Well I'm back in the Northern Hemisphere, but I have to say that Manila is a seismic culture shock after Australia - at least is seemed that way on arrival. My flight was late, and I didn't get to my room until about 9pm. Since I started my day at about 6am in a timezone 2 hours ahead, I did very little but crash in to bed. It wasn't until next morning that I tried to explore my surroundings a bit. As I left the hotel at about 8am, the traffic was already hea...

Arrived in Manila at 8pm to 28 degreeC. Whew!

So I'm back in Sydney, but I've had a few fun days before I got here. On Sunday I went flying with the Lake Keepit Soaring Club. The previous day the forecast had not been great, but the thermals kicked off about midday and folk had flown nearly 300km in the afternoon. The forecast for Sunday was similarly downbeat, and similarly wrong. I helped out in my clumsy ill-informed way for the first few hours pulling out gliders, checking equipment, ferrying folk ...

Back in Sydney enjoying a nice Shiraz and a strong Cheddar.

Quick trip to the Blue Mountains, weather permitting, before go back to Sydney.