to the great barrier reef and back, part 01

All real jedis are alike unto nature and trips. Curious minds who like to explore. It doesn’t matter whether it’s while reading, daydreaming, flying or riding a car, they just need to reach new horizons. That’s why we told ourselves last month, that it’s time for us to do something revolutionary and go on a travel quest. Not an easy task, given that we’ve hiked and biked a lot, have crossed many borders and have flown over deserts and oceans.

There was one thing, however, which kept us from being exemplary adventurers – our family have never been camping before. Prioritising structure, smoothness and comfort while the kids were little, we gravitated towards shorter flights, convenient rides and beautiful rented houses or hotels. Sounds boring but it’s not. We have our own parenting agenda called The Trinity rule when it comes to child raising:

Following this natural flow of events we managed to avoid unnecessary stress and child development hazards, and at the same time to raise kids who now qualify as real globe trotters.

For a family with teens to go camping for the very first time, Australia is probably one of the best places. I had noticed last year, while browsing for places to visit for my birthday, that the touristic habits and attractions differ from what’s in Europe, and that camping is a highly respected and evolved tradition. We hired a campervan with a hardshell rooftop tent and went to see The Great Barrier Reef, with Whitsundays being the jewel in our travel crown.

  

There are good 2.000km between Sydney and Airlie Beach so on order to have enough time to go up north and back for the 10 days of the kids’ April vacation, we had to drive for about 500km daily and to spend each night at different camp sites. No sooner said than done, we planned, we booked, we went and we had the most amazing 10 days ever. This was by far one of the best experiences for both us and our children. No luggage, no hotels, no laptops or mobiles, just fish and chips, hats and flip-flops.

We ran on sand, slept under stars and woke up before sunrise to the sounds of waves and parrots. Sleeping cosy in the car and cooking on fire for that long was amazing but as the old saying goes, “don’t stay anywhere longer than your owe”, we will most probably not try to repeat it. It might be just me but whenever I try to replicate a happy experience in the exact same way, I have zero luck and end up disappointed. So I made a contract with myself many years ago to avoid routine and repetition at all means, thus collecting really unique memories.

 

There is too much about this trip I want to write down in my memories so it needs to go in parts. Starting with the first two days of our route up to Byron Bay and Torquay, I will keep trying to select just a few photos from the three thousand I have, which to upload here along with some impressions. One of the things I love but also hate is dealing with images for a blog post. They are many and they are all beautiful, and I always have this feeling that the ones I am neglecting might be mad at me or get depressed.