Salaam Al'aikum/Salut

Camels, sand and sunscreen

We're in the Western Sahara!!! The last few days have been epic, with huge days of long drives throughout Morocco but heaps of fun with some amazing driving and scenery. Tomorrow we cross the border into Mauritania and head off-road into the desert....

Dan says...
We're tired, dirty and unshaven but thoroughly enjoying the experiences of driving a beat up old car in Africa. From seeing camels, crossing scary mountain ranges in the night to celebrating Christmas day in Marrakesh, it's been heaps of fun. It's also been really cool hanging out with others on the challenge, all who are from Europe. We're the only Kiwis, so next year you should do it!!!

Being the organised type, I find it strange from day to day not knowing where we will get, no idea where we'll be sleeping or anything else but nevertheless it's fun. The last few nights we've been sleeping in our car.

Thinking of our family and friends heaps....

Susanna says....
Ditto re the shower and shave. Not sure what to add to Dan's comments. Highlight for me has been the sights, sounds, smells, people... All of it I guess. The other teams are great - you should go to the rally website (see link on the right of our blog) and check out some of the links for other teams. Some of them are doing extra bits and pieces for fundraising etc. It's great.

Lowlight.... I guess is that our days are so full that you almost don't have enough time to absorb everything until days later... I still almost can't believe we are here. Ah well, off to have a shower now... finally!!!!

We're on the road again...

Just a very quick note to say we have a car!

We meet up with everyone tomorrow. When we have some pictures of the great Peugot 405 beast we bought, we'll upload them. Look out Spain, here we come!

London Calling

Hello all. Will attempt to make this slightly more innovative than just bullet points.

Even though we wish we could have spent more time there, leaving Laos was a bit of a relief in some ways - Long bus journey and aeroplane flight meant we were off to London - a whole new world.

Arrived safe in London and spent 2 nights in a hostel - not sure we ever want to repeat that experience... fortunately we were able to crash at Sarah and Michael Hallet's place (or "doss" as they say here). Great to catch up with Kiwi friends Roz and Josh as well. Off to Devizes and panic stations are go!!! Only 2 weeks to the rally. Good to see the rellies though and get some good advice.

The reason our itinerary now says we are in France is because we are heading there tomorrow! We are still car-less so we thought we'd head to "the continent" to find a LHD. Hopefully won't be a prob.

Once again, we have had a bit of trouble with pics from the last week or so. Hopefully we can get it sorted soon!

Laxing in Laos

Hi. Hasn't been long since we last wrote but a lot's been happening. From the highlands of Vietnam to the relaxed atmosphere of Laos we've really enjoyed this last leg in Asia. The people, the fruit shakes, history, waterfalls and caves all make Laos a truly unique experience. Too bad we only had a week here. Some of our most memorable moments lately have been:

• meeting friendly tribal people in the highlands of Vietnam (Sapa)
• taking heaps of photos of the beautiful Quang Si waterfalls in Luang Prabang, Laos
• tubing down the Nam Song river
• biking around the countryside to caves in Vang Vieng
• experiencing what a $3 a night room gets you - no bathroom door, no towels, no sound proofing, no basin down-pipe
  
  
  

Cruising the Bay

Hello all

Well, after surviving the floods and viewing the ancient city of Hue, we arrived safe and sound in Hanoi. On route we met a guy from NZ (also named Dan) who was working his way round the world FROM the UK, with his brit partner, Jenny. It was kind of cool chatting with someone who was coming back the other way.

Since being in Hanoi, we did the tour of Halong Bay - spent a night on Cat Ba Island in this hotel with an amazing view, and a night on the boat! Very cool and quaint. It is beautiful up there and we met some more really cool people.

Tonight we are off to Sapa, in NW Vietnam, where we will get to do some trekking around and other cool stuff.

Good Morning Vietnam

Yes we're in Vietmam and really enjoying it so far. It has been a very hectic 10 days and we've seen lots of different sides to life from:

being offered drugs 2x in the heart of Saigon;

to exploring beautiful Vietnam by scooter;

to sand sledding on the dunes in Mui Ne;

to being in the middle of a flood in Hoi An,

but we'll let our pix tell the story for now......

Hi all

Sponsor visit went well last Thursday. Here are a few photos of Chenny and her family, as well as some of the other kids we met on the WV project (yes, that's us teaching them head, shoulders, knees and toes). Chenny was very shy so didn't say much but we really enjoyed meeting her.

The first three pics on the top row were taken on the weekend when we went on a boat trip on the Tonle Sap/Mekong river and saw the floating fishing villages. Crazy to see the contrast along the river banks between the poor who lived in these tiny shacks and then the very rich that lived in huge houses with private jetties and canals and speedboat docks etc etc. Madness. We are well. Off to Vietnam on Sunday!

Kia Ora

Haha tricked you - we couldn't think of much more Khmer vocab. You already know our names....

