MAKING MEMORIES ON A ROAD TRIP

My youngest had donned a suit and tie, handed over a corsage to his sweetheart and attended his year twelve formal. Now it was time for a ROAD TRIP!!! Oh, I didn’t tell you? I was going too. Haha ? yup the huz and I packed the car and the son and his mate joined us for a road trip.

My ‘baby’ is now eighteen, holidays ‘together’ are few and far between. Heck, spending time ‘together’ is getting less and less because that’s what happens when your kids become adults. When the good peeps at Mitsubishi offered me the new Pajero Sport for a week I was all ‘yes please’ and knew instantly that this would be the perfect opportunity to spend some quality time with my boy. Check her out…

What better way to spend quality time with your son than locked in a car right? Just the road, his Mum, Dad and his best mate, uhuh there’s two teens in the car…can you imagine the farting that went on?! Exsqeeze Moi ?

Years ago I drove a 4wd but sold it to purchase ‘Madge’, my little MG that was a middle finger salute to cancer. She’s fun but not so practical and lately the huz and I have been thinking about ’empty nester road trips’. Sure I’m only 45 and the kids still live at home but we are at that stage of life.

There’s so many cars on the market to choose from, and while you just know that  the ‘styling’ is what’s important to me the huz is sensible, so he was definitely going to put the Pajero Sport through its paces…after all the team at Mitsubishi did say “do whatever you like with it“.

Back to the road trip though, we threw our gear in the back and were off, our destination was Mt Gambier right here in South Australia, it’s around six hours away but we took our sweet time because that’s what road trips are for. It’s not about the destination but the journey…just like life right!

There’s small rural towns to discover, filled with antique stores, rundown buildings and the best bakeries ever. Oh, I didn’t tell you I have a thing for country bakeries? Ummm, of course I do!

I also love a roadhouse style cafe for all its quirky offerings. Like old school ports that remind me of my primary school days in Queensland. Oh, I totally wanted to take ALL of these enamel plates and cups home, just a dollar each! I told the huz they would be perfect for flatlays, but no amount of persuasive argument worked.

What is it that you love about rural towns? We enjoyed some baked goods at the bakery in Keith, yes there’s a town named ‘Keith’! Then I looked up and spied this shop across the road…

Seriously? A clothing store named ‘Retail Therapy’…genius! Turns out it was closed because that’s how rural towns roll on a Saturday afternoon but we did stop there on Monday when we were headed home. A must visit store filled with fashionable threads and accessories.

The colours of Autumn are a feast for the eyes, there was lots of oohing and aahing from me which totally showed what ‘stage’ of life I’m in. The stage where I stop and smell the roses more 🙂

I mean look at these grape vines (which are everywhere), burnished golds and mulled reds just showing off in the Autumn sunshine. There were meant to be sheep in this photo but my smartarse son tooted the horn just as I crept close enough to snap a few pics.

Yeah, sheep bolt for the hills when they hear car horns. Please, use your imagination, think fluffy sheep with their bubbas…there were lambs ‘everywhere’!

Oh and there were pine forests galore, seriously beautiful and just how do they get those pine trees in such straight lines?

Pines drop pine cones, I had to snap a pic because seeing pinecones makes me reminisce about craft days with toddlers. Mum’s with young ones, soak in the days because they become a memory far too quickly!

Road trips can be long, so let’s not forget about safety, take some time to pull over and have a rest, a cuppa and stretch the legs. How’s the serenity?….

We arrived in Mt Gambier late afternoon and after checking into our hotel went for a wander around the town. Just after 5pm the sky was in party mode with the most spectacular sunset so we jumped in the Pajero Sport to try to grab some pics. The sky was like a painting, don’t you think?

The next day we headed to the famous ‘Blue Lake’ which at this time of year isn’t actually so blue. The boys gave me a freakin heart attack when they decided to scale the rock wall and then sit perched on a column, feet dangling while they snap chatted their friends.

I tried to grab a relaxed shot of the men folk and got this, because I’m on a roadtrip with males!

The boys didn’t get the whole ‘locket of love declaration’ on the bridge…to be honest I didn’t get it either.

Onto the ‘Umpherston Sinkhole’, which felt kinda like ‘the land before time’, except with Hydrangea?!? There were Hydrangea everywhere. The sinkhole opened up in the 1940’s and was originally covered in water. The land owner created a shack, and enjoyed swanky gatherings around the lake complete with rowboats and ladies twirling parasols. A whole different era, but can you imagine? Personally I can imagine eating Devonshire teas down there, now there’s an idea for an entrepreneurial Mt Gambier City Council ?

On our way towards the Victorian border we stopped in at the Margaret Rose Caves, we didn’t end up making it to the caves as the tours only ran every hour. However we did head to the lake which was hauntingly beautiful…to me.

