I Come From A Land Down Under

'We will be in Victoria Park slacklining'

I received this text whilst on a train from Newcastle that went through Cardiff and not far from Swansea. New South Wales has hundreds of place names named after the spots that white settlers called home. It was a James Edwards - whoever he was - who suggested the name Cardiff for the coal mining town north of Sydney.

I read the text again. At first I thought Borja meant 'slacking' as in being lazy, then 'Slacklining' - I thought of the film 'Flatliners' where American teenagers experiment on the edges of death. Unlikely in a park. The Internet of course came to the rescue. Slacklining involves suspending a flat rope between two trees, about a foot off the ground and walking along it.

I turned up and gave it a go and enjoyed the supportive atmosphere. As a teacher it is so important to be a student every so often to remind you of the conditions you need to learn. Total failure has to be expected and any improvement acknowledged. I found I got better in just two attempts. Borja and Natalie are from Spain and Ecuador respectively and were my hosts for my first night in Sydney. They live in the suburb of Gleeb along Sydney's long and curvy water front.

Sydney marks the end of my first section of solo cycling. I felt apprehensive of cycling alone. Not so much the risk of getting a puncture and not being able to get the tyre back, more the solitude. As well as having to explain the sticker saying 'Two Teachers etc' and what had happened to the other teacher. James, for those who are new to the adventure, had to go home as his mum has fallen ill. Lots of love to him and his family.

Two days ago I was cycling in the heat of the day along a dirt road that meant I could avoid the highway. The Pacific Highway has a very narrow shoulder in parts and colossal lorries that suck you in. Scary. Family friends Meurig and Mary Lou drove this highway in the 1980s when part of the highway was dirt road. Australia has developed a lot in the last 20 years. Despite being only the 52nd largest in terms of population, it is the 6th biggest in area, has the 12th biggest economy and the 5th biggest GDP per capita in the world. This is a rich country.

The song Down Under was playing on my phone. 'Doo doo doo do do do do.. I come from a Land Down Under, where women go and men chunder'. I had a moment when it struck me how glad I am to be doing this - solo - a life time opportunity. Listening to cheesy 80s hits, deafened by cicada and marvelling at the classic Australian colours - blue sky and red dirt.

I began my first solo cycling adventure in Brisbane, a former penal colony and it seems appropriate then that I ended it in another - Port Macquarie. Both were established to be harsher prisons where convicts were sent to be isolated from others. In operation for 10 years from 1821, Port Macquarie was run by Francis Allman. It was a harsh regime. So harsh in fact that if a man was found in possession of a piece of paper, the punishment dolled out was 100 lashes. Any attempt to communicate with others, which having paper would suggest was intended, would undermine the isolation that was the main part of the punishment.

This put my so called solitude in perspective. Solitude is not solitude when you have messages from friends and family at the end of every day.

Many Australians can trace their ancestry back to these original prisoners. In 18th century Britain there were were 221 crimes which carried the death penalty, most of these were crimes against property. In the 1800s more people opposed the death penalty on moral grounds and transportation was favoured. First to America until the War of Independence and then Australia.

At the start of the cycling adventure in Brisbane, I stayed with a friend Gerard who I used to swim with at Cally Masters swim club in London. He has now moved back to his home town. His great grandfather he has discovered was sent to Australia for horse theft from Scotland.

Gerard and Renee live in a suburb of Brisbane,Yeronga. This became my home for four nights and Gerard and Renee planned a fun packed weekend of jazz on the banks of the river, gingerbread making and swims in three different swim spots. One of these spots was in Gerard's local 50 metre outdoor pool. The coach for his Saturday morning session had just left and moved to London. Coincidentally my club is also looking for a new coach. I found a contact number and got in touch. Now that would be a turn up if our new Islington coach ends up being tracked down in Brisbane. What a small swimming world.

