Hello again, and I am sorry to say that the GNAGB website has been down for the past few hours. I hope no-one was inconvenienced and I apologise.
I now have to apologise one more time. I have just received an email from the American publisher to advise that Vol II will not now arrive until late March. The books are being printed in Hong Kong and with Chinese New Year coming up it is holiday time for the locals and the printer in HKG shuts down for a couple of weeks. I am afraid we didn’t factor this in to our calculations. I hope this won’t put anyone out but please feel free to email me if you need any information in the meantime. I will update the blog with further information as it comes through. Thank you.
‘Til next time, all the best,
Trish

Another Australia Day has come and gone and the whole country took the day off to celebrate in fine Aussie style. In Sydney it was sunny and hot and bar-be-ques were fired up throughout the country. True to the occasion this family celebrated with Aussie flags flying in the wind, and a lunchtime feast of prawns on the barbie, lamb chops, salads and of course a big fat pavlova smothered in cream, chocolate and fresh fruit. And what would Australia be without a game of cricket in the backyard (and a few blowies as well). My husband I collapsed into bed, exhausted at 10.00pm and the kids and their friends caught the train in to the city to watch the fireworks and party further. Like most Australians, we have so much to be thankful for.

Hello!
I am now back at work after spending a relaxing few weeks in sunny Queensland. Like everyone else, I too am finding it hard to get back into the groove. However it will happen.
While I was away I happened across a great backpack which I plan to use when I walk the Spanish Camino in May. It is a 30 litre women’s fit pack which feels light and comfortable on. The only colour available was bright red so I guess I will stand out if I get lost along the way. The walk is a neat 900 kms and I will be following an ancient pilgrimage trail from St-John Pied de Port at the foot of the Pyrenees in France, to Santiago de Compostela and then on to Cape Finisterre in north western Spain. Most trekkers and pilgrims finish at Santiago, however in times past it has been the custom for those who have walked the distance to finish at Cape Finisterre where they celebrate by throwing their boots into the ocean. I really want to do this as by the time I have completed the trek I’m sure I won’t miss a pair of worn, used and stinky old hiking boots. However, I will be keeping the backpack!

Now I am keen to get fit. I walked on most days during the holiday and one day got up to 22kms. However, the first day of the walk covers 30kms and this includes includes walking over the Pyrenees. Well, I do like a challenge and I think I have landed myself a real one. Progress reports will follow!

Have a wonderful 2010.
’til next time, GNAGB!

Now it is time to thank all the supporters of Good Night and God Bless and especially the numerous people from whom I receive mail. You interest and your valuable thoughts, suggestions and ideas are very much appreciated - thank you. I would like to wish you all a very happy Christmas and good health and happiness in 2010.

God Bless.

Trish Clark

Yesterday I attended the pre-release of Jane Campion’s new movie Bright Star, filmed in London’s Hampstead Heath. The scenery is perfect as the setting for a period romance and the costumes gorgeous. I thought the standout performer was Abbie Cornish, a young, beautiful and talented Australian actress who was perfect for the role of Fanny Brawne, John Keats’ next door neighbour. The movie is the story of their doomed love affair during which Keats wrote some of his most lauded poetry. There is no sex and no violence, a rarity in movies to-day. In no way does this take away from this powerful and touching rendition made all the more fascinating because everyone knows what is going to happen in the end.

Gosh, it was hot here in Sydney yesterday. 42 degrees Celsius is not the most comfortable of climatic conditions and the city sweltered. With such a prediction I headed for the beach with a friend at 0700, when the cool sea breeze was much in evidence. However, by mid-morning we headed home to the air-conditioning. In contrast the temperature to-day is exactly half of what it was yesterday and the drizzle will hopefully extinguish the bushfires north of Sydney. The NSW country town of Coonamble holds the record for the hottest Australian November day which was 46.1 deg.

I am planning my next trip away - to Spain. Not your usual holiday, I am seriously considering walking the 800 km Camino Frances, the ancient pilgrimage route from St-John Pied de Port, at the base of the Pyrenees in France, to the tomb of the Apostle St James in Santiago de Compostela in Galacia in north-east Spain. I will have to do it on my own as I canot think of even one friend who would be interested in walking 800 kilometres. It will take over 1 month to complete and I am busy gathering as much information as I can from people who have already walked this route. It will be a great spiritual, mental and physical challenge and I will soon discover if I have what it takes to complete this long journey successfully. The route will be crowded at peak times next year as it is a Holy Year in Spain. However, I plan to depart around mid-May so I can miss the rush. I can’t wait.

What a great title for a book! And this is a very famous hat - quite old for a piece of millinery, this hat has been on the road for decades and has had many adventures, including the one below. Can you imagine the following happening to-day - Her Majesty the Queen lost in a souq?

Travels with My Hat by Christine Osborne
`I was looking everywhere for your blue hat`said the Queen to Christine on the
royal visit to the great souq in Nizwa, Oman. Ethiopia, Iraq and Pakistan are other
colorful countries visited by the Sydney nurse, turned photojournalist of 30 years
of travel adventures in Africa and the East. `I`ve occasionally wished I was a boy.
Not for the penis per se but for the freedom it allows a man,` writes Christine of
Yemen, the secretive mountain republic on the Red Sea. 95,000 words with
photographs by the author. Publication autumn 2010. copix@clara.co.uk

Worth keeping an eye out for.

To-day is the day that the whole of Australia comes to a standstill to listen to the running of the great horserace – the Melbourne Cup. However, this year I swapped the sweep, the champagne lunch and a couple of trifecta tickets for a meeting with an author visiting here from the UK. And, as always when I meet with an author the time was well spent. Sharing someone’s travel and writing experiences is a great motivator – to do more travelling and more writing. In fact a friend of mine from Brisbane (who once landed a great job on the Greek island of Corfu) is going back there with her husband to live, for 3 months, next year. And my husband and I have been invited to join them – what a lovely friend!
I have never been to Corfu but I am reliably informed that it is the ‘greenest’ Greek island and noted for receiving the most rainfall in the country. It is said to be one of the most beautiful places in Greece and according to my newly purchased guidebook the countryside is carpeted with over 3 milliion olive trees, cypress groves and citrus orchards. A wealth of history and medieval architecture, churches and an ancient monastery or two, walking trails, boats, beaches and sea-front tavernas sounds irresistibly enticing.

It was a great moring in Sydney to-day. The ‘coathanger’ or Sydney harbour Bridge was closed to traffic. The tarmac was laid with real grass and dozens of cows were bought in to graze. Thousands of Sydneysiders arrived to enjoy a picnic breakfast with essentials like tea and coffeee available from a long row of coffee ’shops’ lining the length of the bridge. Unfortunately the skies opend at about 1030 and everyone, cows included had to scatter. However, it was great fun while it lasted.