The End

Well folks, this is it. Chris, Ashley and I arrived in Brisbane this morning at 5:03 after a 16 hour flight from Dallas. The flight itself was OK if not a little bumpy. Managed to watch four movies and get about seven hours sleep (wonderful stuff Temazapam). I actually slept on the floor in a gap between three rows of seats and the windows. I put four pillows on the floor and used them as a mattress, then wrapped three blankets around me. I was actually quite comfy. The only downer on the trip was that the TSA from the good old' US of A had been through one of our bags, removed the lock (and not returned it) and taken our Guatemalan coffee. I'm a bit pissed off about that. But that has been the only hassle on the return leg. Right now Chris and I are having brekky in the QANTAS club waiting for our flight back home to Mackay. The rain is coming down outside and it made me think that in the whole 11 weeks I have been away it has only rained 4 times and this is the only time it will have affected what I wanted to do (we have to walk through it to get to the plane). Every other time it rained was overnight and it had finished by morning. Oh, and by the time we get home we will have been traveling for about 36 hours straight through from Tortola to Mackay.

So... This is the final blog of the big adventure. Thanks to all who have been reading, I hope it was entertaining and informative. As for me, it was one of the most satisfying, challenging, rewarding and fulfilling things I have done. I feel that my time in Guatemala was worthwhile from a volunteering perspective and enriching from a cultural one. I have made some new friends and met some beautiful people. The holiday part was great fun too, and though I am happy to be back home, I could have just as easily stayed away.

Once again, thanks to you for being interested in what I was doing and I look forward to catching up with you all soon.

No pictures this time.

Cheers,
Lawry

THE END

Location:Brisbane Airport,Australia

Last day in BVI

A sad day.
Today we left old' briny and our yacht behind to became landlubbers again. The last few days of sailing have been fantastic. We had 20-ish knot winds and seas of 1-2 metres with some larger rolling swells on occasion. Consequently we had the sails up and enjoyed some screaming times. At one stage we were holding about 8.5 knots under a sail on the first reef and the jib on the first mark. Great fun.

But today we are back on land and rocking like we are still on the boat. I saw a cool T-shirt at one of the island shops that said 'I'm not drunk, just been too long on a boat". I nearly bought it. Today we took a ride to the other side of Tortola to Cane Garden Bay. It is a bit touristy, but we wanted to visit a 400 year old rum distillery that still makes rum in the original manner. And it tastes pretty good too, except the proof spirit which is a bit potent at 84%!

But all good things come to an end and now we are in the hotel packing for a 5:30 a.m. taxi ride to the airport tomorrow. We fly out about 9:00 to Puerto Rico then to Dallas, on to Brisbane and finally to Mackay. I think flying time is around 22 hours plus time in the airports. I am not looking forward to that.



Hooning on Sir Francis Drake Passage.



The last boat photo. Keith, Chris, me, Kathryn and Ashley.



Callwood's 400 year old rum distillery.



The Still, bubbling away making spirit.



Enjoying a local beer, Carib, at Cane Garden Bay during Happy Arrr.
Drink up me hearties yo ho.



Looking down on Road Town and the marina.

Location:Tortola