Tuesday 28th December, Fort Cochin, Kerala, India.

We spent a lovely 5 nights in Alleppey, spending two days on the beach and a day exploring the backwaters on a canoe tour with our own personal boat man. The tour included a traditional Keralan breakfast and lunch at the boatman’s house, complete with staring wife, daughters and grandson! The backwaters were a truly breathtaking sight and the canoe allowed us to explore deep into the villages down small canals to view village life. The tour was so relaxing that at one point both Helen and I nodded off! We also enjoyed wandering around the street carnival happening over the Christmas period and risked our lives going on a very unsteady ferris wheel. Helen’s terrified screams seemed only to amuse the men running the rides and not convince them to let us off!

We left Alleppey on Christmas Eve and headed up the coast to the city of Cochin by train, and from there we travelled to Vypeen Island and the tiny beach resort of Kuzuphilly. On arrival we walked on the beach and saw eagles flying in the trees and dolphins swimming just off-shore. It was awesome. The “resort” consisted only of the beach house we were staying at, which meant the beach was pretty much deserted. On Christmas Day we took a trip to nearby Cherai Beach, which was busy with many Indian tourists celebrating Christmas on the beach. Overall Christmas was pretty relaxed, it didn’t really seem like Christmas because it was so hot, plus we would have killed for a turkey stuffing cob!

On Boxing Day we took the ferry over to Fort Cochin, where we spent three nights at another home-stay. Its a small island, possible to explore on foot with a relaxed and safe vibe. We explored the rustic town, visiting the Dutch Palace and Jew Town and we saw the traditional Chinese fishing nets in action, as well as taking the ferry across the harbour. We also appreciated the vast array of Christmas lights visible by night - which made things seem that little bit more like Christmas - despite some of the hottest weather since we left in August. Tomorrow evening we will leave Cochin on the overnight train. We’re sad to go but Kerala is a ’dry’ state so we’re heading back to Goa for New Year and a few celebratory drinks!!

Tuesday 21st December Alleppey, Kerala Backwaters, India

We headed to the state of Karnataka from Goa and spent 4 days in Hampi, one of India’s oldest cities which is now largely made up of ruins and a small village in the middle of it all. We hired bikes and cycled around to the different ruin and temple sites and sat by the river watching elephants bathing. Although we were happy to leave after we saw an English man who had totally lost his rag going mad at some local villagers and screaming for the police…a 5 minute spectacle saw him totally embarrass himself and all foreign tourists around - what an idiot.

After being on the mainland for these days, we soon headed back to the coast to the small resort of Gokarna. It was a bit like Goa was 30 years ago with a handful of beach shacks and less than 100 people on the beach. We stayed on Kudle beach (pronounced kood-lay) and hung out for 3 days with some people we met on the sleeper bus there, drank a lot and laughed a lot! From Gokarna we had a 16 hour train journey to Alleppey, Kerala, which is in the midst of the backwaters, a network of canals (a bit like Venice or Amsterdam!) where you can take a houseboat or canoe and meander through the water, visiting local villages which are built on and by the water - apparently it’s great for people watching - we can’t wait to go!

Palolem Beach, Goa, India: Thursday 9th December.

After a few (much needed) relaxing days on the beach catching up with Amy in Arambol, we ventured down the coast to Baga but were slightly worried about it being like Benidorm!! Despite it being very busy, we had a pleasant surprise as there was enough beach to find our own spot (far from secluded!). We also used Baga as our base to head to the Mackies Saturday Night Market which was much more chilled than Anjuna both temperature wise and with less pushy sellers, although Martin’s evening was somewhat tainted by falling down a ditch on the dark by the side of the road and cutting open his foot!

Next day we headed to Paloem for 5 days. The palm tree-lined cove beach was as stunning as we remembered and we did little other than relax on the beach and eat and drink at one of the beach shacks. The only downside was that we had to head back to our beach hut early one night as Helen wasn’t feeling well. After a night vomiting and another day on the loo she was finally able to venture out after 24 hours in bed. All better now!

Arambol, Goa, India; Tuesday 2nd December.

We spent 3 nights in Sikkim in Pelling, which was very cold but very beautiful. We visited two Buddhist Monasteries and ancient ruins which involved really steep walks through the hills, but provided excellent views. Sikkim was a very scenic and peaceful place with a relaxed pace of life, we thought it had a similar vibe to Nepal and enjoyed our time there.

