Feeling of holiday started with a Corsendonk Pater (Abbey Brown Ale) at the Ponsonby Belgian beer bar with an enjoyable exchange with the short haired, blond bar tender. This was the guest beer, apparently. I have also received an Email back from Langridge which I reflect on. He says "I'd totally forgotten I ever did that, so it was a wonderful surprise. Very proud to be a part of your skin. Hope all is well." Which is pretty damn charming to me. I feel little to complain about in this moment.
Leaving work was good. All went to plan, generally speaking. People were very kind in their words, efforts and time. It was clear that I was incredibly lucky to be given such a send off. Besides the generous sentiments extended at my farewell I was given a blessed greenstone necklace, a wonderful card from all the office, book vouchers, some dough, a special gift presented by a colleague from her South American adventure and a book from Loretta - Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World - which was all really too much. Do I really deserve all this? It is a challenging feeling being treated so well by people. But I did my best to acknowledge this in my farewell speech and feel I now make a sincere effort to be gracious in such a situation rather than merely squirming.
In the afternoon I spend a long time going through my bag. It is still to heavy but I will just have to cull while I am on the road, I cannot figure out what to remove at this stage. The pack list, and essentially all my worldly possessions as of today, boil down to the following:
Small Pack
Toilet bag
2 bowls
2 Spork
Travel towel
3 locks
Pouch
Ipod
Shuffle
3 adaptors
Olympus DVR
Memory stick
Camera 1
Camera 2
Laptop charger
Phone charger
Security ties
Backpack
Cards
12 dice
Security ties
9 books
Sharpy
Pen
Sun glasses
Travel pillow
Main Pack
Trail shoes
Chucks
Jandels
Sleeping bag
8 socks
7 underwear
7 T shirts
2 shorts
1 thermal
1 long john
1 light jacket
1 heavy jacket
Jeans
Tent
1 raincoat
Toilet bag
Tooth Brush
Shaver
Comb
Sun screen
Iron tablets
Doxy 100mg
Savlon
Neosporin
Hard surface wipe
Loper 2mg
Paracetamol
Deodorant
Books
Earth Abides
Collapse
Globalization & its Discontents
When Gravity Fails
Treasure Island
An Old Man on a Bike
Hard-boiled Wonderland
The Beach
Robinson Crusoe
Needed
Passport
Travel Insurance No.
Ticket Info
Cert. copy passport
Total Weight: 18 KG
Leaving work was good. All went to plan, generally speaking. People were very kind in their words, efforts and time. It was clear that I was incredibly lucky to be given such a send off. Besides the generous sentiments extended at my farewell I was given a blessed greenstone necklace, a wonderful card from all the office, book vouchers, some dough, a special gift presented by a colleague from her South American adventure and a book from Loretta - Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World - which was all really too much. Do I really deserve all this? It is a challenging feeling being treated so well by people. But I did my best to acknowledge this in my farewell speech and feel I now make a sincere effort to be gracious in such a situation rather than merely squirming.
In the afternoon I spend a long time going through my bag. It is still to heavy but I will just have to cull while I am on the road, I cannot figure out what to remove at this stage. The pack list, and essentially all my worldly possessions as of today, boil down to the following:
Small Pack
Toilet bag
2 bowls
2 Spork
Travel towel
3 locks
Pouch
Ipod
Shuffle
3 adaptors
Olympus DVR
Memory stick
Camera 1
Camera 2
Laptop charger
Phone charger
Security ties
Backpack
Cards
12 dice
Security ties
9 books
Sharpy
Pen
Sun glasses
Travel pillow
Main Pack
Trail shoes
Chucks
Jandels
Sleeping bag
8 socks
7 underwear
7 T shirts
2 shorts
1 thermal
1 long john
1 light jacket
1 heavy jacket
Jeans
Tent
1 raincoat
Toilet bag
Tooth Brush
Shaver
Comb
Sun screen
Iron tablets
Doxy 100mg
Savlon
Neosporin
Hard surface wipe
Loper 2mg
Paracetamol
Deodorant
Books
Earth Abides
Collapse
Globalization & its Discontents
When Gravity Fails
Treasure Island
An Old Man on a Bike
Hard-boiled Wonderland
The Beach
Robinson Crusoe
Needed
Passport
Travel Insurance No.
Ticket Info
Cert. copy passport
Total Weight: 18 KG
Being a nerd I love lists so it fills me with some satisfaction to have this taken care of. Now only two sleeps to go; family goodbyes and airport fandangos to come.
Posts
Wow - you write so well! I feel like a kid with a spraycan who is just about to graffiti on your wall. Never mind, I'll go ahead anyway!
ReplyDelete1. Definitely way too many books - where are all your clothes?! Ha ha...
2. Your leaving speech was brilliant - gracious, witty and sincere. It will be one that stays in my mind.
3. You are a great 'people person' - use it to your advantage on your travels.
4. I hope that by the time you get to read this, Sarah and yourself have been drunk with the locals and discovered that your Spanish is MUCH better than you had realised. Lol.
Travel well and revel in your adventure. Ali x
Ali, great to hear from you. I only just saw this comment (i.e. did not even know you had added this). Hope all is well back in the NZ, I am sure it is warming up now and end of year PO madness is drawing to a close?
ReplyDelete