There's No Place like Home

I have that written up on my bedroom wall. It's so true.

We arrived back from our awesome trip around Oz on Monday. It was at least a week earlier than originally planned, but none of us have regretted it. When Dad woke up one morning last week - I think we were in Silverton - he was all of a sudden like, 'Right! We're getting home by Tuesday!' Mum and I didn't want to go home so early, but Dad was insistent. Joseph was only too happy to oblige - he's been wanting to go home since day one. Dad said he'd learn to enjoy our trip sometime, and look back on it with satisfaction. I said, 'yeah, in about fifty years.' :)

All the rellies turned up soon after we'd arrived, despite the fact that we'd only told about two people. The only rellies that didn't come weren't there from a lack of trying. They had wanted to put up balloons, etc for our return home, but unfortunately, the day we arrived was the day they left on a two-night holiday... :( Needless to say, they turned up the very day they arrived home. :)

Aunty Sharon and Mum were wonderful - they were into our caravan like putty in the carpet, and wouldn't leave it until everything that could be gotten out was. Aunty Sharon rounded up all us cousins like cattle, and had us carting up washing-basket-load after washing-basket-load until there was hardly a thing left in the caravan.

And then, would you believe, she turned up the very next day and proceeded to help Mum treat the van to a violent clean-up complete with detergent, Jiff, and Gumption. I think the place was scrubbed within an inch of its life...

The next day, Mum, Dad, Jo and I set into the van again, this time the outside. We were at it tooth and nail half the day - except, it was more like 'at it Pressure hose and elbow grease'...

We washed the curtains, scrubbed the floor, gurneyed the outside until you could see your face in the wall (not quite...), used enough elbow grease to drown a hippo (ok, a little one), and ended up with an entirely too clean caravan, completely unrecognisable from the one less than a week ago that looked like a bomb went off in it.

After much debate (mainly kids vs. adults) the adults won - we're selling the caravan, In fact, Dad's gone so far as to say we'll keep the caravan at our house (rather than our grandparents' like usual) until its sold, which means that not only has he made his mind firmly up, he's also determined to sell it asap.

It makes a lot of sense - no point in having a caravan around the place that you don't use a whole lot, that you're paying a lot to insure and register, and which is slowly decreasing in value over the years.
Dad's looking into buying a campervan instead.

So, I guess this 'final update on the Family Trip' is not really a soppy, look pack on the past, reflect on the best bit of the trip kinda post. You can check up Mum's blog for that.

But still, what was my favourite bit? Dad's was climbing the 60m trees at Pemberton. Mum's was snorkelling at some place in WA. Mine? Well, I can't really decide. I loved snorkelling the one time I did it in Lincoln NP...). I loved Kakadu and Nitmiluk. I really enjoyed meeting so many people and chatting to them (these people who travel for years can talk the nose off your face...). But I think one of the things I really enjoyed, though at some times, really hated, was all the time I got to spend with my family. At home, I spend half - no, three quarters - of my time at school, doing homework, and, tragically, sleeping. And since I'm in year twelve this year, let's face it - I'm getting older too (no, not that kind of older!!). It was so much fun to be able to hand around my sister all the time, to spend so much time chatting - also arguing... - in the car, to be able to work together setting and packing up, to go places together, instead of just on a school excursion, and to be able to talk about it afterward. I just really enjoyed getting to know everyone that much better.
Dini said yesterday, 'It's not as nice being at home as I thought. Home hasn't changed much, and neither have we.' When I asked her to elaborate, I found out that she meant that we all fight, argue, and generally beat each other up just as much as we did before the trip. Maybe we do. Maybe we don't. Family is a massive learning stage, I think. But I think I personally have learnt so much about getting on with everyone, and I appreciate them all soooo much more than I used to, much more so considering that I had to be away for them for seven weeks.

What else do we appreciate more now?
The house
The pool
The air con
And, for me, our extended family. They're just (to use a pretty embarrassing phrase) totally awesome.