Travel

30 May 2027 Well, it’s finally happening. After more spreadsheets and Claude AI work than any holiday has a right to demand we are, at last, Europe-bound. Just a test entry for now — stay tuned … ← Back to contents · Back to contents

24 March 2024 So welcome to the Knight Riders on tour blog! We’ve got a long journey ahead of us (around 9 months), so we want to try to ease into things to start with. Some gentle stretching exercises you could say, so that no hamstrings are torn trying to sprint out of the starting blocks too quickly. The idea to travel around Australia first hit Nicole and I way back in 2012, when we were going to travel around Australia in 6 months, in our pop-top caravan, with our daughter, Katelyn. We were less than two weeks from leaving when Nicole had a recurrence of a serious health issue which stopped those plans in their tracks (no pun intended).

17 November 2017 Welcome to Knights Around the World, the travel blog I’ll be updating while we’re away. I had meant to be blogging before now, but things have been a bit busy finishing off work and preparing for the big trip. I finished up work yesterday for the rest of the year, and won’t return to work now until 15 January next year! Nicole and I were fortunate to be invited along to State Development’s Christmas Drinks last night. It was a great night and a lot of fun. Eleisha, thanks very much for organising the ‘office trivia’ comp — I really enjoyed it. Along with Richard and Pam, we’ve even got the winner’s trophy to prove it.

24 March 2024 Nicole and I had been trying to come up with a nickname for our motorhome once we’d bought it. Back in the early 2000s we’d named our “tinny” Knight Moves (for the Bob Seger fans out there), and we didn’t want to recycle that one. I can remember watching a certain 80s TV show back in late primary school starring The Hoff (before he was The Hoff). The show centred around a black Pontiac Firebird Trans Am T-top called K.I.T.T. (Knight Industries Two Thousand) with AI capabilities, allowing K.I.T.T. to converse with The Hoff and help him solve crimes. These days it would probably be Ryan Gosling in a (probably pink) Tesla.

21 November 2017 Our lovely housesitters, Bruce and Di, arrived yesterday. Bruce did a fantastic job backing their van in, a task made a lot more complicated by the rubbish skip sitting on the front lawn that the builder replacing our deck has there currently. But all’s well that ends well, and so we had a really nice BBQ dinner last night with Bruce and Di and our good friends from up the street, Brad and Kris.

31 March 2024 Friday 29th March, 2024. The day we started our Gap Year. Day 1. Unsurprisingly, it had been a very busy few weeks (and months) leading up to this day. Finishing work, deciding what to take (then thinking about whether we really needed to take it, and then changing our minds a few times), packing the motorhome, weighing the motorhome (which fortunately came out OK, even with a full water tank and full standard fuel tank), and saying goodbye to family and friends. Hardest of all was saying goodbye to Katelyn and Daisy. It’s a long time to be away, and Katelyn has been so supportive of us making this trip. But it was still a very emotional goodbye, during which Katelyn was the strong one (Nicole and I were crying). Daisy was strong too. In her defense though, she had no idea how long we were going for, but she definitely knew something was going on at least a week out.

21 November 2017 Just in the departure lounge ready to leave Rocky. Family catch up tonight then departing Australia tomorrow! ← ← Previous · Contents · Next →

1 April 2024 We shared Top of the Town Tourist Park in Stanthorpe (and the neighbouring Showgrounds) with the 49th Australian Van Nats. The “Nats” were set up in the Showgrounds, however a lot of competitors were staying in the caravan park. A slice of Aussie history living on through the hard work and dedication of these enthusiasts. And didn’t they look and sound fantastic! ← ← Previous · Contents · Next →

21 November 2017 Quick update — we are now air side at Brisbane International Airport. On the very good advice of Brad and Kris, we have pre-purchased all sorts of alcoholic delights to pick up from customs when we return. I’m giving Wild Turkey American Honey a try, and Nicole is trying out an upmarket brand of Baileys! Plus some good old Bonded Jim Beam. About to board for our short haul flight to Auckland. I hope that long white cloud doesn’t stop us landing. Will post again soon …

