I'm heading off to British Columbia in 2 weeks. I'll be there visiting relatives and Wwoofing until mid-September, which will be early spring in New Zealand. The knapsack I take to BC goes to NWZ, so the packing has begun in earnest. I'm sending the list to a few gear-bare keeners. If you have a comment or opinion about the list, please let me know. I can argue gear lists all day. The knapsack is what I'm wearing in the blog profile picture.The pack will weigh 8-9 kgs out the door, everything inside the pack, including water and day-food. Basically it's 2-3 sets of clothes, rain gear, spare shoes and the ability to sleep outside in NWZ seasonal weather (down to 8-10 C) and hopefully handle a bit of rain. I only intend to be sleeping on the ground here and there as circumstances dictate.
The plan is to fly to Auckland, hitch-hike up to the top of North Island (Cape Reinga) and start walking, hostelling and Wwoofing the 1000+ kilometers to Wellington. Drop in and visit Bob Russell for a few days. Then down to South Island and Sue Green's sister for a few days, then a bit of tourist action in Milford Sound. Then the decision is return to Canada or keep flying West --- Vietnam, India and/or South Africa on my way to visit David Young in Botswana and Brian MacDougall in Egypt. If I get that far, it's maybe Israel, but Ireland for sure, then home.
Nice simple plan, not a lot of logistics. Nothing booked in advance. Everything electronic and stored in some Google app. Carrying a GSM quad-band cell phone if someone needs to get hold of me. Will check messages every few days. I'll keep this blog up-to-date every few weeks, tho not with pictures from my camera. Too techie.
CARRYING
40 liter knapsack
Small waist pouch for camera
KNAPSACK
Sleeping bag Primaloft .5 kg MEC overbag
Sleepmat Thermarest .25 kg Shoulders-to-Hips, self-inflating
Tarp/poncho (8'x5' silnylon)
Drybag (15 liter silnylon) for knapsack contents
Drybag (10 liter good quality) for clothes and electronics
Drybag (1 liter plastic) for travel books and documents
Daybag (10 liter shapeless nylon)
KITCHEN / FOOD
Spoon, breadknife, can opener
Water bottle .5 liter \ Expanding 1 liter
Multi-vitamins
1 day of light food (apple, cheese, chocolate, nuts, bread)
CLOTHES
Rain shell / Pants
Black jacket / Green light fleece / Tights
Poly skull cap / Poly gloves / Poly hats (2)
Bathing suit / Mini-towel
Wool socks (2) / Poly socks (2)
Techie tops (3) / Nylon shorts (2)
Sleep top/shorts / Cotton underwear (3)
Sandals / Sneakers
MEDICAL
Moleskin, Band-aids, alcohol gel, compression wrap, gauze, tape
Murine, asthma inhaler, Ibuprofen, pumice
Poly-Sporin, Gravol, Chlorine tablets, tweezers, scissors
TOILETRIES
Toothbrush/paste, floss, vaseline, sun lotion, chapstick
Toilet paper, hair soap, deodorant, nail clippers
ELECTRONICS
Cell phone/charger/battery-backup (buy local charger there)
Watch, wrist compass, LED flashlight, whistle, plastic mirror
Camera, Memory chips, USB memory stick
Single cell AAA radio, batteries (2 AAA, 4 AA)
DOCUMENTS
Map, travel book, hostel lists, glasses/spare, pen/pencil
Diary, family photos, photocopies of passport and drivers license, spare passport pics, Passport, MSI card, Blue Cross, Intl and NS driver licence, Vaccine record,
Pictures of all documents stored in Gmail
REPAIR
Therma-rest repair, needle/thread, duct tape
Safety-pins, velcro, cable-ties
3 comments:
Bruce, what kind of GSM quad band phone do you have? I'm looking at purchasing one for travel in Europe this summer.
How long are you gone for? It all sounds great Bruce.
Connie
no hockey tape!!!?? for shame! best bandaid made is hockey tape, polysporin and toilet paper. lasts all day or for a week, much better than medical tape. can use to build a leg cast, a candle holder, spun rope, a really tough strap, a baseball, a rip repair, a clothesline... on and on. red green eat yer heart out. hockey tape is the swiss army tool of Canada. don't leave home without it. how will anyone know you're Canadian eh? speaking of which...the right swiss army knife has a pen, a bottle opener, a "butter" knife, a really effective wood saw, a hack saw, scissors, eyeglass screwdriver, firestarting magnifying glass, screwdriver bit, pliers and tweezers. and it's water proof.
oh, and a knife.
that's one unit that can replace 5 of the items in your pack...plus a ton of other utilities. i noticed your pack doesn't have a jackknife. is the bread knife sharp?
i know you'll have good arguments for all of the above. looking forward to debating your pack with you when you land in the valley.
see ya soon
Having small children I love the Nexcare spray bandage. Great for covering scrapes. And there was no mention of rope or twine at the very least you should carry some of the new braided fishing line, very thin and very strong (100lb test).
Have fun and k.i.s.
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