Apologies, Excuses and Disclaimers. And A Bit Of An Update:

I’m back. I am riddled with blogger’s guilt at having been AWOL for so long. I really am. And I’m sorry. (The apology bit.)

But it truly wasn’t my fault! (The excuses bit. Wait it’s not over...)
I went to Ireland. The tour was brilliant. I had bundles of fun. But the days were so busy that I barely got time to check my email, never mind blog. Then, possibly as a result of running around so much, I got sick. Boy did I get sick. I spent 4 days in Dublin languishing in a hostel bed wishing I could be outdoors taking photos. Wishing I wasn't feeling like death warmed over. And feeling the waves of hatred and resentment washing over me from those backpackers unfortunate enough to be allocated to share my room. Such negative energies did little to dispel my disease and I got worse and worse. I certainly didn’t feel like blogging anything.

The plane trip home was a nightmare. I spent most of it coughing in my seat or else running to the loo to cough or wash out my eye. The eye that decided that since I was down it would kick me, and produced a splendid infection. I could feel the waves of horror washing over me from the poor souls who thought it would be a good idea to sit in the back row and drew the short straw of being next to me. They clearly thought they were on the fast track to swine flu. The (small) portion of the night that I was not coughing in my seat or in the loo, I spent pretending to the flight staff that I was fine and dandy. Well, I didn’t really want them to quarantine me in a fit of N1H1 over-zealotry did I?

Back in Jhb I spent the next couple of days recuperating, going to doctor and the dentist and the pharmacy and generally spending all of my Asia accommodation money on medical bills.
After that I was so far behind on my admin and general "stuff wot must get done", that there was less than no time to blog. Unfortunately, things like visa procurement take precedence. Boring, boring….

And now for the disclaimer.
As much as I would love to retro blog and swear that I will update you as to everything I saw and did in Ireland, I’m not going to. Because then I will feel so incredibly guilty if (when) I don’t get to it. So sorry (dammit – another apology) I’m not going to…

Moving on swiftly, in an attempt to distract you, here’s the plan for the days ahead:
Travel from SA to Kuala Lumpur airport. Curse ill timed Air Asia connecting flight. Squander vast sums of money on Malaysian hotel for one unexciting night. (This is the current stage in my story.) Catch connecting flight to Krabi, Thailand. Attempt to navigate self to Ao Nang. Attempt to track N down once I'm in Ao Nang. Boat trip to Railay/Tonsai area. Live in beach bungalow and rock climb for a month or thereabouts. (Shame, poor MEEEEEE!!!) Go north for a bit to Chiang Mai and maybe visit one of N’s friends. Potentially go to Vietnam for two weeks around xmas time – another friend visit. Make our way to Bali for three(ish) weeks. Part from N, who goes back to Thailand for a couple of weeks. Return to SA solo for two weeks of friends, family, admin and recuperation. After that, New Zealand. But no more about NZ for a while. It’s just Asia, Asia, Asia for the next three months!