Arrived back in the midst of Melbourne winter, and to top it off, the kids had been talking about snow that morning, and what do you know - we had snow (or sleet) on the freeway outside Ballarat.
We had mixed feelings thinking about getting back to reality and I'm personally looking forward to getting a book printed up of the trip so we can all flick through from time to time to remind ourselves of the incredible experience we've had over the last few months.
I think every family should make the time to get out there and see our amazing country. Spending quality time in close quarters could make enemies of some, but we found it wonderfully restorative - great teamwork, laughter, planning the next activity, cooking together and discussing all the wonderful things we saw during the day.
A luxury for most perhaps, but should be compulsory.

TRIP STATS:

The roadtrip:
Nights away: 80
Nights in camper: 51
Distance travelled: roughly 12,500 km (add 4200 km for Paul)
Different locations stayed in: 32
Flat tyres: 0
Mechanical issues: 2 (gasline on camper and air filter on car)

Highlights:
Paul: swimming with whale sharks at Ningaloo, the night sky in the outback, Bungles, Uluru, Cape Leveque,
Matilda: the reptile house at Alice Springs with the pythons, whalesharks, swimming next to crocodiles in Darwin, running on Cable Beach, meeting some new friends at Wilpena Pound - Chloe and Mia,
Harri: swimming with whalesharks, catching cane toads in the Bungles,
Me (Georgi): so many sights ticked off my Aussie bucketlist: Uluru - even better than I'd hoped; swimming with whale sharks; spending a morning alone at the Bungles, sunset at 80 Mile Beach at low tide; the dolphins at Monkey Mia; the tour with aboriginal elder Brian at Cape Leveque; the cliffs of the astounding Great Australian Bight.

Extracurricular:
World Heritage Sites visited: 4
Amazing animals sighted: whaleshark, dolphin, crocodiles, perentie (crossing the road right in front of us!), southern right whales, dugongs, sharks, heaps and heaps of wallabies, kangaroos, many emus, dingoes, and the list goes on.
Teeth lost: 3
Floor mats left at campsites: 2
Loom bands found: Aaaargh!

Music:
3500 songs on the Ipod playlist, including albums, cruising playlists etc.
Most played/favourite albums: War on Drugs, Phosphorescence, Dan Sultan, Steve Smythe, H&C, Richard Buckner, and the Soundtrack to the movie "Mad *******s" which was my personal roadtrip favourite - especially once we got into the remote north of Australia.

Food:
Favourite meals cooked in the camper:
Paul: Eye fillet and sliced potatoes cooked on the skillet
Matilda: ditto
Harriet: Homemade meatballs in pasta sauce and rice
Me (Georgi): a tie for Moroccan lamb cutlets on pea and lemon cous cous; and the steamed crab and smoked mackerel caught at Shark Bay with the Dreampot cooked leek and mushroom risotto.
Haven't come back any skinnier sadly.