Leaving Canberra on the 31^st of January 2008 for an epic journey we will arrive into our first destination of the country of Sydney Mascot Airport. Upon arriving at Sydney Mascot Airport we will begin exploring the fascinating cultures that one might find in this strange country. Rumours have it that there are strange creatures that set traps for the unknowing tourists that frequent this strange place. Occasionally the tourists that wander this Mascot Airport country are tempted inside of these traps and make a strange transaction and reappear outside of the trap with additional baggage (in case they were not carrying enough to start with). My fingers are crossed that we are able to resist the temptation of acquiring additional baggage from these horrible creatures, however I feel the temptation of this strange thing called “Duty Free” may be too great…..

With the risk of potentially acquiring additional baggage, the plan is to leave Sydney Mascot Airport and fly (not swim) to Papeete Tahiti. This 7 hour and 15 minute flight will see me staring at the seat in front of me wondering if the person in front of me is really happy with the seat lying on my lap (the curse of the 185cm man). Again we will be experiencing the strange and mysterious culture of the Papeete International Airport, however, unlike most creatures, the airport creatures are NOT creatures of the night so I do not expect to see many of them this time round, leaving my wallet intact and my bag without additional baggage.

Leaving Papeete will see us on another flight with Lan Chile, this one remarkably shorter at 5 hours and 15 mins will see us landing at our next destination 2 hours after we originally left Sydney Mascot (work that one out). Our next stop will be Easter Island where we will be tasked with exploring the island on various transport options ranging from horse to car. My hope is that we can somehow unravel the mystery of the large heads, however I was informed by a stranger that this task may be slightly more difficult than reading the “Made in China” sticker on the bottom of the head stone.

After 4 days exploring the sites of Easter Island and enjoying the Tapati festival we will be flying to Santiago Chile. From here we will spend several days exploring the sites in and around the city (for more detail you will have to come back and read the other blogs). From Santiago, we will be flying south to Punta Arenas, where the plan is to meet up with a friend of Jayde’s who owns the Erratic Rock hostel in Patagonia. Whilst in Patagonia, our plan is to enjoy the weather (as we will be taking plenty of Gore-Tex equipment) and hike the surrounding area.

After 10 days hiking in Patagonia, we will be ready/required to move to our next destination, back to Santiago Chile for a brief stopover (as we yet again experience the strange culture of airport stopovers) heading northerly up the west of the Andes. Leaving Santiago Chile Domestic Airport we head north to Quito Ecuador. From here we will fly out to the Galapagos Island to enjoy several days seeing creature such as the Giant Tortoise, Lava Lizard, Land Iguana’s, Blue-footed Boobies, Galapagos Penguins, Galapagos Fur Seal’s, Dolphins and many other strange and exotic species of fauna and flora that gave Charles Darwin the inspiration to write his theory of the evolution by natural selection. During this trip we will be living aboard a vessel as we cruise the islands participate in the alien invasion of the Galapagos wildlife in their native environment.

Returning from the Galapagos, arrive back in Quito Ecuador Airport, again.

From here we begin our epic overland trip as we travel overland south. The journey encompasses a sortie into the Amazon, and progresses southerly along the west coast of Peru before we head inland to explore the Inca Trail, Machu Picchu. As we head even further south towards our first overland trips final destination, La Paz Bolivia, we stop in at one of the highest navigable inland lakes Lake Titicaca.

Again we will be begrudgingly boarding another plane as we head back to Lima Peru, before heading north to Mexico City, Mexico. At this point our plans are a bit vague as we have 7 days and will see where it takes us.

Onto Dallas for another stopover before we head west to Las Vegas to catch up with a good friend Kim, who has accommodated us in the past in San Francisco. A few days hanging out with Kim will give us a great chance to do some serious sightseeing and basically enjoying Nevada before we head east to Richmond where Jayde will get the chance to be reunited with a pair of shoes. Here we will be giving another friend, Christine, a bell to give her refresher on how to be Australian, before we head to Boston for the final leg of the journey. On the 6^th of May we will be arriving into Dublin to begin working to pay off the epic journey of Nathan and Jayde.

Stay tuned for on the go updates……