We survived a 10,000km caravaning trip with three small kids!

I started a few threads asking for help and support before we left, so thank you everyone for your input!

We did our 6 week trip over to WA and back over September/October and had the best time of our lives! I just wanted to share so I might encourage anyone else thinking about doing a big trip with their kids, but is feeling unsure.

We absolutely fell in love with WA, our most favourite place was Esperance, we ended up going there twice haha! We weren't going to go that way on the way home, but we couldn't resist sneaking back down there. DH and I kept saying we should move there! We travelled the south and south/east coast up to Perth, then headed home. It is such a beautiful place to visit. I was lucky enough to catch up with my family and friends from Perth too :).

Our kids travelled brilliantly. We survived the long, long drives by watching DVDs and playing with toys and giving them lots of little activities to do. Plenty of snacks helped too!

It was just awesome to watch the kids enjoy exploring so many new things. I think every family should do a trip like ours! It brought DH and I even closer together too, we both went in with a positive attitude and it made things so much fun.

I spent the entire 6 weeks with a feeling of excitement and a huge smile on my face and in my heart :). We were so sad to have to come home!

I blogged the entire trip along the way, I am so glad I did! We now have lots of memories and photos that we can read back over for years to come. Our family and friends enjoyed reading what we were up to along the way as well.

So, I just wanted to share and hopefully inspire someone else to get out there and travel around our beautiful country with your kids!

That's so great you all had a fantastic trip - and very encouraging too!! Glad you enjoyed WA - I'm hanging to visit Esperance (being fairly new to the state I haven't yet) and hope to next year - I'll use your comments as a bargaining tool with DH ;)

Heehee, glad my comments might help HB!

WA is so beautiful! I was actually born in Perth, but moved to Melbourne when I was 3 1/2. I hadn't been back to visit since I was 14 years old so I'd forgotten how beautiful it is!!

Sounds awesome! Good on you. I would love to read your blog.

Ohhh, where's your blog??

You know, I was born in Perth, and have never been to Esperance - I hear many good things though! Can I ask, approximately how much did your trip cost? Do you own the caravan or rent it? I would LOVE to do a roadtrip around WA, DH would love to roadtrip to Melbourne - I'd love to pick your brains Trish!

Keike - I'm Perth born and bred as well and have never made it to Esperance either! You're not alone there! :)

Trish - I second Keike's request for your blog details, I'd love to read that!

Glad you enjoyed your trip! :)

I'm happy to share my blog with my BB friends, but just shoot me a PM me for the link :). I'll PM you Ash, Keike and Doodlebug (that's the nickname I give DS2 LOL!) though seeing as you all asked :D

Keike - It's amazing how many people from Perth haven't been to Esperance! I guess it's a very long way to travel so you couldn't just go there for the weekend! It's hard to put a price on the trip because we are fortunate that DH has a company vehicle and we didn't have to pay for fuel (woohoo!). It was pretty expensive to tow a 17 foot caravan with a Land Cruiser, sometimes we were going through 25 litres per 100km - eek!. A car on diesel would have done a lot better. Accomodation prices varied from caravan park to caravan park. It probably averaged about $30-$35 per night (this includes the kids). There are plenty of free camping places though and some really cheap national parks (some we only paid $7 a night for!). We used the Camps Australia Wide 5 book which lists most campsites (and rest areas you can camp at) around Australia that are free or cost under $22 per night. It was fantastic to have! We already owned a caravan, just an old Jayco with a pop-top roof. Feel free to pick my brains any time!

Sounds awesome Trish, we are doing a month long trip in April next year with our land cruiser and hiring a caravan, will pm you for the link.

Awesome black_rose! I'm sure you'll have a ball :D. Our Landcruiser has a petrol engine which is why it cost a fair bit, most are on diesel and are much more economical.

Ours is petrol too so we are expecting a huge bill!

Wow that sounds like a great trip! Glad to hear it went well!
When I was in my first few years of school my family did a similar trip for 10 weeks - SA -NT - WA - SA. It was amazing and such a different learning experience.

Hey that is great to hear and thank you for sharing. We have never really camped before but are both in need of a realy break so when we drive home to SA for Christmas we are hiring a camper trailer and will be heading up the Great Ocean road on the way home. A few weeks all up and I'm getting nervous about camping with a 3.5yr old who doesn't listen and a almost 1yr old about to walk LOL!!! but I'm sure we will love it!!!

