We tend to forget that all this started off, in April 2017, with a housesit in Sheen as our house had been rented out. Then we were off on our tour through Vietnam and Cambodia. What an adventure that was! I can vividly remember walking round the lake in Hanoi at 6am, due to our early flight arrival, watching the locals do their Tai Chi. We were dripping with sweat, not understanding even the most basic of menus, and wondering what on earth we were doing?! However, we grew to love the people, saw some wonderful sights and made some amazing friends! Then we saw the sights of Kuala Lumpur and spent a week on the delightful island of Bali visiting cliff-top temples and biking down a volcano!

We also mustn't forget the month we spent traversing New Zealand in Trannie, our small, cold, hired camper van. We flew into Queenstown between snow covered mountains and realised it was going to be colder than we had thought. Trannie had a fan heater but that was it. Yet we have fond memories of Trannie - once we'd bought an old duvet to stuff up the gaping hole between the back doors! We drove from Queenstown, up South Island, crossed on the Interislander ferry, drove up North Island, via the East Cape, and made it to Auckland. We managed to meet up with friends and again, made some amazing memories. However, it wasn't until we were reunited with Winnie, that we really appreciated her - we wouldn't have survived 15 months in Trannie!!

And then there was our lap of Oz. We did it in chunks. First the Queensland loop - up the coast and back down inland. This was a trial run as we had friends and family each end so, although daunted back then by the mere 1800kms to Cairns and then back again, it seemed like we had help near if we needed it! After the NZ trip, we then tackled the Brisbane to Melbourne leg. We had no timetable except we had to be in Melbourne in order to catch our flight back to Bill's for Christmas! Poor Winnie spent Christmas in a field! After the festivities it was back to Melbourne where, after catching up with loads of friends, we put Winnie on the overnight ferry crossing to Tasmania. We loved our month in Tassie, the scenery and food were to die for! Then back to Melbourne where we carried on to Adelaide, the Eyre Peninsula and then across the Nullabor. Again, the only time restriction was getting to Perth in time to fly back to the Gold Coast for the Commonwealth Games in April - a flight that took 5 hours over the land we had just driven across and made us realise just how big Australia is! Winnie was again abandoned in a field. And then there was the last leg, from Perth up through Western Australia to Broome, across to the Northern Territories, down to Alice Springs and Uluru, then back across Outback Queensland to the Gold Coast.

Although we met challenges throughout the trip, particularly in the beginning when everything was new to us, it was the WA/NT/Outback Queensland part that tested us the most but also gave us the most satisfaction in a weird sort of way. Between all of these places are vast kilometres of nothing. You have to work out where the fuel stops are and where you need to fill up, regardless of the cost. You need to work out how much water you have, will need and how much food to get to last until the next shop. It's a different world! Basically you drive a day to get somewhere, stop the night (or 2 or 3, depending on the town) then drive a day to get to the next place. Sometimes we have had to stop overnight in the middle of nowhere! Maybe that is because of Winnie and how Bob and I like to travel - coffee stop, lunch stop etc etc? Some caravans and campers just zoomed past us, they couldn't be enjoying the scenery, and in some places it just wasn't safe with the unfenced roads and cattle over the road! After a while you begin to love the 'nothingness' and we actually started to notice the changes in vegetation due to the changing soils. We became quite absorbed in the peacefulness, the solitude, the friendliness, the sound of the birds waking us in the mornings, the kangaroos and wallabies at your door, the kookaburras, and the camaraderie. We did not miss, until we re-encountered it, the 'tourist' camper who arrives late, leaves early, leaves a mess in the showers, is noisy, walks through your site while you're sitting there without a hello, and doesn't give a damn about anyone else! We loved the respectful campers who waved when on the road and treated the camps properly. We loved the friendly people in the shops who had time to ask where you were from, how long had you been travelling and wished you good luck on your travels. We loved the friendly cashiers who chatted to you as they scanned your shopping. We loved the fellow campers who gave advice as to where to go, the best bits not to be missed and we have changed plans accordingly. One comment, which I shall never forget, was from a lady in Julia Creek. She thinks nothing of 'popping' into Townsville, 7 hours fast drive away, to get some clothes but she hated Brisbane because she said "Everyone has their heads down, looking at their phones, avoiding eye contact. They all go the same way down the street in lines - they are just like our cattle!" That's not to say we didn't enjoy the more touristy east of Australia, we did, we loved it all but the contrast between east and west is vast and you don't realise how busy the east is until you've been out west! We're glad we did our lap the way round we did so we were more 'experienced' by the time we got to the remoter places.

As we left the Outback, and headed back into civilisation, McDonalds, KFC's and Hungry Jacks (Burger King!) reappeared in the larger towns, as did shopping malls and, dare I say it, overweight people - is that a coincidence? Funny that, although neither of us are shoppers, we realised how much we had missed having the choice of shops and we were like kids in a sweet shop in the mall at Emerald! However that was a small price to pay for being able to spend time in the middle of nowhere with lovely, friendly people who wanted to chat!!

