This is the end of this part of my trip, I'm leaving Island Kea and the Blue Water Rally here.

I've got a long stay visa for Australia, and I'm intending to fulfil and 11 year old dream, whilst here on Örnen in 1999 we hired a car and drove south from Darwin to the Lichfiled National Park the scenery was weird but amazing. The road signs read things like 3000km to Melbourne. The heat the dust. The road train overtaking (yikes Scoob). The lines of giant tombstone like cathedral termites. I didn't want to drive back to Darwin I wanted to carry on. Some times you've got to follow the road.

I didn't I was seriously thinking of leaving Örnen here 11 years ago, I'd have been eligible at 24 to stay for a year and work here. Thorjorn talked me into staying on board, and made me an offer I couldn't refuse and I went home from Thailand. I like Australia, a lot, had I got off here who knows which way my life would have gone, but it might well have been very radically differnet, maybe I'd have never come home? Its the only time that trip I thought of getting off, I don't for a second regret carrying on on Örnen, but this time its time to make the other choise.

Well I'm torn between looking forward to Australia, and wishing I was going on. I'm going to miss Steve and Katrin and the rest of the rallyists. Mei and Matt's wedding in Penang has made me want to go back to Asia. I still do, but for me the road lies south, into the interior of Australia. Probably in a banger, even a 20 year old van with millions of miles on the clock and (hopfully) on its second engine, appears expensive. We shall see what I can get. But its not gonna be pretty, or I suspect reliable.

Its gonna be fun! I've not owned a car for 12 years. I'm looking forward to it. Real men drive bangers. Yes I know I've been horrid about cars, that's england, where they're only good for towing a sailing dinghy most of the time. Here its differnet.