And they're off! Overseas trip for Tess and Yarrow

Well actually, by the time I've gotten around to posting this, they're gone!! Tess and Yarrow left last Saturday for a two-month trip through Europe with Hans and Niki. This isn't their first trip around the world, not by a long shot: in 2010 they went to Portugal and the Netherlands. But this will be the longest that they've been away from home and I shall miss them muchly.

The day of their departure dawned in spectacular colours!

They were pretty excited to leave and had been packing and repacking bags for about a week.

You can see how much they've grown since their last Europe trip

Myself and the trusty Subaru were enlisted to take Hans, Tess and Yarrow to Coolangatta airport for the first leg to Sydney.

All that baggage, with 367,000 km on the clock and going strong. Good car!!

At the airport I waited with the travelling threesome until it was time to go.

A pensive moment

Waiting at airports is always slightly awkward ... there were moments of stillness and moments of silliness :-D

Horsing around:-)

 And then it was time to say goodbye...

Me 'n my Tess ...

Bye girls, have a wonderful wonderful time. I already know you're *loving* Paris :-)

(Marathon) Walkies!

What with various family members in hospital, lots of driving and desk work, I've had a very sedentary year. Result: podgy unfit Mieke. Also, I started to have nostaligc thoughts about the long distance walks I did long ago with my siblings and my game and adventurous first partner, Cees: Offa's Dyke Path, Glyndŵr's Way, The Coast to Coast. There were also the adventurous horse treks: I crossed the Alps on horseback (no elephants available, sorry), and later, with Hans, rode around Sligo and Donegal in Ireland.

Anyway, I couldn't bear the thought of not ever doing something like that again. So, I've committed myself: I'm going to walk a marathon!

Together with some good colleagues we've formed a team to walk the Ballina to Byron Bay Charity Walk, a 37 km coastal walk. We're to walk this in a day, 20 May .... (despite all my walking history, I've never done 37 km in a single day, so it's a fair challenge).

I started training two weeks ago, with twice (or 3x if time) weekly walks of increasing length. I'm up to 12 - 15 km walks now and already feeling in better shape.

Stay tuned, people: I'll slug you all for sponsorship nearer the time, to be sure :-D


View Ballina to Byron Bay Walk ver2 in a larger map

Sawasdee ka!

Sawasdee ka! I have arrived in Bangkok to teach in the Master's program at Naresuan University. I meet my cohort late this afternoon and will teach all through the weekend.

Yesterday I went to visit my favourite temple in Bangkok, the wonderful Wat Po temple. Of course I paid my respects to the Reclining Buddha, and I admired the beautiful murals all around the walls. The beauty and the artistry is incredible.

If you would like to read part of the travel epistle I wrote for John (it's ok ... I have edited out all the mushy/romantic/x-rated material...), then please click here for a pdf. For larger text size you can zoom quite a way by clicking on the + button.

John's new bike

(I don't know why this photo won't stand up ... weird)

Coming down the driveway 1st day

John used to have a great 850cc Yamaha sports bike that went like a scalded cat, but was very difficult for a pillion passenger (knees up to ears and so behind the centre of gravity that if the bike scooted forward, you had to cling for dear life not to come off the back). Very magnanimously, John sold his beloved Yamaha and instead researched which bikes were better for pillion passengers. He settled on the Trumph Sprint, a 1050cc sports tourer. After scouring many ads and sites, he bought a written-off Triumph from the saleyard auctions. The bike, though sporting what I'd consider minor scratches on the right side fairings has no mechanical defects at all and had only done 9000 km. Makes me wonder: though I understand the financial reasoning behind insurance dealings, still, how can such a valuable machine be declared a write-off? Crazy ...   Still, we got a bargain :-)

And it's a lovely bike to go on rides on ... heaps of fun!!! Very comfortable and stable for the pillion passenger.

Away in Wello

I'm going away till Wednesday 20th, on field research in Wellington ... that's Wellington in country NSW, not NZ Wellington or British Gumboot Wellington. I'll be there with Kevin (K1) which is really nice :-)
Kevin tells me there is no internet in Wellington ... so I'll have no updates till Tess and Yarrow are home from their travels again!