It's my inaugural retirement summer. I had already over programmed it even before Judith called about going to Indonesia. As a result there are a few event casualties in making this trip, most notably... a Bluegrass Festival in Coombs on the August long weekend and a proposed visit to Quadra Island. Despite the fact that the festival would have been the 6th music festival/workshop I've attended since retiring at the end of March, I very much wanted to go. It's a personal favourite, as there are uninterrupted days (and early mornings) of jamming, friendships, eating great food, checking out the Coombs Market (Goats on a Roof) and catching the various performances. And this year I was excited to be able to go earlier and stay later to avoid the gong show gridlock that occurs on long weekends on the newly finished Trans Canada Highway upgrade at Leigh Road where 3 lanes of highway eventually funnel down to one lane for northbound traffic. On long weekends this will add well over an hour to get through this .5 kilometre long stretch of single lane roadway with traffic lanes backing up 2 or 3 kilometres.
The other thing I'll miss this year is to put off visiting my favourite gulf island, Quadra. It's one of the larger gulf islands and has beautiful beaches, hiking trails and a friend that's keeps inviting me to visit. Really, I'll make it there one day.
As with all the other trips I've taken with Judith, I've left the planning to her. I've had a quick look at the itinerary and can confirm it's another action packed trip. There seems to be just about every form of transportation involved: some domestic flights to get to various islands, a train trip, a boat cruise to check out Komodo dragons, a number of sunrise hikes up volcanos (hopefully dormant), a horse cart tour, a biking tour in Yogyakarta. I don't know much about Indonesia, but will be learning about this country on the fly and will use this blog to record as much as I learn.
I didn't receive a pdf copy of the itinerary. The company, SelectiveAsia, based out of the UK, has an app where you can put the itinerary on your mobile phone. If you would like to keep track of what we'll be doing on this trip, send me (or Judith) an email and there's an excellent possibility you can have access too.
Our flight departure from Vancouver at 2:00am may be an indication of what a wild trip this will be. There are 11 flights in total starting from our respective home towns and 8 different accommodations including a private homestay. The last full day and a half in Bali are the only days that don't have planned excursions; every other day is jam packed with fun adventures.
Judith is flying into Vancouver today to spend time with Susan, one of the four of us that used to hang around together back in 1990ish when we worked in Toronto in the Inspection Department at TD Bank. We're all in different places now with Debb in Meaford, Ont., and only Judith remaining in her Toronto area townhome. I fly into Vancouver tomorrow (courtesy of a ride to the airport from my sister Syl) and will be going out for dinner with Judith and Susan before our early morning flight. My other two sisters and partner(s) will be joining us for dinner--it will be the first time any of my family has met Judith. One of my sisters suggested inviting some of my other extended family, but I thought it best not to overwhelm J&S...
I left the last blog unfinished for the last two days in Bangkok. One of the days is still in draft form and I might just add the pictures one day and publish. My memory of that last day is fading fast, but if I should remember lots when I look at my pictures. It hasn't been on my radar, so that's why it's not finished. Maybe one day...
My task today is to finish packing before my gal pals arrive for a jam. I've been playing music with these friends regularly for several years and it's great fun. I thought I'd squeeze in a jam before I leave.
I've already received Judith's email telling me what extras to bring such as a headlamp for hiking up the volcano in the dark to see the sunrise, reef safe sunscreen, airline weight restriction for the domestic flights, etc. It truly makes it easier to be ready, knowing you've hit most of those "wish I had the foresight to pack" items or I wish I knew that before I left. My brother John is lending me his camera. Although it's a point an shoot, it has an insane zoom lens at 83x, equivalent to 2000mm. I'll be able to keep a safe distance from those komodos and still be able to get decent shots limited only by my photographic skill.
Now to get ready for tomorrow.
The other thing I'll miss this year is to put off visiting my favourite gulf island, Quadra. It's one of the larger gulf islands and has beautiful beaches, hiking trails and a friend that's keeps inviting me to visit. Really, I'll make it there one day.
As with all the other trips I've taken with Judith, I've left the planning to her. I've had a quick look at the itinerary and can confirm it's another action packed trip. There seems to be just about every form of transportation involved: some domestic flights to get to various islands, a train trip, a boat cruise to check out Komodo dragons, a number of sunrise hikes up volcanos (hopefully dormant), a horse cart tour, a biking tour in Yogyakarta. I don't know much about Indonesia, but will be learning about this country on the fly and will use this blog to record as much as I learn.
I didn't receive a pdf copy of the itinerary. The company, SelectiveAsia, based out of the UK, has an app where you can put the itinerary on your mobile phone. If you would like to keep track of what we'll be doing on this trip, send me (or Judith) an email and there's an excellent possibility you can have access too.
Our flight departure from Vancouver at 2:00am may be an indication of what a wild trip this will be. There are 11 flights in total starting from our respective home towns and 8 different accommodations including a private homestay. The last full day and a half in Bali are the only days that don't have planned excursions; every other day is jam packed with fun adventures.
Judith is flying into Vancouver today to spend time with Susan, one of the four of us that used to hang around together back in 1990ish when we worked in Toronto in the Inspection Department at TD Bank. We're all in different places now with Debb in Meaford, Ont., and only Judith remaining in her Toronto area townhome. I fly into Vancouver tomorrow (courtesy of a ride to the airport from my sister Syl) and will be going out for dinner with Judith and Susan before our early morning flight. My other two sisters and partner(s) will be joining us for dinner--it will be the first time any of my family has met Judith. One of my sisters suggested inviting some of my other extended family, but I thought it best not to overwhelm J&S...
I left the last blog unfinished for the last two days in Bangkok. One of the days is still in draft form and I might just add the pictures one day and publish. My memory of that last day is fading fast, but if I should remember lots when I look at my pictures. It hasn't been on my radar, so that's why it's not finished. Maybe one day...
My task today is to finish packing before my gal pals arrive for a jam. I've been playing music with these friends regularly for several years and it's great fun. I thought I'd squeeze in a jam before I leave.
I've already received Judith's email telling me what extras to bring such as a headlamp for hiking up the volcano in the dark to see the sunrise, reef safe sunscreen, airline weight restriction for the domestic flights, etc. It truly makes it easier to be ready, knowing you've hit most of those "wish I had the foresight to pack" items or I wish I knew that before I left. My brother John is lending me his camera. Although it's a point an shoot, it has an insane zoom lens at 83x, equivalent to 2000mm. I'll be able to keep a safe distance from those komodos and still be able to get decent shots limited only by my photographic skill.
Now to get ready for tomorrow.
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