The Road Autumn 2020

1999 2019
OUR 12 MONTH TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
ALUMNI STORY
We’ve all heard of taking a gap year after Year 12, but what about
a family gap year? My name is Stephanie Davey nee Stewart, Class
of 1999. In 2019, my family and I set off on a year-long lap of this
amazing country we live in. We had always planned to travel as a
family and decided that it was now or never!
In 2019, my family and I set off on a lap of Australia, living full time
and travelling in our caravan for more than 12 months.
Were we crazy for taking our three boys (aged 7, 9 and 11) out of
school, moving the family into a caravan and heading off to travel
Australia? Possibly!!! But with almost a year of full-time living in a
caravan behind us, we are so glad we took the leap of faith and so
are our boys.
During our time on the road, we travelled Australia in a clockwise
direction, covering over 40,000km, with 150 stops, visiting every
state and territory, making it to the tip of Australia, exploring five
islands, going for days in the outback without seeing another person,
climbing mountains, swimming with whale sharks and turtles…and
learning more than we even realise.
Our family is closer, we are far more knowledgeable about the
geography and history of Australia and we have gained valuable life
skills all round.
through the gorges and taking a dip in the freshwater swimming
holes at Karijini National Park. Spending days swimming in the
many freshwater pools in far north Australia was one of our favourite
experiences.
Travelling Australia was a very social experience. We were lucky
enough to make many friends, some whom we spent months with
on the road. Together, we explored new destinations every day and
overcame challenges, including serious burns to the hand when our
son fell into a fire pit in remote WA, dislocating and breaking his arm
and requiring a hospital admission in Queensland. As one doctor
told us, you don’t get injuries from sitting at home on an iPad, and this
is all part of the adventure.
One of our highlights was camping on and conquering the Old
Telegraph Track at Cape York together with our new friends and
travel buddies.
If you have ever considered a similar trip, our advice is, just do it!
We documented our journey by video and blogs, all available on
our website, www.todoaustralia.com. Feel free to contact us if you
have any questions! We had no caravan or 4WD experience prior to
leaving and learnt as we went. If we can do it, anyone can!
Stephanie Davey nee Stewart, Class of 1999
Among our highlights, were staying with an Aboriginal family on Tiwi
Island, camping at Sydney Harbour, completing the Old Telegraph
Track at Cape York (4WD with some serious obstacles!), trekking
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