Stuff, stuff, stuff.... and more stuff!

As you can see, we've been buying 'stuff'. You never really think about how much 'stuff' you need on a RTW trip, until you decided that you want to do one for yourself. And boy, oh boy... do you need quite a bit of 'stuff'.

Comme vous pouvez le voir, on a achete plein de trucs, c'est quand on commence a y penser serieusement que l'on realise combien de trucs on a besoin...

In the past few weeks we've bought a compass, a LED headlamp, a money pouch, a LED torch, a universal sink plug, a travellers clothesline, a multi country power adaptor, two combination cable locks, 2 Light My Fire sporks, a travel size sewing kit, 4 combination pad locks, 2 Eagle Creek Koala toiletry bags, 4 Sea to Summit DryLite micro fibre towels, a Eagle Creek Maiden Voyage backpack for me, and an Eagle Creek Grand Voyage for Alain.

Recemment, on a achete une boussole, une lampe de front a LED, un portefeuille ceinture, une petite torche a LED, un bouchon d'evier universel, un corde a linge de voyage, une prise electrique universelle, 2 cables antivol, 2 sporks Light My Fire (cuillere-fourchette), une boite a couture de voyage , 4 cadenas de voyage, 2 sacs toilette de voyage Eagle Creek Koala,, 4 serviettes de bain Sea to Summit DryLite (sechage rapide style peau de chamois), un sac a dos pour dame Eagle Creek Maiden Voyage et un pour monsieur Eagle Creek Grand Voyage.

For sure, the best deal that I've happened to stumble across was purchasing our backpacks, micro fibre towels and toiletry bags from a great New Zealand company called Bivouca Outdoors. Not only were the bags nearly 45% cheaper than the exact same ones here in Australia, but with the exchange rate they were even cheaper, plus Bivouca offers free international shipping with orders over NZ$200.
I placed my order on a Thursday evening and my package was delivered on Tuesday afternoon... I was super impressed and highly recommend them.

Alain went to Harvey Norman for a 'look' the other day and came home with an Acer Aspire One micro laptop. It was on sale and he couldn't resist buying it. It will be perfect for our trip as it's super small and super light.

I also have been eyeing up a Crumpler Sinking Barge laptop/DSLR camera bag. Hopefully, we'll be able to pick one up on sale because I don't really want to pay full price for this bag. But, oh I do love it and would love to get my grubby little hands on one!

Nous sommes tres contents de nos grand sacs a dos, etant la piece majeure a acheter, Nicola a trouve une super qualite pour un prix tres raisonable en les commandant sur internet dans un magasin en Nouvelle Zelande. Et pour le sac a dos plus leger mais tres costaud pour tous les jours, Nicola a trouve ce qui se fait de mieux dans cette categorie : le Crumpler Sinking Barge, qui est capable de contenir en toute securite notre ordinateur portable, le Acer Aspire One (22,6cm) et notre appareil photo, le Canon 450D avec un zoom Tamron 18-270mm, et accessoires.

Thats it... We're doing it!

I never in my wildest dreams would have though that we'd be doing this Round the World (RTW) trip this early. We always thought we'd do it when the kids were perhaps 10 and 8 years old, certainly not 3 and 5! But, certain events happen in life that make you realize that life really is too darn short to be sitting around waiting to do something. So we are 'biting the bullet' and 'taking the bull by the horns', so to speak and are off on our whirlwind adventure!

So far, April 28th 2009 has been penciled in as our departure date from Australia.

Our rough itinerary is Australia - New Zealand - USA - France - Spain - Turkey - Syria - Jordan - Israel - Egypt - India - Vietnam - Cambodia - Thailand - Laos - Thailand - Malaysia - Singapore - Australia.

We've got alot to orgazine still (immunistations, visa's, money... etc), but I'm sure we'll manage. We've got a little over 5 months to get everything sorted, but the count down is certainly on!!

Cette idee de tour du monde en sac a dos a toujours ete presente dans nos esprit, mais la concretiser est une toute autre histoire, et puis dans la vie, des choses se passent et les jours defilent a une vitesse impressionnante, ce qui nous a fait realiser, pourquoi attendre que les enfants aient 8 et 10 ans? Pourquoi pas maintenant? Mia et Dallas n'ont que 5 et 3 ans, et alors? Il y a de ca 2 mois, juste avant de partir au boulot, en 5 minutes, la decision etait prise, faisons le maintenant...

Le 28 avril 2009 sera notre depart...

En partant d'Australie, nous irons en Nouvelle Zelande, USA, France, Espagne, Turquie, Syrie, Jordannie, Israel, Egypte, Indes, Thailande, Vietnam, Cambodge, Laos, Thailande, Malaisie, Singapore et de retour en Australie, le tout en 9 mois et demi.

Nous avons encore pas mal de choses a organiser comme des visas, des vaccins, des cartes bancaires... mais on en viendra a bout avant que le compte a rebours s'arrete.