Botany Bay

Flying to Singapore soon…

We didn’t know what we would experience in this trip. I’ve had lots of time to think as George did all the driving during the last three weeks, although I did the navigation, booked the camper van sites as we went and did research on the places we were passing or visiting.

My main observations:
— as much as the camper van was practical and fun, next time we’ll settle for a comfortable car and stay in a cabin in a camp site, motel or hotel room… we are getting on 😂
— when we traveled, I noticed we stayed ‘in the moment’ more in the three weeks we were away, so were able to enjoy everything, absorbed the whole experience every day no matter what we got up to. When we are at home, we have our list of things to do and timescales while we carry our worries, so rarely enjoy *each* moment… I’ve got to be more thankful
— the continent is vast… distances are huge… it became apparent that the Pacific Highway (up to Brisbane) and Bruce Highway (from Brisbane to Cairns) don’t line the coastline so getting to a town along the coast can significantly add time to your journey
— the Aussie way of life is completely different from ours… mostly because the weather here is not as changeable as home, not as cold and wet (though they have their wet season). To take your children and homeschool while traveling this massive continent or go driving in a camper van on holidays and weekends on a whim, this country is made for it
— had a number of apps that were very useful: Toilet Map, indicating where the nearest public toilets were; Camps Australia Wide, indicating where the camper van sites where as we travelled and BOM Weather, produced by Bureau of Meteorology, it kept us informed what weather we should expect, can be changeable
— I realized how fussy I am and I’m always conscious of maximizing my time, however, Aussies are generally more laid back and don’t think about time or work like we do… they can keep you waiting endlessly for a bill
— the major news stories are the same as back home: housing crisis; illegal migrants; climate change; corrupt politicians; wars and conflicts around the world
— I’m not sure we have any hope of controlling climate change… for example, so many people using so much energy (never mind, us 🙄), not enough solar energy harnessed in a country that gets so much sun, there is unnecessary lighting on in every town and city every night, so much lighting used in every TV program I watched (tho didn’t watch a lot)
— as much as Australia may want to be separate from the Commonwealth, they still are concerned about the royal family and what’s going on in the UK and Ireland
— they seem to enjoy British films and celebrities…a lot of British TV shown, they know who Graham Norton is…
— every family has issues, some worse than others… we ride the storms sometimes in life alone, but underneath it all, we care and miss each other
— each of us work hard all our lives, some of us don’t have the opportunity to really feel free to enjoy life, but when possibilities arise, we make the most of it
— never buy me a large packet of maltesers waiting for a flight… I’ll down them way too fast!!!Read more