Second start

Well, after the previous attempt had to be aborted due to Pat becoming ill and spending weeks in hospital etc, I am giving it another try.  Of course Garth and Dominic did get away to do parts of what was planned in the last one but, apart from a weeks break in Tasmania in October 2012, this will be my first big excursion out of Sydney and Australia in quite a while.  While I am out of the country either Garth or Dominic will be making sure that Pat is cared for rather than have her stay alone.

The details of this trip are not the same as the last one but there are some elements of overlap.  The basic plan is:

• I leave Australia on Thursday 24th April to fly to the UK to meet Dominic who will already be there.
• Dominic and I train up to Newcastle-upon-Tyne and a day or so later we start a supported walk up the Northumberland Coastal Path from Ellingham to Berwick-on-Tweed.  This is 6/7 days after which we return to Newcastle.
• After picking up a car and visiting various folks around the Newcastle area (rellies, old friends) we head south, pausing in Sheffield to pick up some knife handles, to Nottingham to meet up with my old University of Nottingham boss and friend Eric Foxley.
• After Nottingham we head down to Hampshire to meet up with some ex-Kenya friends Ian and Jean Wilkinson.
• With the Wilkinsons we will journey to Abingdon on 10th May where we will meet up with the rest of our Kenya ex-pat group for a reunion lunch which should be lots of fun.
• On 11th May I leave the UK to fly to Florence while Dominic leaves on the same day to fly back to Australia.
• In Florence I have a two-week woodcarving course and will be staying with Italians.  I have been learning some Italian but how much I will remember is anyone's guess.  It should be an interesting experience anyway.
• At the end of my two-week course Garth arrives from Australia and he and I will drive to Maremma for a few nights when we will do some Tuscan sightseeing and then journey by, as yet, unknown routes to rendesvouz in Venice for the start of a cycle trip from Venice to Florence.  We are hoping to catch a stage of the Giro d'Italia near Trento while meandering towards Venice.
• On getting back to Florence, Garth will head for Paris where he is meeting up with a friend who will be there for a medical conference and I return back to Australia, arriving on the 11th of June.
• Garth will be going on to meet up with other people in France before heading to the UK for some cycling and the start of the Tour de France.

I will be trying to keep this blog going with our exploits and experiences while away but it will depend on how often I can bludge some Wifi.