Thanks all for the messages and emails. Love hearing from Aotearoa. Cambodia is much the same as the last time but we wanted to let you know how we are doing.

We have now completed the bulk of our interviewing and site visiting for Hagar (check them out at http://hagarinternational.org) and now we are getting down to the nitty gritty. What is (for all my DoL friends out there) our unique value proposition. Today has actually been pretty productive and we have learned a lot. One of the things that is most impacting is meeting local Khmer who work for Hagar and seeing their passion and dedication. Some of the beneficiaries we have met are pretty amazing too.

We have only got another 10 days here in Cambodia and we really want to make the most of it. Tomorrow we visit our sponsored child, Chenny, so we are looking forward to that although also a bit apprehensive.

While here we have seen some crazy things like dogs on motorbikes, the Tonle Sap River change direction, and dried octopus. Here are some more photos for you. Enjoy.....

Sok Sa Bay?!

How are you? We are well. We have been in Cambodia for 10 days now and it has been jam-packed - what with a 3 day public holiday last week...sigh... funny story actually. We went with a whole group of people down to the Southern coastal village of Kep, which is right on the border with Vietnam. There is not a lot to do there apart from taking in the beaut tropical scenery and going for a swim. One night, we went to a hillside restaurant-bar and guess what music was playing? New Zealand's very own Bic Runga, "going out to every one." Of all places - fantastic!

Seriously though, now we're back in PP, have started our volunteering stint with NGO, Hagar, and our noses are definitely being put to the grindstone. We are spending time visiting projects, interviewing people, and working on their marketing direction. Also giving assistance with branding stategies.

We have both really enjoyed it all so far. Full on. Amazing. Here are some pics of Battambang, Kep, and some of the things we have seen in PP.

Cambodia News Flash

Hello all

We are now safely in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We arrived yesterday (Sunday the 9th) from Battambang, a town in the NW of Cambodia, not far from the border with Thailand.

The border crossing from Thailand was an interesting experience. Pretty smooth except for the part where we had to barter with the Cambodian immigration official over the price of our visas! Apparently the land border crossings are a little more lax than at the airport in Phnom Penh! That done we then spent about 15 minutes negotiating with someone to take us to Battambang in a taxi. We were about to pack it all in and just jump on the back of a pick up when another couple came along and agreed to share the taxi with us. Was just as well as the road was horrific. Mud and rain - not such a flash hot combination...

More will come later about what work we will be doing here as we are still meeting with people to figure out the schedule... stay tuned....

For now, though, thanks for all the emails, notes etc. Take care

Closing Time...

Well, the party's over, Daniel's finished work, and now the real hard labour begins. It was kind of weird on Saturday... kind of hit for the first time that we are saying goodbye to so many people for the next few years.

Heaps of people kept asking the same question, "so when do you actually leave?" So thought that we should give you all a brief rundown of our whereabouts for the next 2 1/2 weeks.

Tuesday 18 September: leave our place on Grey St (so you will only be able to get hold of us by text) and stay with friends.
Thursday 20 September: leave Akl and head to Tauranga to visit with Daniel's family. If you are in the BoP or want to catch up, we'll be staying at 14 Thirteenth Ave. Ph: 07 5784040
Wednesday 26 September: leave Tauranga and head to Hamilton to visit with Susanna's family. You can catch us at 11 Gresham Place, Rototuna, Ph: 07 8532511
Tuesday 2 October: leave Hamilton and return to Auckland. Most likely will be staying with Susanna's brother. Ph: 09 8173609
Wednesday 3 October: Haere Ra Aotearoa! Our flight leaves at 3:15pm so we will be heading out to the airport around 12:30pm or so.

Thanks for tuning in

Let's get this party started!

Well, latest developments. We are slowly making our way through our lists of things to do. Went to travel doctor last weekend and got our shots (fun), went to the bank today to order a bunch of foreign currency, went to the optometrist last week for check up, and this week Susanna is getting her wisdom teeth removed. Wow. We feel very responsible and grown up.

One of the next big things we are doing is having a party!!! We are hoping to have a farewell shindig of some description on Saturday 8th September so that we get to see everyone before we go. Details to be advised.

You'll see now that we have a couple of web links set up on the right. There's also an opinion poll running so go ahead and vote. Before we leave we'll make sure we establish a link for a photo gallery. For now, enjoy!

We're leaving on a jet plane.....

Welcome to our blog!

If you are reading this, then you already know we are leaving. Today we picked up our air tickets - very exciting - and, slowly, everything is becoming a little less surreal. So, equally, a little more stressful!

Just a few tips on the blog. On the side bar, you will see our proposed itinerary... this is for the period between October 2007 and January 2008. We will be updating this as things go on.

Soon, we also hope to have some interesting/useful links about what we are doing/where we are going on here as well.

For now, though, that's about all, folks.

Enjoy