An economic dawn?

After two years of economic doom and gloom this week’s headlines were filled with unexpected good news. It seems only right that I document this story after two years of blogging about the global recession’s impact. Much to the surprise of nation’s financial commentators, the UK’s economy grew 0.8% in quarter ending September 30. This was double the most optimistic predictions and follows an impressive second quarter of 1.2% growth rate.

This means that, since the start of 2010, the UK’s economy has rebounded at an impressive annualized rate of 3.2%. Economists say this trend is significantly stronger than the recovery in the early 1990s seen after the nation’s last recession. This news also came at a perfect time for the Government. Only six days earlier, on October 20, it had announced details of plans to slash public sector spending by an average of 19%. At least 490,000 public sector jobs are expected to go over the next three years.

Many commentators were up in arms about the size and scale of the proposed cuts. Claims were made that the private sector couldn’t create jobs fast enough to avoid further economic hardship. The scale of the cuts was such that they’d damage the nation’s long-term growth prospects and leave a generation of long-term unemployed in their wake. This week’s news has undermined the more extreme claims. It simply reinforced the credibility of rising employment figures published a week earlier. In the three months to August the number of people in work rose by 178,000.


On a purely selfish note I’m pleased to see positive economic news finally emerging. It means the value of the Sterling will slowly begin to climb above its current low point. Over the course of the recession, the Sterling fell dramatically in value against the Australian dollar. By last month the rate had sunk as low as £1.00 = A$1.60. Exactly two years earlier we’d been getting one additional Australian dollar for every pound exchanged. Believe me when I say that you really do notice the absence of a dollar! Today, you receive A$1,000 less for every £1,000 you convert.

Naturally, as we prepare to return to Australia, the exchange rate is very much on our minds. Garry and I have worked hard to bank respectable savings. With so much at stake we’ll be forced to leave much of this money in the UK until the rate bounces back. Here in Swiss Cottage, the Government isn’t the only party pinning its hopes on a strong recovery.

Bruges

I have a confession. Until we move to Europe I’d never heard of Bruges and its picturesque network of canals. I can now safely declare that my ignorance has been suitably rectified.. Two weeks ago Garry and I caught a Eurostar train from St Pancreas station to Brussels and on to Bruges for a brief weekend excursion. As always Eurostar had us in the heart of Europe in no time at all. I still marvel at the ease with which we’re able to reach France and Belgium.

We arrived in Bruges shortly after 11pm on Friday only to be greeted by steady rain. At first the weather was nothing more than a mild inconvenience as we’d book accommodation within walking distance. However we soon discovered that the street leading to our hotel was under serious repair, making the route an obstacle course of rubble, mud and uneven surfaces. Of course Garry wasn’t least bit fazed by our wet, late-night gauntlet. Thanks to his recent abdominal surgery I’d been assigned to luggage duty.


Fortunately, the poor weather proved fleeting. As dawn broke on Saturday we were greeted by cloudy skies and intermittent sunshine. We were also surprised to discover a street market had sprung up overnight outside our hotel window. After breakfast we took time to wander through the market’s many stalls. Alongside the regular offering of clothing, handicraft and trinkets we come across some fascinating stalls. Two in particular captured my imagination.

Just metres from our hotel room we encountered a couple selling chickens, ducks and geese. The animals were housed in a row of cages with dozens more stacked in the background. The market’s produce section was also an eye-opener. Most stall holders operated from clever custom-designed trailers. The engineering alone was impressive. Many had built-in display shelves, gas ovens and rotisserie racks cooking all manner of delicious meals.


However, the market’s most arresting sight wasn’t the man-handling of chooks and rabbits. It was a giant anatomically-correct 20-metre long naked man floating over the entire scene. Yes – all his bloke bits were in place, dangling over the curious crowd. I later learnt that the helium sculpture was a self-portrait of its Polish artist, Pawel Althamer and was the centre piece of a festival celebrating central European art. His temporary exhibit was scheduled to float over the town for a week. Unfortunately, strong winds on Saturday night ripped its skin, leaving only an eerie giant head still intact the following morning. I’m sure there’s a metaphor there for lovers of art.


Most of our first day in Bruges was spent wandering its medieval heart. The beautifully preserved town center is a truly impressive sight. We soaked up street after street of 18th Century buildings, each capped by classic stepped eaves that just screamed Benelux. Many of the elegant facades included small nooks, often holding religious icons. This has to be one of Europe’s most attractive locations.

