The Seagull has landed...

Dreaming of Australia

I've made up this map of our approximate route around Australia in February-April 2007.

We have 8 weeks to spend Down Under and are going to hire a campervan to see the country cheaper.

After flying to Darwin from Singapore on the 8th February the whole continent lies south of us. I can't tell you how excited I am about getting there, it's a place that's held my fascination since boyhood, through maps, books, films and documentaries. Now I finally have the chance to see it myself. (Less than two weeks left before Thailand folks!) Any advice about stuff to do/see in Oz would be very welcome - the more offbeat and odd, the better.

On another note, check out this website: www.crypthunter.com

This site is simply one of the best blogs on the net: superbly entertaining and informative, different, unique, and very, very funny. I've even been made an honourary graduate of the "Crypt Hunter Shark Dog Training School" I've put the badge with a link to Mr Crypt Hunter in my list of links over there on the right of the screen, check him out for tips on being a true adventurer.

So, Xmas is past now, we've one more big blowout at New Year (V and I are going with friends to watch Norman Cook, AKA Fatboy Slim play a live set on Brighton beach on 1st January 2007. "Norm" as he's affectionately known by his Brighton co-residents always plays a blinding (if a bit handbaggy) set. If I can stay sober enough I'll try to get a few shots of the madness and post them here.

"We've come a long, long way together...through the bad times and the good"

Happy New Year

Thai and dry

We're nearly there! The Thai visa is in the passport and there's less than three weeks until V and I finally jet off on the first leg of the world trip.

Tying up loose ends at home is becoming a bit of a strain, but there's light at the end. A big Boeing 747 light to be precise.

We've both sat down and so far planned loosely for Thailand. I booked online a double room in Bangkok for the first four nights. We're staying in the Banglamphu area, but far enough away from the notorious Khao San Road to be hopefully hippie backpacker free. I'm going on personal advice here, I'd hate to be sitting in Bangkok surrounded by western college kids all the time, that may sound awful but there you go.

After our acclimitisation in Bangkok we're off to the southern islands, I'm looking forward to taking the Night Boat to Ko Samui, it sounds wonderfully exotic.

That's it so far, the rest we'll do en route. Christmas is almost upon us but I for one can't wait to get it behind me. V has left work and is a little more anxious than me, but when that big 747's wheels lift up from Heathrow on the 5th, she'll wonder what she worried about, trust me.

Good weather for Ulster landlords

I've just recovered from my trip to Northern Ireland. I picked up a bad cold over there which actually kept me in bed all day Monday.

This photo was taken on Friday from my parents' house, just to prove the sun actually exists in Ulster. It was a rotten weekend weatherwise, pretty pointless thinking about driving around the Antrim coastline in a gale-force wind and driving rain.

So, in age-old Irish custom we decided to spend the ample spare time - down the pub. We went on the piss every night apart from saturday, taking a night in to recover the livers that night.

I did manage to take Big J up to Roselawn cemetery to see George Best's grave, J is a big Manchester United fan. We also took a drive down the Newtownards Road to see the murals, then took a tour up the Shankill Road, then across the Peace Lines at Lanark Way, down the Springfield Road and onto the Falls Road. The traffic was horrendous in Belfast, so we left it there and drove home through torrential rain.

So, I missed the chance to see again my favourite part of Ireland, Torr Head and around to Portrush, but the food, the drink, the hospitality and the fun remain the same - the best.

Ulster Fry

Here's the latest from a rain swept Brighton. Myself and V are heading over to Northern Ireland tomorrow to spend some time with my folks before we go away for six months in January.

It's pretty miserable here, and Northern Ireland will be worse no doubt. So here's a pic of what I'll be eating most mornings over there to stave off the cold and wet. The world famous Ulster Fry

On Thursday V's mate Big J is flying over for his first visit to Ulster. Weather permitting (no chance) we'll whisk him around the beautiful north Antrim coast, through the Glens, past the Giant's Causeway, Bushmills, and onto my favourite town for all-time, the wonderfully idiosyncratic Portrush.

"The Port" as it is affectionately known has always been the seedy seaside town (a kind of mini-Irish Brighton) of the North. It remains the right-of-passage location of choice for all sorts of juvenile holidaymakers - and setting for the first cider/beer/fag/grope/dope/puke for many Ulster adolescents through the years.

So I might have a bit of material for the blog. On a sunny day, the coastline from Torr Head to Portrush is as beautiful a place as anything I've seen abroad, thing is sunny days are pretty infrequent in "Norn Irn"