Surf's up bru

After a month at the beach (note I don't say "in the sun" because the weather's generally been crappy...) I'm on my way back to the binneland for Gav's wedding tomorrow in the metropolis of Klerksdorp.

I hope you've all had a merry Xmas and are looking foward to the new year. I look foward to seeing you all at least briefly before I leave in just over 2 weeks time.

Cheers!

Homeless and Unemployed

And loving it! Just popped back to PMB today after a riotous weekend of partying in Southbroom for Gav Jackson's bachelors. I'll head back down again on Tuesday after visiting the US embassy (this visa is the big one - if they don't give it to me I'm screwed!!). I hope everyone is well and looking forward to a bit of R&R too when work finishes...

Maak soos 'n Boer

I'm starting to get things organised now. Guess I have to, I only have 8 days left at PwC! I ammended my flight plans to avoid Panama completely. I now fly from Sao Paulo on the 16th of January, via Lima (Peru) and Bogota (Colombia), to San Jose in Costa Rica. I'm going to have to skip my "jaunt" in Rio as I'd like a bit more time in Central America. I fly out to the Honduras on 2 February so I will now have a good bit of time to explore Costa Rica before that. I've also just had all my vaccinations done, at vast expense again, so I may actually make it home alive in roughly a year's time...

Aside from next year, I've just been down to KZN for an awesome canoe race, the Ithala Challenge through the Bivana gorge. Unbelievable!

Blame Panama!

The kak has already started! My original flight package through Star Alliance had to be altered when Varig Airlines went bust. I decided to reroute (at vast expense) via Panama. I was thinking, cool, lets make the best of the situation and see another country. But no such luck! The travel agent omitted to tell me there was no way I was going to get a visa for Panama (I can't even transit on to Costa Rica!) so I'm going to have to change that flight again. Now it looks like I'll be going via Lima (Peru) and Bogota (Colombia). The silver lining, I guess, is that I'm forced to waste 3 days in Brazil so I think I'll trundle over to Rio for a little joint... er... sorry Mom... I meant "jaunt"...

The Plan

I've booked my ticket so the destinations are fixed! The dates will obviously change but here they are roughly:

Central America: mid-January to March (includes Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras - Scuba diving!, Belize and Guatemala)
North America: March to mid-March (skiing in Vail & Beaver Creek)
Japan: week in mid-March (staying with Russell Shaw san)
Hong Kong: last week of March to April (for the Sevens!)
Beijing: month of April (Studying Mandarin)
China: month of May (Xian, Chengdu, Dali, Kunming)
Thailand: first 2 weeks in June (A beach break!)
Vietnam: rest of June (from Hanoi down to Ho Chi Min City, possibly some Laos too)
Cambodia: start of July (Phnom Penh and Ankor Wat)
Thailand: rest of July (Diving!)
Malaysia: into August (will throw in some Borneo here too!)
Indonesia: August into September (from Bali across to Flores, including Komodo and the Gili Islands)

Getting started

I'll be updating this blog from the end of this year with my travel plans... sounds like many mates are keen to meet up for the odd leg. In the meantime I'll leave you with a sad picture of third world poverty... shame... poor girl needs new clothes...