Bring Me My Bible: Tying Up Loose Ends: And: My First Music Choice For A Desert Island.

I am delighted to welcome you. We have successfully processed your details and congratulate you on being a new customer. Of coarse not me speaking, but the language used in a letter I received from the bank. You see, my new passport having arrived a week ago, I brought the passport straight to the bank for verification of my identity, and today the postman delivered a letter from the bank notifying me that I've been "successful" and they, the bank are "delighted to welcome me". Me, I'm on cloud nine. And to think, now they even congratulate me, when I ask myself why the bank wasn't delighted before and why they didn't look upon me as successful until now.

Bring me my bible! This calls for praise. No! no, I know what you're thinking: Sean has lost the plot. I can assure you I haven't. I haven't suddenly in my gratitude to the bank's providence become religious, nor anything of the sort. I mean bible in asmuch as a travel guide-book providing useful information on what to see, where to eat and stay when visiting a country. I used one when I visited Argentina the first time. Halfway through that trip I gave the guide-book away in order to save a bit of weight, but it was reassuring to have those first few months in a strange country until that country became less strange. I haven't felt the need to travel with a guide book since mainly because I've been returning to familiar countries, but lately a desire to visit a particular country has been rekindled.

It was in 1994 when living in London I met a girl from South Africa. She was living with an Aunt who worked in the South African embassy in Brussels and using Belgium as a base for traveling Europe. Brussels was an easy two hour commute on the Eurostar. When she returned home we lost contact, but since then I've had a desire to visit South Africa. It was on my list of places to visit in 2004, but I somehow opted for South America, where I returned two more times, bringing us up to the present.

It is a country with a bad reputation from a security standpoint and I also read that the standard of driving means the roads are extremely dangerous, but if you belief all you read, you would never go anywhere. It is only a thought at the moment, but if I go, I'll be taking along a guild-book and applying commonsense. I envisage flying from Spain about July time, and if all goes to plan, after a few months there, I can catch a flight from Cape Town to Buenos Aires. As I said before nothing is written in stone, I may really like the region and opt to tour further in neighbouring countries provided there's no visa restrictions, in so doing stay a lot longer. But it's hard to say anything for certain at the moment. And come July, I may opt not to go at all.

Well I've Been shopping. I bought a new raincoat, some new off-the-bike cloths, a new set of pedals and made a list of things to take based on what I took last time. And I've been scurrying around to tie up loose ends. Next week if nothing comes up, I should be back on the road.

I should get a haircut before leaving. A visit to Mr McMullan's Barbershop. Oh dear. I'm not sure he will be glad to see me again. Bring me my bible. So I can ask for forgiveness and cycle forth in the light.

Spring is on the way: snowdrops are out and I've even seen a daffodil, here between hedgerows near Downpatrick with big breaks in the cloud overhead.

Hawthorns trained by the wind near Tyrella beach.

An old fashion farmhouse and out buildings silhouetted in the dusk.

Messing around in the dark on Ardlea road, by the shore of inner Dundrum bay: a place called "Mount Panther"

Later in the week I reach the same spot as the previous shot before sunset.

View to the side just after taking the previous self-timed shot. In the extreme bottom left, is the causeway of the old "County Down Railway" closed in 1951.

German wheat beer and the radio is perfect after ride relaxation. I used a small bedside lamp to light up the cans and leave the rest in darkness.

I put a lot of though into whether to include the following video, which has absolutely nothing to do with cycle-touring, but in the end thought what the heck. Go ahead. So I'll introduce this feature-I hope you reader will like-by saying, I listen to BBC Radio 4 whenever I'm home; which has, a program running for about sixty years called "Desert Island Discs". Simply, a guest speaks about their life to a presenter and, periodically is asked to choose a piece of music. There's a little more to the program; but for now, here's my "Desert Island" first choice.

I've always been a Floyd fan and ready love the title song-or music suit of the "Atom Heart Mother" album. Here is a resent live version. Enjoy.

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