The 2012 Road Trip Adventure - Western Australia

The planning has been going for ages... the plotting of ideas, the discovery of road blocks. No. Really. ROAD BLOCKS! We have now worked out a 7 week plan to travel 10,700km/6700 miles across the southern plains (the Nullarbor) over to the wide-open, mysterious, isolated state of Western Australia. Did you know that W.A., as it is referred to here, is massive? And by massive I mean 2,525,500 sq km/975,101 sq miles... Alaska is only 1,717,854 sq km/663,268 sq mi... Now the population of W.A. is much greater than Alaska's but the population density is still less than 1 person per square kilometer... We have a lot of driving to do!

Here is a map of our planned route. Staying to the south all the way to the coast, up the coast as far as Exmouth and then down through the very dry desert.


View Larger Map

At the moment, this route is our plan. We have several points (especially to the south and west) where we have many Multi-night stays planned. The whole objective of this trip is to take our time, suss out an area and go with the flow. If we feel like staying on longer in any particular place, we will. If we get tired of camp life, then we'll book into a hotel for a few nights. This is it. This is our plan...

We have our tent and ordered self-inflating 4wd mattresses. For those back home, these are nice thick mattresses with 10cm foam core that do roll up to a tidy (heavy) bundle... wouldn't plan to hike with these bad boys, but since we are car-camping, we should be sweet! Today is laundry day where I will be madly washing every last thing in the house, moving out of the closet in our bedroom so that our house-sitter can use that space and not live out of suitcases for the next few months and packing. Packing like I've never packed before...I've started by placing strategic piles of things around the house as we think of things that need to come along. As I am sitting here typing away I keep thinking I need to flag things that are nice to have vs MUST have in case we start running out of room in the car we know the things we can cull...

We started justifying our plan a few weeks ago by planning out from Adelaide up through to Cervantes north of Perth. Then we worked backwards from our desired date of return from Melbourne up to Katherine. From Cervantes to Katherine is a 'short' 3600 km/2230 mi trip and on the calendar - we only had nine days. This didn't leave us any time to enjoy the Kimberly's, Monkey Mia, Broome, etc... so we had to re-plan with Option B which is why we are sticking to W.A. We will someday try to do a fly in fly out adventure in Broome to experience the Kimberleys and same with Darwin to see Kakadu and Katherine. Or, next time we take a mid-career break, we'll do the red centre via road-trip after learning from this trip!

Now off to get organised!! Jeepers, we have A LOT to do before we take off on Wednesday...

I hope to write pretty regularly on this trip... since we have a lot of downtime in the car! It's up to you to check back occasionally as I'm only sending this first note out with the link... Wish us luck!

Moab Utah.... Adventure Capital of America

I don't know if that title is real or not, but driving down the main street sure makes me think it should be. Every shop, minus 1 lawyer and a candy store, was a canyoneering, rock climbing, outdoor gear, rafting or mountain biking specialty shop... We stayed in a nice little RV campground just north of town for 2 nights and had 2 days of exploring Arches NP and Canyonlands NP.
Going into Arches NP, there is a pull off on the side of the road that shows the Moab Fault. With a geologist in the rig, you can expect to stop to have a look. Not only that, but we could see a busy mining group across the highway actively pulling out some copper. The fault caused a big difference in the height of the cliffs on each side of the highway and you could clearly see the layers of rock. Continuing on, there was Park Avenue which was a little wash (occassional river that is mostly dry, but is where the flood waters roar through) illustrating the errosion process. Matt and I took a little over an hour to walk down the wash and back and he explained the errossion properties of the different layers of rock. As we got deeper in the park, the Arches became the center piece of the landscapes and views. Years of water being trapped in the rocks, freezing and then expanding to create cracks in the sandstone created these amazing formations.

Now the funny thing is, up until this point I had drafted back during our trip, however, I failed to ever post it... and not only that, I never finished drafting about our trip... so from this point on, I am working on memories and things will probably be just an overview rather than the detail you've seen so far.

We spent the whole day at Arches, enjoyed a spectacular desert sunset and then headed back to camp. The next day, we packed everything up and went to Canyonlands NP which is just a few miles past Arches and on the otherside of the highway. We had some very cold and windy conditions, but it didn't stop us from finding some incredible views. This one here is looking south towards the confluence of the Green & Colorado Rivers which as you know, continue on to create the Grand Canyon. So really, this is the start of an incredible geological formation that is millions of years old. Looking down onto the first 'platform' you can see winding wagon trails. These are now protected and the tracks you see were created by the settlers/prospectors and remain because of the harsh conditions in the desert cause nature to heal so very slowly.