Good on you! Glad you had such a great time and it all worked out well!! It's sad when you have to come home from such a great trip huh?

Unfortunately my DH only gets 2 weeks off a year (family business) so we aren't able to do that otherwise it's something we'd love to do one year!

Sagres - That sounds like an awesome trip! It really is a great learning experience for the kids. DS1 missed 4 weeks of school, but he learned so many other things he could never learn at school :).

Erin - Have fun camping along the Great Ocean Road! It's a beautiful place :). Don't be nervous, you'll be amazed at how good the kids are. Ours were so interested in all the new surroundings that they behaved really well. It was quite relaxing because we could sit outside and watch the kids who were happy to entertain themselves. A handy tip: I highly recommend using a plastic storage tub for a bath! We had a storage tub that we emptied out and filled with warm water. DD loved having a bath in it and it solved the problem of how to wash her when there wasn't a baby bath at a camp site. DS2 who is 3 also fit in it, so it came in very handy!

Shanti - Bummer you can't get away at the moment :(. Hopefully this is something that will change for you guys over the next few years.

oooh, would love to read your blog too! Will PM you :)

Im Perth born and have been to Esperance. My aunty lives there such a beautiful place, I havent been there since I was about 11 though

Glad you enjoyed yourselves :)

Trish as i mentioned on your FB wall " thanks a million " as i truely felt like i was on the journey with you all, it was absolutley awesome so thank YOU for that amazing experience from cyber afar :D

... as we spoke about yep DP has been keen to do the WA drive for ages, and your blog entries and photo's along the way i could see my DP's eyes wide open when viewing, lol :lol:

I'm soooo HAPPY for you and your family having had such a wonderful & memorable time ... and that's something you get to keep within your hearts always and look back and have fond memories to chat about for many, many years to come :D

Welcome home hun!!!! :D It was so great to stay updated with your amazing trip and see the sights with you!!! Makes me definitely want to plan something in the next 2 years before Miss Iz starts school! xoxo

Glad it all went so well!
I don't think I"ve been to esperance either... I'm sure it's lovely

Awesome glad you had a great time!

Yay!!!!! I loved reading your blog felt like I was with you guys all the way! And you all looked so relaxed and Happy! So glad you had a great time :)

Erin the great ocean road is my stomping ground and dd1 and dd2 are similar ages to yours. They are fine with so much exploring to do they always pull us along pointing out things on the beach and look out to see animals along the way in the car.

Sounds like you had an absolute ball and I'm so glad it all went well for you! We are planning on doing a similar trip in a couple of year's time, hopefully for around 3 to 4 months. I'll definitely be picking your brains in the near future for places to go and ways to keep the kids occupied in the car!

Thanks everyone for your lovely comments :D.

Ahurani - It's nice to meet someone from Perth who has actually been to Esperance haha! My Dad was born and raised in Perth and still hasn't been, but I think I've inspired him now.

Smiles - You are just the sweetest person ever! I'm so glad you enjoyed reading the blog, I hope it wasn't too boring LOL! I hope I have helped inspire your DP to go for it :D

Tan - Thanks for reading along while we were away too! You definitely should start planning, it's fun thinking of all the places you can go :). We're already wondering where we should go next :lol:.

Boomba - Thanks for commenting on the blog along the way, it made me feel like I wasn't as much of a "Scott No-friends" :rofl:.

Jaycee - A 3 to 4 month trip would be awesome! I'm so jealous! Feel free to pick my brains any time, hopefully I can be of some help :). A lot of travelling families we met found they'd had enough after 3 months and headed home earlier than planned. I wonder what happens after 3 months LOL!

For the record, all the families we met with young kids were having a ball! We didn't hear a single negative story from anyone :D

It's so nice to see you back Trish (though it's like you never left thanks to FB and the blog!) :D

I'd like to do a similar trip one day. We've had a long long trips with our car club adventures and it's almost always positive. It's inspiring to read how much you enjoyed yourselves!

Wow, it sounds like you had an awesome trip :dance: and fab to have you back :excited:

It was great to follow your blog as well :D

Thanks Raven and Beema :D

Raven - I bet you guys have had a ball with your car club!

Wow I loved your blog!!!! It was fantastic!!

Me who hates camping thinks I could cope with a trip like that (well the places with decent showers and toilets)

Thanks for reading my blog Feeb! It really was a great trip, anyone would enjoy it :D