One year on.

The successful completion of the Brecon Beast Event a fortnight ago marked the first anniversary of our return from the two amazing years in the southern hemisphere. Generous sponsorship from friends and family has raised £500 which will go towards new facilities for the Brecon Ambulance Station Crew rest room. The  professional approach and reassurances provided by the paramedics during my memorable transfer over those same mountains in December were so very much appreciated at the time and I am delighted to be able to thank them all in this way - thank you again to all those who kindly chipped in.
The last 12 months have seen as most of you know some profound changes but also produced some very happy memories. Proving to myself that good health has returned has involved gradual exposure to the levels of activity I enjoyed over previous decades and I feel as fit as ever - 5 hours in perfect conditions on the Wall and White's level trails at Afan Argoed yesterday was a part of that.




Last weekend's get together near Brecon to celebrate Jan's final summit as part of a birthday challenge was a happy and sociable occasion - not in my case marked by photos as I managed to lose a second camera during the walk. Thus I also lack pictures of a recent ride in to Moel Prysgau bothy which is looking in top condition and reflects the great efforts put in over the last couple of years by the Maintenance Organisers Chris and Frank ably assisted by the Welsh Area members and other volunteers. In a fortnight we begin a week long project to reroof Nant Rhys bothy - volunteers welcome and details available from myself or via the MBA website here. For a flavour of what to expect check out the video.

En route to Bristol I dropped in to Neville Hall hospital to visit Crad who the previous day had had an unfortunate incident whilst returning from a hack - his stirrup caught on a gate fixing causing a nasty fall that resulted in a fracture of his left collar bone and fibula plus severe ligament damage to an ankle already weakened by an incident 17 years ago. Recovery will be slow and possibly frustrating but even just 24 hours after the event he was in typically upbeat and determined mode - good on yer cobber!
The trusty van was submitted for an MOT in Bristol and required the same temporary fix to the front brake caliper as I had undertaken on the rear ones last June in the dusty outback of the Pilbarra in Western Australia. The use of Dale's drive for the fix and then Ian's barn for fitting new parts (and as a precaution new rear discs and pads) was very much appreciated. With 255k miles on the clock and at 13 years old apparently there is little else of concern so I hope to get many more years service out of the old girl yet - if only everything was as reliable as a Volkswagen as they used to say!!
A quick trip to Coventry enabled a catch up with my parents, attention to paperwork re finances, van insurance and the impending divorce resolution plus an unexpected and much welcomed meeting with Penny who was visiting family in Warwickshire.
Wednesday saw us all travel to Bishop's Castle to inspect the seemingly rather complex systems behind my brother's new wood chip boiler system - several tons of stone chippings were spread around his drive to smarten the place up and as ever my nephew and niece were charmingly sweet and entertaining.
An energetic session of badminton left me as ever more bushed than the Beast event and Brecon town car park provided the usual secure and peaceful accommodation.
Life on the road suits me very well as I have so much freedom and flexibility - I have enjoyed the last year back in the UK but the reports and tales on other travel blogs continue to inspire me and I will be pleased to set off again on the 20th of December once all outstanding matters are finally resolved. These revolve around  moving my GP care to Coventry followed by a review and reduction of medication (I hope to ditch the beta blockers, move to over the counter statins and aspirin leaving me only the ACE inhibitor on prescription - which will make long term travel easier), finalising the divorce and associated details and I hope entertaining a number of friends over the fortnight of 24th November to 8th December in Cumbria - let me know if you can join in for a day or two.
Today I am tucked away as wind and rain lash the land once more - it is a 12 tealight day and I am as snug as a bug with internet signal, TV reception and my weekly dose of iron in the shape this time of two lamb cutlets to look forward to.
I have put together a selection of photos here recording some of the highlights of a memorably unpredictable year and will by next time have mastered the new camera with its various features. Locations via SPOT will appear here and the the slideshow top right covers time in Southern Oz.