Adventuring Down Under

December 2023 - May 2024

Circumnavigation of Australia aboard Oceania Regatta ... with pre-cruise in Sydney … and a couple of months overland. Read more

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Adventuring Down Under
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- Nov 23, 2023
- ☁️ 39 °F
- Altitude: 6,076 ft
- United States Colorado El Paso County Colorado Springs Acacia Park 38.8354, -104.82340238°50’7” N 104°49’24” W
KI Getaway
November 23, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 39 °F
Kangaroo Island — KI as the locals refer to it — is one of the ports of call on our AusPan itinerary. Not sure if we’ll make it ashore, however, as it is a tender port that gets canceled more often than not.

The island has more to see and explore than one can reasonably do in one day anyway. So, we added KI to our itinerary as a getaway during our overland trip.

The only way to get to Kangaroo Island is by ferry from Cape Jervis.

The only way to get to Cape Jervis from Adelaide, where we detrain from The Ghan, is by car … because the bus service seems to be limited to once a day. But, even if that were not the case, having our own wheels will give us not only flexibility along the way, but we will also have our own wheels to explore the island.

And of course, once we get to KI, we need a place to stay.

Ferry booking …✔️
Car rental booking …✔️
Accommodations booking …✔️

Looks like we’re ready for KI!

Another mode of travel — a car ferry — has now been added to our overland trip.Read more
Traveler Just now catching up on your plans for this adventure. We lived in Sydney for 3 years, and our visit to KI was second only to Tasmania.
12/31/23Reply
Two to Travel Looking forward to it. If we are lucky, we’ll also get to stop there for a day with the ship.
12/31/23Reply
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Adventuring Down Under
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- Nov 24, 2023
- ☁️ 19 °F
- Altitude: 6,037 ft
- United States Colorado El Paso County Colorado Springs Acacia Park 38.836594, -104.81969138°50’12” N 104°49’11” W
Cruise Vacation Guide ✔️
November 24, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 19 °F
The fancy folder with the general travel and onboard information for our AusPan circumnavigation arrived in the mail today.

While the booklet doesn’t have anything that is critical to our voyage, its arrival is a signal that we are getting ever closer to embarking the ship. In this case, Regatta … in Sydney.

Counting down … 26 days to go before we are once again asea.Read more
Traveler We made our specialty dining room reservations on Sunday😉
12/11/23Reply
Two to Travel Enjoy … we were at sea with no internet when rez opened for us … no early times available, so we will deal with it on board.
12/11/23Reply
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Adventuring Down Under
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- Nov 25, 2023
- ☁️ 27 °F
- Altitude: 6,033 ft
- United States Colorado El Paso County Colorado Springs Acacia Park 38.835331, -104.82158738°50’7” N 104°49’18” W
Squeezed in Uluru-Kata Tjuta
November 25, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 27 °F
The addition came at the cost of losing the Bungle-Bungles of Kimberley, but Uluru — the iconic landmark of the Anangu — is now on the itinerary.

Our flights from Sydney to Yulara, the service village outside the national park, and back to Sydney are booked. As are our accommodations at the Ayers Rock Resort.

We are giving ourselves three full days to explore not just Uluru, but also Kata Tjuta National Park, “… a living cultural landscape where earth and memories exist as one.” Uluru is, in fact, part of the national park, and though it seems to overshadow everything else in the minds of most visitors, there is plenty more to see and experience within the park.

Next up, we need to look at the tour and activity options. And also purchase a park pass. I’ll do so over the next few days.

Oh, and of course, I need to make sure we pack our hat nets … we’re going to need them to keep the pesky flies off our face! Fingers crossed they are not as bad as they can be during the hot Australian summer.Read more
Traveler Oh yeah, you will need those nets!. We did some early morning and sunset tours. Spectacular!. HAVE A GREAT TIME.
12/11/23Reply
Two to Travel Thank you. Looking forward to the adventure.
12/11/23Reply
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Adventuring Down Under
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- Nov 30, 2023, 10:52 AM
- ☁️ 39 °F
- Altitude: 6,079 ft
- United States Colorado El Paso County Colorado Springs Acacia Park 38.8353, -104.82198438°50’7” N 104°49’19” W
AusPan Boarding Passes ✔️
November 30, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 39 °F
Online check-in for AusPan opened today. It took all of 10 minutes to complete the required information and watch the safety video. Easy Peasy.

Also received the final documents for the cruise. The itinerary shows some minor changes to our times in port. Gained an hour here … lost a half hour there. Nothing that will impact our plans ashore.

Time to embarkation is now 21 days and counting.Read more
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Adventuring Down Under
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- Dec 8, 2023
- ☁️ 34 °F
- Altitude: 6,047 ft
- United States Colorado El Paso County Colorado Springs Acacia Park 38.839, -104.82472138°50’20” N 104°49’29” W
Choosing Meals
December 8, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 34 °F
Well, that's a first!

Not in the sense that airline passengers have not always had the option to choose a special meal. They have. But the email we received last night from United Airlines [UA] asked if we wanted to pre-select our dinner for the IAH-SYD flight ... from a list of specific dishes.

We both opted for the shrimp.

