Sunday, January 15, 2023

Packing

 The pandemic has killed any ability I once had to pack a suitcase. 

Ergh.

This should not be a hard task., I'm only going for eight days, and to the South Island of New Zealand, but it's doing my head in. 

These are my considerations. 

1) Qantas

Yes, I'm flying Qantas. I'm also getting to Christchurch indirectly, as when I booked it was $500 less return to fly through Brisbane than take the Jetstar red-eye, leaving at 1 a.m and getting in at 5.30 a.m.  I hate the red-eye already. I'd rather sit on a plane and read for the trip over. This puts me in a bit of a quandary. I've got to get a flight to Brisbane, get to the international airport, and then get a plane to Christchurch. Here's hoping the connections are okay and the bag turns up. I've bought at Bluetooth tile to keep an eye on my bag. If the bag gets lost, at least it can be located. 


Being an old hand at lost bags, I need to put some fundamental toiletries, a pair of clean knickers, a toothbrush and two days of meds in my day pack just in case. This also goes for the way back with the meds. It's just a blood pressure pill, but it's needed. If I'm stuck in Brisbane it's not so bad. At least I can fill a repeat script. 

Fingers crossed all goes to plan. 

2) Southland in Summer

I'm off to the South Island of New Zealand for eight days in January. It's going to be a bit cooler than here in Melbourne. But over the pandemic I appear to have lost my ability to pack. 

So it's eight days.

I'll need:

  • 8 pairs of knickers
  • A couple of bras
  • A couple of t-shirts
  • A couple of pairs of light trousers
  • Maybe a pair of jeans
  • Socks (even though I live in Birkenstocks
  • A dress or two for going out (I know of at least one dinner and a party on the itinerary
  • A hoody
  • A light cardy
  • Running shoes, a pair of sandals, some thongs, walking shoes. 
  • Bathers - just in case
  • My big camera (as opposed to my trusty iPhone camera, which does a lot of heavy lifting. 
  • My travel laptop and mouse - that goes in the daypack. 
  • The Kindle
It's 8 days, Pandora - it can't be that hard. I still think I've forgotten something.

3) The Spares

Other than shoving a paper copy of my itinerary in both bags, because I'm that anal, there are some spares which I'll pack - again, just in case, but if I get stuck, I'll need them, especially as I've got five days of driving ahead of me. These things are:
  • Spare cables for chargers, including the Apple Watch
  • Sunglasses
  • Normal glasses
I've looked over this list five times. 

What am I missing? 

Today's song:



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