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Rules of the Road
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25.01.2022 Dorrigo skywalk can be spectacular, unfortunately we couldn't see much this time. Didn't worry our little man one bit.
24.01.2022 Today marks one year since we had the ultimate mishap and our car fell into a hole in the road in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The repairs were estimated to take six weeks but we ended up being stuck for eight very long and frustrating months. In a cruel twist of fate, two days after we finally got our car back, Malaysia closed its borders because of Covid-19. We followed the official advice from the Australian government and made the heart-breaking decision to return home. We pack...ed up all we could carry and left our car in the hands of friends. The journey over the last 12 months has been extremely challenging and has tested all of us as we watched our dreams of driving across the world slowly erode around us. In the end, coming home was the right decision. The situation in Indonesia is concerning, and we hope all our friends are safe and healthy. We find ourselves living in a pretty little town on the water in Tasmania, which, had we been asked 12 months ago, was about the last place on Earth we would have expected to be. For now, our plans of driving are on hold and we have no idea when, or if, we will be able to resume our journey. But we are safe, we are together, and we are in a better position than so many others right now. See more
24.01.2022 37 weeks pregnant, 4500kms, the worlds longest straight road, and a murder house. A flashback to two years ago when we drove across Australia. A new blog about the story on our website. http://rulesoftheroad.com.au/?p=823
19.01.2022 One year on the road. A letter to our little man who has put up with us on our overland adventure for a full 365 days https://youtu.be/IwtyOuo-lDk
19.01.2022 'Is the universe telling us not to go back?'. This is what we asked ourselves at the end of the day of travel to get back to our car. Here's why... We arrived at the Virgin check-in and were told we weren't allowed to fly because we didn't have a return ticket. But we are driving out of Indonesia. After more than 45 mins of arguing, where everyone behind the desk told us it was not their problem, we had to spend $75 on tickets for a ferry from Indonesia to Singapore that we w...ill throw in the bin. Then all but one of our bags had to go to oversize (it is important to note that the only bag that went through main check-in is the one with everything we need; clothes, nappies, toiletries). We rushed through security and customs. But then just as we finished having our passports checked and walked through we noticed that the name on my boarding pass didn't match the one on my passport (autofill had put my maiden name in) and so we had to find someone who could print me a new one. They were pretty shocked that I had managed to both check-in and go through customs with mismatched documents. We checked the visa requirements and got $US35 each to buy our visa on arrival in Indonesia. Then 6 hours on the plane with a two year old. We arrived only to discover that the cost of a visa had gone up by $US2 so we were $6 short. We then stood for another hour waiting for one missing bag. Yep, that's right, the one bag I had strategically packed with everything we need was missing. I guess we will be sleeping in our clothes tonight. Thanks #virginairways
19.01.2022 Yesterday we finished the final touches on our car. After 8 months waiting for repairs, the car was finally ready to roll out of the drive way and continue our journey. And so it was with sadness in our hearts that the same day we had to book flights back to Australia and pack our bags to fly home. Unfortunately, all official recommendations are that we come home. We only have two weeks left on our visa (and there are very heavy fines if we overstay), the land border with Mal...aysia is closed and most airlines are grounded. So it seems likely that if we don't leave now we won't be able to very soon. In all likelihood this latest set back means that we probably cannot afford to continue our trip. We desperately hope this isn't the end for us. We can only wait and see what the future holds PS. We are heading to Perth, so once we are out of isolation we would love to catch up with all our friends
17.01.2022 Some very exciting progress. Minimum chips is almost unrecognisable. All the new parts arrived, the inside of all the panels and the slow process of aligning and squaring everything has begun.
17.01.2022 With our parts due to arrive in the next couple of days...finally...we find ourselves looking towards the road ahead. We realised we haven't shared our rough route. Let's hope we can start to check off a few kilometers soon!
16.01.2022 Even in wild, blustery weather, Wooli is still beautiful. Gives me a chance to get back into running. I really like the way the sand was blowing along the beach
16.01.2022 SHARK! An exciting morning out at Sea Life Aquarium. Baz could barely sit still charging from one aquarium to the next like a lunatic.
15.01.2022 'Please don't call me a koala bear, coz I'm not a bear at all'. I have lived in Australia my entire life and only seen koalas in the wild a couple of times. There are Aussies that have never seen them at all. Yesterday Baz and I went for a short walk in the bush around where we are staying in Brisbane and this little guy ran across our path and up a tree. Amazing. I could literally see the city skyline from where I stood
15.01.2022 Rumble, rumble, rumble. We are currently spending some time at Bribie Island, north of Brisbane. Last night an ominous storm passed through, lots of bark but no bite.
