TOTALLY WANDERLOST

30 Jun 2022

It’s lights out and away we go, we’re on our way to Sydney with a quick pit stop in Dubai.

30 Jun 2022

To break up the journey (and save some money) we booked a flight with a 20 hour layover in Dubai. Through the Emirates Dubai Connect program we got a night in a hotel for free so we had a short nap and then got ready to explore a bit.

It was over 40c so even the short 8 minute walk to the Metro station was quite a challenge. We kept things fairly simple and went to the Dubai Mall to check out the aquarium, Burj Khalifa, fountain show and the air conditioning. The scale of everything in Dubai is pretty crazy and while we didn’t get to see much of it was nice to experience a new country and culture, albeit briefly.

01 Jul 2022

Our first stop in Oz in s̶u̶n̶n̶y̶ Sydney. It’s not an exaggeration to say that it rained pretty much non-stop during our stay, so much so that we ran out of dry clothes. Between the rain and the jet lag we probably didn’t quite get the start to our trip we were expecting but we got out there and saw the main sights, safe in the knowledge we planned to return later in the year.

05 Jul 2022

Before we could get started on our real adventures we had quite a few things to sort out first. We flew into Adelaide and spent just over 3 weeks staying with Nicole’s brother, Jim.

While we were there which purchased some of vital things you need for a trip, like a car, and of course, two tennis rackets.Our trusty Nissan X-Trail was christened as Nigel (after Nigel Mansell due to his moustache) and we kitted him out to be our home for the next few months including putting up a very make shift bed in the back.

Even though it was technically Winter the weather was still really nice most of the time we were there so we got to explore the city, did lots of walks along the beach, a few hikes and even saw our first Kangaroos of the trip 🦘

James passed his upside down driving theory test and was let loose on the Adelaide suburbs to get some practice in for the long trip ahead.

29 Jul 2022

Stop number 1 of our great Australian road trip! A few hours out of Adelaide, we spent a couple of nights camping in a national park. We were greeted with Kangaroos, Emus and Kookaburras wandering around camp, and so many stars in the sky at night!

We did a nice walk through the park, up to a viewpoint, and enjoyed the peace and quiet after a month or so in cities.

31 Jul 2022

Our first roadhouse and our first experience of quite how empty parts of the outback are. We met an interesting guy in the van parked next to us who showed us his opal collection, made some dinner on our stove and then had a few drinks inside to stay warm.

31 Jul 2022

One of the places we were most looking forward to visiting. It was once a busy opal mining town and can get so hot that many locals live in caves to stay cool. We got to have a look around some of the old mines and stayed underground!

02 Aug 2022

Another night on the road, another roadhouse stopover. To keep these balanced and not only containing the good stuff we were besieged by flies here and learnt to perfect the Aussie wave 👋🏻

03 Aug 2022

After pretty much a full days driving we finally made it into Yulara, the nearest town to Uluru (Ayers Rock). There’s some very fancy accommodation available but we didn’t want to leave Nigel alone we stayed with him in a camp site.

The town had a bit of a strange feel to it as it’s quite literally in the middle of nowhere but is full of tourists from all over the world giving it a bit of a Disneyland vibe but you don’t come here to visit Yulara itself..

The next day we drove into the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park which takes about 25 minutes and started to catch our first glimpses of Uluru along the way, the scale of it is quite breathtaking and no picture will really do it justice but as you can see I did try my best..

We visited the museum first to learn about some of the history behind the area and the significance it has to the local Aboriginal tribe, the Anangu. The following day we returned to take on 10km walk around the base of the rock (technically a sandstone monolith) which takes around 3 hours, there’s only one water refill site along the route so we took plenty with us as it can get very hot depending on the time of year. We stayed for the sunset which sets behind the rock and something you really can’t take your eyes off.

While slightly lesser known the other site in the park that Uluru shares the title with is Kata Tjuta. It’s a combination of rock formations spread over about 20km that to be fair are equally impressive. We scrambled across lots of the rock in our slightly inadequate footwear where quite often we were completely along, it was a bit of a surreal experience at times as it felt like being on another planet.

One our final day we headed into the national park one more time to catch the sunrise, one of the rare occasions where getting up at 5am is justified. At that time of day it was actually really cold so we put every layer we had and sat there admiring the view, really quite something.

06 Aug 2022

Not too much to say about this, it was an overnight stop in Nigel on our way to Alice Springs. They had a camel.

07 Aug 2022

11 Aug 2022

14 Aug 2022

16 Aug 2022

A great little camp at a farm homestead. They had an Indian food truck which did a great paneer curry and roti, and music around the camp fire.

