Ready, set ......

All that packing, carefully weighing on the bathroom scales … get to the airport and I'm over the tour limit. Panic! (Never mind what it means about my weight!!)

Good trip to Alice. Picked up the hire car and decided to check in at the motel first. Room not ready but when I come back I only have to pick up the key, all the paperwork is done, right? Wrong! Two hours or so later, someone else had been given my room and my booking transferred to 1st September!! They didn't handle my booking well (chopped off a day when their house was full for a conference, different place to now) when I was in Alice in May. Must be something about the Alice. Took a while to get sorted. I got a room upgrade. Why can't it be flight upgrades?! I didn't need two queen size beds and the larger rooms front a very busy (read 'noisy') road, unlike the cheaper rooms. Ho hum. The silence of the desert tonight :-)

The only thing I wanted to do in my brief stop here was to get to Emily and Jessie gaps in the East Macs, which I did. Pretty places but not as spectacular as the gaps, gorges and chasms of the West Macs.

Phoned the tour company. My "bit overweight" luggage will be OK. Whew!! 

The tour bus is parked here – the motel I'm staying at is the one the tour company uses. I can see they're doing last minute preparations. I met the tour guide briefly and found out it's a full complement of 26 passengers. That means, in spite of paying a single supplement, and someone else paying a single supplement!!, I'm not going to get a window seat all the time, and neither are they. Such is the life of a solo traveller. As long as I don't have an aisle seat next to a human mountain that I can't see past.

The tour starts for me in less than 1.5 hours. Final pack done, check out done (with almost as much difficulty as checking in so I got free breakfast this time), returned the car, looked in at the library (very well used, lots of customers in) on my way back to the pick-up point.

Hey ho and off we go!!

Jessie Gap, Alice Springs

Almost .....

One sleep and I'm off! Mind you, a pretty short sleep by the time I get to bed then set the alarm for an 8.35am flight!
The mail has been cancelled.
The rubbish is out.
The washing's done.
The ironing's done.
The vacuuming's done.
The dishwasher is churning away.
The dusting .... well, you've got to draw the line somewhere!
I'm all packed.

I've checked in - boarding pass is on my phone.
Well, why not? If a plane can stay up in the air .....

This has been something of a long-term dream, one I didn't think would ever come to fruition. Friends Robyn & Ian did the same trip (in the reverse direction) last year. Robyn enthused so much I told her of my dream, “But not likely to happen because I'm a solo traveller.” To which Robyn replied that this is a good tour for solos. Thanks, Robyn, for all the excitement you've set in motion.

Why did I have this dream?
Scenery like this, photos courtesy of friends Joan & Ken who are currently travelling in the Kimberley and beyond with their caravan.


Emma Gorge

                                                           

Geikie Gorge

But there's more! I had no idea about the magic, description of their visit a few days ago courtesy of Joan. I'll be there in about 10 days.

Windjana Gorge ..... As well as seeing about 30 fresh water crocodiles lazing on the water’s edge, we also saw bats, 2 olive pythons in the trees near the bats and lots of fish.
Tunnel Creek is an amazing experience once you get into the tunnel. .... Make sure you take a really good torch to look at the rock formations, stalactites and stalagmites in the cave. ..... I will let you discover the rest of the tunnel for yourself, but when we got to the very end and into daylight again ..., the air was alive with butterflies which made it quite special.

Many thanks too to Robyn & Ian and Joan & Ken for some really useful tips for this novice camper.

Let the adventure begin!!!

7 sleeps

A week to go!
I did the last of the shopping yesterday.
Today, the hot weather clothes have been packed. They've gone into the bag ironed. From now on, they're on their own!
Cold weather clothes, toiletries and shoes still to be packed.
Then removing  ... what? because the bag is overweight.
Isn't packing fun?!
Isn't it especially fun in this electronic age? Ha!
Saturday night everything will be charged. There'll be the possibility to 'top up' in Alice Springs, but after that ... who knows where and when.
Definitely excited now! A week of work to get through first. But it will go quickly enough - gym, book group, hair cut, a couple of dinners. Woo hoo!

The essentials!

Getting closer

When I got home from work on Thursday night there was a box sitting on my doorstep – the tour kit! Back-pack, cap, water bottle, binoculars, swimming towel, sunscreen, excellent maps, final itinerary ... and instructions. This morning I was out shopping, this afternoon I've highlighted the tour route on the maps. I don't know how many kilometres we're supposed to be covering but it will be thousands.

Included in the trip ....
- 2 helicopter flights
- 3 opportunities to swim, plus more if you include the pools at non-camping accommodation such as Cable Beach and Emma Gorge .... will I or won't I?!
- 5 river/lake cruises .... watching out for crocodiles
- 14 nights camping .... I think I'm looking forward to it!
- 1 night after the trip in the most expensive hotel I've ever stayed at – in Darwin, considerably more than the hotel at Tullamarine that has held the record until now.
Wow!
I said it before and I'll say it again, roll on 26 August!!


The tour kit