HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Achieving 365 days away from home
BUMMER OF THE DAY: Missing Z
WORD OF THE DAY: 365 days-happy anniversary
Good morning day 365!!!
I have been away from home for 365 days.
Where has the time gone? When I think back to the people I have met, the friends I have made (and some that I haven’t), the places I’ve seen, the kilometers I have travelled in 365 days. I can’t pick one country, one experience or one place that would be a highlight in my time on the road. Each one is different and no experience the same. The one thing that does stand out is the love that I found in Africa, particularly Ethiopia and in a special person called Zeme. I never thought I would meet my soul mate on the trip, on the other side of the world and I am thankful that I added Ethiopia to my itinerary. It was a last minute 2 week filler before heading back to Europe for my French River cruise. The world has a strange and mysterious ways of sorting things out and I thank her for looking after me, not only in meeting Zeme but for my whole trip to date. I also have to thank my travel gods that really have come through for me the whole trip as well (touchwood) and I look forward to my last 100 days on the road before finally touching down back on Australian soil in early July.
Some stats for the 365 days:
I have travelled 6 continents
I have been to 52 countries
I have travelled on 49 international flights
I have 15 visa’s in my passport along with 106 countries stamps
I have travelled approximately 265,678km by air and land
I met the love of my life in Ethiopia………
My Facebook status today sums it all up:
365 days. That's how long I have been on the road. In 365 days I have met amazing people, made life- long friends and missed home every day. In 365 days I have travelled to 6 continents, 52 countries and flown 49 international flights. I am thankful for each and every day I have experienced new lands, cultures and memories that will last a lifetime. So a BIG thank you to every person that has touched my life in my 365 day World Odyssey, it has been the best 365 days of my entire life xx
So with all that said we leave the Amazon today and head back to Manaus. We went back the same way we came. Leaving the lodge at 10am on the motorized canoes for the 1.15 hours back to Lindoa Village where we were able to buy some cold drinks and stock up on snacks for the 3 hour trip back to town. It was so hot already, and really humid there were a lot of red faces as we boarded the bus that had the air-condition blowing full ball. There was a slight change to the itinerary and we were going to do a 40 minute boat ride ton see the meeting of the waters on our back to the hotel. The cost was only 12AUD and apparently you can’t come to Manaus and not see this phenomenon. We arrived at the port at 2pm and were boarded straight onto a small boat with a guide. It took us 10 minutes to get to where the waters meet and the guide was very good at explaining why they don’t initially mix till about 100km down river. The Meeting of Waters is the confluence between the Rio Negro, a river with dark (almost black colored) water, and the sandy-colored Amazon River or Rio Solimões, as it is known the upper section of the Amazon in Brazil. For 6 km in the dry season and up to 100km in the rainy season and the river's waters run side by side without mixing. This phenomenon is due to the differences in temperature, speed and water density of the two rivers. The Rio Negro flows at near 2 km per hour at a temperature of 28°C, while the Amazon River flows between 4 to 6 km per hour at a temperature of 22°C. It was pretty cool to see as you could clearly see where the Rio Negro finished and where the Amazon River started. We got to experience the temperature difference between the two rivers at the meeting and the boat took us over them both where they joined as we had our hands in the water and I rekon it would have been a 5-10C difference in the temperatures. We got to float around here for about 15 minutes before getting speed back to land. It was definitely worth the 12AUD and I am glad that they made time for us to be able to do it, so thanks Mark and thanks to Antonio as well. We were back at the Manaus hotel at 3pm and we were able to check straight into our rooms. Maxine didn’t do the Amazon extension, so I was able to keep all my stuff in our room and we were to share a room together for the night. I don’t think it is a bad thing for Kate and I to have a break in sharing for a night or 2.
Mark has told us to cash up on the Brazilian rials. Once we hit Venezuela in a few days’ time, if you have cash you will get double your money on the exchange than what you would get on the ‘official’ exchange from your banks/ATM’s. So I took a walk into town after dropping off all my gear and it was a mission as it was so disgustingly humid. I knew where I was going from the one trip I took last week, so I headed straight for the ATM 15 minutes away, got out my cash, stopped off at the corner shop for some water and snacks for the truck and high tailed it back to the sanctuary of my air-conditioned room at the hotel. God it was so hot out there. I saw a sign that said it was 36C which I would believe and add 96% humidity to that and you have one big red faced sweat ball. Nice.
It was now computer time and I had finally paid for my round the world ticket and my internal flight to Lima and both tickets were sitting on my email from Beth. It has taken a long time to get this right and just when we thought we had it all sorted Qantas have now cancelled their LA to Auckland/Christchurch services. This buggers up my New Zealand stop where I was going to Christchurch to see Lynda for 3 nights and Lisa in the north island for 9 nights. Option A was to fly into Brisbane and turn around on a flight to Christchurch, fly to Auckland and then back to Brisbane. Not ideal but I had promised the girls I was visiting, but after looking at the cost of flights the one way flight to Christchurch was 468AUD and the one way from Auckland was 290AUD. So it was going to cost me 758AUD extra now to see the girls and as much as I wanted to see them it is just a little too much money for a flight to New Zealand. So now I had to email the girls and hope that they are okay with it. If the flights were 200 even 300 I still would have done it, but when it’s nearly 800AUD, I think they will understand. So with the sent button hit I it has now sunk in that I will be home 2 weeks earlier than expected on the 22nd June. As always I try and look at the upside and getting an extra 2 weeks at home will give more time to get all my affairs in order for Ethiopia, more time to see people and also I will now also be able to definitely fit in a trip to Darwin to visit Mums grave site and say goodbye to her as well. It has been a long time since I have made that pilgrimage and I really want to do that before leaving. I was hoping that Zeme would be able to join me in Darwin to see where I grew up and meet some school friends but he is only able to get 14 days off work including travel days, so it will be a push for him to come, so it will be something I will do before he arrives. So I now get 6 weeks and 6 glorious days at home and as much as I am enjoying my trip I am really looking forward to getting home and seeing my friends and my beautiful god-daughters and my best friend who has been with me the whole trip in my heart and texting each and every week on the goings on at home. It is quite ironic that 12 months to the day I have booked a ticket home, I have exactly 100 days till I’m home and as planned I would have been gone exactly 465 days, exactly. This was not always the case as I was going to head back to Europe and try and get another 4 months travelling in but now that Zeme is in my life, I am now just eager to see him, get to Ethiopia and start my new life. It’s also nice to know any further travel after this will be done with him and to share the travel experience with someone you love I think will be that much more rewarding.
Dinner was a simple burger next to the hotel at a local restaurant that also had the pay as you go buffet. The buffet food looked a little dicey so I stuck with a fresh cooked bacon and egg burger and it was delicious and a grand total of 2.50AUD which is a bargain in Brazil. I was on a mission to complete 2 more blogs before bed and then the light was off at 10.30pm. We had a big days driving tomorrow and it will be my first time back on Rosita in 40 days. I have always enjoyed the travel days (as long as my IPod is working) and I have missed approximately 15 days in the truck while I was on my Ethiopian hiatus so I am keen and happy to be reunited with my big yellow mate.
So it is a very thankful goodnight on my 365 day of travelling. There were a few people that weren’t sure that I could do that many tours back to back and still be enjoying it, but I did it, I am still happy and a BIG thanks again to every person that has touched my life in my 365 day World Odyssey, it has been the best 365 days of my entire life xx
365 DAYS. 365 DAYS. 365 DAYS. 365 DAYS. 365 DAYS. 365 DAYS. 365 DAYS
I DID IT!!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment