From Sea to Hills: A Journey of Caravanning Adventures

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Welcome to Why Is It So? Your last defence for common sense with your co-hosts

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Paul Zammett and Vince Locizzano.

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Welcome to Why Is It So? My name is Paul and for this episode I will be flying

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solo because my co-host Vince has a couple of matters he's attending to.

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So I'm taking this opportunity to have a chat with my guest about a topic that

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we haven't covered up until now.

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My guest today is my brother John, who retired a couple of years ago.

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And when he retired, his better half, Fiona, said, if you're not working, nor am I.

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In fact, it's two guests. It's John, my brother, and his wife, Fiona.

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Both John and Fiona were very involved in boats and the open sea.

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They decided that they should look for something different to do for recreation

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after spending all those years in the water.

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Most people, it's usually from the trees to the sea.

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In their case, it became from the sea to the hills.

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Basically, what they did, they sold the boat and decided to get a caravan and

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travel around Australia.

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They've been out for quite a long time. In that two years, they've seen quite a lot of things.

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So this should make for an interesting little chat.

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And better still, with the cost of living being what it is, especially here

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in Victoria, John may be able to introduce us to some nice little spots to get

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away for a break without doing much damage to the budget.

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So let's hear from John and Fiona and see what they can tell us about what's been going on.

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So, John, good to see you again and have a little chat with you and see what's been happening.

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I've felt by the times that you've been away, I've had to sort of send the pigeons

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out with little letters on their legs, otherwise I'd never be able to get to talk to you.

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But let's see how you've taken to caravanning, shall we? Over to you, John.

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Yeah, we are right into the caravanning now. We're really enjoying it.

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I didn't really think we would enjoy it as much as we have.

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We were new to caravanning. We've had the caravan now for two years,

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and my wife was just recently telling me that we've spent something like 170

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nights in the caravan, and we've done probably nearly 20,000 kilometres.

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We've been up as far as the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast,

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but the thing that surprised me is we've rediscovered Victoria.

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I thought I knew Victoria, but the little trips that we've done,

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you know, less than two or three hours away has been sensational.

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Places like Benalla and Bairnsdale and Ballarat and Bort.

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I didn't think we would enjoy it as much as we have.

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Well, Fiona, what do you think of caravaning? You know what?

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Caravan has been fabulous.

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Far better than I thought that it was going to be. We've done some really good

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things and it's been really relaxing.

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I think I had, to be honest, always put it in the grey nomad bucket.

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You know, I wasn't quite old enough to go caravaning and I didn't think it would be that exciting.

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But I was wrong. I was definitely wrong. We've met a lot of people of all age

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groups. And as John said, we've been to places that we really wouldn't have stopped at before.

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And you could create your own balance. You can create your balance of relaxing

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or doing things if you rather do.

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You can be as social as you like because there's always friends to play with.

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Yes. Or you can sleep in until 11 o'clock in the morning if you want to and not talk to anyone.

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So you really do have the best of all worlds. It is a good mix, isn't it?

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As well. But I don't think we're alone because I did look at those stats.

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And I just read the other day that caravan and campervan registrations across

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Australia have been growing remarkably in the last decade.

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In 2023, there was almost 859,000 caravans and camper vans registered in Australia.

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And that was a 20% increase post-COVID and an all-time record.

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So I figure there's about 7.5 million families in Australia.

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So that means about one in eight's got a caravan or a camper.

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And the number of people we've met a little bit away are just a wide variety.

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And it's been good. And the happy hours aren't too bad, are they?

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I thought that was the best part of me, actually, the happy hours. Not bad.

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This is the sort of thing that really is not going to cost a lot of money, is it?

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Especially this year where we've had crap year, really, with the taxes and whatever have you.

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Now money's short and you want to get away. I think people do need to get away,

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even if it's only for a weekend break.

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Shores are the places that can, you know, they could probably go and do that, can't they?

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Yeah, exactly right. In fact, you probably don't even need a caravan to do that.

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You know, all those places that I've mentioned, most of the caravan parks these

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days have cabins or camping areas.

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Yeah. So you can get away and it doesn't cost a lot. I mean,

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we enjoy the comforts of the caravan, obviously, but quite often we see people

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there pitching a tent and they seem to be having a whale of a time.

