Blogs from Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom, Europe

Well, we’re at the point of no return – me and Big Nick both given our Notice at work and it all seems a bit more real. Telling the team about our trip filled me with so much excitement and pride but at the same time it was very emotional for me. There were lots of tears but overall lots of support and good wishes from my colleagues who know me and Nick well enough to understand what this trip means to us both. Next step – ensuring that our girlies are well informed about our plans for them and us whilst we’re away and sorting out the applications for the orphanages we’re planning to help out whilst over there. Katherine xxx... read more

Our Lunch Break 2012 is still a long way off but at last we have booked our flights! One way to Buenos Aires on Saturday 3rd March. GET IN!!!!... read more

...WE LAND IN BANGKOK Really really excited now! With less than three weeks now till we fly its all getting going, vaccinations are nearly complete for me and kim is fully covered, Just malaria left to arrange and purchase. With this comes the problem of whether to go cheap and risk side-effects or go expensive and miss out on possible side-effects. To be honest i've not even had a think as to how many we need. Only a few things left to buy for our travelling kit. Mainly little things mind, all of the bigger items such as mosquito nets and clothing were given to us as presents over christmas (Thank you very much everyone!) Organising everything is becoming a big thing. luckily since the start ive kept everything in one book and used that, so ... read more

(P) Well, we are just about ready to set off, all our last minute checks are being done, but I still feel like I've forgotten something. Our rucksacks also seem to be very full?!? Looking like we may have to ditch a few items over there if we are to bring things back :o) We are catching the Bolton train to Manchester Piccadilly. Were we will be leaving for London Euston at 1.35pm hopefully getting into London at 3.40pm, with just enough time to get some wasabi sushi and the work out the route we need to take us to Heathrow T4. Last Minute Checks Rucksack with 4 changes of clothes, i personally did't want to take all this, but as everything has been bought new, it would be a waste to leave it behind. Daysack ... read more

Hi All. Its been a week since my last blog and a few things have happened on the travelling front. First of all our travel injetcions are underway. mine are booked in for this thursday! not looking forward to this. I hate injections!! and kims are booked in for the thursday after. we both need Hep A and Thyphoid and kim needs rabies aswell. makes me wonder why i aint been given a rabies jab. we'll see this thursday maybe the nurse will tell me more are required once we've had an indepth chat about where im visiting. Also seeing as we are in NZ for the Rugby World Cup we have purchased Fiji vs Samoa tickets, which i am unbeliavbly excited about seeing as i love rugby, kim has become a fan now so it ... read more

Wow i'm excited, 3 months to go and i can't wait, we've got abit of our kit, bags and footwear, a few handy things like plug adaptors and sporks. injections are underway but my doctors is closed today so i cant find out about what i need till tomorrow, i hate needles so this is probably the worst thing to organise. kim hasnt even enquired about her injections yet so to get her started i explained what dengue fever feels like, just one of the diseases we can encounter whilst we're away. (really bad flu that makes u feel like every bone in your body has broke.) suppose next its visa's. WHV for Oz is sorted already. Thai and vietnamese are what we require all others can be bought at the border or we dont ... read more

We had a really good night’s sleep at the motel and we got away at around 11 am. We were in no hurry to get to Bolton, which was just as well, as the traffic on both the M5 and M6 was very heavy. Our original plan was to go off the motorway if we saw anything of interest, but because the going was slow we decided to go straight through with a couple of coffee breaks. We got to Bolton about 5 pm and we went to Tesco to get some supplies. This is a huge shop and we spent a while having a look around before we headed off to Dave and Gill’s place. Dave and Gill had arranged for their kids to come around it was great to see them all again. We ... read more