I had my hair cut (and coloured) in Yeronga by a girl who had not long finished school. She had gone to a youth school as she had not got on with public school. She was wise beyond her years. She said she enjoyed hairdressing because of the people she met and how that opened her eyes. She had just started doing things on her own - like going to festivals. She said to me 'it's good to get to used to being on your own. Ultimately we are born alone and die alone - we might as well get use to it.' Inspiring words at just the right time.

I headed out of the city on the train to the end of the Gold Coast line which dropped me 10 miles from the surfy, seaside spot of Coolangatta on the southerly end of the Gold Coast. The towns along the north coast - north of Sydney - are all about the beach. I cycled around 45 miles a day from Coolangatta, Byron Bay, Evans Head, Yamba, Grafton, Coffs Harbour, Kempsey, Port Maquarie and finally got a lift down the highway to Newcastle. In hostels I have met so many young people, a lot of Germans, but also people from Holland, Austria, France, Britain, Sweden, Canada and Ireland who are backpacking around the country. As friendly and fun as many of these folks are I was getting frustrated that I was not making connections with the real Australia.

So I was delighted when I arrived at the hostel I booked in Evans Head. A tiny two roomed surf shack run by fire volunteer John, living up to many Australian stereotypes. Tim was one of two guys renting his upstairs room. They were about to have a barbecue to celebrate the end of their project working in indigenous communities. Quicker than you could say gate crasher I was down the local supermarket buying frankfurters and the bottle shop to buy a bottle. Australian super markets don't sell booze. Had a great night around the fire learning about the project and more about the area.

The team, including local people and led by Jeff go to the homes of people in indigenous communities and assess whether they have adequate water supply, electricity and basic living standards. As a result of the survey a team then go back to fix things. Part of the philosophy of the project is that as a result of the visit something must be fixed, be it a broken tap or a loose floorboard. This follows the philosophy of New Zealand born, Australian eye doctor and philanthropist Fred Hollows. He said:

'I believe the basic attribute of mankind is to look after one another'.

As well as working in Nepal and other developing countries preventing blindness and eye disease he was very concerned about the difference in Aborigines' life expectancy - 20 years less than white Australians. A truly shocking statistic. This project, funded by the New South Wales government has a 40% success rate in reducing the spread of contagious diseases. A practical way of making a difference.

Now with the meeting real Australians bug perhaps I was more receptive to meeting Greg who I met on the ferry across the Clarence River at Lawrence. He told me that Lawrence was once the biggest town on the coast and the centre of the cedar logging industry. He went home to get a history book about the area then caught up with me. He also told me that the bull sharks come up the river to breed so I decided not to add this to my swim spots. We had our lunch together, he had a pie - they love their pies here - and I had sweaty cheese sarnies and he told me about how there was a problem with 'too many cultures' in Australia. A euphemism I am sure. I described the melting pot that is London with pride.

Later that same day I stopped for the night at Grafton at a pub with rooms. It was a Friday and weekend drinkers were beginning to gather. I got out of my Lycra and went to have a shandy with the locals. Bill Bishop invited me to join him and his friends. This became my spot for the evening. Bill and another local Sandra really looked after me and before long Bill had insisted that I stay with his friend Marty, another publican in Coffs Harbour. He had also offered to pick me up to drive me to Newcastle a few days later so I could be in Sydney to meet my parents when they arrive for Christmas. He did just that. Thanks Bill. The chain of helping hands continued. Sandra has phoned me every day since to check on my progress.

Billy's mate Marty looked after me in Coff's Harbour. Another surfy town Marty picked me up at 8 in the morning for a tour around the area on the back of his Harley Davidson. What a way to see a place and the bike made light of the hills. We stopped at a look out high in the banana plantations. Bananas are still exported from this area and are said to have a great flavour. We then went for a swim in the harbour around the pier.