13.01.2022 UPDATE...we are back in Brisbane. Doing our time in isolation. We decided we needed to come home, which for us, is a bit complicated as we don't have a house, car or any belongings in Australia. But things were feeling a bit ominous around Bali and @bikehedonia said it really well when she explained that we shouldn't be overlanding at this time, it is not alright to be travelling around to isolated villages potentially spreading this virus even further. And most importantly, with a two year old to look after, we need to make the most responsible decision, even if it is the one we least wanted to make. All we can do now is sit tight, send our thoughts and love to our friends in Indonesia, and enjoy the little moments, like bubbles in the yard.
13.01.2022 There is a ray of light in our lives, a possible chance that our trip may not be over forever. Our biggest fear was that, during these uncertain times, we would be sitting in a house in Australia for an indefinite time, spending our travelling budget and watching our dream of overlanding the world vanish. Well, the day we flew out of Indonesia, I stumbled across an advertisement for a job for a phycologist (seaweed culture). This was exactly the work I did in my PhD (Margie...), it was some kind of crazy, universe-is-looking-out-for-us, coincidence. By the time we finished our first two weeks quarantine in Brisbane I had secured the job. In the next week we had bought a car and driven the 1700km to Melbourne to board the Spirit of Tasmania. Yes, that is right, we are currently in Tasmania (in quarantine for the second time), preparing for my new 12 month job. It's been a whirlwind but we now have some hope that our trip will continue in 2021! We are thinking about sifting through all our crazy stories and photos from the journey so far and making a weekly post to make everyone smile. Is this something you would like to see?
12.01.2022 Have you ever driven a car without any glass in Indonesia in the rainy season? Until today we hadn't either
09.01.2022 Preparing to go back to Jogja, but taking some time to have fun with Baz. He loves his tricycle but took a tumble and literally ate dirt shortly after this photo was taken
08.01.2022 When we departed on this adventure I imagined what we would look like after one year. I wanted to retake our departure photo and pictured us in the jungle somewhere, grubby and wild, the car would be dirty and we would be a bit more feral. But life never turns out as you planned. Well, here we are, 12 months on. I certainly imagined our car would still have a roof.
07.01.2022 It's a quirky Christmas, for this quirky family, complete with Indonesian Santa. One thing we know for sure is that no matter where in the world you are, what your faith is, or how large your family, this is a holiday to show everyone how much you love them. Merry Christmas everybody.
06.01.2022 Everyone in Indonesia: 'What is your daughter's name?' Me: 'Oh its Sebastian, he's a Laki Laki (boy)' Everyone: 'Im sorry, I thought he was a girl' Me: 'I know. The long hair' Everyone: 'And I think he is a little bit beautiful'
04.01.2022 I'm coming home, I'm coming home, tell the world that I'm coming home. Well, hopefully...the viral car is being packed and prepared for the journey back to Aus. Thank you a million times Siska and Nanda
02.01.2022 While we were up in Dorrigo we had a couple of beautiful, rainy/misty days. Perfect for bush walks
02.01.2022 The saga continues...We had what may be the worst night ever. On the way into Bali from Jogja, Michael had his passport stolen. We were up all night trying to work out what we could do. The Australian Consulate in Bali are not open on weekends, even in these crazy times, and the Department of Foreign Affairs in Canberra actually suggested that we attempt to board our flight home without a passport. In order to perform that illegal manoeuvre, the airline would have to convince... both the Indonesian and Australian immigration services to allow it. The only other advice they offered was to wait until Monday to organise an emergency passport. (too late when there are no flights left). After an hour and a half on the phone to Jetstar they said we could try but without a passport it was very unlikely we would board any plane. We were all set to go and try but woke to an email telling us our flight was already cancelled. Oh and this is actually the second flight we have been scheduled on. Yesterday they cancelled the one we were planning to get at midday so we booked on the only other available flight. Now that's gone too. On Monday we will try and get Michael an emergency passport and make some decisions from there. We want to thank everyone for all their kind words and offers of help, it means the world. We will talk to you all properly when this chaos has calmed down. Thank you See more
01.01.2022 Pre-Covid - I have to say I was pretty nervous when we finally went off on our first night camping overseas. Not about the camping part, we had had lots of practice with that. But that we might get hassled, or told we needed to leave in the middle of the night. And packing up was no quick exercise if we needed to make a dash. But I did not need to worry. Other than a few friendly onlookers everyone left us be. Now with more than 6 months of camping overseas under our belt I can’t believe I was even concerned; there has not been a moment when we felt nervous, and everyone has always been so friendly. It was a pretty nice spot under the shadow of Christo Rei in Dili, Timor Leste.
