For most grey nomads, taking the Big Lap is the culmination of a dream that may have helped sustain them through the more difficult periods of their working lives.
And, happily, for the vast majority, when the reality arrives, it matches up to the expectations.
Most travellers pull up at the end of a trip with rich memories of what seemed at the time like endless days of enjoying the scenery, history, camaraderie, adventure, campfires, laughs … and even the challenges.
But the fact is no one can do it all. Even the slowest of travellers, even those nomads who have been on the road for decades, cannot have turned down every track, seen every sight, experienced every attraction.
Gerry and Nikki wish they had taken a helicopter flight over the 12 Apostles on their trip. PIC: 12 Apostles Helicopters
As well as the sheer lack of time, there are budgetary considerations … and that means every traveller will be haunted by the one that got away, that one track they didn’t explore, or that one thing they didn’t do.
When West Australians, Gerry and Nikki Ryder, retired a few years ago, they had only one thing on their minds …. to hit the open road, and to do it all!
On the road, and loving it! … Nikki with the couple’s rig.
They bought a 2003 five-metre Coromal Seka pop-top and headed east. With Nikki never having previously been out of WA, the whole thing was quite an adventure … and that’s before Gerry revealed his ‘bucket list’ of things to do … with only bungee jumping and white water rafting off limits!
On an epic trip full of highlights, the drive along the Great Ocean Road and seeing the iconic 12 Apostles stood out.
But that’s where the couple also made a decision that still haunts them to this day … they didn’t take the scenic helicopter flight that they had hummed and haa’d over due to budgetary constraints.
Even now, Gerry still refers to it as ‘one of his biggest regrets’. Many months later though, with that ‘poor’ decision still top of mind, the Ryders did take a helicopter flight over the mines of the Newman area in northern WA.
They loved it … but there’s still an itch they want to scratch, and they have vowed they will be back in Victoria to ‘put things right’.
“The Great Ocean Road still awaits, and that Apostles chopper ride awaits, too,” said Gerry. “Next time, weather permitting, we fly!”
WIN ONE OF THREE SKID ROW TRAILER SKIDS
Grey Nomad members are being given the opportunity to win one of three Skid Row Trailer Skids (each valued at $199). The ingenious Australian-designed device could come to the rescue of nomads who find their trailer or van stuck on sand, mud, or worse.
Manufactured from high-grade polypropylene, the ‘skid’ has been designed for use with or without the jockey wheel to accommodate different conditions in the retrieval process. The device is very compact (77cm x 39cm x 21cm), making it easy for grey nomads to store, and it weighs just 3.8 kilograms.
Click here to find out more.
We were going to fly from Melbourne up to Townsville, hire a motor home & spend 5 weeks driving to Darwin, then flying back down to Melbourne.
Unfortunately Covid-19 appeared & we no longer fly anywhere because we have pre-existing immune system conditions & planes are very confined spaces.
We stick to just caravaning these days.
We should have done it earlier.