“Your kids will learn more on holiday around Australia than they’ll ever learn inside the classroom in that time.”
A chance encounter in a campground laundry in Port Augusta, South Australia, with a former school principal’s wife confirmed my long-held belief and set my mind at ease.
The year was 1996 and over those 12 months, Prince Charles and Princess Diana would divorce, scientists would clone Dolly the Sheep and DVDs would launch in Japan.
It was also the year we threw our “normal” lives out the window of our 1974 Kombi van and took off around Australia.
As well as taking along a camper trailer and tent for island camping, husband Ian and I packed our two sons Jayden and Bodi – then aged almost five and 19 months respectively – into the back seat.
In front of their eyes, thumbtacked onto a board, was a map of Australia. Our journey connecting the dots of townships and national parks was growing daily in coloured pen like a rainbow serpent snaking its way through almost every state.
In many ways, our life on the road was similar to COVID-19 in that change was an every-day proposition we needed to react and adapt to. Only, back then, we were in control of that change and embraced it. Relished it.
Jayden would often ask: “Where are we going today, Mum?” And I would always reply: “Honestly, I don’t really know.” And that feeling was exhilarating.
Contemplating the hows, wheres and whens of an extended trip, doing our financial sums, then sorting our house for permanent tenants and culling the amount of “stuff” we needed took about six months of planning and negotiation.
But it was all worth it once we arrived in February at our first port of call – Carnarvon Gorge in Outback Queensland.
Hubbie and I were following our dreams and making them happen … we just didn’t imagine we’d also have two kids in tow.
Colleagues told us we were crazy. They thought we wouldn’t last a month because it would all be too hard caring for two children under six on the road (not to mention a strain on our marriage!).
Family and friends initially worried about our safety, especially in remote areas.
Others wished they could be brave enough to do the same, take the income hit and throw caution to the wind.
We never once were truly concerned. We were too excited about what lay ahead.
In a time before hand-held computers and mobile phones (our satellite phone was the size of a brick), we went back to basics: storybooks, puzzles and colouring-in magazines, cassette tapes of children’s songs, a toy box filled with bats and balls, teddy bears and educational bits and bobs, craft materials and plenty of pencils and paper.
Of course, to keep our sanity, we also had a portable TV and video player with The Wiggles on high rotation for keeping little minds and bodies busy while mum and dad erected the campsite.
For national park and bush camping, everyone pitched in, including “Mr Two” (if he wasn’t napping).
If the boys were happy, we were happy. And we soon found our travel rhythm.
Good times rolled on, as long as we had snacks and water bottles at the ready, didn’t push the boundaries on driving long distances, did one amazing activity a day and stopped at every playground (or ‘Pwaygwound!’, as Bodi called them – he could spot them a kilometre away!).
While Jayden was enrolled in School of Distance Education for Preschool and even visited the Longreach School of the Air to hear how Outback students did their lessons over the radio, he learnt more by opening his eyes and ears to the world around him.
And there was plenty to pique the interest of a young, expanding mind.
Bushwalking, being immersed in the Great Barrier Reef and rainforests, hearing Dreamtime stories and seeing ancient rock art, plus interacting with people of all ages and nationalities, was just the start.
Getting up close with wildlife (from kangaroos and koalas on Kangaroo Island in South Australia, to wombats at Victoria’s Wilson’s Promontory, emus in South Australia’s Whalers Way and even hee-hawing donkeys keeping us awake in the Northern Territory’s Nitmiluk National Park) was an education in itself.
And every night, we all went to sleep with 400 billion stars of the Milky Way overhead.
Every day was memorable for one reason or another.
But there were some amazing highlights that always bring a smile to our faces and still come up in conversation around the backyard barbecue:
- spending 10 days camping over Easter on world-renowned Whitehaven Beach in the Whitsundays
- watching whales frolic as we repaired a flat tyre on the last bit of bitumen in Australia at Tasmania’s Cockle Creek in the far south
- doing the Kings Canyon walk and climbing Uluru as a family (before more modern cultural considerations of its sacred meaning to the Anangu people banned the practice), in the lead-up to a massive storm that saw “The Rock” turn black – complete with waterfalls
- taking in the day-long waterfall circuit on the Atherton Tableland in Tropical North Queensland
- sampling top-notch food and wine and seeing the boys dancing to everything from rock anthems to German folk music during the Barossa Gourmet Weekend
- having Jayden call Saintly as the winner of the 1996 Melbourne Cup as he stood on his father’s shoulders near the finish line at Flemington Racecourse
- screaming each time a Howard Springs barramundi snatched a herring from our fingertips
- disbelieving our eyes at crocodiles jumping vertically out of the water to devour a chicken or lamb dinner on the Adelaide River in the NT
- viewing Sydney Harbour for the first time and going backstage at the Opera House
- canoeing the three levels of Queensland’s Lawn Hill Gorge
- camping in Kakadu National Park, including croc spotting at Yellow Water and watching sunset at Ubirr Rock.
This was what childhood should look like.
Twenty-six years later, I remember 1996 fondly as one of the best of our lives.
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Life was much simpler. The hardest decisions each day were how far we’d drive and what we’d have for dinner.
Even better, I believe it set up our children to become the knowledgeable, well-rounded, curious, friendly, travel-thirsty, confident, environmentally responsible global citizens they are today at 31 and 28.
Our year on the road gave Jayden a voracious appetite for knowledge.
I can recall him listening intently to expert commentary on our visit to Townsville Aquarium (now Reef HQ) like a human sponge – to the point where he was answering all the questions on coral and underwater creatures before the adults had a chance to open their mouths.
When he started Year 1 the following January, he was already ahead of the curve for social interaction, enthusiasm and curiosity. He’s still on that lifelong learning journey after completing his PhD and now working for the South Australian Sports Institute.
As for Bodi, he had both parents on call to play with, share meals together, teach him how to do everyday tasks and interpret sounds of the great outdoors, offer a steady supply of cuddles, read bedtime stories and sing him off to sleep.
Until that year, neither of our children had experienced the ‘luxury’ of full-time parents.
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Ian and I had been more like ships in the night as we worked opposing rosters: he on the morning shift as an underground power ganger, and me on the late-night production team at our local daily newspaper.
But I see the manifestation of 1996 in Bodi’s creativity, his extensive career in music and surf coaching (more recently while living in Sri Lanka), his gentle nature, friendliness and readiness to give a hug.
Both our caring young men are accepting of others, no matter how different their backgrounds, lifestyles, sexuality and opinions.
They have always had a “how’s it going” conversation starter at the ready, a sense of fun and outgoing nature.
They still love the great outdoors, travel the world when finances permit and don’t mind holidaying with their parents.
I believe 1996 laid that groundwork.
So, to anyone teetering on the edge of doubt about taking their children out of school, upheaving their routines and living “wild” in our beautiful country for any extended period, I say: “Go for it!”.
Like us, you may never again be able to spend a year, 24/7, with your nearest and dearest, see them grow and watch their wide-eyed wonderment at the world around them.
It’s life-changing … for the better.
