OUR SUSTAINABILITY STORY
the adventures of jenny, kaye and mabel, cairns to Hobart, 2013
The dream of travelling around Australia was finally realized when we set off in October 2013 for the first leg Cairns to Hobart. We value sustainability and wanted to ‘walk the talk’ as much as we could. In aiming to simplify our lifestyle we challenged ourselves to live on $300 a week. Food, fuel and accommodation were the main expenses. We had no other source of income other than a small rental payment received from lovely tenants in our duplex in Cairns. We were driving Mabel, our 3 door RAV4, in which we had taken out the 2
back seats and built in a structure to house the Engel and other possessions. We put a cargo basket and rhino pack on top to house our tent, chairs and tables.
Here are some of the things we did to help us travel more sustainably.
We decided to cut down to two meals a day figuring that we needed to lose weight anyhow and have found that the older we get the less food we need to consume. We pledged to buy food that was local and in season wherever we went. Our Engel, mobile phone and laptop could be powered by our flexible solar panel saving on the need to hook up to power or purchase copious amounts of ice. If the sun was
in short supply we had a super mini booster back up power storage cell. Our car was economical to run and we drove to maintain steady fuel consumption, refuelling with E10 or ecofuel. Accommodation in caravan parks was expensive so we sought mainly national park campgrounds, free camps, and were fortunate to spend time with many family and friends along the way. We enjoyed natural free entertainment by taking an interest in nature through walking and exploring the surrounding community rather than taking ticketed tours.
It took us 2 and a half months to get to Hobart but we had timed it that way so we could attend our son's graduation ceremony. After that we stayed on in Tassie for 2 months exploring as much as we could. Read about our Tassie adventure under the title Tenting in Tassie.
We found two meals a day quite sufficient and enjoyable but found we needed to be more diligent in cooking 'at home' rather than 'eating out'. Fuel varies in price wherever you go so we compensated by using fuel shopper docket discounts as much as possible. Before we purchased our solar power and mini booster we had to rely on powered sites in caravan parks which caused the biggest drain on our accommodation budget.
Did we achieve our aim of living on $300 a week? Not yet. It is a work in progress. There is still more to discover in how to do this
effectively and more consistently. We constantly review our budget and strategies and are always keen to learn how others 'do' the
travelling lifestyle.
back seats and built in a structure to house the Engel and other possessions. We put a cargo basket and rhino pack on top to house our tent, chairs and tables.
Here are some of the things we did to help us travel more sustainably.
We decided to cut down to two meals a day figuring that we needed to lose weight anyhow and have found that the older we get the less food we need to consume. We pledged to buy food that was local and in season wherever we went. Our Engel, mobile phone and laptop could be powered by our flexible solar panel saving on the need to hook up to power or purchase copious amounts of ice. If the sun was
in short supply we had a super mini booster back up power storage cell. Our car was economical to run and we drove to maintain steady fuel consumption, refuelling with E10 or ecofuel. Accommodation in caravan parks was expensive so we sought mainly national park campgrounds, free camps, and were fortunate to spend time with many family and friends along the way. We enjoyed natural free entertainment by taking an interest in nature through walking and exploring the surrounding community rather than taking ticketed tours.
It took us 2 and a half months to get to Hobart but we had timed it that way so we could attend our son's graduation ceremony. After that we stayed on in Tassie for 2 months exploring as much as we could. Read about our Tassie adventure under the title Tenting in Tassie.
We found two meals a day quite sufficient and enjoyable but found we needed to be more diligent in cooking 'at home' rather than 'eating out'. Fuel varies in price wherever you go so we compensated by using fuel shopper docket discounts as much as possible. Before we purchased our solar power and mini booster we had to rely on powered sites in caravan parks which caused the biggest drain on our accommodation budget.
Did we achieve our aim of living on $300 a week? Not yet. It is a work in progress. There is still more to discover in how to do this
effectively and more consistently. We constantly review our budget and strategies and are always keen to learn how others 'do' the
travelling lifestyle.
Picture captions top left to bottom right:
- The structure we built in the back of Mabel to house the Engel and other possessions, note the wooden leg support which swings down to provide extra shelf space when retrieving items from the Engel
- Jenny fell in love with the baby tigers at Australia Zoo, one of the very few places we paid fees to visit
- Kaye being eaten by the giant cane toad at Sarina, Queensland
- Kaye sports her new haircut - we cut each others hair to save money
- Kaye telling the ibis not to scavenge rubbish from the bin and scatter it over the area, Brisbane River, Queensland
- Mabel and the tent (Blackwolf Mojave SG4) at Crystal Waters Permaculture village campground, near Maleny, Queensland
- Staying with the lovely Felicity and her partner Mike at Glasshouse Mountains, Queensland
- Jenn with her sister Mary at Tuross Heads, New South Wales
- Kaye coming back from the walk to Pebbly Beach, New South Wales
- The flexible solar panel on top of our tent, Nerani National Park campground, New South Wales
- Enjoying the lighthouse views at Kiama, New South Wales
- Stone house at Congo, New South Wales - It is For Sale if you are interested