"In preparing for a battle..." (or travel)

"First comes thought; then organization of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination."    - Napoleon Hill

BOREDOM ALERT! This post is mostly for my mom who wants to know the 'what', 'when' and 'how' of 'where' her (61 year old) baby will be on this trip. If you would also like to travel vicariously with me to New Zealand and Australia, here are some details for October 21 through December 16, 2010. You can use and follow the map on the September 2 post. Or - just wait to read what I did after I did it in future e-mails and posts!

10/21 - drive to Atlanta and stay overnight with my sister, June and her husband, Robin.
10/22 - 10/23 - drive to Chicago and stay with a Friendship Force member.
10/24 - fly out of Chicago, to San Francisco, to Auckland, NZ (North Island) and then on to
               Christchurch, NZ, (South Island)
10/26 - add a day for crossing the International Dateline; arrive Christchurch.
10/27 - 11/1 - Christchurch and tours on my own (the rest of the group will be taking a tour
                    of the So. Island)
10/28 - 10/29 - bus to Picton, trek the Queen Charlotte Track on Marlbourough Sounds
10/30 -10/31 - bus back to Christchurch and a day in the city
11/1 - fly to Rotorua (No. Island)
11/2 - 11/3 - Friendship Force exchange with Rotorua FF and tours nearby
11/4 - 11/11 - bus to Thames (No. Island) and exchange/tours with Thames/Coromandel
                         Peninsula FF
11/11 - bus to Auckland; flight to Sydney; bus to the Blue Mountains of Australia.
11/11-11/18 - Blue Mountains FF exchange/tours; day tour of Sydney
11/18 - bus to Sydney; flight to Auckland; say good-bye to Northern Illinois FF chapter
11/19 - board the Magicbus for independent tour on their route (see Auckland, the City of
               Sails from Mt. Eden; Redwood Forest) http://www.magicbus.co.nz/
11/20 -  bus to Taupo (on a lake bigger than Singapore!)
11/21 - bus to National Park, near Tongariro National Park (some "Lord of the Rings"
              filming done here)
11/22 -  bus to Wellington (the capital;  summit Mt. Victoria for city overlook)
11/23 - ferry to Picton (So. Island); bus to Nelson (So. Island) (kayak?)
11/24 - bus from Nelson to Greymouth (along the 'Wild West' coast)
11/25 -11/26 -  bus to and a day at Franz Josef (glaciers)
11/27 - Queenstown - the "Adventure Captital of the World"
12/28-12/2 - guided trek on the Milford Track (known for decades as 'the finest walk
                         in the world')
12/3- 12/4 - Queenstown (NO bungy jumping for me!)
12/5 - bus to Dunedin  ( Scottish settled, university town; yellow-eyed penguins on
             Otago Peninsula)
12/6 - bus to Lake Tekapo (will I do a run/walk/run up the world's steepest street?)
12/7-12/8 - bus to and stay a day in Christchurch (International Antarctic Center)
12/9 - bus to Kailoura - a Green Globe community
12/10-12/11 - bus to Picton; ferry to and stay a day in Wellington (No. Island)
                          (see the 'Bee Hive')
12/12 - bus to Rotorua
12/13 - bus to Auckland
12/14 - day trip to the Northland (90 mile beach; Cape Reinga)
12/15 - Auckland; pack!
12/16 - fly from Auckland to San Francisco to Chicago
12/16 - arrive Chicago (crossing back over the International Dateline)
From Chicago, I'll drive to Ames, IA to see my mom (and my friend, Marti) for a couple of days and then head on HOME!

And now to finish the quote by Dwight D. Eisenhower:
"In preparing for a battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is essential."

Of course, this is what Mike Tyson says:
"Everybody's got plans... until they get hit."