Last day at work. 2 weeks, 2 days till we fly!

So it has finally arrived. Leaving work day.
It's both exciting and scary, the great unkown for 4 months before working again (when we find jobs that is!).
My liver is pretty much shot and I have easily put on a stone in the past month with all the farewells (and loads of Crabbies!)
After accepting an offer on the flat, we finally move out next Friday - after our stuff is packed up for shipping to Australia - and we move in with our friends in Greenwich for a few days, then head up to Scotland for more farewells.
And yes, that is a G&T on my desk.

Inca trail and flights booked

We have booked our flights, accommodation for most of the places we are flying into, and the Inca Trail.

South American flights are ridiculously expensive (£500 per person Bogota to Lima!) but it saves us quite a lot of time - and we heard about the dodgy route from Columbia to Ecuador - and this also let's us see more of Peru and Bolivia.

Below is a list of we have booked all our travel through. There is also a list on the side of the blog which we will list with all the places we will stay, and also any transport/tour companies we'll use.

London to Rio: BA
Buenos Aires to Bogota: Avianca
Inca Trail company: Lama Path
Cusco to Puno Train: Peru Rail
Columbian internal flights: Viva Columbia

Bogota to Lima: Avianca
Santiago to Sydney: QANTAS (unfortunately)

Just 4 weeks to go today!

Our beloved flat is for sale

Our lovely little flat is on the market.
Anyone want a really homely 2 bedroom garden flat in South East London (SE15)?

New carpets, bamboo floor in living room, renovated and ready to move it. 

2 Bedroom
Renovated Bathroom.
Freshly painted and carpeted.
3 year old boiler. 
42' private garden.

118 year lease.

Contact KFH in Peckham.

Visa approved so we can get cracking!

Ellen has visa! Finally we can write more about our adventure. We are off to Australia via a 3 month backpacking adventure through South America.

Ellen has been waiting 9 months for the Australian consulate here in London to issue her visa, and finally it came through last week.  

It’s been a long slog, the application itself took over 2 months to put together and in the time between first enquiring in January 2012 and applying in September 2012 the waiting time went from 2 months to 9 months!

So we will be in Australia just in time for Christmas with Angel's family - his first in over 10 years.

We now have loads to do – Sell the flat, the car, the Vespa, some crap we don’t want to take with us, book the shipping of our stuff and the transportation of our beloved cat Bob to Angel’s parents (she has gone through all the medical tests/injections she needs…poor thing). 

Stuff we're taking

Some of our stuff

After much research (you will find Angel will do this. A lot) Angel has bought a backpack. It is a Berghaus JalanII 60+10. He didn't want something too big as he had done 4 months in Europe with a 75+20 bag and it was too big and he had too much stuff in it (including a sleeping bag he used once!), so this time it was to be smaller and lighter - there are no metal frames in this one.

Ellen has her backpack, it came from the US, annoyingly the company added more postage (they did contact me to be fair) and then we had to pay import tax, but as it is a model not available in the UK it was worth it. It is a perfect pack for a few weeks travel.
Osprey Porter 46 Travel Pack is the model and it was only US$99 + about $50 delivery. It is a great bag, and it fits within the flight carry-on specifications (for the airlines we checked anyway).  What's more it cannot hold more than 46 litres so there is no temptation to take too much.

Technology-wise we have a small cheap laptop: an Asus Eee X101, just something to skype/email/transfer photos and a Sony Cybershot DSC-HX20V which so far has been pretty damn amazing (so much so Ellen's brother bought one - the only downfall is the pop up flash). We will also have an iPhone 4. Casio G-shock watch. Adaptors and chargers, the usual.

Clothing wise we have (we have really tried not to be sponsored by North Face, but we ended up going to a Sale in Bluewater and got some great stuff.)

Angel
North Face Tri-Climate jacket - original one, no longer on sale.
Merrell Hiking shoes
T-shirts x 5
Shorts x 3
Swim shorts
Socks x 6 pairs
Pants x 5 pairs

Travel towel

Jeans

North Face trousers (legs zip off)

Ellen
Jack Wolfskin Jacket
North Face fleece
North Face hiking boots

North face walking sandals

Soft flat pumps
T-shirts x 6
Shorts x 3
Swimming costume 
Socks x 6 pairs
Pants x 7 pairs

Travel towel

Jeans

North Face trousers

Bras x 2

Pjamas

Dress x 1 (for going out)