Three weeks to go. This weekend is a training weekend and it looks like the weather is going to be cold and clear which sounds near perfect so I'm off to the southern most hills in Snowdonia for a hike up Cadair Idris (and some of the surrounding summits) tomorrow and Glasgwm and (some of) the Aran Ridge on Sunday before heading back in time for a hot bath and some sleep before Monday morning happens again. If the weather truly does behave as predicted (-4 overnight tonight) then there may even be some ice out and about tomorrow (sadly no snow forecast but - despite centuries of rampant inflation - one is still not allowed everything). I expect freezing winds even during the day but I have a wee inn to warm up in ... read more

Greetings. I feel I owe you an apology - it's been too long. I got back from the NZ trip on Dec 29th and have been living in what passes for normal life since. However, there's never anything normal about life and there's perhaps even less normal about my life - but you can be your own judge of that statement. I returned to the UK from a firmly enriching trip in December. I arrived back feeling much more humble than when I left. Unsurprisingly, I also felt much, much more tired than when I left. Both physically and mentally. Strangely, it took only a couple of days back in the artificial world of the office for life at low altitude to send my thoughts out to travel again. My legs ached as I did it ... read more

Last day in this now soggy, sodden, flooded place. It has indeed now been raining non-stop for the promised 24 hours so the forecast has been revised to 48 hours :-) The fire service here used an old air-raid siren to call the firemen to action and it went off at least twicew yesterday and three times last night. Jet lag Rob says. Hmm. Tricky one - up to Auckland today and stop there for a couple of hours - time enough for a snack and a drink then onto a 23:00, 13 hour duration flight to LA. If I can stay awake on that one (which I doubt) and then sleep on the next 11 hour stretch to the UK, I should wake up at approximately the correct time of day. If that works, I'll ... read more

Thanks all - the experiment is complete. The phone is behaving itself again at the moment but I don't hold out much hope for how long that will remain the case. --- Slow day today. Tendons, muscles, and perhaps even mind feeling somewhat stretched so rise carefully with some gentle warming up exercises to ensure no muscles are about to ping themselves out of place. Wander into town for breakfast on the wharf watching the clouds build inconclusively above the mountains. Pop in to the DOC office on the way back to read the latest "SEVERE weather warning". Apparently we should expect 200mm of rainfall in the next 24-48 hours. I wander back out into the warm sunshine with the words of the Kiwi who was wondering whether to join his friend on the Hollyford track ... read more

Struggled to get out of bed this morning despite having abandoned the Thursday "recession busters" session early. They were just getting into the swing of things but I was too tired to join in really so I hit my bed at a sensible time (paying attention to Rob having told me not partake in the seedy side of town of course). When I eventually did rise - only a couple of hours later than planned - a quick trip to organise provisions for the mountain treks and then off to Glenorchy. I hadn't yet decided on my target(s) for the day but there was a fair amount of rain about and the mountains were looking a wee bit ominous. I only just about had time to fit in a big one so I thought I'd head ... read more