We spent the last hours of 2007 in a van, at the beach with views of the mountains behind us. It was the perfect place for us to reflect on a year that was spent entirely on the road....
We began in Thailand, where we welcomed 2007 with Christine and Mike. January to March was spent in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. We met some amazing people and shared some pretty horrific (hilarious?) bus/boat/truck journeys along the way.
In April we met up with Michael's parents for a couple of weeks lazing in the sun on Bali. We were also paid visits by Ryan, Richie and Carolyn. (Why'd everyone pick Bali to meet us?) Michael and Richie headed to Sumbawa with Ian for a boys surf camp, Christine and I decided to hit the shops in Singapore and do some diving in Malaysia. Despite a small hiccup with the exit stamp on my passport (i forgot to get one - oops) we were allowed back into Singapore just in time for me to surprise my Mum & Dad at the airport.
After tracking down Michael in Flores we continued on an Indonesian adventure with time in Timor, Rote, Sumba and Lombok. After which I made a whislestop trip to the US and then got all dressed up for Vicki n Tim's wedding in the UK. While I was hanging around waiting for my niece to be born Michael got bitten by a mosquito so I made a dash for Medan to keep the patient company.
India Mae Staines was born on August 15th. By all accounts she's keeping my brother and Emma on their toes.
After 5 months in Indonesia I finally managed to persuade Michael to head somewhere new, so we bought ourselves a van in Darwin and drove through the red center of Australia. When we'd used up our 3 months we sold poor Henry and jumped a flight to Christchurch, which brings us all the way up to now.
We're currently in another van heading North. This van is rented, but we did get a great deal to relocate it to Auckland for NZ$5 per day.... So, to Auckland it is!
The whole year has been absolutely amazing, we've had adventures aplenty and made great friends along the way. We're incredibly fortunate to be on this journey, and happy that you make the time to share it with us.
So, I raise my glass and say 'Happy New Year' to y'all. Where will you join us in 2008?
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
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1 comment:
it appears that the year really has dashed by,,, what a neat recap,,,thanks... and i dare say once again that your adventure continues to get better and better .... there is no doubt in my mind that ,,,, that is a reflection of the way you and michael seem to embrace the world i'm so proud of you both that i'll even stop strangers innocently crossing a street and tell them of your adventures love dad pauly-paul
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