daveyandsam.com » Pre-Travel Posts

Alive and well

Davey — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:04:03 +0000

Quick update: we are flat out diving for the next few days and will upload a post when we get a chance. This place is paradise!

Chow for now!

Quick update

Davey — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:40:47 +0000

We have been touring for the past few days with limited or no access to the internet.

We are safe and well and will upload some interesting posts over within the next few days. We should be in Cusco (Peru) late this evening and should be back online.

Back alive

Davey — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 23:06:42 +0000

Just to let you know I’ve survived biking the world’s most dangerous road – it was amazing. I will upload a post tom, too tired at the mo.

By the canal

Davey — Sat, 10 May 2008 17:36:10 +0000

Last Sunday felt like the first real day of summer. To celebrate, we went to Marsworth for lunch and then spent the afternoon by one of the locks taking in the ever changing scenery. We chilled out listening to our ipods, reading the paper etc. Lovely to have the summer here again.

Dinner with Liz and Dave

Davey — Sat, 10 May 2008 17:04:42 +0000

On Saturday last we met up with our good friends Liz and Dave. We both have a lot going on and don’t get the opportunity to meet up very often. L&D purchased a house a couple of years back and spend a lot of their spare time renovating. On our last visit we were really impressed with the developments, mostly completed by themselves.

We met up at a country pub just outside Thame called the The Old Fisherman, which was beautiful. We had a lovely meal and evening. We were interested in seeking their advice on the where and how to travel New Zealand. L&D spent a number of weeks there in recent years.

Thanks guys for a great evening.

Darren’s new motor

Davey — Sat, 10 May 2008 16:57:13 +0000

Our neighbour Darren picked up his new motor this weekend and we accompanied him on a drive to the country while stopping to pick up his son Benjy and then Thame for a swift shandy.

Its been hilarious, all of the neighbours (inc. me) taking the P on his sudden mid life crisis, switching from a Subaru to a hairdressers car, a cabriolet . On Darren’s defence, it is a 3L V6.

It is very fitting for this beautiful weather.

Leisurely courtyard evening

Davey — Sat, 10 May 2008 16:55:15 +0000

Last Saturday evening we chilled out in the courtyard while testing our new awning. Having recently sold our campervan we now need an area for storing our bikes and cooking equipment while camping. We are scheduled to go in a few weeks time.

Later in the evening we were joined by our neighbour, Helen, and her good friend Alison. A few bottles of wine and great conversation may for a plesent evening.

Route so far

Davey — Thu, 01 May 2008 09:09:04 +0000

Sam is still pretty much house bound following her operation, and as such, has been working continuously on our travel route. It a bigger job than we had ever imagined. Before we can arrange insurance, jabs, RWT tickets etc. we have to know our route – and to plan a route – we need to know where and when we fly in and out and roughly what we will be doing for each period.

We won’t bore you too much, but our rough guide to date is:

UK / Cairo / Dubai / Mumbai / overland to Deli, Katmandu, Lhasa, Beijing, Hong Kong. A big vague on SE Asia at the moment but will include parts of Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Onto OZ, NZ, Fiji and Cook Islands, then onto South America. At the moment we have no idea where, but have a few ideas.

The imbedded map below is pretty small. This link should provide a larger view where you can zoom in and follow the route. This is obviously work-in-progress.

We would really appreciate your advice and comments, are we covering too much ground and too much on overland? BTW, blue lines are flights and green are overland.

Please ignore the map on the left had column of the website, this will only come into play once we set off, currently in test mode.

www.daveyandsam.com/travel-progress/googlemap.html

View Larger Map

Update

Davey — Thu, 01 May 2008 08:44:32 +0000

Sorry, it has been a while since we have uploaded a post to our blog. I keep rattling on about our busted camera which has been driving us both potty for some time. We had taken several photos of the previous weekends activities,I went to download them only to discover there was nothing on the memory card…grrrr. I have to say, it has served us well for the last four years.

Good news, we have a new camera. We spend a week or so running to and from Jessops reviewing a range of cameras that would suit our everyday needs and our up and coming travels. Our neighbour, Tim, who is studying photography suggested a few bridge cameras, but they felt to cumbersome, especially with limited space in our rucksacks.

To cut a long story short, we chose a Panasonic Lumix 9.1 Megapixel Compact with 10 x Optical Zoom (wow). As a little treat for scuba diving, we purchased a Panasonic Marine Case. Accessories also include: 3 x batteries, 3 x 2GB memory cards and a case. So now we are fully kited out but all-in-all a pretty expensive purchase. Taking full advantage of the the weak dollar, we purchased the items in America saving around 50% off the cost if we had purchased in the UK.

Good to be back posting again. More updates soon.

Bye Bye Lili

Davey — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:52:42 +0000

On Thursday evening we said a fond farewell to our much loved campervan, Lili. With us going travelling and storage costs etc. it just wasn’t feasible to keep hold of her. Although she is presently in very good nick, we were worried that after 18-months locked up several parts, including the engine, would have seized.

We had it advertised only a few days before we shook hands with the new buyers Phil and Joanna Ball. They have promised to send some photos of their camping trips – like us at the time, they were very excited.

We wish you and your family as many happy memories as we have.

Slán leat