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So, yeah, and it doesn't cost a lot of money. Yeah. It's good community,

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isn't it? You find the caravaners, people who are there to just enjoy themselves,

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have a drink, have a laugh, move on, have a look at the countryside and whatever?

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Yeah, well, it's certainly social. Everybody's on holidays. I suppose everybody's

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relaxed or most of them are relaxed.

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And so it's a great community and you'll find people are most helpful wherever

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you go. If you have an issue, there's a million people around to help.

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Now, we found it very social and very rewarding and it's been...

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You know, stopping and smelling the roses. Tell me, Fiona, John,

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when you get to a parking spot, like to a caravan park and whatever have you,

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does he go off and set up the caravan and make sure everything's plugged in

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and all that sort of thing?

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And then you go out and check out who's around and how many people are where

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and who's going to be the good company and what you're going to do.

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I remember when we were with the mother home, that's what I used to do.

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So I used to get him there and I, you know, by the time I set up the motorhome,

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plugged everything in, Dean had been around and spoken to everybody and came

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back and gave me a full report.

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Now, that man over there and his wife, they're from such and such and they've

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got three kids and they're heading to wherever and the people over there are nearly retired.

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So I was all about them before we got to sort of go out and talk to them. So it was great.

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Does John get you to do the same sort of thing? You answer that one,

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Fiona, okay? Because at this stage, I'm not game. Go ahead.

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I don't think we do it exactly that way, Paul.

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We work together when we take off with the van and then when we arrive,

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wherever we're arriving to get in the van, it's definitely a joint effort.

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John's dying to say something. Well, I was just really going to say that I think

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we work as a team. We're a team.

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It's, you know, we jokingly say there are the pink jobs and the blue jobs around the van.

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And I think it's fair to say that we park the van together. We have a system

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for parking the van and getting it into the spot.

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Is that right? And we use our mobiles and we call each other.

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So I've got the, I'm in the car, it's on the loudspeaker and Fiona's talking into the phone.

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And then once we're set up, then it's a matter of, Once we're in the spot, rather, we then set up.

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We've got to get the awning out. We've got to tie things down and that sort of thing.

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And Fiona has a series of jobs she needs to do, and that's with setting up the

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inside of the van, essentially, whilst I do the physical, as far as I do most of the physical stuff.

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But there's a lot we need to do, and a lot of it we do together.

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And I think we do it together so that we double-check each other.

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When we take off, I'll do some things, John will do others, and then we'll just

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have a bit of a look around to make sure everything's been done correctly.

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Then similarly, when it comes to socialising, we're very good at doing that together.

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Exactly. We'll go out and have a wander around the park ourselves together and

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have a chat to people, and then if we're travelling with a group of people,

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people. Which we often do. Which we often do. We'll go and say hello to people together.

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So pink jobs and blue jobs, yes.

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Socialising together, absolutely. Yeah, that's definitely one of the benefits.

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Well, I have my social secretary go around over and look over at first and she sets it all up.

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She says, that man over there and that lady over there, they do this.

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They've invited us out for something to eat and have a drink and those people

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over there are going tomorrow.

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All that sort of stuff. But I also think that's about how you travel.

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We tend to regularly travel with groups of people or plan to meet people we know there.

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And then we'll pick up others along the way. We'll meet new people.

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But quite often we actually plan to go with a group of people.

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When you say we travel, we don't travel in a convoy per se. But we sort of say,

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okay, we're going to say Port Ferry or whatever.

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And so we make our own way there. And once we're there, there are others that

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we know. And we often do that in that situation.

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So as an example, two weeks ago, we were off with a group, a caravan group,

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and there were 11 other vans.

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We've got another trip doing that with about the same number of vans the week after. next.

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And then in February, we've planned to go with one group to Port Ferry.

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And once that is over, my sister and brother-in-law are coming to join us and

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we're doing a four-week trip. In their caravan.

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Yeah, a four-week trip with them. So we've regularly got other people.

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So we'll head up from Port Ferry. We'll stay with this first group of people

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that we're going with. We'll stay there for, I don't know, eight to 10 days.

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And then from there, we'll take off and and head towards South Australia.

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We actually went to South Australia last year and we went through Coonawarra

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and Robe and up into Adelaide.

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And then we made our way down to the York Peninsula, which is a fantastic spot

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and some great seafood down there.

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You get beautiful oysters and crabs and all sorts of seafood,

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really, which was fantastic.

