Merry Christmas

It has been a very trying couple of years for everyone around the globe. The loss of loved ones, unprecedented restrictions, and lockdowns to name just a few of the challenges we have all had to face. Each person would have faced these challenges in their own way, as did we. Peter and I chose to keep on doing what we wanted, within the limitations. We have thoroughly enjoyed our first six months on the road and are looking forward to continuing and sharing with you, our adventures in 2022. But for now, we want to take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas and a New Year that lets us return to some form of normality.

Now that we have arrived at Port Macquarie our travels will be put on hold until the New Year. Apart from a few Camp Oven Cooking posts, you might not hear from us for a month or two, but don’t worry…we’ll be back! In the meantime, here are a few of my favourite photos, in no particular order, from our trip so far.

Now, for all of you who like statistics, Peter has put together a summary of our travels to date, and I, of course, have thrown in a few more photos. Over to Peter.

So here we are, at the end of our Australian Walkabout travels for 2021. First of May, a Saturday, we drove away and now we’re pretty-well settled into this nomadic lifestyle.

Expecting to be away for a couple of years at least, we first visited family, the first month in Queensland before crossing into New South Wales. Heading out of Sydney we visited Dubbo, Coonabarabran, the Warrumbungles, Lightning Ridge, Bourke, Gundabooka, Broken Hill, and everywhere in between.

Covid-19 had been following us closely as we went west and Dubbo, Walgett, Bourke, and Wilcannia, shut down within days of us passing through. Covid finally caught up with us at Broken Hill, but we managed to leave town just 15 minutes ahead of the lockdown, made it to Menindee Lakes where we endured nine weeks of lockdown, on our own private lakeside beach.

When we were free to move again, we visited Tibooburra and Cameron Corner, marking the top north-west of the State. It became clear that we would not be able to cross into QLD or SA, so we made the decision to stay in NSW until the new year and began to make our way southeast towards Port Macquarie. Which is where we are now.

This is a good time to review the stats, so here they are in summary as at 1^st December:

Distance travelled

Total distance travelled            11,731 km

Average distance travelled      55 km /day

Longest stay in one place        61 days

Fuel/ cost

Total fuel used                          1,847 litres of diesel.

Total cost of fuel                       $2,897

Average cost of diesel              $1.57/ litre

Average economy                    15.74 litre/100km

Average cost per 100km          $24.71 per 100km

Accommodation/ cost

Total days travelling                                 204

Days in caravan parks                             51         

Days bush camping                                 153

Percentage in caravan parks                25%

Average cost of caravan parks             $32.88/ night

Average spend on accomm                  $62.00/ week

So, in summary for budgeting purposes

Cost of travel is around $25.00 per 100 Km and cost of accommodation is approximately $65.00/ week.

See you out there somewhere

On tow and on the go!