Time to Roam Magazine Issue 7 - February/March 2014 | Page 22

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up front feature

LIZ KEENAN’S
RULES OF
THE ROAD
NEVER
Drive after sundown
to avoid road trains
and wildlife.

DON’T

Over-pack
because it creates
unnecessary work.

DO
Let someone
know your intended
destination and
arrival time.

FAVOURITE
CARAVAN PARK
The Sundowner at
Byron Bay because
of its proximity to
beach and town.

DON’T MISS
Lark Quarry Dinosaur
Stampede, out
of Winton.

MOST SURREAL
EXPERIENCE
Swimming with a
three-metre olive
python under a full
moon at Mataranka
Springs, Northern
Territory.

PETROL PRICES
AT THE TIME
Between 90 cents
and $1.27.

Above: Memories from 2001, Tellem Buggerem in western Qld and Australia’s most remote traffic lights at Daly Waters in the Northern Territory.
Below: Liz had only one flat on the caravan - and was glad her Dad taught her how to change tyres.

geographical elements of the trip.
An hour most days was spent on maths
tuition for each child and English lessons
were taken care of with daily diaries and
letters and postcards home to family.
‘’We didn’t have a set-in-stone itinerary
but we had goals to reach certain
parks by sundown...there was often
entertainment for the kids and it was good
for me to have some adult company.’’
Maddy, as the eldest, says although
she had reservations about ‘’being
cooped up with Mum and my two younger
brothers for so long’’ the trip was ‘’heaps
of fun’’ and brought the family closer.
‘’It was a fantastic experience and looking

back it was unbelievably courageous
on Mum’s part,’’ says Maddy.
‘’It was the start of some pretty
unreal holidays including a year in both
Canada and Isle of Wight where Mum
taught as an exchange teacher.’’
The old caravan is still part of the
landscape, parked on the family’s
front lawn possibly never to be sold
because of the emotional attachment.
‘’We initially saw it as a dodgy
contraption but everything in it worked
and it never leaked,’’ says Maddy.
Liz says she nicknamed the van
as The Tardis from Dr Who.
‘’That’s because once you popped
the top and extended the sides it was
like going into another world, and it
really took us to other universes.’’

THINGS NOT TO
LEAVE BEHIND
A sense of adventure.

22

timetoroam.com.au

“ It was a fantastic experience and
looking back it was unbelievably
courageous on Mum’s part.”