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Yeah. And on the seafood theme, though, I think the one that I really enjoyed

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the most was when we were also down on York Peninsula. and we went to Port Vinson.

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Port Vinson, that's right. Now, Port Vinson on the beach, they have little sand

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crabs on the beach and the caravan park actually lends you the rakes and you

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can go out and you can rake the sand to find the crabs.

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Now, I reckon we spend about an hour and a half out there. We did a lot of raking.

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We did catch three. We did catch three.

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It was so much fun, but better still was the guy in the caravan park who had

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had a very successful morning, and he was handing out crabs to anybody who was in pistol.

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If you go out in knee-deep water, it's really interesting. You're out in knee-deep

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water and just rake the bottom of the water, and as they scurry off...

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Well, that can be all that. Ours words. The last week, we're all undersized, unfortunately.

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You can get quite large ones, but it's interesting. As the crabs are scurrying

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away, you actually, there's a technique to it.

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You rake over the crab and do a quick flick and flick them out of the water.

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Hopefully, it will buzz. Otherwise, you're chasing them.

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But that was... That's something we would never have done if we weren't staying

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at a caravan park. That's right.

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Actually, that's where, when we were with the Matagot, we met a guy,

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and he taught us how to eat oysters or how to shuck oysters.

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And I didn't know, but you can freeze oysters. You can buy them fresh,

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freeze them, and when you defrost them, just put them in a bucket of water.

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It's just like coming out of the sea. You shuck it.

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Well, that's right. Although, when we were on the York Peninsula down near Port

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Vincent, we came because it was out of oyster season, of all things.

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I didn't even realise there was an oyster season.

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And we came across a crowd and he had a whole heap of frozen oysters.

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There's oysters all around Adelaide, actually. And just before you get to getting

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across the Dullable Plains, there's a little place called Seduna.

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And they're right on the foreshore.

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And they've got this cabin where you go upstairs and they've got some umbrellas

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and everything there. and they shut oysters there for you and a drink and you

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go up on the roof and just sit there and watch the waves across.

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It's just absolutely magnificent. That was fantastic.

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There's a similar thing actually in Port Stephens.

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It's actually a seafood shop right on the water and actually you can buy your

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fresh oysters there for, your fresh seafood,

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and actually go out and they provide tables and chairs out in a lovely lawned

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area a week and sit across from the water.

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So there's plenty of these places around this way, as well as.

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Caravanning and motorhomes really is such a diverse population,

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you know, in all ways, in walks of life, in age, and all that sort of stuff.

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Yeah, basically, there's a lot of different people, as you say,

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that do caravanning and driving to smaller distances.

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You don't have to be retired, is basically what I'm saying. What do you think,

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you two? Well, no, I don't think you have to be retired at all.

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In fact, we've met plenty of people on the road who aren't retired and people

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who just do short trips away, obviously, or go away in their annual holidays.

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Or, Fiona, we've met people who are actually on huge road trips, haven't we?

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We have. In fact, we have friends of our grandchildren who've taken their kids

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out of school for six months and done the big road trip.

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And then we have grandchildren who just go away with a tent for a couple of

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days and camping. So I think it's for all ages.

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I really do. And I think it's for all types of families. It can be couples.

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It can be extended families.

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Another thing which I think is fantastic is there are a number of caravani and

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campervan groups for single people.

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There's a single women's travelling group. We've got a number,

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haven't we, of single women who travel on their own or within groups.

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Yes, so those who've lost their partners or don't have partners can enjoy caravanning

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just as much as most of us.

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That's right, but they tend to go in motorhomes with the single people.

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Well, in the club that we belong to, there are a couple of clubs.

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There's three. There's three single women.

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Who tow caravans, believe it or not. But you're right, there are quite a number of women.

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They just find it easier, I think, in caravan pulling in, I think.

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And the ladies that do tow caravans tend to have the pop tops or the smaller

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ones that are easier for them to handle.

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Yeah, in the main. Although lots of women can drive caravans and tow caravans. In fact, Fiona does.

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I do say, though, that I only drive in straight lines. I'm not very good at

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corners or going backwards. Or roundabout.

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But it does help when we're doing a distance, if we can share the drive.

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The desert across the Vullabore.

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I'd be good at that. You'd be terrific. Excellent. You just can't see the end

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of it. It just peaked out. Not bad on the hume, either. I can do the hume.

