After a traumatic week without internet access we are now back online - huzzah! So, all our worldly goods have been packed and taken off to be shipped to NZ by some very nice men from Weybridge and Jo & I have decamped to my mum's place in Kilndown. We even went for our first country walk today (yesterday it was raining a bit too much for such endeavours), mainly to walk off some of last night's booze consumption (a very jolly night at my dad's, though not so jolly for Jo who had to drive). Then, of course, mum's pc was knackered so we had to scoot off to PCWorld and sort out a new laptop, with wireless connection no less, enabling email to be sent from anywhere! How 21st century! Even dad is thinking of joining the technological age and getting himself online...there's clearly no stopping this family once we get going...
Aside from being knackered from all the packing, organising etc, we will no doubt spend the rest of this week looning about Kent trying to catch up with everyone before we skeddadle to Rio. I must confess that I am getting very excited about the idea of our travels - no responsibility for two whole months! Nothing to do except mooch about and sample local cuisine. Jo has even given me the go ahead to choose restaurants etc on the grounds that it saves her the hassle. Brilliant!
Well, off to do some family socialising now.
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Monday, May 23, 2005
Monday, Monday....
I came to thinking that yesterday's blog entry was rather dull, possibly due to the fact that I was recovering from Saturday night's excesses (I didn't get out of bed until 12.30pm, perhaps the longest lie in since I left university), so here I am again.
Mum & John (and Matthew P) came up this morning to take away various bits of furniture that we had no intention of shipping halfway round the world and the house is now starting to resemble a bring and buy sale. Matthew P churlishly refused our sofa - just because one of its arms was falling off and it suddenly lost several inches of spring support whilst I was sitting on it at the weekend - but John & him seemed to enjoy hacking it to pieces and I'm sure will give it a good send off at the local tip. John & him sounds wierd..but him & John sounds weirder. Any grammatical advice gratefully recieved.
Mum brought up her fabulous steam cleaner, so the rest of the day has been spent furiously steaming the hell out of various items of garden furniture (chairs, bbq etc) to meet the exacting standards of NZ customs, otherwise we risk them cleaning stuff and charging us for the honour. Tomorrow it will be the turn of the bikes, although I suspect mine is only held together by London grime, so it could result in disaster. Jo is out there now trying to remove any trace of the last 4 years of sausages from the grill pan, an unenviable task if ever there was.
Of course, whilst Jo is outside doing something constructive I am sitting indoors transferring the remainder of my cd collection to my wee MP3 player in readiness for our great journey (Kirsty MacColl at the moment). Jo has foolishly said that she'll ship her ipod and so I will have sole responsibility for music, however, I suspect she'll change her mind when she realises what's on my playlists. Now there's a way to truly test a relationship! I did also find myself looking at internet recommendations for restaurants in Mexico, which is something I really have to stop doing. Amongst my more disturbing realisations since I finished working is quite how bossy I am (obvious to anyone who knows me, but I wouldn't tolerate it myself) and, thus, I am going to make an heroic effort to cure myself of this deeply unappealing trait over the next couple of months, which means no restaurant dictatorship. Ouch.
I shall sign off for now - I am feeling steam cleaner guilt - but will be back online next week. Have fun!
Mum & John (and Matthew P) came up this morning to take away various bits of furniture that we had no intention of shipping halfway round the world and the house is now starting to resemble a bring and buy sale. Matthew P churlishly refused our sofa - just because one of its arms was falling off and it suddenly lost several inches of spring support whilst I was sitting on it at the weekend - but John & him seemed to enjoy hacking it to pieces and I'm sure will give it a good send off at the local tip. John & him sounds wierd..but him & John sounds weirder. Any grammatical advice gratefully recieved.
