Well, we have catching up to do, so lets get stuck into it!!!!  We left Eden with really no idea where we were going, and end up squeezing in to a National Park at Thurra River.  It was a really nice spot, the beach was lovely, but absolutley freezing,  lucky the River itself was perfect to go for a little paddle.  As nice as it was, we wanted some more space to celebrate Troy's birthday and headed to the country for peace and quiet.

                                             Us on the beach at Thurra River

 We hit the jackpot with Little Ada River, a free camp north west of Orbost.  Beautiful, peaceful, fire pits, green and a lovely running river.  Being Troys Birthday, the girls and I made a cake, cooked damper in the camp oven and prepared the roast and vegies for the camp oven dinner why Troy and Max went fishing.  So our style, we all loved it.  The fresh air, the bell birds and only 4 cars went past the whole two days we were there.  Troy and I went for a run in the cool brisk mornings, (so can't believe it is the middle of summer here) then relaxed by the fire and played with the kids.  The kids made what they liked to call "bush art" and found it very easy to entertain themselves. It was time to move on however, and after to talking to one of the four cars that dropped in, they told us about this amazing place that we just had to see.

                                                Our Camp at Little Ada River

                                                           Dinner in the camp oven

                                                  The Kids "Bush Art"

                                                   Happy Birthday Daddy

We were excited to have some local knowledge behind us, where we were told we could sit on our camping chairs and fish right from our caravan. Yeah, I bet they are still laughing.  The place was a joke, so we keep on going in search of somewhere to stay the night.  Heading up to the fourth camping ground in the area, Troy says we are staying here no matter what its like.  Maybe we have been a bit spoiled from the amazing places we have seen, because the kids thought it was ok, and after a beer or two it looked ok to us too!!  Needless to say, we were off pretty early in the morning in search of somewhere to pull up for a few days and just fish....

After having my nose in the Camps 6 book and checking sites on Wiki camps, I head us toward Marlay Point.  Directly on Lake Wellington, we set the van up only meters from the waters edge.  We really enjoyed this place, even more so when the wind wasn't blowing us away.  Max was so excited they weren't drop down toilets.  We all fished, and we all caught fish (carp actually).  The kids swam and read and played in the sand a few days, then we all had our winter clothes on and watched a movie and had hotdogs for lunch just to keep out of the cold,  (so can't get used to this weather, even on hot days, the water is still so cold).   After four days of catching Carp, Troy says," Lets go check out somewhere else and try and catch some fish we can eat, i've found a place."

                                                Our camp at Marlay Point

                      

Marlay Point

Well, he was right.  Troy caught some Bream!!!!  Maybe that's all I should say about this place.  Oh, and the fact we had to close all windows in the van just so we didn't have to smell that god awful smell!!!!!!!!!lol...  All apart of the adventure. ;-)

We were off to Rosedale, to pick up the mail  (THANK YOU SOOO MUCH DANIELLE), and also to catch up on some washing.  Just so happened to be a Pub right opposite, the thought of a few cold ones while the washing was on was too good to pass up, so across the road we went.  Air con, (it was a bit hot that day) hot chips and gravy and lemonade for the kids and everyone was happy.  Best washing day EVER!!   There was an awesome free camp just a few hundred meters down the road, where the kids had a ball playing in the weeping willow.  After dinner and showers, we went for a walk to the bridge to look at the running creek.  Troy lifts Max up to have a look and what do ya know, his thong falls off, over the bridge and into the water.  He was so upset to see the thong that Nanny and Poppy bought him for his birthday get swept down the creek.  To cut a long story short, Troy and I end up knee deep in mud, just to get his thong which broke the very next day!!!!

                                                 The weeping willow the kids played in all afternoon

The next day we stocked up on supplies and headed to a free camp at Reeves Beach.  I have to tell  you this, back in Eden, we met this family who are travelling around Australia also.  We swapped numbers and have been keeping intouch telling each other about the camps that are good and so on.  After being at Reeves Beach only an hour, who pulls in, but Nat, Shann and the two Kids, Levi and Chilli, who are the same age as Kaicey and Elley.  They were just checking out a spot for their next camp.  I was just doing up a platter for afternoon tea and invited them to stay and have a beer.  We liked them immediately and after the first beer we knew that they were just like us.  We had a great night with them, they are genuine and just plain lovely.  The kids are awesome as well, which says alot to us. The kids were doing  cartwheels and Kaicey fell over, which resulted in another trip to hospital.  The x-rays cleared a broken collar-bone, but she is still in a bit of pain so maybe just badly bruised??

After two days we set off to Stony Creek Rodeo, where we planned to meet Nat, Shann and the Kids.  We had a blast.  The kids had a ball on the jumping castle, petting zoo, face painting and the mechanical bull.  Max was a natural on the bull, maybe it was sheer terror that kept him on, because he ended in tears.   It was so cold.  We all had every piece of winter clothing on that we had packed, beanies, gloves, jeans and jackets and were still cold.  Is it summer or what???

                                                       The kids at the Rodeo

The next day we went to Wilsons Promotory.  Lucky for us, they have reserved sites for interstate travellers only.  We were told that it is booked for years in advance and even then, your name is picked out of a hat, so to speak, wheather you get in or not.  Another of Mother Natures beauty at work.  Spectacular. 