We are not locked into our choices, though. The email confirming our selections said we could always change our minds after we are onboard. Who knows? We might even opt to go directly to sleep!Read more
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Adventuring Down Under
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- Dec 9, 2023
- ⛅ 32 °F
- Altitude: 6,053 ft
- United States Colorado El Paso County Colorado Springs 38.847557, -104.81373638°50’51” N 104°48’49” W
Weather Forecast Looking Good
December 9, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 32 °F
Our last couple of winter trip departures fell victim to the vagaries of Mother Nature ... to the extent that we had to make last-minute changes to our departure plans. Thus, we've been keeping a close eye on the forecast.

Since returning home from Europe on 15 November, we've had several snow events. The most recent of which was a storm that came through last night. No worries. The sun is already out and the white stuff is starting to disappear. With temperatures expected to be above freezing the next few days, the snow will be gone in no time.

The 7-day forecast is looking good. The earliest precip is forecasted for the day after we leave … the 13th ... a non-day for us since we will be losing it to the IDL on our way to Sydney.

We'll keep monitoring the weather, but it looks like Mother Nature is going to cooperate with our plans this time.Read more
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Adventuring Down Under
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- Dec 11, 2023, 12:02 PM
- ☀️ 45 °F
- Altitude: 6,873 ft
- United States Colorado City of Colorado Springs 38.942691, -104.72538138°56’34” N 104°43’31” W
Working the Departure Checklist
December 11, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 45 °F
Bags packed … ✔️

Rental car to get from to COS … ✔️… No big truck this time … just a colorful Hyundai Kona.

Last minute to-do items … in progress.
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Adventuring Down Under
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- Dec 11, 2023, 3:07 PM
- ⛅ 45 °F
- Altitude: 6,076 ft
- United States Colorado El Paso County Colorado Springs Acacia Park 38.835361, -104.82335738°50’7” N 104°49’24” W
And We Are Off to Australia
December 11, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 45 °F
Or we will be soon enough.

Tomorrow morning, with a flight from COS to IAH, we will begin our long travel day — or should that be days? We depart on 12 December … lose 13 December to the IDL … and arrive in Australia on 14 December.

The map I’ve appended to this footprint shows a “very” general overview of our Australia adventure. It’s a bit more convoluted than we’d hope it would be … mainly because we had to work around availability for some of the things we really wanted to do … such as the rail journeys.

No worries, though. We’ve got the basic logistics in place … the rest we will wing.

(If you want a sneak peek at some of what we have planned for our “by ship … car … plane … RV … train … ferry” adventure, you can go back and read through the snippets I’ve already uploaded. Oh, and there will be plenty of “on foot” doings as well.)Read more
Sonia Gelman We will follow you. Not exactly. Safe travels.
12/11/23Reply
Two to Travel Same to you. Once you guys get going.
12/11/23Reply
Sonia Gelman I like here so much, i do not mind to stay longer
12/11/23Reply
Traveler You like the ceviche and octopus 😀
12/12/23Reply
Sonia Gelman Plus the weather.
12/12/23Reply
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Adventuring Down Under
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- Dec 12, 2023, 6:36 AM
- ☁️ 27 °F
- Altitude: 6,135 ft
- United States Colorado El Paso County Colorado Springs Airport 38.799198, -104.70030238°47’57” N 104°42’1” W
Day 1
We Start at COS
December 12, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 27 °F
An early flight — 7:40a departure — means an early wake up alarm. Luckily, we are early birds anyway.

The 30-minute drive to COS was a cinch. The Avis rep met us as we were parking the rental, collected the key, and sent us on our way to the terminal.

I had already completed the “travel ready” requirements in the UA app and checked us in for both flights, so we quickly dropped off our bags and went thru the TSA Pre✔️ line in a jiffy.

The bonus for today … learning that the domestic first boarding passes for our UA flight give us access to the Priority Lounge.

Sipping tea and relaxing in a comfy chair as I write this footprint.

Twenty five minutes to boarding the flight to IAH.Read more
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Adventuring Down Under
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- Dec 12, 2023, 9:21 AM
- ☁️ 32 °F
- Altitude: 5,233 ft
- United States Colorado Town of Boone 38.5182, -104.29398338°31’6” N 104°17’38” W
Day 1
Aboard UA 5325 to IAH
December 12, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 32 °F
I don’t remember the taxi to the runway being so long at COS. It is a small airport after all. On the other hand, COS shares the runway with Peterson Space Force Base, so perhaps it makes sense.

In any event, we were in the air by 8:00a … soaring smoothly above Peterson and the surrounding neighborhoods … with clear views of Pikes Peak — our local 14er — before turning south for the flight to Houston, Texas.

We are 30 minutes into the flight. The UA app tells me that we will be arriving in 1 hour and 27 minutes. That would put us at IAH 20 minutes ahead of schedule … despite our delay departing COS by the same number of minutes.

UA5325 is aboard a Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ700) operated by SkyWest Airlines. Our seats in the domestic first cabin are comfy enough … we opted for the single seats on the port side, so Mui’s sitting behind me. There’s only a snack and beverage service since the flight is so short . Typical.

See you on the ground at IAH.Read more
Traveler Safe travels....sitting on the edge of my seat. By the way only 2 more Chemo treatments and then start planning some travel ,that's why I'm so anxious for your trip.
12/12/23Reply
Two to Travel Glad to hear the treatments are coming to an end. Happy planning.
12/12/23Reply
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