http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Timgray/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Timgray en-us Sat, 26 Dec 2009 14:07:41 +0000 Sat, 26 Dec 2009 14:07:41 +0000 ldquoTo my mindthe greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first timeto be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for grantedrdquo.Bill Bryson.Having absorbed and delighted in the beauty of the NSW coastlineit seemed hard to believe that there was something around the bayas it werewaiting to upstage all we ha http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/blog-423360.html ldquoTravel is more than the seeing of sightsit is a change that goes ondeep and permanentin the ideas of living.rdquo Miriam Beard.With the sights of Sydney and Mudgee slowly moving into the mists of the mindit was time to once again seek out new areas of this vast land.The journey from Mudgee down to the coastal plains took us through some magnificent farming country with sheep and cattl http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/blog-422967.html ldquoNo one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his oldfamiliar pillowrdquo.Lian Yutang.Having rested our heads on a pillow in Sydney for the last time on this epic journeyit was time to pin new coordinates into our trusty Navman GPS device and head off to new territory.Starting out on the north shore of Sydney heading out west in hired wheelshe http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/blog-419072.html ldquoWe live in a wonderful world that is full of beautycharm and adventure.There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes openrdquo.Jawaharial Nehru.A long time ago when the earthrsquos land masses were being formed and oceans shapeda mighty force must have looked down at a spot on Australiarsquos east coast and pondered on what to do with the craggycl http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Katoomba/blog-417651.html ldquoTourists donrsquot know where theyrsquove beentravelers donrsquot know where theyrsquore goingrdquo.Paul Theroux.Hobart in Tasmaniarsquos sumptuous southWellherersquos the thinghellip.if I were Prime Minister of this planetI would decree that no city can exceed a population of about 500 thousand and the size of Hobart.Then we would have sane cities not dominated by expre http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/blog-414888.html ldquoFor my partI travel not to go anywherebut to go.I travel for travelrsquos sake.The great affair is to moverdquo.Robert Louis Stevenson.As we moved out of yet another delightful cabin into a grey and wintery morningit was quite apparent that the pounding heard on the roof overnight had delivered a fair amount of rain.So much so that we were now hearing reports of flooding on the east http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/blog-414000.html ldquoOnersquos destination is never a placebut a new way of seeing thingsrdquo.Henry Miller.After the splendor of the rugged westwhat was in store as we drifted down towards the coastal plains in the northWe had a destination in mind but of far greater importance was what we were likely to see in getting there.The first observation of gently rolling hills and bright green paddocks confirm http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Tasmania/Saint-Helens/blog-413133.html This little gem from Mark TwainrdquoTwenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didnrsquot do than by the ones you did do.So throw off the bowlinessail away from the safe harbourcatch the trade winds in your sails.Explore.Dream.Discoverrdquo.Tasmania is an island that had to be sailed to so as to be discovered and it was a Dutch navigatorAbel Tasmanwho fo http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Tasmania/Saint-Helens/blog-412122.html ldquoA traveler without observation is a bird without wingsrdquoMoslih Eddin Saadi.With those wise words in mind the first view of Melbourne over the wings of a Virgin Blue flight confirmed that this was a city worthy of itrsquos ranking in the ldquoBig 3rdquo.Sprawling in all directions and looking like a large jig saw puzzleit was a rather dramatic change from our small town meander http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/North-Melbourne/blog-411623.html A simple questionhellip.why does one hear so little about AdelaideAny discussion about cities in Australia seems to gravitate to the ldquoBig 3rdquohellip.SydneyMelbourne and Brisbane.All we needed was a couple of hoursafter a short drive into the city and then doing a walking tour to conclude that Adelaide is an absolute gem.After alla recent survey concluded that Adelaide is the 11th http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/South-Australia/Adelaide/North-Adelaide/blog-410727.html There is something