Arriving bog eyed, after travelling for 24 hours, in Kolkata we decided to power through and do some sightseeing. We walked around the city and spent the afternoon at the Victoria memorial. Before flying to Goa the next day.

We arrived to the sun beating down on us; a welcome relief from the cold of Sikkim and the humidity of Kolkata. We spent the day in Vasco De Gama near the airport awaiting the arrival of Amy VvG from a freezing and snowy England in the middle of the night. Next day we travelled up to Arambol and checked in to Ivons, spent the day exploring the beach shacks, main street shops, and lazing on the beach. Arambol’s main road is called Glastonbury Street - after lots of hippies came on holiday and stayed in the 70’s. Nowadays there are numerous stalls selling clothes, bags, jewellery, musical instruments etc and being in the Glastonbury mood we bought some fire poi!

Whilst in Arambol we also visited Wednesday’s Anjuna flea market, which was really good fun but hunting and haggling in the searing afternoon heat was a exhausting - so a much deserved Old Monk and Coke followed on the beach that night!

Hotel Kabur, Pelling, Sikkim, India; Wednesday 24th November.

We arrived in Pelling in Sikkim this afternoon after a day spend riding up and down mountain roads in Jeeps on the road from Darjeeling after spending the previous four nights there nestled in the hills in the fog.

Darjeeling was mostly very cold and damp although we did get a couple of sunny afternoons which we spent walking around the town and visiting the zoo, Observatory Hill, a Buddist monastery and numerous tea and cake shops. The clearer weather allowed views over the Himalayas and snow capped mountian peaks in the distance. Darjeeling reminded us of winter back home; cold, damp and foggy, but the hot Darjeeling tea and Momo’s helped warm us up. We also stocked up on scarves, hats and warm clothes which were badly needed.

We left Pokhara last week where we white water rafted for two days along the Seti river en route to Kathmandu, spending the night camping by the side of the Seti. The rafting was excellent, and the taster has definitely made us hungry to do it again - only on a more dangerous scale. The smooth sections of the Seti (Level 3 (Scale 1-5) gave us the chance to see Nepal from a different aspect and was a very enjoyable way to see more of the country.

Kathmandu was not our favourite place; the tourist part of the city was pleasant enough with the usual Asian traffic chaos thrown in, lots of shops, traders, hotels and restaurants. However the rest of the city was pretty grim - pollution being the principal cause of the gloom. We spend a very long day experiencing the full brunt of India bureaucracy at the Indian embassy in Kathmandu for 5 hours “seeking permission” (form filling and paying money) to re-enter India.

We left Kathmandu by the over night bus to the border, which was a terrifying journey given that the driver seemed to think it was some kind of race against all the other buses, along unlit, hilly, blind bend, edge of cliff Nepali roads. Somehow we managed to get some sleep and one bus breakdown later we were woken up to change buses for the last hour of the journey to get to the border, where we had to walk about 2km across a bridge back into India. The usual filling in of a paper ledger and form filling then 2 more bus journeys and we arrived in Darjeeling - 25 hours after our departure!
.

Hotel Sakura, Pokhara, Nepal; Monday 15th November.

We spent 3 nights in Varanasi through the Diwali festival, taking boat rides along the river Ganges - which was excellent for people watching; bathers, teeth cleaning, prayers, puja, burning ghats and washing cows - a true assault on the senses - especially our noses! We also visited 3 Hindu temples and indulged in the usual hustle and bustle of the bazaars.

We left Varanasi after an amazing evening watching the Diwali fireworks from a rooftop restaurant - the next day we were brought back down to earth with a 10 hour bus journey to the Nepal border. We crossed at Sonauli and stayed at the ironically named Paradise Hotel, which came with complimentary fag ends in the bathroom sink and was a rip off at £3.00 per night. The following morning we took the local bus headed for Pokhara, an amazing place by the side of a picture perfect clear lake (on which we hired a rowing boat), Phewa Tal and the snow capped Annapurna mountains as the backdrop, the vibe was much more relaxed than India and the fresh clean air was a welcome break.

We arranged a 4 day circuit trek in the Annapurna‘s, visiting a multitude of hilltop stations with amazing scenery along the way…that was when we got the chance to enjoy it as Mukundu, our guide’s default walking pace was 15km an hour (uphill)! We trekked through villages, forest, jungle and alongside the river, visiting Poon Hill (height - 3200m) and Gorakphur, home of many Nepalese Ghurka’s.

