If you think the Megabus is bad, you should try taking the bus from Oaxaca into Chiapas, south-east Mexico. Twelve hours of trying not to vomit in the blistering oppressive heat. When the shaking and rolling finally stopped, I staggered away from the road and lay in the undergrowth for a while, enjoying the stillness.According to the map I still had to trek down into the valley where I would be met by my hosts, so I shoul...

Your heart raced wildly as you rode your impressive steed for all he was worth. Cantering up and down, you urged him on between ragged, gasping breaths. Faster. Harder. Your thighs tensed with every rise and fall of your body as the wind billowed through your hair, loose strands fluttering across your face. You galloped hard, across the green meadows that gradually rose in elevation, until finally coming to a halt at the...

"Okay, time for you to learn to wrestle sheep," Drew said as he jumped off the quad bike and shut the gate of the pen behind the shearing shed. They had been down to one of the far paddocks and separated maybe thirty five sheep from them main flock. After walking them back to the pens at the rear of the shearing shed they now had to cut twenty of last year's lambs from the breeding ewes. "Right you herd them down the race...

Drew could feel the hot afternoon sun burning the back of his neck as he climbed the steps up to the veranda of the old sandstone farm house. He reached the top step and turned and watched the truck and trailer driven by the builder negotiate the pot hole ridden drive way down to the main road. The construction of the gazebo containing the new hot tub was complete. The builder had done a great job and today had been his l...

The telephone rang, and it made Dave jump as he lay in bed listening to Tess and Drew's breathing as they slumbered. He looked at the clock; seven thirty. "Good morning, Drew Bishop's phone," he said, as he picked up the handset. "You guys had better not still be in bed," Geoff's voice said. "No, we're up and about," Dave lied, "Drew is out in the yard, he said he was going to ring you in a minute." Tess and Drew were now...

Drew pulled the tractor to halt in the machinery shed. It was early Friday afternoon. He stepped down from the cab and walked to the doorway of the cavernous shed and looked to the east. A massive thunderstorm was brewing. He stood and watched the lightning crack down on the hills on the other side of the highway. There would be no more harvesting today. He had spoken to both Geoff and Dave on the UHF radios that all the...

"So you can drop me off to pick up my truck and trailer?" asked Drew into the mobile phone. "Excellent, I'll see you then," he said and then hung up. He was standing in the apartment and staring out at the view of the city skyline. It was eight o'clock Sunday morning and it was shaping out to be a cracker of a day, weather wise. The sun streamed through the huge windows and warmed his naked body. Turning around, he saw Te...

The day I decided to break out of my usual routine and take a little journey changed my life in a most extraordinary way. It was October and the leaves were at their peak of color when this strange feeling came over me. I looked at the red and orange leaves on the trees falling to the ground and suddenly started thinking about getting older and closer to death. Am I like those leaves fluttering to the ground? I’m still no...

Drew rose from the bed. His heart was still beating hard. He walked to the wardrobe, selected the newest pair of bikini briefs he owned and pulled them on. Next out came his moleskin trousers. He wanted to dress nicely for Tess. Moving the sheep wouldn't be that dirty a job. A new cotton shirt was pulled over his head and tucked in at the waist. The brown leather belt and his going to town boots. Seeing himself in the mir...

Drew woke the next morning and was sure he still had the smile on his face. He quickly dressed himself in work clothes, checked the time, 7:45am, and padded down the hall to the kitchen in his socks. He found the phone directory and wrote down the name, number and address of a smash repair shop and the local dealer for the particular make of car that lay at the bottom of his drive. He wrote a note: "Feel free to use the t...

Andrew Bishop flicked the switch to turn on the exterior lights, opened the front door and stepped out on to the wide verandah of his century old farmhouse. He leant his shoulder on the verandah post and sloshed the last of the red wine in the glass that he'd carried out with him, raised it to his lips and drank the small mouthful. He didn't drink much, but did enjoy a glass or two of good local product on most Sunday eve...

It was a beautiful summer day like any other. The sky was clear, temperature wasn’t too bad, and I was cruising to work a few above the speed limit with all the windows down and the radio up. The warm breeze blew through my 2008 Civic as I whistled along the road. A light sweat started to roll down my toned calves into my work boots and I felt a stirring in my shorts. I attributed this to the wind, but I was actually look...