It’s all in the Planning… Making the most of Travel

At the moment I am thick into another trip plan… one coming up soon, and as usual I have two or three of these trip plans sitting on my desktop as I develop them as the mood takes me. A number of travellers like to just go with the flow, and there are certainly times when this is the fun way to go, but then at other times planning is a part of the enjoyment of discovery and I wouldn’t even consider not building up a plan for any given tour… Even the roughest of rudimentary plans is a good option.

Traveling as we do as a lifestyle choice, as opposed to a 2-4 week or month stint across the country, we do have a broad based guide that gets us to where we want to go and then there are times where we just head off in a general direction… or in pursuit of a general goal or season respite… or even in pursuit of an interest, but the trip plan is an essential part of our future plans and I wouldn’t be without it. Mind you these trip plans are very malleable … such as this years primary plan which was to have seen us up in the Kimberley, but instead saw us spending 6 months in and around Perth… exploring, instead. Plans change as does your focus, and often. It is best to roll with the waves and enjoy the ride.

Having done this for any number of years now I have found that I always begin with the ‘bucket list’. That essential ‘gunna do that’ guide that forms the basis of any tour. It begins with a A to B spot point begin and end, and as with our more recent tour throughout Tasmania you identify just why it is you are even making the effort. Tassie was easy… it was the wilderness that drew us and then hard on that note was the food… ohhh the food. Tas’ is a gastronomical delight. Given those perimeters we identified just what part of the wilderness it was we wanted to see… The Tarkine, or the wild rivers? Soooo… much to see and so little time. BTW we were there for some 4 months or so, and a plan was essential. Perhaps the roar power of the ocean, or the beauty of the mountains… is what is the appeal for you… it was for us and there are two of ‘us’ so the opinions can vary… now working out any plan takes effort and if your not content to leave it to the tour guides then it is ‘you’ that is up for it.

Identifying a rough approach or guideline is essential, so just how do you approach your adventure? With Tasmania we identified the different regions and then pin-pointed the attractions in each region that we wanted most to see… deciding just what these attractions were, those that would interest us required a bit of home work on the internet… even reviews of others tour plans including tour companies, and thus the plan was born. You can follow the individual articles as listed below … and having identified these I have to admit that it took us some 3 weeks before we got more than 60klm from Devonport which was where we got off the ferry! We simply got sidetracked… which is so easy to do in Tasmania btw.

In the following list tour articles and postings you will find some from my blog, and others from RVDaily.com where I have published articles on our tour of Tas’. Each is different in its approach but the whole will tell the story of our tour of Tas’ and I hope you enjoy the reading.

Tasmania

RV Daily – The Crossing… Its Above Par… Below Decks. The Spirit of Tasmania
The Great Nature Trail – NW Tasmania
RV Daily – Go On – Be a Devil
Exploring the Inland Canyon Region – NW Tasmania
Discovering the Little Penguins of Tasmania
Where the Platypus Swim
RV Daily – The Edge of Gondwana
The World of Gondwana
The Cradle in the Mountain
RV Daily – Cradle Mountain. Somewhere Between Nowhere Else and Never Never
RV Daily – Talking Strahan Mate
Camping through the Central High Plateau of Tasmania
RV Daily – Tasmania on a Plateau
A Tassie Christmas Season
Van Dieman’s Land and the Bushmen
RV Daily – Tasmania’s Heritage Highway
The Huon Highway – Tasmania
The Tamar Valley – Launceston
Up There, Our Heads in the Clouds – Ben Lomond, Tas
A Peek into Australia’s Past – The Palawa in Us All
RV Daily – 5 Ripper Bush Camps – Tasmania
Beautiful Freycinet – Tasmania
RV Daily – Suncoast Sunset
Maria Island – Tasmania
Tasmania and Travellers Rest Area’s
RV Daily – Down and Dirty – Including the Mole Cr Karst of Tas’

At the moment though, I am thick into planning our Central Desert Crossing from Perth to Brisbane via Australia’s Longest Shortcut and it is epic. Most people would think that this is a boring run… as with the Nullarbor crossing or the Oondiri Plain… but it is not so. We have crossed the Oondiri countless times and it is a run I love. Each time I plan on visiting a different attraction from the many caves to the beautifully isolated beaches and region never fails to draw… and entertain us.

Our plan for the Outback Way though is a different kettle of fish and we so much want to do this tour before they tar the road. From Laverton in Central WA, to Winton in FNQ Outback requires attention too. Firstly there are permissions to be obtained as you pass through Aboriginal Reserves… then also there are the inherent dangers of passing through some really remote regions and there is just so much to see!

This is a tour we have wanted to take for many-a-year and now we are seriously into prepping for heading out into the vastness of the central deserts and I can’t wait for the trip to begin. Taking Australia’s Longest Shortcut is gunna provide us with endless entertainment, from camels to wrecks… caves to gamma holes but what the men are most looking forward to is the gold hunt. A chance to break out those gold detectors on some of the most ancient lands on earth is not to be missed… so I will be out of range for a good few weeks… hang in there. This is gunna be fun!

Travel well

Jan