We chose a small local restaurant for dinner on Saturday evening. I was keen to try a few local delicacies including Flemish beef stew Cooked in dark beer. We both wanted to also try the local beer, brewed in a micro-brewery sited on the edge of a central canal. Naturally, being in the self-proclaimed chocolate capital of Europe, we had to finish the meal with a delicious chocolate fondue.


Our final day in Bruges was spent wandering its stunning canals. Once again, the surrounding urban landscape has been carefully preserved, giving my camera a suitably thorough workout. We’d also planned on taking one of the many canal tours endlessly plying its waters in sleek speedboats. However, we soon realized the tours lasted all of 15 minutes, covering the same canal route we’d traversed on foot. We soon changed our plans and walked to the edge of the old town where a broad canal circles the town. This was once a moat that wrapped around the city’s defense medieval wall.


Today, all that remains of the 13th Century wall is this waterway, bridged in several place by dramatic gate towers. Perhaps the most impressive of these is Kruispoort which dates from the beginning of the 15th Century. Nearby postcard-perfect, windmills can also be found perched on a row of artificial mounds that once formed part of the defensive wall.

Lunch was spent at a café we’d encountered earlier in the day sitting in sunshine on the banks of a quiet canal. I enjoyed a large bowl of mussels, steamed in white wine, celery and garlic. Delicious! Afterwards we forced ourselves to sample the wares of several chocolatiers before making our way back to the station and on to London. Our departure was perfectly timed. Within hours of our departure Belgian railway workers went on strike, paralyzing the nation's network and forcing Eurostar to cancel trains to and from Brussels.

Bruges; coming soon

We had a wonderful weekend in Bruges last week. I'll share images and an update soon. However, the photo accompanying this post should be confirmation enough that Garry continues to make solid progress from his surgery.

Cold weather, cold water. Hello winter!

Winter is near. Two recent incidents have brought this harsh reality. Last week, almost like clockwork (as has been our experience for the last three years), our hot water system went on the blink. We had no hot water for four days until repairs were finally completed. Naturally this misfortune coincided with a marked drop in daily temperatures. In fact, last night the overnight temperature fell below zero in parts of London. Tonight we'll be enjoying a relatively balmy 4°C. I also read today that the daytime high on Monday will be a frigid 1°C.


I thought it somewhat ironic that as our heating system went on the blink last week the road outside the house was briefly too hot to walk on. The local council spent the week stripping and resurfacing the street. Mid-week I wandered out of our front door and almost stepped onto scalding hot tar laid minutes earlier. We now have a shiny black street without potholes and unexpected humps.

Camden Council, our local authority, spends almost £9 million annually on road maintaining almost 12,000 roads and laneways. Interestingly, council statistics also show that at least 33% of its footpath are in need of repair every year. However, my favourite statistics is the revelation that the council maintains 11,000 streetlights. Who would have known?

Scaled Composites temptation

Regular readers will recall that last December I attended the unveiling of Virgin Galactic’s new sub-orbital spacecraft, the VSS Enterprise. The twin-tail vehicle is designed to carry six commercial passengers and two crew in a ballistic trajectory out of the Earth’s atmosphere. The astronauts will travel more than three times the speed of sound, soaring to a height of 110 kilometres before experiencing four minutes of weightlessness – all for the humble price of US$200,000 per person.

Over the weekend Virgin Galactic’s test flight program achieved another critical milestone. It conducted the first piloted gliding flight of the VSS Enterprise. On Sunday the winged craft was released from the WhiteKnightTwo carrier airplane at an altitude of 45,000 feet above the Mojave Desert. It successfully glided to a flawless touchdown eleven minutes later. The craft was not equipped with a rocket motor for test drop.

The video highlights are spectacular. Scaled Composites, its designer, has created an amazing rocketplane. You can clearly see that the craft generates some impressive aerodynamic lift. Will Whitehorn, Virgin Galactic’s President, later told me its lift-to-drag ratio has proved better than computer models predicted. We now know it flies as well as it looks. 

