Wednesday, December 25, 2002

MERRY CHRISTMAS from Banff, Alberta in good old Canada. Jen is still suffering from a pretty bad cold so we went ice skating instead of heading for the slopes - back out on them tomorrow! Still no snow - 6,000 miles and no bloody snow!

Monday, December 23, 2002

Snowboarding....don't do it kids.....it messes with your head (strapping yourself to a tray (sideways) and throwing yourself down a steep hill), your body (all those twists and turns) and your knees - I can barely stand up let alone walk...Jen is fine of course on her skis and has done a blue/black run, which, ironically, is the colour of most of my body.

On a serious note Banff and Canada is fantastic - the people are so friendly and sincere (unlike some from another North American country...) We have successfully completed 3 days board/ski school and I have done a couple of green runs so I am doing OK - Jen is obviously putting me to shame. Off to see the Ice Hockey on 27th at Calgary - it's sold out - 20,000+ so should be fun. We are also having a day in the spa (My idea obviously) before New Year - I think we are spending Xmas day on the slopes.....

Hope everyone that reads this is well and that you have a great Xmas/New Year...!

Dan & Jen

Tuesday, December 17, 2002

That's it then - bedtime...the flight is 10.25 tomorrow so we will arrive at about 7pm UK time - which I think is about midday in Banff! Will update this once or twice while we are sking - it looks great out there at the moment - really looking forward to it.
Off tomorrow......

Well we're off to Canada tomorrow - things are finally starting to take shape - Jen spent most of last night (whilst I was playing football) sorting through the house and tidying, and thus I am spending most of today finishing it all off. We're having a new carpet fitted downstairs as the dog has ruined the other one and I have got a main dealership guy looking at my car today. The weather in Banff is the hottest (only minus 3!) that it has been for many years and we are hoping there won't be an end to the 'warm snap'.

I have sent emails but just a reminder that from tomorrow our email address will be dandjcornwell@yahoo.co.uk

To everyone we know have a great Xmas - we'll be thinking of you ;)

Daniel & Jennifer

Friday, December 13, 2002

Party is sorted and the following people are coming:

Andy & Sarah (Dan's uni mate and g/f)
Angie & Colin (Jen's chief bridesmaid/best mate and bloke)
James & Emily (Dan's school mate & fiancee - travelling the furthest - from Southampton!)
Lou G & Andy (Dan's ex 'Sainsbury's trainee friend' and her fiance (must point out she works in marketing now so she wears rectangular glasses and 'does lunch' alot))
Lou & Dave (Snowy and some mad Scottish bloke)
Marek & Catherine (Polish bloke and floozy - although travelling from the Midlands not Poland)
Pat (Dan's brother)
Paul & Ali (Husband and wife, mad on horses, mad as hatters (renovating a house at the mo and living in a caravan), but good friends)
Neil & Sarah (hopefully - Dan's ex work colleague and his g/f)
Dan & Jen (The hosts with the mosts...er...hopefully!)

Still waiting on a couple of others but should be great fun.....

We are seeing Jen's family the following day hence why Rachel is not coming although I am not sure whether Jen is going to invite her when we go over there this weekend. Dropping the dog off at the kennels tomorrow (sob!) and also going to Helen and Rob (Jen's cousin and fiance)'s wedding. At 3pm. In December. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

As you will know by now we are off skiing on Wednesday - the snow report for the area looks OK but it is -7 degrees at the mo - Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!



Wednesday, December 11, 2002

Arranged to meet with an old work colleague in Sydney and what's more we can mail him our LP guides so as not to carry them thousands of miles (cheers Guy!). We also did a bit of a dummy run and packed stuff in our rucksacks, checked the weight, and tried our pac-safe's which seemed (after a bit of cajoling) to work pretty well. Also, bought a mossie net, a money belt, and a couple of pairs of lightweight trousers so we are just about kitted up now I think!

The party invites have all gone out and we have got 17 confirmed already - waiting on another 5 - should be a good bash! The day after we are spending some time with Jen's family so I won't get too drunk!

Tomorrow and Friday are going to be dog walking/championship manager frenzies as I have to enjoy them both while I still can.........

Tuesday, December 10, 2002

By the way if anyone is interested that footy match I went to was a draw and the replay is next Tuesday (17th) but I am not allowed to go. Whaddya mean? It's not like we fly out at 6 the next morning or anything.....?!??!
More jabs...
Just had my second Hep B and Typhoid, don't usually get affected by these but I feel rough as hell! One in each arm nonetheless, so both arms throb and I have got a splitting headache - the things you do for your cause eh? ;)

Got someone to look at the car later today so fingers crossed - also had a main Audi dealer on the line yesterday offering me roughly what I wanted so things are looking up.

Just 8 days until we fly to Banff for our 2-week skiing holiday - we are staying at this hotel which we booked ages ago. The amusing thing is that in most of the restaurants there are no jeans/trainers allowed and in some you have to wear a jacket. Hope i'll get away with shorts/sandals and a bomber jacket then as everything else is packed!!

