4/14/06
All the Traveling

I haven’t posted a travel map of where we’ve been for a while so here it is. It shows how much we’ve seen of Australia and at the same time, shows how little we’ve seen! The Aussies we meet constantly tell us we’ve seen more of this country than most Australians, but I am often in awe in how much there is left for us to see. Our plans are to head back to Sydney on the Tasmanian Ferry and continue north to see Brisbane in Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef before our trip ends in a month and a half. We’ll see if we can make it to Carrns on the north east coast before we have to turn around to fly home from Sydney.

The mileage tally so far on our Ford Falcon is 5133 miles and the rental car mileage is as follows:
Northern Territores: 2530 miles
Western Australia: 2200 miles
New Zealand: 2720 miles

That’s a total of 12,583 miles (20,246 Kilometers) in a car, not to mention the air mileage we’ve flown to get to Alice Springs, Perth, and New Zealand! It’s no wonder we’re so tired! We’re looking forward to sleeping in our own bed and cooking in our own kitchen when we’re done. I’m also looking forward to working on my cars!

Six months is a long time to live out of a suitcase. Most people who travel a lot go home every so often to regroup before heading out again, but our trip has been non stop. I have a lot respect for people who tour with rock shows or race car teams where they often don’t get home for months at a time. My wife and I have decided after this trip that we would probably not choose those jobs for our next careers.

Not working has been a pleasure, however, and being away from home also relieves us from house keeping chores. Grass doesn’t need to be cut and maintainence on the house can’t be done, so we have a lot of time on our hands to do other things. Much of the time is taken up hanging out with my family, but I’ve also been using it to read. I’ve read seven books so far, and for me that’s a record. Reading a couple of newspapers from cover to cover each day has also been something I never had the chance to do when I was home, and reading the “Australian” and the local papers really gives us the feel for the country and its people.

As we head into the “home stretch” of this adventure, I’m glad we took this trip, and look forward to seeing what awaits us on this final leg. Thanks to everyone who has written while I have been away, as I have been reading the e-mails, but findinng internet conenctions to reply has not been easy. I hope you’re still enjoying the updates on Australia, and if you haven’t, I’ll be back in NY in a couple of months to resume the Ferrari posts soon!

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