THE THREE ALPHA TRAVEL

I just finished booking / planning my route for the rest of my time in Australia. I would normally try to avoid so much planning but Australia is big (as big as Europe) and the distances are ruthless so here I go

The East Coast part of the trip will be passing from Byron Bay – Brisbane – Rainbow Beach – Fraser Island – Rainbow Beach – Airlie Beach – Mission Beach – Cairns. In Cairns I will try to do some diving as the Great Barrier Reef is a one-off chance for me to experience the depths of the ocean and of course exercise my newly possesed diver’s license!

Continuing I fly from Cairns to Melbourne on the 19th of March and then after staying there some days I will head up to Adelaide and then Alice Springs where I’ll be doing the outback in a week (Uluru, Kakadu etc.), finally arriving in Darwin on the 2nd of April. From there I am free to fly wherever I want and begin the next part of the trip to Southeast Asia. Indonesia is the cheapest country to jump to from Darwin so I’ll probably do that. I will keep you posted of any changes of course. For now; ciao!

PS: By the way I have gotten rid of my daypack (sent it back to Spain) and I am now traveling only with my big backpack – a good exercise for Southeast Asia in the months to come.

Here I am then; in Australia since the 24th of December. Christmas celebrations have passed and the new year is upon us (unfortunately though the bombs in Palestine have not stopped).

Oceania

I have been living in Byron Bay since my arrival. They call it the “surfers’ paradise” and it is definitely a very beautiful place. I can get used to this! What had not occurred to me before though was that you have all those beautiful places AROUND the country as well. New Zealand, Caledonia, Fiji, Tasmania, Tonga, Polynesia, Samoa, Solomon Islands… and of course the (very) general plan just was to be in Australia and then move upwards.

So once more, the plan has to change. I can take advantage of the case of the visa renewal when I get out of the country and then come back. So I was thinking I should do New Zealand and Fiji.

In terms of what is to be seeing in Australia, well… not even 2 years would be enough for it, so I chose the Outback and I’ll see what else more. Fraser island is a good candidate as well. The problem is that not having a driver’s license plus the fact that the distances are massive, travel only becomes convenient by air transport. Even then though, the destinations must be carefully selected.

In any case I will keep in touch and let you know.

Until next time, stay cool and don’t be a fool

Tomorrow I´ll be doing it.

To my friends and family I wish them a very good life for the year to come. To the rest I wish the same but in a different sentence

Stay tuned and i will try to stay in touch too!

Oh… also thanks for everything!

See you down the road!

Regards,

Mat

Panasonic DMC LX3

Luckily enough a 28 km trekking route on the Catalunyan Pyrenees helped me understand that carrying around my 350D is not a good idea. I used a belt-striped case and carried the 350D along with the Tokina 12-24. I thought that it would be a light choice but… I was really happy to leave it in the hotel for the second day.

So I had to go out and buy a compact. A good one. I finally ordered the Panasonic Lumix LX3. I wanted a light and capable camera and this one seems to do the trick. Its F2.0-F2.8 24-60mm (35mm equivalent) Leica lens it is exactly what I would like for the trip. My first thought was the Canon G9, but it was heavier and not so bright.

For the test drive and sample photos I will keep you posted.

PS: As a new camera marks a new era of uplaoding too, I created a second Flickr account. There I plan to upload only photos from the trip. The link is: http://www.flickr.com/photos/csm2mkrtw/sets/

Ciao for now!

OK so really close to finalising the gear too (not including clothing, medical/toiletries and electronic/other).
In the first part of the post I had bought an anti-mosquito net that could be hanged from one point. As I was told this was a big mistake. Monday I’ll go search for one that can be hanged from four points (more practical). Also it would be nice for it to be sprayed by a relevant liquid. If not I can do this later. Also I now know what exactly I need to complete my medical pack so stay tuned

My Deuter 50+10 Act Lite (only that mine is red )

1 Deuter backpack 50+10 Act Lite – 146,50 euro
1 Sewing kit (compiled by me) – N/A
1 Pair of earplugs (gift for the subscription of the Wire magazine) – N/A
1 Lifeventure neck wallet – 11,85 euros
1 Eagle Creek inflatable pillow – 23,20 euros
1 Ferrino towel – 12,50 euros
1 Ferrino waterproof document bag – 3,95 euros
1 Lifesystems water neutralising tablets – 8,95 euros
1 Lifesystems insect repellent – 8,95 euros
1 World Atlas & Almanac by Insight Atlas – 16,50 euros
1 Ferrino cup – 12 euros
1 Ferrino poncho – 6 euros – It got destroyed in a trekking expedition on the Pyrenees
1 Ferrino backpack raincover – 15 euros
1 Frendo headlight (1 led) – 19 euros
1 Glue stick – 3 euros
1 Box of matches – 0,20 euros
1 Deuter First Aid Kit – 19 euros ***
3 Pairs of wooden door stoppers – 1,90 euros
1 Leatherman tool – N/A
1 Maglite mini torch – N/A
4 Tea lights – 1 euro
1 Pack of wet tissues – 0,60 euros
2 Universal bath plugs – 1,50 euros
1 Spoon, fork, knife camping combo – N/A
1 Spare set of shoe laces – N/A

*** A different post will be made explaining exactly my medical pack + the extras I am planning to take with me.

UPDATE

1 Quecha square cotton blanket  – 7,95 euros

1 Quecha rain coat – N/A

Canon 350D body

Having packed the most of the things I need, I notice that there is some space left on the top of my backpack and I wonder… was I THAT good in packing?