From Moab, there are a ton of other places to see, but we headed out from Canyonlands to head towards Capitol Reef NP.

Monument Valley... the unknown super-spot

From the Grand Canyon, we drove through the Painted Dessert northeast towards the Arizona/Utah border. The Painted Dessert is very aptly titled as it appears to have brush strokes of colour across the hills. They are beautiful. The picture here Matt took on Highway 160 just off of Highway 89.




So, I've heard of it, but never considered going to Monument Valley, but as it is on the way to Arches & Canyonlands and Matt was into it... we went. We saw. And we fell in love... not with each other, we are already in love there... but with the view. It. Was. Sensational.

The pictures don't do it justice, but I've included a few. If ever you go near the southwestern US... Come here. Get here in time for sunset and then stay the night and rise early for sunrise. You can always go back to bed after soaking in the view for awhile. Get cheap-ass breakie at the hotel and enjoy the yummy food for dinner. They know how to serve filling delicious southern meals with a Navajo twist and a Mexican twang.







Looking east from the hotel room at the gathering dark in Monument Valley.







We are now safely in Moab, Utah and heading to Arches National Park in the morning. Then to Canyonlands. We have a few days here with Internet, so hopefully I'll get lots more pics onto Facebook.

Cheers for now...

Who knew the Grand Canyon was so, well Grand?

First things first...as promised... a picture of the srf crib!


So... I've always heard that the Grand Canyon was something you just had to see... but now I understand why. We had a bit of a sleep in whilst in Barstow California and the drive over the mountains to the Arizona border took a fair bit out of my jet-lagged body, but we made it all the way to Valle, Arizona... and the only place to park the Surf Crib was "Bed Rock City" where everything was Flintstones inspired... including the office and shower block. Something tells me that 30 years ago it was the coolest place in town, but it hasn't aged to well, nor maintained what-so-ever, but for $15 bucks we got to "Hook Up" the RV and recharge all our necessary batteries, phones, cameras etc before our morning trek to the Grand Canyon. The howling of the coyote's kept Matt awake, but I slept like a champion as I had worked hard at keeping the RV on the road.

So, enter Grand Canyon. Can I just say that at no time on the drive to the Grand Canyon are you prepared for the dramatic drop-off at the rim. You appear to be driving through mundane flat-lands and then all of a sudden, you get this glimpse through the low twisted junipers and pinyon pine of this gaping rugged hole in the ground. The park is well planned, and the construction they are doing will make traveling to this canyon a whole heap easier. The free shuttle services take you to all the great points and then some of the off the beaten path points that avid back-country hikers enjoy. The paved rim trail goes for miles in both directions and can suit any ability level all while offering some breath taking views. The bus drivers all have a wonderful sense of humour and they entertain the passengers with great information with a sarcastic twist that both Matt and I found hilarious.


The campground services were great, while lodging was ample in the surprisingly good November weather. The clear blue skies brought mild and perfect hiking conditions. Visibility was above average and we could see up to 120+ miles from the high plateau. We spent 3 nights there and did two day hikes into the canyon only traversing 1,640 feet in elevation or 500 metres. Going down the trail is easy... it's going up that is the killer! Only 5 miles round trip, we did the Santa Maria Springs day hike in about 3.5 hours, including lunch break. We also hiked Cedar Springs, though that elevation change was much less and the trail more established and maintained. Both offer excellent close ups of the terrain, the change in rocks and the vegetation. We managed to see a bull elk taking a nap under a tree and a few mule deer along side the road, but the highlight was the chipmunks and squirrels--Just kidding... it was the view of course! :)

Safe and Sound... pimpin' in the Surf Crib...

Yes, that's right, our pimped up motor home has personalised plates "Srf Crib." Picture pending. After a smooth comfy ride on the fancy A380 direct from Melbourne to LAX we have gotten our motor home $130Au worth of cheap-ass-shit from Walmart and have headed east. We made it all the way to Barstow where we pulled off to sample the goods at Costco, figure out how to make the outlets work in the RV and stretch our crumpled bodies out on a flat surface horizontally. Nothing quite like 40 hours of sitting upright to make a body remind you how old you are!! We are hoping to get on the road early in the morning and get to the Grand Canyon by the afternoon for a quick hike, a sunset pic and to find a nice flat campsite to hook up. :) NOT that kind of "Hook Up"... I mean plug in the RV to an outlet, get some juice flowing to our fridge so we can buy milk & perishables "Hook Up".

