I love lighthouses and with a coastline as huge as Australia we have a lot to discover. I am drawn to their resilience and purpose, not to mention the incredibly stunning views they afford from their locations. No lighthouses are manned in Australia these days, they are all automated, but in some cases weather readings and other information are still taken from their locations.
Love it
Learn from the Locals
I love preparing for a holiday by researching a destination. The internet, magazines, friends and social media can tell you a lot about where you are going. This is great if you want the facts and figures, the must see and do’s, best places to stay and experiences to try. Even being armed with all of that, there is still one ingredient that can make a holiday tip over into the ‘best experience ever’ category. That extra something is…ask a local!
It’s The People You Meet
A huge factor in making a holiday so enjoyable and memorable to me is the people you meet along the way. As a couple on a 3 month caravanning road trip this can be particularly so. Having just the two of us to please and make decisions had its bonuses but a little extra company now and again was welcomed. I loved hearing other people’s reasons for being on the road and finding out just how kismet had led us to cross paths.
I love Her Jewel Sea
This is a line from my favourite poem “My Country” by Dorothea Mackellar and the reason I love this poem is, as anyone who has ever travelled in Australia knows, the words resonate so deeply yet so succinctly. This line in particular kept jumping into my mind on the last road trip where we hugged the coastline from South Australia, through Western Australia and eventually to Darwin in the Northern Territory. We were blown away by the vivid colours of the Indian Ocean in particular and so many of the bays and beaches we explored.
A room with a (different) view every night
One of the things I love about caravanning road trips is having a different view out of the window every day or so. No day is ever the same and even if you’re staying in one spot the view can change dramatically from day to night. What can look quite bland during the middle of the day can look completely different with a spectacular sunrise or sunset, casting a whole new light, literally, on your camp site.
Paradise Found!
After Esperance we travelled around 60kms east to Paradise, or Lucky Bay as it’s more commonly known. Lucky Bay is in the Cape Le Grand National Park, you may have heard of it and seen pictures of kangaroos lounging on the pristine white sand of Lucky Bay. I thought you’d have to be lucky to see that but no, on our first venture down to the beach from the campground, there was a doe and her joey waiting for their photo shoot.
Whatever the Weather
We aren’t always lucky enough to have a long holiday break where we can spend it at one destination. When we have had the time to do that it’s amazing how many different types of weather we are exposed to. Luckily we know that if it turns sour, we can give it a day or so and things will improve again.
Street Art, Go Out and Find Some
Lately I seem to be noticing street art popping up everywhere in our travels. These amazing finds are not only in inner cities but in large and small rural towns too.
We were lucky enough to be told of a particular piece of street art to look for when we were in Toowoomba in 2016 and by getting lost in the back alleys we came across an amazing array of art.
Making a list,checking it twice……..recipes that is.
It’s time to open up the caravan cookbook again and add a few more ideas to the choices of quick food to prepare on holidays, from a caravan.
Summer holidays means sourcing new salad recipes, ones that can be a meal in themselves and any other light, quick recipes that don’t take a lot of effort or need too many ingredients. I put together a book of favourites with photos of the places we’ve been to, but for everyday use in the van I have a soft folder of full of plastic sleeves with heaps of recipes in it. The pages get moved in and out depending on popularity and success and I’m always adding to it.
Here are a couple of my favourites that never fail.
