Farewell

Australia Add comments

Sam, Lisa and The Tank in the Strzelecki Desert

Like all good things, this journey of ours has finally come to an end.  Since we left San Francisco in April, 2009 we’ve set foot in 11 countries, visited 13 islands, had to learn snippets of seven languages, traveled on 32 different planes, sailed on 15 boats, attended four weddings and ridden in two rickshaws.  In Australia we touched foot on the most easterly and westerly points of the country, visited every capital city, breakfasted on top of the nation’s tallest peak, camped next to the lowest point on the mainland, visited every state and major territory, squirted five bottles of insect repellant and rubbed over three liters of sunscreen into our skin, went through eight pairs of Havaianas thongs and camped in 181 different locations.  And I’d hate to think how many calories of baked goods I consumed developing my map of Australia’s Best Bakeries!

The Tank has been with us throughout the majority of our trip as we piloted her over 49,878 kilometers (30,993 miles) of bitumen, sand, corrugations, rivers, mud, rocks and clay.  She’s been a steadfast companion that has rescued us from more than a few unnerving situations.  Whether it be crawling up insanely steep mountains in the Victorian Alps, crossing the crocodile-infested rivers of the Top End, motoring along the sands of Fraser Island or traversing Australia’s central deserts, The Tank never left us disappointed.  We both agree that we were incredibly lucky with the limited number of mishaps we encountered: for all the remote locations we visited we only had a single tyre puncture and only had to engage our differential locks on four occasions.  We thankfully never had to use our snatch straps, winch or HF radio.  The Tank really is an amazing vehicle, our home for over a year, we’re very sad to see her go.  Fortunately The Tank is going to a good home: a family friend has taken her off our hands so we’ll be able to see her on future trips Down Under.

The RouteThis website originally started as a diary for ourselves, a way to remember our journey and share it with friends and family all over the world.  While it’s served this purpose well, it’s also morphed into somewhat of a hub for travelers like ourselves planning trips to some of the places we’ve visited.  Since its inception on April 14, 2009 OurWalkabout.com has received 4,150,797 (and counting!) visits from people all over the world.  Traffic for everything from travelers wondering where to camp in Kalumburu to backpackers trying to decide on the best hamam in Bodrum.  The site receives most of its visits from the United States and Australia, but also receives inquiries from countries as far flung as Israel, Latvia and Brazil.  OurWalkabout.com will remain in its present state for the foreseeable future, we have no plans to release the domain or change the site’s setup, maybe it’ll be the home for our next adventure!

Finally, and most importantly, we’d like to thank everyone that has made this journey so memorable for us.  There are far too many of you to name individually, but whether you fed us, housed us, let us use your washing machine, provided a hot shower, traveled with us for a portion of our journey or simply made the time to have a beer with us when we passed through your town, thank you for making our adventures all the more special.  We thoroughly enjoyed the emails and blog comments that so many of you left for us.  For now we bid you farewell and sincerely hope to see you all somewhere down the track…

Share

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 5th, 2010 at 2:48 PM and is filed under Australia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

9 Responses to “Farewell”

  1. Rebecca says:

    Thank you guys for making the time to visit us all ! The above map is very impressive of all your travels,I noticed you missed one very important spot…..Halfway across australia, home of the big Galah, Whytes knob & the gateway to the Gawler Ranges – KIMBA !! You can save that visit when you do your Grey Nomad trip around Oz in a few years. Have a great trip back & goodluck with your new adventure what ever that maybe ?? love Bec, Ed, Max & Elle XX

  2. Jacque says:

    And you made me cry again…. i love you guys!!!! cant wait to see you both!!! thank you for “our” trip of a lifetime too!!!!

  3. Diana says:

    Thanks for the great photos/blog. It has been fun to follow your amazing trip! With love, Diana

  4. Montana Youngs says:

    A glorious end to a glorious Walk About … about the world, too! Thanks be to God!
    … and … welcome home!
    Love and hugs, prayers and blessings,
    XOXO Auntie Cheryl and Tio XOXO

  5. carol says:

    I am sharing my tears with Jacque. What an adventure. Looking forward to having you home and hearing more about your trip. The blog has been fantastic and such a wonderful gift to all your friends and families. Love M

  6. Juliet says:

    It was a great adventure for all who followed your blog! Good luck with the next phase of your lives.

  7. Steele Family says:

    Let us know when we can visit you home in Petaluma.

    Elaine, Bayne Jr, and Maggie

  8. Sandra says:

    Thank you for sharing your wonderful trip and best wishes for your next adventure.
    Sandra (Aussie now living in Italy)

  9. Sam Harkin says:

    Hey Guys,

    Thanks so much for the Chrissy card, I just read about how many hits you have had on the web site since it’s inception and I couldn’t help feel like I had a little hand in at least 3 or 4 of them. I have told a hand full of people to look at the website purely for interest sake and all of them have come back and said the really git something out of it. It is and awesome blog. Anytime I’m looking for inspiration for a holiday I’ll be heading hear first.

    Merry Christmas and have a happy and safe new year.

    Harksy.

    P.S Congrates on Lizzy.

    • August 2010
      S M T W T F S
      1234567
      891011121314
      15161718192021
      22232425262728
      293031  
  • Next...

      A couple of months cruising up Australia's east coast...