“Are ya packed!!”
For my Grandparents 50th wedding anniversary, pretty much our entire family travelled off to the west coast of Ireland to a little town called Doonbeg in county Clare where my grandfather grew up. We took over a small hotel there which we were to stay at for the duration of our visit. However, due to being a little rowdy one night the hotel asked us to leave the next morning. I still remember to this day the sound of my grandfathers voice as he wandered the corridors of the hotel shouting “Are ya packed!!” in an effort to get us all out ASAP.
Getting my gear ready for this trip reminded me of this as my packing gets nearer to being complete, or should I say the arranging of the stuff in neat little piles to then be rammed into the rucksack never again to be arranged in nice little organized piles.
I will list the items below for two reasons. One, so that I can see what a fool I am for taking so much stuff and lose some of the stuff I really don’t need and two, so that others who are reading this and who have spent time piling up their stuff can perhaps empathize a little and offer some words of encouragement.
So we have…
Packs
Lowe Alpine Skyline 55 Backpack
Berghaus Tor 22 daypack (not pictured as not sure if it is coming with me)
Clothing
Waterproof pants
Thermal underwear (should I go somewhere freezing - I hate the cold)
Gloves (see freezing comment above)
Swim shorts
Cap, floppy hat, 2 beanies, Aussie fold up hat
Fleece jacket
Speedo ultra thin fleece
Jeans (1 pair to wear around and feel normal)
Capri bouldering pants
Sweat pants (to slob about in generally)
Shorts
3 long sleeve shirts
2 T-shirts
1 belt
1 pair sneakers/walking shoes
1 pair of smart(ish) shoes (again for that normal feeling)
Underwear, socks etc
Sundry
NZ and Oz Rough Guides
Medical kit
Quick dry towel
Washbag and toiletries
Those essentials for spontaneous occasions (stole that line from someone…)
Notebook and pens
Digital camera
MP3 player
Mobile phone
and lots of bits like stuff bags, fold away headphones, chargers for electronics, army knife, torch etc etc…
The Gear…
Looking at the list written down I can’t believe I am taking so much even though it does not look like a lot sitting on the floor.
I am sure things will be taken out after I do a quick packing test this weekend to make sure it all goes in. I know I will feel good being able to wander round without looking too much like a backpacker the whole time. I guess the constant clicking of my camera will break my cover though. New Zealand really is the other side of the world for us here in the UK. Auckland is 12 hours ahead of London which makes it easy for people here to know what time it is when they think of me.
I will be glad when it is all settled and the pack is stuffed to the brim and I await the cab to take me to Heathrow airport for the long journey to Auckland. Then, and only then can I answer back…”I’m packed!!”
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Ok. I now have the real story of what happened at the hotel in Ireland from my Mother, and having heard what she said I now too remember the story.
The reason some of our family left that morning was due to the hotel having a band in the previous night that was very loud and was keeping my uncles kids awakw. He complained about the noise and the hotel did nothing about it so he decided to take his family to another hotel and my grandparents went also. The rest of us stayed behind at the noisy hotel.
Sorry for giving the impression my family are a rowdy bunch as it was a long time ago and my memory of the event is a little faded :0~
Tags: Pre-Trip