We returned from the trek exhausted and sore and in need to some warm sun, especially Helen. Today I paraglided for the first time, which was an absolutely phenomenal experience. I was terrified beforehand and woke up mega early unable to sleep. When I arrived at the paragliding centre I met my pilot who was a very reassuring Russian guy called Victor, he said in his strong Soviet accent “I’m pilot of 30 years paragliding - I’m professional” which was very calming for my nerves. The flight was amazing but did not cease to be any less scary despite being in the air for an hour, and my hands where numb from holding on tight. The views over Pokhara and the surrounding mountains was breathtaking, despite the light mist in the air, and flying at the same height as birds of prey circling the sky was unforgettable.

Singh Guest House, Varanasi, India, Wednesday 3rd November.

We left Jaisalmer again on the overnight train for Jaipur, were we stayed 3 nights at the Pearl Place. We spent a day exploring the city on foot and in the evening took a night tour of the city sights. The tour started on a bus, but when this became full we were asked to travel on the back of a jeep - which was much more interesting seeing the crazy busy sights of the old ‘pink’ city and Jaipur by night, the tour also included a stop off at a market emporium selling textiles, were Indian sellers gave “performances” of displaying their wares and trying to persuade the tourist of superior quality and a cheap price. The tour concluded with dinner at Nahargarh fort, with views over the city from up in the hills.
The following day we visited the city palace which was very impressive and included museums of weapons and costumes. We also explored the old town on foot some more.

We left Jaipur the following afternoon on the short train journey to Agra. Our guesthouse in Taj Ganj gave us our first glimpse of the Taj by night from the rooftop restaurant which was beautiful! On our first full day in Agra we decided to take a tour of the town via tuk-tuk with Uncle, whom brought us from the station the previous evening. We visited Agra Fort which had amazing views of the Taj and Yamuna river and was set in amazing grounds with marble and sandstone palaces. Uncle also took us to a marble shop for a demonstration and usual sales pitch. In the afternoon we visited Itimad-Ud-Daulah - nicknamed Baby Taj and the Chini-Ka-Rauza both mausoleums/tombs. The day concluded with a visit to Mehtab Bagh park, which had excellent views of the Taj from across the river.

The following day we set off walking towards the downtown area, and stumbled across a shopping mall, which included a cinema so we took the opportunity to watch our first Bollywood film in India, Jhoota Ni Sahi, not set in the glamourous back streets of Mumbai but in London of all places!

Finally on our last day in Agra we visited the Taj Mahal, its surrounded by manicured grounds and throbs with tourists, both Indian and foreign. It is an amazing sight and was worth the entry fee, although Helen did get furious about the state of the toilets which they tried to charge us to use!

That evening we left Agra and took the over night train to Varanasi, on first inspection it looks like another manic Indian city.

Shahi Palace, Jaisalmer, India :Monday 25th October.

We left Tanzania after the last couple of days staying with Anoek. The Emriates hot towels were well worth the two month wait and on Monday afternoon we arrived jet-lagged in Delhi. On Tuesday (Helens Birthday) we took a city tour to visit some of the sights of Dehli, including Jama Masjid, Lal Quila (the Red Fort), Humayun Tomb, Ghandi memorial and India Gate (were we asked to have our pictures taken with some Indian tourists - bizarre). In the evening we had dinner at a 26th floor revolving restaurant - taking in the views of Dehli by night. We really enjoyed Dehli, which was not as frantic as we both expected and much cleaner too. We also met some very friendly locals which made our introduction to Indian culture all the more effortless, the amazing food also helped! Our overnight train left Delhi around 6 on Wednesday evening - which we almost missed by going to new Dehli train station instead of old - then having to take a frantic rush-hour tuk-tuk across the city just in time to catch our train.

The overnight train (18 hours) was comfortable with excellent chai along the way and on Thursday lunch time we arrived in Jaisalmer, which looked like a giant sand castle popping out of the desert. We explored the fort and the winding streets and shops and arranged a camel sarafi. The 3 day safari was amazing, trotting off into the desert and spending two nights sleeping in the sand dunes under the stars. On the negative side, Helen almost got left behind in the dessert and I got head butted by a camel and we both returned very saddle sore, but like they say if it doesn’t kill you………

Kinazi Upepo, Paje, Zanzibar: Thursday 14th October.

