After two years of preparation we we’re at last all packed and ready to leave Switzerland.

We headed to the airport for Australia before sunrise with all Sarah’s expedition gear.

We needed to get all the topographic maps that Sarah will require for the final leg of her journey.  Starting from the top end of Australia to the bottom tip all the way through the centre of Australia….a huge expedition in itself !

People are still amazed and do not believe Sarah when she tells them about her incredible little walk from North to South…… but as Sarah always says ‘one step after another I will get there.’  (By the way she’s getting crankier and wilder by the minute so I think it’s definately time for her to go now.  I wouldn’t be suprised if she sneaks off early)

Another task that was added to my job description was to help Sarah to gain some weight (I hope them few extra kilograms will help her when she has to cross the Himalayas).  I found this quite easy being a food lover myself so no meals were skipped and afternoon tea and cake was a must.  I think I may have to do some walking myself when I return to Switzerland…..ha ha ha.  Her famous and beloved four legged friend Joe will help me with that one as I am happy to say that caring for him is also on my job description.

We flew to Darwin where Sarah will enter Australia.  We found an amazing outdoor/camping shop called NT General Store and we bought a last few supplies and enquired where we could get topographic maps.

We headed to Cullen Bay which looked very small with just a few restaurants and shops.  After a little searching and a cafe latte later we found the map shop and a young girl who had only just starting working there.  Slowly but surely though each topographic map we needed was placed on the counter and we left with all the maps we needed of the Northern Territory of Australia.

Sarah then headed back to Perth to buy the remainder of the maps for the Southern part of Australia and a small teapot (essential expedition equipment for her) that we have struggled to find anywhere whilst I remained in Darwin to see if I could find a way to sail from Indonesia to Darwin. 

Sarah was successful in her mission and managed to find what seemed like the last teapot in Perth and all the remainder of the maps of the Southern part of Australia.

I was not so successful and it proved impossible to find a way to get from Indonesia to Darwin by sea.  The research I had done back home had found only one shrimp boat that goes from Darwin to East Timor.  The shipping companies do not take passengers and the yatchs that sail from Indonesia to Darwin face a hefty quarantine and customs inspection and fee.  So it’s back to the drawing board on that one.

I did however find out some interesting facts about the Northern Territory of Australia that Sarah has yet to discover.  Apart from the usual ‘wonderful wildlife’ of Autsralia….i.e. venomous snakes, spiders etc etc she will also have to deal with the not so friendly locals…..CROCODILES, the odd cyclone and bush fires (controlled) !!!!!  I don’t know what kind of magic trick she has up her sleeve for those but we will know in due time 

I headed back to Perth the next day and then we both flew to Beijing and then onto Mongolia. 

So we are now back in Mongolia, fortunately this time it’s a warm and pleasant  20 degrees unlike the –32 degrees  we experienced the last time we came.  We still have lots of organisation and planning to do whilst we are here.  Today we are going to head to the Mongolian Immigration to extend Sarah’s visa.

There is now only 3 days before Sarah’s departure…….she is ready to go back to who she really is…….to let her soul touch the earth and go walking…….