It’s been 25 months since #3monthsinacaravan. I have changed jobs, Ava has finished year 1 and Audrey graduated from pre-school, so ready to start big school in 2019! Unfortunately we can’t take three months off work, so #threeweeksinacaravan has the foundations of a fantastic sequel.

In March 2018 we decided it was time that we purchased our own van to continue collecting memories of travelling this beautiful country. After scouring Facebook I found our new “home away from home” – a second hand rarely used Jayco Expanda, an identical make model and year to the van we borrowed from Bec and Ryan back in 2016. We couldn’t be happier with our purchase, we knew the van, we knew how it all worked and we knew it towed well. #jaycoexpandapoptop.

People that know us well, would say we are reasonably well organised. Ok, extremely well organised. We synchronsied our diaries and blocked out weekends for the remainder of 2018, with weekends away at Burrinjuck, East Gresford, Rylstone, Mudgee, Wombara, Lake Macquarie and back to East Gresford. In true Beattie style, wine featured well at many of these locations visiting some spectacular vineyards in Mudgee and Rylstone. In the planning process, we decided that before Audrey starts school in January 2019 another road trip was required. #3weeksinacaravanintasmania was born!

Our au pair from Canada, Danielle, who joined our family in February 2018 is tagging on our little adventure – to see as much of this beautiful country she can before heading back home in the new year. Hopefully she is suitably packed for this trip. We are expecting ‘four seasons in one day’ from Tassie.. Time will tell!

We left Beecroft and headed south. Our ‘planned’ initial destination was Gundagai, which Lachlan corrected me on many occasions for my pronunciation. ‘Gun’…’da’ … ‘gai’, NOT ‘Gun’..’der’..’gai’.. I will admit I still haven’t got the pronunciation correct! With realtively calm Sydney traffic we decided to push on, landing at Albury late in the afternoon. We set up camp, headed to the local pub for a quick bite before putting the girls to bed – before cracking open a bottle of bubbles. To be more precise, a bottle of Mainegra Cava from Spain. Tasting notes supplied by #lordlachlanwines. We are currently sitting outside, 35 degrees at 8pm. Danielle has christened “the Au-pair Chair”, using a permanent marker and signing her caravan camping chair.

More planning is required tonight. Wonder if we can hit up any vineyards before getting on the ferry for Tasmania. Stay tuned for more updates.