Writing tonight from Ooty and we are both higher than anybody can get in Australia at a height of 2240metres above sea level. We are sleeping with blankets on in an old colonial lodge built by the Raj who apparently discovered this pretty valley high up in the Western Ghats in the state of Tamil Nadu.

Jenny and I are in wonderfully good health and as she has mentioned previously are enjoying the tastes of the food. Tonight we had a regional dessert that had a tamarillo sause to the side. Unfortunately Kingfisher is the classiest beer here, at least it's cold and almost tastes like beer!

Today we went bushwalking and covered 15 kilometres over the ridges and valleys here. Firstly we walked through a hill which was covered in gorse, Tasmanian blue gums and mountain ash! Most of the remainder of the walk was through magnificent tea plantations. Did you know that India is the largest producer of tea in the world and is also the largest consumer of the stuff! And also that the word tip (as in give a little extra for good service) actually stands for "to insure prompt service".

By the way we came through the national park and unsurprisingly did not see a tiger, leopard, wild elephant or sloth bear. We did however see many deer, monkays and peacocks - also a lone mongoose.

Tomorrow we catch the toy steam train down the hill before catching a night train to Kollam in Kerala. There we hope to spend the nest lazy two days on a houseboat in the Kerala backwaters.

Tea is plucked from the tea bush every 11-15 days. The plants can only grow on a steep slope and can be up to 100 years old. Every so often they are pruned so they do not grow too big. In the tea fields a tree is planted every 5-10 metres apart so that the tea bushes do not get full sun - these trees are Queensland Silky Oaks and they get severely pruned.

We had dinner tonight in an old Raj Hotel and the piano player played continuously on a honky tonk piano. He looked like Sanjeev's father from the Kumars and had glasses. He was also about 4 foot 7 inches tall. The dining room looked like it had been plucked from an English pub with wood panelled walls and there were more waiters than guests!!!

Love

Chris and Jenny