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The Sabbatical Trip After 7 years at Intel, an employee is granted 8 weeks of sabbatical leave. It's quite a nice benefit and I've been looking forward to it for some time. I became eligible on Feb 2nd and my sabbatical began on Feb 9th. Guess I was looking forward to it a lot! I wanted to do a fairly dramatic trip. Something to remember. I always had it in my mind to go to Australia and New Zealand, ever since a very brief trip there in the early nineties when I was with Sequent. I was in Sydney for all of two and a half days and Wellington, NZ for less than 24 hours. But it was enough to get hooked. I conned my friend and long-time traveling companion Les, who does not have a sabbatical, into spending 5 weeks with me exploring Australia and New Zealand. Somehow, he managed to get the time off. My wife and son, being tied to the Beaverton School District schedule, only had this kind of time off in the summer. And summer is winter in Australia, so that wasn't going to work. Any of you reading this while I'm gone, who speak to my wife, be sure to tell her what a kind, wonderful, and understanding person she is. I could not have done this without her support. |
[click here for New Zealand map] The plan, such as it is, is this: fly to Perth in western Australia. Rent a campervan. Head up and/or down the western coast and back, then east along the southern seacoast. Perhaps take a jog north through the Outback to visit Ayers Rock, if time permits (although it's unlikely, it's a long way). Continue on through Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney, and on up the eastern seaboard, or possibly the eastern mountains, to Cairns in the northeast to visit the Great Barrier Reef. It's 6000 miles or more and we have four weeks to cover it. The trick will be to get to Cairns while still having enough time to actually get out of the camper. We have a plane to catch in Cairns so we have to be sure we make it on time. In Cairns we'll drop off the camper van, and fly to New Zealand for a week, where the plan is roughly similar. Travel from Auckland down to the tip of the south island. Then back to Sydney for the long ride home, arriving just in time for my birthday and spring break. |
