Meet the Warren tribe – the family living out everyone’s dream of packing up and experiencing the very best of Australia in a van.
For most, the concept of leaving your entire life behind to listlessly explore seems pretty daunting, but for the Warren tribe, they have simply embraced their new adventure.
As a family of six, who have spent a year exploring Australia from coast to coast, and everything in between, we wanted to know where their favourite spots were in Queensland. We caught up with them as they passed through Brisbane to find just that out…
How did your adventure begin?
We are originally from a little place called Maffra in Victoria, and we have been on the road for almost ten months now. We basically packed up, and fitted what we needed for 12 months on the road in all of the cupboards, including the clothes for all six of us, and hit the road. Essentially the caravan is for sleeping in, and then our backyard is wherever we pull up.
Being in the dairy industry for 20 years, it was hard work, we didn’t get much family time, so we wanted to try and even up the scales of work-life balance. It was a pretty easy decision to make, to hit the road and try and have a year where we concentrated just on the family.
Where did you first visit in Queensland?
Our introduction to Queensland was up at Lawn Hill. It is such a beautiful spot, it is amazing. Lawn Hill was a highlight for us. It is so beautiful.
We went from Kakadu to Darwin, down to Uluru then across to Mount Isa, in three days. Then up to Lawn Hill in two days, then back down and across to Agnes Waters. They were big days, great days, fantastic days.
Have you seen much of the Queensland coast yet?
We have not long hit the Queensland coast, so we still have a lot of Queensland to explore. But, we came across from the centre and came out at Agnes Waters, which is a beautiful little coastal town. We really enjoyed our stay at Agnes. Then we headed down the coast because we had commitments down in Byron Bay in mid-October, so now we are heading back into Queensland, to explore more of the coast there. We are heading to Noosa today, so we are looking forward to spending some time there and exploring more of the Queensland coast.
Where have you explored inland?
We had so much information about Longreach and Winton, so we went out West; our brains were exploding after leaving there, learning all about the dinosaurs. It is a lot to take in, the kids were all exhausted after those couple of days, but it was so good.
And then to McKinlay, to the Crocodile Dundee, to the Walkabout Creek Hotel. You’ve got to stop in there. It worked in with our timing and everything, and where we were heading through.
What advice do you have for other families wanting to pack up and hit the road?
Try not to plan or book ahead if possible!
For more ideas about things to see and do in Outback Queensland, visit our website.
By Kate Nutting
