In the beginning ...

“You are travelling around Australia in a caravan? You?  Really?  Oh, that’s great.  What an adventure.”

That’s the typical reaction we get when we tell people about our plan to travel around Australia in a caravan.  However, experience has taught that what they are really saying is:

“WTF?  You have got to be kidding or you have gone insane.  That sounds about as much fun as sticking a three inch nail into your eyeball

 
Not that these people are against caravanning or camping or taking 5 months off work.  No,  its more the fact that (a) when the Lemonheads wrote the song, “The Outdoor Type”, they could have well been singing about me; and (b) we have three pre-school age kids. 

So I should explain how we got ourselves into this.  Simone (aka mum) and I (aka dad) were watching some show about camping and caravanning and I said, “We should do that.” 


Seriously.  That’s how much thought I put into it. 


We had talked about doing the around Australia adventure but that was really a discussion about what we would do when we retired.  And it was Simone that really wanted to do it and not me.  And certainly I did not want to do it now – when we have three kids under 6.  Going around Australia now would be insane. 


Anyway, Simone did not really answer me – something like, “Now?”  To which I responded, “yes”.  Simone: “Yeah, right.”  .  Marcus: “Well, apparently you do not want to do it so that is fine.”  Simone: “Well, if you want to do it then I would love to do it.” 

So really, the whole idea was a big game of chicken where Simone and I just kept raising the stakes and neither was prepared to back out.  Of course that this is the sort of essential bedrock on which all good marriages are built.  Simone still did not really believe me so when we went to the Caravan and Camping show about two weeks later I bought a new caravan.  And then she realized I was serious.  And I realized it was too late to back out.

Then Nana (aka Jill) and Pa (Lindsay) said they would come along.  So I was really stuffed then.


We leave in late July 2011.  I will keep you posted ...