I’m sorely tempted to sign up for a flight now having seen how stable VSS Enterprise is in flight. I've also been offered a discounted ticket by Virgin Galatic's CEO.  However, even at US$180,000, it's still not cheap. Of course, Garry sensibly reminds me to pay off the mortgage on our Sydney apartment first. Oh the temptation!

Only 61 days remain

The countdown to our departure from the UK reached another milestone today. Exactly 61 days, or two months, remain until we cease to be European residents. Final preparations for our relocation back to Australia are now in full swing. We've interviewed five different removal companies over the last month and will chose one this week. I've formally notified our landlord that we won't be renewing our lease at Swiss Cottage. Garry has begun rummaging through our worldly possessions and identifyng things to discard. Every supermarket trip now involves debate about whether a particular grocery item will be depleted before we leave. In the weeks ahead there are utilities and subscriptions to cancel, bank accounts to consolidate and minor repairs to complete.

Our UK adventures also reached another milestone last week. On October 8 we celebrated the fifth anniversary of our original departure from Sydney, Australia that kicked off our ex-pat adventures. Half a decade on that emotional airport farewell has become a distant memory. Thank goodness for this blog. As I read through the earliest postings I'nm reminded about all manner of special moments. We're scheduled to arrive back at Kingsford Smith International airport on January 15, 2011; five years, three months and five days after our European adventure first began.

Condemned

On September 4 a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Christchurch, New Zealand's second largest city, shortly after 4.35am. An impressive four metres (13 ft) of sideways movement occured along a previously unknown faultline 30 kilometres west of the city. It was miracle that nobody was killed. Earlier in year an equally powerful earthquake in Hati killed more than 200,000 people. While no lives were lost in Christchurch an estimated NZ$4 billion of damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure has occurred. To date more than 86,000 compensation claims have been lodged with the New Zealand Government's Earthquake Commission, at least 70,000 in Christchurch alone.

A month later the city continues to be rattled by aftershocks. More than 1500 seismic events have been recorded since the main event, some large enough to cause their own damage. As recently as last Monday the city was jolted by magnitude five aftershock. This is the fifth such aftershock registering magnitude five or greater. As a child I experienced a 4.1 magnitude quake which was frightening enough. This particular quake stuck the southern New Zealand city of Dunedin on evening of April 4, 1974. I distinctly recall my bedroom shaking violently as my parents came racing down the hall yelling for us stand under a door frame.

For a nation that straddles two major Pacific Ocean faultlines, earthquakes are considered a fact of life in New Zealand. I recall being taught survival skills at school (climb under your desk indoors or seek shelter in a doorway) and the local phone book had pages of earthquake emergency information. However, speculation about earthquake damage generally focuses on Wellington, the nation's capital. The city is nestled in the shadow of steep hills that literally trace a series of faultlines for several miles. As a result, the Christchurch quake came as a complete surprise for most people.

PHOTOS: Reproduced from the New Zealand Herald's archive.

This week the Christchurch quake struck a very sobering personal footnote. My mother was born in Christchurch and my father's family have equally strong ties to the area. I've visited the city many times, most recently in 2007. On this last visit I stayed with my Auntie Pam and caught up with cousins who live locally. I learnt today that my Aunt's house, in the suburb of Bexley, has been inspected by an insurance assessor and subsequently condemned. While deemed fit to live it, it's consider structurally compromised and will have to be demolished.

Bexley was scene of dramatic soil liquefaction during the quake. This spectacular phenomenon occurs whenever soil loses its natural stiffness when placed under extreme stress. Reclaimed coastal land and drained wetlands are particularly vulnerable to liquefaction as they generally retain a level of residual groundwater. Bexley is built on large tracts of drained swamp. This meant that at the height of the quake residents witnessed 'volcanoes' of silt and sewerage erupting from the ground or bursting through their floor boards.

More than one hundred homes, almost a quarter of the suburb, were rendered immediately uninhabitable as a result of subsidence and silt flows. Other homes, like Pam's, appeared to survive relatively unscathed. She had a few cracks to repair and interior doors needed a layer shaved off their top edge before they'd close. However, the building's entire foundation slab has tilted and thus the house is no longer stable. There is now talk of the entire suburb being demolished and future development banned. Poor Pam has my heart-felt sympathy.


UPDATE: October 13
Another 5.0 magnitude aftershock struck Christchurch overnight.

