It's six months to the day to departure.
July 27th
I keep dreaming of New Zealand. 
Every night it's something different. Every night it's something new. New scenery. New flight. New friends.
I wake up anxious. They aren't always happy go lucky dreams - there's drama. But don't ask me to re-tell any of the dreams - I wouldn't know how to put two sentences together. They feel incoherent.
I'm anxious and nervous about this trip. I'm paranoid about getting injured before the trip. I'm worried that something will come along and tamper with my plans. It might seem illogical to you, but for me, it feels valid. I've wanted this for soooo long, and now that it's finally happening, it's painful to think of something taking it away. Because there's still some time to go before I get on that plane.
Maybe one day I'll understand these dreams...but until then, I'll just keep dreaming them.
My knee is really prompting any 'injury' anxiety I have. I have two less than perfect knees. Thank you God for knees that still allow me to walk - but for how long? I ended physio two weeks ago. I had to, due to a new film contract that wouldn't allow me to keep my appointments due to the physiotherapists' office hours. It's a good thing and a bad thing. Although this 'electro-shock' like therapy felt good right after receiving it on the one knee - I also had a great deal more of swelling on a daily/nightly basis. So icing my knee was a continuous thing. It appears that the swelling has significantly dropped since ending my physio sessions. My right knee did go through a three day strike against me however, where I was in constant pain - but it has passed for now. My left knee has started to give me problems now - which has me worried - and might be sparking my paranoia of additional injuries.
I have multiple 'syndromes' in my right knee and only really patellar dysfunction in my left. Problem is there is no 'cure' for either condition - basically physiotherapy and build strong quads to help support the malfunctioning knees. Unfortunately, building your quads isn't the easiest thing in the world when you're forbidden from doing stairs, squats and basically running. I've been told that I should not walk long distances - but they won't tell me for how long. I am pretty much set on their 'forever' thoughts. My condition could be aided by knee surgery (or at least fluid injections). One which is too expensive ($450/shot and upwards) and the other is something they are 'saving' until I'm really old. Although, new knees now would let me enjoy what is left of my youthful days.
So this trip will do me in and I pray that God protects me and allows me to complete this trip in full. If I'm continuously given this 'there is no hope for your knees - so stay off of them'...I can't let that keep me from doing the things I love. I already lost kick boxing and running - I'm not prepared to ride the couch forever.
Mind you - my trip and fall in September really screwed me over for my right knee. Stupid City of Toronto.
Enough about my knee - without physio to track any improvements - we're just hoping for the best. I put in an order with a health care consultant at CIMS Home Health Care for my brace/patella stabilizer this week as well as a patellavator knee orthosis. Hopefully, we see a difference in pain management. :) That is assuming they fit (apparently, I have small knees - go figure!)
In the last four weeks - a lot has happened in terms of the trip. I can't believe I haven't found time to update until now.
Let's start with the big shopping trip. :) Brent and I went our separate ways and did a lot of online research to look into a lot of the little things we need to collect for our trip. From finding Brent alternate options for a sleeping bag (he's allergic to birds/feathers - so down or partial down is NOT an option) was a big hunt. Problem with going synthetic is that these bags do not compact as much as a down bag would. Trust me - there are pros and cons - but the volume a synthetic bag takes up is a major con. He did end up purchasing the MEC Habanero rated at -12. We had a great sales member at MEC when we hit the bag section and he has a lot of background in camping so was able to talk up the -12 over the -7 for Brent. The -7 Habanero was a bit smaller in terms of volume, but the problem is that the higher we get in the mountains, the more chance of hitting colder temperatures at night. We are partially tramping a four season trip. We will be camping at the tail end of their winter into spring, and hitting the start of their next winter after fall.