We arrived in Zanzibar on the late ferry, which was an amazing way to arrive onto the island; the turquoise waters, white sandy beaches and the outline of Stone Town as the sun set was beautiful.
Staying 2 nights in Stone Town gave us the chance to explore in the day light the Arabesque winding streets and narrow alley ways.
On Friday morning we headed to Nungwi at the most northern point of the island and the most amazing beach of white sand (Helen described it as being like caster sugar) and green/blue clear waters. The placed we stayed was a rasta run bar /beach hut and we spent 3 days relaxing on the beach. He atmosphere was very backpacker-y with los of beach bars playing music until he early hours. We also visited Paje, |Tanzania’s kite surfing paradise on the east of the island, again it was very beautiful and we stayed in a banda under the palm trees just off the beach front.
Later today we’re heading back to Dar ready for our flight to India. We’re going to use our last few days souvenir shopping, we’ve go our eye on a bookcase made from old an dhow boat/canoe. Hopefully we’ll find one we love and that we can to ship home (well to Mother Bull’s!) ready for our return.

Moshi, Tanzania: Monday 4th October.

We returned from our 5 day safari yesterday and we’re still reeling from how amazing it was! We visited Tarangire National Park and Lake Manyara on days 1 and 2. Where Tarangire was all savannah, very dry and vast, Lake Manyara was lush and green. At Tarangire we saw elephants, giraffes, zebra’s and lion’s close up and also witnessed a herd of wildebeest running towards a watering hole. Also at one point our driver, Bariki, drove us into a family of elephants which was great but a bit scary when the mummy elephant started flapping her ears and trumpeting at us!
When we got back to Moshi (foothills of Kilimanjaro), we took a guide to Marangu wich is at the gate to the national park of Kilimanjaro and where your trek up the mountain begins. We walked around the town and visited some Chagga caves (Chagga is the local tribe) and some beautiful waterfalls with another couple from S. Africa and Scotland. Really like the north of Tanzania but its really expensive - Martin will have to get the credit card out before long…

Florida Inn, Lushoto, Tanzania, Friday 24th September.

So we’ve been volunteering for 2 weeks in Lushoto now, teaching at one of the local primary schools called Kitopeni in the morning, and teaching English to adults in the evening at COCAFA which is a local tour operator in Lushoto. The guys at COCAFA are really friendly and they also run lots of community projects which means that 40% of all tour guide fees go towards local projects like teaching women to sew and set up small tailoring businesses.

The weather in Lushoto is really cold! The first few days it was cloudy and a bit miserable, the temperature was only about 18.C or so - a real contrast to Dar where it was 30. At night! We’re having to wrap up in our fleeces, trousers and socks which is nice as we’ve been cursing having to carry them for 5 weeks!

Last Wednesday morning we trekked to the Irente View Point which was about 8km away from Lushoto. Our guide was Samual (Rasta-Man) who insisted on adding an I to the end of every English word he used. Walk-i, Food-i, House-i and Tree-i.The views were amazing as we walked, everything is really lush, I imagine due to the cool climate.

Last Thursday morning we visited a local orphanage run by the Lutheran church. In the afternoons Helen and I have been leading the teaching at COCAFA, which is great. Helen had been saying for a few days that she was missing school, so the opportunity to plan and teach a lessons was enjoyable. We’ve also created a ‘website’ for the COCAFA guys, they were interested in advertising their project online so we have created a blog for them. It’s really nice to have something to see that we’ve helped the community with since we came. Check it out at www.cocafa-lushoto.blogspot.com.

Also we ate Ugali every lunchtime for 2 weeks - hell.

Florida Inn, Lushoto, Tanzania, Tuesday 14th September.

Early Tuesday morning (7th) we set out from Matema, being picked up by an express cattle truck, (express in this case meant it burned along a dirt track road at about 50mph). We clung to the back/top of the truck for about an hour before a relatively normal bus with the usual chickens and other weird sights and smells!

We stayed in Mbeya for a few nights and even found a pizza restaurant which we visited on our second day there. After 3 weeks of rice and beans and chipsi-myeye, it was amazing! Then we had yet another 6am bus journey to Dar Es Salaam, scheduled to be another epic 12 hours. Once in Dar the disappointment of being rejected from the fully booked and very scabby YMCA, didn’t last long as we bumped into Anoek from VAP and familiar face for Helen. Anoek kindly invited us to stay which was very kind. At dinner that evening we met people from the project and discovered we would leave for Lushoto on Sunday morning, giving us a few days in Dar.

