I have been hinting, suggesting, and trying pathetic mind games on Rachael for quite some time now regarding a particular ‘bucket list’ item of mine.

An item that needed to be ticked off while my knees could still hack it, not to mention the achilles, back, hammies, feet, shoulders etc, etc!

Paris, London, Berlin? Exotic river cruising down the Nile, maybe? Doing the ‘sound of music’ in Salzburg, or catching the Orient Express?

Nah….how ‘bout a nice pleasant stroll in the fresh air? A nice, LONG meander!

Having not done any hiking/trekking for over 30 years, why not, how about…pretty please can we….take a stroll up to Everest Base Camp? How hard can it be?

Oh, and seems as we are there, lets not do the standard 13 day trek like the sensible folk, but whatcha reckon we add a few days (5!) and make it harder (a lot) by going via the Gokyo Lakes? The views will be great, the track quieter (‘cos most people are sensible), and the air fresher, thinner, and just that little bit harder to find, but what’s a little extra altitude (not attitude, Rachael…altitude) amongst friends, hey?

You’re in? Great! “When can we go, when, when, when….?”

Well , how about now?

Yep, the countdown clock has dipped to nill, and we are off. And not to appear foolhardy, we’ve roped in our great friend, Liz to come along and witness the shenanigans first hand!

How exciting, a trek in the Himalayas? Oh, hang on, we might need a bit of gear….and a training regime, and did I mention gear?

Training was a doddle, sort of! Walking…..lots of walking! Hills and weight vests spring to mind, Birdrock fire track with weight vest to be precise! Unless the Moorooduc quarry fire track with vest is a more enticing option!? Oh, and more walking, up Arthurs Seat, and the dreaded Glasgow track (uurgh), plus strolls to Mount Martha for brekky at the Milk Bar, then home via the boardwalk. Plus laps around Mornington to fill in the down time!

Lets not forget 3-5 gym sessions a week with the Reach Your Peak crew!

I reckon we may have the training nutted, time will be the judge.

How much stuff do you possibly need for a trek? Surely you just stink it up in the same gear each day, sort of.

Mmmm, no!

The principles of layering is brandished on my brain. The complex molecular structures  imbedded in the materials that fashion the insulation layer. The mind boggling array of choice of “hard shell” outer layer (read…raincoat!). To gore-tex , or not to gore-tex, that is the question! Wool, or synthetic polytechnic, ‘non-stink’, fly to the moon and back, stuff!

The undies, one pair for 42 days is the advertised claim! I’ll let you know how that one pans out!

Walking poles cheap on eBay, check. Merino base layer T-shirt’s cheap from Aldi, check. Fancy ‘technical’ outer layer Montane jacket under half price, tick. The clearance section, (you know the one…right down the back under the gloomy lighting) at Paddy Pallin, yep. Osprey packs courtesy of Christmas gift vouchers, done. (Yep been planning for quite awhile) etc, etc.

The boots…yeh Gods, the cost!! Probably the best investment I made, and most likely the only one at full retail! Except for the undies….42 days of trial and tribulation don’t come cheap!

I think (read….pray) we have the gear all sorted.

I’m heard the Himalayas are reasonably spectacular,!), In fact tres fab, lets face it I’ve seen the movie ‘Everest’ (which in hindsight probably isn’t such a great idea) so I need camera stuff, and other gizmos.

I was going to upgrade the camera, but couldn’t get it past the hanging judge, so contented myself with a new lens instead, a very swish lens at that. I’ve always lusted over (in a strictly plutonic sense) the Lensbaby range, and got myself a Velvet 85mm, (actually, Rachael got me the lens for my birthday, clever girl), which promises an arty, cinematic style of shot….hopefully. You’ll see what I mean in later posts, I think this lens will get a fair workout.

I’m dragging alone a couple of other lens, plus a bag full of batteries, as from all accounts altitude plays the fool with battery life. Taking two portable charge up units to keep the electrics electric!

Especially the iPad, new brand new fancy pants iPad Pro 10.5’, which will be the driver of this blog, plus editing suite for photos, and somesuch

Lucky the bag limit is 30kg!

We are doing the trek thru No Roads Expeditions, in conjunction the Mountain Monarch in Nepal.

It’s been a long time in the making, but here we are, exciting times! Nothing for it now, but to hit the road.

We’ll update as we go along, connectivity willing!!