Day 4 - Picardie - Orientation

Day 4 was spent looking around the Picardie area.

The idea was to get orientated and to get into the Anzac spirit by learning more of the history of the Great War. This area was on the Western Front during the war that involved nearly 10% of the then Australian population. Many of the Anzacs though they were coming to an adventure only to find hardship. 2/3rds of them would either come back injured or not at all. The area is dotted with their graves.

First we went to Albert (pronounced "Albear"). On the way we stopped at a war cemetery and quickly became aware of the loss of life by the sheer number of headstones.

There is some pride that rises within you as an Aussie in france seeing the Anzac symbol on so many headstones.

At Albert we went to the tunnel museum an underground museum showing life in the trenches. A reminder that these green lush fields and quaint villages were once a battlefield of mud, trenches and broken bodies.

The French, EU and Aussie flags fly together at the entrance to the museum.

The Tunnel Museum

Old battlefields now lush farmland.

Next we went to Villers Bretonneux the town which celebrates Anzac day. On April 25th 1918 the Australian Infantry took back and held a hill just outside the town. The locals have remembered this event each year since. In fact the site was dedicated in the same year as the start of the second world war. We could not go to the memorial on this day (April 24th) as the roads were blocked to prepare for the following day's events.

Villers Bretonneux prepares to welcome Aussie pilgrims for Anzac day

Villers Bretonneux a sister town to Robinvale Victoria

On the way out of town we stopped at the Adelaide Cemetery.

This plaque says it all

From there we went to do a recon on where we will meet the bus predawn the following morning. On the way we stopped at the Glisy airport to see the locals make the most of the fantastic weather.

Back in Amiens we went to the Cathedral. What an amazing building. We were told you can fit 2 Notre Dames inside. The exquisit detail is awe inspiring and a great example of how architecture can influence the soul. This building encourages reverence and awe. There is no way to represent the building adequately with photos.

Take the time to look at the detail

The preacher reads from that golden pulpit.

And who should be getting a guided tour but Senator Bob Carr  - Australia's Foreign Minister

Ok so now were are hungry and the suggestion is made to get crepes. Check on google and volla! a creperie is suggested near the canal.

Hmmm what to have? Skip mains and go straight to dessert.

Day 3

Day 3 was a travel day.

Dubai - London on QF9 arriving early morning. This meant trying to get as much sleep as possible. Sleep on a plane is greatly helped by flying business class in two ways. 1. You can get a decent meal in the lounge before you board so you can skip the dinner meal served on the plane; and 2. The seats effectively turn into beds so you can sleep lying flat. All in we got nearly 5 hours sleep which is as much as you could hope for on a 7hr flight.

Some of this trip is work for me so we were picked up at the airport and taken to my London office for a quick shower and a 90 min meeting. Then on to St Pancras Station to catch the Eurostar.

I had a fantastic surprise waiting for me after the meeting, our youngest daughter was waiting for me. Mrs Gazza and her had hatched a plan to surprise me. Mrs Gazza let the cat out of the bag a bit earlier but it was great to see her again only a month after she had left to go to the UK on a volunteer program.

So daughter stayed with us at St Pancras until check-in time and then it was off to France.

The Eurostar looked a bit aged to me but it wasn't slow. I had my GPS with me and clocked speeds just under 300kph. It's quiet and smooth, hardly feeling like the speeding bullet that it is.

At Lille we changed trains to an SNCF train to Amiens where we were picked up by Mrs Gazza's brother and his wife. We stayed the night at Josy B&B in Flesselles. Accommodation was hard to find in this area due to the Anzac Day event at Villers Bretonneux. This place is a gem though. The hosts are fantastic, the beds comfortable and the place has been renovated with attention to the important details travellers look for.

Day 1 & 2 - Dubai

It just isn't right to complain about jet lag when you fly Qantas business class. The trick is to set your body clock as soon as possible for the new timezone.

So I stay awake for the 16hr flight which means we arrive dog tired at midnight Dubai time ready for sleep and then try to wake up in the morning of the new timezone. It seems to work ok - although we were tired last night out body clocks are about as good as you could expect.

