The Difficulty Deciding What to Take ...

No matter how you do it, deciding what to take and what to leave behind when you travel is a difficult task.

I like to lay out in front of me, usually on our bed, all those things I think I need to take. Then I rationalise between what I want to take and what I really need, bearing in mind that I will buy something while away ... a few souvenirs and presents for family and friends. A new shirt or pair of boots.

When you are going to both hot and cold climates, it's even a greater challenge. Because we are spending the first half of our holiday in the Middle East where it will be warmish, we have decided not to take too many heavy winter clothes. We'll buy what we need during the second half of our journey in the Italian and Austrian Alps, the UK and Scotland where it will be colder. If we are really lucky and those countries are having heatwaves (oh, yeah?) then we won't have to buy anything.

Buying new clothes means you are able to discard some of the worn-out stuff you've been carrying about but are too attached to to ditch. Well, I get attached to my clothes and stuff, don't you?

It's very hard to turf out something that has kept you warm winter after winter ... an old faithful ... and to recruit something untried and untested.

So, the packing continues. As we leave tomorrow, decisions need to be made, rationalising needs to be done. We need to fit our stuff into our new Delsey suit cases and by some miracle be less than the allocated weight.

Tomorrow it's Alice Springs to Adelaide to Melbourne and then to Abu Dhabi. It will be a little like going home.

Robin

One Week Until Our Overseas Tour

There's only a week to go before we fly out of Central Australia to Melbourne and thence the world. Needless to say, we are excited about having a break from Alice Springs and visiting our many friends at Al Ain and elsewhere. Also, when you live at Alice Springs so far away from the coast and other cities, it's necessary to have a break at least annually as the place becomes too small.

Here is our itinerary. For security reasons, I have not provided local contact details or exact locations, but friends can email us to find those out if need be.

We are doing several tours, one nine day trip through Egypt that includes a boat trip up the Nile. We do a 14 day bus tour through the more historical parts of Turkey including Gallipoli, which all Australians need to visit at least once. There's also a nine day tour through Italy that includes Naples and Sicily.

We have a time share at the Gold Coast in Queensland (Australia) that is transferable to other countries. We will be using it to stay at locations in the Austrian Alps, the Italian Alps and the countryside somewhere in France. (wee, wee).

Unfortunately, we will need to carry winter and summer clothing, which increases the load. However, we've invested in two new travel bags that are sturdy but light and will take as little heavy stuff as possible.

While we are touring I will update this blog as often as possible. If you want to be advised of updates, why not follow the blog so you get notified that a new post has been made?

I've also been asked to be a guest blogger on a travel blog, but have yet to find out more about that.

Watch this space!

A Long Cold Winter

As I write, it's been raining again overnight and golf for this morning is cancelled. With the rain, it's not as cold as it has been, but is still cold enough to have a heater on and the doors and windows closed.

This winter seems to have been colder than previous. In fact, we have had the coldest day ever recorded in Central Australia this month. The temperature never went about 6 degrees Celsius for the day. Now I know some of you who live in places where it gets really cold, will have a giggle at that. However, remember that Central Australia is an arid, dry environment that also gets very hot in summer. We're accustomed to it getting cold in winter, but not that cold for so long. I recall a minus 6 degrees once, but it usually occurs when one is wrapped up in bed ... or should be.

For only the second time in our 38 years together, Christina has been very sick with influenza and bronchitis having had about seven days of it. So much for the innoculations we had for swine flu and normal flu. I had a dose that kept me away from work for two days, but it wasn't anywhere near as severe as the dose Christina has ... probably one of the dubious benefits of working in a hospital.

Anyway, I'm off to Darwin for a few days next week where it will be warmer and I can soak in some sun beams and return home feeling all the better for it.

Robin