One month down!

Here's a snapshot of our month & budget. We've travelled through 2 States & 1 Territory. We have driven over 4000km. We have met countless grey nomads whose knowledge & tips we have greatly appreciated (for the most part!), and only a few other travelling families.

Miss T has completed her maths for the year - that's right - in ONE month! Mr J has completed 3/4 of his! We have visited some amazing national parks and natural wonders of our beautiful country including Uluru, Kata Tjuta, King's Canyon, Devil's Marbles, West Mcdonnell Ranges, Kakadu and Nitmiluk National Parks. We have also visited caves, schools, cultural centres, zoos and museums as part of our home-schooling. Miss A has been heard saying that if she takes in any more learning her head will explode!

We have stayed in 16 different places and now have our van set up/pack up down to about an hour (depending how long it takes to say goodbye to newfound friends!)

We have spent as much on fuel as on groceries. Wow - groceries and fuel are EXPENSIVE in central Australia - I really feel for the communities that have to pay these prices on a daily/weekly basis. For example a cheap loaf of white bread has cost me $5 in remote locations and fuel (diesel) has been over $2/litre.

We have spent under $700 this month in accommodation - with 3 free camps, 7 National Park stays, 11 showgrounds or cheap accommodation (the cheapest being $5/night!) and 9 nights in a caravan park. We are hoping to find a few more free camps in our next stint!

But our biggest achievements this month have been the social & emotional results of having time together as a family and resting. Miss T's stuttering has dived from a 6 down to a 2/10 mostly due to her anxiety decreasing. Appetites have increased, Miss E has had NO asthma or hayfever at all :) (yippee!!) and we have seen such a great increase in outside creative play. The kids have only watched 2 movies in a month with little to no other screen time. Kieren & I are also feeling refreshed and not so permanently tired.

Here's a picture of our map in our caravan - the black line shows you how far we've traversed this amazing country of ours! Next review - Kakadu :)