After living in the Northern Hemisphere for over 16 years Christine and I embarked on a two year trip to learn about Australia by:
- Touring around all the states of Australia to see this beautiful continent. The route was primarily based on the weather. Australia has a large land mass (size of the 48 contiguous states of the USA or the expanded European Union) and so the weather is dry and hot in the northern 'winter' between May - October (wet, unbearably hot, humid with impassable 4WD roads the rest of the year) and dry and hot in the temperate Mediterranean climate in the southern summer months
- Talk to as many Australians and foreigners as possible. In resorts/hotels and fly/drive scene this is much more difficult than the relaxed openness of caravan parks/ camping sites and road travelers who engage with a simple question "Where have you come from?"
- Work out what we want to do in a new, semi-retired lifestyle
- Find a community to live and possible jobs in the future
The trip was far above our initial expectations due to the:
- Incredible inland and coastal geological formations, landscapes and beaches
- Great National Park system
- Beauty of the Northern Territory and Western Australia
- Most significantly the wonderful people we met