Brent and his utensils. We are prepared to take the extra hit when it comes to weight to avoid buying plastic or aluminum items for the kitchen. We recently (on our big shop) bought our cook set, two bowls (which will serve as our only dishes - along with our wine goblets my brother bought us), steel pot scrubbers and steel can openers (hey, it's a start!). One thing we don't have yet is our eating utensils - and this is because every time we go into the outdoor stores Brent is comparing the weights of the plastics/lexan 'kits' versus the stainless steel. Some of those utensils are crap...like the knives barely have any 'cutting power' to them. And the best are the multi 'spork' tools. There is one - which we both want because they are hilarious - that is a spork (spoon/form) on one side and a knife on the handle. Problem is that you can't use any of the utensils at the same time cause they are all built into one another. How can you cut using a knife without the fork?? Yes - you could use your fingers, I get that - but it's just a funny little tool. Needless to say, the marketing worked and we each want one. :o)
We bought the footprint to the Gemini tent - which we plan to buy when it gets back in stock. Hopefully by the beginning of February we will be able to purchase this tent. For Christmas, my brother wanted to buy me this crank-powered lantern. They are completely out of stock of this freeplay item, but it's fantastic. It's the size of an aerosal can and works completely off of hand crank power. Greatest lantern ever. We have to order it in from the MEC distribution centre, as the store has been sold out for over a month.
To date, this is our gear:
Kitchen stuff -- Our MEC stainless steel two pots and frying pan set (w/mesh bag), 2 Alpine bowl set (which can fit inside of the pot set perfectly!), 2 stainless steel wine goblets, can openers and steel scrubbers.
Misc. items part I -- Waterproof/tear proof NZ map, binoculars, first pelican case, two wind-up flashlights, NZ emergency money :), pocket chainsaw, waterproof camera housing, Gemini tent footprint, small tent gear loft.
Misc. items part II -- Our Blurr docket (for documents), Zone 1 compass, travel sewing kit, our trowel, flint stick, fox 40 whistle, magnifying reader, travel angel pin, canadian flag zipper pull (I also have a patch that will be sewn to my pack), and of course our bear bell. :)
Our power supply -- the 6.5 watts solar panel eliminator with the power inverter (so that we can convert DC power (from solar panels) to AC power (so we can charge our iPods and camera/gps batteries that do not have DC adapters)
My gear to date -- MEC Brio backpack, sleeping pad (inflated in bg), MEC Hybrid sleeping bag, two OR dry sacks, Keen sandals, Blurr sling day pack, Cactus Creek thigh money belt, shock absorbant trekking poles with additional carbide tips and walking rubber tips, two adventure towels (shower towel, kitchen towel), Swiss Army multi tool, down pillow, medical supplies for first aid kit (to come), OR dry sack for sleeping bag, backpack alpine rain cover, sleeping bag liner.
Brent did a major (big item) catch up on this shopping trip with the purchase of his backpack (which was his bday present from me), backpack rain cover, sleeping bag & pad, and sleeping bag liner, as well as one adventure towel and two dry sacks for his clothes and such. :)Other news about gear - was the introduction of Waldo into our lives. Waldo is our GPS unit who finally made his way into the trip three Saturdays ago. I can't believe we haven't actually tried it out yet - too busy. He's still in his box. This tool will help us a great deal on the trails along with our maps and skillful compass expertise (which I have yet to learn -- um, anyone want to go geo-caching this summer to train me??)
The most exciting part of the last few weeks came in the mail on Tuesday, January 8th. Our Work Holiday Visas permanently placed in our Passports. Yay. We shipped off our applications (which we worked hard to prepare so that there weren't any hold ups) on Thursday late afternoon. It would have arrived at the High Commission's office on the Friday I suppose...and was shipped out on the following Monday; cause we got it on Tuesday. :)
I can't believe they let us in their country. :)
It really hit me more and more as I looked at the VISA. This trip is so close, I can taste it. And, if anything happens, I will never be able to get this VISA again (you can only receive this VISA once in your life per country that offers it).
So - VISA in hand, ticket in place, GPS sitting in a box, and gear starting to rack up - we're only 6 months from the start of this new adventure.