                                            Tidal River at Wilsons Prom

We leave Wilsons Prom and are currently at Dandegong.  A place we would not have come, only that the Van is booked in for a new Awning.  Still figuring out where we are off to next, wherever the bushfires aren't.  Having the time of our lives.  The kids have always been close, but watching their bond grow by the day is so special to witness.  We have learnt so much more about them, just by being together more.  They are awesome little people and we made them.  We are so proud of them, just as we always have been.  We set off from Reeves Beach the other day, and after our traditonal "kiss for luck" (something that Troy and I have always done on big trips, have adpoted it to be an every driving day traditon) Willie Nelsons "On the Road Again" is blaring on the radio, and i'm close to tears.  Tears of pure joy and happiness and love, love for everything important to me, which is in that car.  We were born to do this!!!!!!

Until next time
Love ya's all

 

The Travelling Bryants  xoxox

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!! What a great start to the new year we had.  After leaving our Christmas Bush Camp we set our sights on the beaches, but not everything goes as planned, and after a full day of catching up with the washing and re-stocking our supplies, we settle for a free camp beside the highway at Batemans Bay.

We wake in the morning with much anticipation of seeing the country's capital city.  Canberra, here we come.  What a lovely surprise Canberra was.  For such a big city, we found it very easy to get around.  We booked into a low key Caravan Park close to the city centre so we could explore this wonderful city.  We done a tour of Parliament House, which was really interesting and pretty cool for the kids to see the Chambers that are shown on the news.  We got to catch up with my Aunty Lyn, and my cousin Andrew, and Karen and their beautiful girls.  How lovely it was to see some familiar faces and have hugs and kisses.  We then tour the War Memorial, which you could have spent all day and still not see everything.  Something Troy and I have always wanted to do, and we weren't disappointed.  Max was enthralled with the helicopters and aeroplanes, Elley loved the scenes of battle that were displayed, Sammi just followed and Kaicey was extremely emotional that so many people had died.  The next day we spent the whole day at QuestAcon, which for those who don't know, is a massive science centre.  Wow, so much fun for all of us.  We sat in on a show, "Balloontastic" where Kaicey was chosen out of the crowd to go on stage and help with a demonstration.  She was so chuffed.  Troy, Kaicey and Elley did a 6 metre free fall on one of the exhibits which was really cool.  We had a great day learning loads.  We left Canberra very pleased with our time there, the history is amazing and we felt very proud being Australian.

 

                                              Catching up with Family, Chloe and Kirra and our four

                                               Troy and the Kids outside Parliament House

                                                 From Parliament House looking to War Memorial

 

                                                     Me and the Kids at the War Memorial

 

Kaicey on stage at the Balloontastic Show at QuestAcon 

We felt it was time to head back to the coast, back to the beaches and warm weather (Canberra mornings were chilly cold) to find somewhere to bring the New Year in.  We found a great beach just north of Tathra, in a National Park.   We squeeze the van in and crack open a beer.  We meet the neighbours, Amber and Bee, who had two girls, and Kate and Tim, who had a boy and a girl.  We crashed their fire and stayed the whole night with these lovely people.  We will be seeing them again in our travels as we exchanged numbers.
New years day was spent chilling at the great beaches.

                                                Our camp at Tathra

                                                  Amber, Bee, Kate and Tim, who we spent New Years with

Packing up the van, (which by the way we are pro at now) we travel down the coast looking for another great spot to set up.  With this time of year everything is nearly booked out and free camps and National Parks are the same, we hit the jackpot with the Eden Tourist Park.  Love this place.  Directly opposite the beach, where when the winds not up, the swimming is fabulous.  Thats if your not a sook like me, (the water is bloody cold).  We book in for a cruise on Cat-Balou, which tours Two-Fold Bay.  It was a magical day, we learnt alot of history on the area and saw 2 seals, a penguin, a stingray and alot of Dolphins that swam and jumped right in front of the boat.  It felt like you could reach out and touch them they were so close.  The next day as a special treat, I book Troy and Max a scenic flight.  Max wants to be a Pilot so this was so cool for Daddy and Son to experience together.  He got to sit up next to the Pilot and you couldn't shift that smile on his face all day.  We have really loved Eden, I have been going for a run everyday, and Troy went for a run this morning as well.  We played tennis, been to lookouts, lakes and beaches.  We have met some wonderful people, Sam and Scott, who we will catch up with again and Rod and Karen.

                                              The Beach oppostie the Van Park

                                                  The cruise we went on

                                                     The Dolphins playing in front of the boat

                                               A lovely day on the water

                                                           Troy and Max getting into their Scenic Flight

We are off again in the morning, where we do not know yet, but that's the best part.  We wish all our family and friends a Happy New Year and hope that 2013 will be your year to shine.  Me, I hope for nothing more than what I already have, which is a beautiful Husband, whom I love with everything that I am, four amazing children that I would move mountains for, a wonderful family which mean the world to me and the BESTEST friends anyone could ever ask for.
Love ya's all
The Travelling Bryants

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...