The Best Laid Plans...

It is amazing how even the best laid plans can come unstuck. But - I really thought I had this one covered!

A mate and I were planning to head up to Darwin for a conference in July. Actually, not Darwin, but Batchelor - around 100 kms south, near the entrance to Litchfield National Park. The conference itself was going to scratch my "outback itch" considerably, as it would involve people from all over the top end of Australia - in fact a Melbourne person like me was going to be a bit of a ring-in. But, better still, I worked out we were going to be able to drive up there via Central Australia. Even though we'd be in a bit of a hurry, there would be the opportunity to spend some time at Katherine Gorge and Lake Argyle before heading back home. Great! Better still, it was work related, and therefore I would actually be able to do it for minimal personal cost and with only a week's annual leave. It was a great plan.

But then it all unravelled. My travelling companion made other arrangements, and so I was going to have to go alone. Then the time closely conflicted with a family wedding in Queensland, meaning I was going to have to do two pretty significant trips almost back-to-back. Then, it became apparent that the work connection to the conference was more limited than we had hoped, and my boss got cold feet. And late last week, after a long discussion, I pulled the pin on going to the conference altogether, and therefore abandoned any thought of making the trip and getting to the places I had hoped to visit.

The strength of my reaction to all this took me by surprise. While I joined in the decision making process in a rational and considered manner, I found myself deeply disappointed afterwards as I came to grips with the consequences. A part of me (a fairly big part) wanted to scream out - BUT I HAD A PLAN! It was disappointment, but it was also anger. And really, it has taken several days to be calm about it. Now I am a bit calmer, I got to being curious about why it upset me as much as it did, and how I recovered. Without going into the long version, the key upsetters were;
- I really believe in the aims of the conference (much more than my employer, it seems)
- It had taken a lot of effort to organise the invitation, as it is not open to the public.
- It only takes place every 3 years and so it was our only chance to go until late 2010.
- I was really wanting to drive across country, and add to my tally of TKD's. I even thought about doing 3 in a row, which would be new.
- It was the third time in 10 years I had organised to go back to Lake Argyle and the opportunity had been taken from me. It'll have to wait AGAIN.

And the key issues to help me come to grips with it all and get back on track;
- From a work perspective, it is probably true that it was not appropriate to go. Despite my personal feelings about it, I needed to see it from a business perspective.
- There would be other opportunities to do the things I wanted to do.
- It opened the door for not one but two significant things to fit into my year that otherwise wouldn't have, both of which will be really good. One in particular, I have jumped into organising (as a kind of compensation - I suspect).

One door closes, another opens. It is foolish & even dangerous to go on pounding on the closed door instead of moving over and walking through the open one.

Mind you - I still feel a bit sad. But move on.

No pun in ten did...

...yes, a pun. My favourite humour type - they can be so clever. "I submitted ten puns to the "pun of the year" comptetion, thinking one of them would get up. Unfortunately..."

I bunch of puns arrived the other day by email. Nice! I don't know what the collective noun for puns might be, but I know the thing they come in is called a punnet. I like really smart puns that put a different spin on a completely ordinary statement. I'm not sure why bars feature so much in jokes... a barman looked up one time to see an Englishman, and Irishman and a Scotsman coming through the door. He said; "is this some sort of joke?"

Anyway, here are some of the better ones...

A jump-lead walks into a bar.
The barman says "I'll serve you, but don't start anything."

A sandwich walks into a bar.
The barman says, "Sorry we don't serve food in here."

A man walks into a bar with a slab of asphalt under his arm and says:
"A beer please, and one for the road."

Two aerials meet on a roof, fall in love get married.
The ceremony wasn't much but the reception was brilliant.

Two cows standing next to each other in a field,
Daisy says to Dolly "I was artificially inseminated this morning."
"I don't believe you," said Dolly.
"It's true, no bull!"

I went to buy some camouflage trousers the other day but I couldn't find any.

My friend drowned in a bowl of muesli. He was pulled in by a strong currant.

A dyslexic man walks into a bra.

The last one reminds me of one of my favourite jokes... a dyslexic, agnostic insomniac was laying awake at night wondering if there really was a dog.

Karijini Magic

As I have mentioned, I get into questions about my favourite places in Australia from time to time, and always enjoy the discussion. One place that would regularly feature in such discussions was almost unknown to me until a few years back - Karijini National Park in the north-west of WA. Only a few years back the national park was called "Hammersley Ranges" instead of Karijini, and I reckon the new name somehow captures the magic of the place better.

