We touched down in Sydney just after 0720. The final sector from Dubai was just as smooth as the previous sector into Dubai – but more than twice as long at nearly fourteen hours. The plane was pretty full and we were not afforded the same luxury of blocking adjacent seats such that Chris could lie down. Consequently, she didn’t get much sleep. Me, I can sleep standing up. 🙂
Having restocked my supply of Blue Sapphire Gin at the duty free, customs and immigration were a breeze and we were soon on the underground platform waiting to catch the train to Central to connect with one bound for Newcastle. Changing at Newcastle Interchange we collected Chris’ car at Victoria Street railway station (left there by Sarah on her way to work this morning) and arrived home at 1230.
I’ve collected data on various metrics for each one of our overseas trips as a way of helping plan for future trips. Here are some items that may be of interest to you…
Data points
| Metric | Value |
| Trip duration | 43 days |
| Bed nights | 40 |
| Distance walked, total | 403 km |
| Daily walking average | 9.4 km |
| Digital photographs taken | 2,546 |
Contrary to our current crop of inept politicians we managed to bring this project in under budget returning with a surplus this financial year. Our budget was AUD 22.8K and we under-spent it by nearly 17%.
Total Expenditure by Category
| Category | Percentage |
| Transportation | 24% |
| Accommodation | 37% |
| Food & drink | 25% |
| Entertainment | 5% |
| Everything else | 9% |
From previous experience, we were expecting Switzerland to be the most expensive country to visit and as the following table clearly demonstrates, this proved to be the case.
Daily Expenditure by Country (AUD)
| Country | Duration | Avg | Max | Min |
| Italy | 14 days | $165 | $341 | $99 |
| France | 10 days | $170 | $240 | $40 |
| Switzerland | 18 days | $249 | $644 | $36 |
Traveler’s weight change
| Traveler | Value |
| Gregory | +1 kg |
| Christine | undisclosed |
As proof that you don’t have to travel overseas to find scenes of natural beauty, here is a picture snapped from the train today as we were passing through the Central Coast.
The backup photographer
Chris is the primary photographer using a proper camera and so is rarely seen in images as she is behind the lens. When she was otherwise distracted, I was able to grab a short series of images using my iPhone. Can you spot the theme?
And I’ll let her have the last word …
Greg and Chris Belcher. 🙂