So, I've been gathering gear for several years - you know all the little odds and ends kinda stuff, but my most recent purchases are a new pack and a new pair of walking shoes. I had trouble finding any lengthy reviews on either of these, so, at the end of the trip, I will be posting detailed reviews of each one here, plus any other 'major' gear items that I'm taking - I'll be looking into buying a good rain jacket before I leave here (I'm currently trying to find somewhere that stocks The North Face items nearby - I really like their Grace Jacket, but I want to try one on before I decide. There are another couple of jackets that I like too, but I'm going to wait until closer to the date, as I am going to try and lose some weight before I go.

Anyway, the pack that I have bought, is a Lowe Alpine Zanskar 65+15. It has all the features that I wanted in a pack - a hiking style design, with top, bottom and front access, comfortable, and around the 65L mark. Previously I had a travel pack that was between 45 and 50L, however I wanted a more comfortable harness, and a little bit more room than my old pack (when packed with 4 days worth of clothing, sleeping bag and other travel accessories, it becomes full, and I want space for souveniers, or just space to carry food in the pack!). 

First impressions have been good :) I purchased this from K2 Basecamp in Brisbane. There was one other pack that I was strongly considering (and it was very comfortable) - the Osprey Xenon - but I decided on the Zanskar because it was just as comfortable, and the people in K2 were much friendlier (and they did me a deal on the pack and shoes :)). So yeah, first impressions, on the pack is that its very comfortable, and the hood-converts-into-a-backpack-or-bumbag trick is very cool! I keep the updates going as I do more with it.

For shoes, I have purchased La Sportiva Sandstone walking shoes. I was tossing up between these ones and the mid-height Keen Targhee IIs, but decided on the Sandstones becasue of a little bit of extra width around the toes, and becasue they were the height that I was after. They have Gore-Tex lining (yay for waterproofing) and Vibram soles. They've been really good so far. I usually get blisters the first time I wear any new shoes, but I haven't with these ones. The soles are nice and grippy - they even grip on wet gravelled concrete! They have a nice flex in them, and are quite comfortable to sit around and walk around in all day.