Off At Last!

Tom, Norma and William (yes that's his name, by common consent!) are finally on our way today. The picture shows William being introduced to our three grandchildren - Silvana, who's holding him, Vaila, sitting on Rona's knee, and Calum, the thoughtful one on the right, not forgetting the fourth grandchild who'll see him on our return in April. All being well the next post will be from South Africa. Meantime we hope you all had a great Christmas and are looking forward to 2008 as much as we are!

A Short Diversion

We know that lots of people have travelled round the world from Shetland (including us 23 years ago) but not many have started by going to Belfast via Edinburgh. As it happened Andrew (son of our friends Margaret and David Kay from Forfar) was getting married in Randalstown near Belfast on December 10th and we got a bid! The day of the wedding was perfect - sunshine, blue skies, a little bit frosty - and the reception in the Dunadry Hotel was outstanding. The food was great, the hotel itself was really impressive, and the ceili band really got the company going. Then the disco came on at just the right time for the older ones to slope off to bed.

Since our only previous visit to Northern Ireland had consisted of driving straight through from Larne to the border (although Norma had been there on a caravan holiday when she was about ten years old) we had decided to stay on a few days to explore. We toured the Antrim coast in a hire car and learned that the coast road was built in the 1830's by an engineer called William Bald from Fife, who just might be in Norma's family tree. We photographed our travelling companion on a windy morning at the Giant's Causeway.

Then we headed down to Down (couldn't resist that!) where we stayed a couple of nights with Mike and Cheryl McClure and family in Castlewellan. Mike is well-known in sea kayaking circles and has been to Shetland a couple of times. With his assistance I was able to test myself against the tides of Strangford Narrows in a Force 6, while Norma explored the St. Patrick Centre in Downpatrick. We also had a drive around the famous Mountains of Mourne and got thoroughly lost in the Castlewellan Peace Maze (we cheated!). On our last day we explored the excellent Ulster Folk Museum then drove straight through Belfast on the motorway to the airport.

Two more things to report - Northern Ireland people are probably the friendliest we've met on our travels (we'd heard that but now we know it's true). And we haven't named the bear yet though we have a few suggestions. There's still time for a few more suggestions before we decide at Christmas. We leave on Thursday 27th.

A Fellow Traveller

Before we set off here's a view of where we are coming from. This is Bridge End looking south towards Sumburgh. It was taken yesterday. If you look closely at the left hand side you can see some red sea kayaks. Our house is the white one to the right of them, just behind the garage with the brown door. Bridge End Outdoor Centre, where Sea Kayak Shetland is based, is in the centre of the picture, and the bridge after which the community is named is just to the left.

Now the big news is that the travelling party has gone up to three in number! Here's a picture of the newest member of the team. We can't tell you his name because he doesn't have one yet. Any suggestions for a name for him should be sent by comments on this blog (in the light of recent events one possible name has already been ruled out!). We hope to take pictures of him in various locations as we travel around the world - for the grandchildren of course.

Incidentally both these pictures were taken with the new camera. For anyone interested in these details it's a Nikon D40.

The Itinerary

(Don't worry we won't bore you with every detail, just the main elements!)

Prologue
We will probably leave Shetland on the ferry to Aberdeen on December 6th. We'll be in Belfast from the 9th till the 13th - going to a wedding on the 10th then a few days to tour around (if the weather is good) or shop in Belfast (if the weather is bad). Then it's back to Edinburgh for Christmas.

Part 1 - South Africa
We leave Edinburgh on December 27th and fly to Cape Town via London. Four days there to see the sights, then on New Year's Day we get the bus to Mossel Bay, a seaside resort a few hours east along the Garden Coast, a couple of nights there and on to Port Elizabeth, where we get the plane to Johannesburg on January 5th.

Part 2 - Australia
We arrive in Perth on the overnight flight from Jo'burg on January 6th, then on to Tasmania on the 9th, arriving at Launceston at 8.30 in the evening. We'll be based in Scamander until the 29th when it's time to head for........

Part 3 - New Zealand
Arriving in Auckland at 1 a.m. on January 30th. We collect our camper van from Ara Rentals on February 1st then it's off for 4 1/2 weeks! The only fixed point is that we'll be in Queenstown in the South Island on February 10th. We plan to walk the Routeburn Track over the next three days and because it's peak season it's essential to book the hut accommodation in advance. So it's Routeburn Falls Hut on Monday 11th, Lake MacKenzie Hut on the 12th, and back to Queenstown on the 13th. We also hope to do some kayaking, probably around Marlborough Sound but we haven't booked that yet. Otherwise we'll see where the road leads us. The camper is due back on March 4th and we fly out on the 6th, so we'll have a day in Auckland to get ready for the next leg, which is of course.....

Part 4 - South America
This is where it gets complicated! Our flight from Auckland takes us to Santiago in Chile where we change planes and carry on to Quito, the capital of Ecuador, arriving there just a couple of hours after we left Auckland - except we will have had a long day's travelling and crossed the International Date Line! The next day in Quito is free, which is probably just as well. We join up with the OARS group for Galapagos that evening, and spend the next day with them in Quito before flying out to join the catamaran in Galapagos on Sunday 9th. The next week is spent on the ship touring around the islands, kayaking, snorkelling and walking. Back to Quito on the 16th where we have another free day before flying to Lima on March 18th. Are you still with us? Well the next twelve days will be a whirlwind tour of Peru - Arequipa, Puno, Lake Titicaca, Cusco, Machu Picchu, back to Cusco and then Lima. On Monday 31st March we fly from Lima to Buenos Aires.

Epilogue
We now have 5 days in Buenos Aires, which may include a ferry across the River Plate to Uruguay. On April 5th we catch an overnight flight to Madrid for our last stopover. Three days later it's back to Edinburgh via London, arriving at 5.45 p.m. Then we'll think about coming home!

First Post

In December 2007 we will set out on a round-the-world trip which will take in 4 continents and 7 countries, and last 4 months. This blog is intended as a way of letting everyone know where we are and what we are doing along the way - hopefully with a few pictures and possibly even the odd video clip.

We expect to leave Shetland around the 6th of December, going first to Edinburgh then on to Belfast where we are invited to a wedding. We'll have a few days in Northern Ireland then it's back to Edinburgh for Christmas with the family (two daughters and three, going on four, grandchildren).

We fly out from Edinburgh on December 27th to London and Cape Town. After ten days in South Africa it's next stop Australia where we'll have a few days in Perth before going on to Tasmania for three weeks. The whole of February will be spent in New Zealand where we have hired a camper van and booked accommodation to walk the Routeburn Track. We also plan to do some kayaking around Marlborough Sound.

March sees us crossing the Pacific to Santiago then on to Quito in Ecuador where we will join an organised trip to the Galapagos Islands. It's run by an American company called OARS and involves living on a catamaran, sea kayaking and walking on several different islands. Next stop is Peru where we hope to visit most of the major destinations, including Cusco, Macchu Pichu and Lake Titicaca. The last two stops are Buenos Aires and Madrid, before we get back to Edinburgh in mid-April.