Plan & Discover

So much to see and do

10 Jul, 2020
We followed Katherine Seddon and her family as they made the 2,500km journey through the far reaches of Central Australia and Western Australia. Katherine is a mother of three cute ratbags, an ENJO lover, wife and desert dweller. She likes sharing leaf tea with friends, camping and coming home for a hot shower. If you missed Katherine’s previous instalment visit here. Part 6: Kalgoorlie Ah civilisation! Kalgoorlie! Skimpy bars! Brothel tours! A “man-made wonder” aka Super Pit aka humungous gold mine on the edge of town! A great family destination! Actually, once you look past the less desirable aspects of town, you notice the old hotels and houses which are all quite beautiful, and the Super Pit is gob-smackingly huge. Staying in caravan parks really is the pits. Pros are the running water, hot showers, being able to charge the iPad and wash your clothes. But having to sleep side-by-side with strangers in the middle of a car park full of caravans, and then see said strangers in their pyjamas the next morning is really a bit much to bear. Especially after the serenity and beauty of bush camping. Having said that, when the strangers end up being quite nice, it’s a real treat. The family in the tent next door have kids a similar age and this has been the highlight of the holiday for the kids so far. It’s interesting on a holiday how kids can crave the simple and mundane things. Our four-year-old wanted to spend all day at the caravan park. We reached a compromise and spent the afternoon there. Next time we might just book a few nights at the Alice Springs caravan park and see how we go. We all needed a break from the daily preparations and the driving so we’re staying two nights in Kalgoorlie. The thing I’ve learnt about camping on a self-drive holiday is that everything takes so much longer! Doing the washing, going to the toilet, brushing teeth, showering, making dinner, breakfast and lunch, washing up, finding clothes to wear, blah, blah, blah. In the past I’ve found satisfaction in the completing of mundane tasks while camping, but when you have a greater purpose to the trip, like, say, driving across half the country, it’s just plain annoying. I’ve logged the amount of time I’ve spent taking the three kids (who happen to be on different toileting schedules) to the facilities and it adds up to two whole days.* Our final destination is near, Perth, 600kms away. The kids are excited about reaching our destination and I am going to bring out some new snacks, muesli bars and new blank scrapbooks! What treats! *anecdotal evidence only.
07 Jul, 2020
Coping without a mobile phone, dodgy caravan parks and camping on the road (possibly) were all part of the Seddon’s 4WD journey across the Outback Way. We follow Katherine Seddon and her family as they make the 2,500km journey through the far reaches of Central Australia and Western Australia. Katherine is a mother of three cute ratbags, an ENJO lover, wife and desert dweller. She likes sharing leaf tea with friends, camping and coming home for a hot shower. If you missed Katherine’s previous instalment visit here Part 5 – On the way to Kalgoorlie…. Three days without mobile phone reception is a double-edged sword, but as we drove into Laverton I was pretty relieved to be back in range. Laverton was the first town we’d seen in three days and marked the end of our Outback Way journey and the end of the dirt road. It was only mid-afternoon and the idea of spending the night in a dodgy caravan park in a small town was pretty unappealing after our bush camping. We decided to keep on driving. We drove for another 200kms or so to a campsite near Leonora called Malcolm Dam. When I say campsite, there’s a small possibility that it was in fact just a picnic spot, and that we camped on the road, but the water views and pelicans were too good to give up! As we were setting up camp a random guy in a ute parked a few metres for our tent and drank a beer. Weird. Subsequently, I spent the night with images of making the headlines “Alice Springs family’s trip of a lifetime ends in tragedy”. Needless to say, we survived. We woke at dawn to the sight of pelicans fishing on the dam for their breakfast. It was one of those moments that you cherish as we all sat there snuggled in our sleeping bags, enjoying the view. That day as we drove the 240kms to Kalgoorlie the six-year-old says, “I just love this holiday, I love spending so much time in the car.” I think we may just have found our groove. Read on to Part 6: Caravan Parks are not the ‘pits’ after all
04 Jul, 2020
We follow Katherine Seddon and her family as they make the 2,500km journey through the far reaches of Central Australia and Western Australia. Katherine is a mother of three cute ratbags, an ENJO lover, wife and desert dweller. She likes sharing leaf tea with friends, camping and coming home for a hot shower. If you missed Katherine’s previous instalment visit here. Part 4: Leaving Docker River, NT Day 2 – Did I mention the flies? They were horrendous, it was such a relief to get into the car. Flies and heat really make everything irritating, so it almost didn’t matter what the kids did, it drove me nuts. The lesson from today: don’t wait till the morning to get the car activities organised and pack up, it has to be done the night before! But once in the car things picked up. Acutely aware we didn’t have a spare tyre, we drove very, very carefully to the nearest roadhouse, merely a couple of hundred kilometres and another state away. We drove into the great state of Western Australia and arrived at Warakurna roadhouse to the joyful news that they did have a spare tyre in the right size. Sure we had to sell our kidneys to buy it, but well worth it I think. It took a couple of locals a few hours to get the tyre onto the rim, but we eventually got back on the road. We had a great afternoon drive. I’d been worried that the drive would be boring because there were no real towns along the way (thinking of the drive from Alice Springs to Uluru) but it was really amazing how much the terrain changed along the Outback Way. It was so beautiful. We found a spot to camp just off the side of the road called Desert Surf Breakaway. It was like a proper campground, but of course without any facilities, but there were lots of lovely spots to set up the tent. There’s something about a road trip that is inherently satisfying, in the way that a day at home with the kids is often not. So while I still may end the day abut grumpy having spoken harshly to the kids more than I would have liked, at least at the end of the day I can turn to my husband and say, well, we travelled into a new state today, or good to have covered half the country today.
01 Jul, 2020
How do you prepare to take 3 kids under six, 2,500km across the desert in a car – from Alice Springs to Perth? Will it be a self-drive holiday of a lifetime or would have travelling by plane with a friendly, patient air stewardess made more sense? We follow Katherine Seddon and her family as they make the journey through the far reaches of Central Australia and Western Australia. Katherine is a mother of three cute ratbags, an ENJO lover, wife and desert dweller. She likes sharing leaf tea with friends, camping and coming home for a hot shower.
29 Jun, 2020
Pipe-cleaners or pipe-dream? Taking the kids 2,500 across the Outback means packing a lot of pipe-cleaners. And paddle-pop sticks. And stickers. And videos and audiobooks to rival a TV and radio station! Katherine Seddon shares her entertainment preparation for the long drive. We follow her family as they make the journey through the far reaches of Central Australia and Western Australia. If you missed Katherine’s first installment just before she left visit here. Katherine is a mother of three cute ratbags, an ENJO lover, wife and desert dweller. She likes sharing leaf tea with friends, camping and coming home for a hot shower.
28 Jun, 2020
We follow Katherine Seddon and her family as they make the 2,500km journey through the far reaches of Central Australia and Western Australia. Katherine is a mother of three cute ratbags, an ENJO lover, wife and desert dweller. She likes sharing leaf tea with friends, camping and coming home for a hot shower. If you missed Katherine’s previous instalment visit here.
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