Happy Easter you 2! Hope that you can get hold of some Easter Eggs - although they will proabably melt in the heat! Much love.

Hi

I've got a little behind with reading your posts - will keep the pleasure of Viang Veng 'til later today.

Just wanted to wish you both a Happy Easter and tell you it is snowing here. Yes, really snowing!

Love to you both xxxx

On the 18th march blog i hope you meant you were bumping into people! otherwise i don't think we need to know thank you very much!

you smell!!! take a shower!!!

we misss you and love you x x x x x x x x x

Hi did i mention i'm jealous!

Love you both too dools x

Hi Phil

I'd just like to say good luck to you and Jade on all your travels, hope you have a super time.

Best wishes from all the Arsenal back room staff

Alreet Phil !

sounds asif ur avin a whale of a time over where ever u are( i did geography and are still useless at locating place names on maps haha)

sorry cudnt see ya before ya went away, will ave to got for a drink and a catch-up wen ya get bak.

Take care mate, ave fun. and remember "i ate a big red candle"

xx

In a recent text message to Phil I promised more on last weekend's Kettlewell (Wharfdale, Yorshire, UK) trek/trip. Consider this, consider this….the hint of the century…..

There are a group of 24 of us, of mixed abilities, fitness ages - we had six 21 year olds (Robbie's Uni mates), plus the usual crew (excluding Keith and JC who decided to spend the weekend crying into Caledonian beer outside Murrayfield (Edinburgh, UK)).It's 10 am, Saturday morning, it's just starting to think about raining, it's sort of cold (4 deg c)it's one of those "shall I wear the heavy or light rain/wind resistant top layer days" - however due to the fog in the brain, courtesy of Friday night, some folks aren't thinking straight. I count myself in that group, but years of experience say to me that a light coat will do - always warm enough when moving.(….the slip that brought me to my knees.…)

Friday night had been the usual mayhem of trying to negotiate the M1/A1 north. Found ourselves in Melton Mowbray - which is near neither of those key routes (M1 full , A1 roadworks) - didn't stop for the famous pies, but looking out of the car windows, as we sped through the one way system, we have a fairly good idea who ate the last batch. As the clock moves on, the (my) driving became a little more frantic, tried out the ABS whilst in mid-air, no response, I thought the AERO was supposed to compensate, fortunately, the dry stone walls were far enough away not to call on our already overstretched emergency services.Anyone who says the relaxing of the UK licensing laws is a bad idea should try setting off from London at 6.05pm on a Friday to reach Wharfedale to meet up with friends for a nice (I won't say quiet) drink before a chilli supper and bed.Check your maps.

Back to Saturday.And here is a tale of the gap of generations.Dress is important when trekking, so when some young un's (inc Robbie) turned out without any coats, they were sent back to retrieve them (Phil, answers on a postcard as to who sent them back).We set off on a 8-10 mile trip (optional extra mileage) which would get us all in front of a TV at 3pm for the Calcutta Cup.Fifteen minutes into the walk (i.e. we're out of the village and on the way up) it's now hissing down.No, it's hissing across.Completely horizontal, oh and the temperature drops to 2-3 deg c.You may have heard that the UK suffered storms on Tuesday this week (10th March).Yorkshire, being Yorkshire, got them a few days earlier, and, of course, cheaper.

A couple of hours into it, we're now in the storm cloud itself, it's still horizontal, but a little colder (varying between rain and hail - i.e freezing).The group is a little strung out across the hill, the young un's ahead, but totally miserably cold and wet ("I am never doing this ever ever again"), Tim (man with the map) surprisingly not striding forcefully on.Then he says " hang on we should be travelling west and we're going east".You must know that most of us experienced folk (old people) wear eye correctors of one type or another (glasses or contacts, I thought I heard you laughing), so we can't see diddly.We can't see the map (it's too near for long range glasses) we can't see the terrain - it's a horizontal deluge, and in any case we can't see the hills with our reading glasses.If we try to read the map with our reading glasses and thenchange glasses to see the terrain, we've forgotten what it is we were checking on the map (…and I don't know if I can do it).OK. It's time for GPS.Ah, Tim's (who is also Mr Gadget) GPS system has never (in 10 years) been used - and the batteries have died.Big Phil has spare batteries, but our hands are so frozen that it takes 10 minutes to open the container.We have now been stood still at zero deg c in driving rain for 20 minutes. I wish I had my heavy rain proof mountain coat on over my light weight hill coat (. ..what if all these fantasies…) along with just about everything else I have brought to Wharfdale. The 21 year olds have come back to the main group and are huddled together like penguins. "Dance" I suggest, they decline, reasonably politely, given the circumstances.We get the GPS working, it says your "here", with no grid reference etc. Memo to self - don't buy GPS, or a navigation system for the car - do take goggles with you so that you can read maps in the rain.Saviour is your (Phil's) Mum who is wearing contacts and therefore can see when the cloud clears for a second and says that the trail looks like it bears round south/west just "down there".At which point the penguins become cheetahs and are lost into the distance.

We, the experienced walkers, pull ourselves together, think 'worse things happen at sea' and move on.Worse things do happen at sea, but not if you're still on a fully provisioned boat.We reach Kilnsey - 5 miles walk - and call it a day, surprisingly at a pub. We find that two of the 21 year old have got a lift into Grassington with some American, and the rest are comfortably tucking into masses of chips and beer (…like a hurt lost blinded fool…).

Rest of the weekend as normal. Great dinner.Quiz. Nice Sunday lunch.Drive home (dive off M1 due to crash).Prepare for Monday (Chinese, bottle of wine, little jazz practice).Jazz on Monday went v. well (short set at Sandpit).

…But that was just a dream
That was just a dream…

Woof. Woof Woof Woof, woof, woof

Wooooooooffff !!!!!!

Woof.

Wuv Woo. xxx

Hello Jade and also to Phil who is keeping us up-dated with your travels, It sounds as though you are having a wonderful time. The trek you have just done sounds like hard work but glad you have enjoyed it, The Fan Phil said you have had made should do the trick, I love a fan when it is too hot, David and I looked all over Spain and Portugal for one that I would like. Please keep the news coming, We love to hear how you are both doing, and stay safe. Love from us two xx

Man this blog thing is overlly confusing all i want to do is read about your travels and i cant... i think i should be blaming my computer instead silly macs...

anyway love reading them keep them up...

jadewade i need to know your dates for new zealand i know you have told me the rough dates a hundred times... but we all know how useless i am

ta very much love and btw i would also be kakking myself if i was to ride a moped i can just about drive my car in this country :D

much love

xxx

Hi Darlings, Great reading your blogs. Just wanted to say congratulations to Phil for achieving your 'A'. You are not only handsome and witty but clever too. What a star. Lots of love to you both. XXXX