Pre-Travels

Well having been counting down the weeks/months pre-trip, I'm finding myself on a single figure countdown, with 5 days to go. In some ways it feels like I'm leaving forever, as one friend sent me a text to the tune of ''can you take your phone lead to hong kong so i can get the pictures as after that you're gone forever like'' - very reassuring! In reality I'm only away for 6 months, which in the grand scale of things isn't that long. My last 6 months at uni went beyond belief quickly so if the next 6 are anything like that then I'll be back before I realise I've been away. I intend to enjoy myself this time, no more repeats of summer 07 (the girls will know what I mean by this!). So far, I will be going to Hong Kong, Brisbane, Auckland, Sydney and Singapore. Once settled in Auckland I'm hoping to also be able to afford trips to Melbourne, the South Island and a nice long weekend in Fiji...as its only a 3 hour flight away I feel it would be criminal to miss out on a visit.

I'm sort of packed - although my suitcase is a little overflowing which inevitably means that I will have to pack and re-pack. Rianne and the girls will be able to fully appreciate what this means in reality! I'm torn between packing for different seasons and this is where I suppose the fashion graduate should come out, however it seems a little illusive right now. As I look around the sea of stuff which my bedroom has become, I am struggling to work out what I actually need over what I think I need - my baggage allowance of 20kilos is also not helping with this task.

So I give the packing another break (one of many in the past week), and decide to 'tidy'. This generally involves looking around my room, moving a few things around and discovering something in the bottom of a bag I'd temporaily forgotten about. For example, the other day it was a book on learning Spanish I used at A Level - this has re-kindled my love for Spanish and I am now on the hunt for my Spanish Harry Potter books. Thus at the thrill of a new discovery, the 'tidying' tends to stop and I find a new home for whatever it is I've re-discovered. Right now the Spanish book is sitting alongside my perfume and moisturiser in my bedroom, yes you aren't the only one who thinks that a little strange, however it was the only place I had at the time - if you could see my bedroom you would understand.

If I was ever worried about not having enough to do pre-trip then I was so wrong, although this time I'm hoping to stay away from crashing my car into a few trees, falling down the stairs and ending up spending a large majority of the last few hours before I leave in an A&E department. I have the joys of graduation tomorrow to look forward to, although I think this ordeal is more for my mothers benefit than mine - after all we don't even get a real scroll! I have a house reunion with the girls, a nostalgic reunion with Miss Whitby in the ghetto, my broken car to get fixed and my now long overdue conference paper to finish - the plane journey will seem like a break compared to this!

One slight concern I do have about Hong Kong is the fact its going to be monsoon season. I have beautiful memories of this city soaked in sun light, christmas decorations and lights everywhere you can imagine and spending the evenings walking along the waterfront in nothing but a top and skirt. I don't want this to be shattered on arrival if I end up knee deep in water, which with my height is a strong possiblity. The reason I worry about this is that Amrit and I wont get our much anticipated trip to Disneyland Hong Kong style. I have experience of Disneyland in the pouring rain and it is most definately one not to be repeated.