Tim and I have been formally "not of Sydney" for two and a half weeks. Although technically we are both on holidays we have been pretty busy. Who thought it would take so much energy to get ready for our holidays!
While I was visiting the first Bekker family baby, Tracey and Stu's daughter Darcy, and my honorary nephew Teak, Tim was busily erecting Willy's mansion/enclosure in Toowong so that he can safely enjoy the outdoors. It comes complete with a fancy door thru the window, stepping stones so he doesn't bruise his precious paws and, the pièce de résistance, a special sleeping and observation doo-daddy. I think Tim should go into the Mansion making business. Anyone in the market??
I have managed to fit in two visits to see Darcy, and her parents and furry four legged brother and sister, and of course she is totally gorgeous. At the moment her job is creating lots of poo and spew for TB to clean up, sleeping and occasional bursts of baby aerobics. She is doing very well as confirmed by the pediatric nurse and by her champion weight gain - all thanks to her milkbar mum. I still can't believe my little sis is a MOTHER, and taking so naturally to it! I've requested that she put be put on hold until i get back so that I don't miss any milestones... So as i mentioned we have also been very busy completing final purchases and preparation for our adventure. It has been a process but i think we are pretty much ready. We're now organised to be self sufficient whenever we decide to be and to carry everything we will need for our trip on our backs. This includes tent, sleeping bags, sleeping mats, stove, pots, water purification tablets, camera equipment, clothes (warm, cool, waterproof) and sundries. We'll do a final weigh in before we leave but it looks like we'll each be carrying about 14 - 15kg of gear - phew!
So far we have our between-countries flights organised and a couple of internal flights in Borneo, we have purchased tickets for the World Rainforest Music Festival (or is it the Rainforest Music World Festival or the World Music Rainforest Festival...?) in Kuching, Borneo and we have paid for our first couple of nights accommodation in the infamous Mansions of Kowloon in Hong Kong. We have also organised our first official couch surfing experience on an island of Hong Kong with a French lady and our second couch surfing experience with a French couple in Guilin (what is it with all the French in China??). We hosted couch surfers at our place in Syd and hope that the Karma we built up doing so will put us in good stead for getting some decent couch time ourselves during our travels. Check out Couch Surfing if you're interested, it is a great concept for people who really want to experience local culture when they are travelling or would like to bring some outside culture to their home when they are not!
Anyways, this is my official Pre-Travel post so hopefully the next one will be from the road. How excitement!