REVITALISED

I found my place
Beneath a tree

A bed of pines
And old dry leaves

Paper and pen
Sat down to write

But a moment
Was all it took

For eyes to close
And fall asleep

My back to bark
And feet on earth

And when I woke
A warmth within

With the whole world
I felt at ease

Problems and pain
All forgotten

My soul refreshed
And heart at ease.



Note: I wrote this the other day after falling asleep under a tree in Tollymore Forest Park.

SLIEVE DONARD

Here are a few pictures I took the other day climbing the Slieve Donard. The Slieve Donard is the highest of all the mountains in the Mourne Mountain Range, which is right here in my town Newcastle. Donard is the name of the mountain and Slieve means 'mountain' in Irish. It's quite a small range and the mountains are small too (none over 1000 metres), but it's very, very beautiful and easily accessible.I climbed it with good friends Karol and Gazza and it was a great day out. Unfortunately, near the top the sky clouded over and it rained a little. The view is usually spectacular from the top showing the town, the beach, the golf course and a huge horizon on the Irish sea. Although these photos don't do the view any justice, at least they give a true depiction of typical Irish weather.

With a stick in my hand
I walk through the forest.

On a big old tree stump
I sit by the water.

Under a summer blue sky
I look up at the sun.

And I think and I think
And I think.

THANKS FRANK

"And love is either in your heart

Or on it's way"

I heard these lyrics today in Tom Waits' version of Young At Heart, written by Frank Sinatra. Today is a lonely rainy day and they were uplifting, reassuring lyrics to hear. Thanks Frank.

IN BOLIVIA

JUST PLANE PHOTOS

POSH FOR A DAY

When I was in Brazil I heard about an extremely posh hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina that does a wonderful afternoon tea. Being a huge fan of tea and new experiences I decided to go.
Super cool Canadian Janet, who I met in the hostel agreed to accompany me as she also had been harboring dreams of being posh for many years. So we put away our smelly, ripped backpacker clothes for the afternoon and went to the hotel.The hotel is called The Alvear Palace Hotel and was quite near our hostel in Recoleta. Upon arrival we were escorted to the L'Orangerie dining room. I don't think they normally escort customers, but perhaps they thought we were extra posh by the way we were acting, or perhaps they were worried about us stealing cutlery and stuff on the way.The hotel and dining room were very beautiful. We chose to sit in the huge conservatory area, within earshot of the live piano music. The waiters and waitresses were extremely professional and all donned in white gloves, etc.
Of course we pretended to be very posh and unintimidated by our surroundings. I dropped a few hints that my offshore oil business was doing quite well, and the second condo I'm building in the Caribbean is coming along nicely. Janet jabbered on about her poodles and how the colour of our new Ferrari didn't match her lipstick. Like a truly posh man, I ignored most of what she said with 'uh huh, yes dear', etc, whilst concentrating on my fingernails and pretending to wonder when I'd had my last pedicure (or is it manicure? Whatever!).I believe we really had the staff fooled for a while, but when I asked them to take photos, I think that was the giveaway. And then we just started messing around like the commoners we are. It was great fun and Janet is just as mad as me, so we had a great laugh. We even got our waitress laughing when, after putting an artistic swirl of chocolate on Janet's plate, I asked for an 'M' because it's my favourite letter and also the first of my name. Personally I think she done quite a good job, but if I was to be really critical I might point out the left hand side of the 'M' is much thicker than the right hand side. But then again, she hasn't had much practice with M's and I'm an English teacher so these things are more noticeable to me than most people. Waitress; if you are reading this, please don't fret, it was a good first attempt, thank you.Anyway, the food was lovely and tea amazing. Even the tea menu was something extraordinary. Over a three hour period our silver tea pots were constantly replenished with fresh tea leaves and water. Our plates where graced with delightfully presented cucumber and smoked salmon sandwiches, scones, vol-au-vents, cakes and pastries until we were so stuffed we could hardly say "rah rah".Then off we went, back to our smelly clothes, dormitory rooms and instant noodles, but not before generously tipping our waitress and saying "merci beucoup".

LAST SUNRISE

On my last morning in Brazil I got up before sunset and went for a long walk along the beach to reflect on my time in South America. It was a beautiful morning and I was accompanied by the very friendly hotel dog.

SANTA CATARINA - BRAZIL

MY FAVOURITE PHOTO OF THE TRIP

Today was an awesome day.