Homeward Bound!

Lachie's first driving lesson - Pap's hat was possibly
 jolted off during the first gear change!

We left the farm after a frantic morning of unpacking the caravan, packing the Blunderbuss and the Prado and cleaning the faithful old Jayco. She is showing the effects of her fourth lap and Marcus discovered some holes as we were unpacking. Some of our gear fell out through them and it was a wonder we didn't leave a Hansel and Gretel trail all the way home. Lachlan was champing at the bit for his driving lesson as I gave both Jackson and Marcus their first lesson in the ute on the farm when they turned 10 - and "I am 10 and a HALF now!" Luckily Pap was up for the challenge as we were all a tad busy cleaning the caravan.


We hit the road for the final leg of our journey after lunch. The kids have always loved getting to the farm, but have never enjoyed the 2 hour trip. This time, however, was different. "Two hours in the car? That's nothing!" they said with the air of well seasoned travellers! Marcus and I led in the heavily laden Prado and Dave followed in the Blunderbuss with the others, jammed in somehow amongst all the gear. We stopped for our final State border photo, but only Lachlan was able to escape from the Buss for the shot!

Our last border crossing!

We arrived home, gaining an hour in the process as Queensland does not have daylight saving. The kids were beside themselves - Ella bolted in to find Bonnie and Clyde and the others wandered around oohing and aahing over everything! Our fantastic housesitters Robyn and Warwick had worked miracles in our time away and we spent the next couple of hours marvelling at all the things they had managed to fix or improve during their stay here!

We've travelled for seven months and completed over 31 000 kilometres. We've read boxes of books, played lots of music and learnt to live in very confined spaces. We all loved having three generations of family travelling for the last month.

In fact, most of the last seven months we have enjoyed. Although it has to be said that some of it we have endured.

I feel as though I should have some wise words now that we are at the end of it all. Angus asked me the other day if I felt closer to the kids after all the travel and time together. We do, and we think we have made some wonderful family memories which the children will hopefully have with them for the rest of their lives.

And so, finally, on the 15th of January, the "Are we there yet?" question can be answered with a resounding "Yes!".

Thanks for travelling with us.