I thought before I came to Australia that I wouldn't be able to swim much because of the sharks and crocodiles. In fact crocodiles are found in the more tropical north and the likelihood of being eaten by a shark is very small. Sandra used to live in Byron Bay. When she went into hospital to give birth to her daughter in 1982 it was the same time as a fatal shark attack of a surfer. Everyone in the hospitall was talking about the horrific incident. Now the memory of that attack has faded and Byron is awash with wannabe surfers. There were only three shark attacks in New South Wales in 2011, though 15 in 2008. Each year sharks kill far fewer than the number who die from bee stings, dog bites or lightning in the world. There are more attacks in the US than in Australia but more fatal attacks in Australia. None the less, just to be safe, I have avoided swimming at dawn and dusk or on my own.

Last week the results of the 2010 census of the UK were published. It included some interesting changes about Britain. London is made up of 45% of people who describe themselves as white British whereas the rest of the country is 80%. Some commentators in Britain have expressed concern that London no longer represents the rest of Britain. Has it ever? I considered the irony of this whilst in a country colonised by the Brits. Australia only became Australia in 1901. Aborigines now make up 2.3% of the Australian population the number is roughly the same as when the British arrived. Anthropologists think Aborigines were in Australia at least 40,000 or more years ago. Compare that with the arrival of Maori people in New Zealand in 1000. There are hundreds of different groups within that with over 150 different languages most of which are in danger of dying out.

When Australia first federated in 1901 the new government was keen to maintain the British character of the colony. Despite the British government's reluctance, Jo Chamberlain, the then colonial secretary agreed to these laws saying in 1897:

"We quite sympathise with the determination...of these colonies...that there should not be an influx of people alien in civilisation, alien in religion, alien in customs, whose influx..would seriously interfere with the legitimate rights of the existing labouring population."

He might well have been talking about the arrival of the British in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The Autralian Labor Party agreed to support the new government only if the Immigration Restriction Act of 1901 was passed. The government avoided out and out racism and instead hid behind a language test as a way of excluding particularly Japanese, Chinese and Pacific migrants. The 1920s saw an increased attempt to maintain the white character of Australia. Australian Prime Minister, Stanley Bruce said in 1925:

"We intend to keep this country white and not allow its peoples to be faced with the problems that at present are practically insoluble in many parts of the world."

That was before the very white Adolf Hitler caused a number of problems all over the world.

The most recent immigration issue in Australia is to do with asylum seekers. Under the previous government the Labor Party was against having overseas detention centres. Julia Gillard, who is from Barry in the original South Wales is in negotiation to open a new centre in Malaysia. There are 4500 people seeking asylum detained in camps in mainland Australia and a further 1500 on Christmas island. New Zealanders on the other hand can easily immigrate to Australia and account for 20% of Australian immigration. Brits account for 8%, China 11% and India 8%.

There are no easy answers to righting the wrongs of the past. The more you learn about society the more complex the issues often can seem. However seeking the simple ways to enable people to see that human beings really are the same even though it is our differences that help us make connections.

As I was writing this I blog a fellow cyclist spotted my bike outside a cafe on Broadway in Sydney. Paul and his partner Joseph are leaving for Cambodia tomorrow for a cycling tour. Paul gave me tips for cycling in Thailand and our paths may cross when I head there in January.

Now though it is time for a summer Christmas with the folks in Sydney and New Year in Melbourne. So the legs get a rest though I am keen to seek out as many swimming spots as possible. Next on the cycling plan is the Great Ocean Road.

As for understanding Australia, or indeed the world, I know I have only just begun. And perhaps Australia is just as well summed up in another line from the same song:

'He just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich.'

Happy Christmas and a big thank you to everyone who has taken an interest in my journey and photos this year. Your support has encouraged me to keep writing and pedalling.

I'm loving Angels instead

It is not every day you find yourself on a remote Pacific island discussing an evacuation of your hostel due to a tsunami warning. The earthquake in British Columbia had tsunami sirens sounding signalling a need to move to higher ground on the Hawaiian islands. It reminded me of many other crises I have faced through work like when we had a mad man on the roof. Usual rules apply - keep calm, make a decision based on the best information available and communicate clearly. There were 20 of us who evacuated en masse to the lobby of the Holiday Inn. There are worse places to hang out and they were - in fairness - very tolerant of our beer drinking. Thankfully the waves didn't amount to much and today island life continues as normal.

