Day 0 - December 26th - To Melbourne in readiness

As established in the last post, we got away and got down to Ciloms, after a stop off for a cuppa at Mary's sister Clare's house.

Clare, Janelle and Kate joined us for dinner at Ciloms, then they took off with Kate and the car.

Mary and I were in bed pretty early ready for the 2.30am start. After a last cuppa and finished off the delicious Almond bread I recieved for Christmas from Bronwyn.

The last cuppa, with almond bread c/- Bronwyn and Priscilla Jones.

Janelle, Mary, Clare and Kate kicking back in the motel room before tea.

On the road to Melbourne.

Mary and Kate arrived a bit after 2o'clock to pick up for the trip to Melbourne. Kate had the brand new iPad the family had received for Chritmas, she captured some shots of the Moe departure.

A short post from the phone en route to motel near airport. Ready for up and at em about 2 am, ready for 6am flight.

 

On arrival at Ciloms, we all went in for a cuppa, Kate was once again busy on the iPad. Good job Kate and thanks for capturing some moments.

 





The bags are packed

Well the re pack was successful. Got it down to 15kgs and hand luggage is under 7 as well.

The lawns are mown, the shopping done. All that's left now is to charge the electronics, celebrate Christmas and we are good to go.

Wow it's really surreal to think its all gonna really happen.

Six days till departure and 10 till we hit the Antarctic...OMG it really is real

Well, finished work this arvo for approx 6 weeks, that is a pretty amazing feeling.

The last few months have been hectic one way or another. One of the major stresses has been getting everything organised for the trip away. Now with 6 days to go till we leave home, I have only one stress left. I need to reduce the weight of the baggage. I have been throwing things in since the end of winter and am now procrastinating about opening the bag, unpacking everything and being EXTREMELY BRUTAL about what goes back in and what doesn't.

I am heartened (slightly) by the fact that Mary reckons she has packed (using my list) and her bags come in at 15kgs...which leaves room for purchases etc.  So I must be doing something wrong.

In the last little while, we have been waiting and recieving back my passport including Brazil Visa. the photo looks like a mug shot, but who cares, I have the passport back in my hot little hands.

Finally a week or so ago we recieved the ship tickets, baggage tags etc and vouchers for much of our accommodation, things were starting to seem very real.

Here's the package from Aurora. The company who we are doing the Antarctic with.

I have arranged credit cards, travel cards, US cash, booster shots for hep b etc, arranging for an overseas SIM card. All the while finalising the Christmas lists and shopping and wrapping.  Now it's all pretty much done...except for that dreaded travel bag...

Here is what it looks like currently...

Hopefully by this time tomorrow, it will be all sorted.


Have  Christmas coming next week of course, with a Moe Christmas with the Baths, Caldows, Davis's and Zajacs on Sunday and Christmas day with the family at Aunty Sue's in Melbourne.

Then it will be out of here before we know it.

December 2012...less than 20 days to go and counting

Back again, just for a quick update.

It is the silly season, with Christmas and end of year functions eating up time.

Thrown into the mix is the final preparations for the big trip. With departure just 18 days away, things are pretty nearly sorted out.

Bags are partially packed, last minute tours arranged - bring on the King Penguins and Tierra del Fuego on the 30th.

News from the travel agent, that there are some changes to flights so will need to sort them out in the next little while. They are post the cruise, so shouldn't be too dramatic.

We depart from Melbourne at 6.00am on the 27th, so plan to head to Melbourne on Boxing Day to accommodate the 4.00am check in.  We have a stopover in Sydney and Auckland before arriving in Santiago - Chile - still on the 27th, so it'll be a big day - with approx 20hours flying time plus 4 and a half hours stopover...so I think the sleep will be great when we arrive.

We had a final meeting of the group from Victoria, with a meeting at Jells Park Primary School. It was good to meet everyone again and some for the first time.

Mary and I have had our injections, with just our Hep boosters to have next week.

I reluctantly sent my passport off to the Brazilian embassy for a visa, and it finally came back last week, after more than a month...feels weird sending your passport off into the never never.

All our accomodations etc are booked. I only have to arrange two bus trips...but they can't be done until a month prior...so need to do this just before christmas.

Lots of research into best ways to manage money while away and have now got credit cards and travel cards and cash almost squared away...this time next week should see that ticked of the 'ever growing' list.

anyway, must be off now to update lists and get some tea on the go.

Next update may well be 'in transit' or somewhere along the way.

