Forks in the Road

Mar 6

Have you had something ‘bad’ happen, that at the time felt like the ‘end of the world’ but a while later you’ve said…

“That was the luckiest day ever – if it wasn’t for that happening, I’d never have ended up on this path!”

Such as..

The day our working visa application for Sweden was refused. Having already handed in our London flat notice and resigned from our jobs in anticipation of an imminent departure to spend the summer working in Sweden, meant we had to find somewhere else to travel where we could work (to earn the money to travel ‘home’). That despondent day we boarded a red double decker bus and with a heavy heart headed down to Earl’s Court, walked into a flight shop and peered at a World map splayed across the entire wall. The guy behind the desk suggested a flight to Singapore, island hop though Indonesia to Bali, then fly into Australia to replenish funds… The worst day of our life turned into the brightest as… a week later we were headed towards a new country that was to become our home.

The day I got sacked from my sole means of income – washing dishes (I know, I hear you ask – HOW do you get sacked from a job washing dishes… but that’s another story!) meant I sought out a job working for the Australian Tourist Commission interviewing departing passengers at Darwin airport leading to a chance meeting with Henning, a geological draftsman (who was not departing but waiting for a friend by the name of Gecko to land) and who introduced me to (the then unknown art of) Cartography! If it wasn’t for that passing encounter neither you nor I would be on this page today

The day my partner’s professional camera gear got stolen in Bali, requiring a change of plan from going on a work assignment for Geographic Magazine to photograph the hill tribes in Timor to devising a different method of earning sufficient funds to return to England. Meaning, he re-entered Australia and automatically renewed his returning resident visa - This unplanned entry meant when three years later I finished my course (studying Cartography at Oxford in the UK), instead of both our visas having expired, his visa was still valid and, we were able to return to Australia and make it our home – phew!

Some forks in the road appear… a decision is made… and it is our choice that results in the unique outcome -

However, some forks are more of a pronged affair creating a distinct turn for the worse forcing an involuntary change of course.

Have you had a dire situation occur that seemed ‘Oh so bad’ at the time, which later appeared to be a godsend?

Do share in the comments below.

My Journey Jottings Aussie Odyssey!

Nov 29

I received a Tweet from @RedNomadOz on Twitter in July of this year:

And about a week later…

I’d been enjoying following the trails and tales of Red Nomad Oz on her blog for some time, when as part of her ‘Australia’s Scenic Public Toilets’ series she sighted #17 at White Cliffs (in outback NSW) along with…“arguably the most remote OZ location to stock the fabulous ‘Journey Jottings’ products”!

Amused to have Journey Jottings included in the post I commented:

And so here it is…

Red Nomad Oz’s Journey Jottings Australia Odyssey

I’m not a GPS kind of girl.

Call me a dinosaur, but I loathe everything about its inane voice: the insistence, intrusion – and sometimes in-correctness. The sanctimonious know-it-all attitude if you deviate from the chosen path is teeth-grindingly irritating. I abhor the lack of perspective. And I don’t trust that following the ‘bouncing ball’ will get me where I’m going in the best possible way.

OZ Caravan park happy hour tales of rigs damaged by fearlessly following the GPS down bad roads, farm tracks and impassable river crossings are common. Ask those same travellers where they spent the previous night, and other than a coordinates reference, they’re completely clueless!

Give me a good old map any day.

Unfurling our giant Aussie touring map onto the table marks the moment a trip really begins. The map conjures up countless possibilities, engenders vigorous discussion, shapes the journey.

You just don’t get the same inspiration, direction or interaction from a GPS.

So when I discovered the FAAAAAABULOUS Journey Jottings maps (and other products!) to record where I’ve been AND blogged about in OZ, I was a happy Red Nomad. I HAD to have one! Happily, while on tour in 2011 I inadvertently stalked Journey Jottings products in an Aussie Odyssey across the wildly different landscapes of 3 states.

Our first stop in New South Wales’ Wentworth, home to the world’s first tractor monument, wasn’t far across the state border (aka River Murray) from Victoria’s Mildura.

Mildura's main street - from Hudak's Bakery

After a VERY successful visit to Mildura’s two-storey bakery, I spied a Journey Jottings map in the Mildura Visitor Centre. Back across into New South Wales – and I saw another in the Wentworth Visitor Information Centre. Two sightings in one day couldn’t be coincidence, could it?

Murray Darling Rivers Junction, Wentworth

A couple of weeks later it was third time lucky in arguably the most remote spot in OZ for a Journey Jottings – the Red Earth café in the tiny opal mining town of White Cliffs. A sign so deep in the heart of New South Wales’ central west couldn’t be ignored – and a few minutes later…

the Journey Jottings map was mine!