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That's right. Yeah. What part of Victoria have you sort of enjoyed most? I know it's off the cuff.

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Well, it's interesting, but we've gone to places that I never would have thought about.

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For example, Bairnsdale is a classic. Bairnsdale was a place that we used to

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drive through when we were on our way to the Gippsland Lakes, for example.

00:16:43.200 --> 00:16:46.920
However, while we were there, the Bairnsdale Agricultural Show was on,

00:16:47.020 --> 00:16:48.100
and that was interesting.

00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:53.400
They've got fantastic bike riding trails. We now bought a couple of bikes that

00:16:53.400 --> 00:16:54.640
we have on the back of the caravan,

00:16:54.640 --> 00:16:58.620
so we take those with us whenever we go and it's just a lovely little town a

00:16:58.620 --> 00:17:03.900
lovely community the caravan parks are very pleasant so it's just really scullery

00:17:03.900 --> 00:17:07.000
yeah Paynesville and those sorts of places not far away are they,

00:17:07.600 --> 00:17:13.920
no you sort of just take a daily drive or grab a picnic and go probably 20 minutes

00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:18.960
away I guess yeah of Ben's down and from the lakes and also you're right on

00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:22.920
the Mitchell River there so if you're a fisherman of course you can drop a line

00:17:22.920 --> 00:17:26.980
and maybe catch your lunch yeah So there's things to do.

00:17:27.460 --> 00:17:32.160
There's lovely walking trails and lovely walking paths and plenty to do. Absolutely.

00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:35.960
For all the family, I should mention. Well, that's the other thing, isn't it?

00:17:36.120 --> 00:17:40.040
I mean, if you're going by car or by caravan or whatever, it's not going to

00:17:40.040 --> 00:17:43.840
cost you anything more for travel if you've got four or if you've got six or if you've got two.

00:17:44.060 --> 00:17:47.720
Well, that's exactly right. Well, of course, if you're in a caravan,

00:17:47.840 --> 00:17:51.660
once you set up with the car and the van, I mean, that's your major expense,

00:17:51.720 --> 00:17:54.520
obviously. But from there on in, you know, you can get away.

00:17:54.600 --> 00:17:58.220
A whole family can get away, you know, $400 or $500, for example.

00:17:58.440 --> 00:18:03.340
Yeah. And then I spend three or four nights in a caravan park around visiting the local attractions.

00:18:03.880 --> 00:18:07.540
No, it's very, very pleasant. We're enjoying it immensely. Yeah, yeah.

00:18:07.640 --> 00:18:10.420
And I should say we've made a

00:18:10.420 --> 00:18:14.320
whole group of new friends, which is good as well. Yeah, I found that day.

00:18:15.260 --> 00:18:21.940
It is, as you say, a very social way. If you're going from here and fly to Brisbane,

00:18:22.820 --> 00:18:28.400
you sort of, A, don't get to look at the country, B, you sort of don't get to

00:18:28.400 --> 00:18:30.880
see your neighbours, really, if you're staying in a hotel.

00:18:31.580 --> 00:18:35.100
There's the people next door you might say hello to, or see you later, whatever.

00:18:36.086 --> 00:18:41.506
With caravanning and camping and that sort of thing, you sort of tend to get closer with people.

00:18:41.626 --> 00:18:48.986
They have the four o'clock happy hour, and you can be driving along and come close to four o'clock.

00:18:49.126 --> 00:18:52.466
You're looking for a place to stop, and you say, this place looks okay.

00:18:52.606 --> 00:18:53.986
Well, you drive in, away you go.

00:18:54.686 --> 00:18:57.686
It's a very, very social way of doing it. Well,

00:18:57.706 --> 00:19:02.346
it is, and I think the other thing that struck me as well, it's something that

00:19:02.346 --> 00:19:06.286
the whole family can get involved in, whether you've got kids that are three

00:19:06.286 --> 00:19:10.286
and four or teenage kids or adults.

00:19:10.566 --> 00:19:14.966
I mean, everybody finds something to do when you're caravanning or camping,

00:19:15.106 --> 00:19:16.946
for that matter, and very enjoyable.

00:19:16.966 --> 00:19:21.186
Even with pets, I mean, dogs, I mean, there's now a lot of places that cater

00:19:21.186 --> 00:19:25.706
for dogs, and there's one actually not far from Barnsdale, I forget the area,

00:19:25.826 --> 00:19:28.646
but all set up exactly for that.