17 Aug 2022

The Famous Daly Waters pub. We spent 2 nights here in one of the motel rooms to refresh and get a chance to wash off some of the red dust that’s accumulating.

It’s a small but fascinating little town with the main attraction being the pub which had some great garlic bread and happy hour deals 🍺

19 Aug 2022

22 Aug 2022

🛶

27 Aug 2022

30 Aug 2022

31 Aug 2022

Bit of an emergency stop, it was so hot the night before at the camp site we both had a literal meltdown and decided we needed somewhere with air conditioning for the night so we could get some sleep!

01 Sep 2022

08 Sep 2022

Since we were passing Daly Waters again on our way back down we decided to stop in for more garlic bread and $5 wines. This time we were treated to the eccentric owner on his mobility scooter telling us the history of the pub accompanied by his menagerie of animals.

It was up to 35 degrees during the day which made for a sweaty night’s sleep. We went to bed to news of the Queen’s deteriorating health and woke up to news of her death. A very strange place to be hearing the news.

09 Sep 2022

A roadhouse in the middle of the outback. Happy hour wasn’t as good as Daly Waters but we enjoyed a few stubbies whilst watching the news coverage about the Queen.

10 Sep 2022

Another night on the road. We pulled up in town with no booking and managed to get an unpowered patch of dirt at a caravan park. It had a pool and a decent kitchen though so we swam, showered, ate, and got an early night ready for more driving in the morning.

11 Sep 2022

We started the day with no plans as to where to spend the night. On the drive James found a holiday park with a caravan to rent available for the night, so we booked it and headed there. Turned out to be a very picturesque spot. We grabbed some fish and chips and watched the sunset before stopping in for a quick drink at the pub.

12 Sep 2022

SURPRISE! We spent a couple of nights in the forest here. The park had a nice train-themed bar/restaurant and a pool surrounded by the local resident kangaroos. We hiked around an old volcanic crater and spotted our first snake of the year! A little red-bellied black snake crossed the path right in front of us.

14 Sep 2022

After a full on week of driving we finally hit the east coast and now have a few days chilling in port Douglas. It’s much more of a holiday resort type town than the places we’ve been recently, lots of fancy hotels and restaurants we can’t afford!

We went on a few walks to viewpoints, ate pizza watching the sunset, visited the wildlife park, and Nicole did yoga on the beach one morning.

17 Sep 2022

20 Sep 2022

23 Sep 2022

As boulders go these are right up there.

24 Sep 2022

25 Sep 2022

26 Sep 2022

29 Sep 2022

02 Oct 2022

Not too much to say about this one, we arrived in town fairly late and stayed in a motel then hit the road early the next morning.

03 Oct 2022

05 Oct 2022

07 Oct 2022

08 Oct 2022

12 Oct 2022

There was a jetty apparently, can’t remember much else. I’m writing this 6 months on, cut me some slack.

16 Oct 2022

23 Oct 2022

26 Oct 2022

29 Oct 2022

03 Nov 2022

08 Nov 2022

13 Nov 2022

18 Nov 2022

20 Nov 2022

23 Nov 2022

25 Nov 2022

29 Nov 2022

01 Dec 2022

04 Dec 2022

08 Dec 2022

11 Dec 2022

12 Dec 2022

13 Dec 2022

14 Dec 2022

04 Jan 2023

05 Jan 2023

07 Jan 2023

08 Jan 2023

10 Jan 2023

11 Jan 2023

13 Jan 2023

14 Jan 2023

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15 Jan 2023

22 Jan 2023

25 Jan 2023

31 Jan 2023

07 Feb 2023

10 Feb 2023

14 Feb 2023

16 Feb 2023

Another house sit, just a short one this weekend with a very lazy goldendoodle called Penny. We dragged (quite literally sometimes) her out for a few walks and played some tennis. Explored South Yarra a little, probably one of the nicest Melbourne suburbs we’ve seen so far!

19 Feb 2023

We had a couple of days to fill in-between house sits and managed to find a very reasonably priced BnB south east of Melbourne, it even came with two cats which was a nice bonus.

The main thing we did was visit the royal botanic gardens in Cranbourne which were very impressive.

21 Feb 2023

We had a very chilled week doing a house sit and looking after a very excitable young toy poodle called Jasper. We stayed in a really nice apartment that was literally on beach road on the coast south east of Melbourne.

We took Jasper out for lots of walks along the beach, did a bit of work and tried to plan where we were going next!

27 Feb 2023

Back in lynbrook at the same b&b again since it was cheap and very nice. Didn’t do much this time since it was just a quick overnighted before heading out into the mountains tomorrow.

