There and Back Again

Posted by Stropp on May 18, 2008

Okay. So it wasn’t as epic as the journey undertaken by Frodo and Sam, but it was over 4000 kilometers of driving. And fortunately it wasn’t as eventful. No armies of evil besieging the land, and no problems with the car either, it ran perfectly pretty much all the way, even the last two 11 hour days home.

I didn’t end up catching up with my friend in Sydney as much as I’d have liked. He had unexpected last minute work commitments which saw him overseas for my first two days in Sydney. Considering we had planned this for some months, and this was usually a quiet time for him at work, it’s a bummer. The best laid plans of mice I suppose.

Weather wise, it was pretty much perfect. Sunny days for most of the time, with only two evenings of rain, and my triumphant return home heralded with storms and a lot of rain. Otherwise the days only ever got slightly overcast which made for easy driving and good sightseeing.

The tourist groups say it a lot, but it’s true, Australia is a land of contrasts. While the cities are great, Sydney is a blast, the countryside is especially captivating. The mountains, grasslands, bush, snow (not that I saw any, it was too early) and coastal regions are all spectacular. Wildlife too, is everywhere. On the way back between Cobar and Broken Hill I was stopped a number of times by animals crossing the road, such a flock of emus (including one old boy who didn’t want to budge) and a number of wild goat herds. Didn’t see any kangaroos though, apart from the ones run afoul of the trucks.

I didn’t take as many photos as I was planning. They’re all still in the camera. I’ll get to it in the next few days, and then I’ll post a few of them up here.

It’s pretty good to be home though. Staying in motels, while convenient is rarely comfortable with solid mattresses and rock hard pillows. My own bed is looking pretty good.

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