Goodbye Africa; Australia, here we come!

So we’re sitting in a tacky airport bar in Johannesburg, drinking our last Windhoek Bier and thinking about the 6 months of travel that ends today. We’re off to live in Sydney for a year. We’re pretty excited, and thoughts are racing through our heads about the new life we’re heading for and the old one we’re leaving behind.

Being something of a geek (had you heard?) I have catalogued these thoughts and sorted them into 4 categories:

Things we will miss about travelling

• The demented humour of long term travelling buddies. New species are formed by a process of genetic drift when two populations are separated for so long that they become very different from each other, and no longer interbreed when the populations merge. When you spend practically 24 hours a day with your wife for 6 months, a new species of humor emerges.
• Awesome night skies. We’ve been travelling mainly in rural places, with clear black night skies covered in stars. The stars are so many and so thick that it’s hard to recognise the famous constellations because there are so many stars in them that you can’t normally see.
• Friendliness of rural folk. Africans seem to be both surprised and delighted that you’d want to spend time in their village, rather than the capital city.
• Trying the local specialities in each new region. Each country has its traditional carbohydrate. Kushari (Egypt) is our favourite, followed by Ugali (Tanzania).
• African music. From traditional Tanzanian Sana Sana to South African township rap, it’s always a good move to be playing the local stuff when you stop at a police checkpoint.
• South African KFC. It’s just a little bit better than the already insanely addictive British version.

Things we won’t miss about travelling

• Repacking every few days. And you know the bag gets 20 cubic centimeters smaller each time you do it.
• Sweating. 30 degree heat and high humidity gives you a 24-hour face shine.
• Mosquitos. Itchy little bastards.
• Car guards. These guys hang around car parks waving their hands like landing technicians on an aircraft carrier, hoping for a tip. No thanks, I can park my tiny rental car in a space designed for a 2 tonne pickup truck without assistance.
• Packed transport. Quiz time: which can fit more people, a 48 foot long London bus or a 15 foot long Tanzanian Dala Dala? If you answered “London bus”, you get no points.
• Military grade security in residential areas. Because it doesn’t fill you with confidence when every home in Cape Town has electric fencing and a sign on it saying “Excalibur armed response” with a little cartoon of a man holding a Kalashnikov.

Things we’re looking forward to in Oz

• Friends! Although I might have forgotten how to socialise after 6 months on the road.
• Job interviews. Funny that, but I’m actually quite excited. I haven’t had an interview in 3 years. I’m looking forward to the job itself too. And the pay check, that will be nice.
• BLAT sandwiches. Bacon, lettuce, avocado and tomato. Sydney is awash with them, and we’re going to eat them all. Every. Last. One.
• Being told what to do. 6 months of absolute creative freedom has been great, but for once it will be nice to turn up at an office in the morning and have someone else set the priorities.
• Shopping for a Ute. Vroom vroom.
• Watching silly movies. We left the UK with 30 movies that I legally obtained trough a legitimate distribution channel. I picked them from Empire Magazine’s top 100 movies list. They’re all serious, beard stroking affairs. Bring on the stupid action flicks and romantic comedies.
• Cooking for ourselves. Eating in restaurants for 6 months sounds great, but I can’t fit into any of my trousers any more :o(

Things we’re not looking forward to in Oz

• Cleaning. No more “my hotel room is dirty, buy me a new one.”
• erm…
• that’s it!