and I think to myself...

I have been spoiled rotten the last while, really struck it lucky with bumping into the right people. I think each person I meet has been ringing the next town on my route and they are trying to out do each other in a lets over feed the skinny Irish man.

They did not offer me a single fish
even with all my fishing knowledge I tried to pass on

A few days back I stopped to ask for some water, as soon as I knocked on the front door a little old granny opens the window and hands me a cup of coffee to drink. I joke not, I could barely hold the cup steady from laughing. I then rolled down around the corner to a beautiful lake in Larche and the first people I spoke to invited me up to their house to stay. It was one of those moments where the stranger says "look up the hill, see the green house", which is big and beautiful and you think they will say "well ours is the tin shed next to it" but they dont. What a house, with an amazing view of the lake and hills.

Jean Claude and Hisuk, the other guy is just so hot

Jean Claude a semi retired computer geek and Hisuk is a Korean pottery maker. We spent the night melting cheese and solving the worlds problems. Hands down the best food I have eaten in France, I took so many portions but I just could not help myself. It was one of those nights where the talking just keeps going on all sorts of topics. They have done some great trips in their time, my favourite was Jean Claudes to Ireland in the 60s on a hybrid bicycle/motorbike thing but he could not afford any petrol so it was just a heavy bicycle, love it. They gave me a jar of yummy jam and a packet of soup for the road. The gift of food while on the road is without doubt the greatest joy. Although I do wish someone would give me a fishing rod. I combined the soup with the last few spuds that Mono gave me way back in Jersey and I had me the finest lunch of all time looking down a lonely valley.

The soup and spud spot by the road

I pulled into a garden to ask for some water, I am a pro at this stage on my approach but this time I caught a woman in her kitchen off guard and fook me she screamed her heart out when caught sight of me. I mean the scream was worthy of an oscar, once she calmed down and I apologised as best I could in sign language she invited me in for some crepe. Now I may not of got any loving done in France but crepe is as close to lovin as a single hairy smelly guy is gonna get I recon. Delish, plus a single espresso to wash it down. Her daughter could speak English and we chatted for a while, she was uber hot but I could not get the Kings of Leon lyrics out of my head, 17... Haaaa

Just thought the place could do with some fresher smells

The amount of coffee I have consumed with locals has been a dream come through for me, any nation that drinks this much coffee is alright by me. I slept in a garden of the cutest old couple, Jacque and Miriam. Once I had my tent set up they invited me in for a cup of herbal tea, I am soo into the herbal stuff now, real hippy love. After we had some soup we sat by a log fire, them two wrapped up in blankets on the couch with their dogs on their laps, me on a lazy boy with my socks off and if we didnt just go ahead and watch two hours of figure skating, ah man it was epic funny. Where would ye ever find it in your wildest dreams of travel eh. It was real tense competition and any time a skater would fall we would all tut and sigh in dissapointment.

It was the cutest night of the trip

Spent a peaceful night having a wet dream about the hot girl who won haaa. The next morning they again invited me in for brekie, coffee and fig jam, made straight from the fig tree in the garden. Gee wiz its only devine, they gave me a jar for the road and a packet of high energy museli biscuits.

Bull shit

Well its been non stop for the last while and I have not really taken a day off since Jersey so I have hopped into a horrible hostel for two nights to give my poor legs a rest. They feel good but the distance has deffo given me a few niggles in my knees. The hostel is another odd ball place. The key hole for my room is just weird. First night I got back late and could not open it, reception was closed. I heard a couple talking in the room next to mine so I knocked. The guy answers and I sign that I cant get into my room. Ah god, he comes out, sweat dripping off him, he has that post sex grin and is wearing only a face cloth wrapped around his waist. He got my door opened, I thanked him and told him to "give her one for me", he did not speak English so the comment was only funny to me.

Its blurry but ye get the idea with the old Autumn leaves falling thing eh

I have really settled into the trip now, its taken a while but I do feel that it has stopped being a trip and it feels somewhat like a way of life now. I obviously cannot predict for how long this feeling will last but while I am in the zone I will soak it up.

Reminds me so much of Australia, minus the heat

I finally tracked down some English National Geographic magazines, man they spark the brain off no end. On one hand they make me wanna go back to uni and study biology and on the other they make me wanna travel non stop for every single second that I have left on this amazing planet. Thats definetly been the running thought of the week, the size of the world, the places and animals to see. I need to see everything, I need to keep the adventure going for as long as possible.

I just finished Huckleberry Finn and without a doubt
I will be building myself a raft and I will be going on a crazy Kon Tiki expedition

I am glad I have a bit of Eddie Vedder to listen to, the Into the Wild sound track does a good job at counter arguing the whole settling down thing. I read Hubert Wilkins bio while in Wellington, that is how you squeeze as much as possible into a life. Should I surround myself with books on travel and people that have great adventures that way I can justify a life of adventure? Its easy I suppose to get carried away in the moment while on the road but these thoughts have been with me for many years now.

Bloody Romans

Riding along in the hills listening to beautiful music, it does not get much better. Every single corner I turn has some thing new, some thing I have never seen before. Its the kind of goose bumps I get at a new dive site, not knowing the terrain or the animals. Never knowing what will swim by, I miss diving so much but this is easily quenching my thirst for new things.

I wanted to get the most out of my money but I think
I pushed the brake pads a bit too far

It does bug me how my brain keeps reminding me that at some stage I must settle, start working a "real" job and buy a house. Well, I suppose what I must work on is compromise, not a house but a boat will be as far as I would like to settle. Do these sort of thoughts get to you guys, am I alone on this one. I some times wonder is this one of the times I should listen to my soul and just keep going till I have been everywhere and seen it all. Would this be what I was born to do, just like some people are born to be home birds. Why is travelling the world seen as alternative?

It is actually worth defrosting the Nutella, yummy sambos

I held off posting because I had a feeling Toulouse would have some secrets to reveal. The centre is a mess of roads, foot paths and cycle paths that all seem to go in every direction. You would have to be born here to make sense of it, I simply sit and watch it all unfold. Office staff power walking to get back after lunch bumping into eachother. Homeless people with five dogs each begging for money. Everyone just seems to be so busy, meeting, kissing and bumping into each other. Ah the cafes, yep you bet I drank coffee in a just about all of them. Prices are a bit all over the place, from 3.20 to only 1.60 for a double espresso and the cheaper one with free internet computer, happy days. I finally have also found a good camping store, most of them are shit lifestyle sports ripoffs but there is a cracking one on the outskirts of Toulouse.

Coffee time, always

So I hoped onto the old metro, connected with a bus, bike free day today haa, and I was in outdoors heaven. The first girl told me I would have to wait 20 days for a spare tent pole, get a fucking grip, the shop was the most well stocked I have ever seen, next. It took a while but I eventually found a staff member that could be bothered to really help me fix the pole. He didnt have a spare one but cut another one to the right size and its a perfect fit now, he also cut a couple of extra poles for me to keep as spares, extra elastic band stuff and a connector all for free. Got a few other bits and pieces to fix gear and a maintanence kit for my stove and I am ready to rock and roll all over the place. Best of all the dude and his girlfriend invited me to stay in their house tomorrow night, its the right distance and the right direction so I am there amigo haaa.

I am probably over doing the whole stove thing
but I truly love her

I have been looking at Andorra for a long time now on my map. Jean claude and Hisuk have recomended a trip along a canal which a I will do for a day. I have a mountain range in front of me, my skinny legs are already yelling at me to take the flat canal to the coast and go around. But my soul is screaming to go to the mountains and man if you want the big views ye gotta drag your ass up a hill at some stage.

what a wonderful world...