magical and almost mystical about great train journeys.Iconic associations spring to mindhellip..The Oriental ExpressThe Trans Siberian Expressour own Blue Train and of course some of those Inspector Hercule Poirot murder moviesone of which was set on a train.When planning our travels through Australia there was no real connect with their World class train journeys until S http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/North-Melbourne/blog-409734.html Distance traveled 4060km100.Stayed two nights.Washongi was starting to sense ldquomission nearly accomplishedrdquo as we swung back onto the Great Northern Highway for the last time.The sign board read Darwin 797kmrsquos.About 30kmrsquos further along we crossed the state line into the Northern Territory and this was in itself an interesting ldquocrossingrdquo.Just keep in mind the http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/South-Australia/Adelaide/North-Adelaide/blog-408938.html Distance traveled 3276km4060km81.Stayed two nights.Another very short hop from Kununurra to Lake Argyle70 kmssuggests we are dragging this out a bithellip..not really wanting to get to the final destinationNot quite.One of the hidden upsides of being part of the campervan fraternity is the amount of information you share with your fellow lsquovanners.And thus it came to pass in Broome t http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Northern-Territory/Katherine/Katherine-Gorge/blog-407984.html Distance traveled 3206km4060km79.Stayed two nights.The distance to be covered between Wyndham and Kununurra was a mere 100km making it the shortest leg of the journey so far.Despite itrsquos relative brevityit did present an opportunity for quiet reflection.On that day5th Juneit was our 34th day since leaving Perth on 4th May.That morning we had checked out of our 11th camping site so in http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Northern-Territory/Katherine/Katherine-Gorge/blog-407117.html Distance traveled 3216km4060km79.Leaving Fitzroy River Lodge early meant that we were once again on the road just after sunrise and as good as the sunsets aretherersquos plenty to enthuse about the sun slowly lifting on a distant horizon and then gradually filtering itrsquos life givinggolden rays across the flat plains.The mystical and majestic boabs standing tall add their own special http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Kununurra/blog-406019.html Distance traveled 2558km4060km63.Stayed 1 nightessentially a one night hitching postand leaving Broome early with a 300km journey ahead meant thatafter a good 5 night breakwe were back on the road again.Importantlywe left the NW Coastal Highway and now found ourselves on the Great Northern Highway which headed eastwards into the Outback and Kimberley region.It is also called ldquoThe Sa http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Wyndham/blog-405400.html Distance traveled 2230km4060km55.Stayed 5 nights.The journey to Broome was to be our biggest distance undertaking to date so we slipped quietly out of Point Samson at about 06h15 and then witnessed a stunning sun rise which was accentuated by itrsquos steady golden advance across the dryflat landscape.The NW Coastal Highway threads itrsquos way inland with the ocean about 40kms away and t http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Broome/blog-404180.html The Day in the life of a Campervanner by Roo Slewer SueBefore I start for those of you who donrsquot know me well I am a very slow starter in the morning. Usually Tim has gone to work early so I can wake up slowly and quietly.Well my day starts with the swish and crash of the sliding door of van opening same as side door of combi as Tim goes to ablution block. Then he returns with a swish http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Broome/blog-403474.html Distance traveled 1535km4060km38.Stayed 2 nights.With heavy hearts we left Exmouth early at 07h15 headed for Point Samson about 830km further up the coast.The key reason for being a little sad to leave Exmouth is simply due to the fact that it has so much on offer and we barely scratched the surface.A revisit for a longer time period has been shoved into that ever filling bucketlist.The routin http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Broome/blog-403472.html Distance traveled 1260km4300km29.Stayed 6 nights. On 21st Mayday 18a short 150km journey to Exmouth which is located on the same peninsula which juts out off the mainland as Coral Bay.On one side is Exmouth Bay and on the other the northern tip of Ningaloo Reef in the Indian Ocean.Exmouth was almost destroyed by a cyclone in March 1999 but has more than recovered with a brand new marina dev http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Exmouth/the-city/blog-402134.html