Arriving Home and Reflections ex

Last Leg of the Trip, Driving from Jurien Bay to Nedlands

We have arrived home, and its still standing, but the weeds in the garden are almost as tall as us!

Great to see Talia!

And Melissa!

Excellent chat to Suzy on return as well (although we havent seen her yet)

Well, we have been travelling for nine weeks, have clocked up over ten thousand kilometers across two states, and have gone through one water pump and three tyres. We have spider-climbed through gorges; hiked through bush and desert to very low and very high places; ridden our bikes in the dark and out to fancy restaurants; and have seen amazing scenery, sunsets and wildlife from our van as well as from boats, buses, canoes, a beach buggy, our bikes, and a helicopter. We have spotted tiny birds and huge birds, fish of all colours and sizes, and an infinite variety of wildflowers. We have visited galleries, eaten in and out, and learned more about our country. And I'd like to say we, but just I, have swum in rivers, thermal springs, natural rock pools and oceans, alongside sharks and manta rays and thousands of other marine species. 

We’ve both worked on our projects, and plotted new ones. I’ve made five mosaics, sorted out all my photos, pitched my glass to an art gallery, and come up with numerous ideas for future designs.  Mark has entertained tourists in some of the campsites, has written a whole album of new songs, has given radio interviews, and had multiple virtual singing lessons in the campervan. 

We’ve also read books, watched movies, sat around campfires, chatted to lots of different people about camping experiences, and spent a decent amount of time done absolutely nothing.

In what follows are some of my learnings about all of this activity and non-activity.

About Camping and Campervanning

Concretely, I have learned a lot about camping and campervan-ing. Here are five examples.

1. Practical skills, like running things on gas vs electricity, and inverters and satellites, and even how to change a tyre. This is not very interesting but it is important! Honestly I still dont get it all, especially the different cords going in and out of things, but I have grasped some fundamentals.

2. How to camp successfully - by which I mean enjoyably. For instance, there are pros and cons of an expensive caravan park vs an unpowered spot in a station: both can be great. What I like the most is mixing it up - you appreciate power (as in electricity) more when you haven’t had it. Ditto with space and privacy. Camping at stations has been a positive surprise as they seem to work hard to create a good experience and to build community, yet at the same time give everyone plenty of room to move and don’t have, for instance, 13 signs with instructions in one bathroom.

3. The almost universal law of direction-giving. It seems that whoever is directing a driver reversing a caravan or motorhome will make the driver mad. There will be some yelling from the driver and frustrated arm-waving from the director. Mostly it’s the man driving and the woman directing but it’s not a gender specific thing because - when Mark directed my reversing of the van - there was still some yelling and arm waving. 

Also, I say this is an 'almost' universal law as we spotted it many times and found it quite a good source of entertainment, yet there are some rare exceptions to the rule. Some couples are such a well-oiled machine that they glide like swans through their routines, including reversing, barely even needing to speak to each other. Mark and I have definitely developed our routines, but I'd say we're a little bit greasy rather than well-oiled. As a case in point, just this morning (our final morning, when we should know better), as we are about to pull out, I say to Mark 'Have you unplugged the power?", "Oh no!" he says, shocked at himself at making such a major ommission! On that note....

4. The separation of powers works for the most part - but checklists are fallible. I've described the separation of powers in my earlier blog, although during the trip more powers emerged and were separated. Any splitting of power should not be along traditional gendered lines of course, but along skill or interest lines - which is why Mark cooked breakfast and dinner (skill) and why I created the itinerary (interest). 

But checklists, on the other hand, are a hard habit to get into. Many times we failed hopelessly with our check list - checking only some bits or completely forgetting to check the list at all, this very morning being a case in point (and you may recall we left the mat home on the first morning!). Basically, we would be hopeless airline pilots. We need a checklist to remind us to check the checklist. 

5. Autonomy with occassional relinquishment.  I've long understood that autonomy is a key reason why we love campervan travel. Mark and I both are a little bit anarchic, and campervans give you the freedom to do exactly what you'd like to do. But I've learned on this trip that occasionally giving up control - such as by going on a organised tour - can also be fantastic. The relief of just sitting there, with the responsibility for where we go and what we do, see or eat, being entirely someone else’s job - yay!  There is a perverse sort of freedom on such a tour too because you can focus completely on your own enjoyment. 