00:19:28.806 --> 00:19:33.566
They have huts or houses, if you like, or flats, units, whatever.

00:19:34.206 --> 00:19:38.966
They're all surrounded by a fence. So you take your dog there.

00:19:39.106 --> 00:19:40.506
The dog's got somewhere to run around.

00:19:40.666 --> 00:19:45.146
They're allowed to go into the house and whatever, sleep inside.

00:19:47.226 --> 00:19:53.746
It's sort of everything, really, to be able to enjoy your holiday with your furry friends.

00:19:53.966 --> 00:19:58.366
Well, a lot of the parks are doing just that, in fact, because especially since COVID,

00:19:59.046 --> 00:20:05.286
you know, the grey nomads, I guess, who took on pets and a lot of the parks that we go to,

00:20:05.426 --> 00:20:09.846
we joined a caravan club because in the early days when we didn't know much

00:20:09.846 --> 00:20:14.206
about it, we thought if we went away with like 90 people, we might learn something,

00:20:14.346 --> 00:20:16.306
which we have, and we've made a whole group of new friends.

00:20:16.446 --> 00:20:21.006
But a lot of those members have dogs, and so they come away with us often.

00:20:21.166 --> 00:20:25.426
We stay in caravan parks. Every caravan park that we stay in allows pets.

00:20:25.946 --> 00:20:30.706
As long as they're under control. I'm talking about Alsatians. Thank dogs.

00:20:31.486 --> 00:20:34.986
No, that's exactly right. So, yes, it is. It's family-friendly,

00:20:35.186 --> 00:20:40.446
pet-friendly, and, yeah, nice way to holiday. What other areas have you been

00:20:40.446 --> 00:20:45.806
sort of amazing, if you like, or different to what you thought it would be? Sure.

00:20:45.966 --> 00:20:49.586
Well, we've done, you know, we've done places like Heathcote.

00:20:49.806 --> 00:20:52.506
We've done places like, I mentioned Bort earlier.

00:20:52.766 --> 00:20:58.486
We've done Yey, Mansfield, Bairnsdale, Mildura, Swan Hill.

00:20:59.066 --> 00:21:06.286
So we've done most of Victoria. Well, caravans can provide you with many spur-of-the-moment adventures.

00:21:06.526 --> 00:21:11.766
And speaking of spur-of-the-moment, you've just been away for a short trip.

00:21:11.766 --> 00:21:13.346
Didn't you go away just recently?

00:21:13.886 --> 00:21:19.726
So our most recent journey was off to, again with our caravan group,

00:21:19.906 --> 00:21:23.126
was off to Glenrowan, and we went there for four nights.

00:21:23.486 --> 00:21:28.286
Yeah. Now, Glenn Rowan, you sort of associate with Ned Kelly,

00:21:28.386 --> 00:21:30.666
and there's certainly a lot of Ned Kelly….

00:21:31.603 --> 00:21:39.443
Museums, artefacts, statues, everything, meat pies, everything is Ned Kelly.

00:21:40.703 --> 00:21:44.283
But that area is a lot more than that. I mean, to be honest,

00:21:44.323 --> 00:21:47.023
we probably didn't spend much time on Ned Kelly.

00:21:47.283 --> 00:21:50.923
You've got a lot of towns in the area, including Wangaratta,

00:21:51.223 --> 00:21:57.543
Myrtleford, Beachworth, all those places. We did a very short drive and we actually

00:21:57.543 --> 00:21:59.183
did most of those towns. We did.

00:21:59.383 --> 00:22:02.583
One of our favourites, of course, is Millawa. With all the wineries.

00:22:03.883 --> 00:22:06.983
And there's a lot of wineries around that area. You like the typical area.

00:22:07.363 --> 00:22:11.943
Well, no, it's the food. It's the food that I enjoy. I actually enjoy it because

00:22:11.943 --> 00:22:14.243
most of those wineries, you can have a really nice lunch.

00:22:14.383 --> 00:22:16.763
They do really nice lunches. That's true. That is true. Yes.

00:22:17.583 --> 00:22:21.923
So there's the winery area, as you said, Wangaratta. Yes. It's really good.

00:22:22.063 --> 00:22:23.763
Beechworth is one of our favourite places.

