Travel Plans Part 3

It is just over a week until I leave Dunedin. I have mixed feelings. Never thought that after only 6 months I would be feeling sad at leaving both the city and my new friends.

I have made some changes to my New England plans and there are some problems with Nova Scotia. I discovered that I could catch a train from Albany to Port Kent in upper New York State and from there travel across the lake by ferry to Burlington. I was able to cancel the hotel reservation in Springfield. After the 3 days in Burlington I will catch the train to New Haven and then the next morning to Boston. I hope to visit both Salem and Concord.


After flying from Boston to Halifax I plan to catch the bus to Baddeck the same day,  do a tour of the Cabot trail the next day then back to Halifax.  However the Tour operator will not take a booking until they have at least 2 people for the trip so I need to ring closer to the date.
I am wondering if it will be better to just spend 4 nights in Halifax.

I am booked on the overnight train from Halifax to Montreal. After 2 nights there I have a train ticket to Quebec for 3 nights then back through Montreal to Ottawa for 4 nights.

From Ottawa to Toronto for 2 nights but I have booked a full day return by train to Niagara Falls so I will not see much of Toronto.

Then I fly to San Francisco for 2 nights before tackling the long overnight journey back to Auckland, of course losing a whole day in the process.

I will arrive Auckland on October 31 at 5.45am and catch the 7.15am plane arriving Dunedin at 9.30am. Sorry I will not be at the 10 am Eucharist but will have to wait until the afternoon to collect my car as it is being stored in the garage of one of the church wardens.

I am keen to see friends back in Sydney and excited about the Norway cruise, the Proms in London and the Passion Play. It will be great to meet people from online as I travel through the USA but I am feeling I may be a bit deflated  by the time I reach Canada and just want to get home.
It is just hitting me that I will be away for 12 weeks which is longer than any time away since way back in 1974.

All up I will be in  Australia 12 nights

                             Thailand 1 night

                              Germany 5 nights

                              Denmark 3 nights

                              Norway 14 nights

                              England 8 nights

                              Luxembourg 1 night

                              USA 21 nights

                              Canada 16 nights

                           Ship between Denmark and Norway 1 night

                           Ship between Denmark and England 1 night

                              Plane between USA and NZ 1 night

Need Help in Trip Planning

While a major reason for my big move was to leave the Sydney Diocese, an equal reason was to move to a cool climate and another was to free up the funds tied up in the block of land next to my house in the Blue Mountains.

I purchased the block a few years after the house in the mid 80's. It protected the view over the valleys from my house and I  enjoyed landscaping the upper section of it. I did not enjoy maintaining the garden as I got older.  It had a cliff of about 10 metres dividing the upper 20% from the lower 80%.  I do not remember when I last went down the bottom.  My house block was similar but the upper section was more  like a third.

A problem developed when I became eligible for an age pension from the government. The Australian government takes into account all assets other than the family home and block in assessing the amount of pension. They counted the neighbouring block of land as an asset but I could not earn any interest on it nor spend any of it.

I knew it would be very hard to sell on its own and most potential purchasers (young couples) of the house were uninterested in the extra land.  I was very thankful when a middle aged couple agreed to buy both.  I have allocated the money from the land sale to future travel.

Which brings me to the point of this post. I need to at least book my flights soon.

I have long ago booked and paid for 2 nights in Oberramergau (Sept 20&21) so planning hinges around those dates. I want a month in Europe before and a month in USA/Canada afterwards


A Round the World Trip allows 5 stopovers. I intend them to be Sydney, Bangkok, Frankfurt, Chicago-Toronto, and San Francisco or Los Angeles. Bangkok and LA or SF are mainly to allow me a good sleep as I detest long flights.

My vague itinerary at the moment is to arrive (after 10 days in Sydney) in
Frankfurt on Aug 20(1n)
Train to Copenhagen (1n)
Overnight ferry to Oslo(1n)
Train to Bergen (1n)

Board Hurtigruten ship for 10 nights cruising the Fiords up to Kirkenes and back to Trondheim

Train back to Oslo (2n)

Train to Copenhagen (2n) (I visited Oslo and Copenhagen in 1974 but guess they have changed)

Train- overnight ferry-train to London about September 9.


