Nightly Goodnight Everyone

[Dot]

Blimey where was everyone tonight?? Time I hit the sack then, no one wants to talk. Goodnight everyone x

[Greynomad]

Dottie,
I beat you again...

[Macca]

2am!!! have been up for 2 pit stops by then

[T1 Terry]

if only I could sleep long enough for my bladder to get me out of bed Thankfully the O/S forums are alive during the early hrs. I've made a batch of choco/walnut cookies, Margaret is home from her walk so breakfast time

[Macca]

Bruce snores on regardless when I go walking. Ugh

[Jodebtre]

Finally made it back to Brisvagas our figure of eight around Australia took 2yrs

now it's your turn Dotty

[BruceS]

Well done!!
How about you tell us what your & Jo's thoughts are about the trip?
Was it worth it?
Would you do something different if you knew what you know now?
Did you take enough clothes/supplies etc?
Were all those spare breakdown parts really worth taking?
And lastly & most importantly are you both still friends?

What did the first night back in your PROPER bed feel like?

[Macca]

Well I am off to lunch with tennis ladies- last until who knows when because I sure as hell don't. 29 more sleeps in house until we move into van to start cleaning for rental- but hey who's counting Sorry if I am boring you but getting really excited now. Nissan away for big service. New tyres ordered.

[Jodebtre]

Questions from Admin

Well done!!
Initially we were very green but we used the old CMCA Forum as a reference and in the later parts of our trip, we became experienced enough to help others.

How about you tell us what your & Jo's thoughts are about the trip?
Jo has just reminded me that the figure of 8 took four years, but the fact is our trip away from Brisbane was only 2 years. It was a steep learning curve and we used every reference we could i.e. Camps 4 and 6, GeoWiki, the forums and other travellers to help find camps around Australia.

Was it worth it?
Absolutely it was a great experience. We have seen more in the last few years than we have in our lifetime.

Would you do something different if you knew what you know now?
We may have figure of 8'd Australia but we are not quite finished yet. We would probably have taken a lot longer and stayed in places for longer. We intended working to help finance the trip, however, we only worked for 10 months in Perth. Our budget is a bit tight so we sacrifice tours and excursions but we made up for it by taking in the natural beauty of Australia (which is free).

Did you take enough clothes/supplies etc?
Our motorhome has been our home and everything we own is on board, so we had enough clothes for all seasons. We had enough cooking utensils for all methods. We did have a few things on board that we haven't used very much but fortunately we had the space to transport them.

Were all those spare breakdown parts really worth taking?
We only had a few spares for breakdowns which we never used, fortunately, we haven't had a puncture. The mechanical issues with the motorhome have been minor apart from the complete brake failure.

And lastly & most importantly are you both still friends?
Yes, of course we are both good friends, we were before we started, we were during and we still are. Living in a confined space has not really been a challenge, our minds have been kept occupied with the planning, travelling, setting up camps and living on the road. We have made hundreds of friends and our continued travels will include visiting some of these people all around Australia.

What did the first night back in your PROPER bed feel like?
Although we have returned to Brisbane, before we left in 2008 we sold our house and everything we owned, so our bed is in our motorhome.

Our vehicle has never really let us down. The thing that has let us down on our trip is the shonky, dishonest and unreliable mechanics around Australia. However, fortunately, we have come across a couple of excellent trustworthy mechanics that have repaired our vehicle in good faith and not ripped us off. We established a budget which we have stuck too. We could have spent more, but in hindsight it was just about right.

So now we are fortunate enough to continue our travels for a few more years yet.

We thank everybody on all the forums for the help and support we have received over the past four years.

[Macca]

Goodnight to you all.