Day 80 January 19, 2010

Considering how keen everyone is to get home, I was surprised that they all slept in until 8. Playing cards until after 10 every night is a habit we’ll need to break once we get home and school starts for the boys.
It’s surprising who you meet on the road. While packing up this morning, we got to chatting with our neighbours to discover they’ve come for a holiday at Narooma from Bilgola, just 2 beaches north of Mona Vale. I couldn’t help but wonder, “Why would ya?” I’m sure it’s nice here when it’s warmer.
As we left Narooma, I was pulled over at an RBT station and after 18,000km of driving without incident, this so amused Jacqui, she took a photo of the Policeman. We stopped off at Batemans Bay for a coffee while the boys played in a park and Jacqui searched through the local boutiques for new clothes to bring back. We stopped again at Ulladulla for lunch and by the time we got to Nowra, the traffic and agro drivers quickly had us back into city mode. Coming into the southern suburbs around La Peruse and then under the airport tunnel at the beginning of peak hour was a little daunting. With the van swinging off the back of the Jeep, I felt the early stages a headache building.
We made it through the harbour tunnel and across the Roseville Bridge with just a few beeps and a couple of hand gestures from the local natives before we started to slowly sneak along Parkland road, all of us straining for our first glimpse of home after almost three months on the road. The lawn man had come earlier today so the yard looked tidy and greener than we expected. Inside was as we left it and once I’d turned on the water, gas and electricity, we began removing the essentials from the van.
The boys are excited to be home and Jacqui is excited to catch up with her family and friends. I’m also looking forward to seeing friends and family but still a little unsure about how I feel being back. The 80 days seems to have flown past us so quickly. We’ve crossed state borders on 7 separate occasions, put the van up, and then down 40 times, celebrated Christmas, New Year, and 4 birthdays. We got the car bogged once, stayed in one hotel, slept in one beach shack, had one flat tyre, skinny dipped 4 times, and met a vast number of unique characters. We stayed in the White Cliffs Underground Hotel, had our clothes stolen at Broken Hill, drank at the William Creek Pub and got chased out of the Tanami desert by the local aborigines. We saw the brightness of the stars on a clear night in the desert, the sun rising from behind Uluru, the sun setting into the Indian Ocean, and the stunning but rugged beauty of Australia’s west coast. We’ve seen 3 states, one (Northern) territory, 6 deserts and 8 apostles. We’ve covered over 18,000 kilometers and taken more than 7,000 photos. I’m happy to have gotten everyone home safely, but a little sad the adventure is over. I wonder what the next adventure will look like.
Cheers,
The Dinters On Tour