Update

After a week of education and language in Glasgow (cold) I find myself in Holland, basking pleasantly in Denise 's always selfless and much appreciated hospitality and penthouse apartment overlooking the river Ij. I was very happy to spend the Sunday with Anjes in Eindhoven, where we talked about life, love and the universe for hours, and reconnected about everything that had happened between her leaving Australia; and on Monday I met up with my dear friend (of more than 30 years) Karin in Amsterdam, where we sat on a pavement cafe terrace on the river Amstel, in the sun, to discuss our busy and enervating lives and ended up in one of my favorite Indian restaurants, Megna, in the Utrechtsedwarsstraat for a lush Indian meal. I've secured my visa for China (picking it up in The Hague tomorrow), and even manage to do some work in between. In the meantime I am missing my love and the girls muchly but we do speak regularly (on crappy Skype) - Niki is holding the muddy fort down under, where the paddocks have finally been slashed, cars and fences fixed, dog walked, trained and fed, horses inspected and tests written. I shall be glad to be breathing the same air with her again because this being on the other side of the world lark is what we wanted to avoid ...