Free trade? I think not…

21 12 2007

I’m planning my March 2008 US trip now, getting flights sorted (done) and now car hire as I intend driving from Los Angeles to Portland, then on Seattle, Vancouver Island and finally Vancouver from where I’ll fly back to Australia (via Hong Kong).

My original intention was to rent a car from LAX to Vancouver, then, when no car rental company allowed me to do that, from LAX to Portland dropping off in Portland for the duration of the conference, then picking up another car in Portland and dropping it in Vancouver 6 days later when I fly home to Australia. Great intentions. Shame about the execution.

I’ve spent over a day checking out details on various car rental websites (direct and aggregator sites, both in Australia and the US), as well as looking at options with my travel agent.

I thought I had it nailed yesterday with an Australia company called Driveaway. Their prices were good, but they wouldn’t give the drop off fee for a one way rental on their website—you have to fill in your credit card and personal details before they’d let you know. I’ve been bitten with these fees before—sometimes they go into the hundreds of dollars, so I didn’t want to have to fill out my details before knowing the price. I called Driveaway and spoke to a lovely lady there. She confirmed that there was no drop fee between LAX and Portland (yippee!). But said that—despite their website saying to the contrary—I couldn’t pick up in Portland and drop off in Vancouver! I could only pick up in Seattle as it was the closest large city to Vancouver, not Portland (some 2.5 hours drive south of Seattle!). Something about the rules of all car rental companies. Unbelievable!

It seems NO car rental companies allow you to rent a car in just any city and drop it off in Canada if there’s a closer city you go through (e.g. you can rent in Boston to go to Montreal, but you couldn’t rent in Baltimore to go to Montreal).

Can you believe with all the NAFTA and other agreements between the US and Canada that I can’t rent in the US and drop off in Canada some two weeks later??? These are GLOBAL car rental companies, not “El Cheapo Auto Wrecks” on a street corner in East LA.

So this means I have to rent from LAX to Seattle (no drop off fee), park the car at the hotel in Portland for 4 days at around $20 per day, get to Seattle Airport, get all my luggage out of the car, get in line to fill in all the paperwork again, then pick up another rental car… which could well be the one I’ve just dropped off! Oh and the second rental is quite expensive because it’s not for a full week, and there’s a US$100 drop off fee.

I could just rent to Portland, then Portland to Seattle, then Seattle to Vancouver, but it’s actually cheaper to rent for the longer period of time and put the car in the hotel car park while the conference is on. Besides, that would mean THREE trips to a car rental counter and all the paperwork and declining insurance palaver…

Still, at least I’ll have a car in Portland if some of us decide to go out for a meal away from the hotel area, or take a trip to the wonderful Powell’s Books if the weather’s inclement! Or just be tourists.

And for all those wondering why I don’t just FLY to Portland from LA? Well, I’ve got friends and family I want to see in various parts of California, the drive is very pretty (along the Pacific Highway, not the I-5), and I also have friends on Vancouver Island I want to see who are some distance from the ferry terminals, which means I need a car. My Circle Pacific fare with Qantas and Cathay Pacific allows me to leave from Vancouver to go to Hong Kong then on to Perth, which means I don’t have to spend any more time than I have to in LAX! That’s always a good thing.


Comments : 3 Comments »

Categories : USA

Checking out a beach

4 11 2007
Summer is coming and we know we’re about 75 mins from the Busselton beaches and a similar distance from the Bunbury beaches. Busselton would be my preference—the beaches are calmer being in the corner of Geographe Bay, and there are cafes etc. pretty much on the beach. I grew up on Bunbury beaches and the back beaches are notorious for rips, dumping etc. Not pretty. Location of Windy Harbour

But there’s another beach within two hours of Bridgetown—on the south coast of Western Australia. So we took a drive to Windy Harbour today to check it out. The drive was a little longer than I’d expected based on the distance (90 mins), but that’s because the road is fairly narrow and winding. Beautiful drive though, through some fantastic forested areas especially between Pemberton and Northcliffe. Of course, a glorious spring day helped!

