On horses, home, Sarah and the book
Life has just been so cool of late. Firstly, my darling mate Sarah, she of the first reconnaissance mission to Morocco in Slow Journey South, has just been out to visit for two weeks. It is such, such bliss to have had time with her - one of the hard things about living a dual nationality existence is how one eternally misses the people and places of one or the other all the time. It was wonderful to ...
The Book!! Slow Journey South is out
Hello all – Well, it is finally here! “Slow Journey South”, my first book, goes on sale in Australia on the 1st of April – widely available in all book stores. Now, as for those of you not lucky enough to live in Australia (ha, ha, ha) it has taken me some time to come up with an alternative. Just to explain the details to you – until my publishers, Random House, have secured overseas publishers ...
Eid, henna, and hammada
So many adventures! Horribly unfortunately I cannot put up the photographs of all that I am about to write, as we found the internet unexpectedly in this little village, and I hadn't downloaded the photographs before we arrived, so apologies and I promise to provide pictures the next time. The day before Ramadan finished we found ourselves in the little town of Foulm el Hissan, where we entered the village to buy supplies. On our way out a young girl ...
In Ta Ta
After three weeks on the trot - or, plod, rather - we are in the thriving metropolis of Ta Ta. Not actually IN, of course; with four camels and an enormous array of baggage, we tend to make camp about three kilometres from the town, and wander in for supplies, water, and other necessities (a shower, for example...). There have been so many adventures since we left that I barely know where to start. The first few days were pretty ...
Nomads and headscarves
Well, we're off at last. After a week bivouacked out in the small dunes, meeting our camels and two guides, and getting used to being swathed like a Christmas pud, tomorrow we finally pack the animals and get going. It has been a little crazy; I think it always is in the days before leaving for a long haul. All the questions of whether or not you have everything you need, of where the next stop will be if ...
Off to the desert
I was going to wait until I had some pictures, but I wanted to just drop a quick line today as it may be a while before I can post again. We have spent the last few days in Marrakech, getting a few final things together (scorpion and snake anti-venom...ugggh) before we go down to M'hamid and begin our walk. We are leaving later today, and should be walking by Wednesday. I am hoping to update the site ...
Back to reality
Well, that's it, I guess. A mad month of visas, embassies, copious amounts of beer, and...well, copious amounts of beer. But now it is over and the walk begins again. Gary left yesterday, and is already halfway back down to M'Hamid. I am staying for a couple more days before catching a direct flight to Marrakech - the only solution to the issues I had with the EU and Spain in particular. Two weeks from now we ...
In search of knowledge
For the first time since I began this weblog, I am appealing to anyone out there who may know the answer to a rather complicated question. After some days of trying to organise the various legal and visa requirements for the next leg of the walk, I have hit something of an unexpected snag. When we originally crossed into France last year from the UK, nobody stamped our passports. We wandered, blithely unconcerned, down through France and over into ...
A month on easy street
For over a week now, I haven't walked anywhere. Except to the pub for the occasional (okay, frequent) pint. I haven't sweated. I haven't hurt. I haven't met any strangers. Weirder still, no-one has looked at me with that bemused, what-the-hell-are-you-doing?- stare, the open mouthed, ill-disguised gawping as if at an alien. I look just the same as everyone else. Well, okay, I am in Cornwall; but even so, after a year of being the central attraction ...
M’Hamid…The end of Stage One
Five thousand kilometres later, after five countries, seven boot re-soles, and exactly one year to the day from when we left London – on the first of August, 2005, we walked into M’Hamid. We have finished the first stage of our walk. I am writing it; but I still can’t believe it. We’ve done it! WOOO HOOO! In true walking fashion, it really wasn’t over until it was over; the three day stretch from Zagora was one of the toughest ...
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I 'download' books all the time. Legally. It's called a Kindle, l
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