As one of seven children growing up in the eighties, the chances of my family jetting off to Hawaii and staying at the Hilton was as likely as Australia winning goldfor table tennis at the Beijing Olympics…or any Olympics for that matter.But lack of monetary resources never seemed to bother my parents who are, as we speak, in the midst of the second year straight of their grey nomad adventures.

Boeing 747s were replaced by a 1985 Sahara Tan Ford Falcon XR.This car seemed extremely cool at the time.So cool, in fact, that we drove around to show it to everybody we had ever known and some people we didnt.But I digress, the original car was made to sit six, but my family cunningly managed to squeeze in nine by installing a dickie-seat in the boot.Luckily the car was a station wagon and not a hatchback or, even worse, a sedan!This seat managed to fit an extra three primary-aged bottoms and was the source of much amusement on the part of the kids who were “forced” to sit in the back and stare at, ridicule and poke fun at the drivers of the cars behind.

The Hilton was replaced by a Jayco Camper Trailer which was faithfully towed behind “Big, fast motor car” the nickname of our treasured Falcon.This caravan was cleverly designed to meet the accommodation needs of nine.At first glance it looked like a small box, but after a few acts of pure magic by my father it soon blossomed into a mini apartment complete with kitchen, living room, storeroom and bedding for nine.Two double-beds extended out on either side, a couch and dining room set converted into bedding for three, and a mattress stored outside under the annex for the remaining two.

As for Hawaii, well around Australia my family discovered destinations more exotic, waters more blue and sunshine more abundant.During my childhood my parents made it their mission to ensure us kids saw as much of Australia as possible.So on school holidays and even during the school semester we piled into the car and hooked on the caravan ready for our next adventure.

The trip I remember most fondly was when I was in grade six and my dad was given ten weeks long service leave.Ten weeks is like a lifetime for a kid, especially when you get to miss school for that whole time!We decided it was time for a real “Outback Adventure” so travelled up through Queensland and then west into the Northern Territory which is the place you want to go to experience the heart of what Australia is.

After hitting the Top End (as it is affectionately known to the locals), we headed north to Kakadu National Park which is two hundred kilometres from north to south and over one hundred kilometres from east to west.As Australias largest national park, it is on the UNESCO World Heritage List due to its environmental and cultural treasures.Environmentally it boasts over sixty mammal species, fifty freshwater species and one thousand six hundred plant species.Culturally it has played home to the Aboriginal people who have lived there continuously for forty thousand years.We went in July which is the dry season (May-October). Going in the wet season (November-April) is an option if torrential rain and tropical cyclones dont dampen your spirits.

One particularly interesting animal residing in Kakadu is the crocodile.There are in fact two main species, namely, the ‘freshie which grows to 3 metres and ‘saltie which can exceed 6 metres.Closer to Darwin there are actually boat tours available in double-story boats where you can sit on the top floor and watch the operators dangle bits of meat over the edge of the boat.The crocodiles will then leap two metres in the air and snatch the meat from the operators lines.It is probably best to keep a close eye on the kiddies on these kinds of adventure cruises!

After basking in the lushness of Kakadu we headed south to Mataranka.Being loaded with seven kids does tend to put a damper on ones love life, so when we arrived my parents tricked us into going to a clown show by threatening us with a twenty kilometre bushwalk through Elsey National Park.While we were at the clown show they escaped to enjoy the crystal clear pool of thirty-four degree thermal water which is Mataranka Thermal Springs.After we arrived back from the least funny clown show in history my parents admitted their subterfuge and we all headed off to the spring to swim as a family.

After indulging in the therapeutic springs, my family packed up and headed down to Ayres Rock or Uluru as it is known by its traditional Aboriginal owners.Uluru is also listed as a World Heritage Site and is, as the name suggests, a huge rock which appears very out of place due to its island-like appearance.It stands 348 metres high and 9.4 kilometres in circumference.

Uluru holds huge spiritual and cultural significance for the local Aboriginal people, so climbing the rock is not recommended.However, when my family went there back in 1991 we climbed it and it was one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced.The climb is physically demanding—not Mountain Tai demanding, but more dangerous with thirty-five deaths recorded so far. I can still see the image of a screaming Japanese tourist clinging to the rock and refusing to move not ten metres into the climb and a potential heart-attack victim lying on the rock half way up huffing and puffing.I never did see those two at the top.

Much to my little sisters humiliation, my father insisted he use a length of rope to connect them together.Lucky I was eleven so was spared the humiliation and was left to my own adventurous devices.My sister did manage to get revenge the next day though when she decided to run ahead during one of our bushwalks through the Olgas.At the age of eight she managed to get so far ahead that instead of doing only part of the walk we were forced to do the entire eleven kilometres in the deathly midday heat.She is now a keen marathon runner!Fortunately, we had taken enough food and water with us to last a week.Beautiful scenery through those parts though!

