Wrap Up
WRAP UP {EDITION 35}
Nov
HELLO + WELCOME as we make our way overland from Sydney to London, via the bumpy roads of Africa.
It’s Kirsty behind the keyboard today. Let’s get to it.
FILMING THE EXPEDITION
We have been thinking about how we would like to go about writing when we reach Africa. From what we can tell, we will have regular 3G access so getting content online shouldn’t be too tricky. Albiet we are a little apprehensive about the upload speeds!
At this stage we are thinking we would like to continue with a Wrap Up and have that summarise what’s been happening and how we’ve been kickn’.
We’d also like to introduce a more detailed ‘travel tales’ set of posts. That actually tell the day to day stories of the trip. i.e. We drove from blah to blah-dee-blah and saw a big blahh-dee-blah. We have watched others do this and it seems it work quite well.
Also, up our sleeve we have the idea to film the African leg of the expedition and turn it into a rough and ready documentary after the journey is over. That, however, is a long term vision and getting our hands on a quality video camera would cost quite a few bucks that aren’t in the budget.
Would you be interested to watch a doco of the two of us attempting to cross Africa?
Let us know what you reckon.
TROOPY ON A BOAT
Our Troopy is in it’s very own 20-foot container sailing towards Durban in South Africa. It’s possible for us to track the ship as it progresses.
We’ve watched it reach port in Melbourne, make it’s way around Western Australia and right now it’s sitting in Singapore. We will be very happy to see it start making a beeline for Southern Africa!
SUPPORTER ANNOUNCEMENT: BLACKWOLF
We are excited to announce that BlackWolf have been inspired to get behind the expedition.
A bounty of gear arrived from BlackWolf, including two super snug sleeping bags (the Hybrid Comfort 2S) and a sleek 2 man hiking tent (the Mantis II).
The tent is perfection and has it’s own tiny carry bag. However I was nervous about the sleeping bags as our thoughts are to replace our doona and blanket in the pop-top of the Troopy with two high quality sleeping bags that pat down with less fuss. So they will be a daily used fixture in the rig.
I’m a bit finicky when it comes to sleeping bags – the shape, the fabric and the feel. All that polyester and tight feet and shuffling sounds are Annoying. Capital A, most definitely intended. But, low and behold the bags are perfection and ticked all the right boxes. They seem really good and it will be SO nice to be warm on cold nights. Can’t wait to spend a night under the stars in one!
WAITING
The waiting around has had us fidgety. There’s been plenty to ‘fill’ our time with but we’ve both been feeling a bit ‘mehh’ and really just want to get the show on the road. It’s time for Africa.
Now that we are 11 days from flying off it’s all starting to feel a bit surreal.
QUEENSLAND ROAD TRIP
To put a bit of our time to use we jumped in our little hatchback and hit the road North. We wanted to be somewhere nice to celebrate our five year anniversary (made extra special by the fact we are recently engaged) and to squeeze in a visit with some of Gareth’s family in Queensland.
^ Celebrating our anniversary on an equestrian farm in the hinterland of Byron Bay
^ The ‘awful’ view from our cottage in Byron Bay hinterland. This was our first stay with an AirBNB.
^ The man can cook!
^ Wherever we go we seem to attract dogs. This fellow was filthy as he had been rolling around in horse manure and he chased a stick like it was nobody’s business! So gorgeous.
^ And on our way back South we spent a couple of nights babysitting our son at his foster home. Clearly he is living an incredibly tough life. And no, this photo is not set up!
INTERVIEWED BY HEMA MAPS
We have been stoked to feature as Australian Explorers by the incredible Hema Maps on their website. We loved chatting about the expedition and how we are feeling about hitting the next stage in Africa.
It’s pretty awesome to be able to share our little overlanding expedition far and wide. It is our hope that we might inspire others out there to chase what’s important to them. You can read the interview by clicking here.
That’s us all wrapped up. There are just 10 days until we fly out.