Mum brought up her fabulous steam cleaner, so the rest of the day has been spent furiously steaming the hell out of various items of garden furniture (chairs, bbq etc) to meet the exacting standards of NZ customs, otherwise we risk them cleaning stuff and charging us for the honour. Tomorrow it will be the turn of the bikes, although I suspect mine is only held together by London grime, so it could result in disaster. Jo is out there now trying to remove any trace of the last 4 years of sausages from the grill pan, an unenviable task if ever there was.
Of course, whilst Jo is outside doing something constructive I am sitting indoors transferring the remainder of my cd collection to my wee MP3 player in readiness for our great journey (Kirsty MacColl at the moment). Jo has foolishly said that she'll ship her ipod and so I will have sole responsibility for music, however, I suspect she'll change her mind when she realises what's on my playlists. Now there's a way to truly test a relationship! I did also find myself looking at internet recommendations for restaurants in Mexico, which is something I really have to stop doing. Amongst my more disturbing realisations since I finished working is quite how bossy I am (obvious to anyone who knows me, but I wouldn't tolerate it myself) and, thus, I am going to make an heroic effort to cure myself of this deeply unappealing trait over the next couple of months, which means no restaurant dictatorship. Ouch.
I shall sign off for now - I am feeling steam cleaner guilt - but will be back online next week. Have fun!
Sunday, May 22, 2005
Only 14 sleeps until Rio!
The countdown begins!
I am finally starting to get excited about our grand tour. This time in a fortnight we will have just taken off and I'll be perusing the inflight magazine to find out which films will be shown and read fascinating articles about shopping in exotic places. As we'll be flying BA I'm guessing we'll be exposed to at least one episode of Mr Bean, Absolutely Fabulous and the Vicar of Dibley. I really have issues with Mr Bean, too much like Norman Wisdom for my liking.
The week ahead is promising to be a bitch - doing our final round of catching up, sorting out our travelling kit, cleaning the house & bikes & bbq, packing up the house, taking stuff to the charity shop etc etc - so Jo & I are both looking forward to finally switching off our brains and trying to get rid of the bags under our eyes. Plus, having spent the last couple of months eating, drinking, making merry and doing nothing in the way of exercise, I am starting to feel a little flabby round the edges, so we've decided to spend our South America trip looking after ourselves and our livers (inspired by the promise of the Inca Trail hike, 15 km a day uphill!). With a bit of luck we'll arrive in NZ looking trim, relaxed and tanned!
The important information for now is that our internet connection will be shut down this Tuesday and our home phone & Jo's mobile will be cut off on Friday. Once we are at my mum's in Kent we will be able to get back online, but if you want to phone us the best bet is my mobile number (I promise I will sort myself out and get some credit on the thing).
Although I am really looking forward to our trip it is going to be extremely weird not seeing any of you for a while. Luckily loads of you have promised to come and visit, and I am looking forward to being able to show you NZ and why I fell in love with the place. God this is exciting! Ha ha ha!
I am finally starting to get excited about our grand tour. This time in a fortnight we will have just taken off and I'll be perusing the inflight magazine to find out which films will be shown and read fascinating articles about shopping in exotic places. As we'll be flying BA I'm guessing we'll be exposed to at least one episode of Mr Bean, Absolutely Fabulous and the Vicar of Dibley. I really have issues with Mr Bean, too much like Norman Wisdom for my liking.
The week ahead is promising to be a bitch - doing our final round of catching up, sorting out our travelling kit, cleaning the house & bikes & bbq, packing up the house, taking stuff to the charity shop etc etc - so Jo & I are both looking forward to finally switching off our brains and trying to get rid of the bags under our eyes. Plus, having spent the last couple of months eating, drinking, making merry and doing nothing in the way of exercise, I am starting to feel a little flabby round the edges, so we've decided to spend our South America trip looking after ourselves and our livers (inspired by the promise of the Inca Trail hike, 15 km a day uphill!). With a bit of luck we'll arrive in NZ looking trim, relaxed and tanned!
