Starting to sort out what to take and what not to take. After travelling around the NZ/Australia/Fiji area with the 20kg baggage allowance, it will be a luxury have 46kg each (as we are flying to North America). I wish the airlines would standardise on what the baggage allowance is. Within NZ, Air New Zealand now allow 25kg, but to Australia and the local Pacific islands (Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu etc) the limit is just 20kg.
Thirteen plus hours non stop is also a bit daunting, the longest we have ever flown before is around four hours. Add to the 4:30pm Sunday check in at Christchurch and 8:50pm arrival time (also Sunday) in Calgary (18 hours behind Christchurch) it makes for over 22 hours of travelling and sitting at airports (Christchurch, Auckland and Vancouver).
On the photography front, I am taking two Canon digital SLRs (a 10 megapixel 1DMkIII and a 6mp 10D as a backup) with a few lenses (17-40mmL f4.0, 24-105mmL f4.0, 70-200mm f2.8L, 400mm f5.6 L and 100mm f2.8 macro) and maybe a video camera. I would love the Canon 5D MkII as a HD video camera (and backup SLR), but that expense is just too great at this time. 24Gb of compact flash and 18Gb of SD (the 1D accepts both) should be enough memory (hopefully), but with a laptop and 320Gb USB travel drive, I should not have any trouble with image retention/backup.
The basic SLR gear (with either the 70-200mm or the 400mm, but not both) fits in the new Lowepro Flipside 400AW bag, that is airline cabin compliant (and just 7kg), and I will also take a "personal" slimline laptop bag with the laptop and a couple of magazines. The photo jacket will contain all the rest (passport, small binoculas, pens, a couple of books, suduko book, ipod and noise cancelling headhones). Shamina will also take a smaller back pack with the other lens and the 10D body.
In the checked luggage will be the tripod (maybe monopod as well), along with all the power supplies/chargers (cameras, ipod, laptop etc), multi-box and adaptor plugs, along with clothes (summer) and a couple of rail atlases, and FieldGuide to the Birds of North America.
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