The walk around the rock was also truly memorable as it was filled with waterholes, rock caves and ancient aboriginal rock paintings.Another beautiful thing about Uluru is that it changes colour according to the time of the day or year when you view it because the light changes continuously.My family joined the masses to take snaps of the glowing red rock at sunset.

Although I missed two months of school on that trip, the knowledge I gained about Australias environment, history and culture truly made the trip a rewarding experience.If we had travelled by plane and stayed in five-star hotels I am positive I would not have gained as much from the journey.So, when I have a family, Ill be packing up the family wagon, hooking on my caravan and embarking on another adventure of a lifetime.

我生于上個(gè)世紀(jì)80年代，是我家7個(gè)孩子中的一員。我們舉家去夏威夷旅游住希爾頓酒店的幾率幾乎跟澳大利亞在北京奧運(yùn)會(huì)或者任何一屆奧運(yùn)會(huì)上的乒乓球項(xiàng)目上拿金牌的幾率一樣低。但是缺錢(qián)花卻似乎從來(lái)沒(méi)難住我的老爸和老媽。就像我們所說(shuō)的，在我出生后的第二年就帶我們過(guò)起了灰色的游牧生活。

坐不起波音747，我們干脆就坐一輛1985年的撒哈拉黃褐色福特獵鷹XR。這輛車(chē)看上去非?？?，真的很酷。我們開(kāi)著它在每個(gè)我們從沒(méi)見(jiàn)過(guò)和不認(rèn)識(shí)的人面前展示了一番。我先打個(gè)岔，這輛原裝車(chē)設(shè)計(jì)的是六座，但是我們耍了個(gè)小聰明，在后備箱安了個(gè)加座硬是擠成了九座。幸好這是一輛旅行車(chē)，而不是一輛后開(kāi)門(mén)的汽車(chē)或者是更糟糕的轎車(chē)。這個(gè)加座可以容下三個(gè)小孩，可以說(shuō)是孩子們的娛樂(lè)場(chǎng)所。因?yàn)樗麄兛梢宰诤竺娑⒅竺嫫?chē)的司機(jī)并取笑戲弄他們。

希爾頓酒店被Jayco的野營(yíng)者活動(dòng)房屋所取代。這間活動(dòng)房被我們心愛(ài)的獵鷹——被我們稱之為“又大又快的汽車(chē)”所牽引著?；顒?dòng)房設(shè)計(jì)得十分合理，正好能滿足我們9個(gè)人的入住。第一眼看上去它就像是一個(gè)小盒子，但是經(jīng)我父親幾下子就很快變成了一個(gè)迷你公寓。里面有廚房、客廳、儲(chǔ)藏室以及供9個(gè)人居住的臥室。兩張雙人床在兩邊，餐廳里的沙發(fā)可以展開(kāi)供3個(gè)人睡，還有一個(gè)床墊，放在外面一個(gè)夾層的下面，可以給剩下的兩個(gè)人睡。

至于夏威夷這部分，我們的父母在澳大利亞周邊找到了更富異國(guó)情調(diào)、水更藍(lán)、陽(yáng)光更充足的地方。在我的童年時(shí)期，我的父母給自己定了一個(gè)任務(wù)，就是讓我們盡可能多地游覽澳大利亞。所以一到學(xué)校放假，甚至還沒(méi)放假，我們就被拉進(jìn)車(chē)?yán)?，帶著我們的活?dòng)住房，準(zhǔn)備好下一段旅程。

讓我覺(jué)得最有意思的一次旅行是我六年級(jí)那會(huì)兒，我爸爸有一個(gè)10個(gè)禮拜的休假期。對(duì)于一個(gè)孩子來(lái)說(shuō)，10個(gè)星期就像一生那么長(zhǎng)，特別是還可以為了這段時(shí)間不用去上學(xué)！我們決定是時(shí)候開(kāi)始我們真正的“鄉(xiāng)間旅行”了，向上行進(jìn)，穿過(guò)昆士蘭州，然后向西到達(dá)北部地區(qū)——那個(gè)可以體驗(yàn)澳大利亞中心地帶的地方。

到達(dá)“北領(lǐng)地”（當(dāng)?shù)厝藢?duì)北部地區(qū)親切的稱呼）之后，我們向北行進(jìn)到達(dá)卡卡杜國(guó)家公園。它從北向南全長(zhǎng)200公里，自西向東100公里，是澳大利亞最大的國(guó)家公園，還因其豐富的自然文化瑰寶被列為聯(lián)合國(guó)教科文組織世界遺產(chǎn)。自然遺產(chǎn)方面，它擁有60多個(gè)品種的哺乳動(dòng)物，50多個(gè)淡水物種，以及1600多種植物；文化遺產(chǎn)方面，這里還是土著居民的家鄉(xiāng)，到現(xiàn)在為止他們?cè)谶@里已經(jīng)生活了4萬(wàn)年。