Yet I also know this relinquishing of control can wear thin fast. I have found that by the end of a tour, I start engaging in various micro-rebellions- for instance, looking in the opposite direction to where the guide suggests we look. And I start giving way too much attention to very trivial things that I start to believe are going to massively affect our enjoyment, like engaging in elaborate and possibly even obsessive strategising to figure out and then secure the best seats on whatever vessel we are travelling in.

About Life

More abstractly, and perhaps more importantly, I have some life reflections. These might sound a bit grand and cliched, sorry in advance if they do! As much as anything, these points are to remind future-Sharon what matters! I’ve boiled it down to five key things. 

1. The dominant feeling I have on completing this trip is gratitude. It may sound a bit trite, but I feel very grateful to live in a country so beautiful, and to have the resources to be able to do a trip like this. I am deeply thankful to Mum and Dad for allowing us to use their campervan, which they have always looked after so carefully. I hope we are bringing it back in the same if not better condition. 

I also appreciate so much Mark's willingness to embark on this adventure. It was my passion to do this, not his, and yet he went along with it. In fact he has enthusiastically embraced it. The kids were worried this trip would break us but it has strengthened us. I have been reminded many times on this trip what I love and admire about Mark. 

And I will forever remember the kindness of the people who helped us along the way, especially when things went wrong, like Jun and family/team from Jun's garage, as well as the people who warned us about the tyres, helped to change the tyres, and gave us rides to the national park when we were stuck in Katherine. 

I feel - and this really is corny - quite blessed.

2. Connection to friends and family. During this trip, we have talked to the kids a lot on the phone, Mum and Dad have been reading the blog, as have various friends. Other friends and family have texted or called or whatsapped every now and again to ask how we're going. Work friends and colleagues have also been incredibly respectful of our time, picking up our work, and doing things without our input. Writing this blog has helped, too, as it feels I have been ‘talking’ daily to possible readers. So, ironically, given have far away we have been, I have come back feeling very close to the important people in my life.

3. I have loved being outside, but worry about the future. As I said to Mark, what I have enjoyed almost beyond anything (except perhaps the whale-shark swim, which was a huge highlight) has been our hikes and bike rides. Of course I have also loved the snorkelling, the boat tours, whale-watching, and so on, but the simplicity of walking and biking - or perhaps the slowing down they entail, or the virtuous feeling that comes from exercising at the same time - has been extra rewarding. Although I have lived a highly city-oriented life for the past few decades, perhaps when I am outside it takes me back to my childhood. 

At the same time, I also have a sense of anxiety about how what we’ve been seeing will fare in the future, as well as a fair bit of guilt about not doing enough, or indeed anything, to help preserve it. How long will the coral reefs and the fish and the birds all last? Will our kids and their kids ever get to see these things? It feels so precious what we have here in our country, but also so precarious.

4. I have let go of work and feel better for it. I cannot recall a time in the past three decades in which I have disconnected from work as much as I have in this past nine weeks. Even on maternity leave (I took six weeks of leave for the twins, and 4 weeks for Suzy) I was in touch, and when we go to Peaceful Bay, I keep on top of emails and always try to do a bit of writing. In the past nine weeks, I have not even opened 95% of my emails and I've ignored many, many things. Whilst this may have driven some colleagues and students crazy, I feel better for properly stopping.

I might be deluding myself, but I think I can go back to work and have it be less mentally all-consuming. Which matters because, whilst work is important to me, there are so many other things I want to do as well. I really want to get the large grant we have under review because I believe if we get it I can switch gears and slow down a bit (this point about slowing down is definitely one for future-Sharon). 

5. I want this experience for our kids. There are many things we want for the kids, but I really hope that one day - and it may well be in several decades' time- they too go on a trip around Australia like this. If they do, it will mean they have the resources and the opportunity in their lives (point 1) and it will mean that our environment is not completely screwed (point 3). It will also mean that they have the interest and confidence to do this sort of trip, and someone to do it with. So I am crossing fingers that, one day, the kids are reading this blog to check out where Mum and Dad went so that they can go there too! 

And that is a wrap for this adventure. Thank you to for digitally coming on our journey with us!

Cheers!