70 days to go and counting!
May 21st, 2005 by Nuts On Bents
While we nervously contemplate our rapidly approaching departure and the preparations pick up pace, here are some lists to keep those dedicated followers of this diary entertained:
What we won’t miss
- Wet windy cloudy cold days
- Big Brother and similar junk summer TV
- The new Harry Potter book frenzy
- Crowded buses, tubes and traffic jams
- Congestion charging
- The office ’9 to 5′
What we will miss
- Our family and friends
- Mushlau (Nic’s cat) and Mindy – don’t ask :p
- Okonomiyaki (a Japanese pancake, for those that are ‘uninitiated’), coffee, almond croissants, mango lassi, coffee, mature cheese and… did we mention coffee? :p
- the TVR
- Cafe Gold, Karahi King, Abeno, Andrew Edmund and The Last
- Creature comforts – hot showers, crisp cotton sheets, clean clothes, lazy DVD nights being sofa people :p
- Macao (card game), COD, Lego Star Wars :p
- Not being a pair of freaks stared at all the time
- Understanding what the locals are saying and being able to read signs!
What we dread most!
- Cycling in a head scarf and baggy skirt through Iran – Sedef only (she’s already been practicing – see pic below) :p
- Kidnap / drug gangs in Iran and Pakistan
- Getting lost in the Iranian desert or Aussie outback with no food, water or a living soul for miles around (not a very remote possibility given Nic’s track record in the Sahara! Sedef has appointed herself official expedition map-reader – thank goodness for GPS lol)
- Being attacked by a pack of dogs – “dazer set to stun!”
- Overenthusiastic kids messing with our bikes (or worse)
- Having our bikes nicked (though it may be rather amusing to see someone try to get away on one !!)
- Ill health / injury / family calamity
- Being dirty all the time
- Crossing the Alps, it’s going to hurt!
What we dream about
- Passing cars to stop and ply us with food
- Passing cars to stop and invite us to stay in their cosy homes complete with a feather bed, power shower, and satellite TV
- Tailwinds and downhills
- Tarmac cycling paths (preferably by a canal with a cool breeze on a sunny day)
- Sunrise over Ayers Rock and seeing a Great White on the Great Barrier Reef (Sedef’s diving dream)
- Enjoying the summer downpours which we both love – cycling soaked to the skin, so liberating!
- Falling asleep under the stars watching the night sky……
Sedef preparing for Iran :p