2 April 2024 The mighty sausage roll. Another Aussie classic, and as Australian as panel vans (refer previous post). I will admit now, sausage rolls are a true weakness of mine. Travelling Victoria last year (in winter, which is perfect sausage roll weather, obviously) I weakened a few too many times. Well, I have just opened my sausage roll account for this trip in Roma. I remembered a bakery in Roma (Bakearoma, get it?) we stopped at on the way back from Carnarvon Gorge a few years back, so decided it was time. And it didn’t disappoint.

21 November 2017 ← ← Previous · Contents · Next →

2 April 2024 Just a quick note. I’m aware there have been some issues with images displaying in the blog posts. I’m trying to rectify this but haven’t succeeded just yet. I’ll keep trying over the next day or two and let you know when it’s fixed. In the meantime, I’ll load the images into the Photos section. My apologies, and please stay with us! ← ← Previous · Contents · Next →

22 November 2017 Just arrived in Auckland. Wonderful flight with great seats and plenty of movies to choose from. Food was nice too, so A+ for Air NZ so far. The real test is about to come for them though, with a 12 hour long haul to San Francisco. I’m sure they’ll be up to the challenge. ← ← Previous · Contents · Next →

4 April 2024 Today we’re camped up at a wonderful place, The Lake just outside Quilpie. It was recommended by Bruce and Maureen in Charleville and they were spot on. We arrived late yesterday (Wednesday) hoping to get ahead of the rain coming through, and fortunately did. Wonderful hosts and such a beautiful spot. It’s 2,200 acres which used to be a sheep station, but now is used to breed goats for meat export.

22 November 2017 We have arrived safely in San Francisco in the US of A! The flight from Auckland to San Francisco was very long (approx. 12 hours), but the movies and food were great. I was able to get some sleep as Katelyn generously offered me the window seat for the middle section of the flight, however Nicole and Katelyn didn’t get much sleep unfortunately. We thought immigration in San Francisco would take ages, however we got through in record time. The private shuttle that our travel agent had pre-booked for us wasn’t there when we left immigration, however a quick call and ten minutes wait and we had the shuttle ready to go.

4 April 2024 On our rest day I’ve been updating the map section of our Knight Riders on Tour blog. You can access this by going to the navigation section at the top of the main page and selecting Map. This will take you to a new page where you’ll see our trail across the country as a blue line. This blue line is broken into segments. If you click on one of these segments, you’ll be taken to a short description of that section of our travels in a Timeline view.

24 November 2017 We are staying in the Hilton Union Square in San Francisco. A very nice hotel — so good in fact that it is not for the exclusive use of humans. Believe it or not, you can have two dogs of up to 70 lbs (approx. 35 kg) each stay with you in your room! I love dogs more than most, but that sounds a little excessive (and weird) to me.

5 April 2024 Yesterday’s (Thursday) rest day gave us time to think about how we should be pacing ourselves on this trip. Our focus to date has been all about giving ourselves “enough time” and then getting ready, equipped, packed and gone. Apart from “leaving Broome sometime in August” and “being back by early January” we deliberately hadn’t done much more planning than that. However, we’ve realised quite early on that we need to have some sort of pace set out so we don’t get too far ahead of schedule, or too far behind. From leaving Stanthorpe on Monday to arriving in Quilpie on Wednesday, we had averaged 333.3 km per day. Obviously that is a fair bit of driving through some areas we had seen a number of times, but that is still a fairly quick pace.

24 November 2017 Today was our first full day in holiday mode. I woke up early and went for a walk around the city centre while Nicole and Katelyn slept in. What became very obvious, very quickly, is that San Francisco is full of crazy people … and homeless people … and crazy homeless people. I’ve never seen so many people sleeping rough anywhere. According to a taxi driver the residency policies for this area encourage homeless people to move here from other areas, as after 12 months here they can apply for housing support. Whatever the policy, it is a very sad indictment on society here — brought into sharper focus given that today is Thanksgiving Day.