Special thanks to Uncle Fred for the pimpin' ride, Pop-gun Pete who picked up complete strangers at the airport and took us on a whirlwind tour of Walmart, filled our tanks and showed us the way out of LAX before the afternoon traffic call began.

'Tis all for now folks. Pics & more to come. :)

Ciao.

Alison & (Matt)

How the trip home really went...

Well, thanks to a great friend living in Hawaii, I haven't had to do a straight through trip in a long time... so I was a little taken aback when I had my first real bout with Jet Lag in years... I started out fine. I thought, I've hardly slept on the plane, I've stayed up until midnight catching up with Rob & Monica... I should sleep like a rock tonight... But OH NO... 3:30am rolls around and I am wide awake. So I kill some time, stay awake until past 11pm the next night and think "Surely, I'll sleep through the night." I was so excited when I woke up at Mykel and Eric's house after watching Sydney's Pirate performance (and it was an excellent performance I might add) the night before and it was DAYLIGHT! Yes! Mission accomplished... I managed to sleep in... but no. I forget, that in the lovely state of Washington, hovering around 49 degrees north, gets nice long daylight hours in summer. I guess the chilly, grey weather let me forget that the sun rises around 5:15 that time of the year... That's right... it was only 5:40am. Bugger!

But, it turned out well, after a morning of distracting the kids from getting ready for school and then a quick 30 minute run, I went to Bellevue to catch up with my Symetra Peeps. It was a great time and I was so glad to see people, but I ran short on time and had to arrange to come back after my visit in Spokane. Friday night was Kristy's 30th birthday party and it was sooo great to see all the girls, even Hallie, fresh from her long journey from London (she too had multiple travel issues and no sleep for about 28 hours). But the excitement of the event and reunion kept us all going. :)


Hallie, with her fresh Jet Lag and I decided it would be best if we shared a room that night to keep from disturbing the others when we woke at 3:40am... It turns out that 6+ months of separation from each other made for early morning giggling and we woke up half the house anyway... but I think we made up for it by sneaking out to pick up some fresh bakery goodies from the Columbia City Bakery down the street and cheerfully getting our name on the 'list' for breakie at Geraldine's cafe. With the large group, it took awhile to get us all a table. After breakfast, we had some down time and then I was off to Spokane to visit the 'rents for a few days.

While in Spokane, not only did I get to see Grandma-who is doing very well-but caught up with an old school chum, Jera. It was great to catch up with her, meet her husband and see that she has settled into a nice life for herself back in Cheney. I also managed to squeeze some time out of Nicole, who had lots to do while she was in Spokane and meet up with our old friend Damian. We got a tour of his very lovely house on the South hill and had some quality time just the three of us. I was very pleased to catch up with him as he, Nicole and I spent a lot of time together back at Wazzu. I did spend a better part of my time in Spokane sleeping off the tail end of my head cold, battling the last of my jet lag and of course meeting Mom and Dad's new horse... His name is Casey and he is a beautiful sorrel with a nice white blaze and 3 out of 4 white feet. Nanette and I were able to sneak off to do a little shopping and sister bonding time over the new Indiana Jones movie. Good flick! I also got to catch up with my friend Matthew, who believe it or not, has a beautiful little girl who was absolutely the spitting image of him and quite a bright little thing with plenty of attitude... so nice to see that justice was being repaid to Matt as he was quite the trouble maker as a kid himself. :)


Back to Seattle for the big wedding. But first, some quality time with some of the girls when we went to Spa Del Lago for a group pedicure. Yeah! such pretty toes... Then we checked into our hotel, had a little madness coordinating pick ups and balloons for the big event and then off to the wedding of the summer(or winter if you're an Aussie).

The wedding was in a community hall in south Seattle with a beautiful great room and a large room upstairs that would be the playroom for the kids as the night progressed. Kristy looked absolutely gorgeous with here white halter-neck gown and Adam looked handsome as ever. A testament to Kristy in that there were people from all over the world as well as all over the country that came to her lovely affair. The food was delicious and with a lot of variety, plus the most succulent strawberry's one has ever tasted. And what better to go with them than a nice glass of bubbly to toast to the bride and groom! Yummy! After a night of dancing, laughing, story telling and photo-booth action, Nicole, Ally and I headed back to our hotel after dropping the fine miss Abby off at her place.

