So you have a caravan, tent or a motorhome. Something that you can stay in while moving around the country.
So what was the prime reason you decided to buy it. ?
Was the sole purpose to race off and do " the big lap"
Perhaps you bought it to live in. Maybe you owned a bush block and wanted something comfortable and up off the ground.
You know, 'cause we do have a few nasty spiders and snakes hanging around.!
Yeah, okay, I sound a bit "precious" I know.
Snakes , especially frighten the hell out of me.!
When we were first married, way back in the early 1970's, we rented a farm house and we had a shovel at the back door and one at the outdoor toilet.
We had snakes in the chook yard.!
I did not collect the eggs after I saw that one !
And one day one of hubby's workmates thought it would be funny to send a little baby one home in his lunch box. The cat was very quick and grabbed that one.
Hang on, where the hell am I. I have wandered off again.
Come on "Lynnie " keep up with the train of thought.!!
Now get back to the subject. !
What I am getting at, is that we all sat down with perhaps our other half or our family and had a discussion about, would we or wouldn't we buy a caravan.
But I am guessing that not every one buys one to do the big lap.
Me: ( and hubby will follow on, well I'll follow hubby as he drives but he generally is happy with my choices;) I want to see areas closer to home before venturing too far north or west.
New South Wales and South Australia are on my / our priority list.
But look how lucky are we here in Victoria.
We have some fabulous countryside.
So many places steeped in history from gold rush days.
Have you been to the monument at Moliagul, standing near where the Welcome Stranger nugget was found ? I recently read the book and it was very interesting. I learnt so many things. Maybe I did not pay enough attention in history class at school !
But we all have interesting places and stories in our own backyard. I admit we quite often get fed up with our home town but sometimes we need to step back and put our tourist glasses on to see these areas another way.
Who lives in a tourist town.?
I would understand that these towns would get incredibly busy and very frustrating in tourist time. We often drive to Echuca and find the traffic snarls during summer amazing . Constant peak hour through the summer months. I guess beach side suburbs would be similar.
But we do have adventures to make in our own home states. Whichever state you live in.
You may hitch the van up, or throw the tent in and only travel an hour or so away. But quite often that hour can bring out such little gems.
Around every corner you can find a treasure.
You may be lucky enough to find a five star restaurant or a winery that has bottled a very nice tasting vino.
Even just sitting and talking to the locals can reward you with local information that has not made the tourist brochures.
Modern day life is busy, with families and work events taking away any spare time you had to just sit and relax. We no longer have time to "stop and smell the roses"
And this is where travelling comes in.
But we need to be careful that we are not just pulling up somewhere , having a quick nightly kip and then moving on early the next day. We all need to slow down and enjoy our country.
Life is not a race. And caravanning is not a race.
We do not need to be the first or quickest to get around our continent. Or the first to the next town.
But we need to see beyond the brochures.
We need to travel for ourselves in our own time frame. On our own terms.
It is important to have a great knowledge of our own areas as that knowledge may be useful for all those tourists who are heading your way.
So when you are not exploring new places, just put those "tourist glasses" on and check out your own area
Happy and safe travelling everyone
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www.travelvictoria.com.au/bendigo/
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