Long drive day. Despite promise at pre-brief that the most we would be doing was '6-8 hours' we were on the road today for 11.5 hours all up. Driving time was around 9.5 hours. Pity. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Short drive - long drink Today was what might be called a 'warmer/settler' day. Not too much time in the truck, introduction to dorm living and an alcohol fuelled tour of four regional wineries where the normal conventions of responsible service of alcohol were completely ignored. After the truck brief, we finally got away about 0930hrs, and were at Stellenbosh a little over an hour later. Much better views of Table Mountain! Stumblin Inn We arrived at a rather down at heal backpackers where the group was split up over two rooms. Given the gender mix - 16 pax, [View Full Entry]

---

---

I did not get to paraglide off Lion's Head! It was the one thing that I was really looking forward to, and it just was not a happening thing. I did get to walk up most of it yesterday, but didn't see all that much - it was cloudy, and I was in the cloud for most of the time. I then hit the turnaround time that I had set for myself, and was short of the peak. Today wasn't that much better. All looked fine for a great walk up onto Table Mountain, but I got about 30 minutes into [View Full Entry]

---

---

Had a wonderful 'tour' today. Carlos runs tours around Intramuros, and two friends and I joined him this morning for a short walk and one of the best two and a half hours I have spent. Carlos is a performer, using his skills to give us a eclectic and entertaining view of the good and bad Intramuros. We really only visited two places, but he used these to weave a such a brilliant design in our minds that I think everyone went away with a new view of Manila and its place in our history and our world. It would be [View Full Entry]

---

---

Arranged a tour out to TAAL Volcano. This was a fairly soft day overall, but I did get to walk up another volcano, and admire the view. Typical arranged tour, with standard stops at fruit stalls, etc of the driver's choice. As the only pax for this trip for this company, was given the VIP treatment - I think that meant that I could ask anything, and then just had to take the response with a grain of salt. Trip across the lake to the island was by a motorised outrigger canoe. Basically a fibreglass hull with bamboo trunk outriggers on [View Full Entry]

---

---

My boss has been asked to deliver some training in the Philippines describing how we develop business cases for government, and he selected me to go with him. We are a team of three - Bob (the boss) Rebecca Adams and myself. Bob and I did a couple of post-graduate subjects together at ADFA (UNSW) and Rebecca and I were on the Project Managers Development Program together, so the team has a comfortable feel, so it should be a good trip. We have spent the last week putting together our lecture and syndicate work pack for the week, and we will [View Full Entry]

---

---

Our White Xmas trip would not have been possible without the support of friends in the UK, who put us up and entertained us when we weren't somewhere else. We are also grateful to the A&E staff at Stoke-Mandeville General Hospital, who replaced Elaine's cast so that we could get home without too much distress. [View Full Entry]

---

---

I hadn't planned to go by myself to Essaouira. Yesterday, Elaine dismounted awkwardly from a mule at Imlil, and we had spent the rest of the day in Marrakech getting her treated. Today, she was supposed to be resting at the hotel, and I was on my way to the coast, able to occupy two seats on the bus. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Imlil and Kasbah Toubkal We arranged a day tour through Kasbah Toubkal. This was a fantastic day, not only for the sights but also because the tour was so well run. At the end of our tour, Elaine dismounted awkwardly from her mule, and badly strained the ligaments in her left knee. Even with that, we thought that this was the best day of the tour for what we did and saw, even if it was also the worst. Some more descriptive stuff to come. For now, it is just the photos. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Getting back to the UK On Boxing Day we began the trip back to the UK through Germany. The bus-driver seemed to take the itinerary into his own hands, and major bits of it were avoided. Here's what was achieved. [View Full Entry]

---

---