UPDATE: October 19
Yet another 5.0 magnitude aftershock has been reported in Christchurch today.

The golden lunch hour

Lunch was interrupted without warning today by the arrival of London’s air ambulance helicopter outside my office. My company occupies the top floor of the building. This meant that as the ambulance descended past our windows the commercial hum of our office was suddenly drowned out by the pulsating thunder of it powerful rotors. At first we thought its arrival was publicity stunt. However our excitement sooner turned to horror as the realization of its true mission unfolded.

Less than 200 metres away, on Hammersmith High Street, a car had struck a cyclist. The driver, clearly in shock, then swerved on to the pavement and hit several pedestrians before crashing into the front windows of a discount supermarket. News stories later reported that nobody had suffered a life-threatening injury. However, those us in the office endured an anxious wait for everyone to return from lunch. It was more than hour before we knew our entire team was safe.

The entire experience, coming so soon on the heels of Garry’s hospital admission, reminded me again how fragile life can be. It was heart-wrenching to think that someone in Hammersmith had gone into town today and, without warning, found their health and well-being shattered within seconds. As some at work later said, ”Take a moment to hug your kids every morning. You never know what may happen next.”


I must confess that the air ambulance is an impressive machine. It’s painted a brilliant vermillion colour (the hue of its corporate sponsor; the Virgin Group). It’s based at Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, about 13 kilometres east of Hammersmith. Incredibly it takes the helicopter less than 12 minutes from take-off to landing at most destinations. This means that a trauma doctor can reach a seriously injured person within the first Golden Hour, dramatically increasing their chance of survival.

Operating the ambulance is an impressive affair. It costs at least £5000 a day to operate. The Civil Aviation Authority grants the crew special permission to land anywhere they consider it safe at any time. With almost ten million people living within its reach, the helicopter is very busy. In 2009 it completed 1741 missions, an average of almost five calls a day.

UPDATE: October 27
The air ambulance helicopter reappeared outside the office today. The local paper later reported that a man had fallen from a roof-top balcony barely 100 metres from our office. It's hard to believe we've seen it twice in less than a fortnight.

High speed chocolate excursion

Garry continues to make steady progress. He started working from home today, exactly three weeks after his surgery. At this rate our weekend in Bruges should proceed as orginally as scheduled. We booked a cheap Eurostar weekend excursion several months ago, expecting mid-October to be relatively quiet. Bruges has been on our list of places to visit from the moment we first got wind of its picturesque canals and medieval buildings.

The wealth that built Bruges originally came from a prosperous wool market and affiliated weaving industry. At its height it was considered to be the world’s preeminent commerce centre; the New York of its time. For example it was operating a trading exchange called the Bourse (often described as the world’s first stock exchange) as early as 1309. These days Bruges is better known as the chocolate capital of Europe. It holds an annual chocolate festival and is home to a popular chocolate museum.

It’s also become a lot more accessible from London since Eurostar trains began running into St Pancreas Station, just 15 minutes from our front door. Once on board the train takes less than two hours to reach Brussels where a cross platform change soon has you on a local train to Bruges. We do the entire journey door to door in little more than 3.5 hours.

Amazon.com; the ultimate sign of recovery?

Garry’s recovery is steadily continuing. Today the last of his surgery staples were finally removed. He’s clearly on the improve. Garry’s become increasingly mobile as his stride regains its more youthful gait. For days after first leaving hospital Garry was constantly stooped over, shuffling around like an old man. Yesterday he even started talking about working from home next week.

A return to work is probably well timed as Garry appears to have been constantly shopping online. Of course he always claims everything's an essential item that either he or the household desperately needs stuff like; printer cartridges, linen and electric toothbrushes. It’s a relief to see him returning to normal.

It is true that there are a few one-off essentail purchases cropping up. For example,while Garry was in hospital I had the car die on me. I'd driven to the local supermarket to buy him a few hospital essentials such as shower gel and slippers. Astonishingly, slippers were nowhere to found.

As I returned to the car in defeat my frustration was compounded after it failed to start. My stress levels subsequently rose through the roof as a rather forlorn Garry began calling, asking why I was taking so long to visit him in hospital. Fortunately, the AA breakdown man arrived within an hour and swiftly diagnosed a faulty battery. I shouldn't have been surprised. The car is six years old and still had its original battery installed. We're now £99.99 poorer.