James and I are here on a break from cycling meeting up with friends and loved ones who have flown out to see us. It is wonderful to be around familiar faces as it can be hard to make connections in a new place.

Los Angeles is a massive sprawling city. I knew I was only there for a short time and was unsure of how to make the most of my visit. Like London, LA can be overwhelming. What does it mean to 'do' a city? Having driven down from San Francisco I did not want to experience LA by car. Reunited with cycling buddy James, we were lucky enough to stay in a friend's apartment near the marina. Thanks Mari Davies.

Santa Monica and Venice Beach are neighbouring and merging communities on the coast of LA. They reminded me of Islington and Camden by the sea. Santa Monica is upscale and Venice Beach has medical marijuana on sale with people dressed in green giving out cards. Most people do drive but they also cycle and walk along the beach which go to make these communities feel friendly and safe.

I was lucky to be invited to join a morning ocean swim with a friend Michael who has run 13 marathons, the last in 2 hours and 39 minutes.

I got to the car lot at 645am as planned. I scrambled around in my spare change to fine money for a parking ticket. Another guy politely asked the homeless guy who was sleeping by the meter to move out of the way.

So there I was in my bikini, in a dark LA car park.

I started talking to people in the lot who were putting on wet suits (triathletes love a wet suit) and soon identified the swimmers.

The sun was just rising. The ocean looked calm and as soon as I put my feet in the water I was relieved that it was relatively (relative to San Francisco Bay and any British water) warm. Through the break waters and out to a buoy. These guys could swim. We swam along the beach toward the candy coloured lights of Santa Monica pier.

There is something about the feeling of swimming that feels incredibly primitive, especially swimming with others. You have company and solitude all in one. Humans were designed for group survival. Swimming in 'pods' gives you courage to swim harder and safer. Sharks like lions pick off the weakest.

Just over a mile we regrouped and turned back. It was hard to sight the others when swimming into the sun. One minute you are in a watery valley and next on the peak of a swell. Back to the buoy and then in - easy. I relaxed and swam back in. I glanced to where I thought the swimmers were but I had lost them. I was metres from the beach but felt disorientated. I had hit the break waters. I tried to stand up but there was no sand. I swam further in and saw a woman (Alison) and her yellow cap. I stood up and saw her pointing behind me. I looked around and saw a smallish wave as it crashed around me. The power of the sea in that tiny wave was incredible. It pushed my goggles off my face and soon I had lost them in the surf. I had to concentrate hard to keep my balance. I was glad to get my feet back on the beach.

Delia, one of the swimmers, kindly invited me for coffee and it felt good to make swimming connections 1000s of miles from home. I was given a Santa Monica Bathing society swim hat and felt like I had lived like a Santa Monican. This is what visiting a city should be.

America is a huge diverse country and yet it is through these connections that I have understood its rich collage. Statistics give a frame work but it is these nuances in society that fascinate me. Trends, changing habits and ideas give clues to how the future might look. My personal prediction for fashion: Wide legged jeans have got to be back. I have see them on Venice Beach and I am sure I have been wearing skinny for too long. Remember you read it here first. Or maybe you didn't and I'm already behind the curve.

Another example of understanding a place through local connections was when I headed north with my parents to visit family friends in Redding. Proper rest and relaxation. One day stands out in our visit. Mary Lou had very kindly done her research and found the local folk group for my dad who plays the fiddle. The standing joke throughout the week was that Mary Lou had invited an orchestra sized group and they were probably going to be moving in. Sunday came and I accompanied my dad and Meurig (confusingly the same name as my dad) to the Sunday practice.

And there I was. In the middle of a place most people have never heard of - (Redding California) in a circle of people and my dad is teaching them a Welsh folk tune. After the practice four of the lads joined us at Meurig and Mary Lou's for more playing, singing and musical exchange. Mary-Lou had cooked me a cake that said 'Way to go Mari' and showed our route across the states. I felt very lucky and loved - and like I belonged.

