Sydney, Here I Come

~ Well, it’s one thing to sit around writing about travel, but it is another thing completely, to actually tear oneself away from the comforts of home, family and the internet – and hit the road.

So finally, six months after returning from the USA and Europe, I’m on the move again, if only for a few weeks.

I'm about to leave Adelaide for Sydney, and I can’t wait to see the highway stretching away before me. In preparation, my station wagon has been serviced and tuned; it now sports four brand new tyres, all perfectly balanced and aligned; my travel mattress is in the back; I’ve renewed my membership with the RAA, the local emergency automobile association; and my gear is safely stowed, stored and securely in place.

I’m one of those people who love to drive, and I’m also the type of person who doesn’t need lots of distractions on the journey. I don’t take any music with me. No iPod; no MP3 player; no CDs, and certainly no music cassettes (remember those). I like nothing more than to travel with my own thoughts, songs, dreams, and fantasies.

Somewhere on the seat next to me, within easy reach, will be my mini-cassette recorder – waiting for those moments when my Muse taps me on the shoulder, and brings me a new song or poem or inspirational thought. Also close by will be several pens and a notebook, for those moments when I just have to pull over and start writing those thoughts down.

I’m in no particular rush to get to Sydney. This is a good thing. It means I can take the ‘road less travelled’ and explore towns and sights along the way. It means I don’t have to push myself or the car to the limit, thereby putting both of us in danger.

To paraphrase T. S. Eliot: "It’s the journey – not the arrival – that matters.”

Not that I don’t want to be in Sydney. It is a city I have only visited on business, never for pleasure. I have never spent more than a couple of days trying to take in the sights and sounds, the smells and tastes, and the hustle and bustle of Australia’s biggest metropolis.

This time around I am travelling purely for pleasure, and I will have up to three weeks to explore Sydney, and I’m sure I will love it. I’m also sure I will come away with hours of video footage and hundreds of photographs.

However, these are just mementos. The way I look at it – it is much more important to experience a city, rather than merely try and record it. Sometimes you can spend so much time trying to capture a photograph of a beautiful sunset – that you don’t actually spend anytime simply sitting on the beach experiencing the natural beauty of that very same event.

After all, while a photograph of a glorious sunset may indeed by a beautiful thing. It can never capture the sound of the surf; the gulls wheeling and shrieking overhead; the smell of the salt on the air; the wind in your hair; or the joyous laughter of a young child building castles in the sand.

So my primary focus will be to enjoy and experience Sydney, and my secondary focus will be to film, photograph and write about it.

I’ll be back in a few days with my first report. In the meantime – whatever you are doing, have fun – I know I will be.

Image: courtesy of Richard Seaman...

House Swaps: the practical way to holiday

~ Last night I was researching article ideas for this blog, when I discovered the Aussie House Swap website. When you house swap, you exchange your home, unit, holiday home or apartment with another house swapper for an agreed period of time. You could even swap something unique like a houseboat or motor-home. The Aussie House Swap website has a series of excellent articles about the benefits of house swapping, and have given me permission to reprint all of them on this blog. Here is the first one.

In some ways, this is the easiest article on this site to write. That's because there are just so many advantages to house swapping as a practical and inexpensive way to enjoy your regular holiday break — or even the vacation of a lifetime, in that exotic locale you've always wanted to visit.

What makes house swapping a very practical way to holiday for most people is the enormous saving all parties make on accommodation costs. Remember, house swapping means just what it says — two homeowners literally exchange houses for an agreed period, at no cost to either party.

For most vacations of a couple of weeks or longer, accommodation is the single most expensive item on the budget. And even if it's not number one, it'll almost certainly be number two.

Just imagine having that cost deducted from your holiday expenses!

Through a vacation house swap, you'll also enjoy the tremendous convenience of a fully equipped kitchen. You won't need to go out for meals day and night, and can eat out purely when you want to. Besides the convenience, you will of course save a great deal more money this way. In fact, you probably won't spend much more on meals than you would if you'd stayed at home!

Some further benefits that house swapping offers are more space, privacy and comfort than almost any hotel, motel or resort can give you. And with Aussie House Swap, you can check out available swaps online, well in advance of your trip. This way, you are able to look at exactly what's on offer. No more arriving at places which don't live up to their glossy brochures. (And haven't we all done that more than once!)

Your house swapping partner/s will also be able to fill you in on what's hot and what's not in their neck of the woods, with up-to-date local knowledge, and their own recommended spots to visit. Places that won't necessarily be in the tourist guides. Possibly even places of great natural beauty, or fine cuisine, that are free from hordes of tourists. Or great eateries where you need to make an advance booking to get the best tables. Remember, local knowledge and personal recommendation always beat paid ads in a tourist guide or a weekly "What's On" magazine.

Lots of people even swap cars when they exchange houses during their holidays. If your swap involves a flight, you'll save on car hire — or avoid the inconvenience of always having to rely on public transport — that comes with a traditional hotel, motel or resort vacation to a distant destination. Once more, a significant cost saving accompanies the choice to house swap.