First Aid course update. You're reading the post of a soon to be 'Advanced Wilderness First Aid - AWFA' trained individual. Ugh. So - Brent and I were set to take on a two day course with this one company. Cost of $175 + GST. Totally worth the money - as we are entering situations where we could be a day hike from a radio, and possibly more from other actual people. It's a risky thing to walk into this situation with no training. So I spoke to the training coordinator from this one company and told her the plan for our entire trip and asked if she felt that the two day course would fit our plans.
Basically, she said no. Due to the amount of time we could find ourselves isolated from other people (we are tramping a large amount of time in the off season)...she suggested that we sign up for the four day course, therefore the AWFA. (Cost: $367.50 w/GST) It's pretty intense what they go through...four full days plus an exam. CPR included. The extra money factor hurt my heart a little at the beginning - but it truly is an investment. I don't have to up-keep this certification for anything outside of this trip; so I can apply this knowledge when I'm older and hiking in the woods with my kids. :o)
So scratch the two first weeks of February for us. We're in class.
Travel medicine to the rescue. We had our first appointment with the travel clinic last Monday. Good times. Basically, you sit down with a medical practitioner and walk through your planned trip - and they advise you on the health risks of the areas you will be entering as well as prescribe you medicine/vaccines appropriate to your travel. Our trip came across as sounding very simple. But it can throw you off. NZ is pretty much like Canada - if you have your booster shot, you're good to go. :) You do have to worry about some of the sand flies and mosquitoes - and they advise you wear deet insect spray. This truly is going to suck in terms of a trip where showering will be a luxury and wearing bug spray is a constant. We talk about our trip to Vanuatu and China and malaria came up. For our duration in Vanuatu, we have to be on malaria drugs and if we visit rural China - same deal. While in Hong Kong and Chengdu and Wolong and Beijing - we are apparently safe. Major cities do not house malaria mosquitoes according to health studies, as well as high altitude locations (Wolong being the example).
I'm currently Hep A/B immune, so I was able to avoid a shot on Monday. Brent got a combo Hep A/Typhoid Fever shot. We will visit them again the week before we leave for Brent's Hep A booster, my Typhoid shot and our prescription medications for Malaria medicine as well as altitude sickness pills. When we leave NZ, they advise we pick up a mosquito bed netting to sleep under at night. I'm pleading ignorance here, but I honestly only pictured malaria affecting places in Africa. It's a lot more spread out than I thought.
Next up in big purchases is Freshmaps' NZ topographic map (for GPS) - straight from NZ as they do not sell it anywhere except this one store (mapworld) in Christchurch, NZ; our Gemini tent at MEC; the hung for boots continues; maybe purchasing our Tilley hats --- we tried a bunch on in December and both found a style we liked. UV hats will help us A LOT in an unprotected NZ (ozone layers don't last forever...ugh).
Tuesday, I might be opening up a NZ bank account. Trying to figure out the best time to apply. Now with the American economy up and down - our CDN$ value vs NZ$ has dropped since I last checked a month ago...by $500-$1000 (this by comparing the transfer of 20,000CDN to NZ funds used to be over 26,000; now sits around 25,000). This conversion is a constant state of flux, but lately, has been more dramatic.
Safety in New Zealand
In light of recent events that have taken place in New Zealand, especially the unfortunate death of a British backpacker (who was only 26 years old) in the resort town of Taupo, I have been looking further into the safety of this country. A lot of different forums that I have been reading paint a very different picture from what the brochures would tell you. It's a concern. And was definitely a sad note this past week. I will continue to look further into these recent events and more safety concerns that I have found out about on the forums from NZ natives, and will discuss things in the near future. The results could alter how we proceed with our 'walking trip' of NZ. If there is a great safety concern found, we might have to walk only the trails, and bus from region to region. I would prefer to enjoy the entire country by foot.
We'll see what will happen.
Top Photo credit - Milford Sound, New Zealand. Copyright travelblog.org (http://wallpaper.travelblog.org/Wallpaper/pix/tb_milford_sound.jpg)