Be it cycling, swimming, politics or whatever floats your boat, (Did I really just say that?) modern cities are full of these sub groups which give all of us belonging beyond ourselves. Newspapers and blogs add to this feeling of belonging so that you can still feel that in a city.

Starting making those connections can be hard and I found it very difficult when I first moved to London but now, even miles away from friends family I feel still part of communities in London and increasingly with friends in different places across the states.

Connections are complex but technology means connections can be world wide and borders are less significant. In Hawaii I followed the same logic. I found the Waikiki Swim Club on line and signed up for a stoke improvemen at the university and was welcomed to the swimming fold. Tomorrow I will be joining some of these swimmers to start my day with an ocean swim.

Technology offers an opportunity to challenge the tendency for us as humans to be unafraid of the unknown. Technology however also can take us away from the moment. I went into Starbucks in Waikiki and saw rows of people on lap tops and phone plugged into to a virtual world. The room was silent. Perhaps no different from everyone reading the newspaper or perhaps many lost opportunities. When we were cycling across America we went to so many local cafes with a group of over 60s all starting their day with coffee and a good gossip. To live in the moment rather than the virtual moment has got to be important. I will try to take the advice myself given how much I can be addicted to Facebook.

We can only experience life by moments and learning to enjoy and appreciate the now is one of my challenges for this year.

Californian Dreams and Reality

The end of a 3600 mile bike ride is a bit like the end of a school term. You think it is never going to arrive and then, bang, you're in Vallejo just outside San Fran and you have 10 minutes before you have to get on the ferry. We had time to rush a photo and sat inside the boat ordered a beer and a packet of crisps. Well done us. It was not the iconic cycle across the Golden Gate bridge I had imagined. But we had still done it. Quite an accomplishment. Something I had never even thought of doing, let alone aspired to do. Yet in the days that followed I have found many ways to celebrate the end of the first leg of our journey.

The final few weeks across California were good fun. The desert had given me some understanding of those early pioneers. 300,O00 people people made the journey between 1846 and 1860 - mainly men. 13,000 Chinese immigrants also came to California, 7 of these were women. Over the same period the Native American population in the state is estimated to have reduced from 150,000 to 3000. They did not emigrate. Food supply, disease and violence was the cause of the wipe out.

The Sierra Nevada mountains are the last mountain range before California. It was these mountains where the infamous Donner Party perished. Of 87 men, women and children who set out with wagons from Illinois only 46 survived. They took longer to cross the desert than they had hoped and got caught by the onset of winter. They sheltered in deserted log cabins and resorted to eating each other.

Our journey over the Sierras was more straightforward. We passed a final 'bears crossing' sign and descended into South Tahoe. The first part of the town has lots of casinos and then a tiny little sign and you're in California. 12% of Americans live in California compared with 0.2% who live in Wyoming. There are more people living in California than all the people from all the states we have cycled through put together. The last few days promised days of down hill. After a month at over 4000 feet we were heading into the warm sunshine state.

In our final week we were very lucky to benefit from the hospitality of folks from a site called Warm Showers. Cyclists willing to host fellow cyclists.

Just outside Sacramento, the state capital we were hosted by Matthew and Cathie. I was attracted to their profile not just because they were teachers but because they promised food, wine and a swimming pool. Not surprisingly however the best part of staying with them was the conversation and finding kindred spirits.

Matthew and Cathie were 7 weeks into term when we arrived on a Tuesday night. Their next break would be Christmas vacation. Cathie's passion for her job - a primary school teacher - making learning interesting for children reminded me of what is inspiring about great teachers . She said whenever she travels she always thinks of what she can bring back for her students. And that is after 30 years of teaching. Matthew is an art teacher but has chosen to teach drawing and painting. 'You cannot teach art' he said. But I can teach them a skill.

'When I went to art college I could only copy. For ages I hid the fact I could not draw. I wish someone had taught me'. He also introduced me to the philosopher Joseph Campbell.

Joseph Campbell was an American philosopher who explored how as human beings we use common myths to explain our lives.

