Our final week in England was filled with more family time and adventures. Saying goodbye is always hard but we certainly won’t be leaving it six years until the next trip this time! After an early start from Oxford, we arrived at Heathrow in good time and the return flights were largely uneventful. Andy and I did manage our ‘date night’ to watch Top Gun 2…. Shame it was 1am on a flight from Singapore to Darwin and we were sat on two separate rows, each with a child asleep on us! Still… it was worth it.

Returning back to ‘home’ after being away for a month os always accompanied by some level of chaos. Returning to a caravan after a month away was no different! Surprisingly, the van wasn’ full of ants as I had expected. We did however have a small issue actually getting the car started to be able to move the van out of the storage area and into our powered spot for the next few nights. Thankfully our small camp here in Bees Creek was filled with wonderful families who were more than happy to lend a helping hand (and car) to get us started again.

Van eventually moved we quickly settled back into our routine of setting up the van and making it feel like home again. Our first day back was spent unpacking, restocking the cupboards and fridge and having a general spring clean. Kiera has turned into a complete bookworm so we had a good clear out of old books to make way for her new collection she acquired in England. We also had to make room for the ‘new’ Teddy’s she found in Grandmas cupboard and introduce them to her crew.

Since early in the trip when we travelled with a friend who has a hover board, Fin has had his sights set on getting one for himself. After saving up his birthday money, we finally took the opportunity of knowing how long we would be in Darwin and ordered one to be delivered for when we arrived back here. Fin is super happy with his new ‘toy’ and I am sure it will have lots of use over the coming months.

We have changed time zones several times over the past 7 months as we have made our way from NSW into SA; across the Nullabor where there is a small stretch of road which has its own ‘local time’ set somewhere between SA and WA time; through WA and then change again coming into NT. Nothing however really prepares you for the brutal jet lag after a trip to the UK! In an attempt to shake the jet lag, we hit the waterfront today and spent the afternoon swimming in the wave pool at the edge of Darwin city centre.

It feels a little like this journey so far has been in a number of clear stages. The first goal was to get to WA. The next big milestone was to get to Exmouth for our whale shark encounter. After Exmouth we set our sights on getting to Darwin in time to catch our flights to the UK. This next phase is the journey back across to the east coast.

I think that in our minds, Darwin was always associated with a logistical trip and point to get us back to the UK but it really has been fun seeing what Australia’s northern most city has to offer. Next stop, camp number 81 in Kakadu National Park.