We checked out the Windy Harbour beach, but that’s not for us. The fishing boats come in and out of there, there’s seasonal seaweed piled up and stinking on the beach, and it’s bloody windy!!! Guess it’s not called Windy Harbour for nothing…

Oh well. We figured we may never be back, so we took a drive to the Point d’Entrecasteaux lighthouse and checked out the stunning views of the Southern Ocean (next stop, Antarctica!) from the cliffs. And then we spotted it! Salmon Beach. Sheltered from the wind, in a bay, clean white sand for miles and miles, no rocks, no seaweed and no fishermen. We didn’t go on to the beach itself though a couple of people were fishing from it, but it’s a definite possibility. The only detraction—that water will be icy cold ALL year round, including at the height of summer.

Salmon Beach, d’Emtrecasteaux National Park

Here’s my pathetic attempt at a panorama of Salmon Beach. For the full size (and better quality) photos click here and continue on the next couple of pages.


Comments : Leave a Comment »

Categories : Australia, Life stuff

Field of quilts

30 09 2007

We took a drive through the backroads today to go to Boddington. Why Boddington? Well, the local Arts Council in this very small community had their sixth annual “Field of Quilts” exhibition.

They hold the exhibition in a field near the town hall and string up the quilts as though they’re on a washing line. There were heaps of quilts flapping away in the sunshine (and the rain showers), and even more in the hall. Some quilt vendors had stalls selling fat quarters, notions, and other goodies, but I didn’t buy any. Even my husband appreciated some of them—he’s been taping Simply Quilts for me whenever I’m away, and he takes out the ads, which means he has to watch the show! He’s obviously learned something because when I talked about the ‘stained glass’ effect created by black bias fabric used on some of the quilts, he knew what I was talking about. And he pointed out the stippling on some quilts, ‘cos he’s seen me do it!

The exhibition is just that—an exhibition, not a judged competition. Anyone can enter their work. If the visitors want to, they can vote for the quilt they think is the best and the winner gets a $250 prize.

Unfortunately, my camera’s memory card is playing up at the moment, so I got maybe one photo (which I’ll share if I can get it to download…).

It took longer to get to Boddington than I thought. I expected it to take about two hours, but it was closer to two and a half. We did a big loop going up the inland backroads, then back on Albany highway and cutting in towards to coast. (Reason: It’s a long weekend and none of the little towns—including Boddington—had a fuel outlet open. Go figure! So we had to get on to Albany Highway to get fuel at Williams.) So it was about a five hour drive, plus an hour or so at the quilt exhibition. A gorgeous spring day, marred by a few rain showers. The pastures and crops are looking magnificent! And there were lots of wildflowers on the sides on many of the roads, with the best display on the Collie to Williams road.

Where we went:

Drive to Boddington

The only bummer of the day was coming across a motorcycle accident on the Boyup Brook to Mumballup road, near Noggerup. Police and ambulance were in attendance, but unfortunately there was a silver foil blanket over the body on the side of the road. I’ve never seen that before, except on TV. It’s very different when it’s real. A very sobering wake up call. May he rest in peace.


Comments : 2 Comments »

Categories : Australia, Quilts and fabric stuff

Melbourne trip

25 09 2007

Our quick trip to Melbourne to watch the AFL Preliminary Final had some other features:

  • The VirginBlue flights were uneventful, and the leg room was much more than on Qantas. Staff were very pleasant.
  • We got to visit my Mum’s sister and her family on Friday, then have lunch with my cousin and her husband. I hadn’t seen any of them for about 10-15 years, so that was good!
  • The rental car was an electric/petrol hybrid—a Toyota Prius. After getting used to the start up/shut down procedure and the lack of noise (!!!) it was a great car to drive. And incredibly fuel efficient. We did 200kms and when I filled the tank before returning the car to the airport, it took only 6 litres! That’s 3L per 100kms. Normal vehicles run about 9-10L/100kms, and 4WDs are upwards of 12L/100kms. The lack of noise was a little disconcerting at first. When you are idling (like at traffic lights or when you first start the car), there is NO engine noise, so it seems like you’ve stalled, except all the dash lights tell you otherwise.
  • The toll road charges are HORRENDOUS! $11 per calendar day whether you use the roads or not. No wonder Victoria can afford such great sporting and arts venues.
  • We walked for about 2 hours around the Yarra on Saturday morning before going to the airport. The weather was absolutely brilliant and Melbourne shone like a Christmas bauble! Photos are here…

Melbourne in the spring


Comments : Leave a Comment »

Categories : Australia

Oh, the places you’ll see!