He said ''Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it. The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be. Being alive is the meaning.''

He was fascinated by the stories used by Native Americans and different religions. Different cultures uses heroes and quests often as a way of coping and understanding life and he noted common threads across the globe.

Being on the road has given me a lot of time to think and to think beyond the classroom. The story that I wrote for myself growing up is not quite how my life is turning out. As Campbell suggested 'We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us'

It has really made me feel both very tiny in the universe and also made me consider how big and important some things are.

Meeting Matthew and Cathie reminded me of the joys of teaching and how important it is that teachers are looked after. I recently read an interview with Kathryn Lovewell (what a great surname) about her book 'Every Teacher Matters'. She talks about not being a martyr. She said:

'As a teacher, you are trained to focus entirely on the needs of your pupils and, since the teaching profession attracts people who give their time generously, teachers can easily forget their own needs. Ironically, this self-sacrificing approach does not necessarily help pupils and instead provides a poor example for the young people you teach.'

Until I chose to take a year out of the classroom I didn't really think Teacher Support Network was much of a worthy cause. My mum convinced me it was. Teachers are now paid relatively well, it's a stable job and it's supposed to be hard work, plus you get plenty of holiday and a good pension even if some of us will have to work until 68. Being out of the classroom however has made me reflect on how much of my life has been focused on my job. That's a good thing because it's great to have made a significant contribution to young people's education but teaching should be a job that can be done well without exhaustion or burn out. It should not be only for missionaries. Neither should it be a macho contest about who can work the hardest, latest or sacrifice the most. School leaders have a particularly important role in setting this culture and I am determined when I return to London schools to remember how important that is. I want teachers in my school to enjoy their work and be energised and inspired by their lives outside the classroom.

As we pedalled closer to San Francisco so we saw more cyclists. At Davis we hit biking hippie culture. There were microbreweries, a cycling museum and the first ever painted bike lane in the US. We stayed with John and Kathy members of the Davis cycling club and enjoyed the luxuries of a gas pit fire and an outdoor shower. 'Just don't look' was the rule.

So back to our final destination as a cycling duo - San Fran. We landed on the dock at dusk and found our way to the train to San Mateo where I was met by old friends. A splendid group of ladies who swim for a Masters Club in San Mateo. Truly swimming is my first love. If I could have swum round the world - and not frozen to death or eaten be eaten by sharks - I would have done. Two years ago I went on a swimming holiday in Greece and met this wonderful bunch.

Patt and Regina met us at the station and we were whisked away to Patt's gorgeous apartment for food, wine, showers and general rest and relaxation. Regina kept accidentally doing a British accent and then apologising. The following day Patt had planned a wonderful night of Moussaka and drinks for the whole gang. Patt also told us what we should do in case of an earthquake. A reminder that a city is no protection from nature's will.

Patt took us across to Half Moon Bay for our official 'we just cycled across America' photograph and fish and chips. Though because it's American fish and chips, it is fish with either fries, salad or coleslaw. Patt also gave James advice about cycling down to Los Angeles on Highway 1. I have headed north with my parents to Redding to stay with our incredibly hospitable family friends Meurig and Mary-Lou. Meurig comes from the same place as my dad - Cwmavan near Port Talbot and they have a daughter called Mari Sian. Well I never. It has been great to be in one place for a few days.

Soon after my arrival in San Fran, my parents (who have taken some time to come round to the 'So mum and dad I am quitting my job and cycling round the world with a maths teacher' idea. How unexpected.) arrived. They had brought me an 'I loves the 'diff' (Cardiff) T shirt.

One morning in the city I left our hotel at 6am and walked across the city to meet my friend Suzie for an early morning swim in The Bay. We met at her swimming club on the harbour. With my bikini, hat and nose clip we swum out to the harbour wall and watched the sun rise light Alcatraz and the Golden Gate. She and many others start every day like this. Wow.

