We’re gearing up now with little over a month to go before we head out on our next international adventure that includes three legs.
The first leg is one of our favorite destinations – Hong Kong where we’ll spend three days exploring the many wonders that make Hong Kong unique. From the vibrant cityscape of Hong Kong island to the frenetic and engaging Kowloon where there is something for everyone.
I know Judy has a host of favorite stores on either side of Victoria Harbour that she’ll only too happy to explore, meanwhile I’ll be tagging along with my camera and a sense of adventure.
We’re gearing up for our eventual location of the Dominican Republic and so shopping for Judy’s family will also be a priority in Hong Kong.
Strangely, I fell in love with Hong Kong decades before I actually visited and spent time there. As an impressionable boy in rural Australia, I came upon a very old copy of National Geographic that had an expose on Hong Kong dating back to the early 1960’s.
There was just something alluring and exotic to notion of Hong Kong even as child that made me want to visit and explore. After numerous trips (too many to count) I have a pretty good lay of the land with some favorite hotels, eatery’s, antique markets… Well, you get the picture!
We’ll definitely be threading these aspects through our upcoming visit.
After we depart Hong Kong, we’re headed to Vancouver to spend two days acclimatizing to the North American time zone difference from Brisbane, while catching up with friends and showing Judy around this beautiful region of Canada.
During my consulting career I was fortunate to live and work in Vancouver for 3.5 years, while commuting weekly from Toronto (5.0-hour flight each way) so you become very familiar with the city, its micro-climates, its sheer beauty (Pacific Coast Mountains, often snow-capped raising high above the harbour, City skyline and off course Stanley Park and the Seawall).
The Pacific Northwest way of life was also a great benefit of my time there, with weekly night skiing with colleagues, and mount climbs when I had to stay over on a weekend.
So, as you can imagine I’m super excited to introduce Judy to my friends but also the innate beauty of this gorgeous city and indeed part of the world.
The added advantage is that it will be the fall, so it will be both pretty with the colors of leaves changing plus we’ll be able to rug up a little (something you don’t get a chance to do in a sub-tropical climate).
Although that being said, our gearing up means that we have to plan for multiple climates – yes, I realize this is a first world problem. However, packing will be tricky to cover Hong Kong (relatively temperate), Vancouver (cool fall) and Dominican Republic (tropical).
Our flight to the Dominican Republic leaves directly from Vancouver with a couple of hour stopover in Toronto, alas we have not planned to spend any time in TO on this trip as we want to maximize our time with Judy’s mum and dad whom she hasn’t seen since 2023.
Especially since Zach and Sam will not be in Toronto – apologies to my friends but we’ll have to see you next time.
Fortunately, Judy has family based in the Dominican, so we have accommodation covered, with our plan to spend time together plus some exploring for me with my camera. I can’t wait to slip into the rhythm of Caribbean life.
Another side trip we want to squeeze into our trip is a visit to Judy’s dads’ island of birth – St Lucia. I think he’s looking forward to showing us where he grew up, plus he still has family in St Lucia so I’m guessing this will be a jam-packed side trip.
I’m really looking forward to seeing St Lucia with Judy’s dad.
Gearing up also means buying goodies for Judy’s family, especially her mum and dad and her aunt and uncle who we’re staying with.
Now if the Caribbean hurricane season remains relatively calm that will be a bonus. So far, so good. The climate is not too different to what we are used to already, so that should be a relatively easy transition.
The final piece to the puzzle is for Judy to get her new Australian Passport. After being sworn in last Friday at the Citizenship ceremony and getting all the paperwork in order we plan to make the application for her passport next week.
Generally, this should only take two to three weeks to get back, but fortunately for us we still have a little time before we leave.
The tricky part about our trip are the number of climates we’re going to be traveling through yet trying keep the volume of packing to a bare minimum, including items that can be vacuumed packed although this will not help the overall weight of our bags.
As my mate Roscoe always said “put everything you want to take on the bed then take half. You can always buy what you need as you go”.
Sage advice!
Until next week.
Ciao!
0 Comments on "Gearing up"