7 April 2024 We arrived in Windorah at around 3pm on Saturday. We’d planned to try the free camp behind the Western Star Hotel, but when we went to the front door, they weren’t open. A sign told us that hours had been shortened due to the extensive rain that has been falling over the last month or two, even though this is traditionally the start of the tourist season. We decided not to wait and instead went a block up the road and set up in the one caravan park here.

25 November 2017 This morning was a visit to The Rock (aka Alcatraz Island) — for the first time for Nicole and Katelyn and a return after just under 25 years for me. I must admit very little, if anything, has changed there in the last 25 years, however it’s still a great place to visit. I’m a huge fan of the Escape From Alcatraz movie starring Clint Eastwood, and a visit to Alcatraz just breathes extra life into the story.

10 April 2024 We arrived in Windorah realising that insects might be a problem (based on experiences at The Lake), but that we should be OK. Then in Windorah the flies (and moths, and midgies) became a lot worse. I take a lot of the blame as I don’t really like wearing repellent but, even still, Windorah had a lot of flies. Watching the Japanese F1 Grand Prix outside the motorhome on Sunday really tested my resolve, and I was glad I had wraparound sunnies that at least stopped them getting in my eyes. Ears and nose not protected though.

25 November 2017 This one is very closely related to Weird American Thing #1 and was relayed to us via Victor — our moustachioed Mexican tour guide from yesterday. Apparently San Francisco has more dogs than kids (definition of kids not provided). While it is apparently a close count, I think that qualifies as weird. Having watched the first two rebooted Planet of the Apes movies on the flight over, where hyper-intelligent apes rebel and effectively take over San Francisco, I’m having some disturbing thoughts about whether the next time I visit San Francisco it will be the humans wearing the leashes in public areas.

10 April 2024 We arrived in Winton today. I’ve been here a number of times, most memorably with Mum and Dad for the opening of the new Waltzing Matilda Centre in April 2018. Mum and Dad met in Winton. Mum had finished her nursing training in Sydney and felt like an adventure, so headed north on the train with a friend seeking their first nursing jobs. All the way up the coast to Cairns they didn’t find any work but were told there may be a job in Cloncurry. Mum took the job and worked there for a year or so, until moving to a nursing job in Winton. After a year or so a young male teacher (Dad) moved into town doing his country service and, as they say, the rest is history.

27 November 2017 Today was, in comparison to the first few days of our trip, a bit of a non-event. We all slept in, headed out for breakfast, checked out of the Hilton, and then checked into a hotel only two blocks away — this being the staging area for our tour. We then did some shopping in the afternoon before heading back to the hotel. Here’s a photo from the top of the shopping centre.

13 April 2024 While in Winton we found out that they had renovated the old Royal Theatre. I’d been there before and it was a bit run down, but they have done a superb job doing it up now through lots of love, care and attention. They were showing Nostalgia Night the night we were there, which was really interesting. Mary (one of four volunteers opening for the same number of patrons) gave us a wonderful history of the theatre. Unbelievably, there were once 5 theatres in Winton in its prime, however only the Royal operates now. The theatre is open air with canvas seats and a skating rink at the front (for use when movies are not showing). The layout included a row four seats to one side where Mum, two kids and Dad could sit, with an extra wide isle where prams could be parked. This was known as Pram Alley.

28 November 2017 After leaving San Francisco we headed across the Golden Gate Bridge on our long drive to Yosemite National Park. The bus is cozy but comfortable, and Pat our CEO has been playing some great music. We arrived mid-afternoon at Yosemite National Park, which gave us time to see some of the giant Sequoia trees — some of which can be up to 3,000 years old. We only got to see a few, but they are absolutely amazing! You could even go for a walk into the pass of one of the fallen trees — that’s how big they are.

