It’s been six weeks on the road now. We know that not many families have this amazing opportunity to take a break from their real lives and go together to explore this incredibly diverse country of ours. After six weeks, we can back into just about any campsite. We are quite proficient at putting up the camper, and learning when to hold our tongues on pack up days. We can handle 3 hours in the car and have the knack of finding amenities, milk, bread and bike rides wherever we go.

Six weeks is also long enough to start missing people who are part of our everyday lives, family, friends, colleagues and teachers. And so we have loved hearing from people via email, text, comments and phone. We kind of limped into Alice Springs after some long drives, in the hope of refreshing supplies and ourselves. We booked into the BIG4, complete with jumping pillow, and phoned Michael’s relatives.

So it was our good fortune to pitch our camp directly behind a fantastic family doing just the same thing as us! Within about 20minutes, the kids were off to the jumping pillow and we were left to put up the camper ourselves!!!

We so enjoyed 4 days with our S.A. buddies, swapping stories, supervising our kids at the pool, sharing a drink – and that was just the adults.

Alice Springs School in the fresh air.

Driving 'round the BIG4

Enjoying our excursion to Alice Springs School of the Air together.

Team Alice! Happy Travels to Captain and the Trons! See you in S.A.

It was also time to catch up with family, visit St Philips College to check out the Fred McKay Centre and the Peace Garden where Fred & Meg are interred. Local family resident and tour guide Liz sorted us out and came along on the visit. It was great to see where most of Fred’s stuff ended up and check out the College where Fred was a patron.  Could be an opportunity for some boarding in later years should things get unruly !!!!

Family visit to Fred & Meg's Peace Garden

Marnie also spent some years growing up in Alice, living in Adelaide House which is now a museum on the Todd Mall.  Axo1000 and BloggiE got to have a “sleep” in the same room Marnie slept in as a child.

Adelaide House

Marnie's bedroom

Our arrival in Alice coincided with the birth of baby Joshua. It was great to catch up with cousin Emily, Tony and Liz, and meet the second cousins for the first time !

Hanging out with second cousins

Now its time to do some outback trekking and camping in the West Macs. Our pilgrimage to the big rock also looms large.