"Variety's the very spice of life, that gives it all its flavour." A cliché, I know, but surely the poet, William Cowper must have been thinking about volunteering with the National Trust wardens on Northern Ireland's Causeway coast when he coined the phrase almost three hundred years ago! First, there's the geography: covering sixty miles of the Derry and Antrim coast, the sweeping Atlantic beaches around Portstewart and the charming village of Cushe...

Today the snow is back in South Down. After a few days of respite the temperatures have dropped and the white blanket has returned. It was this time last week, a few days after my arrival home from Argentina, that the first tranche of much heavier snow fell rendering the roads around Warrenpoint undriveable and closing many workplaces and schools. I stepped out of the front door, hat and gloves adorned, my walking boots dryly crunching on the white covering unde...

On Friday I leave for Quito in Ecuador. And I am worried about the Penis Fish. The Penis Fish first came to my attention in May on Platform 4 in Sepilok, surrounded by semi-wild Orang-Utans, whilst having a discussion with a Dutch volunteer, Eline. The conversation began with my imminent journey to South America and she proceeded to tell me a story about a guy bathing in the Amazon river who decided to take a pee. The conversation ended with me clutching my cr...

And so it is that I am back in Warrenpoint. I arrived home on Saturday past to a dark and dreary Dublin airport and to Irish potatoes. As I write, however, I pack, and this evening I leave again, this time for the jungles of Malaysian Borneo and Sepilok Orang-utan Rehabilitation Centre where I will be volunteering for the next two months. The last few days back in the Mournes have been busy. Busy with visits to my always accommodating GP, Dr. Mary Bonner for adv...

Just taking a moment away from the packing to post my first blog. I have purchased my ridicously expensive malerone to make sure I don't pick up malaria and bought some fresh panties and work boots. I leave tomorrow for West Africa, although it appears that there were a number of flights cancelled from Dublin this morning so I am hoping that I do indeed get to London to make my connection. For the next three months I will be living in Ghana, working on a commu...