This trip will be 2735.9km = 30 hours of driving in a ute, towing a caravan, three kids with iPads. The first day we manage to get as far as ‘Attack Creek Camping Area’ at 9.30pm. This little overnight stop off was full but we managed to get a spot that was right on the highway, we are all buggered and don’t need much rocking tonight. On the way, we did have three fuel stops, two coffee breaks, Grocery shop, lunch stop, Mataranka swim for an hour, afternoon tea stop, a dinner stop. So, this was a really well broken day with travelling, Kids were so good! Day Twenty-seven –  ...

Day Nineteen  and Twenty -  Mary River Wilderness Retreat Campsite - $38 per night at 2 nights 188 km   Buggy - $20 (1 hour) Private boat - $100 (2 hours) Food - $ 126.00 (Birthday dinner) Bread - $12 for 2 loaves I walk into reception to see what the go with lunch is and I was just amazed... It's like a resort, lush green grass, a swimming pool, friendly staff. Adam and the kids are in the ute waiting for me to come out (but I'm inside chatting to the receptionist, booking us in for a night) When we get to our powered site Adam is impress and the kids are running around yelling out "can we go swimming" YES WE CAN...  Now it's my birthday the next day so I decide to shout us dinner in the restaurant. Best meal ever (cause I didn't have to cook it) Barramundi with veg for me, Steak and veg for Adam and the kids have fish and chips! The next morning I decided that I wanted to stay another night and just chill. We booked the buggy and did a tour on our...

Day Sixteen -  Kakadu, NT Campsite - $38.00 per night at 2 nights Fuel - $71.60 at Pine Creek service station  90km   Tour - $366.00 - Croc tour at Cooinda We take our time packing up from Mataranka, washing is up to date (we had a wet bed the night before we left) so I was up washing and using the dryer at 6am (before the oldies needed it) we head back to Katherine and then to Kakadu. If you haven't been here before this National Park is massive and you need a pass to stay. This was $100 for the five of us for 7 days. We wanted to book into Cooinda (but was booked out) so we head back down the road about 10km to Mardugal. This is a no power or water campsite but it has rangers so there is a charge, $38 per night. They do have showers and flushing toilets. You can park your caravan where ever you like. We pick a nice spot to stay near the river, we could hear the baby crocs at night singing out to there mums and dingos crying. Once it gets dark you stay inside (...