Toots

The last day of my holiday :( It's gone so quickly and it will be hard heading home tomorrow. I've returned to England from the Spanish leg of my trip with a golden tan and a belly full of lovely food! The reason for my trip - Silvi & Paul's wedding - was absolutely superb. Set in the gardens of a boutique hotel the ceremony was conducted in English and Spanish... and when Paul was speaking.... sometimes Spanglish (This of course is untrue.... Paulito - you did a brilliant job)! There weren't too many dry eyes after the ceremony. Silvi was determined not to shed any tears.... we know how impossible for her that was to achieve. The food was absolutely amazing! We were standing in a courtyard sipping cava and course after course of gorgeous ... read more

I'm nearing the three week mark of my travels & to say it has flown by would just be too obvious. I've been in Ireland now for two weeks and I could go on about how beautiful the scenery is and how great the people are, but again - too obvious, instead I'll share with you a tale which for me will be a long time in forgetting. Last week we were cycling through West Cork and Kerry, whilst in Cork we stayed in a lovely little village called Glengariff, after dinner we all headed out to hear some 'trad' (traditional Irish music). We crammed into a tiny old pub and sat down to listen two English musicians - despite their nationality, they played this traditional music really well :0). Just as darkness was descending (approx ... read more

I'm on my third day of my forty day and forty night adventure. Far from being a self impose exile, my journey so far has been one of planes, trains and automobiles - lots of sitting down, a bit of dribbling, quite a few movies and a lot of fairly uninspired airline catering. Aside from catching up with the latest movies, breathing in a lot of recycled air, giggling as the man in business class changes into his PJs, resisting the urge to slap the stupid whinging woman across isle, gagging as some heinous individual farts in my vicinity in the immigration queue, acting confused while not certain as to whether I'm on the Heathrow Express platform or the District Line and generally being a little tired at the end of 30 hours travel, one does ... read more

Well, we're all Bibbed out. To be honest, if I saw another tiger snake I'd have to change my preferred choice of underwear to "Depend"! You'd think that you'd become de-sensitised by the constant viewing of the beasts - however, I think my paranoia increased! I can cope with the gorgeous sweeping views of the GREAT Southern Ocean, the glorious towering Karri, Marri, Tingle and Jarrah trees, the tiny and sparsely spaced wild flowers, coastal grasses and bushes, but those bloody snakes just ruin it for me! We spent Monday & Tuesday in the mill town of Pemberton. Lusty & I were disappointed for the first time to find that our guide down the Donnelly River was well - actually normal! He was even rather intelligent, articulate and humoured us by pretending to appreciate our HILARIOUS ... read more

I think I've become a pilgrim junky?!? Well OK the Bibbulmun isn't really anything like its Spanish brethren - no religious relics, bugger all churches, no menu del dia, no lisping Spanards & barely a German or Frenchman in sight. However, it does resemble the metaphorical journey one takes. A little like eating too much fibre - a little painful at times, but it makes you feel all cleansed & virtuous at the end of it. Walking 1000km can have that effect on you - that's why Lusty & I have chosen the 'soft' option & are probably only going to complete about 100km - if we're lucky! The purist Bibbulmunist, would start somewhere just north east of Perth. Pack loaded with camping & cooking gear & steadying themselves for a journey that will take about ... read more