And talking of car swaps, even if you're going to a city to which you could have driven, by flying you'll be there much more quickly. You may well have a full extra day, or even more, in which to enjoy your holiday, by not having to drive there and back. And the cost of a flight (especially one booked early at cheaper rates) will be more than affordable due to the absence of accommodation costs.

Furthermore, partly because of the big cost savings, you may find yourself considering holiday spots you wouldn't otherwise have thought of. Perhaps even out-of-the-way places, far from the normal tourist beat, with no hotels, motels or resorts within miles. For example, a pristine beach, a trout stream or an outback cattle station may grab your attention as you scan the available swaps.

And there's no need to settle for the "same old same old" every year. This year, why not cross the Tasman and visit our friendly neighbours? Then next year, check out some of the islands. Followed by a visit to the mountains the year after that. There really is no end to the wonderful opportunities and possibilities that house swapping vacations can present. You can literally make each holiday a new and exciting adventure, with the extensive and growing Aussie House Swap database to choose from.

There's also, of course, the security you gain by exchanging houses with another swapper. Instead of leaving it empty, with mail, junk mail and newspapers piling up (in between being collected by the neighbours) — a virtual invitation to vandals and thieves — your house will continue to be occupied while you're away.

Not to mention that your swapper will be able to take care of your pets, saving them the trauma of going to an unfamiliar kennel or cattery, and you the trauma of paying the bill when you get back home!

In fact, there are really only two problems with taking a house swap holiday: firstly, choosing between the many delectable alternatives which are available, and secondly, deciding what to do with all the money you'll save!

How much does it cost?
Aussie House Swap membership is only $65 per year! However, if you do not manage to house swap in your first year we will give you another 12 months membership absolutely free! This is our guarantee to you! For $65 (less than the cost of one nights motel accommodation) you can make as many house swaps as you like within your 12 months.

Article courtesy of Aussie House Swap website.
Image for illustration purposes only

New Hotel Opens Inside Monument Valley

~ On my next trip to the United States, I am heading south to see one of the greatest iconic American landscapes of all: Monument Valley.

The natural formations of Monument Valley, the ones we have seen countless westerns and TV commercials, stand so close that you feel like you can reach out and press your hand to them…the Mittens - left thumb, right thumb, and the third monolith Mitchell's Butte, rising to the right. There is an amazing panorama with colours so vivid that it looks like a Hollywood stage set. The landscape is painted with the colours that that you find in Navajo art and jewellery: a turquoise blue sky, white clouds, and a vast desert rich in reds sprinkled with green and jet black accents.

All this, and more, is said to be the view from a guestroom balcony at the newly opened VIEW Hotel in Monument Valley.This one-of-a-kind hotel is big news for tourists but even bigger news for the Navajo Nation. This is the first hotel ever built on Navajo Tribal Park land, in the very first Tribal Park ever established, and this year marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the park.

Ray Russell, Director of Navajo Parks & Recreation, says "The VIEW Hotel is a groundbreaking event for the Navajo Nation. The location was selected because it is adjacent to the Park Visitors Centre which has served tourists for over 50 years. This project is our first step to utilize the tourism resources of the Navajo Nation in a manner similar to the US Department of Interior when they have partnered with the private sector to improve and provide visitor services in National Parks. The workforce constructing the hotel is over 90% Navajo Nation members. The hotel, restaurant and store will eventually provide jobs for over 100 people.”

Jobs in the Navajo are big news. The Navajo Nation (over 27,000 square miles, the size of West Virginia) has a staggering unemployment rate of nearly 50%. Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley says “Job creation on Tribal land means economic opportunity but also translates into cultural preservation. When family members can find employment close to their traditional homes they stay connected with their culture and their language. This fosters an environment where traditional ways of the Navajo people can be passed from generation to generation. The VIEW Hotel in Monument Valley will provide opportunity in a very needed region.”

The VIEW Hotel is 100% family owned and operated – Armanda Ortega of the Kiy`anníí (Towering House) Clan welcomes the opportunity to host guests from around the world in a place of beauty and spiritual importance to the Navajo people. “Our hotel is designed with respect for the sacred setting in which it is located – it has been designed to exist in harmony with this unique land. Every guestroom has a view directly facing the Mittens and the exterior of the hotel will be from a colour palate of the red earth that surrounds us.”

The hotel is an environmentally friendly design with a low contour that conforms to the mesa overlooking the valley. The VIEW goes beyond what have become standard eco-friendly building practices using low-flow water devices, extra insulation, windows with energy efficient values, and fluorescent lighting. There are operable windows in public spaces including the soaring two story lobby that allows for natural air flow for energy efficient cooling.

Every guest in the 90 room VIEW Hotel will have a private balcony that faces the famous panorama of the Mittens and the great desert expanse. You can actually see four states from The VIEW which is located adjacent to the Tribal Park Visitors Center in Arizona – the formations in Utah stand to your left, the Mittens are in Arizona directly in front of you, and the mountains of New Mexico and Colorado rise in the distance. The third floor Star View rooms combine the vista of the majestic formations with an unobstructed view of the stars above.