New Year's Day

Christmas is over so the excuse for inaction is over. The day of departure is now close which was made all the real by starting the anti-malarial tablets and they did taste foul.The field manual from GVI has been scanned several times and a shopping trip made to get all the missing items. I have decided that I would like to listen to CDs so a portable player for under £10 was bought and I burnt copies of my favourite CDs. I had to stop when I realised I had made 23 Cds and still had more to do.
I am meant to get more detailed instructions from GVI but that has not turned up yet, strangely that does not concern me as it adds to the sense of adventure. These days with the internet / email nowhere is out of reach. I have a sense of envy of the days when you sailed over the horizon and you were gone. It has all changed so quickly I realised when I watched the TV documentary on the first rround the world race. The tragic hero (Brian C..) realised that his boat would not survive the Southern Oceans so he pretended he had radio problems, and spent 3 months sailing off Brazil so that he could rejoin the race in last place. These days he would be detected straight away. Anyway, I digress.

It is amazing how the time passes by, I spent a whole morning packing my bag and rucksack to see if it would all fit and how much it would weigh. Despite the time taken, I was pleased to find that it all fitted and will just be under the 20kg limit.

It was nice to get the hugs and wishes from everybody at the New Year's party and I am writing this while U2 are playing "New Year's Day" on Paradise. I am listening on one of my treats / Christmas present to myself, noise cancelling headphones and they are good.

So to any readers, a happy 2008.