Sunday, November 20, 2011

Australia 2011 - Wrap up

We have now been home for a few days and back into a routine, not sure if this is good or not.  The van is unpacked and cleaned and the car is looking much better after a good clean and enjoying a well-deserved rest. 
The first to greet us was Russell  -
it been a long 5 months for him and he still hasn't left my side.
We had a total of 142 days away, and travelled a total of 24,184km, visiting every state and capital city in mainland Australia.  There is no doubt it is a long trip, 5 months sounds like a long time, and it is, but it is really the minimum time you need to do the lap allowing time to see a lot and rest a little. 
The trip certainly was a dream come true, we had the opportunity to visit many great places, swim in some spectacular waterholes and under many fantastic water falls, seen an array of wild flowers that are just out of this world, walk some rugged but brilliant trails, visiting many gorges, and saw some fantastic coastline with incredible marine reefs and sensational snorkelling. Apart from all the place we visited and things we did, we also made many new friends that will we have a special bond with for a long time.
Would we do it again – sure would.
Ken’s Top Ten Spots – in no real order
1.       Kununurra, Lake Argyle – just sensational a real oasis in the rugged north west
2.       Broome, The Kimberley – rustic dusty town with lots of character and style once you get to know it, right next door to the fascinating Kimberley Range icluding the Bungle Bungles,
3.       Darwin – a great town with character with a relaxed lifestyle
4.       Litchfield National Park – a fantastic place with lots of great waterfalls and swimming holes,
5.       Kalbarri –rugged national park, fantastic coastline and sensational wildflowers,
6.       Ningaloo Reef – Exmouth & Coral Bay, easy access reef with great snorkelling spots,
7.       Far North QLD – Airlie Beach, Cairns, Port Douglas and Daintree – great area, we would have liked to spend more time here,
8.       Nullarbor – driven it 3 times now and is still a real buzz, a scenic trip with lots to see,
9.       WA South West  corner, Albany, Esperance – great towns with plenty to see and do
10.   THE TRIP – the whole trip was a buzz, plenty to see and do, everywhere was great, there was not one spot that I would say we wasted our time going too. 
Marlene’s Top Ten Spots
1.       Esperance – magnificent coastline and beaches, pure white sand
2.       Darwin – sharing the NT experience with Ryan, Catherine and Tim, also attending the NT Music awards with Gavin
3.       Walpole – walking through the Giant Karri trees and experiencing the tree top walk
4.       Karumba – fishing in the gulf, the beautiful clear blue waters
5.       Lake Argyle – swimming in the infinity pool and drinking champagne at sunset while swimming in the lake
6.       Maroochydore – the first of many beautiful sunsets
7.       Mt Surprise – rugged part of Qld, with a sensational caravan park run by Jo & Joe as well as the fantastic Undara Lave Tubes
8.       Ningaloo Reef – snorkelling and swimming along the reef at Exmouth and Coral Bay
9.       Broome – sipping champagne with Jill and Stuart while watching a sunset over Cable Beach, and the starting point for our 9 day Kimberley Experience
10.   Margaret River – sampling some great wines of the region
Trip Statistics
Total trip distance: 24,184km – the van did approximately 18,500km
Total Fuel Used: 3690 litres – fuelled up 90times, cheapest $1.27, dearest $2.05, average price $1.57
Fuel Economy: 15.5l/100km, 6.7km/litre
Car drive time or number of hours in the car: 396.4hours – along time with no cabin fever.
Caravan Parks: 58 – free camps 3
We hope you have enjoyed our journey over the past 5 months - we have cetainly enjoyed keeping you up to date with stories and pictures from our trip.  This is a great big country to travel around with plenty to see and do - just get out there and Do It - we will again sometime in the future.  But until then it is lots of shorter trips and some fantastic memories.
The loop is complete - but still lots to see inland and Tasmania

3 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. OzSportsMate - Find Sports Clubs, Sports Partners, Sports Match Maker & Players in your nearby Local Areas in Australia. Also, Buy swap and sell Sports goods, List

    Sports Events, and Sports Jobs in Australia.

    Find Sports Partners & Buy Sell Swap Sports Goods
    used sports equipment
    find hockey players
    find tennis players
    find yoga classes
    netball player
    sports club
    sports clubs Australia
    jobs within sports
    jobs within sports Australia
    sports events Brisbane

    Contact No. :- +61 430480581
    Email :- ozsportsmate.com.au@gmail.com
    Website :- www.ozsportsmate.com.au

    ReplyDelete
  3. Complete range of high-tech sorbent products that absorb oil up to 86 times.Upto 80% Absorption Capacity & Absorb high-volume oil spills & can be reused 5-6 times.

    Best absorbent products in India

    Phone: +91 – 9503276981
    Email: contact@sorbene.com

    ReplyDelete