West2East Challenge Day 13: Roma to Byron Bay – 665km

IT’S OUR LAST DAY! Oh my gosh! I honestly can’t believe it. The end of our journey is upon us – and what a fantastic journey it’s been! I can’t wait to get to Byron Bay; we’ve got a very uninteresting journey in front of us today and it’s my turn to drive – motorways pretty much all the way! I’m missing The Outback, the endless beautiful scenery, the quiet and tranquillity, the sunshine, the wildlife, the whole thing! But from what I understand, Byron Bay is absolutely beautiful and quite an eclectic surfer’s town, so I’m excited to see a different side of ‘Straya’! I haven’t quite perfected the accent yet, despite Gina and Eddy’s best efforts, but nor have they mastered The Queen’s English either, so we’re even.

665 long km later and we arrive at a very windy and cold Byron Bay! Steve our photographer and videographer is keen to find a location for our final shoot. The original plan was to take the caravans up to the Byron Bay Lighthouse, which is the most Eastern part of Australia but the road isn’t suitable for caravans, and after driving up it I can see why! Instead we find the most stunning lookout – it’s the perfect place to end our perfect journey! It’s been pretty cloudy today but just as the sun is going down, it finds the slenderest of gaps in the clouds to produce the most thrilling sunset yet – the clouds are black and yet the sun is one of the brightest we’ve seen. Ideal for our finish line!

And that’s it folks, we’re done! Apart from my final piece to camera tomorrow (all will be revealed!) our journey is complete. WE DID IT! And in one piece! What an amazing time we’ve all had! And it’s all down to the inspirational knowledge, skill, foresight, enthusiasm and passion (I could go on!) of the whole team. It’d never have been this easy or enjoyable if it hadn’t have been for the amazing people involved and from the bottom of my heart – thank you so much for allowing me to be a tiny part of this successful mission of endurance, grit (literally!), determination and fun meander across The Outback. I have been privileged enough to be part of something truly special and I’ve had the time of my life. The whole team was warm and welcoming;  there’s a huge sense of companionship in the Bailey team which is completely endearing, I really do feel like part of the gang, albeit temporarily. I couldn’t have wished for a more witty, original, thoughtful and exciting group of camp-mates whose sole mission is to make a success of Bailey Australia because they genuinely believe they have an amazing product – and I wholeheartedly believe they do. The Bailey Australia team carry through the Bailey of Bristol innovation to the other side of the world, adapting it for their customer base whilst continuing the family-run business feel. No problem is too small for these guys; despite being in the middle of The Outback, they were delivering products to customers, dropping off brochures and meeting their caravan dealers (Hi Barry!) –  the caravanning world never sleeps in Oz! And everyone’s so laid back, no request is any bother to them; customer service is paramount to the team and it comes so naturally.

If you’re thinking of being a Bailey Australia customer, I believe without equivocation that you will be buying a well-constructed, well thought-out uniquely designed and tested product created to stand the test of time (and The Outback!) – and I can personally vouch for that! This is a lifestyle I want to be part of, and that’s all down to the Bailey team. Keep your eyes peeled for the official launch of the Rangefinder series at the Melbourne Leisurefest in October and have a look at the following links for some independent reviews written by Chris Fincham and Michael Browning for some more technical, less sentimental information about the West2East Challenge!:

Blog: Land cruiser aids 6000km caravan challenge across Australia

Bonza Balileys Complete Marathon

And to my new friends for life – I wish you all the luck and success in the world with the launch and for all of your future endeavours. I’m certain you’re hard work and commitment will pay off, so enjoy every minute of your success.

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There’ll be a couple more blogs winging their way to Club Together in the next few days or so, but from the West2East Challenge, I guess that’s all from me!

Thanks so much for reading, I hope you’ve enjoyed my Aussie caravanning tales and hope that some of you will be able to experience some of these fantastic journeys one day, they come highly recommended!

Caravan Han x