Home !

Well, we're home.

After 13 months on the road.
We have travelled 81103 kilometres in the little hybrid car, which has gone through 3 sets of tyres, averaged 6.1 litres per 100 kilometres for the whole trip, and has been serviced in every state except South Australia. While it limited our offroad excursions the car performed excellently, and its only hiccup occurred when its incompetent driver backed it into a signpost in Port Arthur.

Our final lap took us from Nimbin to Byron Bay, Gunnedah to Coonabarabran, Bourke to Cobar, Griffith to Yarrawonga, and finally Bendigo to Daylesford. We mortgaged the house and bought a meal in Bellingen, explored the koala capital of the world, and found a single sleepy example in a back yard. We followed the waterfalls way, and confirmed what everybody else knows already - its been wet ! We discussed agriculture with Narromine farmers, who half way through last season were on target for the regions largest ever crop, at a time of historically high prices. Unfortunately it never stopped raining, and the entire crop was ruined. We ogled the animals at the Western Plains zoo. We marvelled at the overflow of Lake Mulwala, and despaired at the citrus fruit rotting on the ground in the Riverina. Whilst doing all this we tried to ignore the fact that each kilometre took us closer to the end of our odyssey. Of course we wanted to have a few creature comforts, and I certainly missed Mt Stuart House, but I am convinced that we have both participated in something very special. Australia is a big place, and has a lot in it. We have seen things and done things which we had only dreamed of at the beginning of our trip. We have developed a dangerous taste for this type of thing, and it should'nt surprise anybody that we are talking about the next instalment already. In the meantime, so long, and thanks for all the fish (I mean vegetables) see you on the road!