Take care!

More Prologue

This post, will bring the story up to today, more or less, with some of the events/ things that have happened along the way.

To carry on the story, once I had sent off my expression of interest, it was just a matter of waiting and seeing if there were enough interested to make it happen.

Soon after sending of my email, I was sitting at volleyball talking to Phil and I mentioned that I was hoping to be going to the Antarctic...Phil paused mid sentence (which is a tad unusual for Phil) and then went onto the explain that with Mary's 50th birthday occuring in 2012, that a trip to the Antarctic would really solve the whole present issue for him. Antarctica was on Mary's bucket list..so home I went to secretly express interest on Mary's behalf. This was just fantastic, as I would now have a 'twin' to share who I actually knew.

The biggest challenge was the necessity now to say very little of the whole thing for another 6 months, till Mary's birthday on April the 19th.

In the meantime, I attended an information session to learn some more about the cruise and what to expect, etc etc.  The numbers were building and it was looking very promising.

Time passed and there were forms and information to send in. Phil and I continued to plot and scheme behind the scenes.

I also decided if I was going all the way to South America to sail to Antarctica I should make the most of the opportunity to see South America. Or so I thought. I started researching and gleaning information from people who has spent time is Sth America. I had never realised just how big and amazing South America is...it soon became obvious, that I would have to limit the amount of places etc one could reasonably go.
My initial plans were to do another cruise around the Galapagos Islands and then check out Machu Picchu. However, advice was that it is a bit hot and humid at that time of year. Anyway I needed to wait till Mary was in the loop to see what is was she was interested in also.

At some stage the voyage was confirmed, we had enough folk interested to go ahead. Which was fantastic news. There were some deposits to sort out and it has been a waiting game.

In March this year, we had a get together of quite a few of the Victorian Teachers group, at Jells Park Primary School followed by lunch, this was another opportunity to listen to some more information and ask questions of some folk who had been before. By this time, many people had booked flights and were well and truly getting tours etc organised...I was counting the days till Mary would be presented with the exciting news. The group come from all over the state, from government, catholic and private schools as well as partners/friends and others associated with education.

In the meantime, Phil was getting a bit anxious that he would need to tell Mary early and on one occasion he reported that he dreamt he had told her and she didn't want to go - EEEK!!!

I was busy looking at and buying some of the clothing etc that would be needed, a new jacket on special when in Bendigo and the Teacher's games and numerous other bits and pieces of warm gear.

I also started seriously researching a new Digital SLR - I finally bit the bullet and purchased a new Canon EOS 60D in January and recieved it late Feb. I am trying to get the hang of it and am booked into a photography course next term (pending sufficient numbers)

Finally April the 19th rolled around and whilst walking the dog I recieved an SMS from Mary which indicated she definately knew and was pretty excited.

Since then, we have been plotting and scheming to determine what we might do. The outcome is that we leave Melbourne on Dec 27, travel to Santiago via Sydney and Auckland, then fly to Punta Arenas for a few days before we begin the cruise on the 31st of December. We are then going to camp for 5 days in Patagonia, return to Santiago, where Mary will fly home and I will continue onto Buenos Aires and Iguazu Falls, before flying home.

So with flights arranged, some tours booked, we are now sorting out accommodation, transport etc etc. All good fun, but very time consuming.

SO that basically brings us up to now- and I will report bits and pieces as things develop. Then there will be a bit of  a break before we actually get seriously on the adventure. I am hoping to be able to continue the blog whilst on the continent, but won't be able to upload while we are actually in Antarctica.

Hope you enjoy the blog...would love any comments.

till the next time.

Nicola

The story so far...6 months and 6 days to go.

Hello there everyone,

I have been 'going to get around to starting...' this blog for several months now. So let me rewind and tell some of the story of this neverending journey to date.

For a number of years now I have been keen to visit the Antarctic, I have always been fascinated by the frozen southern part of our world, helped in no small part by the many articles and amazing photos in the Australian Geographic to which I have subscribed for years.

I visited the 2009 travel expo and collected bundles of brochures and travel mags and information on Antarctica. I researched and read and looked and thought and looked some more. There is so many different way to see the area.

Then in June/July last year an email crossed my desk seeking interest in the Victorian Teachers Antarctic Expedition...so I bit the bullet and expressed interest.

Now the story gets more interesting with a bit of twist.

To Be Continued....

Here is the ship we will be sailing on - "Polar Pioneer"