Obviously the answer is no.

What about the camera? I already own a Canon EOS350D one with the following lenses:

Tokina 12-24mm

Canon 50mm 1.8f

Canon 100-300mm

Canon 24-70mm L

Lensbaby 2.0

From those, I will have to carry one. The winner up to now is the Tokina one (a wide angle lens). But then, why not get the 50mm one too? There I go I start adding things up again… And then sometimes I think of the possibility of buying a good compact one… but it’s just not the same

Any thoughts?

Old smallpox vaccination poster

Today has been the vaccinations day. The doctor has been very helpful. Also she has traveled around Greece a lot and generally seemed to know her stuff. I guess they know who they are hiring for travel medicine… what a better way for a traveller to be attended by one!

Therefore, I had had:

- Yellow fever vaccine

- Hepatitis A vaccine

- Tetanus vaccine

- Typhoid fever vaccine

- Antirabic vaccine

- Malaria tablets

Let’s hope I won’t need them

I just received the confirmation by email that all is ok with the ticket.
Many years ago when I was thinking about the trip, more as an abstract idea than something that was going to do, I did not even imagine that a number passed on by email would allow you to travel for one year… The fact that the ticket is electronic, makes you wonder… and look at the past too!

Below is the final itinerary (the dates will most probably change):

Monday, Nov 03
Swiss – Flight 1957 Confirmed
De: Barcelona Arpt Barcelona, Barcelona, ES (BCN) 19:45 Terminal: A
A: Zurich Arpt Zurich, Zurich, CH (ZRH) 21:40
——————————————————————————–
Tuesday, Nov 04
Swiss – Flight 292 Confirmed
De: Zurich Arpt Zurich, Zurich, CH (ZRH) 09:35
A: Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta Int’l Arpt Nairobi, Nairobi, KE (NBO) 19:10
——————————————————————————–
Monday, Dec 01
South African Airways – Flight 189 Confirmed
De: Dar Es Salaam Int’l Arpt Dar Es Salaam, Dar Es Salaam, TZ (DAR) 07:25
A: O R Tambo Arpt Johannesburg, Johannesburg, ZA (JNB) 10:05 Terminal: A
——————————————————————————–
Monday, Dec 01
South African Airways – Flight 325 Confirmed
De: O R Tambo Arpt Johannesburg, Johannesburg, ZA (JNB) 11:40 Terminal: B
A: Cape Town Int’l Arpt Cape Town, Cape Town, ZA (CPT) 13:50
——————————————————————————–
Sunday, Dec 14
South African Airways – Flight 336 Confirmed
De: Cape Town Int’l Arpt Cape Town, Cape Town, ZA (CPT) 13:50
A: O R Tambo Arpt Johannesburg, Johannesburg, ZA (JNB) 15:50 Terminal: B
——————————————————————————–
Sunday, Dec 14
South African Airways – Flight 7700 Confirmed
De: O R Tambo Arpt Johannesburg, Johannesburg, ZA (JNB) 17:50 Terminal: A
A: Sydney Kingsford Smith Arpt Sydney, NS, Sydney, NS, AU (SYD) 14:35 Terminal: 1
——————————————————————————–
Sunday, Aug 30
Us Airways – Flight 6466 Confirmed
De: Hong Kong Int’l Arpt Hong Kong, Hong Kong, CN (HKG) 11:45 Terminal: 1
A: San Francisco Int’l Arpt San Francisco, CA, San Francisco, CA, US (SFO) 08:46 Terminal: I
——————————————————————————–
Sunday, Aug 30
Lufthansa – Flight 9053 Confirmed
De: San Francisco Int’l Arpt San Francisco, CA, San Francisco, CA, US (SFO) 13:51 Terminal: I
A: Frankfurt Int’l Arpt Frankfurt, Frankfurt, DE (FRA) 09:45 Terminal: 1
——————————————————————————–
Monday, Aug 31
Lufthansa – Flight 4454 Confirmed
De: Frankfurt Int’l Arpt Frankfurt, Frankfurt, DE (FRA) 13:00 Terminal: 1
A: Barcelona Arpt Barcelona, Barcelona, ES (BCN) 14:55 Terminal: A

Ciao for now!

UPDATE

Here is the new one as it stands as of November 13th, 2008. The changes are only in the dates.