Karijini is famous for its gorges. It also contains the highest two peaks in WA, but its gorges are really special. There are plenty of gorges around Australia - you can almost get gorged out when you are travelling, but don't miss these. They are particularly deep and particularly narrow.
They contain flowing water year round, through beautiful pools and cascades. But this is all much more dramatic due the contrast between the tropical feel in the bottom of the gorges and the arid dryness of the plains outside the gorge. The two images here are both of the same section of Dales Gorge. Down at the bottom, the gorge is a wonderful playground. Dales is wider than Hancock of Weano Gorges by some measure, so there is some space for this wider pools and gentle waterfalls. The trees are large - well watered and healthy. But, just 100 metres away on the tops of the gorge, the rocky ground and lack of water enables only stunted occasional growth to survive. This is typical of the surrounding district, and leaves you all the more amazed at the environment inside the gorges.

Karijini is no picnic. The road in is tough, the camping facilities are basic, and exploring the gorges is at times pretty demanding. But the rewards are fantastic. At least a part of its appeal is that sense of isolation, I suppose. Although it is 200 km from the coastal highway, I won't drive past again.

Merry Christmas Revised!

I'm bold enough to admit it! I was wrong!

Instead of our usual Newell trip to Queensland, we this time drove out through Gippsland, up to Canberra, around Sydney and up the New England Highway. We took 3 days to do the trip (2,021 km) and spent most of our spare time having a look at the National Capital. I have flown home, but will return on 19th to pick up the family and bring them home. It started as a casual little conversation with my wife on Christmas Eve, and soon we had an entirely different plan on how we would get up there. It was really good!

Some friends of mine are genuine road geeks - and formed an e-group to discuss such things. I have to hurry to point out that I myself am not a road geek - I just know some. The fact that I am a member of this group and some of them talk to me is purely co-incidental. Anyway, several questions/comments occurred to me to ask my road geek freinds, as we were driving along. They were...

1. The unofficial Alt-M1 around Lakes Entrance (via B500 Bairnsdale to Bruthen and C620 Bruthen to Nowa Nowa) is getting a lot of work done to it – especially the C620 section. While there is probably very little thought of rerouting M1 (Princes Hwy), still there is good signposting of this alternative, and the road quality is being dramatically improved.

2. The section of NH23 (Federal Hwy) that brushes by Lake George no longer does. For our younger readers, Lake George is the pretty lake that USED to cover several thousand hectares in southern NSW. The nice people at RTA even built roadside stops so you can enjoy the lake. Unfortunately the lake had other ideas, and has left the building…

3. There has been a history of fatal road accidents at the junction of NH31 (Hume Hwy) and NH23 (Federal Hwy) near Goulburn. I’ve puzzled about why – it’s not a difficult intersection. But I noticed that as you approach from the west on NH31, the sign to Canberra indicates you need to do a U-turn. Indeed, a few hundred metres east of the intersection, a dedicated U-turn facility is provided for this purpose. But the indicator sign is located back before the junction. I wonder if people get to the junction, and try to turn back onto the northbound carriageway of NH23, into the oncoming traffic? Perhaps the sign and the U-turn facility need to be moved another kilometre east to avoid this confusion?

4. There is a really curious “phantom interchange” on the F3 (Pacific Hwy north of Sydney) near Gosford - a big cutting that leads off to... nowhere. But perhaps something is happening... I was surprised to see a lot of construction equipment sitting in there.

5. It was the first time I had driven my old friend NH15 (New England Hwy) for some time. Some minor improvements here and there were terrific, and I particularly like the new alignment of the Devil’s Pinch between Armadale and Guyra.

6. But – what is the story in the lower section of the Hunter? The NH15 from the end of the F3 through to Singleton is just a shemozzle. Speed limits up and down, so many little towns, slow roundabouts, traffic lights… is there any plan to do anything about this?

7. Around 10 km north of Guyra while NH15 continues along the spine of the Great Divide, the road level is sign posted at 1,410 metres. This would have to be the highest point on our National Highway system, I would think. The most remarkable thing about it is that this is not the top of some rugged range – it looks more like a fairly average undulating rural community.

8. Crossing the border from New South Wales to Queensland north of Tenterfield is a puzzle. How is the line defined? It is not a straight line as most of our state boundaries are, but nor does it follow a river like the Macintyre at Goondawindi or the Murray. Does anyone know how it is defined in the legislation?

9. A15 coming down Cunningham’s Gap is one of my favourite little sections on Australia’s National Highway network. The road drops around 600 metres in 10 km or so, but the hills either side of the Gap are quite a bit higher, making it seem like you have come down a lot more than that.

10. After a couple of days of driving around Brisbane, I come away shaking my head… why do the freeways have such complicated interchanges? Why is this so much more noticeable in Brisbane than Sydney or Melbourne? Some of the interchanges are simply… amazing…

No doubt there will be discussions about some of these issues for weeks to come!