As always, THANK you for sharing this exciting expedition with us. It has been a dream of ours for years. The feeling that the African leg is about to kick-off is quite an extraordinary sensation, intensified by the fact we have all of you along for the ride in spirit.
Leave us a comment in the comment section below! We’ll be reading and we would really like to know what you think about us filming the journey to make a documentary.
Cheers
I have no doubt that you could seek sponsorship for video equipment to film the journey. I’d be looking to acquire some gopro cameras for the vehicle and a reasonable dSLR and stereo video mic. Not too outrageous, not too expensive, ideal. Have fun crew!
Hey James, Thanks for the words of advice. Appreciate it. All sounds very common sensical to us.
We do have a great DSLR and GoPros on hand. Think we will invest in a good quality mic and see how we go 🙂
Thanks for the encouragement. Not long to go now 🙂 {K}
Safe travels I look forward to following your journey
I’d skip the big camera like the Canon XH A1 that you have in your post; I have that exact model and they are big, heavy and obvious especially when you have them on a tripod. Have a look at using a Canon EOS SLR (600D?) to capture HD video as well as your still photography, they are less intrusive and can produce great results. Combined with an action camera (GoPro?) you have a very functional kit with less storage and weight issues.
Have a great time!
Hey Guys,
We have two GoPro Hero 3’s and a Canon 6d already but no microphones yet. I like your points about the big video camera being too obvious.
We will check out some good quality audio equipment today.
Cheers,
G
I would love to see you two make a documentary!
Consider it done Sonia! Ha. We’ll see how we go.
I have a background in video work and editing.. so I’m sure that will help. That, and, G is a natural in front of the cam 😉
Thanks for the encouragement.
{K}
I would most certainly watch the doco!
Good luck!!
Awesome! Thanks for the encouragement Justin! {K}
A rough and ready documentary would be awesome.
Yeeehah! Thanks Nicola. I reckon we will film it and then focus on all the editing bizzo once we make it through. Getting so close now… very excited {K}
Hi guys, others already made the comments about size of video camera but also think about another type of battery and charger to carry etc. If you do have some budget left why not upgrade your DSLR and also get a proper mic? Advantage also is that you can use all of your photo lenses that you have already. The video camera only makes sense if you really know what you are doing / filming and are planning to do more with video later / after the trip. Filming is a skill. Walking around with a video camera like you have on your site in Africa is asking for trouble and might also raise questions at borders once you get closer to the Middle East.
Anyway, whichever road you choose make sure it’s yours! Enjoy the journey. Wish I was still traveling in Africa with our LC. Any suggestions needed for Africa give a shout!
Hey Barry! Thanks for the thoughts. All makes a lot of sense.
I have background with working with filming and editing, so perhaps I should have mentioned that up top!
Will see how we go. We’ll have a few methods to film from and we’ll invest in a good quality mic.
Good to be in touch. I remember your site and expedition photos. A shame the site isn’t up anymore! Any recommendations send them our way 🙂
{K}
Yeah, I’d love to see a doco of your trip. Not only for the adventure aspects, but also for any tips and techniques you could pass on. I love filming my own adventures too, as it’s only too soon until the first anniversary of it comes around … then the second … then the third :-(. Video footage keeps it alive, but I’m very amateurish and basic in my productions and probably only saved by a very intuitive video editor program.
I’d be very interested in anything you had to say about the general production of the whole thing (that could be a doco in itself, haha) and the difficulties of managing and integrating the output of several cameras in the final production.
I think I’m looking forward to your African leg even more than you are (I very much doubt it, though lol). Safe travels guys.
Dear Kirsty and Gareth…..an inspirational journey. I hope to be following in your footsteps shortly….have just bought my troopy which currently resides in Galloway Scotland and plan to ship it to Oz in March and begin from there and hopefully include Africa and possibly South America. Happy travelling in Africa and i hope our troopies cross paths at some point. I will be following your progress with great interest. Cheers, Peter
Took me a long time to come across this part of the journey. Was looking earlier but got sidetracked but now have found it again. All good wishes for the next chapter in your life. Lots and lots of love ? ???????? ????????