Friday, December 06, 2002

What I'm looking forward to:
Skiing in 10 days!
Taj Mahal/India experience
Diving in Cambodia/South Thailand etc...
Thailand and trekking through Cambodia/Vietnam/Loas, and experiencing a truly different way of life
Partying doing adventure sports in Oz/N.Z.The Great Barrier Reef
Visiting Machu Pichu, Iguazu Falls and the Galapagos
The Amazon
The whole big adventure of it!!

What I'm going to miss: (in no particular order)
Oscar, Itchy and Scratchy
Cambridge United
Football and sport in general
Championship Manager
The news
Our friends & Family

What I am nervous about:
Running out of money
Getting stuff nicked
Contracting some nasty disease
Learning Spanish for S.America!

Psychiatrist anyone? What does that say about me?

Must stop talking to myself......

Thursday, December 05, 2002

Well Indian Visas - what can I say? Bloody excellent service I thought! We arrived at around 8.15 am - it opened at 9.15 (d'oh!) and we were pretty much first in the queue. We paid our £30, and came back at 10.45 and it was done - no hassle. We then went for lunch with Alison - a friend of ours that I used to work with at MP - in fact we started on the same day. I also arranged to have a coffee with my ex-MD next week. Tuesday afternoon was spent at the Trafford Centre (arghhhhhhhh......) where people were still queuing to get in when we left at 7pm. Ordered Jen a digital camera which should arrive today. Now she is happy she can print them like normal photos she's a happy bunny! We also bought a tri-band phone (which has got a broken key so it needs to go back) some lightweight trousers (yay) and various other bits and bobs. Only 13 days until skiing now so we are getting super excited - even went to the depths of finding out what plane we are flying on as I am super-scared of flying....(it's an 8-year old 767 if you're interested).

Took the cats to the vets to make sure they were OK for sedatives for the long trip down to Cornwall - they were so they've got some sort of knockout pills for January.

We have also decided to have a 'close friends' party in January, but to see our families off at another time as we believe it's probably best to keep the two separate as I am sure they will be very different affairs...

Monday, December 02, 2002

A productive weekend - packed up most of the house - only leaving essentials (food, clothes, championship manager...) and now we are pretty much there. Good job really as Jen is still working her notice and the next 2 weekends are fully booked. This weekend (6/7/8) is Dan's work Xmas party followed by the big footy match mentioned below. Not sure what Jen's got planned - probably sleep.... The weekend after is Helen & Rob's wedding - Helen is Jen's cousin. This week should be a laugh in that we are off down to Birmingham on Tuesday to get our Indian Visas - no idea what it will involve but we have heard the process can be incredibly quick or tediously slow. Watch this space.

Thursday, November 28, 2002

Not really alot to update really. Still not sold either car, still no-one to rent the house....starting to get a little nervy. Off to Canada though in under 3 weeks - can't wait. Next week should be fun - going to Birmingham to get our Indian Visas on Tuesday and I am off to see my beloved football team play a week on Saturday Vs Northampton in the FA Cup. That's about it....

Thursday, November 21, 2002

I am 27 1/2 today - that means (after today) I am closer to 30 than 25. This scares me to death.
Still no closer on any of the below - message to self - must stop playing Championship Manager......

Monday, November 18, 2002

Firstly, apologies to all for not updating this over the last few days...Well, I hear you cry, what have Daniel and Jennifer been up to? Well the following (in no real order)...:
- Got the dog snipped (poor thing's moping around the house now bless him)
- Packed up the lounge and 2/3 of the study
- Boarded the loft and threw all aforementioned stuff up there...
- Got more info on places to stay and changed our route (see below)
- Played football (badly) (twice)
- Finished buying kit (sleeping bags - a left and a right or 'his 'n' hers' - SAD)

What we still need to do:
- Rent the house out
- Sell my car
- Sell Jen's car
- Sort out which malaria tabs to use
- Have more jabs (I have just been told I need typhoid as well ;( )
- Design an interactive map of where we are going....which brings me neatly on to our itinery. This has already changed about 6 times and I am sure it will change en route but here goes: (All dates except departure are approximate)

Jan 14th - Mumbai (Bombay) and spend 48 days in India (possibly Sri Lanka too), including time in Goa on the beach and also at Agra (Taj Mahal etc...) amongst others...
March 3rd- Fly to Bangkok (where we've been before) then 2 1/2 months exploring Thailand/Loas/Cambodia (going to do PADI open water qual. here) /Vietnam and eventually take the land crossing into China for a month (or so) in China.
June 13th - Fly back to Bangkok and spend a month travelling south via Malaysia and Singapore
July 11th - Fly to Sydney, followed by 3 months in Oz/N.Z.
Oct 5th - Fly to Santiago (Chile) and travel through Chile to Argentina/Brazil and then fly to Peru (Inca trail) and onwards to Ecuador where we hope to take in the Galapagos Islands (if we haven't run out of cash...)
Should arrive home sometime in Jan 04 via Madrid and Barcelona.....


