Howdy guys, sorry it's been a while but we have been out of range, so, we left Forster/Tuncurry heading for Nelson Bay.  Even through the rain clouds you could see the beauty of this place.  We checked into Halifax Caravan Park, and thought we would treat ourselves to a bought lunch.  We found a place that had won the best Fish and Chips Award in NSW... and it was pretty good.  With the rain on and off, we decided to go exploring in the car and came across massive sand dunes, which done tours to go Sandboarding.  Wow, how fun, even the twins went down these huge sand mountains.  We climbed up and slid down for hours.  It was unexpected and so much fun. There were alot of Koreans on a tour bus who were astonished at how brave the kids were, one of them said that Sammi was a real Aussie girl....
We woke the next morning to find the rabbits (which were everywhere) munching away on our travelling herb garden (sorry Scott, it did survive though) and Rosella's that the kids fed bread to.  We walked the beaches and rocks (Troy thought he found a wonderful secret path to a beautiful beach, only to find out later there was an entrance to that beach a short walk from our caravan) so cuts on feet and soaked from the waves crashing into us just added to our little adventure.

                                            The rocks Troy made us walk around

                                                       Sand Boarding

                                             The Rabbit eating our herb garden

We leave Nelson Bay with the intention to free camp on the way to Tamworth.  We set the co-ordinates into "Sarah" (GPS) only to pull up at 2pm to a, lets just say 'a spot not desirable' and decide that 100 more km to Tamworth would so be worth it.  I'm extremely excited at this point.  Tamworth is a place I have always wanted to go, and was so excited to share this experience with Troy and the kids.  We visited the Golden Guitar and the Wax Museum. The kids would hear a song from Slim Dusty or the likes and say " This is Poppy's song mummy" very cool... Two days in Tamworth and we were ready and excited to head towards Dubbo.

                                            Troy found out its not REAL gold

                                             Elley and I in front of  Slim Dusty

We found this amazing free camp at Mendooran, which if we hadn't of booked into Dubbo Big 4, we could have stayed for weeks.  It was on a river bank, where I thought I would play fair and not fish, just to let the others have a chance at catching some.  Troy (and Kaicey) caught 6 Carp on sweetcorn kernels, which one of the locals had told us about.  We cooked a roast in the camp oven the first night and thought we would do our version of wallaby stew the second.  It was so yummy and had plenty left over so Troy sent Elley over to a campervan with two young tourist to see if they were hungry.  So the only version suitable for this blog is that a Frenchman, an Irishman and a family of Aussies shared wallaby stew, fresh baked damper and alot of laughs around a camp fire, next to a river.  One thing they did say to us was "we were told only gullible tourists ate Kangaroo in Australia".......

                                                 The River we camped beside

                                                    My first attempt at Damper

                                                             Our version of Wallaby Stew

We wake in the morning with cloudy heads from our shenanigans the night before,with our sights set on Dubbo.  We set up at the Big 4, then went to the local markets to replenish our supplies.  Cherries are all our favourite thing at the moment, so stalls are doing great thanks to the travelling Bryants.  We wake in the morning with much anticipation about going to the Zoo.  Mmmmm, the Zoo was a little disappointing to be honest.  With saying that, I think we are a little spoiled from having Australia Zoo on our doorstep.  To us, the animals (or should i say animal) as there were only one in each enclosure, looked sad.  But, each to their own and I'm sure if you haven't visited Australia Zoo, you may very well enjoy this experience.  The highlight for me were the Giraffes.  The next day Troy visited the old Dubbo Goal with the Kids, (i was a little unwell).  It was awesome, only very short lived (turns out Sammi has a major fear of Goals).  That afternoon after dinner we relax by the jumping pillow.  This was also very short lived as Kaicey was taken away in an ambulance with a neck brace on, as she was bounced and landed on her neck.  After most the night and early hours in the hospital and x-rays done, she was cleared with bruising (thank goodness).  After a rest day, we treat ourselves to a lovely meal at the bowls club and share 3 desserts with 6 spoons. Dessert is not something we do very often, so this was a highlight for the kids.

                                                    Dubbo Zoo

We leave Dubbo setting our sights on Bathurst.  We free camped just north west of Bathurst, with the flies and also a lovely young couple ( Ann and Barry, we invited them to stay at the Block, so expect a call from Lee and Yasmin).  After un-hitching the van, we drive to Mt Panorama so Troy can do a lap of Bathurst ( he thinks he beat Lowndes time, i think he quad droupled it).