The next morning was a great little breakie event at Julia's in Wallingford (a place popular with us girls when we all lived so close). Mr. Tim Botz did a stand up job of being the only male to attend and he even had some lovely patriarchal things to say. :) It was so great to have Julie R, Emi-Bo and the rest of the clan there!

Later, Nicole and I spent the afternoon lounging at Nordstroms and shoe shopping before she headed off to the airport. I got to spend the next few days recuperating and spending some quality time with Bazin! before jetting off at 1 in the morning to return to Aussie land. All in all it was such a fabulous trip and it was so great to see everyone, have some one on one time and catch the worst cold in a decade... yes, that is right, I got to return to Australia with Abby or Ally's cold-maybe even a combination of them both! Luckily, I just took several days to rest up once I returned here and slept a lot.

Backwards and Forwards...

Wouldn't you know it, but by taking the first flight out of Melbourne's smaller, regional airport (Avalon) I made a very BIG mistake! The flight was delayed coming in from Sydney and therefore delayed 45 minutes to get out of Melbourne. I only had originally about an hour and a half in Sydney to gather my bags, transfer to the International airport and get checked in, through immigration and on through security. This was drastically cut in half by the 'small' delay getting out of Melbourne. Little did I realize, how being the second to last person to check in for an international flight on a 'new to me' airline would be sooo stinking complicated. I had spent the previous weekend trying to desperately recover from a head cold so that traveling wouldn't be too painful and then had to run through airports, catch a train and find a check in counter for China Airlines. Luckily for me, the counter was still open and I got my bag checked and off to immigration I go. Once I got there, however, another kink occurred. The agent simply said that my boarding pass-or at least what I THOUGHT was my boarding pass-wouldn't work. Pointing at the ticket he said I had to go back. I couldn't work out why because it clearly said my flight number and Sydney to Taipei (which was right as far as I knew) looking at the other things the ticket agent had provided me, I saw that I had a boarding pass for Taipei to Seattle (phew-that was a relief) and my baggage claim. That was all he handed me. The immigration agent, still pointing at the flight information said "This isn't your boarding pass." here I am thinking, what the hell could it be if it wasn't my boarding pass when he said, "The names don't match!" Crap. What do I do? He said, "You have to go back, love. Just head through those doors there and come back with a new boarding pass." So off I go, running back to the check in counter, where the last person must have checked in because they were quickly closing up the counter and shutting down the computers. As I cam running up, the ticket agent recognized me and I yelled "You gave me the wrong boarding pass!" He gave me a look of confusion and I began waving my boarding pass frantically as I starting coughing and wheezing from my running down the corridors. He had a closer look and said, "Oh, let me call the gate, I've already given the all clear." I ask, "What about my bags? Are the checked through under the wrong name?" He says, "No, they should be fine." "Are you sure?" I really need that bag to go with me to America!" "Yes, I will double check but I think we just picked up the wrong boarding pass when you were here before." Sure enough, my bag was checked in fine and in the mean time the agent gave me an exit row seat and escorted me all the way through Immigration to Security and then all the way to the gate! Luckily, they were still boarding as I approached the gate and I wasn't even the last one on the plane! Thank goodness for that! After all the excitement it took a moment for me to realize that the flight wasn't full and I had the whole exit row to myself! Woohoooo!!

Now, I can go into a detailed account of the rest of my 21 hour journey... but I think the exciting part is over, but I will give you a few fast facts regarding the journey...

• 7 Movies were watched
• Charlie Wilson's War, Dan in Real Life, How She Moves, I Could Never Be Your Woman, I'm Not There, Bucket List and Enchanted.
• Food from Sydney to Taipei was okay, food from Taipei to Seattle... I little too authentic for my westernized tastes.
• No sleep-too excited about the impending visit

Oh... and by the way... I have Small World Syndrome (SWS). If you haven't heard of this amazing disease... you clearly haven't tried to move to another country and/or have not travelled enough. I never thought I would be one to come down with this particular disease... I mean, I am a bit of a home-body when it comes to certain things and I also didn't really start to travel until my late 20's... but here is why I officially declare I have SWS.

• Moved to another country to find that I now live in the same city as someone I knew through Junior High and High School... who by the way, I also ran into in Canada on an annual ski trip with my girls.
• Fly through Taipei to save a few hundred bucks and lo and behold, there is an ex-coworker taking the same flight to Seattle...

I know, there is only two bullet points, but seriously...I think they are very significant points. Anyway, it was enough to make it official in my mind.

How many of you have SWS? I'd love to hear your story on when you discovered it or how you contracted it!

That's all for now!
Ciao! or shall I say...zàijiàn