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 46
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