A truly amazing Gallipoli story....

Such Courage, Commitment and Bravery.......

Remembered forever at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra.......

Lest we Forget....

We discovered a beautiful tribute to Australian Service Men and Women at 80 Mile Beach in North Western Australia.....


A sleepy place which consists of a caravan park by the sea which is well known for it's fishing and its amazing beach of shells.....

A lovely tribute.....


A dawn service here would be very special no doubt.......

Questacon....

Hanging out at our National Science Centre Questacon (in Canberra) meant that there were big smiles on the kid's faces all day....

Questacon is (4) levels of fun interactive Science.......

Physics, energy, weather, mechanics, music, technology, forces, biology, chemistry......


It's all here and presented in a fun, interactive way that is totally irresistible to kids (and adults).....

A quick lunch in the carpark and straight back in there....

To much fun for one day.....


We will definitely return one day.....

Going back to The Australian War Memorial....

We thoroughly enjoyed Canberra.....so much to see and do.....


In fact we didn't have enough time to visit everything we wanted to see...


The Australian War Memorial is a wonderful national memorial to commemorate the sacrifices of Australians who have served during wartime....

The 'Roll of Honour'....over 100,000 names....

  
After seeing his Great Uncle Frank's name on the roll, James went hunting for more names....

The 'tomb of the unknown soldier'.....very moving....


The remains of our unidentified soldier were recovered from France and bought home in 1993 and interred in this magnificent 'Hall of Memory'.....

The Unknown Soldier represents all Australians who have been killed during wartimes....

Some real life used artefacts and miniature war scenes to help us to appreciate the conditions that Australian soldiers had to endure.....

All Victoria Cross medal holders are recognised here......Australia's bravest........

'Here is their spirit, in the heart of the land they loved; and here we guard the record which they themselves made'

Charles Bean, 1948

Backwards......

During our tour of New Parliament House we learnt why the Kangaroo and the Emu are on the Australian Coat of Arms........


Very nice little story I thought.....

Each Australian State is represented by it's 'badge' in the coat of arms which is held up by these two wonderful native animals.


The Kangaroo and Emu were chosen (way back in 1912) because they 'typically' only go forward and don't go backwards.....a symbol of a new federated nation 'moving forward' not backwards....


Even Frank (the guy you want at your table on a trivia night) didn't know this little fact....

Unfortunately I am not like the Kangaroo and Emu...


I need to go 'backwards' and finish the tale of 'The Long Lap Around' because we are now safe and sound at home......

Being home brought mixed emotions.....happy to catch up with friends, family, neighbours and pets but sad that this 'once in a lifetime' family adventure was over....

I look back at some of the 10, 000 photos and I am absolutely amazed at our 120 day trek around this wonderful country.....it was truly incredible!!


The friendships, the landscapes, the history, the people, the animals, the fun, the travelling community, the sights......all unforgettable!!!

26, 0000 kilometres travelled.......


Every day waking up to a new adventure......some we will visit again one day and some we won't.....

People often ask 'where was your favourite place?'


Charlie changes his mind every so often. First it was Ned's Camp at Cape Range National Park (Exmouth, WA)....

a very good choice.....

Lately he has been fondly remembering Streaky Bay (SA) and the local seal colony....
another good choice.....

Ella will say Margaret River every time.......

and James will answer 'Litchfield National Park' (even despite his crocodile anxiety at the time)........

Frank and I wouldn't say one particular place, it was the whole experience......the adventure......


The feeling of freedom and living a reasonably simple life..........pure joy I must say......


Today is the day.....no more procrastinating.....


This adventure needs to be finished as more are being planned..........


I need to go 'backwards'.....

The Snowy Mountains....

We are now on the NSW coast so the next couple of posts are 'retrospective'.

Brisbane is now appearing on the road signs on the highway. The adventure is nearly over. Insert sad face here...

The kids are excited about getting home, Frank and I could do another lap (after some solar panels are purchased).

The weather was not fantastic but it did not dampen our spirits.  We had plans of climbing to the top of Mt. Kosciusko but the rain and the low cloud meant poor visibility and 'lets stay in the car' type behaviour'.

No fire bans here...

Despite this, it was fantastic to see the ski fields in Summer and revisit some of the places we had skied before during the wintertime. The kids were excited as they saw some distant snow near Guthega, just couldn't quite get there!


It was difficult to see any of Perisher Village...


This is where Frank and I spent our honeymoon in 1994...

The accommodation was average but the food was sensational....

The Snowy River....don't get to close to the edge boys, hypothermia isn't nice...

Perisher Village in the summer time....

Smiggens Holes ski fields...

Visiting some sections of the Snowy River Hydroelectric Scheme was interesting....

This electricity scheme took 25 years to complete.  It's construction is the largest engineering project undertaken in Australia..

More than 100 000 workers came from over 30 countries came to the Snowy's to work on the project.

 One of the dams near Guthega ski fields...

Thredbo looks so so different.....ghost town like....


We had a holiday here in 2004. We were living in Sydney at the time so we thought we would make the most of our proximity to the Snowy Mountains....A pre GFC holiday...

The kids remembered the Magic Carpet....

and ThredboLand where we left them most days in the care of 'Ricki' the ski instructor...

And the most amazing accommodation.....miracles happen here.....

When we win the Lotto we will visit this lovely area again in Winter.....