Australia 2002 - Trip 1

A couple of months into my year long sabbatical from work, and the day has finally come for us to take leave of this dreary state. Lynn has been solidly web-surfing for weeks now and has *lots* of ideas and plans for this month long trip to Aus. The day has finally come to execute!

Getting through Sydney airport is fairly painless, with the exception that I make the mistake of answering in the affirmative when asked if we've been anywhere near a mad cows in the past 6 months. Other than a few people I could mention that fit that description, we had been to England last November, home to some of the maddest cows known to man.

1 Feb 2002 - Driving to the Hunter Valley Excitement is in the air! Today we wave a fond fair-well to Sydney and make a start on our...

It's been pissing down all last night, so we rise early (well, fairly early), eager to hit the road, move west and try and out run the rain. It's a fairly easy two hour drive from here to Melbourne.

Last night I spent ½ hour in voice-mail jail, trying for sign up for a Citylink pass, so that when we left Melbourne this morning we wouldn't 'cop another $100 for grievous use of a toll road. Unfortunately, my efforts were in vain since the road going south west from Melbourne (even though it had the same number as the one we came in on), wasn't actually a toll road. Blast!

We wave a fond farewell to the Wongary Cottages and hit the road for **Adelaide**. We have approximately 350 miles to get there, but at this point we can do this kind of mileage in our sleep.

This morning we wave a fond farewell to Adelaide (sob sob), and jump on plane Sydney, enroute for the Blue Mountains (hooray!). After spending a week here in Adelaide and the Barossa Valley we are again enamoured with the place. Our initial misgivings when we arrived can, on reflection, can be attributed to the crummy weather and dodgy accommodation we had waiting for us. It's amazing what a week of hot sunny days will do to change your disposition!

We drive back down from the mountains and head back into Sydney, admiring the view for the last time along the way. Once we get there our first stop is a bit of lunch in the district of Balmain, just west of the city centre and overlooking Darling Harbour.