I started this blog mainly for myself so that I have a permanent record of my travels, and for my family and friends to follow my journey.   I am almost ready to hit the road, and plan to leave in a couple of days.

As an older Australian, in my sixties, if there are any single ladies or men reading this blog and wishing they could travel, but feeling too nervous, my advice is DO IT!  There are so many things to see and do and interesting people to meet, I am sure you will not regret it.  

I am travelling in a Suncamper 'Sherwood' motorhome which I bought when I visited the Caravan and Camping Show in Melbourne last year.  It is a fully self contained little motorhome built on a Toyota Hilux chassis.  It is easy to drive and fits in a normal car space which is very convenient when shopping, etc.  On my first trip last year I escaped the Melbourne winter and spent some time touring around North Queensland.   It enabled me to iron out any problems and to sort out what I would need to enable me to 'free camp', thus avoiding the expense of having to stay in caravan parks.

Having added solar panels,  and my one luxury of a satellite dish on the roof (for those long lonely nights in the outback), I am now ready to hit the road and start out on my big adventure.  My plan is to travel around the Eyre Peninsula, SA then across the Nullarbor to Western Australia.  I will then follow the coastline until I reach Darwin in the Northern Territory, returning home through the centre visiting Uluru, Coober Pedy and arriving home around September.

Fortunately, the wonders of technology makes it easy to keep in touch with family, and chatting on Skype is a great way to keep in touch.  I have a UHF cb radio which Brad (my son) installed for me, so it will be great to be able to communicate with other travellers as well as the road trains if need be.

I also travel with my little toy poodle 'Oscar'.  I have had him for four years since he was a six week old pup and he is a great little companion.  I love him dearly and he goes just about everywhere with me.   I have him clipped every couple of months, and was thinking of having him done before I leave when my daughter Sharyn, who clips her own big standard poodle, convinced me to let her clip him.  Well, his coat is now very short, and it did save me the expense of having him done professionally so I'm very grateful, but he does look very different!  This photo was taken before he was clipped.