The ways and wiles of women are a great mystery to a mere mortal male like meself. Let me explain. Mary Bernadette (my better half aka Ber) decided many many moons ago she would one day visit the land Down Under. How or when this would come about was a total unknown but that didn't interfere with her conviction one little bit. For her it was a certainty and a certainty (as they say in some circles) is a sure thing!

It was late in the summer when our good friends Tony and Eileen along with their "care" Aaron and Lynsey paid a rare visit home from Ozland. They'd been there (second time round) for nearly 10 years and I suppose might have wondered by then if they'd still be able to find their way around "Dubalin". Anyway to cut a long story short (I've always thought that a strange expression) Bernadette saw this as the perfect opportunity to put flesh on her long-lived notion of communing with Skippy agus a chairde. T and E of course were only too delighted to conspire with her and in no time over a few social drinks and a lot of chin-wagging I found myself committed to the task. Truth to tell I got even half convinced (as can happen after a few very social drinks) that the idea might even have been partly my own in the first instance. Between the three of them they are some persuaders. After all among the things they definitely have in common are an optimistic outlook on all things in this life, a great sense of curiosity and of course a brass neck. In the latter department Ber is definitely most talented. Once upon a time she sought to obtain quite a substantial loan from a Building Society by walking into a Branch Office and threatening to withdraw her entire savings (all £2) if they refused. They were so amazed at her brazenness they gave her the loan. Like someone once said: where there's a will there's a relation - sorry - a way.   

It was eventually decided that we would do the deed the following Spring. At the time we were very lucky that a friend of ours (take a bow Tavis) worked in the travel trade and she did a marvellous job in arranging the full trip. This turned out to be a round the world job which basically could be described as away off to Bali, then on to Australia and eventually returning via USA. Ballymun to Bali and back with almost eight weeks away from base and a lot of extra mileage on the clock.