6 08 2007

For the past year or so now, I’ve been writing about life and living in my local area. Of course, quite a few of you live outside Western Australia, and even outside Australia and so probably have no clue where I’m talking about! So I thought I’d give you some perspective on where I live.

Here’s a Google map that is centred on Bridgetown, Western Australia: http://tinyurl.com/2l3d6p. Zoom in/out to get a sense of place. Perth is where we used to live; the company I do most of my technical writing work for these days has its head office in Brisbane, Queensland on the other side of Australia!


Comments : 1 Comment »

Categories : Australia, Travel

Botanica Gallery

3 08 2007
When we went to Pemberton two weekends ago, I forgot to mention we stopped in to take a look at the Botanica Gallery there.Wow! What a superb little gallery this is, with the most exquisite paintings and drawings of the unique flora of southwest Western Australia. It is a joint showcase for the works of six prominent West Australian botanical artists, and includes textiles and books, as well as their art works for sale.

Some years ago, I went to a UWA Summer School Extension course run by Katrina Syme, one of the artists who exhibits at the Botanica Gallery. Her course was called “Art from Nature”, and I learnt a lot, though I’ve rarely had a chance to put pen/ink/paint to paper since. Katrina’s specialty is fungi, though she does flowers and leaves as well.

I think my favourite artist of the six was Ellen Hickman – I’d *love* to be able to draw/paint like that!

 Botanica Gallery

Comments : Leave a Comment »

Categories : Australia, Travel

Street-wise emus and kangaroos

23 07 2007

One of the things that many in the US have often asked is “Do kangaroos hop down the main street?” Those who have actually been to Australia never ask this question, and it often amuses us Aussies to answer “Yes”, just to see the reaction.

Well, yesterday we found a town where kangaroos and emus *do* roam the streets!! Despite the wintery weather (rain, strong winds, cold), we took a drive to Donnelly River, then on to Manjimup and Pemberton and back.

Donnelly River is an old mill town. Like many small towns in the southwest of Western Australia, when the timber mill closed the town died. But they kept the houses at Donnelly River and have made the place into a holiday village where you can rent out a whole house or two or three for a night or a week at a time. There are a couple of places like this in southwest, and they are ideal for large community, corporate, or school groups – or just a very big family!So we drove through the two streets in Donnelly River. And saw about 6 kangaroos and at least a dozen emus just wandering about without a care in the world. Some were strolling across the old school yard, others were lolling about on front lawns, some were lurking near verandas, others were sheltering out of the rain under trees in front yards, and still others were ambling down the road.

To the Americans I’ve kidded about this, I take it all back! Donnelly River is one town in Australia where kangaroos and emus *do* roam the streets!

More pictures of the kangaroos and emus at Donnelly River…

 Emu strolling along the main street of Donnelly River

Comments : 1 Comment »

Categories : Australia, Travel

Week in Brisbane: Summary

17 07 2007

I’ve been back a few days now (and as busy as!), so this will be a quick summary of my week in Brisbane last week:

