MISHAPS IN MIDDLE-EARTH

Phew!!

What a week: I set off last Saturday on what proved to be (with check-in, in-transit and check-out times) a 30+ hour long journey from my London Bag End to the Wellington equivalent of the Lonely Mountain!

Then came the attack of my personal Smaug in the form of a nasty infection of the skin tissue in the left leg (cellulitus) probably triggered by the trauma from a rather nasty fall I took in London before I left...

In between meeting the brilliant artisans of Middle-earth (and encountering a baker's dozen of dwarves) I've been spending time worrying about my painfully swollen while sitting in doctor's surgeries, hospital waiting rooms and late-night pharmacies!

Mega-doses of antibiotics seem to be (to use a leg-orientated simile) 'kicking-in' at last and I am desperate to get myself feeling better, more mobile and focusing on the task of gathering information about the adventures of Mr Bilbo Baggins on his journey through Jacksonland, rather than on my personal status as one of Hobbiton's walking wounded!

So, what can I tell you of the wonders, miracles and delights that I have glimpsed over-hill and under-hill? Sadly, having signed a non-disclosure document – that gives Warner Bros more control over my immortal soul than Mephitopheles had over Dr Faustus –– I can tell you absolutely NOTHING! Other than that it's all looking pretty darn fantastic.

The newly acquired iPad has not (so far) yeilded all its promised potential and I'm incredibly frustrated to find that I can't upload photos to Blogger or flickr which is why this post is, uncharacteristically, lacking in illustrative embellishment!

Never mind, down here, I've two days of taking it easy while my host nation anticipates – with a mixture of elation and anxiety – Sunday's Rugby World Cup semi-final between NZ and Oz. Monday will either be a day of jubilation or deepest mourning!

By the way, I know it says 'Friday' on the top of this post but, down here, it's already Saturday. I could try to work out how to change the Time Zone setting on my Blogger account, but with iPad holding out on me, I'd probably end up losing the post or even deleting the blog!