This time last year, Waihi woman Stacey Smith was spending hours during chemotherapy distracting herself with images of remote rural Australia and dreaming of where she would take her family.
Having had much of her bowel removed and enduring months of treatment, she re-evaluated what was important.
Fast-forward to today and Stacey, 45, and her husband Tony are reflecting on the 11 months they’ve spent almost off the grid in Australia, and they have no regrets.
“After cancer, we realised the future with our children is never guaranteed, so while they are young and want to hang out with their parents, let’s make the most of family time, creating unforgettable memories and being grateful, basking in every moment we can,” she explains.
While Stacey was having chemo, the couple planned their big Aussie adventure.
“We’re an outdoors family, so our holidays were quite often tramping, hiking and hunting. But this is a completely different lifestyle. It’s learning how to live life on the road, with all its challenges. I couldn’t begin to tell you our top experiences or our top locations. There have been so many. But our top decision was just to step out.”
The couple, who have been married 14 years in February, had already spent months touring Africa before they had their three children – Liam, 12, Summer, 10, and Hunter, seven – and as a family, they travelled in Australia for a school term in 2018 and again in 2019.
Ironically, it was 49-year-old Tony’s, not Stacey’s health, that proved the impetus for a prolonged adventure.
“Tony had a bit of an epiphany of his own,” shares Stacey. “He went through a patch of depression and we decided to rejig our priorities. So we made plans to put our [Bay of Plenty meat factory] business on the market and head to Australia.”
Hump day! Tony with kids (from left) Liam, Hunter and Summer.
However, COVID derailed their plans.
“When we came out of lockdown, my gastroenterologist said I was due another scope,” she tells. “I’ve had Crohn’s disease for the past two decades and cancer is not that far of a stretch when you’re dealing with an inflammatory bowel disease for a long time.
“They found two malignant tumours – one was eight centimetres and the other 10 centimetres – that weren’t there six months prior.”
Stacey needed surgery to remove 70% of her large bowel and three months of chemotherapy, but within a month was packed and ready to go.
“It was a really tough year to say the least and it made us re-evaluate our priorities,” she says. “I don’t know whether I’m through the other side of that yet as I’ve got a 30% chance of it reoccurring. Does it hang over my head sometimes that it will return? Hell yes. But do I wallow in the fear and anxiety? Hell no! Life is so short, so make the most of the one you have.”
The Smiths have spent several months camping in national parks and remote stations, stocking up on supplies in small towns, all while home-schooling the children through Te Kura online education.
Life on the road has been the best bonding experience.
A former fisheries officer, Stacey says, “We wanted to expand their horizons and build their resilience – depression and anxiety are rife in our young children today – and teach them life and survival skills.
“We’re also teaching the kids how to budget, teaching them about geography and resilience,” adds Stacey, a former fisheries officer.
Their Trackabout camper – a canvas tent on a trailer that has an expandable outdoor kitchen – broke down in November, forcing them to have two weeks in Perth, where they bought a 5.7m RV suitable for off-grid living, with an outdoor kitchen, a built-in shower and a fridge/freezer. It’s an investment in the second year of travel that will have encompassed Perth to Broome, to the Northern Territories and Queensland.
They prefer to avoid cities and the cost of their camping sites, but they use the stopovers for a quality shower, down-loading homework and video calls back home.
They both acknowledge that they’ve learned to live in the moment. Tells Stacey, “Free camping out in the wilds of Australia, where it feels like everything wants to eat you or harm you, puts what is really important into perspective.”
Tony admits it took some adjusting mentally. “I do a lot of meditation now and probably my biggest learning is to be happy within yourself. You’ve got to slow down. It’s not a race.”
They have not set a date to return to New Zealand – other than a hunting trip for Tony to mark his 50th birthday.
“We’ll always come back to New Zealand to settle permanently as it will always be our home,” Stacey says. “The deciding factor will no doubt be when we feel that Liam needs a more stable education to finish his high school years. We’re taking that as it comes.”
They’re documenting their journey as “Barefoot Kiwis” on Instagram and YouTube in the hope they spur others to re-evaluate their lives and what’s important.
“We’re having a great time,” says Stacey. “We just hope we can inspire Kiwis to hit the road and make the most of life.”
