Happy Birthdays

bed count: 94

So, a couple of belated Happy Birthdays here:

Happy 50th Mum!!! Hope the snow didn't stop you having a great day. ( Don't worry everyone - I did the present / card / phone call thing on the actual day, I just haven't had a chance to put it on the blog yet).

The second belated birthday wishes are for this blog, which reached the grand age of 1 year old on the 21st March. I am sure you will agree - I have come a long way since my very first posting - Tickets booked. Several thousand miles, many time zones, 113 posts and 92 beds to be precise.

(I am a bit gutted actually - to be so close to 100 beds in a year and still not make it! Since the plan is to be in one place for the next couple of months it doesn't look like I will reach the century at anytime soon. Bad planning!)

But, sod the nostalgia - what have we been up to? After leaving Queenstown we headed to Wanaka for the night to catch up with our friends Matt and Trace. As we were only staying in Wanaka the one night I decided not to take my whole backpack into the hostel, but just take in the top bit containing overnight essentials. Sounds like great planning until you forget to take it with you the next day...

Unfortunately, we didn't discover this until many, many miles and hours later in Christchurch. And NZ post were being stupidly backward by not letting me pay for a courier over the phone - I would have had to go to Wanaka and do it... Doh! Luckily, a very, very nice man called Ian at Wanaka Bakpakas sent it up to me out of his own pocket. (I am sending a reimbursement and chocolate because good deeds like that should be rewarded).

So - if you are ever in Wanaka I can highly recommend Wanaka Bakpakas, and if you're ever at Wanaka Bakpakas you should be especially nice to Ian.

We're now in Sumner and have spent the last few days catching up with people and sorting things for Alec's impending departure. It's been pretty cool really - as well as my friend Fiona I have finally managed to catch up with Mick and Lesley and meet their gorgeous wee son. Plus, we seem to be following our friends Gary and Joanne around as they're in the room next door to us, and Matt and Trace are following the trend by following us to Christchurch.

We had a lovely evening last night catching up with Gary, Joanne, Matt and Trace. It was all a bit weird though as Matt and Trace have changed their plans and it looks like I might be the only one of us not in Oz in a few weeks time... Ahh well - nothing that 60 hour weeks can't cure.

We've had a lot of feedback on our plan for Alec to head to Oz and me to stay here for a wee while since my last post. Seems that some people are a bit worried for us. The concern is lovely, because I know it comes from people wanting us to be okay. But I do want to reassure you all that we do know what we're doing.

It's not a spur of the moment decision. We'd pretty much decided that spending some time travelling on our own was an option even before we set out from the UK. We just didn't tell anyone until recently, probably because we knew some people would try and talk us out of it. ;)

We know it wouldn't suit everyone, but then selling your house and car, giving up your jobs, and heading off on your world travels wouldn't suit everyone either. I think we have established we're not exactly run-of-the-mill people...

So - thank you all for being a little bit worried about us. We know it's only because you care about us. But please trust us on this one. If nothing else because, yes it will be tough being away from each other for a while and we will miss each other. But you guys being okay with it will make it a little easier to cope with.