Austerity blues

A 24-hour strike has been called on Monday across the Underground network. It’s the second strike in a month as unions fight plans to close ticket offices and cut 800 jobs. Another two strikes are threatened in the months ahead if the dispute isn’t resolved. Today’s paper was also reporting news of a two-day strike at the BBC. Journalists, technicians and other broadcast staff are due walk out on October 5 and 6 over a growing pension dispute.

Such protests appear to be on the rise throughout Europe as Governments begin implementing increasingly painful austerity plans. On Wednesday a general strike was called in Spain, while protests against austerity measures were held in Greece, Italy, the Irish Republic and Latvia. France has also witnessed angry protests against a planned increase in the minimum retirement age.

Such protests seem dangerously devoid of reality as European Governments continue chalking up staggering deficits. Yesterday the Irish Government announced that its bail-out of the nation’s banks had risen to 45billion euros. The increase will see the government run a budget deficit equivalent to 32% of GDP this year. One statistic really captured my imagination; each Irish taxpayer has forked out the equivalent of 22,500 euros to keep Ireland’s banks solvent.

Elswhere, France has already announced plans to cut spending by 45billion euros over the next three years. The German government has proposed plans to cut its budget deficit by a record 80billion euros. The Italian government has approved austerity measures worth 24billion euros over the next two years. Spain has announced spending cuts of at least 8% and on it goes.

In the UK, on October 21, the Government will announce the results of its ambitious spending review. Almost every Government department will outline proposed spending cuts between 25% and 40% over a four-year period. Once agreed these measures will be progressively introduced starting early next year.

It's clear that strikes and protests will be an increasingly dominant news theme in the months ahead.

The English Patient

After nine days at Royal Free Hampstead hospital Garry's finally been discharged. Half of his surgery staples have been removed and the scar is healing well. He's now back at home camped out on the sofa surrounded by plenty of creature comforts. As a result, my twice daily jaunts up the nearby hill to see Garry have been transformed into an equally active home help service.

I'm trying not to think about how we'd be checking into a hotel in Southern France right about now had life not thrown us a curve-ball. However, Garry's in one piece (minus a small segment) and that's ultimately what counts.

We won't be going to Toulouse!

We’re giving the National Health Service (NHS) a solid test drive this week. Garry was taken ill on Tuesday and then admitted to hospital 36-hours later suffering acute appendicitis. Unfortunately, last night, just hours before he was due to go into surgery his inflamed appendix burst. A relatively routine operation quickly turned into a five-hour marathon before he returned to the ward shortly after dawn.

The doctor told Garry he’ll be in the hospital until at least Sunday. Fortunately he’s recovering well, with tubes sprouting everywhere and lots of fancy machines to keep him company. When I saw him this afternoon boredom was setting in which seemed like a rather promising sign of recovery.

His bedside TV isn't the only entertainment on offer in Garry's ward. Directly opposite him is an older gentleman who seemed hell-bent on disparaging every aspect of the NHS currently at his disposal, ensuring all within earshot hear his numerous, petty complaints.

Royal living

Buckingham Palace is one of the world’s last remaining royal palaces. More than 450 people can be found at work most days coordinating The Queen’s ceremonial duties, maintaining the building and grounds and running the royal establishment. Many of the official duties staged at the palace take place in one of its 19 state rooms. Every Summer these majestic, gilded rooms are opened to the public for two months while the Queen holidays at Balmoral Castle. These tours are a recent development. They were originally used to pay for a five-year, £37 million restoration of Windsor Castle undertaken after a devastating fire in November 1992.


Beyond the state rooms are another 52 royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms. These remain off limits at all times. Today Garry and I spent a wonderfully sunny afternoon touring the Palace’s state rooms and gardens. We’d bought the tickets months ago and they had to be used before the end of September. We couldn’t have picked a better day to visit. The warm weather meant that doors and windows were open throughout the palace, offering glimpses of the grounds and giving the stunning, ornate rooms an airy feeling.

The tour gives visitors surprisingly generous access to its west wing. We were able to view the Grand Hall, climb the genuinely Grand Staircase and stand in the Throne Room; venue for many of royalty’s most famous family portraits. Each room was a picture to behold. Even the Ballroom was a highlight. Here the knighting sword used for investitures was on display. Perhaps the most impressive rooms were the State Dining Room and the White Drawing Room. To my eye the design and decoration felt more coherent and pleasing than any other room.