13 April 2024 I can understand why you may have been having sleepless nights wondering how I’ve been on with my sausage rolls and what the latest count is. Worry no longer. Current scorecard Roma (8.5/10) Cloncurry (7.0/10) Winton (6.5/10) Onward and upward. ← ← Previous · Contents · Next →

28 November 2017 In America, when you go to buy something, all is not as it seems. When you look at something in a shop, on a menu, or online, you assume that the listed price is what you will be paying. First mistake. As soon as you say you’d like to pay for something, on the sales tax goes. In California it seems to be around 10%. It would be like advertising everything in Australia with prices excluding GST.

13 April 2024 Yesterday we arrived at the old Mary Kathleen town, now deserted, to ‘free camp’ for a few nights. A wonderful and very interesting place. Here’s a little bit of history: Mary Kathleen, was a uranium mining town, about mid way between Mount Isa and Cloncurry in western Queensland, in the Cloncurry Shire. The Mary Kathleen uranium discovery was made by Clem Walton and Norm McConachy in 1954, and named after McConachy’s wife. Prospecting and exploitation rights were subsequently onsold, and in 1955 Rio Tinto Mining formed Mary Kathleen Uranium Ltd to develop a mine and service town. An architect-designed town grew during 1956-58, with reticulated water from a dam, Lake Corella.

29 November 2017 On Tuesday we drove from Yosemite National Park (or rather just outside it) to Bakersfield. A long day in the bus with just a few stops for food and comfort. At one of the stops I had a quick chat to a guy who had a huge “pick up truck” which was towing the biggest caravan I’d ever seen. I asked if that was a big caravan by American standards and, you guessed it, it wasn’t. He said that it was just “pretty big” and that you can get caravans with three axles! He said there was a whole separate room at the front of the caravan and then a garage type area at the back. He had a quad bike in the back of his truck and I asked if he had any more in the back of the caravan. Two more back there! Everything is bigger in America.

13 April 2024 Nicole and I read that it was around 6 km into the old Mary Kathleen mine pit and that the road was very bad in places. We also confirmed the poor condition of the road with some fellow campers. So, not wanting to take our 3.1-metre-tall motorhome down something like that, we thought we could walk it as some exercise. We rose early and set off. Straight away we saw a sign suggesting it was further than we thought, but we persevered. The road indeed would have been too rough for us, but the views were nice. All good so far.

1 December 2017 On Wednesday we travelled west from Bakersfield towards Las Vegas. On the way however we had to cross the ‘valley of death’ or, as it is known, Death Valley. The scenery was absolutely magical and a lot hillier than I thought it would be. Death Valley is the hottest, the driest and the lowest place in the USA, having reached temperatures of up to 57 degrees Celsius. At our last stop, Badwater Basin (where the photos below were taken) we were 282 feet below sea level.

13 April 2024 We were not looking forward to the walk back as we had sore feet, and it was getting hotter. Soon after leaving the mine pit, we saw a 4WD heading up. They’d done well getting that far. Another 30 minutes along we saw what looked like an RACQ rescue helicopter heading our way, over us, and then doing multiple circles around the old mine. We thought it may have been to rescue that 4WD that had disappeared down one of the larger potholes. Or maybe it was making some sort of mercy call for us. It turns out it was neither, apparently doing some survey work.

2 December 2017 While you’re waiting (eagerly I hope) for the Las Vegas blog post, I thought I’d let you know that Elvis is alive and well. While walking down The Strip yesterday, there he was before our very eyes, casually mingling amongst the people. However instead of seeing him gyrating his hips, pointing sideways and singing one of his many hits, he was … let’s say more comfortable. There was Elvis, driving his mobility scooter and drinking a can of Fosters. He also wasn’t terribly coherent at the time from what I picked up as we walked past.

