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!