Third jab and more gear

Oops – forgot my doctors appointment at 9am this morning – suffered complete brain fade and didn’t remember until we were nearly ready to head in to town to do some more gear shopping.

I’ve been on an accelerated course of Hepatitis-B immunisations in preparation for our trip. Normally you have one injection up front, a second injection in one month and then your third in 6 months. Given that we are going away within that time – they put me on an accelerated course of 0 days, 7 days, and 21 days up front, which is good enough before I leave, and I’ll get a fourth jab in 6 months. Today was supposed to be my 3rd (21 day) injection. Fortunately, they managed to fit me in later in the afternoon.

On our first trip to the doctor they gave me my first Hep-B jab and one for Typhoid, which only lasts 3 years. I’m already up to date on Polio, Hep-A and Tetanus, and we don’t need Yellow Fever vaccinations for where we are going (we’ll be in the south of South America). Leanne had a single jab for Typhiod and Hep-A (combined) and I think she’s up to date (she’ll need another Hep-A booster in 6 months).

We went in to town first to get some more gear shopping done before my appointment, this time the goal was to get a pack for Leanne. We had already looked at packs in a few different stores and had come to the conclusion that the One Planet packs were the best fit for both of us. After trying a couple of different packs in Trek & Travel (and going down the road to Snow Gum to see if they had any of the smaller Longreach packs we could try for size – they didn’t), Leanne settled on the 60L One Planet Tom Thumb. It felt the best to her, and looked like the best fit. It was also a lot cheaper than the Longreach pack!

I decided to buy the Polartec fleece that I had been looking at in Mountain Design. The decision was made easier by the fact that my sister sent us a Mountain Design gift voucher for Christmas which turned out to be exactly enough to cover the cost of the fleece (it was on special!). I just hope it will be cold enough to wear – I can’t normally wear fleeces, I just get too hot … but I kept reminding myself that I would have appreciated one during our trip to the Grand Canyon a couple of years back when it was -6 degrees celcius in the daytime!

We got back in time for my appointment, and then I went to the post office to collect a parcel that arrived from the US – it was my long johns that I had ordered from REI. I took a guess on the sizes, got three pair including two lightweight, and one mid-weight fleece. My pants aren’t that thick, so I think I might be cold down south – especially if it is windy. Hopefully my long johns will keep me warm while still allowing me some mobility (and not over-heating!).