Anoek stepped up as the hostess, to show us some of the sights of Dar, and we must admit it was nice to be looked after, not having to worry about which bus to take, who had the passports or where/what to eat next - god it’s a hard life! We visited the Slipway, which gave us a totally different view of Dar, very western and modern indeed. It also provided us with a rare opportunity for some retail therapy, getting new books to read for all those long journeys.

On Saturday we headed across the bay on the ferry to the island of Kigamboni, to spend the afternoon at the beach. It was amazingly busy and there was almost a Glastonbury headliner style crush in the scramble to get tickets for the ferry. The beach was packed for the end of Ramadan celebrations and there was an amazing atmosphere as people partied up and down the beach dancing, drumming and cheering. Again we saw another side of Dar, beautiful beach resort in a stark contrast to the dusty, chaotic city centre.

The bus journey to Lushoto was pretty spectacular heading up into the Usambara Mountains; very lush and green in stark contrast to the dry and arid south. We checked into our home for the next 2 weeks, a pub come guest house in Lushoto. On Monday we had a walk around the town including a visit to the COCAFA centre where we are volunteering to teach English to tour guides. Later that afternoon we went to a political rally where Tanzania’s president Kikwete was due to speak, only it went dark and he never turned up! However we did see him the following day and after his speech as he drove past us, he waved to us, although both Helen and I forgot to wave back!

Matema Lake Shore Resort, Matema, Tanzania. Monday 6th September.

On Friday morning we headed for the bus station primed to negotiate a decent price for our bus journey to Mbeya. After some hostile negotiation at one of the ticket offices, we decided to board a bus leaving for Kyela promised to be leaving in 15 minutes, about an hour later our bus conductor ended up in a fight with another bus conductor over passengers, forcing our departure from the bus station. We had tickets to Kyela but had to change buses in Tukuyu, on arrival in Kyela we where quickly swept up by a small Dalla-Dalla with the promise of reaching Matema, a very very bumpy ride later we arrived in Ipinda where we had to get off the bus. A helpful Tanzanian man showed us to the next mode of transport, the back of a pick-up truck, along with maybe 10-15 other people, some kind of wooden structure, a couple of bikes and plenty of luggage. About 1km down the dirt track one of the front tyres popped, within a second a crane had driven past and saved the day colleting all the passengers and load. Again another promise of a drop off in Matema was again dashed, as we had another change of vehicle, this time to a cattle truck which we rode in the back of, with the now obligatory chicken as well. Finally 6 modes of transport and 10 hours later we arrived in Matema.

Once we had checked into our beach front room, it was clear from the view that the journey had been well worth it. The crystal clear waters of Lake Nyasa (Malawi) expanded out in front of us to the horizon, with misty forested mountains providing the backdrop.

On Sunday we took a guided trip/trek through the jungle (a forest with snakes and monkeys constitutes a jungle in my eyes) to a waterfall, where we swam in the freezing cold fresh water. That evening we went to watch the local football team play against some local rivals. The majority of the rest of the time we spent chilling on the beach by the lake.

New Millennium Inn, Mbeya, Tanzania. Thursday 2nd September.

After a few days chilling by the pool at the resort in Kilwa and a travelling in a dhow to visit the ruins at Kilwa Kisiwani, we got the 6am bus to Mtwara which is close to the Mozambique border. By late afternoon we arrived at Mtwara, staying at a place by the sea run by the German Nanny McPhee and relaxed for a few days before starting our long journey across the southern highlands of Tanzania.

Mtwara to Masasi took 6 hours, then Masasi to Tunduru was another 7 hours including two bus breakdowns! We arrived in Tunduru expecting to stay only several hours before another 5am start to transit onward. However a fully booked bus postponed our plans by 24 hours and we had to spend another night at the ropey guest house by the bus station. Tunduru was described in the book as having a “wild west” feel which we quickly understood why and being the only Mzungu’s (white person) we were pointed and stared at whenever we left the guesthouse!

Tunduru to Songea, was another 5am start and 8 hours later we arrived at Songea, Another bus station guesthouse later and we where back on the bus at 6am, headed for Mbeya.

