30 Random Notes for 30 days on the road

Hey Everyone – we are back in internet reception for the day in Alice Springs while we do a few jobs before heading north in search of warmer weather!  We are finding it hard to get any internet reception in our camping spots so we are a bit behind with our blog posts but just so you know we have had an awesome last couple of weeks exploring the East and West MacDonell Ranges – beautiful spots and we will get some posts through as soon as we can!  In the meantime we are coming up on nearly 6 weeks on the road – it has gone soooooo fast!  We put this below list together to sum up our first month on the road – just a nice summary for us to look back on when our trip is all over – thought you guys might find it interesting too!!

1. Snap lock bags are awesome – soooo many uses!
2. Sooooo much dirt & dust – Jess really doesn’t like the dust!
3. Lexi is petrified of long drop toilets
4. Bush weeing for girls is much harder than for boys!
5. Laundromats & washing clothes for a family on the road is expensive (hoard your $1 coins!)
6. It costs 50cents for adults to use public toilets in Alice Springs
7. If planning on gem fossicking with kids – install trailer at back of your camper to tow all of the ‘amazing treasures’ home! (Grammy & Grunda have a lot to answer for!)
8. Our kids talk a lot, all of the time, often all at once & loudly
9. Hippies in combi vans seem to be clothing optional after midnight – even in crowded caravan parks in Alice Springs
10. A game of car cricket out here takes two days to get in to double digits!
11. We’ve learnt how to do the camp shower dance – learning how to put your trackies on without letting them touch the wet floor!
12. Socks & thongs are perfectly able to be worn together when camping in winter!
13. 0 degrees in a camper is cold – very cold!
14. Tyre pressure must be dropped in soft sand when towing the camper or we will get bogged – twice!
15. Freddo Frogs are a very effective form of bribery when you want your kids to do just one more walk when they have walked over 20km’s in the last 3 days!
16. We absolutey could not live without our saucepan & frying pan – we use them just about every meal!
17. We expected to be able to cook & eat outside all of the time – instead it has been so cold that we have only eaten outside about 5 times to date!
18. It is actually quite tiring sightseeing all the time!
19. Clothes really can be worn for at least 3 days before they are truly dirty!
20. To date our trip fatalities are, 1 shovel & 1 spotlight lost to the Plenty Highway, 1 camper foot and mudflap lost to the Mereenie Loop, one left hand mudflap that has been runover & pulled off the back twice, 1 number plate which fell off on the dirt road to Arltunga, one dent in the fuel tank from reversing into a rock at Ruby’s gap, and one fridge pipe that keeps wriggling loose!
21. Our favourite place so far has been our camp at 2mile in the West MacDonnella ranges.
22. It is very difficult to argue quietly in a caravan park!
23. We love the fact that the sun is not rising until after 7am – our kids are sleeping in until then!
24. Since we have been in the Northern Territory we have hardly seen any wildlife beside the roads – dead or alive.
25. So far we have travelled 5,847km’s since we left with an average fuel economy of 14.1 litres per 100 km’s.
26. Having a compressor on board is essential as well as an auxiully battery for a trip like this
27. Matt is in love with his stove top Italian coffee maker – best on road coffee!
28. We are also loving our wheelie bag (garbage bag on back of car) and decent head torches – money well spent
29. The Northern Territory National Parks are great – clean long drop toilets, individual fireplaces with cooking plates & tables, ranger talks are awesome!
30. We are not ready to come home yet!!!