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Published: October 20th 2009
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Queensland Road
Used TomTom to find the shortest route. Only done the trip 20 times but still took us a different way. Possibly 100km shorter overall. It has been a while since I posted. My apologies to those who look to this blog for light relief. I almost put something up a few weeks ago to say that we were back on the road again but we had to quickly rearrange things, cancel the flights and spend some time in Canberra. This time though we are on our way.
The plan on our return to Australian on 25 July was very simple. We would drive to Darwin from Brisbane, finish the loading of the shipping containers with our gear, have them collected and then scurry back to Brisbane, or rather to our block near Kenilworth, where a shed would be completed and where the containers would be placed. During this time we were to say a quick hello to the friends and relatives available and be back on a plane for Europe early in September. We have successfully completed all of those tasks. It has, however, taken just a little longer than the month to six weeks originally allocated.
Although there are those who might suggest that I have occasionally underestimated the time required for projects, I was reasonably confident that timings were within a
And Again
It was nice to be back in this scenery again. Sort of homey in a dry way. sensible tolerance. The bloke cutting a new entrance to our block and grading a site for the new shed was to get his part organised in a week Our shed builders assured us that the construction would be complete by the end of August. The movers were confident that the containers would be picked up on the day we nominated and get to Qld within our timeframe. A couple of weeks tacked on for contingencies and all looking good.
We headed off to Batchelor and camped on our bush block. Didn't have time to catch up with the neighbour who is running his cattle on the block before he left a terse and very explicit note on the gate telling us to leave or face dire consequences. Very embarrassed when he realised who it was. Just glad that he didn't follow normal procedure and drive over the camp. A few beers were consumed, stories told, information traded and a few tears about the reason for the quick trip to shift our gear. The shed over the containers was dismantled and the containers loaded.
The trucks organised by U-Pack Removals - they deserve a plug - arrived on day
Invaluable Signs
You can camp at these. Some are better than others. Some even have toilets. The swag came in very handy. they we designated. The bloke cutting the entrance and grading at our block did what he agreed and did so in the half the time quoted. At that point the problems cut in. The slab wasn't laid until after our original planned departure date and the shed was not complete until the end of September. A bit frustrating but the containers are now in the shed and it is all locked up to await our return. There was a minor issue with the placement of the containers in the shed when it was no more than a frame but that was resolved with the assistance of a few cartons of Tooheys Extra Dry. No complaints from anyone. Truck driver was very doubtful but my measurements - and even a couple of my guesses - worked out.
We had a nice time in Canberra catching up with everyone. Not a great reason for being there but it was fun catching up with family and Monty and I developed a relationship that will probably last just until the memory of the long walks, Smackos and other food disappears. I have a suspicion that he is pretty fickle but maybe not.
Bush Camp
Out of the way and hard to find but JB spotted us first day and was set to run us off. We are now formally on the road. The plan, such as it is, takes us to Frankfurt and then on to London. We will remain in England, probably around the London and Northampton areas until 16 November when we fly to Cairo where we will stay for a week or so before joining an Intrepid/Dragoman trip from Cairo to Capetown. In London we will be chasing family but only really old, long-dead ones. We will be spending time in records and archives offices and the like seeking information that we haven't been able to locate to date on some of our ancestors.
So, for a time, the 'travel' part of this blog will be less of a feature. However, my lovely daughter advises the key to a good blog is frequent posting, and I will continue to post on what we are up to.
The trip from Sydney to London was good and bad. We had cancelled the flight with British Airways twice. They have a policy of ratcheting up the costs for each cancellation so we ended up paying a few bob. It did get to the point where we considered simply forgetting the return fare we
How it is Done
This bloke responded to the challenge and loaded the old container without damaging either the truck or the mango trees - very much. had paid and going for a new one. It didn't quite pan out financially but might have been better for our health.
We flew from Sydney to Frankfurt via Singapore. One of our better flights. Three seats for the 2 of us so we had room to move. We were also flying into the night - so to speak - and it was OK to sleep most of the way. I was able to catch up on some of the movies that I have missed and eat some reasonable food. Arrived in Frankfurt at about 6.00 am. Our RyanAir flight was not to leave until 1600. We had thoughts of picking one up at 10.00am but with a 90minute to 2 hour trip from Frankfurt Main to Frankfurt Hahn during peak hour and the need to be there 2 hours ahead of loading we would be cutting it fine. So we sat around. Not something recommended after a long haul flight and not something we will do again if we can help it.
RyanAir frustrated me at the time but they weren't that bad. Cheap. Getting our weight properly distributed was a nuisance. A 15 kg bag and
Moonlight throughLivistonia
It was quite lovely. Better when it cooled down and we could shut out the moonlight and get some sleep. a 10kg carry on is the rule with stringent control of size of the carry on. We had no problems but we were on the line. They do yell at you a bit too much. The entire trip consisted of the cabin staff trying to flog us something or other, which is fine but, at the time, I simply did not want to know. Stansted was still a slow airport compared to others but quicker than Heathrow I think. The train from Stansted into the city was fast and efficient.
Picked up an Oyster Card for cheaper travel on the Tube and off to Hammersmith and the Premier West Hotel. Now I have to make the point that we have been booking hotels on line for a year now and there have been very few problems. This was one of the bad ones. It was cheaper than most and it was well situated in relation to the underground, pubs and shops but it did have a few downsides. Not particularly clean, stunk of sewerage at times and very cramped because there were a couple of extra beds in the room. TV didn't work well but there was wifi and
Heading for Mt Isa
You appreciate it more when you have been through manicured green for a few months that helped.
On our last visit to London we ran into Phil and Betty travelling down the Mall in a horse drawn carriage. This time there was the roar of high speed motor bikes on the road near the Horse Guards Barracks and around the corner they came again. This time though they were in a car and we had no wave that we could see. Getting old I suppose and don't always recognise people they should. I know how it feels.
London is a good looking city with a lot to recommend it. We will investigate further but, in the meantime we need to look for family and have headed up to Northampton to try to track one of the key branches. We found good accommodation in the Sunley Management Centre at the Northampton Uni. The County Records Office is providing excellent help to us and we are finding the place a lot more attractive - as cities go - than we had expected.
More in due course.
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