00:22:24.043 --> 00:22:27.463
Beechworth is a fantastic little town. They've got one of the best bakeries

00:22:27.463 --> 00:22:30.983
in Victoria, in Australia, I would say. But they've also got a fantastic...

00:22:31.828 --> 00:22:36.208
Brewery. Brewery and pizza place. Well, exactly.

00:22:36.688 --> 00:22:39.848
At the winery. No, no, no. At the brewery.

00:22:39.968 --> 00:22:42.088
It's just a brewery. The brewery makes

00:22:42.088 --> 00:22:45.608
their own beer and they make some interesting beers and ciders. Yeah.

00:22:46.068 --> 00:22:50.888
And then they do lunch there as well and they specialise in pizzas,

00:22:50.888 --> 00:22:55.188
which are, I've got to say, sensational. Yeah, and they very often at the weekends

00:22:55.188 --> 00:22:57.828
have music playing, so it's a really nice place.

00:22:58.108 --> 00:23:00.148
It is. Right in the middle of town. Right in the middle of town.

00:23:00.148 --> 00:23:01.348
Yeah, so it's nice. In Beechworth.

00:23:01.588 --> 00:23:06.528
Yeah. And it's not just Beechworth, of course, that whole area just down the road.

00:23:06.688 --> 00:23:10.268
You've got Myrtleford, which is another little interesting town,

00:23:10.468 --> 00:23:12.668
and lovely art galleries.

00:23:13.068 --> 00:23:18.008
In fact, that's where, is it Red Rainier? Fiona, that shop, the Curiosity Shop?

00:23:18.288 --> 00:23:25.068
Yeah, Red Rainier, he had a fabulous place in Geelong, and he's opened one up in Beechworth.

00:23:26.028 --> 00:23:30.828
And you can get everything there from like 10-foot-high statues of gorillas

00:23:30.828 --> 00:23:33.708
through tiles, mosaic tiles.

00:23:33.948 --> 00:23:39.188
And it's hard to explain, but you really need to visit. It's an experience.

00:23:39.188 --> 00:23:44.388
And you could spend an hour just walking through the shop and what have you.

00:23:44.488 --> 00:23:49.228
And there's a great Moroccan restaurant there on the premises.

00:23:49.228 --> 00:23:56.188
And that's interesting both in food flavours and also the day call, which is sensational.

00:23:56.608 --> 00:24:01.568
Well, John, you really have gone round Victoria and you've seen quite a bit of Victoria.

00:24:01.788 --> 00:24:06.208
What other areas have you travelled in? I'm not sure how far you went up the

00:24:06.208 --> 00:24:10.908
east coast of Australia, but where did you sort of go from here?

00:24:11.008 --> 00:24:13.228
We've now tried to get away in the winter.

00:24:13.588 --> 00:24:16.808
We'll never move out of Victoria because we've got a number of grandchildren,

00:24:16.808 --> 00:24:21.648
as you know and so we'll always live here but we try and get away in the colder

00:24:21.648 --> 00:24:26.388
months and last year we went up to the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast and

00:24:26.388 --> 00:24:32.088
we spent nine weeks away and we went to places like Noosa and Coolum and Buller

00:24:32.088 --> 00:24:35.668
Dealer on the way up and we visited some lovely places.

00:24:36.048 --> 00:24:41.208
What's the longest you've stayed in one place? You've found it to have enough to keep you going for?

00:24:41.448 --> 00:24:46.808
Well in fact we stayed at Coolum last year for four weeks and that was a lovely caravan Park.

00:24:46.828 --> 00:24:51.748
It was on a strip of land on the dunes, essentially, between the beach and the shops.

00:24:51.968 --> 00:24:55.928
Go ahead. A lovely place to stay. We based ourselves there, and from there, we did day trips.

00:24:56.495 --> 00:25:00.415
You know, with lots of places to go. If you head north, you head up to Noosa

00:25:00.415 --> 00:25:04.215
and beyond. If you head south, down the Maroochydore and places like that.

00:25:04.715 --> 00:25:09.655
Koolam, I've heard the name Koolam. What is it famous for? One thing? The beach.

00:25:10.115 --> 00:25:14.975
Is that it? Yeah? I think so, yeah. I have heard the conversation, but I wasn't quite sure.

00:25:15.475 --> 00:25:21.215
Koolam. No, I'm thinking of Bundaberg. Bundaberg. Yeah, no, that's way for the north.

