Our Trip
Having packed up our house and purchased a Jayco Sterling caravan in a fully-self contained model, the aim is to travel clockwise around the coast of Australia, stopping for a week or so at a time and exploring the surrounding area, not sure how long it will take and we won't be going too fast! We'll be picking particularly family-friendly places to stay when the kids are around...

Penny Parsons

40 years old, Penny works full time as the Marketing Manager for Occupancy.com which runs two holiday and corporate accommodation websites: www.takeabreak.com.au and www.rentahome.com.au. Penny was one of the original founders of www.takeabreak.com.au, which was started in 2003, based on her love of travel and helping small businesses grow.

Now listing over 25,000 properties across Australia, these travel websites continue to inspire Penny to discover new places to travel within Australia. Just this year Penny and her husband Guy decided to sell up their farm and travel around Australia before taking a new direction in farming. The kids will join them as often as possible and Penny will continue to work as she goes - all possible from a laptop and wireless internet.

Guy Parsons

41 years old, Guy is a farmer by trade, but had a wealth of practical experience in trucking, gardening and generally rolling up his sleeves and getting stuck into work. On a break from the workforce, Guy is looking forward to catching some big fish, hitting some great tennis balls and mastering the skill of golf.

Guy is the entertainment leader, whether it's tickles with the kids in the morning, big hugs, a game of footy, putting on a fishing show for the kids, catching worms and yabbies or simply re-pegging the annexe. Now he just needs to learn to sit still and read a book.

On their 'second round' as they say, Guy and Penny revel in their blended family which extends from 18 to 6 and try to ensure that a good time is had by all.

Henry Parsons

Henry turns 16 this year (March 2011) and is in Year 11 at school in St John's College in Dubbo. Henry lives in Dubbo most of the time and joins us for holidays and weekends as much as possible.

Henry loves to fish with his father and kick a footy around, as well as being a great step-brother to the younger kids. He excels in metalwork at school and loves to build things with both metal and wood, such as BBQ's. His aim is to study mechanics and to fix up an old ute with his Pop.

Henry is working part-time after school to earn money for his mobile and keeps up to date with his friends from school using facebook.

Arabella Young

Arabella turns 11 this year (May 2011), she is in Year 6 at school and is a very enthusiastic and happy student. Arabella is an outgoing girl who makes friends at every turn, always looking to get a crowd together.

Arabella attends Forestville Montessori School which has instilled in her an absolute love of learning - whether it's reading, writing, watching the fishing shows, photography or craft.

Singing and dancing are both passions of Arabella's. She's in the Australian Girls Choir and is currently taking piano lessons. She attended a Nida drama school over the holidays and it's great to see her confidence continue to soar. Arabella is always asking where we are going to next and who will she meet when she's there.

Arabella makes new friends at every place we visit and ensures our van is always full of visitors. She is a fantastic older sister to Jordan and makes sure he returns home from his bike-riding adventures around the park.

Arabella is writing a journal of her holiday adventures, and taking photos with the camera she got for Christmas, for now it's just a private memoir however we hope to share some of her holiday snaps.

Jordan Young

Jordan turns 7 this year (July 2011) and is in year 2 at Forestville Montessori. Jordan is a happy-go-lucky kid who has his fair share of boys-will-be-boys accidents and the scars to prove it. Whilst shy at first, Jordan is a great asker of questions and is truly inquisitive about the world around him.

He enjoys being outside, riding bikes, catching yabbies (they don't seem to bit him), but gets disappointed when things don't go quite his way. Jordan loves following Arabella around on her adventures, he loves to have a companion wherever he goes. Jordan enjoys holiday parks and all the activities he offers, particularly when there is a swimming pool or beach nearby.

A great bug and spider spotter, sometimes he's braver than others and get up-close-and-personal with them ;-)