One week countdown...

Well, in about one week today we’ll be landing in Queenstown (and Vancouver and Auckland before that).  Kerri has been in hyper-drive-pack mode the last few days.  I think we’ve got it down to a small, medium and large suitcase plus carry-ons.  Not bad for 11 weeks.  There have been numerous addition of items and removal of items – I really do think when we moved to Switzerland for two years we did less work.  On ongoing point of conversation is the need to iron clothes before we leave.  I welcome anyone’s input in this regard in the “comment” section below.  Do you have to iron clothes or not?  I vote no.  I’ve been getting more and more anxious the last few days, so for a night off I dropped Braden off at the ski hill and have not done any research for a whole two hours. 

For those of you might wonder what type of preparations we took in getting prepared, I’ve included some of the things below.

Those things to consider prior to the trip in Canada; organize bills coming in, remove car insurance, contact credit card company so we aren’t flagged while away, line-of-credit checks, get someone to check on the house every other day for insurance purposes, health insurance while away, contact school, pay for summer registration of sports, contact school and gather some work for trip (I can’t imagine this occupying too much of our time), soccer try-outs, start blog, organize 500 camera/ipad/GoPro/Memory devices devices/cords/plugs, break in new shoes, make sure last summer clothes fit boys and shop accordingly, ensure I have the correct hair products (threw that in their to make sure you were paying attention), complete report cards, visit some family and friends, work on the beach body ... 

Those things to consider prior to the trip in New Zealand/Australia; places to go, not to go, cars to rent, best deal on cars to rent, do we pack linens, what places have linens, what excursions are worth it, which ones aren’t, are all snakes/spiders poisonous (and if not, which ones), do I need to be a better swimmer to learn how to surf, what’s vegemite and was it created on a dare, can I afford to have a beer while away, do people in Australia really use words like bloke, Sheila, billabong, what’s the best way to defend myself if confronted with a shark.  As you can tell, there’s lots to think about. 

I would like to mention two people who have been especially helpful in this extravaganza – Kerri’s former co-worker Judy Noack and my high school buddy Steve Bridge.  Even in the last few days they’ve been sharing their wisdom (or so they’ve made us believe) about things to think about.  Also, Diane Meekes, Maura-Jo, Denis and Sarah Budgell, Dave Zoelman, Uncle John and Uncle Willy, Ang for her insight as to how expensive things are (thank you very much Debbie Downer), Chris Riley, Elle Noack and Linda Richards. 

As the weather here gets a tad colder, I’m excited to get somewhere warmer.  Whether NZ has beach weather I don’t know, but here’s hoping.  Thanks to all the well wishes prior to going.  Hope you continue to follow our blog once we’re there.    

DG