00:25:22.275 --> 00:25:25.815
No, when you say Koolam, that sort of came into mind.

00:25:27.455 --> 00:25:31.975
No, I think they're famous for their weather and their easy living, I think.

00:25:33.575 --> 00:25:38.715
Really, in a lot of cases, sometimes when you've been into this place and that

00:25:38.715 --> 00:25:42.755
place and whatever have you, you do sometimes want to stop somewhere and just

00:25:42.755 --> 00:25:44.675
relax, do nothing, just sit outside,

00:25:45.135 --> 00:25:49.155
have a drink, have something to eat, and just enjoy the quietness.

00:25:50.275 --> 00:25:55.975
Yeah, exactly right. That's right. In fact, we'll head up that way again probably next May.

00:25:56.175 --> 00:26:00.595
We'll start moving up there again, and we'll probably stay there again at Coolham

00:26:00.595 --> 00:26:04.915
or somewhere further north, maybe head up to Airlie Beach or somewhere.

00:26:06.135 --> 00:26:10.375
And stop and spend at least a week in each of these places.

00:26:10.995 --> 00:26:14.555
Have you thought at all about circumlocating Australia?

00:26:14.795 --> 00:26:17.955
I have, but that's really not what we want to do.

00:26:17.955 --> 00:26:20.815
It's at this stage at my age I'm

00:26:20.815 --> 00:26:24.355
a little bit beyond being too adventurous and we're

00:26:24.355 --> 00:26:27.115
just happy just stopping and smelling the roses and just

00:26:27.115 --> 00:26:29.975
taking life easy so yeah we haven't

00:26:29.975 --> 00:26:32.855
I mean there's lots of our friends have done it and are doing

00:26:32.855 --> 00:26:35.975
it when I say that I mean we're not averse to

00:26:35.975 --> 00:26:40.995
traveling around recently we did a trip through Adelaide we went from here up

00:26:40.995 --> 00:26:45.515
to our first stop was Warrnambool and then we went from Warrnambool up to Cootawarra

00:26:45.515 --> 00:26:53.575
a lovely wine region of course And then we went down and spent a little time at Robe in

00:26:53.965 --> 00:26:56.525
South Australia. That's been a nice little place road isn't it?

00:26:56.645 --> 00:27:01.665
It is, road's lovely on the beach, lovely seafood we headed up then into Adelaide

00:27:01.665 --> 00:27:05.805
and stayed just outside of Adelaide at a place called West Beach which is not

00:27:05.805 --> 00:27:08.485
very far from Glenelg yeah.

00:27:09.225 --> 00:27:10.705
It's having a seniors moment there.

00:27:10.845 --> 00:27:18.425
Me too and we based ourselves there for five or six days and from there we took

00:27:18.425 --> 00:27:22.425
drives up to McLaren Vale and either Adelaide of course you know,

00:27:22.485 --> 00:27:24.185
lovely markets and what have you.

00:27:24.605 --> 00:27:28.945
Visit a few of the wine regions. And then we actually went up and went down

00:27:28.945 --> 00:27:32.785
the York Peninsula, down and visited a place like Portia and what have you.

00:27:32.865 --> 00:27:37.645
And then when we came back on the way back, we headed back via Mildura Swan

00:27:37.645 --> 00:27:38.925
Hill and came back that way.

00:27:39.185 --> 00:27:44.785
So that little trip took us, I think, four weeks. And it was a nice little getaway.

00:27:45.525 --> 00:27:49.925
But doing the whole circumnavigation of Australia, quite shortly. Maybe later.

00:27:51.065 --> 00:27:56.985
When you've seen it all, it is. The other thing is Tasmania is a great place

00:27:56.985 --> 00:27:59.065
to go, with a van or without a van.

00:28:00.585 --> 00:28:05.345
Because the trip across is cheaper than an air flight, unless you're going with

00:28:05.345 --> 00:28:07.245
a overnight bag in your hand.

00:28:07.725 --> 00:28:13.705
Yeah, look, that's right. In fact, we had the opportunity to go to Tasmania

00:28:13.705 --> 00:28:18.985
recently. My brother-in-law, who has a caravan, was going over and asked us to join them in our van.

00:28:20.065 --> 00:28:23.345
Unfortunately, we couldn't because we had a couple of commitments here that

00:28:23.345 --> 00:28:24.425
didn't allow us to do that.