15 April 2024 We’ve been on the road for around two weeks now. We’re settling in and slowing down. Having a motorhome, rather than a caravan and tow vehicle, has definite pros and cons. The pros revolve around not having to unhitch and re-hitch a caravan all the time, easier to park in towns, easier to set up when we arrive, and easier driving along. Plus, if you accidentally leave a cupboard unlatched, or leave something on the bench, you know all about it in around 200 metres, rather than potentially 200 km with a caravan. 🫣

2 December 2017 Well, where do you start. I don’t really know what I was expecting from Las Vegas, but what we got was certainly something I’ve never experienced before — and perhaps won’t again. We arrived at the Gold Coast Hotel late on Wednesday afternoon. Our CEO had arranged a stretched limousine to pick us up at 8:30pm, on to which we could BYO drinks. Our limo was a stretched Hummer — awesome! So off we headed on a drive up The Strip, drinks in hand.

18 April 2024 Nicole and I have just arrived at Daly Waters on the Stuart Highway. It’s in the middle of the NT about 3/4 of the way North. Having left Queensland on Wednesday morning and after a very pleasant stay at the Barkly Homestead last night (refer Map section for details), we’ve driven around 1,000km in two days. Dad had told me that there would be days where there is nothing to do but drive. He was right. And drive we did.

2 December 2017 Today (Friday) we left the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas behind and headed north west. In the space of around an hour or so we spent time in three states — Nevada, Arizona (just going across the north west corner) and then into Utah. Our main activity for the day was a 2 hour hike in Zion National Park in the mid-afternoon. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking once again. The park is really well laid out, with a great visitor centre and gift shop.

20 April 2024 After travelling around 1,200km in 2.5 days, we’re resting up for a bit in Mataranka. I must be getting old, as the drive really took it out of me. Perhaps it was also the chopped up roads and plenty of road trains but, yes, I think it’s mainly getting old. We checked in to the Bitter Springs Caravan and Camping park, a really lovely spot with plenty of shade. We were hoping to take immediate advantage of the natural Bitter Springs flowing in Elsey National Park a short walk away, and purchased pool noodles to take maximum advantage. As we were walking the last bit someone walked back past us saying someone had just showed them a video of a croc in the water there that seemed to be a saltwater (aka dangerous) croc. “I’m from Katherine, and what I saw was disturbing. I won’t be swimming in there.” he said, to add a verbal exclamation mark.

4 December 2017 On Saturday we awoke early to meet at the bus at 6:30am (apart from Katelyn who enjoyed a sleep in at the hotel). The early start was to accommodate the opportunity to watch the sun rise over the magnificent Bryce Canyon National Park rock formations. And we weren’t disappointed either! The weather was very cold though, starting out at around -2 degrees. After a quick 15 minute trip back to the hotel for breakfast (and to collect Katelyn!) we returned to Bryce Canyon for a hike into the canyon itself. The hike took around two hours and gave us some absolutely fabulous views of Bryce Canyon. For the second day in a row we were being treated to some of the USA’s (and the world’s) most amazing rock formations.

22 April 2024 Bitter Springs had remained closed while National Parks officers undertook some inspections. The local reps had a look and then decided to kick it to the croc expert in Darwin. He came down and had a look (after a day or two) and (in conjunction with our local caravan park owner) confirmed the following: There is a crocodile in Bitter Springs. It is a “freshie” i.e. a freshwater crocodile. He is around 2m long. He’s been there a long time and has never bothered anyone. Sometimes he likes sunning himself on the bottom set of steps where people get out of the water. So … we went for a swim this afternoon (we’re just about to spend our fourth and last night in Mataranka). The water and scenery were beautiful. We also had plenty of human company around us, which we surreptitiously used as human shields (yes, even the kids and elderly). You float slowly down with the current around 300m and can then get out and walk back along a path to the starting point. Floating along, our legs hit a submerged log. One of us screamed (very) briefly, and it wasn’t Nicole.

5 December 2017 Yesterday (Sunday) was a big day, plus one of the best of the trip so far. Horseshoe Bend We started early with a short drive to Horseshoe Bend, where the mighty Colorado River makes an epic U-turn. The viewing area (a 10 minute walk over a sand hill from the car park) is quite amazing. There is literally a sheer rock cliff, with no fences, and people just get as close as they dare to take their photos. A few people asked me to take their photo for them on their phones, and for each one I begged them to be careful near the edge and not to step back at all. Some people were even sitting on the edge, which is just too stupid to put into words.