The important information for now is that our internet connection will be shut down this Tuesday and our home phone & Jo's mobile will be cut off on Friday. Once we are at my mum's in Kent we will be able to get back online, but if you want to phone us the best bet is my mobile number (I promise I will sort myself out and get some credit on the thing).
Although I am really looking forward to our trip it is going to be extremely weird not seeing any of you for a while. Luckily loads of you have promised to come and visit, and I am looking forward to being able to show you NZ and why I fell in love with the place. God this is exciting! Ha ha ha!
Monday, May 16, 2005
It must be my turn...
Well I've had to drag the laptop away from Sarah so that I can have a go posting some rubbish text for you to enjoy - or not - take your pick.
So the tickets are booked and paid for! OMG! The only thing remaining is to pick them up on Wednesday or Thursday this week.
As preparations for the removal van continue, I find myself notably scared about what Wellington holds for us. I know that you all think it's a breeze for me, but don't forget that I've been absent from NZ for over 9 years now (yes truly, it's been that long) and I've never held a permanent job there. Luckily unemployment is the lowest it's ever been so the job seekers market is good.
Had a great conversation with an old school friend the other day. It was so reassuring to speak with someone that I know will be a good friend even if she does live in dork-land! So there will be bonuses too - people to meet, new friends to make, other old friends to re-kindle friendships with, throwing bricks on Amy's roof in the middle of the night...
Rest assured that we'll keep you all in touch with our progress as we arrive down under and settle in.
Oh well, enough for now! Shan't ramble like my other half.
Love to you all
Jo (and Sarah)
So the tickets are booked and paid for! OMG! The only thing remaining is to pick them up on Wednesday or Thursday this week.
As preparations for the removal van continue, I find myself notably scared about what Wellington holds for us. I know that you all think it's a breeze for me, but don't forget that I've been absent from NZ for over 9 years now (yes truly, it's been that long) and I've never held a permanent job there. Luckily unemployment is the lowest it's ever been so the job seekers market is good.
Had a great conversation with an old school friend the other day. It was so reassuring to speak with someone that I know will be a good friend even if she does live in dork-land! So there will be bonuses too - people to meet, new friends to make, other old friends to re-kindle friendships with, throwing bricks on Amy's roof in the middle of the night...
Rest assured that we'll keep you all in touch with our progress as we arrive down under and settle in.
Oh well, enough for now! Shan't ramble like my other half.
Love to you all
Jo (and Sarah)
Saturday, May 14, 2005
Houston, we have an itinerary.
Those of you who may have cruelly suggested that there was not much news in my previous post are going to get a bit of a shock - we actually seem to have an itinerary!
So, without further ado, here are our plans for the next three months...
26th & 27th May - the shipping firm come over, pack up all our worldly goods (except a backpack's worth each) and send them on their merry way to NZ
28th/29th May - we head down to Kent to be unemployed and homeless with Sarah's mum & John, the dogs, cats, chickens, ducks & geese.
5th June - Fly to Rio de Janeiro & spend 5 days sipping caipirinhas at Copacabana & Ipanema beaches.
10th June - 22 hour bus trip to the Iguacu Falls on the border of Brazil, Argentina & Paraguay, then two days admiring the flora & fauna (and avoiding the mozzies).
13th June - 19 hour bus trip to Buenos Aires for 5 days of stuffing ourselves with the world's finest steak and tango lessons, which should be interesting seeing as Sarah can't even handle an aerobics class.
18th June - Fly to Santiago, a stone's throw from Chile's main winegrowing region, to spend 2 days sampling the local grape.
20th June - Fly to La Paz on the east of Lake Titicaca (stop sniggering at the back), the world's highest capital city, for a head-spinning couple of days coming to terms with the altitude.
22nd June - 17 hour bus trip to Cusco (there is a slightly quicker bus, but it sounded scary in the guide book). Then 7 days in Cusco enjoying the Inti Raymi festival of the sun (winter solstice) on the 24th and psyching ourselves up for our trek along the Inca Trail.
