In August 2009, after months of discussion, the decision was made. We were going for it. Making the dream of travelling around Australia happen! We realised that if we continued to put it off for financial reasons that we would never get there before Elokin started school. The time was now.

Now all of the fun decisions had to be made. When would we leave? When could we have the house renovations finished to rent it out? How much could we save? How much money do we need to have to cover our expenses? What do we need and what would be good to have? Which direction would we head? And how long could we go for?

All of these questions needed to be answered simultaneously. So lets start with the first one. When? Ideally it would have been best to leave in April, but we could not be ready. The house would be done, but we wouldn’t have saved any money. The end of June would be viable. So the 27th of June was the answer. So now we had a date which was an awesome feeling! This might actually happen……

Question Two: When can we have the house finished? To answer this we wrote down a list of what we wanted to complete. We had to work out how much each of these would cost and how long each thing would take us to do. The decision: End of March.

Question Three: How much could we save? Whilst renovating the house and paying the mortgage, not much. So we would need to move out and live with family to save every dollar. Where? A big Thank You to Nathan’s mum, Lesley, who welcomed in the four of us and our dog, Tripper. All up we estimated we could save just under $26000, including money we would not receive until after we left, i.e. Nathan’s holiday pay and tax return. Not bad for a family on one wage.

Question Four: How much do we need to cover the costs of our expenses? To find the answer to this question we need to work out what our expenses will be. What bills will need to be paid while we are away? Water service and sewage, council rates, landlord insurance and real estate management fees for both houses for the whole year. That would be around $7000. Car registration and insurance for the year, and trailer registration total $2600. We also want to cover the cost of diesel, gas and petrol for the boat for the entire trip, just over $10000. So that is $19600. We also need to answer the next question to finish answering this question.

Question Five: What do we need and what do we want? Needs first…. a boat and outboard, $4500. 5 new tyres, $1800. Snorkel for the Patrol, $500. Car stereo with mp3, compressor, tent poles and tyre puncture repair kit, $240. Scope for the .22, $115. Drawer system for the back of the Patrol, $170. Roof rack roller system for the boat loading, fan belt replacements (just in case), battery charger, petrol drum, life jacket for Elokin, new camp chair for me as mine broke, and Tinnie Mover wheels, $450. Total $7775. Add that to the question before and we get $27375. And that is us done. Anything on the wanted list got scrapped, and we have gone over budget before we even leave. But we will sort that out later. Seriously, who is going to let $1300 get in the way of a trip of a lifetime? Not Us!

Question Six: Direction? June is dry season in the tropics, which is where we really want to see, so North it is.

Question Seven: How long? We initially wanted 12 months and planned an itinerary for that long. Nathan applied for a career break where he works. He told them he wanted 12 months, but would accept 8 if they would give it to him. And they did. So we cut the trip back to 8 months so he could have a job to come back to. We redid the itinerary and it is below:

June – as we only have the last week, as far North as we can get.

July – Cape York and Gulf QLD

August – Top End NT

September – The Kimberley WA

October – The Kimberley as long as we can, but then work our way down south as the weather heats up and the rains come.

November – Western Australia

December – Western Australia

January 2011 – South Australia and head into Victoria

February – Victoria and Southern NSW.

With all of these questions resolved and the answers obtainable, our trip is definitely going to happen! We have so much to do and in such a short time. Better get cracking……

Until next time…. Happy and Safe Travels