It’s easy to see why the palace’s construction and fitting had cost a heart-stopping £800,000 by the time the first royal, Queen Victoria, took up residence in 1837. John Nash, the appointed architect, originally estimated his work would cost £252,690. Millions more has been spent since finishing incomplete rooms, updating others and undertaking major restoration. The last major building phase was completed in 1913 when the current Mall façade was clad in durable Portland stone.


Today’s tour exited the palace via its West Front. This grand facade opens onto a generous 73 metre long terrace overlooking the private gardens. The gardens themselves are an impressive sight. They cover 16-hectres and include a lake, open lawns and shaded tree-lined pathways; all offering a tranquil green oasis in heart of central London. It’s here that The Queen hosts up to five garden parties every Summer, attended by eight thousand people. For the rest of year, the expansive lawn acts as her majesty’s private helipad.


We finished our day at the Palace with a tour of the Royal Mews. This complex, also designed by Nash, is where the royal carriages and limousines are stored; and the carriage horses are stabled. Perhaps the most impressive item on display here is the Gold State Stage. This rococo gilt coach is by used by the monarch for coronations, weddings and jubilee celebrations. It was presented to George III in 1760 and weighs a staggering four tones. The gilt vehicle is a remarkable sight with its painted panels, cherubs and grand Triton statues. Rumour has it the ride is incredibly uncomfortable. Sometimes royal life only looks grand.

When working hours aren't for work

There’s one difference between Australia and the UK that’s always mystified me. No matter where I am and no matter what the time of day there are always people out and about. The demographic on the streets is also surprisingly varied; you see people of all ages and gender, often of working age. This always begs the question; how do they survive? If they’re not working what’s the source of their income?

The sense that there's always someone around is reinforced by the fact that very few companies, utilities and suppliers are willing to arrange delivery or visit your home out of business hours, or on the weekend. There's a universal expectation that someone's at home between 9.00am and 5.00pm. In Australia, most organizations offer after hour’s delivery as standard practice and most trades people or service providers offer to meet out of business hours.

Today I saw some interesting statistics that go some way to solving this mystery. Someone is at home – including many of working age. In the three months to June, 22.9% of Inner London households had no one working. Nationwide, one fifth of households (19.1%) have no one working; 3.9 million in total. Since last year the current tally has risen by an incredible 148,000 households. At least 841,000 of these households are classified as workless because everyone over 16 is classified as sick, injured or disabled.

The source of their income? It’s the Government. A staggering £192 billion in welfare payments is forked out every year. Even more incredibly, this tally grew by £60 billion over the last decade. That is, it almost doubled. It's no surprise to subsequently learn that the number of households where no one works is now at an all time high.

Chatty Man

A couple of years ago I managed to humiliate myself on national television. My Graham Norton debut earned me a priority seating in the audience of another television production. It’s taken Garry and I two years to finally get our act together and head down to the London Studios at Southbank. On Wednesday evening we sat in on the filming of Chatty Man, a talk show hosted by comedian Alan Carr.

It’s always a bit hit and miss with these shows in terms of the guests you’ll see. We’ve always struck it lucky with an interesting line-up – that is until now. Wednesday’s guests weren’t exactly top of our Christmas Card list. I think we’re just not sufficiently British to appreciate their contribution to society. Fortunately, Alan Carr is a hilarious man - often just because he’s unbelievably camp – and so the evening wasn’t a complete wash.

We saw Russell Brand's fiancée, Katy Perry, perform her latest single Teenage Dream and Davina McCall stopped by to talk about hosting reality television series, Big Brother, for more than a decade. Sadly, we’re not Big Brother fans and so the gossip about the current series meant nothing to us, as did her reflections on past UK contestants.

However, we loved Paul O'Grady, another savagely camp comedian and former drag queen diva. He revealed that Julian Clary, yet another camp comedian (how many are there in Britain?), was his neighbour at his rural home in Kent. The images of these two comedians hanging over the fence in rubber boots made me chuckle.