                                             The camp with the flies but alot of fun

                                                    Troy driving the course

We leave there and free camp 20km from the Jenolan Caves.  Wow, what an amazing experience.  Our highlight of the trip so far.  This is a must!!!!!!!!! The kids loved it, Troy loved it, and I loved it.  Four hours of going WOW.  After a  self guided tour, we do a tour with a guide to the Imperial Cave.  Sammi was chosen to lead the tour group, which was really cool.  Front row all the way!!  Afterwards, we head to Katoomba, to see the Three Sisters, and also ride the Skyway.  On our return, Max was chosen to drive the Skyway back.  That smile never left his face.  All the way back to the free camp Max asked Troy "Dad, have you ever driven a Skyway before" Troy, "No mate", Max, "Well, I have".... Found out it really pays to have cute Kids.!!

                                           The caves you have to drive through to see the caves

                                                   Some of the crystals

                                                         The pics dont do this justice

                                          The Three Sisters At The Three Sisters

                                                     On the Skyway

                                                   Max driving the Skyway home

Its getting close to Chrissy, so we decide to find a camp and slow down a bit.  We find a place called Coolendel Bush Camp.  After a driving on a goat track to get there, turns out it was all worth it.  Beside the Shoalhaven River, wildlife galore, Peacocks, Goannas, Wallabies, Wombats and our tribe.  Camp fires, marshmallows, camp ovens, swimming, paddle boating and rapids is how we spent Christmas.  Santa found us, so blessed to have four wonderful children who are so grateful and genuinely excited about what we are giving them as in our year long trip.  It makes one think, how much importance we place on material possessions.  We are living in a 6 meter by 3 meter caravan and have more than what we need, our back yard is Australia, and we are happier now than what we have ever been, we are a family unit so close and are only going to get even closer ( something i never thought would have been possible).

                                               The kids patting the Wombat

                                                        Christmas Morning

                                                            One of the many Peacocks

                                                           The river we swam in

                                                      The Peacock's feathers spread
                                                            
We hope all our families and friends had a wonderful Christmas, we love you, we miss you (sometimes), only joking, so until next time, The Travelling Bryants, OUT!!!

P.S We hope not to leave it so long in between blogs, but due to unforseen circumstances, it was un- avoidable...

Wow, what a few days we have had.  We left Hastings Point, in the direction of Yamba.  We pulled into Byron Bay with the intention of going to the Lighthouse, but our caravan was too big to and could only go so far, so we parked and walked as long as the twins could handle.  We then decided on two very important decisions, one- what to name our GPS!!! Sarah it is, and two- what was our theme song going to be.......ON THE ROAD AGAIN, by Willie Nelson, (thanks for the tip Cassie).

We then pull into the Yamba Big 4, with much anticipation about the giant jumping pillow.  Yamba is lovely, we were told by locals to check out the Green and Blue Pools.  So with a picnic morning tea in tow, we set off to a natural beauty of mother nature.  Directly next to the ocean, is two huge natural freshwater pools, one of green colour, one of blue, (hence the name).  Beautiful!!!!  Then off to the lighthouse and the Trawler to buy fresh King Prawns for lunch....MMmmm Yummo.  After two days of the parks water park and pool and jumping pillow it was time to set off again.

                                                                  The Green and Blue Pools

We headed to Coffs Harbour, purely to take photos outside the Big Banana.  Oh, and of course ice cream!  It was pretty steamy so we pulled into Park Beach for a swim, and picnic lunch at the park.  We were told about Sawtell (Thanks Uncle Petey) and boy are we grateful for that.  What a beautiful place Sawtell is.  The huge fig trees that line the centre of the main street and the headland and beaches were breathtaking.  One downside to our stay was, we were walking back from town, when a duck got hit by a car directly next to us.  We had three very upset children, while Elley was more curious about the splat!!!!   Anyway......

