Red Elephants are Home

We left Port Stephens in 2 minds, Grace and James wanted to go home, we thought it would be nice to have one last overnight together and go out for a last night celebratory dinner.  We had planned to stop at Mittagong for the night and that would give us a 2 and half hour drive home the next day.  It would also put our travels into 89 days we would have liked to make it a nice round 90 days.  Fate stepped in and the park at Mittagong was booked out so homewards bound we went.    The kids were happy and excited, you should have heard the shreaks of excitement when they spotted Telstra Tower.  Pete was telling us the whole way that it wasn't over and he was going to keep driving.  I was all emotional and still are.  I don't know why?

Mum and Dad ( Nanny and Poppy) were waiting for us at home and I think were as excited to see us as  we were.  After tooting of the car horn we all hopped out and lots of hugs and kisses.  James ran straight inside and hopped in his bed.  Grace checked out all her bears.  Nanny cooked us a lovely meal of some of our favourites , Potato Bake (Grace),  Sticky Chicken Drumsticks ( James),  Cherry Trifle ( all of us ,but James.)  Big thanks to Nanny for our homecoming meal and for baby sitting Cheeky Boy the Budgie.

Good Bye from The Red Elephants

So in answer to questions you might ask.

Yes, I am happy to be home.
Do I wish I was still on the road? Yes.
Would we do it again?  In a heartbeat.
Would we take the same tow vehicle and van?  Yes we would!
Would we change anything?  Try to get to the outback earlier before the big heat hits.
What was our favourite destination?  Pete - The Reef,  Grace  Australia Zoo and Underwater World, James - Big Barry at the Reef, Me - maybe Carnarvon Gorge but in second place not a destination but all the wonderful people we have meet.
How many wet days? 4
Kilometres Travelled? 12 500 km
What about school?The kids did an hour of school work each day except for weekends.  But by reading this blog you will have read that they have experienced so much more.

How will I adjust back into normal everyday life?  With difficulty, I think the hardest will be keeping to time and the time constraints that are put on us.

Were will we go next?  That is a hard one there are some many great things to see and discover in this great land we call Australia.  The Kids have requested Uluru, Pete likes the sound of Tassie and me well I would like to see all the West has to offer.

I would like to thank you my readers who have shared this Journey with us through this blog I hope you have enjoyed yourselves.  I would like to encourage anyone who has ever dreamt to do a trip like this don't make barriers, work hard ,make plans and make your dream a reality you will not regret it.

Port Stephens

We decided to head back to the beach and finish our trip with  a bit of sun and sea.  As a bonus this includes our very good friends the same friends that  launched  our trip so we feel we have come full circle.  We are very lucky to have such good friends we have spent some lovely family time together and they have patiently sat and listened while we have raved on about our trip and all we have seen and experienced.   We have drunk endless cups of tea together been to the beach twice and had a all in family game of cricket.  They have girls the same age as Grace and they have all hidden in their room doing secret girl stuff while the boys have kicked the soccer ball, played lego and given the Wii a good work out.  They have fed us all and tonight we got really spoilt with a roast lamb with all the trimmings including pumpkin, gravy AND mint sauce.  Pete and I have returned to the van tonight having left the kids for a sleepover, I must say after 3 months together it does feel rather strange to just be the 2 of us.

We are trying not to look at each and think about the fact that this fantastic tour of ours will be over in just a couple of short days.  Pete is in denial , I am feeling happy to be going home but sad at the same time that it is all over.

So lets change the subject.  We have had night time visitors!  How nice!  Yes we have had Mummy and baby possum visit and their neighbour.  They have been tip toeing across willows roof and sliding down our awning.  They have been keeping me very busy shooing them away with my broom.  One even peered in the window.   I supposed they where excited to have the famous Red Elephants parked under their tree.

I had a bit of an unexpected dip today.  The girls and I where having a photo shot at the end of the jetty when woopsie gurgle gurgle I was in the water.  I managed to cut my knee and some toes on the oysters.  I couldn't get myself out so the girls went running for help and some very nice people came to my rescue.  They hoiked me out and help wash and bandage up my injuries.  A big thank you to this lovely couple.  I did feel a bit silly.  At the moment my knee is resting and my phone that was taking the photo's is also resting in a bag of rice.  I will let you know if this trick works.