Well, once again I find myself thinking that it has been ages, (months, nearly years) since I posted anything to my blog. Oh well, it’s bloody hard to keep up, to be honest, so I make no apologies for not writing sooner.

I’m never in the mood for writing, except when I feel like it.

Jonny Wharariki, originally uploaded by Jonny Hanlon.

Yep, you are right! Its been a rather long time since I posted anything here… To be honest, I sort of fell out of the habit after I got back from the UK last year.

It would be lovely to say that life has settled back into a stable and familiar pattern, but I’m not that boring. Life has been crazy recently.

More later…

Here is a quick snap from the top of Porters Ski Field, looking southwest toward the upper Rakaia and beyond towards Mt Cook which must be obscured behind the clouds in the distance.

I was up there for a day’s skiing with my brother and the weather was great… very heavy spring snow though, which gave the thighs a hiding!

Onekaka Inlet, Golden Bay, originally uploaded by Jonny Hanlon.

My journey is complete! I am home!

After a week in Nelson having a great time catching up with friends and doing a spot of lawn laying, I took my trusty Subaru over the hill.

This is the view from the front lawn of the house where I am staying at the moment… looking out over the Onekaka Inlet to Golden Bay beyond. Spring is here and that means variable weather… already there has been plenty of sun but also plenty of wind and rain. I am happy to be back, of course, but there is a strange backwards culture shock that takes place when you get back home. After Bristol I was really looking forward to getting back to the bay, particularly because I appreciate the space here so much. And it’s great. But after being crammed into a tiny flat in a busy city, the space here is so vast that you can almost get lost walking out to the letterbox.

I have had a couple of days working at school and am looking for other work to keep the food fund topped up through the holidays… Nonetheless I am enjoying not being at work every day!

Right now I am house and dogsitting at a friend’s house right on the beach in Collingwood. It is blowing a gale, pouring with rain, and freezing cold. I was planning on putting the net out to try to get some kahawai and crabs but that will have to wait. I am not wading into the ocean up to my belly in this weather!

Take care out there!

Gotta new mobile as the old one had a superiority complex and thought it was only suitable for British airwaves. So I’m back in contact using the antipodean system…

Find me at 021 048 3985

The last thing I knew, I was in the London underground, and the next thing I knew was that I was back in Aotearoa. In the middle there was a blur of jet fuel, airports, passports, security checks and airline food. And a 60 something compulsive traveller sitting next to me, talking non stop about stuff that didn’t even interest him. Can you claim compensation for having to sit next to boring people?

At the helm, originally uploaded by Jonny Hanlon.

This trip is well and truly wrapping up. Yesterday Melinda and Alan and myself wandered down to the river for a spot of punting, which is what anyone who is anybody in Oxford does when the weather is good and they aren’t busy writing theses or crime novels or attending high tea.

Punting is terribly hard work. As a passenger one must sit down and drink wine and eat strawberries, which is not a task to be taken lightly.
Then you must t eat the finest croissants from the delicatessen, crammed with Somerset ham and Dutch cheese. As I said, this is very hard work. Do not under any circumstances try this at home. (Unless you have a slow flowing river running through your garden)

Tomorrow I am off to London for a quick visit to meet a cousin of mine before I fly home on Wednesday.

Be good!

Being sick when you are travelling is not that much fun… I got a dose of the flu in Ireland and am still trying to shake it, actually I’m trying to shake the gunk out of my lungs. I was hoping to get plenty of walking and hill climbing done while I was here, but just walking is a bit of a mission at the moment, so I think my plans to climb Ben Nevis have gone out the window. Bugger. Never mind, its not exactly warm here… about 12 degrees with sideways rain and a low cloud base doesn’t exactly inspire the climber in me!

However, being so far north, the days are loooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnggggg! the night I arrived there was still plenty of twilight at midnight!

I have one more night in Fort William and tomorrow I’m heading to Loch Ness for two days, hopefully by then I’ll have gotten over this chest infection and be able to get into the hills.

The rail journey from Glasgow to Fort William was absolutely amazing… After leaving the city and skirting along Loch Lomond, the train heads north into the highlands, firstly through lush woodland and later through the sub-alpine grassland. For the first time in 5 months I was able to see wilderness all around, no houses, fences, people, cars or McDonalds/Starbucks/Marks and Spencer stores or double decker buses in sight. The journey only covers 200 kilometers but takes 4 hours due to the terrain and gradient. Anyone planning a trip to Scotland should make sure they take this train! I took brazilians of photos but cant publish any yet because the hostel here won’t let people use the USB ports for some silly reason.

So, it’s down to town for a haggis pie (yes, this is not a joke!) Scotland is gaining a reputation for ‘Highland Fusion’ cuisine, including haggis pies, scotch egg pies and of course, angus beef with whisky and ale gravy pies. That deserves at least one michelin star.

Take care everyone, hope the snow in NZ hasn’t lost its novelty!

Jonny

The Troubles appear to have been resolved.

I took the bus from Dublin to Belfast this afternoon, just a short hop up the motorway, but coming into Northern Ireland from The Republic was a noticeable mood change. There is an easily perceptible cultureshift from south to north… like going from Dunedin to Otara.

I have spent the last few days in the company of friends and family in the Republic of Ireland… visiting family, meeting new family, and then embarking on my trip alone to the north, and then in a few days to Scotland. Today I left Dublin and the comfort of my good friend Issy’s house, into the unknown. It has been raining for days, grey skies, cold, grim. Now, for the first time in ages, I am alone and lonely. I have had a few pints of stout and have had a few conversations with stout drinking strangers, nattering about politics, weather, all of the polite topics…

So, I am hoping for a sunny day, a chance to get out and walk around.

Now that I am on the road after living in Bristol for a few months, I want to thank all of the wonderful friends, old and new, who have been part of the adventure…

In no particular order…

Gordon Brown, Jason, Skot, Ushma, Ben, Suria, Martha, Matthew, Luke Pash, Helene, Lou, all of the teaching staff, (especially Heron’s Moor, Headley Park and St. Augustine’s), Billy and Kitty Phelan, Seamus and Pat O’Connor, Anna and Annie Phelan, Kay Taylor and Andrew, Vic, Abby, and best of all, Issy, Donal, Min, Al and Eve. Mum, Dad, Jerry, Nina, Kylie, George, Yvonne, and the late, great Martin. And of course all of my wonderful friends back home. Thanks heaps for being such good friends and helping to make my time in on this trip so much fun. Arohanui.

See you all soon!

Jonny