It Was A Dark And Stormy Night ..

... And the captain said, "Spin us a yarn, Vic".

And the yarn began like this ...

It really was a dark and stormy night. We could hear the wind a-howlin' and the rain a bashin' on the windows and roof, but worst of all was the sound of the sea a-crashin' on the beach, which is remarkably near, and at an altitude only feet below our cabin.

I heard all this for most of the night because I was stricken yesterday, very suddenly, by a cold which amongst other things, impaired my breathing to a problematical level, and I therefore could not sleep. Not a new problem for me, as I have always been the world champion cold-catcher, but it does make the night rather long. There are worse things.

This morning the forecast here on the West Coast is for rain at a rate of 30 mm per hour (that is a remarkable amount of rain but the West Coast is famous for it). So the forecast and the cold conspired to persuade us not to go for a walk this morning. But, in the way of weather forecasting all over the world, the actuality is completely different to the forecast. The sun is blazing down. In a complete reversal of recent roles, Gay has just gone for a run and I have cried off, choosing instead to do this heavy session of blogging. It is not a bad thing to have a rest day every now and again. I hope to be on the road again tomorrow.