鱷魚(yú)是卡卡杜公園里非常引人矚目的一種動(dòng)物。一共有兩個(gè)品種，一種小個(gè)頭，能長(zhǎng)到3米長(zhǎng)；另一種大個(gè)頭，能長(zhǎng)到6米?？斓竭_(dá)爾文的時(shí)候，我們改乘船前進(jìn)。船是兩層的，站在最上層可以看到工作人員站在船邊用繩系著一小塊肉來(lái)回?fù)u晃。這時(shí)候，鱷魚(yú)們就會(huì)跳出水面兩米高一口咬下繩子上的肉。在這種驚險(xiǎn)的水上旅行當(dāng)中，看好孩子們是很明智的做法。

愉快的卡卡杜之行之后，我們繼續(xù)向南來(lái)到馬塔蘭卡。對(duì)于盼望享受二人世界的夫妻來(lái)說(shuō)，帶著7個(gè)孩子旅行實(shí)在是一件讓人掃興的事。于是我的父母哄騙我們?nèi)タ葱〕蟊硌?，理由是穿過(guò)艾樂(lè)斯國(guó)家公園還要徒步走20公里。當(dāng)我們看小丑表演的時(shí)候，他們兩個(gè)跑去水晶般晶瑩的水池里享受34度水溫的馬塔蘭卡溫泉去了。我們看完有史以來(lái)最無(wú)趣的小丑表演之后，我們的父母承認(rèn)了他們的小伎倆，結(jié)果我們一家人又去了趟溫泉。

泡過(guò)療養(yǎng)溫泉之后，我們收拾行李向下行進(jìn)來(lái)到因土著居民而聞名的艾爾斯巨石，又名烏盧魯巨。烏盧魯巨也被列為世界遺產(chǎn)，就像它的名字，一塊巨大的，像一個(gè)孤島，看上去十分特別的巖石。它有348米高，周長(zhǎng)有9.4公里。

對(duì)當(dāng)?shù)氐耐林用駚?lái)說(shuō)，烏盧魯巨石有著巨大的精神上和文化上的重要性，所以不建議攀爬。然而，我們?nèi)?991年來(lái)到這里的時(shí)候，我們爬上去了——那是我經(jīng)歷過(guò)最驚險(xiǎn)的事情之一。爬烏盧魯巨石需要很大的體力，不像爬泰山，是非常危險(xiǎn)的，到現(xiàn)在為止已經(jīng)有35個(gè)人為此喪生。到現(xiàn)在我眼前還浮現(xiàn)著一個(gè)尖叫著的日本游客依附在巖石上，說(shuō)什么也不再爬了，再爬10米都不行。還有一個(gè)人像得了心臟病一樣，在半路上躺下來(lái)不停地喘著粗氣。在山頂我沒(méi)看到這兩個(gè)人。

讓我小妹妹感到丟臉的是，老爸堅(jiān)持用一根長(zhǎng)繩子將自己和我妹妹系在一起。于是我妹妹在第二天設(shè)法報(bào)復(fù)——在我們徒步穿過(guò)奧爾加斯石陣的時(shí)候超過(guò)我們。8歲的她并沒(méi)有想偷懶，而是想方設(shè)法超過(guò)了我們很遠(yuǎn)。我們被迫在熱得要死的天氣里走完11公里。還好，我們帶了足夠的食物和水，維持了一個(gè)禮拜。不過(guò)沿途的風(fēng)景真的很美！

巖石周?chē)穆贸桃彩鞘肿屓穗y忘的。到處是水洼、巖洞和古老的土著繪畫(huà)。烏盧魯?shù)牧硗庖惶幟谰笆?，?dāng)你每天或者每年不同的時(shí)間看它的時(shí)候，它可以隨著不斷變化的光線而變換顏色。我們?nèi)艺驹谌巳褐凶ヅ闹章渲袧u漸變紅的巖石。

盡管為了那次旅行我耽誤了兩個(gè)月的學(xué)校課程，但是在旅行中我得到了很多關(guān)于澳大利亞環(huán)境、歷史和文化方面的知識(shí)，是一次非常值得的經(jīng)歷。如果我乘坐飛機(jī)，住五星級(jí)賓館，肯定收獲沒(méi)有那么多。所以，等以后我有一個(gè)家庭，我也會(huì)把我的家人裝進(jìn)汽車(chē)，拖著我的活動(dòng)車(chē)房，開(kāi)始一個(gè)個(gè)生命中的旅程。