  • VirginBlue flight left after 10:30pm on Monday night. They stuffed up the seat allocation so this guy and I were both allocated the same seat. The steward had a hissy fit at me and was rude and obnoxious. I posted my letter of complaint to VirginBlue today. Will I fly with them again? Nope. Not if I have anything to do with it! Their motto: “The on-time airline.” My experience? That’s BS!
  • Had meetings and workshops with the new team the entire week. Great group of people. Mixture of software tech-heads and geology/mining people.
  • The company is very transparent – employees at all levels are kept informed of the bottom line at all times. The company doesn’t have ‘feel good’ mission statements or sprout off about how much they value their employees – they just do it! Actions speak louder than words and their actions the entire week were terrific. There’s no need for talking the talk if you can walk the walk.
  • The social events they had organised for the team were great. On Tuesday night we had dinner at the “Pig and Whistle”, an Irish pub in the Brisbane CBD. There were probably about 30 of us and the company picked up the tab for the food and the drinks. On Thursday night we went to the Strike Bowling Bar to do ten-pin bowling (Craig, you’ll be impressed! I chose the lime green/yellow/fluoro bowling ball!!). Lots of yummy finger food and snacks served. Open bar… yes, including cocktails! Mmmm… Long Island Iced Tea and Caprioska! After the bowling, we adjourned to the pool tables. Some left at a reasonable hour; some were still there at 3:00am!! (or so we heard the next day – it sure wasn’t me!)
  • Our Perth team stayed at the Hotel Grand Chancellor in Brisbane, about a 20 minute walk from the office. Breakfast was excellent. Rooms were good except for the tiny and very awkward bathrooms (The toilet was directly behind the door, and you couldn’t open the door more than halfway as a result. Reaching around the door and the toilet to turn on the shower was an exercise in contortion!) Internet access was…. wait for it… 55c a MINUTE!! Highway robbery. I checked email etc. at the office. Even though the company paid all charges, that to me was an absolute rip-off.
  • Qantas Club at Brisbane Airport on Friday night was standing room only! I’ve never seen a lounge that busy. After the flights to Sydney and Melbourne had left, it cleared out enough to find some chairs to sit on.
  • Qantas flight home was uneventful – and on time. Got in just after 11:00pm Friday, grabbed bags, caught shuttle to carpark out in Woop-Woop, car started OK (but was FILTHY), overnight accommodation was cheap but fine.
  • Drove home on Saturday, stopping off in Mandurah to get fuel, put car through car wash, grab a late breakfast (mmmm…. Aussie meat pie!), look at sofas in a couple of stores and write down measurements of those I liked. One in particular took my fancy. After the last experience with sofas, this time I asked for a tape measure when I walked in and wrote down details of the height of the back, the width, and the depth of the seat. I won’t get caught again.

Comments : 1 Comment »

Categories : Australia, Business/Work, Travel

Brisbane trip 4: What price a shower?

9 07 2007

When I arrived in Sydney at 7:00pm, I discovered that my 8:30pm flight was delayed until 10:00pm (or later). Damn! After comfirming the new flight time and asking about internet access, the VirginBlue counter staff person told me I could get into the Lounge for $30 for a single visit. And that there was food, wine, free internet, showers, etc. Well, I needed no more convincing! What price a decent shower??? And I figured that if I bought dinner and a wine or two in the terminal, plus paid for internet access, I’d be close to spending $30 anyway. So that’s what I did. Bought a single access pass to the Velocity Lounge. Very similar to the Qantas Club lounges, though smaller and lots less people.

First stop – a shower! Then food (nibbles) and wine (3 glasses of Devil’s Lair Fifth leg Shiraz) + nougat and paneforte… Easily $30 worth!! Oh, and free wireless internet access, though it was a bit flakey. Actually, it was really flakey. It worked once for about 2 minutes, then died, and I couldn’t reconnect except via dial-up.

So here I am in Sydney Airport waiting for a late night flight to Brisbane… I doubt I’ll get to the hotel before midnight, and I have my first meeting tomorrow morning at 8:00am.


Comments : 1 Comment »

Categories : Australia, Travel

Brisbane trip 3: Hanging around airports

9 07 2007

I had a bite to eat at the Dome coffee shop inside the VirginBlue terminal (Yes, TFP, I had Dome’s Caesar Salad – and it was GOOD, though the bowl was quite small. Lots of hot chicken, bacon, and shaved parmesan. Yummy!). Then I hung around until the flight.

Uneventful flight to Sydney; listened to more podcasts on the drive up and on the flight. Nothing to get excited about – just techie/geekie stuff! And read half of a book, and listened to a couple of albums while I read, plus did some work. Everything on VirginBlue costs – $10 for Foxtel programming, and you pay for food and drinks. I’d eaten at Dome and had paid an exhorbitant $3.60 for a Diet Coke at the cafe in the departure area before boarding the plane, so I didn’t buy anything on board.


Comments : Leave a Comment »

Categories : Australia, Travel

« Previous Entries Next Entries »