Sogea to Mbeya took us up into the mountains a through the coldest place in Tanzania, Njombe, a small town where I froze my knackers off, having set off in in shorts and vest! Mbeya, is quite a pleasant, chilled place to stay with everything on our doorstep. We did plan to have another early start to Matema, but we made a executive decision at 6am to stay in bed and have another night in Mbeya before heading to Matema and Lake Nyasa. I think the restaurant serving curry and spag bol as well as the Indian run shop selling cuppa soup and harribo, influenced our decision to stay an extra day!

Kilwa Seaview Resort, Kilwa Masoko, Tanzania. Tuesday 24th August.

Went to Chole Bay Marine Park on Saturday and went snorkelling. The sea was amazing, really clear and so many different fish and coral to see. Martin was squealing like a girl for the first 10 minutes which scared most of the fish away but he finally managed to use his snorkel without ingesting half the Indian Ocean and really enjoyed it!

We left Mafia at 6am on Sunday but couldn’t get to Kilwa in one day so stayed overnight in a small town; Ikwiriri. At a stop over in a place called Bungu, there was the public flogging of a local man taking place which was awful, we think he’d been caught stealing and this was the local way of dealing with criminals. When we arrived in Ikwiriri there was only one place to stay; which turned out to be a brothel and had Sean Paul and other fake reggae music banging out til 4am!

Finally after an horrific journey yesterday we arrived in Kilwa with bumped heads (from flying out of our seats along the road filled with huge potholes) and stiff necks. We are camping by the beach and woke up to the sound of the ocean this morning and enjoyed a breakfast of eggs and wieners (the owners are German) which was a welcome meal after eating biscuits for breakfast the past two mornings! Ah, Africa.

Whale Shark Lodge, Kilindoni, Mafia, Tanzania. Friday 20th August 2010

We spent Tuesday evening at the restaurant downstairs at the hostel, playing cards with a couple from London (Social Worker and English Teacher) and a guy from New York who already knew everything so why he bothered to talk to us I don’t know. He really annoyed Helen, but for some reason she insisted on joining him from breakfast the following morning, and regretted it straight away!

We left the hostel early Wednesday morning and got a dalla-dalla (small crazy bus) towards a place called Mbagala, south of Dar. From there we got off at a manic interchange and eventually negotiated to get into a smaller dalla-dalla (which usually have a driver and at least 1 or 2 conductors who tout for passengers and collect money, etc). We set off towards Nyamisati to get a boat to Mafia (a small island off the coast of Tanzania). Along the way we picked up and dropped off lots of passengers, ran out of petrol and picked up a couple of guys with a huge pile of some kind of root vegetable (we later found out these were cassavas). When we arrived I was expecting a a medium sized town but Nyamisati was tiny, pretty much the boat was the only thing there. A Tanzanian man helped us buy tickets and in return we bought his dinner before we set off on the 4 hour journey to Mafia. It was pretty uncomfortable the whole journey, but we stayed dry and Helen had a few naps.
The Lodge we are staying at is beautiful, we are camping and having dinner at the cliff top shack.

We spent all Thursday by the beach, very lazy - makes a nice change from working everyday. Had rough night in tent which was very hot and humid, Helen slept outside for a time, she is braver than me!

Jambo Inn, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Tuesday 17th August

On Sunday we said our goodbyes to the Bull's at Manchester airport, then realised we had no travel insurance. A quick panic and fiddle on the netbook later - we were sorted.
The flights were really smooth, both of us slept a little and watched a couple of films. I tried to watch Rocky but it sent me to sleep before the best bits.
4 Hour Stop over in Dubai was quick - getting off the plane to 40oC heat was a bit of a shocker at 6am, then a few hours of interrupted sleep on some reclining chairs in the airport then onto the second flight to Dar.

Dar seems like a friendly city, with a mix of African, Indian and Arabic cultures. The food at Jambo Inn is mostly Indian, no sign of ugali yet (East African staple food made by mixing cornflour and water)… I’m sure it won’t be long though!

Route Map

A rather sketchy map of our route...so far!

They think it's all over!

I am officially unemployed and not quite sure how i feel about it...? Had a brill night out with WHS, thanks to everyone for the kind words, cards and gifts one and all; you are truly unforgettable! However the countdown is now on: 18 days til departure and I'm very excited and organised. But whilst I pack my bag for the 18th time this weekend, Martin will be at Sonisphere...born lucky!

Before we leave

Hello to all who view this page before we actually leave. If you didn't know, me and Martin leave on the 15th August to begin our round the world adventures. First stop: Tanzania! Please follow us on our journey, you can be a little piece of home for us to delight in! Thanks, Helen