White Cliffs from the Fossicking Fields

Apart from the White Cliffs killer public toilets I’ve already blogged about, White Cliffs attractions include birdwatching, (possibly) the world’s cheapest opal mine tour, nearby Lake Peery and opal fossicking. AND … the incredible Australian Outback landscape. Unique in OZ, White Cliffs scores a big tick for a return visit – with serious opal hunting equipment – AND a cheque book! Just in case …

Heading north, and well into Queensland, we re-visited Winton’s Waltzing Matilda Centre – the only museum in the world dedicated to a song – after an uncharacteristically wet night! The stash of Journey Jottings products was right at home alongside tributes to this iconic Aussie song.

Waltzing Matilda Centre, Winton

If Winton sounds familiar, it should! Home of the world’s biggest Deckchair and an intriguing Musical Fence, it forms the OZ dinosaur trail with Richmond and Hughendon – the fascinating fossils in all three towns rivalled only by what you can dig up! Or not …

Quite a different story heading west to Queensland’s Boulia – home of the marvellously mysterious Min Min light! If I hadn’t already bought my Journey Jottings map, I’d have added one to the heat sensitive Min Min light mug I bought after seeing the cheat’s version of the light at the terrific Min Min Encounter. Boulia’s Stone house museum highlights it’s fascinating history, and eclectic collections include rocket range space junk…

Rocket Range Space Junk, Boulia

…and the best preserved Plesiosaur fossil in OZ.

We head north-east to the coast and Townsville, home of Castle Hill’s ‘the Saint’, and a range of Journey Jottings products in the wonderful Museum of Tropical Queensland gift shop. Our stay extended by ongoing car troubles, we knocked back cat-poo coffee at Herveys Range Heritage Tea Rooms, explored nearby Magnetic Island and spied Black-throated Finch for only the 2^ndtime ever at Oak Valley.

Further north, I wasn’t surprised to find Journey Jottings maps at the delightfully quirky Absells Chart and Map Centre in downtown Cairns, unofficial capital of Australia’s tropical north. For inspiration about what to do in Cairns, head to the Esplanade – and get started on working your way through all the gelato flavours!

Then head for the Botanic Gardens with one of the most beautiful Scenic Public Toilets in OZ and a series of superb walks.

Infinity Pool, Esplanade, Cairns

Just south of Ingham, Mutarnee’s excellent Crystal Creek caravan park was handy for visiting the extensive Tyto Wetlands and its 230 bird species. Never say ‘diet’ in Ingham – with two superb bakeries and Lou’s Emporium – an Italian deli with a selection so extensive, I had to invoke the ‘just try one of everything’ trick!

After re-visiting Townsville’s northern beaches, the marvellous Paluma range and Jourama Falls, we returned to the wetlands for more bird watching. Only to find – of course –a range of Journey Jottings products at the Tyto Wetlands Information Centre, Ingham.

Castle Hill & Townsville from Cape Pallarenda

By this time I’d seen Linda’s website offer – send in a photo of yourself + Journey Jottings map and score a free product! And maybe I would have, if we hadn’t been the only visitors in the Visitor Information Centre, outnumbered by the staff!! But no matter …I already had my map – and the beginnings of my own eye-catching and original trip memento!

So as we headed south I had a slew of 2011 adventures to blog about AND record on my map. But once I filled in details of this trip, the vast unexplored expanse of OZ that remains for us to discover became even more obvious!

It’s funny – I bought the map to help us look back on our 2011 journey, never anticipating it’d make me look forward as well! Now we’ve got the impetus to fill in the rest of the map – so watch this space as my Aussie Odyssey with Journey Jottings continues!

To read more of Red Nomad Oz’s adventures head over to her blog at

Amazing Australian Adventures

Where have you spotted a Map Journal?

Reveal all and receive a Journey Jottings product of your choice

Journey Jottings... highlights your holiday adventures

Uluru – The Day I First Laid Eyes on Uluru

Nov 22

After a 3am start to get to the airport for a 5am lift off to Uluru, we left the coastal humidity of Brisbane and flew into Australia’s heart – the Red Centre.

Peering down onto the scrubby outback and gouged channel country from 35,000 feet we flew over flooded Lake Eyre and sparkling salt pans until as the mid-day sun was reaching its zenith the soil colour changed from a bleached grey to rusty red, and… a tantalising first fleeting glimpse of Uluru came into view as we circled to land.

“There it is! There it is!” And with the excitement and anticipation of seeing a long lost friend – I beamed with delight.

There aren’t many iconic places you go to in your life, which prior to your visit, you’ve been bombarded with a giz’illion images forming impressions and expectations. Such places have a lot to live up to – Could Uluru live up to my high hopes?

It was mid-day as the air-plane doors opened and the black beating tarmac of Yulara airstrip punched me in the face. Stepping out onto the glistening silver staircase into the brilliant sunshine, the dry central Australia heat engulfed me.

My impatience wanted to get straight out there, but with a body recoiling from the oven I’d just stepped into, I retreated to some air conditioned comfort for a few hours allowing the sun to loose its edge as it lowered itself towards the horizon.

About 4pm, we ventured out making our way to the Uluru – Kata Tjuta National Park entrance – There’s a $25 fee that is valid for 3 days.