Facebook Page for Travelling Families

I have been a page 'liker' of the Facebook Group... Families on the Road - Travelling Australia... for a few weeks now. It is a really helpful forum for sharing your experiences and asking questions of other families. There are thousands of members who are either on the road or planning their big trip (or ex-roadies like me who like to stay in the loop and offer the occasional pearls of wisdom).

It's a closed group for relevant families only, no spammers please!

Send a request to join the group 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/FOTR.Australia/

Ten things you must see

Ten things you must see and top tips on how to get the most out of your great Australian road trip

Written by Paul Glover for Escape.com.au

THE Big Trip is the dream of countless thousands of Australians. They picture hitching their caravan to the tail of their shiny new four-wheel drive and heading for the Outback and the travel experience of a lifetime.

It’s a dream that is often tied to retirement, when the shackles of day-to-day commitments are lifted, but can also be a multi-episode event that runs through holidays over a number of years.

If only they knew ...

So, here we go with the best way to make a lap of Australia.

The first and only thing to do right is to plan the trip down to the smallest detail. There’s nothing worse than hitting an unexpected snag, or finding you have no choices at a critical point. And it’s always worth thinking ahead about mechanical failures and health challenges – and having the essential numbers logged in your phone.

The Big Trip is usually about a lap of Australia, either clockwise or running ahead of the sun, but it’s important to also remember that some of the important stopovers – Kakadu, Uluru, Coober Pedy and Alice Springs – branch out from the Stuart Highway that creates the north-south spine from Darwin to Adelaide.

And don’t forget some of the obvious or kitsch stuff, from the Stockman’s Hall of Fame to the Qantas museum at Longreach, and even the landmarks in the big cities. After all, there are plenty of people who have never ventured far from home before planning the biggest adventure of their life.

After driving most of Australia, the thing that always comes back to me is this – it’s bigger, further and flatter than you think. The distances in Australia are huge, especially if you spend most of your days on a home-to-work commuter run. So you should think about the right vehicle, lots of stops, and countering fatigue and boredom.

READ MORE

Camping on Private Land

Youcamp is a community of private landholders who welcome responsible visitors.

Are you a traveller looking for;

• accommodation near a festival or big event
• a safe place to park your self-contained caravan
• private cabin
• labour exchange
• farmstay
• a secluded picnic spot
• traditional camping site far from the crowds....

What a great idea! Check out www.youcamp.com

Happy WA Day!

On June 1, 1829, Western Australia's coast was first sighted from the merchant ship Barque Parmelia. leading to the establishment of the Swan River Colony, the first permanent British colony in Western Australia. Traditionally Foundation Day has been celebrated on June 1st however, in 2012, new legislation passed recognising Aboriginal people as the original inhabitants and traditional custodians of Western Australia. Foundation Day was changed to WA Day and is celebrated with a public holiday on the 1st Monday in June.

I'm a proud West Aussie who travelled Australia for two years marveling at our wondrous country. I was open to finding a new home somewhere in Australia and although I fell in love with many places I chose to return to the West. It is a magical place.

Experience Extraordinary Western Australia

Western Australia is home to plenty of extraordinary experiences, the likes of which can only be found right here. Here’s a taste of the extraordinary experiences on offer in Western Australia….this is just the beginning.

• The South West of WA was named one of the top ten places to visit by Lonely Planet.
• The Margaret River region is one of Australia's premier wine regions and one of Australia's most extraordinary locations.
• WA is home to some of the world's oldest art, by one of the world's oldest living cultures.
• WA is the only place on earth where you can see a staircase to the moon.
• Perth is Australia's sunniest capital, with 3000 hours of sunshine a year.
• Western Australia boasts the largest collection of wildflowers on earth.
• Ningaloo Reef is the world's largest fringing reef, reached by the shortest swim and one of the few places where you can swim with the whale sharks.
• WA is one of the world's largest states with enough diversity for an entire continent.
• Karijini National park is one of the oldest and best rock shows on earth.
• The sand on Lucky Beach in Esperance is Australia's whitest. 

Click HERE for more amazing facts about WA.

Aussie Heli Adventure!

Have you seen this amazing rig on your travels?

Over the last six years, Graeme Harrison has spent a lot of time and money to realise a dream of travelling around Australia in a slightly different style.

“I've been around Australia twice before. Once when I was 20 and again when I was 30, and I always figured that for the third time I would like to do  it by boat or by helicopter,” Mr Harrison said. “But the idea of pulling up in a town and flying when the weather was appropriate appealed more than flying everywhere.”

So over the last six years Mr Harrison built the American-designed Rotorway kit helicopter to precision specifications, and to cart it around the 19-metre long truck and trailer set up, which houses not only the helicopter, but living quarters  complete with a double bed, full kitchen and air conditioning which runs on solar power.

“All up I've spent somewhere north of half a million dollars on the rig and trip, and I’m funding the trip entirely myself,” Mr Harrison said.

A mechanical engineer by trade, Mr Harrison said he always loved helicopters, and that he had around 80 hours flight time in small choppers before he decided  to build his own.

“Anyone can build one, technically. But not just anyone can take on the task,” he said.

“They’re not a Meccano set to build... if you don’t know what you’re doing what you put together isn't going to fly or it’s going to kill you.”

To keep himself occupied along the circumnavigation of the country, Mr Harrison has also been filming while flying with five XD Replay cameras mounted on his chopper, two quad-copter remote control drones with GoPro’s attached and while on foot around wherever he has parked.

Follow Graeme's adventure at his blog and Facebook page.
www.aussieheliadventure.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/aussieheliadventure

Written by Sandy Powell from the Augusta-Margaret River Mail