26 April 2024 Well, that heading got your attention! And no, this isn’t a retro post about an 80s and 90s Aussie rock band. Edith Falls is a beautiful place. A very hot (in late April), beautiful place. A very hot, beautiful place with a crocodile issue (saltwater not freshwater this time). A very hot, beautiful place with a crocodile issue, and no powered sites (meaning no air conditioning). After setting up we quickly realised it was going to be hot here, with little breeze and temperatures of around 34 degrees. Then, pretty much straight after arriving, a Park Ranger came to see us to explain that the Edith Falls Plunge Pool (the bottom pool most popular with swimmers and a major attraction given the weather) was currently closed for swimming and would be completely off limits for any visits from 6pm that night to 8am the next morning due to a “wildlife exercise” being undertaken. When Nicole asked exactly what that meant, the Ranger advised us they were trying to catch a saltwater crocodile that was active in the pool. In addition, there was the possibility we might hear a gunshot that night and, if so, not to be alarmed. We are definitely in the Top End!

6 December 2017 On Monday we left Mexican Hat (the town) and headed to the Grand Canyon, safe in the knowledge that Katelyn’s phone was not sitting deep down in a composting toilet. When we arrived, our CEO asked us to trust him with an interesting approach he has for first time visitors. As we started getting near the Grand Canyon, he asked us to close our eyes as he finished parking. As we got out of the bus he then asked us to put bags over our heads, carefully marched us in conga line form to near the edge of the Grand Canyon, then took a mobile phone and photographed us as we all took off our bags together to see the Grand Canyon for the very first time. Absolutely breathtaking!

29 April 2024 You may have noticed that I’ve been having some issues with images displaying on blog posts — specifically that they won’t. I spent around 2 hours yesterday and 3 hours this morning trying to fix it and couldn’t. Very frustrating! Then I had an after-lunch nap and Nicole said she would have a look at it. Nicole dabbled in setting up a side business building websites while we were living in Rockhampton and, like anything Nicole puts her mind to, she became very good at it.

8 December 2017 On our way from the Grand Canyon to San Diego, we drove part of the historic Route 66. I never realised that it all started with a movie director in Chicago who needed to finish filming a movie before the end of December one year, otherwise his film wouldn’t be released. The weather in Chicago at the time was too cold to allow filming to continue, so in desperation he called a friend in Los Angeles. The friend told him the weather was great and suggested finishing his filming there — which he did, putting in motion the LA movie industry and Route 66.

3 May 2024 Nicole and I chose an “easy lunch” option in Katherine before heading to Katherine Gorge. After our third trip to the Katherine Woolworths and spying a Brumby’s Bakery right out the front each time, I relented and bought a sausage roll. For full disclosure, Nicole bought a vegetable pastie. We couldn’t eat them there or outside as there was nowhere in the shade to sit (VERY hot here still), so we went for a short drive to the local sporting grounds and watched the sporting oval getting mowed while we ate.

9 December 2017 We arrived in San Diego late on Wednesday afternoon. After a chance to freshen up we headed out for dinner at the Casa Guadalajara Mexican restaurant. This is by far the best Mexican restaurant I have ever been to, and one of the most fun places to eat I’ve ever been. It is huge, with all sorts of areas to sit. We sat in the area outside which was a bit like a massive beer garden, but much nicer. The beautifully mild climate in San Diego meant we could sit comfortably outside with only a light jacket or no jacket at all.

3 May 2024 In planning this trip, Nicole and I were open to the possibility that we could possibly develop some poor eating habits and return a bit heavier than we left. Which we didn’t want. The issue was that it would be highly likely that if we did start putting on weight on our trip we might not notice until we got back, and people started looking at us a bit differently/sorrowfully.