Undecided here for 10 nights except I have a dream to attend the Last Night of the Proms (ok in the park opposite) on September 11 and must be in Munich on September 19.

I have never been to Ireland, would love to return to Lakes District and have a friend in Bradford. (Have not been to UK since 1980).  Paris always beckons but perhaps I could give it a miss and hope for future trips as I spent 2 weeks there in both 2002 and 2007.

After Oberammergau, I hope to fly from either Munich or Frankfurt to Chicago on Sept 22 (arrive 23) and stay 2 nights. (I spent 24 hours there in 1999)

Back on trains I plan to travel to New York (undecided about travelling on Lakeshore Limited or Cardinal)

I want to worship with Rev Elizabeth at Chatham on September 26 and there is also a possibility of a Brokeback meeting in New York that weekend.

I have about 9 days to see Boston (was there in 1980), perhaps visit Fran in Albany (Hi Fran) and Motheramelia in Maine and see the Fall colours.

The last Cat from Yarmouth to Portland is about Oct 9 (2010 timetable not yet posted).

I have allocated 6 nights to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island then back on train.

Overnight to Montreal (4 n)

Quebec (2n)

Ottawa (3n)

Toronto (4n with a day to Niagara and back)

Not sure why I allocated the nights that way, am certainly open to advice there.

Then possibly 2 nights in either SF or LA. have been to both and prefer SF  but would like to visit a church in the Diocese of LA.

Finally Dunedin via Auckland.
(phew)

Some comments - I hate flying but know it is a necessary evil if I want to travel from the bottom of the world.  It is why I go for so long at a time - to make the trip worthwhile.

I love train travel and am quite fond of ship travel although am wary of a long cruise and this will be the longest I have ever spent on a ship at one time but hope the Norwegian scenery will make it all worthwhile. I think I would be bored on a long ocean cruise.

Would appreciate any advice either publicly or by private email (see profile).

Long Term Plans

Not much blogging as I have been trying to prepare a 35 year old house for sale and housework is the last thing I like to do. I have been reading blogs as a break from the task. Amazing the dust that develops in hidden places where no-one would ever look unless they were considering to buy a home and I cannot just blame the recent dust storms.

However I have also been amusing myself planning a long journey at the end of next year. I do not even know where I will be living so most plans are vague except today the cost of 2 nights accommodation in Oberammergau and the tickets to the Passion play went onto my credit card. The tickets are for the performance on September 21, 2010.  If I cancel up to 6 months before I only lose 20% and 3 months before 30%. However even a year before the date I had to take a higher accommodation level than I originally wanted.

Friends from South Africa, whom I met on the train to the performance back in 1980, emailed me back in March suggesting a reunion (The play is only performed every 10 years.) However my emails to them have gone unanswered since May so sadly I am going alone. I am very worried about them in the volatile conditions in Johannesburg.

My dreams are to spend September in Europe. I have never been to Portugal and visited Spain way back in 1980. Or I could return to the British Isles which I last visited also in 1980 and have never been to Ireland. I must resist spending too much more time in Bavaria which I love so much but was there in 2008.

After the performance I am considering returning home via the USA and Canada.

My plan is to complete a loop mainly by train from Chicago to New York to New England onto Nova Scotia then Montreal, Quebec, Ottawa, Toronto and Niagara. Finally flying from Toronto with a stopover in either San Francisco or Los Angeles.

I was not sure which way to go but find I would see more in daylight on the Lake Shore Limited from Chicago to New York rather than the other way.

I want to catch the jetcat from Portland to Nova Scotia but this year it finishes running on October 12 and I have just learnt from Grandmere's blog that the leaves in New England may not be at their best that early.

I also find it is difficult to see some places on my list such as Mt Washington in New Hampshire and the Cabot trail in Nova Scotia. I either need to drive (Right hand traffic, no, no) or travel with an expensive tour, they always stay in much more expensive accommodation than I need or can afford.  Europe is so much easier than North America, or Australia for that matter, for the budget traveller without a car.

However al these details can wait until next year, I must stop dreaming and get back to housework.