Sydney :: Australia
Last day of work. woo hoo!
Places: Sydney.
Coolest thing I did: Made it to the very end of my 12 month contract with IBM without going mad.
Coolest thing I didn´t know: My entire life fits into 8 cubic metres
Nearly two years to the day after I started my last big trip into the unknown and a whole year later than I expected, we are finally leaving Sydney once more to go and explore the wilds of North America. I think it hasn't yet sunk in that we're finally going due to the fact that it has been on the cards for so long. Until this very morning (which is the last day of my contract with IBM) I don't it's been real, but right now I'm on top of the world. I'm as prepared as I'm ever going to be (and far more prepared than when I moved to the UK almost 5 years ago) and just a little bit excited about the whole thing (ok, so A LOT bit excited).
So, what's in store?
Well to start off our plane lands in Vancouver (because that's the closest place to Australia in Canada) a couple of hours before we take off and then we think we'll be there for a week or so. I have to admit to being a bit naive about all of what there is to do in Canada. I know it's cold, as every man and his dog has been walking around all week going "have you got your warm clothes? ha ha ha" and stuff like that. I also know that there are mooses (meese?) and mounties. That's about it.
Oh, and snow. We're flying to Calgary about a week and a half after getting to Canada in order to stay with Grantos at Sunshine where he now works and lives, after (I assume) he got bored of ensuring that drunk backpackers could get around Europe with a minimum of fuss. I haven't been snowboarding since that big week in Bulgaria so I'm very looking forward to that too (I'm saying that a lot, aren't I?). They apparently have 1.5m of snow, which seems like a lot seeing as there was about 1.5cm of snow in Bulgaria the year I went. It's going to be tops. Yvette has got all her snow gear ready and is learning for the first time. This will be good because it means I'll feel like I'm an experienced pro, even when falling on my arse.
After this we're at a bit of a loss. We might stay on, as the next cheap flight east of Calgary isn't until 3 days later and we're not sure if Calgary will amuse us enough or not. We're going to try and make it over to Toronto (our eventual home) before Dee crosses our path somewhere in the middle. She's on a massive tour of North America and this is the most likely place we'll get to meet her. She'll also be the last person we see that we know for quite some time too so it will be good for all involved.
So now, all that is left is to clear the contents of our house up and put everything that isn't Markies into storage. Like I said in the intro, the accumulation of possessions over my lifetime fits neatly into 8 cubic metres. Some may say this is depressing but I think it's something to be proud of. Shows I still know how to travel light.
So expect more of these again. Next one should be from Canada somewhere!