From his first birthday in Wangi Wangi to his first steps in a Longreach caravan park, and the many sleepless nights in far flung corners of Australia, Greg has recorded the family’s journey in his book “Adventures in Caravanastan” which was launched in Sydney on Tuesday night.

Greg Bearup grew up in Guyra with parents David and Helen and sisters Megan and Jenny. He has been a feature writer at Good Weekend magazine for the past eight years and has twice been awarded a Walkley Award for his writing. Previously he worked for The Sydney Morning Herald, and has lived and worked in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Syria.

“It was a great privilege spend time with Joe and witness some of the firsts in his life,” Greg said. “But we also had the opportunity to meet some unbelievably wonderful people and visit some great communities.”

Perhaps fittingly the beginning of the journey coincided with Kevin Rudd’s apology to the stolen generation, as they visit many remote communities struggling to find their place in a modern world.

Memories of Guyra surface along the way and the odd local identity makes an appearance. As a child Greg always looked forward to the show coming to Guyra – a time when the show kids shared his classroom for a week or two, and pocket money was spent on dagwood dogs and dodgem cars. One of the highlights of the trip was the ten days they spent travelling and camping with the Showies as they made their way through rural Queensland, giving Greg a chance to relive some of those childhood memories.

The trip took the family 12 months and they covered 45,000 km, visited all the states, spent time with some famous (and not so famous) Australians and learnt to appreciate the vast Australian landscape in a different way.

A final tip from Greg for those wanting to find some space in overcrowded caravan parks – take along a baby who has trouble sleeping at night and you will almost certainly find those pesky neighbours are keen to keep their distance. And if you want to know what not to do when crossing a creek in crocodile country, I suggest you give Greg a call.