Tuesday, November 12, 2002

Found out what injections we need and Jen has drawn the short straw - she needs:
Typhoid, Hep A, Yellow Fever, and poss Hep B
I need Yellow Fever and Hep B. Fun fun fun.
I am in the process of putting together a map so you can all view where we are going - I would love to make it interactive but as I have no idea how to programme in HTML I won't!!

Wednesday, November 06, 2002

YAY YAY and thrice YAY! Jen's Dad has agreed to take Oscar on, providing we have him snipped, fit a dog guard in his car, and pay for any damage. We are happy to do this and are sorting stuff out as we speak. THANK YOU RICHARD!!

Tuesday, November 05, 2002

The Jen's Dad saga continues...still no definitive answer although it's looking a little more positive. We should find out by the weekend. Still trying to sell my car - if you know anyone that wants a brand new TT for £27500 let me know!!! I will quite happily rent it to a friend to cover the loan repayments (about £400 a month) - not a bad deal!!
Off shopping for a rucksack cage (!) today and also taking my team out for dinner...I'm going on the train so I may well have a couple of beers. Got my digital camera back from Fuji - hopefully it'll work this time...the charge kept going on it so thay have replaced the motherboard or something....
One obvious disappointment is that going away next year is that we will miss 2 weddings. James - who I've known since I was 11 - and Emily. I know he reads this, so Jim mate have a good one and we are really sorry we can't be there. If I know him it'll be the most meticulously planned wedding of all time and will run perfectly! We are also missing Lou and Andy's. Lou is the poor deluded soul that joined Sainsbury's at the same time as me, and we trained in the same store together - although she now works in marketing so it's all square glasses, clients for lunch and finishing work at 3pm...isn't that right Lou?

Monday, November 04, 2002

Well looks as though Jen's Dad has decided he won't look after Oscar. To be honest I left there hopeful and happy yesterday and have reflected on it today. To be fair Lynn has said in the past she'd look after the dog so I am pretty hopeful they will...

In other news we bought a load of kit - only sleeping bags left to buy. We are also going skiing in Banff at Xmas (booked ages ago) so bought some smart snowboarding gear and thermals etc...as well as a new rucksack et al. Just got a few things to get in order then we can start the long laborious process of boarding the loft and packing the house up.

Jen's Dad (Richard) if you do read this - please look after the DOG!!!!

Saturday, November 02, 2002

Rough Itinery

We told Jen's parents today - and I think they were OK about things - her Mum certainly more than her Dad though. We are just praying now that they will look after Oscar (our dog) for a year...if not, not sure what we will do with him. We also went and bloody booked the damn thing!! The details are as follows:
14th Jan - Fly to Mumbai (Bombay) - spend 2 months in India
14th March - Mumbai to Bangkok - 3 months in S.E. Asia/China
14 June - Singapore to Sydney - 2 months in Oz (we think Jen's sister Rachel might visit us in Oz)
10 Aug - Brisbane to Auckland - 3 weeks (or so) in N/Z - my brother - Pat might join us here
1 Sept (ish) - Auckland - Santiago
25 Dec (ish) Fly back via Madrid and Barcelona...
Jen said she was excited for the first time today - now it is all booked, I also think it was a weight off her mind telling her parents. So, how much more to do? Loads, got to buy kit (rucksack, sleeping bags, boots etc...) and then start the job of boarding the loft, packing the house up, renting it out (anyone want to rent a 4-bed family home in the peak district, near Manchester??) and selling our cars *sob*. My parents have agreed to look after the cats - so if you're reading this Mum and Ken
THANK YOU!!!

Friday, November 01, 2002

My pay went in, the cheque cleared, and I resigned. It was not a nice experience but he was fantastic about it and I have already handed everything over. I am now sat at home trying to log into my work email!!! I will obviously still be working although being at home is far more sensible than sitting at work. I have paid off pretty much all my debts now as well, just got to find a buyer for my car and ditto with Jen's although getting a blowout on the way home last night didn't help. We are going to tell Jen's parents this weekend although they are away for most of it so it could be tricky. Jen is a bit nervous about telling them, but everyone I have spoken to so far is very supportive and no-one has said we are idiots or anything, I am sure they will feel the same way.

Wednesday, October 30, 2002

Well tomorrow is the day - hopefully my pay will go in, our cheque from the building society will clear, and I can have the difficult conversation with my boss. I find it highly likely they will want me to work my notice as we are short of people as it is at the moment. I have had a good time at my new employer (only been there 6 months) but we are 100% sure of doing this now so fingers crossed it'll go well tomorrow. We are planning to tell Jen's parents this weekend - pretty much when everything is sorted but before we tell anyone else and then fire an email out in the next few days to family. We are also off shopping for kit on Saturday and Sunday - but I've got to sell my car *sob*.
HERE GOES NOTHING