Monsoonal India

Monsoon rains sweep across India every year between June and September. This unique weather phenomenon is the result of an interplay between three prominent geographic features; the vast deserts of northern India, the towering Himalayas and the warm Indian Ocean. As the hot Summer sun heats the nation's Thar desert and the surrounding land to scorching temperatures (i.e. an average temperature of 41C each day) the resulting low pressure draws vast streams of moisture-laden air in from the coast.

The air stream then splits in two as it sweeps around high ground in south-central India known as the Western Ghats. One stream passes over Mumbai and moves towards Delhi while the other heads east, flowing up the Bay of Bengal toward Kolkata. Both air streams eventually encounter the Himalayas range, whose great height forces them to stall. As they rise in place over India they release large volumes of rain. Average rainfall rises swiftly from as little as 20 millimetres per month to more than 300 millimetres.

Incredibly, the arrival of the Monsoon is highly predictable. Every year it reaches the coast of the southern state of Kerala around June 1 and Mumbai approximately 10 days later. Delhi usually receives its first Monsoon weather by June 29. Within weeks the rest of India is soon covered by Monsoonal conditions. Despite more than half a dozen business trips to India I’ve never travelled during Monsoon season. Therefore, this month’s trip to India was a new experience even for me. Garry came with me on what was his inaugural visit to the sub-continent.


As expected, we saw plenty of rain, but fortunately, good weather prevailed whenever we visited the country's most iconic locations. I put this down to good luck rather than good planning as this year’s monsoon has been particularly wet. With two weeks left to go Delhi has already reported its heaviest monsoon rainfall for more than a decade.

In fact, the last day I was in Delhi the Yamuna River rose above the level of stormwater outlets along its banks and water swiftly inundated parts of the city. The morning papers were full of images of buses flooded up to their windscreen. However, throughout my time in Delhi, localised flooding was a common sight. Extensive construction work for the upcoming Commonwealth Games in October has resulted in poorly protected drains becoming clogged with earth and debris.


Over the next few days, I’ll post other highlights from our time in India. Stay tuned for photos and stories about:

• The staggering volumes of rain in Mumbai and the security paranoia enveloping its tourist hotels.
• Our marble-clad rooftop room at the Taj Lake Palace hotel, a former Maharajah summer residence in Udaipur.
• The beauty of the Taj Mahal and the red stone mystic of Fatehpur Sikri.
• The towering red walls of Agra Fort.
• Catching an express train in Delhi, trying the onboard meal and suffering acutely for days afterwards.

Check back regularly as I add live links to each bullet point above. Happy reading! And, "yes" that man really is carrying a load of red bricks on his head.


UPDATE: September 2024

Follow this link for a series of retrospective posts about my first time in India. This includes time in the Pink City of Jaipur and the holy city of Varanasi. 

Still on the run

It’s difficult not to associate health risks with travel in India. The monsoon season is notorious for generating a noticeable increase in water-borne and gastrointestinal infections and food served on the Indian railway network has an equally dubious hygiene reputation. These cliché health warnings are easy to believe when you see the conditions many street vendors operate under. The photo above was snapped from the window of our car in Agra and sadly isn’t atypical of scenes witnessed all over India. However, despite studiously avoiding street food and watching what I drink, I’ve always returned from India with some form of bowel aliment. This latest trip has proved no exception.

This week Garry and I have both returned from India with bowel problems. Garry endured a couple of days of diarrhea while I’m now enjoying my fifth day of the same symptoms. I suspect a meal we ate on the train back from Agra on Tuesday evening is the culprit. As a seasoned traveler I’d pre-ordered the vegetarian meals for us as part of our First Class booking. These tend to less risky than meat dishes. However, on this occasion the main menu image include a diary product, a high risk food you’re often encouraged to avoid. The knowing nods that colleagues subsequently gave me in Delhi the following day were hardly reassuring.


While the food onboard may have been questionable, the reliability of our train journeys to and from Agra cannot be questioned. We departed Delhi on time at the ungodly hour of 6.25am and arrived in Agra two hours later, less then three minutes behind schedule. The air-conditioned Shatabdi express train proved just as reliable that evening, returning us to Delhi at 10.30pm, 195kms away, exactly on schedule.

The train station in Delhi was just as I last remember it. Thousands upon thousands of people flowing continually along battered pedestrian footbridges, noisly crowding platforms and just generally loitering. No matter what the hour the assault of sights, sounds and smells always bring the colourful character of India to life.