We decided not to take a chance with the cyclone brewing off the Kimberley coast. At 3.30am on Saturday morning, having checked the latest cyclone update on the Bureau of Meteorology website, we booked tickets out of Broome yesterday.
That meant a bit of a mad scramble to chance all our bookings, get the hell out of Derby to Broome in time for a leisurely lunch with Sam and Ayesha at Pinctada. And then at 5pm we left the Kimberley and flew to Perth.
Collapsed into bed exhausted last night after a long and eventful day. And now it looks like the cyclone won't interrupt our original travel plans. Better safe than sorry.
Here is a picture of our very cute departure party. See you Hayles, Lazane and Joshy. Goodbye Kimberley!
Our bags are packed. All plans have been made and executed. The only thing that could stop us now is the weather.
The low may develop into a tropical cyclone on Sunday as it moves towards the southwest, close to the west Kimberley coast. GALES are not expected in coastal areas within the next 24 hours, however GALES could develop on Sunday between Kalumburu and Wallal.
FESA-State Emergency Service advises that there are no community alerts at present.
Communities between Kalumburu and Wallal, including Derby and Broome, should listen for the next advice.
We fly out of Broome on Sunday.....
What is the point of going on a fantastic adventure if you don't have a leaving party?
Last night we had our "And Now For Something Completely Different" party. Everyone was challenged with dressing in a "British Comedy" themed costume.
We arrived and set up the party and then waited for the first guests to arrive. 45 minutes later our friends started arriving which is pretty good for the Kimberley.
And just as the first guests started arriving the wind gusted and the sky opened up to drench our little gathering. Our costumes were dampened but not our spirits.
Some of Derby's weaker types took the weather as an excuse for staying at home. And what we lacked in quality we made up for in quantity. In other words we drank a lot of booze.
Check out our cast of characters below.
Patsy
Cheesus. It's getting close now isn't it?
Madly trying to get everything down whilst Cassy sits two postgraduate exams and I try to shrug off the ill effects of RaRaVee. There hasn't been any time at all for last minute sight seeing of Derby. Which is a blessing because with all the roads to the good spots closed there is nothing to see here!
Our house is about half packed ahead of the removalists coming on Wednesday. And we have a couple more things to smash the place into tenantable condition. Then we just have to say goodbye, leave and start the journey.
We are taking the slow approach to our travels. Friends of ours (Adam and Vanessa of catching barramundi fame) have just gone to Canada from Derby. They did the drive to Broome, fly to Perth, fly to Melbourne, fly to USA, fly to Canadia all in one long push. I think they said 36 hours of travelling. We are taking a more leisurely route.
In 9 days we drive from Derby to Broome with Sam and Ayesha. We overnight in Broome to take in some fine foods and a last look at Cable Beach. Then we fly to Perth for two nights. We leave Perth at 5am on Tuesday morning and fly to Sydney then on to LA. We then overnight in LA to try to kill some of the jet lag before heading to Vancouver the next day. Basically we are taking four times as long to do the trip as Adam and Vanessa.
But I still reserve the right to whinge about jetlag....
J
Today was the day we found out whether our meticulous travel planning was somehow flawed. The day of the trial pack.
Our trip has two major phases. The shortish tour of North America and the longer ride around Europe. We needed a packing plan that could handle both phases of the trip.
We are visiting the Red Egg (aka Michael, aka That ranga who isn't the PM, aka Cassy's brother, aka Rara) in Vancouver for a week. Then we are heading to New York for a fortnight. This part of the trip will be the walking shoes and sightseeing part of the holiday.
The second part of the trip is "la grande boucle", the four month bicycle ride around Europe. This part of the trip will be the bicycle shoes and camping part of the holiday.
Our packing plan would need to include clothing, footwear, cycling accessories, toiletries, travel books, electronics, camping equipment, tents, sleeping bags, mattresses and hair colour (look out Red Egg - time for a restyling!)
How would we handle these two different holidays? Send our bikes and carriers to Europe and meet them there? Would we take trailers or panniers? What would we do if we decided to take luggage on the first part of the holiday?
Our solution was elegant in its simplicity and simple in its ability to provide us with bragging rights
Someone thought long and hard whilst designing our bike trailers. The Radical Designs Cyclone III trailers convert from bike trailers to walking trailers which is so handy for walking through airports and train stations.
https://www.radicaldesign.nl/en/products/bicycle‐trailers/cyclone‐iii/cyclone‐iii
Tonight we did the trial pack. Miracle of miracles - everything fits in our funky little trailers. On top of our fabulous trailers we are just taking a rack pack (Cassy) and a front pack and pannier (Jamie).
And by now, the reason for the hair colour should be obvious. We don't want to arrive in New York after a week in Vancouver and find that we have mistakenly packed the Red Egg and left one of our trailers in Vancouver.
And what about bikes, I hear you asking? Well we made the difficult decision to buy new bikes when we arrive in Europe. We are both so excited!
J
