The Olde Barn Nottingham

... 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.

... We are probably the least likely people to backpack....ever! Nearly fainted when we read in our guide that we should only take 3 t shirts, 2 shorts, 1 dress, trainers and a bikini! We have both taken more than that for 1 night away! Think we have come to terms with having to wear the same outfit over and over again. Well as much as we ever will. haha. So Nic is packing as we speak...good luck with that. Budget is also ...

Finally worked out my route.

Fly to Armenia, travel through Georgia to Turkey and fly from Istanbul to Mumbai. Work my way across to Calcutta and fly to Bangkok. Through Thailand and Cambodia to Vietnam, then onto China.

I am setting off early September 2010 and aim to be in China early December, maybe.

And then I have to get back...

Tow truck 3, turns up at 20:30, we get loaded up and set off at 20:45 only to find out that the AA have sent me a driver that needs to take his 45 minute break in under an hour. So I waited an extra 1.5 hours for him to arrive and then I have to wait ...

Wednesday 17th June

We are awake at 6am and finish off the last bits of packing. Yes, after six months in Portugal it’s finally time to leave for home. Our preparations with Susan are completed and she is ready to continue with local staff and run the guest house through the summer.

It’s a bright, sunny morning with the temperature already in the high teens. A quick tea and toast and we load the car, where Bonnie ...

... yes of course i screamed !! but my knight in shinning armour caught it & took it outside, Robertson is a very prosperous town, this is where the roodeburg wine comes from which just happens to be one of our favorites also the area of many ostrich farms,we passed many lovely areas where the fruit trees were coming out in ,may blossom in october, a very pretty area, with the mountains behind. the garden route is certainly a place no one should miss with ...

... gone to great pains when booking our trans-Tibetan trip in Lhasa, to ensure that all the many permits required to reach Kashgar via this unusual route were included and arranged before we set off, and this was indeed written into our contract. Despite these precautions here we had a Chinese official demanding another 50 yuan apiece for our continued passage, and he wouldn't budge even though we had our neophyte guide Lakpa ...

... Well, that should put you all reasonably up to date. We will put up another blog soon to talk about what we are doing lately, like playing touch football, and our plans for travel. It is a bit scary to think that we will be finishing here in 6 weeks, and then be basically homeless for 5 months. Oh well, it will have it's compensations... We hope you are all well, and that God is looking after you all as he is us. Until next time, God bless, Dave and Heidi

Finally! Yesterday was my last day at work. It felt a bit strange because I handed my notice in (which was quite nerve wracking) a whole month ago and for the past four weeks while I have still been working (extremely hard aswell!) it's seemed like nothing had changed. Not having to get up ...

... week at home. Now if I was traveling for pleasure and didn't have to worry about work, I wouldn't be looking forward so much to going home but there were a number of things (like work) that made Friday a day I wanted to arrive faster than time would actually permit. Maybe that is why I got sick. I'm not sure if it was that I really wanted time to pass fast or the ****** weather that had descended on the UK. Either way, Friday could not arrive fast ...