So long and thanks for all the fish!

After only 4 hours sleep, we had packed the house and the bags. Finally reaady for the off.

We're seeing the wood!

Finally - after a week of going through clothes, documents and lists, we are finally seeing the wood!!

After a LOT of help from Lesley and Steven... our home is finally looking a lot cleaner and clearer. I think Lesley is like a hurricane - only she leaves a clean path after she's been, but they are both a blessing in disguise and have sped up the task of clearing our house of junk so much faster than we could ever. Chris' mum is also great taking the ironing off my hands - perhaps we should go away more often!

Some people can spend months or years researching and intricately planning a trip such as ours, but if we were people like that - (which would be far too organised for us in the first place), all the fun and buzz of last minute panicking would be missing. Ok, not so last minute as Chris usually is - the morning of departure, but certainly not more than the day before!!!
To be honest, only Chris and I could be mad enough to not only try to plan a year away from home, but also manage to both pass our motorcycle tests! I don't like to brag, but I'm still extremely chuffed that I passed my exam. But the idea of a motorbike will have to be put on hold until at least our year is up! Ah well still... anyone want to buy a scenic? xx

Can't wait to just get on the plane !!!

It has been a nice week off work with one problem. We just have too much to do and no desire to do it. Hours spent searching online for the best deal has helped to save the pennies (the standard currency is the 'one night in Thailand') Everything we buy to take with us comes out of our ever decreasing budget. Jude and I went for a meal tonight, our 4 year anniversary, that would have been 4 nights accomodation in Thailand with breakfast!

Not long to go though and the last minute purchases are being sought. The house to tidy and pack, the grass to cut, the car to sell (anyone want to buy a Scenic ?) Drinks with friends, drinks with family (both sets) and a few personal goodbyes, it's all a lot of work and at this stage, I just want to get on a plane and go see the world.

The Last Supper... lunch..... day of work

It's been nearly 10 years since I joined work, I only came in for a week but our travel plans are partly thanks to a year long career break. Knowing that I do not have to come to work on Monday morning is a bit strange. Both Jude and I have had lots of good wishes, kind presents and lovely cards. We'll miss working for Auntie but with only 54 weeks of leave, we have a lot to do !

Southern Cross and Galapagos Trips

Southern Cross
7th October Rio de Janeiro
8th - 11th Oct Ilha Grande / Paraty
12th - 17th Oct Iguassu Falls / Bonito
18th - 21st Oct Corumbá / Pantanal / Santa Cruz
22nd - 23rd Oct Sucre
24th Oct Potosí
25th - 30th Oct Uyuni / Salar de Uyuni Excursion
30th - 31st Oct La Paz
1st - 3rd Nov Puno / Taquile
4th - 6th Nov Cuzco
7th Nov Ollantaytambo
8th - 12th Nov Inca Trail

13th Nov Arequipa
14th - 15th Nov Colca Canyon / Arequipa
16th - 17th Nov Nazca
18th Nov Pisco
19th Nov Lima
20th Nov Depart Lima

Galapagos Trip

20th Nov Arrive Quito
21st Nov Baltra / North Seymour
22nd Nov Rabida / Puerto Egas
23rd Nov Sombrero Chino / Bartolomé
24th Nov South Plaza / Santa Fé
25th Nov Santa Cruz
26th Nov Floreana
27th Nov Española
28th Nov Black Turtle Cove / Quito
29th Nov Tour ends in Quito

Our Itinerary - post changes

Are you sitting comfortably?

After a phone call from trailfinders to tell us that GAP Adventures had cancelled one of our guaranteed trips!!! The lovely Claire has been able to re-jig our trips for us and saved us quite a bit of money in the process!!!
So here is the revised trip...

30th Sept: Flying from Belfast - London Heathrow - Sao Paulo
1st Oct: Arrive Sao Paulo and make our way to Rio de Janeiro
7th Oct: Begin the Southern Cross 45 day trek to Lima (Peru) - Happy Birthday Ruthie!! xx
20th Nov: Southern Cross Trek finishes and we fly onto Quito (Ecuador)
20th Nov: We join the GAP group again for our 10 day visit to the Galapagos Islands - pure exploring heaven!
29th Nov: Arrive back to Quito
3rd Dec: Fly from Quito to Santiago (Chile)
7th Dec: Fly from Santiago to Easter Island
10th Dec: Easter Island to Tahiti
12th Dec: Fly from Tahiti to Sydney
16th Dec: Sydney to Perth
19th Dec: Perth to Johannesburg
After travelling around South Africa and completing an Eco training course (15th Jan - 12th Feb), we then fly from Johannesburg onto 26th Feb up to Livingstone to join a tour going from Victoria Falls overland to Niarobi.
27th Feb - 20th March: Victoria Falls to Niarobi
22nd March: Fly to London Heathrow
23rd March: Flight to Belfast for a week and more booster injections!

It will be extremely tiring, but completely exhilarating!!!

Now we've only our Safari training to book!!!

We're booked!!!

After a number of trips, evenings of planning and four hours in trailfinders, the first half of our trip, from September 30th until March 23rd has been booked!
We're flying around the world leaving from Belfast - London Heathrow -Miami to begin our journey.
We're flying home for about a week in March as the rules of our ticket means we need to have to arrive back to London, so we may as well fly that little bit more to get some washing done and say hello to family!!!

This first section of our trip involves us visiting 15 countries and to be honest, we cannot wait (you'd worry if we weren't excited). We taking part in 3 different trips which will see us visiting some fantastic places. From the Galapagos Islands and Machu Picchu to Easter Island and Victoria Falls. I just hope that I don't delete all the photographs like I did from last year's holidays!!!!