 

                                                Beautiful Sawtell

After great navagating skills from yours truly, I head us to one our highlights so far.  A place called Trial Bay, South West Rocks.  It was amazing, educational, relaxing, fun and totally unexpected.  We toured the remains of the Trial Bay Gaol, where convicts were sent just to build a breakwater for the ships to shelter from bad weather.  We walked inside the cells the prisoners were kept in and apart from Sammi thinking we were going to be locked in, the kids were amazed.  Highly recommend it.   We walked along the beach first thing in the morning and came across some commercial fishermen, who pulled there nets in purely for the kids benefit.  They knew it wasn't a huge catch but wanted the kids to see the nets come in.  Two very memorable nights, where we also met a lovely Dutch family, who for some reason couldn't understsand Troys dutch language!!!!(Robyn wetting her pants laughing)

 

                                                   Morning walk along the beach

                                                 The guys bringing in the nets for the kids
                                                     (one big yellow tail king fish plus a box)

                                               Part of Trial Bay Gaol

Such is Life!!

                                                  The Breakwater the Convicts built

Troy finally lets me take the wheel, and has his hand at navagating.  He leads us to a place called Diamond Head, in Crowdy Bay National Park.  Lovely spot, very popular with the locals, which had a school camp which set up 3 meters from our caravan.  We were worried for no reason, they had a huge fire and and played acoustic guitars and sang.  We had our own fire and after dinner Troy threw his meat scraps in, next thing you know,  a Kookaburra flies directly into the centre of the fire to retrieve the meat.  Was cool to see.

                                                   The Kids at Diamond Head

We then pull up at the Big 4 Forster/Tuncurry.  Gorgeous spot, Kaicey, Elley, Max and I went for a bike ride this morning and found a rockpool beach, (Troy and Sammi had to turn around due to Sammi's lack of riding ability), so about face to get them and the car.  So glad we did, walking along breakwater, we spot what would have been at least 10 dolphins playing in the sea way.  We all had an amazing time watching them for around an hour.   Dragging ourselves away, we tour Forster/Tuncurry, and buy some King Tiger Prawns and some bait at the Fish Co-Op.  The Big 4 here is on the waterways, abundant with Pelicans and small fish that Troy cant catch, yet i seem to have no trouble landing 3 within the matter of minutes....

                                                   Elley and Sammi watching the Dolphins

                                                Dolphin right in front of boat

                                           Troy and Max fishing, Sammi being Sammi

Having the time of our lives, missing special people but cant wait to see them all and tell them all the stories that aren't blog suitable!!!!!!

PS.  The special people in our lives are in our hearts on this amazing journey, you know who you are, and THANK YOU... 
PPS.  You have all these amazing moments and know your doing an incredible thing with your family, but there are always going to be  hard days when we miss our friends and family.

 The Travelling Bryants

                                                              Our Theme Song

Hi Everyone, we've actually done it.  We packed the house, loaded the Caravan, and set off on the 29th November.  Alot of teary goodbyes were had, very humbling to think that we have so many special people in our lives.

Our first stop was at Chinderah, a free camp just south of the Tweed Coast, NSW,  which had wild roosters that cock-a-doodle-dood all night.  Troy nearly lost his finger loading the bikes on the roofracks, his foot slipped on the tyre and his wedding ring caught and cut and bruised his finger, but his tough, the first aid kit got its first use.

We then cruised the Nsw coast and swam at Kingscliff, and walked to the headland.  Very pretty and scenic.  Alot of cockroaches though, (lucky we are QUEENSLANDERS, just like the origin team we crush em).  After realizing I left the keys in the Caravan door after our swim, Troy pulled up and I jumped out and got them.  We had stopped opposite a Big 4 at Hastings Point with a water park in it and it was decided to book in for two nights.

Everyone is having a wonderful time, swimming, walking the beaches and relaxing.  We are off for a bigger drive tomorrow, heading to the Yamba Big 4.

 Heading down to the beach this afternoon to do a spot of fishing to try and catch some Tailor for brekky. 

The girls will be taking over the Blog after christmas, but would like to take this opportuninty to thank everyone who supported us and was so positive and genuinely happy for us.  You all know who you are, and it means alot to us.

Until next time
THE TRAVELLING BRYANTS

                                           The view from the Headland at Kingscliff

                                            Scotts Island Reserve, free camp the first night        

Robyn :0)                                 Parked at Kingscliff

The Beginning

The countdown is on.......My husband Troy and I are travelling around Australia with our four children, Kaicey 9, Elley 8, and twins Sammi and Max aged 4.  We have 9 weeks to go before we set off on our 12 month adventure around this beautiful country.

December 1st we head south from Landsborough Qld.  The girls will be posting weekly with pics and stories about where we have been.

Exciting times ahead.....
Robyn :)