T- minus 5 days!

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It's official, I’ve got bipolar.

I keep yo-yoing between the elation of finally leaving and the sudden realisation of what I'm actually doing; I’m leaving home, with little money and even less luggage, and living out of said luggage for 5 months in countries I've never been to before, with languages i don't understand … but then I think about it and want it to be longer, I should go further, see more. Maybe this is the beginning of a new hobby. 😄 (sorry mum)

It seems like such a long time ago, that day in Pizza Hut telling Annie all about my ideas for going off and seeing the world. Somewhere in between that and deciding on whether to get a meat feast or a chicken supreme, a momentus decision was made.
'Do you want to come with me?'
'Yes'
And the rest, as they say, is history. We spent a fair few hours on the floor, hovering over maps trying to decide where to go. The first plan was epic. it went practically everywhere. I cant remember exactly how much we estimated it would cost, but it was A LOT. So that went out the window and we wittled it down, eventually deciding on the trip we're now quickly rounding on.

Hours have been spent on the internet, avoiding coursework and the revision for exams, researching the destinations and dreaming up things to do. The exams came and went, as did the results and here we are 20 months on from that day in pizza hut, with only 5 days to go.

The last few months.

I don’t think time could have gone much slower. I've packed and repacked my bags countless times, but I’m sure there will still be something I’ll forget. Looking at other blogs, it seems customary to include a photo of the rucksack, so the picture shows what I’m taking with me; it doesn’t look like much...
Despite feeling like time has been dragging a particularly large stone, I'm still a little surprised that our trip is just round the corner; somehow it has still managed to creep up on us.

Anyway, I thought it might be a good idea to explain where we are actually going...

25th Oct 16:15 London to L.A
29th Oct 21:30 LA to Auckland (NZ)
15th Dec 06:10 Christchurch (NZ) to Melbourne
18th Dec 10:30 Melbourne to Alice Springs
23rd Dec 11:55 Alice Springs to Melbourne
Christmas and New Year in Sydney
25th Jan 13:45 Brisbane to Singapore
Overland through Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and China
28th Mar 01:40 Beijing to Manchester


So, with 1 week to go, all the visa’s we need are sorted, our flights are booked, bags are packed and excitement heightening. What do we do? We have a leaving party!
oh yeh!

It began as just a meal for with both our families, but it progressed into a bonfire-night-come-halloween party and about 50 people turned up. BYO fireworks. I think it became a competition between my two uncles for who could bring the biggest, most dangerous firework.
Stephen definitely wins for the biggest, but his didn’t seem to bounce off the trees and head back down to the decking quite as much… I think I’ll call it a draw.
I don’t have any pictures of the fireworks because I was mostly running for cover, and the ones that weren’t so dangerous just didn’t compare.
Annie’s family finally met the Starkie hoards, the last of which finally left about 5... AM that is, not PM. I expect that there were a fair few people with brewers’ flu the next day. And we lost James. Not entirely sure where he went but he was asleep on the sofa when we left him, but he wasn’t there in the morning. Maybe he was abducted by housewives…

Seeing as this is likely to be the last blog I post in Britain, I'm gonna tell you now... I WANT EMAILS! or at least comments in reply to the blog. Keep me updated on how life is running in little old england. I'll be posting a blog every week or so, but that depends on whether i can find a decent internet connection or if i'm having too much fun to be bothered...

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Photos

home sweet home
it's quite pretty really

my backpack...
...and bright green cap

The travelling two
thats an aweful picture of me... :S

Phillipa, Katie and Annie
with Mirijana, Ray, grandma, grandad, Tony, Joe and Mia in the background

Mirijana and Natasha
mmm...sausage

Comments

[Jane]

brilliant!
Brilliant - a blog written in whole sentences! I don't know if that'll last when you're paying by the minute for internet access, but I look forward to the rest of the story, however brief the episodes. All my love goes with you both. Jane X

[Annie]

WOOHOO
5 days to go...can't believe it. We're going all over everywhere! It's a bit like Doctor Who, isn't it? Ok, fine, no...

[Rod]

Bag!!!
I'll write a comment to stop you bullying me into doing it...just so you look popular! lol! ermm..... have fun.... lol.....and is THAT your bag! You have to live out of that for five months! - there! now everyone things i'm mean but at least you understand! :)