30th June - the start of our 4 day of knee-crunching trek to Macchu Picchu. Jo did suggest catching the train, but I thought it would be much more fun to walk it. Like I thought doing the marathon would be okay. Sensibly we have already booked a room for the night of our return to Cusco.
4th July - 30 hour bus trip to Lima (oh what fun) & 48 hours of mooching about. All I know about Lima is that it's dusty.
6th July - Fly to Quito, where we were hoping to get a cut price Galapagos trip, but it looks as if it might be a bit beyond our budget. So it'll be a few days of exploring the UNESCO listed colonial old town. You can take the girl out the heritage industry, but you...
8th July - fly back to Lima for an overnight stop en route to Mexico City.
9th July - arrive in Mexico City in time to celebrate Sarah's 35th birthday with a couple of margaritas. How cool is that? Might even check out a few Mayan ruins. Also, will probably regain any weight lost during the trek by eating as many burritos as possible.
13th July - fly to New Orleans for 4 days of jazz, cajun food & cocktails. Altogether now, "Jambalaya, crawfish pie, billie gumbo...". Pray god that we find a place to stay with decent air conditioning, 'cos it going to be sweaty.
16th July - fly to Los Angeles, do a tour of the stars houses, and start our great bus tour of west coast USA. Our Greyhound bus passes should take us to Las Vegas, San Francisco, up the coast to Portland (Ms Thompson's futon, micro-breweries & karaoke), Seattle and Vancouver.
1st August - decamp to Jo's cousins' place in West Vancouver for a week of fresh mountain air and family living. And a trip to Costco for bargain bulk shopping (Sarah recommends their socks).
7th August - Fly to LA, via Dallas, and catch a flight to Auckland. Scarily, this will take as long as flying to Auckland from London. Worse, American Airlines make you pay for your food on board! By the time we get on the Qantas flight we'll be starving, tired and very smelly. Nice.
9th August - fly from Auckland to Wellington. Allegedly we have a 7 hour gap between flights, but hopefully we'll look so awful (or smell so bad) the airline staff will take pity upon us and let us onto an earlier flight.
Arrive in Wellington with 2 days to recover before Jo's mum's birthday!
We do have a return leg trip booked, but we'll save that info until we have an idea when Ali & Sini are getting married.
laters gators...
Now, before you get too excited for us, we do have to have this confirmed and, fingers crossed, we will be paying for our tickets etc on Monday. But, confident as we are, we have had our hepatitus jabs, got our malaria tablets, booked yellow fever jabs and have realised we might have to stop eating chips & ice cream and get in some kind of shape for our trekking adventures.
So, without further ado, here are our plans for the next three months...
26th & 27th May - the shipping firm come over, pack up all our worldly goods (except a backpack's worth each) and send them on their merry way to NZ
28th/29th May - we head down to Kent to be unemployed and homeless with Sarah's mum & John, the dogs, cats, chickens, ducks & geese.
5th June - Fly to Rio de Janeiro & spend 5 days sipping caipirinhas at Copacabana & Ipanema beaches.
10th June - 22 hour bus trip to the Iguacu Falls on the border of Brazil, Argentina & Paraguay, then two days admiring the flora & fauna (and avoiding the mozzies).
13th June - 19 hour bus trip to Buenos Aires for 5 days of stuffing ourselves with the world's finest steak and tango lessons, which should be interesting seeing as Sarah can't even handle an aerobics class.
18th June - Fly to Santiago, a stone's throw from Chile's main winegrowing region, to spend 2 days sampling the local grape.
20th June - Fly to La Paz on the east of Lake Titicaca (stop sniggering at the back), the world's highest capital city, for a head-spinning couple of days coming to terms with the altitude.
22nd June - 17 hour bus trip to Cusco (there is a slightly quicker bus, but it sounded scary in the guide book). Then 7 days in Cusco enjoying the Inti Raymi festival of the sun (winter solstice) on the 24th and psyching ourselves up for our trek along the Inca Trail.
