157 Days & 21,331 kilometres later !!!!!!!

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Hello everyone.

Thank you for reading our blog & thank you for your feedback. This will be our last blog for our current trip so we would love to read your thoughts.

We came into Melbourne via Gisborne, Baccus Marsh & finally to our caravan park at South Werribee for 3 nights. We were amazed at the number of Tasmanians in the caravan park. As with us, they were here because it is only 40 minutes to Station Pier where we catch our ferry back to Tasmania.

Whilst in Melbourne we travelled into the CBD & visited the Chinese Terra cotta Warriors Exhibition which was awesome. We also visited the South Wharf Direct Factory Outlet where Cheryl engaged in some retail therapy.

We also paid a visit to my daughter Michel’s unit. Michel & Gopi have recently purchased a 3-bedroom unit at Werribee. Prior to boarding our ferry on the Sunday night, we had dinner with Gopi & Michel at The Brook in Point Cook. Gopi is the Head Chef at The Brook.

Our ferry sailed at 10:30pm from Melbourne & docked at Devonport a little after 8 am. We drove off the ferry & headed down to Perth where we caught up with our friends Bob & Vicki. It was good to catch up with them & learn all their news.

We then drove down the Midland Highway to Brighton and through the Old Beach Road to home.

In total we were away 157 days & travelled 21,331 road kilometres.

For those of you that love statistics and are interested in the cost of such a holiday, I hope the following information is useful.

Accommodation Site Costs

We have camped in caravan parks, national parks, showgrounds, reserves, rest areas & next to rivers. We class a free camp as being under $15 per night.

Our breakup of camp sites is

	Caravan Parks	National Parks	Free Camps
Nights	83	5	69
Fees ($)	3330.00	95.00	105.00
Average cost per night	40.12	19.00	1.52

 

Our total cost for nightly caravanning was $3530.00 which meant the average cost per night was $22.48. In 2017 our average was $11.15 per day. This significant difference between 2017 & 2019 is because our journey this time was often in major tourist destinations.

 

Fuel Costs

Our Triton has a long-range fuel tank with a volume of 122 litres and wherever possible we utilise supermarket discount vouchers & the Fuel Map App.

In total we did 21,331 kilometres & used 3,766.17 litres of diesel fuel at a trip cost of $5,607.84. This means our average cost of diesel per litre was $1.489. We averaged 17.66 litres per 100 kilometres & our average daily fuel cost was $35.72. In 2017 when we covered 25,416 kilometres in 201 days our daily fuel cost was $31.51, and our fuel usage was 17.72 litres per 100 kilometres. Average cost per litre for fuel in 2017 was $1.41.

Food Expenditure

Our food expenditure for the trip was $3457.04 or $22.02 on average per day. This figure does not include alcohol.

Motor Vehicle Mitsubishi Triton

The cost for the Triton repairs & maintenance for the trip was $852.40 or a daily usage figure of $5.43. The majority of this cost was $797.10 for a regular service. Our car performed flawlessly for the whole trip with the only casualty being a broken led light bar.

Caravan

Caravan costs were $2,470.72 or $15.73 per day. Caravan costs include 9 kg. gas refills & $898.35 for a general service including replacing gas struts for the pop top & $350 for a replacement rim & tyre at Arkaroola as well as $249 for a new tyre at Port Pirie.

Fares & Tours

The Fares & Tours heading embraces entry to museums, fishing charters, cruises, ferry trips etc. Total expenditure was $3350.28 with the biggest single item being $1738.40 for our return ferry trip across Bass Strait. Our average daily cost for this item was $21.34.

Living Expenses

Living expenses are morning & afternoon teas, lunches, dinners etc either with or without company. Living expenses in total were $3,193.13 or $20.34 daily

Summary

The total cost of our trip was around $22,461.31 or $143.07 per day.

Highlights

We did enjoy South Australia even though we had terrible weather. The Barossa & Clare Valleys were great as was the Coonawarra. We were fortunate to visit these wine growing areas through the change of season & the colours were delightful even though they were in drought.

The Flinders Ranges were thoroughly enjoyable & provided many magnificent vistas as did the Yorke & Fluorieu Peninsulas.

In Victoria we enjoyed camping on the Murray River & visiting the Grampians. The biggest highlight was attending my daughter Michel’s Graduation. Michel did a Science degree & now has her own consultancy. For more information visit www.michelgrangernutrition.com.au ( can you tell I am a proud dad!)

We also loved the Terracotta Warrior exhibition in Melbourne.

We really did only transit through New South Wales on our way to & from Queensland. We enjoyed catching up with a former neighbour in Bathurst & attending the Trundle Bush Tucker Festival.

 

Queensland was not the destination where we expected to be, however, after Cheryl’s little health hiccup, it became so. We loved Cooktown, fishing the Daintree River & at Lucinda & being with Damien & Susan in Cairns. Charters Towers was a delight as was catching up with my brother Michael & Erica at Airlie Beach after their trip to the Cape.

Friends

It was also good to catch up with other Tasmanian friends, Roger & Sue, Leonie & Howie, Christine & Grahame & John & Jenny, Andrew & Lyn & Jenny & Gerry as well as Margaret & Gaz from Taz!

We also caught up with PNG Wantoks, John, as well as Clive & Margaret.

Our trip is now done & dusted!!!!

Until next year…………………………………..