I've been keeping a secret...
Well actually, most of the people who read this blog probably know this already but for the very few of you who don't here it is: I'm going to Australia and New Zealand for 4 months. Leaving in September, going with Jamie and hoping to have loads of fun.

Last night we confirmed (and paid for) our tickets. It's amazing to think that one person can spend so much money on plane tickets. Well, not just plane tickets, we got insurance too. All from those nice people at Trailfinders. They do provide a good service, and they're all really friendly. It seems though, that every member of staff has been to almost every part of the world. Their advice is usually of the form "well, when I was there..." I suppose that's why we trust them with sorting out our trip.

As part of our planning Jamie and I bought Footprint guides on Oz and NZ. We are splitting the work; he's reading about Oz and me NZ. I thought that was a fair deal except the books are about the same size and I have to read all of the NZ book and Jamie only have to read a part of his. But it's interesting, lots of activities. I'm especially looking forward to snorkelling and abseiling.
I learned to swim at the end of last year for the express purpose of someday being able to snorkel. Up until then I had been terrified of water and I got over all that. I'm not a very good swimmer, not much stamina, but I'm not afraid any more.
Abseiling is important because I seem to have a mental block on "getting down". Now, I'm not talking about partying - that sorta getttin' down I can do. I mean like, when you climb up something and then you need to get down. I can get up, but can not get down. Jamie just leaves me there - he can be so unhelpful sometimes. Anyway I reckon a bit of abseiling will help me get over all of that.

When I am away I intend to blog my experiences as I go (and of course there'll be photos). So this blog might actually get a damn site more interesting ;-) (Of course the whole tonsil saga is going to be documented....)