San Francisco thrives in its reputation as a welcoming, liberal and lively city. Inhabitants are fiercely proud of this heritage and rightly so. The Castro area became the gay area of town because a group of gay men who were ridiculously discharged from the United States army because of their homosexuality settled there. By 1980 an estimated 17% of the city's population was gay.

One of the things I have noticed - that everyone notices about San Fran is the number of what Americans call panhandlers. Beggars. We were first told about these people in Cold Springs. A tiny place in the middle of the Nevada desert. Our breakfast server told us - 'Do you know they earn $100,000 dollars a day?' James feigned surprise and questioned whether that was documented.
'Oh yes' came the well evidenced reply.
On the bike trail on the way in to Sacramento we were told the same. 'there was this one guy that had $250,00 in the bank'.

I was still genuinely surprised by how visible homelessness is in the city. London has changed dramatically since the 1980s when cardboard city was a well known place on the South Bank. When people come right up to you and ask for money it poses a dilemma. I want to help you but I'm not sure if giving you money does help and I'd also prefer that you weren't in front of me exacerbating my middle class guilt. As always with any kind of complex problem, the solutions are not easy. The cause factors, as I understand are:
a mild enough climate.
a lot of people who became homeless in the 1980s are still here.
a liberal population that will not support harsh anti social policies that merely move people out of the eye of tourists.

The city has numerous organisations that are dedicated to try and help the chronic homeless. One initiative recently gave dogs to homeless people to train them and in return they had to not beg.

Mitt Romney was recently caught saying that he wasn't interested in the 47% that depend on the state. What has been good about the debate that followed is that it has made Americans talk about who gets what and who gives in. Healthcare is one of the biggest issues and language is powerful in the campaign. Socialist and liberal are dirty words in America. If you want socialist medicine it is assumed you want a Soviet style state.

So this is how it works. You work, your company pays for your insurance. You get ill. You go to the doctor. You get a bill and you send it to the insurance company and they pay.

If you live on the street, you get ill, you go to the hospital and Medicare will pick up the bill. One San Fran journalist estimated that one guy on the streets of the City had clocked up a million dollar medical bill over his life time.

If you can afford health care but you haven't been able to afford insurance and you are ill you have to pay. For example in one man Patt told us about went to the hospital and was told to go to a doctor on the Monday to have his broken arm put in a cast. He went and because he couldn't afford it the doctor would not set it. A one night hospital stay is likely to set you back $15,000 dollars. Of course your insurance pays after you pay around 20% excess depending on your policy. These high costs already pay for those who cannot afford it so why not make the system more fair?

Toby in Kansas told me about her brother who because he had leukaemia the insurance company refused to fund a bone marrow transplant until a stem cell implant had been tried. The doctors said it would not work but the insurance companies insisted. It didn't. He had the transplant but then died shortly afterward.

Obama's plan is to make insurance compulsory - like it is compulsory to have car insurance in the UK or California. And if you don't have insurance you'd pay a fine. Romney liked the idea so much he introduced a universal healthcare system when he was state governor of Massachusetts but now he's apparently changed his mind.

When I have been surrounded by Republicans it is hard to imagine that Obama stands a chance but the reality of the electoral system is that it will come down to the swing states.

And finally, back to Joseph Campbell ..

“Follow your bliss.
If you do follow your bliss,
you put yourself on a kind of track
that has been there all the while waiting for you,
and the life you ought to be living
is the one you are living.
When you can see that,
you begin to meet people
who are in the field of your bliss,
and they open the doors to you.
I say, follow your bliss and don't be afraid,
and doors will open
where you didn't know they were going to be.
If you follow your bliss,
doors will open for you that wouldn't have opened for anyone else.”

So the cycle across America is over. Next stop is Los Angeles then Hawaii then New Zealand. So we'll see if Campbell has a point.


http://www.teachersupport.info/blogs/01-october-2012/kathryn-lovewell-s-ten-top-tips-teachers#.UHjtThB5mSN

http://www.shmoop.com/california-gold-rush/statistics.html

http://www.teachersupport.info/twoteachers - Thanks to Teacher Support Network for creating this great interactive map of our journey