The flight over was uneventful except for the Pilot being granted permission to turn the plane in such a way that both sides got to see Uluru. So although we missed going outback on this trip we still got to see an Aussie desert icon.

Uluru from the air.

So we arrived on time. It was the first time I could remember arriving in a country where an arrival card was not required. So entry was pretty straight forward.

Our friends met us at the airport and in 20mins we were in our home (for the next 2 days) in Al Sarjah.

View from our friend's apartment.

One lasting memory will be the seeming random nature of development in Sharjah. Our friend's apartment block is in the middle of a sandy area with no driveway or street leading in. For access you simply make your way across what used to be desert towards the building.

Day one included a trip to Dubai to the Dubai Mall where the Burj Khalifa is situated. The Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world and like most iconic building you can take a tour to the 124th floor to take in the view from 452m - fantastic! The day we went the views were somewhat obscured due to the haze - but it was a great experience nonetheless.

View from Burj Khalifa looking north towards Downtown Dubai

Jet lag saw me done by 9:00pm last night and after a great sleep we were up around 7:00am ready for day 2.

Day 2

Today we walked down to Al Qasba to wait for the Sarjah bus hop on / off bus tour. For AED 85 you get a 24hr ticket for this tour that runs a few buses around a circuit. The buses have an audio track that must be linked to a GPS to ensure the commentary is in sync with the location.

We stopped at the Souk, a place like a market where you can buy a whole range of things like rugs, jewellery, trinkets and perfume from local suppliers. Next we went to the Mega Mall, not as big as Dubai Mall but reasonably big and the only time we found a shop that I found interesting, a large Electronic store Sharaf DG billed as the largest electronics store in the UAE. It was laid out pretty well and prices seemed OK.

The buses are supposed to run every 35-45mins but we just couldn't get our timing right. After waiting in each spot for over 30mins in 33C heat we gave up trying so we took the rest of the tour staying on the bus and listening to the audio.

The tour explains a bit of the local culture and reassures Westerners that Emiraties are a tolerant and welcoming people. The tour runs past a number of Mosques, the government sector and the Aquarium.

The old traditional fishing village ruins on the shore of the Persian Gulf were very interesting. The traditional desert dwellings are still there albeit in ruins.

The tour is a great way to see Sarjah in a short amount of time, although if all you want to do is go to a few spots, a cab is certainly more efficient and possibly cheaper if there is more than one of you. You will miss the audio which was probably the best thing about the red bus.

Total change of plans

I'm sitting in the Qantas First Class lounge with Mrs Gazza on our way around the world for some long awaited R&R. This is what you do when you have to shorten your Long Service Leave from a 10 week desert, CSR, Kimberley, West coast WA trip.

This trip is mainly pleasure with a bit of work thrown in. I delayed my usual business trip in order to be able to combine Business with pleasure.

No we are not flying first class - but Mr Qantas allows certain frequent flyers to use the First class international lounge. It's a bit posh and a good way to start a long journey.

First leg is Dubai. 15 hours away.

More updates to follow.

UHF Channels

Click here for a link to a doc about UHF channels in OZ.

Hema Navigator Owners - Don't try this at home.

Yes OK I'm gadget junkie. I'm always messing around with my toys.

Even as a kid I use to pull things apart that were not meant to be. I just wanted to see how they worked.

Any way (I digress). I thought it would be cool to tweak my new Hema Navigator HN6 by using the OziExplorer Screen Designer to add a few features to the screen. In particular I wanted to enable the feature that configuration window for the Auto Log Book function.

I downloaded the latest version from www.OziExplorer.com, copied the HEMA-EziOzi2.par1 file made the adjustments and saved the file under a new name.

I changed the page file in the Navigator only to find that none of the Hema buttons were present so I couldn't change the the page file back to the Hema default one.

Stupidly I thought I would delete my file and that should trick the system in going back to the default page file. Nope. That just locked the system up. Sure it tried to load the default page file but it was looking for a file that did not exist. I'm guess it was a legacy issue. It obviously didn't cross anyone's mind that someone like me would be so adventurous. Turning my new HN6 into an expensive brick. Well almost.