30th June - the start of our 4 day of knee-crunching trek to Macchu Picchu. Jo did suggest catching the train, but I thought it would be much more fun to walk it. Like I thought doing the marathon would be okay. Sensibly we have already booked a room for the night of our return to Cusco.
4th July - 30 hour bus trip to Lima (oh what fun) & 48 hours of mooching about. All I know about Lima is that it's dusty.
6th July - Fly to Quito, where we were hoping to get a cut price Galapagos trip, but it looks as if it might be a bit beyond our budget. So it'll be a few days of exploring the UNESCO listed colonial old town. You can take the girl out the heritage industry, but you...
8th July - fly back to Lima for an overnight stop en route to Mexico City.
9th July - arrive in Mexico City in time to celebrate Sarah's 35th birthday with a couple of margaritas. How cool is that? Might even check out a few Mayan ruins. Also, will probably regain any weight lost during the trek by eating as many burritos as possible.
13th July - fly to New Orleans for 4 days of jazz, cajun food & cocktails. Altogether now, "Jambalaya, crawfish pie, billie gumbo...". Pray god that we find a place to stay with decent air conditioning, 'cos it going to be sweaty.
16th July - fly to Los Angeles, do a tour of the stars houses, and start our great bus tour of west coast USA. Our Greyhound bus passes should take us to Las Vegas, San Francisco, up the coast to Portland (Ms Thompson's futon, micro-breweries & karaoke), Seattle and Vancouver.
1st August - decamp to Jo's cousins' place in West Vancouver for a week of fresh mountain air and family living. And a trip to Costco for bargain bulk shopping (Sarah recommends their socks).
7th August - Fly to LA, via Dallas, and catch a flight to Auckland. Scarily, this will take as long as flying to Auckland from London. Worse, American Airlines make you pay for your food on board! By the time we get on the Qantas flight we'll be starving, tired and very smelly. Nice.
9th August - fly from Auckland to Wellington. Allegedly we have a 7 hour gap between flights, but hopefully we'll look so awful (or smell so bad) the airline staff will take pity upon us and let us onto an earlier flight.
Arrive in Wellington with 2 days to recover before Jo's mum's birthday!
We do have a return leg trip booked, but we'll save that info until we have an idea when Ali & Sini are getting married.
laters gators...
Now, before you get too excited for us, we do have to have this confirmed and, fingers crossed, we will be paying for our tickets etc on Monday. But, confident as we are, we have had our hepatitus jabs, got our malaria tablets, booked yellow fever jabs and have realised we might have to stop eating chips & ice cream and get in some kind of shape for our trekking adventures.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
And so it begins....
So, I've made the executive decision to start one of these weblog oojamawhatsits. My thinking is that this will be a great way to keep everyone up to date with our adventures (don't fret there will be individual emails as well) and continue to expose you all to my wit and wisdom...and delusions of grandeur.
Also you'll be able to add your own 'feedback' - how exciting is that?
Obviously there's not a great deal going on at the moment. We've booked the removal firm and all our stuff is being packed and taken away on Friday 27th May, and tomorrow we're off to the travel agents to book our round the world flights (even though we'll be stopping in New Zealand, we may be back next spring for Ali & Sini's wedding in Finland, and then back to London for a visit). So, we'll have managed to spend at least two thirds of our savings in a week. Ugh.
Also you'll be able to add your own 'feedback' - how exciting is that?
Obviously there's not a great deal going on at the moment. We've booked the removal firm and all our stuff is being packed and taken away on Friday 27th May, and tomorrow we're off to the travel agents to book our round the world flights (even though we'll be stopping in New Zealand, we may be back next spring for Ali & Sini's wedding in Finland, and then back to London for a visit). So, we'll have managed to spend at least two thirds of our savings in a week. Ugh.
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