00:28:24.545 --> 00:28:28.265
But we flew over and spent some time with them while they were there. Oh, right.

00:28:28.545 --> 00:28:32.445
And Tasmania is a fabulous place. Yeah, it's a very, very nice place.

00:28:32.845 --> 00:28:35.485
When you think of it, there's only half a million people, basically.

00:28:35.725 --> 00:28:36.865
Yeah, that's right. Exactly.

00:28:37.205 --> 00:28:42.745
I mean, a lot of it, the centre of it is sort of wild bush in the centre.

00:28:43.005 --> 00:28:46.385
Well, there's some interesting places once you get out of the main towns.

00:28:46.585 --> 00:28:49.945
Yeah. And it's a beautiful state. it really is.

00:28:51.905 --> 00:28:57.025
The east coast and also the north coast is very, very nice coast. As is the west, yeah.

00:28:57.445 --> 00:29:01.085
Yeah, the west is a little bit more frontier land, I think.

00:29:02.685 --> 00:29:07.765
It's a little bit just undiscovered at the moment, shall we say.

00:29:08.005 --> 00:29:11.885
But the north, there's a couple of places on the east side of course,

00:29:12.105 --> 00:29:15.725
you've got places like the mountain, the trail mountain, the trail mountain.

00:29:16.585 --> 00:29:22.285
I'm Yeah, Cradle Mountain is a terrific little spot.

00:29:22.485 --> 00:29:26.765
Yes. There's really a lot that you can do in Tassie. There is, there is.

00:29:26.865 --> 00:29:29.645
I mean, especially once you, you know, get out into little villages,

00:29:29.865 --> 00:29:33.805
a little town sort of outside of the main towns, there's some very pleasant

00:29:33.805 --> 00:29:35.865
places and some interesting places as well.

00:29:37.285 --> 00:29:41.745
So basically you're not thinking of getting back into work at any time?

00:29:41.865 --> 00:29:45.605
No, no, no. We're fully retired now. We're retired and...

00:29:47.718 --> 00:29:51.278
As of last July, we're officially retired and we're taking it easy now.

00:29:51.378 --> 00:29:56.238
But what we've found is that since we have retired, there just aren't enough hours in the day.

00:29:56.598 --> 00:30:00.578
Amazing, isn't it? I wonder how we actually got things done before we were retired,

00:30:00.618 --> 00:30:03.498
but we quite enjoyed it. That's good. That's good.

00:30:03.898 --> 00:30:09.858
Well, John, it's been good talking to you, and I'm sure that the listeners will find this helpful,

00:30:10.178 --> 00:30:13.798
especially, as I say, if they want to get away for just a bit of a break,

00:30:13.798 --> 00:30:19.358
Just get out of town and enjoy the light and then come back refreshed.

00:30:19.918 --> 00:30:25.898
Well, that's exactly right. And as we said before, Paul, you really don't have to go very far.

00:30:26.078 --> 00:30:30.218
You know, places within two or three hours of Melbourne, either way,

00:30:30.318 --> 00:30:34.598
in any direction, you'll find plenty to do, plenty of places to stay,

00:30:34.758 --> 00:30:37.058
and it's not going to cost you an arm of the leg. Yeah.

00:30:37.478 --> 00:30:43.138
So, John and Fiona, thank you very much for coming over and talking to us about

00:30:43.138 --> 00:30:46.418
all your travels and the things you've done and the things you've seen.

00:30:46.638 --> 00:30:51.418
And hopefully we might get some people out and about looking around Australia.

00:30:52.158 --> 00:30:56.598
Fantastic. It's been really good talking about it too and remembering all of

00:30:56.598 --> 00:30:57.798
the great things that we've done.

00:30:57.938 --> 00:31:00.398
Thanks, Paul. My pleasure. Thank you very much for over here.

00:31:00.678 --> 00:31:03.178
Thanks, Paul. Have a good day. Okay, bye. Bye.

00:31:04.258 --> 00:31:10.558
Well, listeners, I hope you've enjoyed listening to this broadcast and we look

00:31:10.558 --> 00:31:13.918
forward to catching up with you with our next episode.

00:31:14.338 --> 00:31:15.298
Have a good day.

00:31:15.818 --> 00:31:20.578
Thank you for listening to Why Is It So? Make sure you tune in to our next episode.

00:31:20.838 --> 00:31:24.058
Remember, it's your last defence for common sense.