Twelve days to go...

The Intrepid Adventurers + 1

Well, seeing as there are no major developments on the travel front to announce, I thought I might just take a moment to fill you in a little bit on the main protagonists of this blog...Astrid, Christian, Shanks (Andrew) and me (Lorraine)!

Hmmmm...who can I start with...perhaps Christian...Christian Holyoak...sometimes known as Holy Smoke (he's the redhead on the left in the photo above). Christian and I met when we were both studying (well, okay, perhaps not really studying) at university in 1995. For some reason we both seemed to gravitate towards the front left hand side of the lecture theatre and at some stage we must have struck up a conversation and so the story goes. Christian, was and still is, a fairly lackadaisical, likeable chap, and our friendship has remained firm throughout the past 11 years. Christian is a psychologist (almost at the end of his Masters) and a keen traveller, having spent a lot of time in Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala to name but a few countries. This will be his first trip to India and the first time he has travelled with any of us...I wonder if he has any idea what he is in for...

A Scene from the Pilbara

On to Astrid. I met Astrid in 1997 at another friend's house. We connected immediately and have continued to be very close despite having lived far, far away from each other for most of the time since we met. Both of us have lived and worked out of the metropolis for a few years, I in Tom Price, in Western Australia's spectacular Pilbara region, and Astrid in Alice Springs, where she worked both in the town itself as well as at a remote Aboriginal community called Ltyente Apurte (pronounced Jenja Porta). Astrid is another eager adventurer and some of the countries she has visited and worked in are Kenya, Guyana, Spain, Portugal and North India with me in 2001 (by the way, she used to eat all my share of the Indian sweets that we used to take back to our hotel each night)! After Christian, Shanks and I head off to our various destinations early in January 2007, Astrid will be staying on to do some volunteer work at the Bahai-inspired Barli Vocational Institute for Rural Women in Indore for a further 3 months, before heading to Turkey, then Israel for her Baha'i pilgrimage.

Well, that leaves us with Shanks...someone else may have to write about me! Shanks and I first met in Tom Price in 2001. We got married 3 years later and now live in Perth with our menagerie (plus quenda)! Shanks is a farmer...we have a beautiful 140 acres of land in a town called Wongan Hills in Western Australia's wheatbelt (north-east of Perth). We will be moving there at the end of next year so that he can finally get started growing things...it's what he does best!

Well, until tomorrow, good night!

Our Block in Wongan Hills

Thirteen days to go...

Astrid
After a very tearful farewell from my home of 3 and a half years in Alice Springs, I have arrived in Perth 'in transit' before another journey around the world which begins with a month of adventures in South India with Shanks, Lorraine and Christian. I am reflective of life at the moment and what a contrast South India will be to the stillness, peace and quietness of the Central Australian desert landscape I've been so lucky to call home for the past few years.

But, more and more I find myself being drawn into the willy willy of excitement and anticipation that is our big trip together. Well, it's hard not to be swept up with excitement when Lorraine squeals out 'I can't WAIT for the Indian food!' every time the sub-continent is mentioned. I will try my utmost to peel myself away from the sweet counters - although I'm not known for my self-control when it comes to yummy, exotic, ecstasy-producing sweet treats! Yum! Lorraine isn't exactly the best influence around sweets either! (I know from our last Indian trip together in 2001).

Bollywood night is just around the corner, where the 4 of us will feast on Indian food, watch a quintessential Bollywood movie and put our heads together to plan, plan, plan! I'm looking forward to it....

Nineteen days to go...

Traffic Indian style!

When we woke up this morning, we thought that somehow we were already in India. From just outside our window, came the sounds that one is used to hearing on any busy street anywhere in India at any time of day or night - cars and trucks were racing by tooting their horns in a variety of melodies and the noise was non-stop! It took a few moments for us to register exactly what was going on...turns out that the hardware store across the road was having a sale and to attract customers, two chaps dressed up in dog suits were prancing along the side of the road waving to all the passing traffic!

Tonight we met up with one of the other members of our travelling party - Astrid. She has just returned to Perth after three and a half years living in Alice Springs, the real heartland of Australia. The other member of the 'awesome foursome' is Christian, who is currently in Indonesia visiting his sister. We will all meet up for a pre-India Bollywood night (minus the Bollywood) in a couple of weeks, just days before we all board our first flight together!