I tried renaming a copy of the page file to default.par1 and a few other things but no go.

Another brainwave hit me to check the .cgf files to find the name of the file it was looking for. Sure enough lastpage.cfg said the file name was "Hema Navigator 1.par1" so I renamed a copy of the HEMA-EziOzi2.par1 file to this name and volla! everything back to normal.

It was only then I contacted Hema support and within a few hours they sent me a new HEMA-EziOzi2.par1 file with access to the Log Book configuration settings.

I've dealt with Hema a number of times and they have always been very helpful. Their after sales support is seriously good. Thumps up for them.

Trip Planner

I've put a copy of my trip planner on Google Docs.

Here's the Link

Hopefully its self explanatory.

Please comment here if you have any problems.

To use the sheet you will first need to copy it to your google account using File > Make A Copy.

Hema Navigator 5" For Sale

I've put my GPS on ebay: Link to Ebay Here

The Karavan Setup in 6 Minutes

I've added a new Video on setting up the Karavan.

Kimberley Karavan in the Aussie Bush

Added a new Video showing the Karavan in the Bush

Tallarook - Camping in Style

Last minute decision to go to Tallarook SP last weekend.

Great state park with loads of bush camping opportunities.

The Kimberly Karavan came into its own particularly for that last 100m when the going gets tight. The KK is the same width as, and tracks behind the Landcruiser 200 making it easier to get down overgrown tracks.

The KK also means we can leave almost no trace behind when we leave.

Even under the tree canopy the solar performed well - we stayed two nights and never got close to needing the Honda EU20i

Heaps of butterflies and apart from a few loud motor bikes we didn't see or hear another soul.

Fantastic weekend.

Kangaroo Island & Barossa Trip - Apr 2011 - Days 7-10

The remainder of the trip was spent in the Barrossa Valley.

After a morning ferry trip and a visit to to some family in Adelaide we arrived that evening in Tanunda which was our base for the next 3 full days.

Tununda Township

We stayed at the Tununda Caravan and Tourist Park which was a nice bit of luxury compared to Kangaroo Island and obviously with less privacy.

We spent some of the time visiting a few of the local wineries including Grant Burge, Two Hands, 

Kellermeister, Langmeil and Jacobs Creek.

The Barrossa Valley

 We also visited the Lyndoch Lavender Farm

And took a ride in a hot air balloon which was a real treat.

We loved the Barrossa and will most likely go back for another visit. Great place to relax and unwind.

Kangaroo Island & Barossa Trip - Apr 2011 - Day 6

I need to finish the posts for this trip. I've been carried away planning for next year's trip.

So back on the last trip.

Day 6 was our last full day on the island so we cramped a few things in, including:

Clifford's Honey Farm, Eucalyptus Distillery and Prospect Hill (below):

Then went via Charing Cross Road

To see Cape Willoughby Lighthouse and Lashmar Lagoon:

Staying the night at Antechamber Bay - We went to the south side of the river where it was a very quiet, secluded camping spot. (albeit with no facilities).

2013 Trip Dates and Map

Slight change of plans.

We've decide to only include the top section of the CSR in the trip and to join the track from the east via Gary Jct Road. The plan is to get there in time for the May 10, 2013 Solar Eclipse.

Here is the trip map.


View LSL Trip Plan in a larger map

Kangaroo Island & Barossa Trip - Apr 2011 - Day 5

Day 5 was a trip back to Vivonne Bay to hire some sand boards for some fun at Little Sahara.

As it turns out there is a right way and a wrong way to surf these dunes.

This is the wrong way.

And this is the right way.

You need to be fit because there is no "ski" lift so its a trudge to the top of the dune for you 10 secs of thrills.

After returning the boards we travelled on to Kingscote to set up the van before a trip out to the Bay Of Shoals winery. They produce a nice local drop.

The winery over looks a bay which is a stark contrast to the south side of KI where the seas are rough and the wind fierce. The Bay of Shoals was calm and serene.

 A beautiful part of the world.