Swinfen Hall Hotel Lichfield

... by 9.30 but about 9.50 I realised that I was stalling: the huge reality of the situation was causing me to shy away and dither rather than taking action - it was probably behind my stomach cramps too. :-)

This was not really a surprise - the North Staffs (and South Cheshire) region has been my primary area of residence for 10 of the last 12 years, and is the only place I have lived where ...

... dinner last Saturday - it was fantastic! And to say to my mum - can't wait for our second christmas dinner this Sunday - woohoo!

Very excited at the moment about going on our adventure - but going to miss all our fantastic friends and family!

Ash

Ps won't miss the cold mind. brrr.

... stuff is arranged as follows:

Pannier 1: Tent, Waterproof clothing and riding accessories
(Pocket: Puncture repair, inner tubes, diary, camera stand)

Pannier 2: Sleeping bag, Mattress, First Aid Kit, Miscellaneous items such as tape, cord, chargers and wires)
(Pocket: Toiletries, Spanish Phrasebook, Hip ...

... for now ;-)), I'm most excited about the sleeper train, it's so much more interesting then sitting in Manchester Airport for 4 hours! We'll be squeezing into a tiny cabin, with a triple bunk bed on an 11 hour journey...shutting the curtains in Germany and opening them in Denmark.....and it's cheaper (what with a lack of luggage limits saving me from extortionate Easy Jet add-ons!)

I'll keep updating this as I start booking hostels and buying things for Denmark!

So I'm back in Stoke after my brief trip back to Cumbria (where, sadly I did not see everybody that I could have). I would just like to say now that if I didn't get a chance to catch up with anyone during the whirlwind that was the last couple of months then I'm sorry and I'll see you down the road.

With a little over 10 days til departure three goals need to be achieved:

1 ...

So there we have it - the ferry is booked! I will be taking the 'King of Scandanavia' out of the country at 1700 on the 5th December. It's another one of those milestone events that forces one to reflect on the reality of the situation; however fear has given way to anticipation on that score.

For a few hours yesterday I considered "copping out" with the Dover to Calais crossing - being cheaper ...

... managed to get all loose ends sorted and even probably did over and above what was expected - ok nothing new there either. Had a massive stack of discharges to do (over 30) and halfed that today so well on the way to getting out the door of work on Friday with it all done - its all positive thinking at present as I am all to familiar with the spanner that can be thrown in at the last minute ...

... 45 minutes while he takes his break, what a joke! We stop at a service station and I wait around while he takes his break and we get on our way again. Finally I arrive at Helena and Phil's house at 00:30 and sneak in a get straight to bed. What a day!!!

... the UK tends to live in a bubble. Rob continues to ask me questions about Ramsey Street as if I were a neighbor, and wonders if all the houses in Australia look like that. When I ask him what he means he says with all that space, large gardens and even pools in the backyards! We chatter away, and before long it is 10.30am and time for our next break, 15mins this time, so there is time to make a cup of tea and sit and enjoy what in my haste I deprived myself of earlier this morning.

so yesterday was an awesome day. they played in flokstone and i walked a bit around the city and was pretty nice. tyhe show was really fast. the first 2 bands playesd like 15 minutes and they were pretty cool. during the show i spent most of my time thinking about the local fashon. it was really different than the rest of europe. in this city it's so IN for the girls to have a necklece with pearls. there were like 20 with ...