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...

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 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 (...

Day Twelve - Leaving the BIG4 Macdonnell Range was Fuel - $111.34 (the night before) Fuel stop - Telegraph Station Barrow Creek    $100.67 289km Now we left The Big 4 knowing that we were going to have a really long trip today. We charged the IPads and had snacks and water on hand ready for the kids. We stopped here and made lunch (hot dogs (kids) salad wraps (us)) Then hit the road again...   Marnie Jane This little run down servo in the middle of no here was a little surprising! as I walked in to pay for the diesel there was not an inch on the walls that didn't have a pic, business card or a small bit of writing in texta. Fuel stop - Bp Station - Tennent Creek $88.89 225km COFFEE BREAK (kids are being so good today with the traveling) Banka Banka Outstation, NT Population - How ever many they have turned up! $20 per night (kids stayed free) 100km Kids received an ice Block on arrival...  Now we have our WikiCamps maps out and we...

Dinner whilst we watch the sun set.. Ghan Day eight -  Marla - Fuel stop Road house Fuel - $84.68 The Old Gravy Pit Population is 0 Free Camping - under the stars 452km The Old Gravy Pit - Stuart Hwy, Ghan We went past a few free camping sites but they didn't have a good view of the sunset, This site wasn't a free camping site on Wikicamps. It was an old gravel pit that was just off the road. No one in sight... We just got set up and another family were pulling in. After dinner we headed down to share their campfire (after being invited) They were a lovely family from Canberra and they are heading to uluru.. followed by Western Australia on a three-month family trip with their three beautiful kids.  Uluru.... Now some people are going to say that we are crazy! But we really didn't want to be on a time frame with this trip. If we love somewhere, we wanted to be able to stay. If we didn't like somewhere, we can pack up and keep going....

Day six -  Coober Pedy Population is 1762 Big 4 Caravan Park - (Powered site) 2 nights - $99 with $11 discount Fuel - $178.35 542km This was the most interesting drive so far, nothing to see but so much to look at! It was a hard day with the kidlets (they weren't in the mood to travel this far and be nice to each other) which was fine, we just made more stops along the way. Finally, the sun was shining and I felt at ease as I just sat and looked out the window soaking up the sun rays, I kept looking at Adam with a smile on my face. One thing that really scared me was the Triple Trailer Road Trains. Holy Dooley!!! I put my foot on the brakes a few times (I was the passenger 😂) Those thing cruise along at a nice speed and the back end just swings around.. As we cruised into Coober Pedy you could tell that we were getting close, Piles of dirt as far as the eye can see (and dust) the Big 4 was the first turn off as we came into town, a nice 18 degrees. We get sorted and...