28 Feb 2023

03 Mar 2023

We had a couple of nights until we needed to be back in the city and found a cheap holiday cabin in this little town. Turned out to be a great stop - lovely park, nice tennis courts for a hit, and we did a cellar tour at a local winery that was really interesting! They claimed to be the birthplace of sparkling red wine.

05 Mar 2023

Quick stop back in Melbourne to watch Maisie Peters in St Kilda, and see a woman about some cats. We spent a morning wandering Albert park where they’re currently building the track for next month’s Grand Prix. That’s the next time we’ll be back in the city!

07 Mar 2023

09 Mar 2023

Just one night at a bush campsite but we caught a lovely sunset and watched the wallabies hop around camp. Woke up to one of Nicole’s sandals halfway across the site and all chewed up - maybe a possum?

10 Mar 2023

11 Mar 2023

12 Mar 2023

13 Mar 2023

15 Mar 2023

18 Mar 2023

Just a quick overnight stop in Dartmoor in a free camping spot. The town is very small but had a nice pub and some interesting tree sculptures.

19 Mar 2023

21 Mar 2023

Beautiful little beach town on the limestone coast in south SA. Spent a few days relaxing and recharging after the great ocean road. The highlight of Robe was probably long beach (aptly named at around 12km long) where you can drive right along the sand and bag yourself a quiet spot with no one else around. Sunset over the water was spectacular.

25 Mar 2023

Just a quick overnighter on the way back to Melbourne. Free camping in a park in a tiny town. Windy and Cold, but we got a nice sunset, cooked up a curry and did I mention it was FREE?!

26 Mar 2023

Back in the city! 2 weeks house sitting, Grand Prix, James’ family visiting, then we’ll say goodbye to Melbourne for good (for this trip anyway!)

12 Apr 2023

19 Apr 2023

22 Apr 2023

23 Apr 2023

24 Apr 2023

26 Apr 2023

27 Apr 2023

29 Apr 2023

30 Apr 2023

02 May 2023

We splashed out on an Airbnb with a tennis court for James’ birthday, no regrets, it was amazing.

04 May 2023

06 May 2023

09 May 2023

An overnight stop in a lakeside free camp as we made our way to Western Tas. It was just us, one other van.. and the local feral kitties.

10 May 2023

An unscheduled but very picturesque overnight stop. Nigel gave us a bit of a scare during the day so we got him a check up and a few new spark plugs. At first we were sceptical when parts of Australia were referred to as being “alpine” but this really did feel like a mountain town.

11 May 2023

13 May 2023

14 May 2023

Not the most exciting stop, we caught up on some life admin and had a wander around the town and along the beach.

16 May 2023

After an amazing couple of weeks in Tasmania we set sail back to the mainland.

17 May 2023

One of our longest days of driving, all the way from Geelong after getting off the boat at 7am across to Kingston in SA to stay in the cheapest cabin around, straight from the 1970’s. The beach was covered in a 30cm thick carpet of seaweed, but the sunset was still pretty good. Visited Larry the big lobster on our way out the next morning.

18 May 2023

One final night bush camping in Nigel. We had the entire camp site to ourselves, got to see a lovely sunset while we cooked dinner and in the morning it poured with rain, a fitting send off.

19 May 2023

Just under a year later and we’re back to where our road trip began. We had one final stay in a holiday park before a short flat share / pet sit with Alfie the cat. We sold or donated as much of our stuff as we could, including Nigel and did our best to prepare for living out of backpacks again.

28 May 2023

Our final stop in Australia. We weren’t planning to visit WA initially and this definitely wasn’t enough time but it was nice to see some of it. Freemantle seemed like it would be a nice place to live with the convenience of a big city nearby but a more laid back feel.

01 Jun 2023

04 Jun 2023

We got a coach up from Singapore for a very hot and sweaty 3 nights in KL. We did our best to get out and explore but it did feel a bit like we were mostly filling time between trips to one of the many shopping centres to cool down 🥵. The highlight has to be this amazing bar we found on top of a building which used to be a helipad, incredible views.

07 Jun 2023

12 Jun 2023

16 Jun 2023

We didn’t know how much time we’d end up spending on Phi Phi since we’d heard it was a bit of a party Island. But in the end we spent a week and didn’t party at all! It was nice being somewhere you could walk everywhere, no taxis or mopeds, and relaxed Island life.

22 Jun 2023

Not the most eventful week as we were both sick for most of it. We had a nice Airbnb apartment with a pool though and just relaxed and when we could manage it went out for breakfast or dinner. It seemed like a really nice area so it’s a shame we couldn’t see more of it.

03 Jul 2023

04 Jul 2023

08 Jul 2023