Roadtrip across Oz with toddler - any experiences???

[TraceyL]

Hiya,
My DH and I are planning a roadtrip from Perth across to Melbourne and then on to Tas in September. Has anyone done this with a toddler before? And how was it?? Josh will be 18mths when we leave but we're a bit worried how he'l go on the trip across the Nullabor. We aren't really that worried about the rest of the trip just the 2 lonnnnggggggg days. Although Josh is a VERY active little guy he usually does well when he's in the car, not quite sure about 2 x 8 -10 hr days tho. Please fill me in if you've done a long trip like this.
Thanks in advance
Tracey

[nemosmum]

ok no first hand experience sorry Tracey

BUT this reminds me of when I was a kid our family friends (who had 8 daughters) went on a trip around Oz for a whole year in a caravan type thing, they took all 6 girls (the older two were at uni) the youngest being 2.
I dont know how they did it BUT they did and loved it, they were home schooled on the way


gd luck with your trip....perhaps get a dvd player we have one for looong trips and they are great:yes:

[Emily 85]

I havent dont it with a toddler but my mum did it with me ... she started taking us camping from 6 weeks old.. we used to have activities to do in the car eg colouring in simon says ... can you see something starting with the letter if we had something to keep us distracted we wouldnt fight or get wingy..... HAve fun on your holiday

[jamb]

I was the toddler who travelled australia in a kombi van from ages 1-3yrs! One of my first memories is broome caravan park in the late 70's, there were big concrete laundry wash tubs and mum was bathing me :D

From what i've been told there were lots of stops, lots of dollies and colouring in etc.

We are hoping to head off next year with DS who will be 3ish and this one who will be 6 months, cant wait!

My advice, be prepared to stop whenever/wherever, have your billy etc/snack foods for ds, a little bike you can whip out for him to play and enjoy the outback!

Have a ball! i am soooo jealous

[natasha]

Yep we have done this with DD when she was round that age. We bought a few essentials;

A dvd player that plugs into your cigarette lighter.
Lots of dvds.
One of those things that you put round your kids neck to support their heads if they fall asleep.
Lots of little cheap toys
Some lollies for extreme situations...lol.
A drinks cooler/warmer.
Sunshade for car windows.
Some tapes with her fave songs on.

We made regular stops. She didn't seem to care that it was in the middle of nowhere. It just gave her chance to stretch her legs and explore the hedges and fences...:p We took a ball and just let her kick it round a field for 15 mins, then jumped back in the car and did another 2 hours.

Good luck!!!:thumbsup:

[Leeny]

We've done probably 5 10 hour trips (10 hours each way)....And boy oh boy, it wasnt fun. The first was 5 months, then all different ages, and the latest one was 21 or 22 months...All I remember from her being 18 months old, is the tantrums, and the screaming, and the sore arms from reaching back :D...Shes a very active kid, so didnt do well in a car....Good luck :thumbsup::laughing:

[Leeny]

I agree with natasha...Stop regularly, and all the things she said were great ideas, we do all of those too :)

[natasha]

and the sore arms from reaching back :D...
Oh gosh I remember that!!:thumbsdown: Oh, i just had flashbacks!!:laughing:

[TeamAwesome]

We went from Perth to Townsville in 3 days, last October, so we have actually done the Nullabour trip.

We left Perth about 7.30pm after having some dinner, so the kids slept most of the night and got to the Nullarbour early in the morning.

If you both aren't confident driving at night I reccomend you leave Perth early in the morning and stop at a Motel before you go onto the Nullarbour just for your own peace of mind.

Know how where all the petrol and rest stops/roadhouses are in the country areas in between Perth and Meblourne. There are some maps you can get which have them on there for and make planning easier just ask at your local bookshop.

I second the dvd player and dvds as it made the trip for us much easier in that the kids weren't driving us nuts and we could concerntrate on driving.

Oh and TBH we didn't really see any roos well live ones either as much as we were warned of them except on dusk and dawn and even then they weren't near the roads.

HTH

If you want any more info from me on the kids or whatever feel free to pm me as I was the one who planned our routes and petrol and rest stops etc.

[emilysmumma]

We are travelling atm around parts of Australia with our nearly 18th month old.
She has been across the nullabor twice now. The first time at 4 months old.
This time during the long day drives we stop every couple of hours to let her stretch her legs, have a nappy change and on again.
She has a large bag of toys in the back with her that we rotate around plus we sing songs and talk to her.

After breakfast and a run around, we drive for a while and have a stop again before her day sleep.
We give her morning tea in the car and she sleeps for nearly 2 hours.
This is the time we get our longest stretch for driving in as when she wakes up we can still go for another hour before she wants to get out.
Then lunch for her and a play and back in the car again with stops every now and then.

You have to be realistic and even if you plan on not stopping until a certain area, you may have to, just to give them a quick 5 minute rest from the car. At these times putting them back in can be a fight, so we always give her something new to play/look at. That can be a leaf from the ground, a cd case, anything different to get their mind off the car seat.

Pre baby, we could drive easily 800-1000km's a day. Now we are pushing 600-700km's for our long stretches such as the nullabor.

I wish you safe travels and if you have any q's you can pm me as I've been across at least a dozen times now.