Thanks once again for your comments guys. This bust is really starting to come together and I'm greatly encouraged by all your positive feedback.
I'm heading off to the Philippines for 2 weeks annual leave tomorrow so I will be "off the grid" until I return to Australia in mid June.
My wife and I are helping to rebuild a school on the island of Cebu that was destroyed during Cyclone Haiyan last November. The school is in the process of being rebuilt and now its time for the grand re-opening, complete with local dignitaries, not one but two roasted pigs, lots of rum and karaoke into the night.
Once that's over I intend to send the wife to the nearest shops for some retail therapy, find a fishing rod, a bottle of rum and a palm tree to sit under and spend a couple of weeks chilling out on the beach and working on my tan.
I've also learned that just up the road from the village we are staying at is the site of a mass grave of Japanese soldiers who fought a desperate rear guard action against a numerically superior unit of Filipino guerrilla fighters in 1945 to liberate their island. The locals don't go there because they believe the spirits of the Japanese soldiers haunt the jungle.
As you can see from the photo below, Cebu is a tropical paradise, so please don't feel sorry for me.
It's the middle of winter in Australia right now and we are all wearing our winter shorts and t-shirts to stay warm.