5 days. Never enough time.

I'm not a fan of the humidity so much. I grew up with it in North Bay, moved to a new 'hot spot' with Toronto. I don't think New Zealand is humid. Training was difficult for us once summer started because we had to avoid the hot humid afternoons. It is not a condition we will be facing in NZ, so why train in it.

In 5 days, we fly into winter.

It's winter there right now. Not the same kind of winter that we see so much (and last winter was a dousy). Auckland probably has a winter similar to Vancouver. There is much of the country that sees snow and colder temperatures - but mainly in the south island. We wanted to travel the north island during the winter both at the beginning and at the end of our year. The north island offers milder temperatures and probably not as many (if any) avalanche warnings. The south island trails, in the winter, can either be closed off or very much 'use at your own risk'. Brent and I aren't trying to push our level of experience - so 'use at own risk' = plan an alternate objective.

We should be fine in the North Island. The area north of Auckland apparently has subtropical weather all year. We'll be doing that area at the tail end of our trip.

Yesterday.

Walked downtown as of approx 6.30am. Got back home at approx 10.30pm. Yuck. 16 hours of shopping and trip related stuff. What we brought back, does not reflect 16 hours of trip stuff.

First step - travel doctor. Brent got his Hep A booster and I got the painful Typhoid. Our nurse is so quick at giving shots because she does it all day every day. There's no warning from her. The warning is always nice to hear before that needle prick. Brent went first and his face was priceless. More shock than anything because he wasn't expecting it so quickly. The needle didn't hurt either of us. But the typhoid vaccination rolling through the needle into your muscle...that does hurt. When we visited the travel doctor 6 months ago, Brent got a Typhoid/Hep A combination needle. His arm was soar for a few days. It's the typhoid part apparently. Kind of feels like someone has punched you in the arm really hard. After now experiencing it, I would describe it as someone punching you so hard in the arm that you feel numb and unable to elevate it, or even simply use your arm even to point at something. Numb pain.

This morning - it doesn't hurt as much. If someone actually did punch it, I almost feel like the pain from yesterday will come rushing back.

We shopped a lot yesterday.

Brent bought THREE pairs of pants. Thank goodness. One of them actually fits almost perfectly in the length. The other two have to be hemmed, but he has pants. Huge sigh of relief. My happiest purchase yesterday was a pair of boardshorts. I felt like a surfer girl in them. They are my alternative to capris, as proper swiming boardshorts are quick dry and easy to clean. Ta da.

Bought som more gear. Nothing uber exciting.

Oh - actually. I bought something for Brent that he was super excited about. It's an object that if it doesn't fit, stays at home. But if there is room could make our morning tent striking so much nicer. It's a mini tent whisk and pan. All to sweep out the crap from the inside. Small. One of the few 'extra' items that we have purchased to make our lives happier.

He was really excited about that item.

Don't judge us. If you even thought about living in a tent for an entire year, you would understand why things like this are exciting.

It was a rough day for us yesterday. Each of us had little bursts of panic/stress mode. Thank goodness not at the same time. The fact that uber patient Brent is experiencing stress moments is a big deal. It almost makes me feel okay about having internal meltdowns. They come and go. Spent some time on the phone with my mom to calm the soul. :)

Today. We walk with boots. We do a big walmart shop. We visit our bank about currency. I will probablysit on the phone cancelling cards and dealing with final billing issues. We set up our external hard drive. We go out to celebrate because it's Shawna's birthday today (Brent's sister) and it's Brent's birthday tomorrow. Family time. :)

Tomorrow. Early morning hike. Final MEC shop. FINAL. Oh my goodness. We've been living at this store, and it's coming to an end. Dinner with my brother. We celebrate Brent's champagne birthday.

In three days, my parents will be here.

In five days, I'm freaking out!!!