3 Years On The Road | Remote and Isolated

The start of September marks a milestone for us, having been semi-retired now for 3 whole years!! As we begin our 4th year and look back over the last 3, I am so so grateful for the decision we made to live this kind of lifestyle! I simply cannot imagine our lives now living a standard 9 to 5 routine. Even if one day we may move back into a house that doesn't move, our lifestyle will never be the same as before.

Through the stats we have kept over the past 3 years, it's pretty surreal to see that out of the past 1098 days we've camped at a new place every 10 days and every 3 days on average we've hunted a meal that will feed both of us. We also light campfires every 4 days or so and the majority of the time, we have lit the fire to cook over.

We have now done nearly 80,000km in the Dmax and around 50,000km towing the old 88Viscount without any major issues (other than the Dmax going into limp mode....dpf and the hitch on the van breaking) but our little setup has taken us to some amazing places, and we've pushed it into some crazy destinations. Through that though, we have found our limitations and know our capabilities inside and out. What most people don't realise is what we tow now is our whole lives, our home...everything, which does at times stop us from pushing it to the ends of the earth but as long as it gets us to the edge of the Ocean, we're all good! Ha!

Over those 3 years our setup is forever evolving and we change layouts of gear and modify as we need to. Looking back on some early videos, you'll notice we upgraded the Tinny and Outboard and there have been a few changes on how boat bits are stored. The caravan drawbar has been modified twice now with different layouts, there have been battery and solar upgrades, Dmax mods and the list goes on! I have learnt that it never ends with what you want out of your setup and your priorities change over time. What you think you need now will be different even after the first 1000km.

Destinations we've loved have been the Bremer Bay area, Davenport Creek S.A., Point Billie at Ningaloo Stn, Stevens Camp at Warroora Stn, Smokey Bay S.A. and Walpole W.A. It's so hard to pick just a few favourites, but these are places I continually would like to go back to. In saying that, I don't think there has been a place we've wanted to visit (not including free camps or council camps) that we've regretted going to. I also make a mental note if we visit a destination during shit weather to make sure we get back there to give it another crack, because we all know that any place is shit on a shit day!

We have been living on the Cattle Station now for nearly 5 months and for the better part of the last 3 months, Kel & I have been caretaking the property while the owners muster the neighboring property they also own. I touched on this subject last blog post but wanted to go into a bit more detail about how isolated we are from the rest of the world out here.

We love our own company, and I especially am not a fan of crowds and busy places these days. I'm not too sure why, when or how this changed but over the years, I just seem to like peace and less people...and well, be careful what you wish for! Because out here, you sure get plenty of that... well, except for the random gunshots and pigs being slayed... but that's just part of the deal. When you do sit down for your morning coffee and look out across the horizon, it is so so crazy to think there is literally no one for 100's of kilometers! And there can be no one for days or even weeks!

In the past, we've travelled, lived and stayed at places over the world and I think back to times when I have thought about how far we were away from things and how remote we were. We have also lived on a cattle station before that was just as far to the nearest town or servo, but it is when you are truly left alone in a place like this it really sinks in.

And we have recently experienced this firsthand with regards to Kel having lower back issues. It got to a point a few weeks ago we had to make the call to travel to Katherine in the NT to seek medical attention. Since then, it hasn't got any better and also hasn't improved even with Kel resting up and so after going through endless options, we have made the call to cut our trip short in the N.T. and trek back to the southwest of W.A. for ongoing medical treatment to get Kel's back sorted before it becomes any worse.

This is an example of how far away we are from anything out here, as the closest Physio is a 1400km round trip from where we are living, and something so simple as a weekly physio appointment is just not possible when you live out here. It's a hard call to make and a decision that has left Kel devastated, but health has to come first every time. In the end though, we both know that everything works itself out.

The owners of the Cattle Station are absolute legends. They totally understand the situation and could not be more supportive and are already wanting us back up here to visit or to help out in the future. To make these connections with people like them is one of the best things about doing what we do, as in the future now we have 2 million acres to camp on in the NT and have access to places that people only dream about!

Thanks again everyone for all your support, we have some epic times planned for year 4 and we can't wait to share the journey with ya'll.

Much Love,

Team Jelly.