And now we are relaxing in Bali. Why did they need another holiday after a holiday I hear you all ask?! Well, Bob and I knew that leaving Oz would be hard. We had lived there for 17 months and really loved the outdoor lifestyle, the sun and the temperatures. We knew it was going to be hard to sell Winnie, and even harder to leave Bill and all the wonderful friends we had made, and we knew we would be getting on the plane in bits! We just couldn't face going straight home, miserable and missing Oz. So, here we are in Bali and are getting over not being with Bill anymore. We are now planning our return to the UK and are actually now looking forward to getting on the next plane home. We will arrive in a much better state of mind than if we had just gone straight back.

Having spent a week in Bali on the way out we knew what to expect. Everything is very cheap in Bali but costs millions of rupiah! For example, I did an Indonesian cooking class with the chef at the hotel. It was only me, a cooking station was set up in the garden and two people were helping the chef by bringing things out from the kitchen. I cooked a Balinese soup, fish in banana leaves and banana fritters with cheese (actually awesome although sounds horrible!). Bob and I then got to eat what I'd cooked. The total cost was 400,000IR which is roughly 40AUD or £20. We have done 2 trips out but, to be honest, the traffic here is terrible and puts you off. There is an IMF International meeting here with over 19,000 delegates so we're not sure if that's why? We went to Finns Beach Club for the day and it was actually quicker for us to walk the 5km back along the beach than get a taxi back! And we did a day trip to Nusa Penida, an island just off the coast. The tour itself was 'an experience' and not one of our better ones - the roads were potholed tracks at best driven by a young driver as if he was on a racing circuit. The scenery was beautiful and the beach great for a swim if you could avoid stubbing your toe on the rocks! However, the 'highlight' was getting off the boat. After having to jump off into waist deep water (Bob's bag got soaked, wallet and all!) and wade ashore avoiding the rocks we then had to negotiate all the boats' mooring ropes which were tightening and slackening with the waves. One wrong move and Bob might never have been the same again! Then a 45 degree scramble up the rocky breakwater to get to our shoes, thoughtfully taken to the top for us, and then a 2 hour drive/crawl to get back while still in our wet clothes! We even ended up walking the last bit back to the hotel as the traffic was at a standstill. Still, a trip we will look back on and laugh at eventually, lol! Our hotel is awesome, the pool is wonderful and the beach is at the end of the road so we really don't need to go anywhere else, having seen a lot on our first time here. So the rest of our time here is just chillin'!!

Some of you may have heard about the earthquake in Java that was felt in Bali? Well, we felt it! It woke us up at 2:45am and was such a weird experience. The bed was shaking from side to side and the doors rattling. It was very scary at the time, ok, terrifying, as all the thoughts of collapsed buildings and tsunamis race through your mind. However, it was a mild tremor, didn't last too long and there was absolutely no damage done. They occur frequently according to the staff!

As for where we will be based when we get back? We have decided to stay as nomads for a while longer! We will be travelling the length and breadth of the country visiting family and, hopefully, catching up with a few friends along the way so it seemed silly to rent anywhere. We will then decide where we want to be based. I have to say that we both feel a bit daunted by coming back and having to spend time indoors with central heating! We will also have to consider the weather again, something we haven't had to do. Indeed, when I was chatting to Shelley to arrange meeting up I suggested a walk in Richmond Park, to which Shelley replied "But what if it's raining?" - we actually hadn't even thought of that!

The best bit? How can we possibly say? We have seen and learnt so much as we travelled around. All the major tourist attractions were just as amazing as we expected - Uluru, the Great Barrier Reef, Sydney Harbour, the Great Ocean Road etc etc but it was the lesser known places we came across that caused our jaws to drop - the Ningaloo Reef, the Daintree, Kings Canyon, Carnarvon Gorge, Litchfield, Kakadu - the list could go on forever. So we have come up with a plan for when we get back. Don't ask us what our favourite bit was, just give us a letter of the alphabet and we will ramble on about all the best bits associated with that letter -even X and Z!!

But, most of all, we have learnt that a house, possessions and material objects become less important - why, oh why, have we paid to store so many household items for 18 months that we haven't missed at all?!! It is the being together, the making and sharing of memories that we will talk about forever, and the regular contact with family and friends that are the really important things in life. All your comments on the blog have been so gratefully received and it has been a pleasure sharing our journey with you all - we weren't alone in the middle of Oz after all!!

If you have a best bit from our blogs please share it with us on the blog itself (not the FB link) as we are going to get the blog printed up as a personal memoir and your comments will add to our fabulous memories. Finally, thank you all for sharing our journey, which was far more important than the destination, in that we learnt so much about ourselves and what is important in life!

Safe travels everyone!