After half an hour of exploring it was time to get back on the road for the next leg of the trip and time to switch from the radio (which was out of range) to our road trip playlist. Some cars are fancy and the Pajero Sport had fancy technology, like Bluetooth so we could play the music from our mobile phones. The dashboard also kindly let us know that we had 38km to go with 52km worth of fuel in the tank. Talk about cutting it fine.

Mid afternoon we drove into ‘Windy Warnanbool’, she was just as pretty as I remembered and the hotel was a sight for tired eyes too! I love a hotel with a luxury bathroom (or at least one better than mine) and bespoke spa products for travel weary bodies. This hotel also has its very own above ground geothermal pool and Day Spa for a little extra pampering.

The boys took advantage of the heated indoor pool while we took a tour through the town before heading out for dinner.

The following morning we visited the wild sea…where I exhaled. I mean look at it, Mother Nature you are an artist.

Then it was on the road for the trip home. The boys allowed me stop occasionally and take photos like these…

And this…

Seriously, I wish my eyes could take photographs. Don’t you?

While the son drove the huz and I watched movies in the back seat because DVD players in a car aren’t just for little kids. Nope, cordless headphones, leather seats (reclining) with a coffee in hand and we had our own little cinema. A little bit of welcome road trip luxury.

I reckon I romanticized the whole ‘road trip with my teen’ scenario a little, nothing much changes with kids. There’s still squabbles, “I told you so” comments and eye rolling, and that was just with him and I. Yeah, I love him but sometimes…well all you mum’s know exactly what I mean.

Did he enjoy it? I think so. He loved driving the Pajero Sport, touching ALL the buttons and egging his dad on to ‘take it off road’. We did take it off road, kind off. Onto some dirt tracks, into a paddock and of course into the pine forests.

The huz gave the engine a good workout and I held on for dear life. I much prefer ‘on road’ driving…with coffee in hand. I guess that’s the beauty of the Pajero Sport, it delivers grunt and glam in one vehicle which pleases both the huz and I.

ALL ABOUT THE CAR.
If you want more detailed information on the Pajero Sport then head HERE.

Me? I loved it and am grateful to Mitsubishi Australia for trusting me with the Pajero Sport, and for giving our family an excuse to getaway together. I loved the leather seats, seat warmers, automatic sensor lights and wipers and rear view camera. The teens enjoyed the room in the back and the DVD player while the huz gave the fuel economy  (68L diesel tank) and pickup and power of the eight speed auto engine a thumbs up. We were all fans of the dash technology and phone connectivity functions.

WANT MORE OUTFIT DETAILS?
My aim on this road trip was to create ‘more from less’. Packing clothes in a complimentary colour palette that are interchangeable is the key to travelling lighter. I made good use from some pieces and wore them more than once to create different looks.

DAY ONE day/night

 

DAY TWO AND THREE

DAY TWO EVENING

If you like the pieces I wore and want a close up look then click on the item and the magic of the Internet will take you to the item or to the site where you can get more info. Here you go…

*Harlow black jeans
White tee
Rust poncho
*Liliana Plus Fringed cape
Jo Mercer Tan boots
*Sequins and Sand Longline black duster poncho
*Long sleeve black top
17 Sundays Light denim joggers
*Ruby and Lilli Ampersand tee
Bohemian Traders Checked shirt

WHERE WE  STAYED.
In Mt Gambier we went budget and stayed at Commodore on the Park, in one room. It cost $159 and the room slept 5.

In Warnanbool we chose to stay at Deep Blue Spa because we had stayed there previously. Ocean views and plush digs cost us $115 per night per room. We had two rooms and stayed one night.

Big shout out to the great service we received from McDonald’s while on the road (especially the Mt Gambier store). We choose to eat there for brekky each morning because they are clean, have coffee and the kids like pancakes. It’s also a good budget option, I prefer to save the big bucks for scrummy dinners at the end of a long day. Speaking of delicious dinners I can highly recommend ‘Bo Jangles’ in Warnanbool, the service and food was superb.

Who knows if we will have the opportunity to do more road trips with our now adult boys, at least I have my memories, right. Thankfully the huz and I really like each other enough to take road trips ‘together’ and we are now even thinking about upgrading to a bigger car so we can do more. Life is short and making memories is a priority these days.

How about you, are you looking for a bigger car? What do you look for in a car?

Got any favourite (or not so favourite) road trip stories you would like to share with me?

Til next time,

Jen x

This post was brought to you by Mitsubishi Australia and is a sponsored post which means I’m being paid for the hours of work I put into it. While we paid for our holiday and accommodation I’d like to thank Mitsubishi who did loan me the Pajero Sport for one week to road test.
*items sent to me for my editorial consideration in accordance with my disclosure policy.