This blog is a transcription of a ‘scrapbook’ that I compiled during/after my trip that was part of my celebrations for my 42^nd birthday. The trip was the “The Universe” component of a “Life, The Universe, and Everything” themed celebration. I’ve added some editorial elements as I’ve gone along, for clarity.

The ‘scrapbook’ pictures were predominantly postcards that I collected. I discovered on return from my trip that the battery in my camera had expired (not just discharged) and so I had not captured as many photos as I took. Those that I did capture are added to the relevant day (as best as I can tell now 17 years later!) to ‘colour’ the story.

I have also digitised various pamphlets, leaflets, certificates, etc accumulated on the journey to create this digital record of the trip.

The trip included a number of personal firsts: first car trip across the Hay Plains, first long-distance train trip, first visit to the Northern Territory, and first solo holiday trip.

I prepared the following itinerary to share with family and friends as a synopsis of my ‘big adventure’