Hi from Dubai folks after an 8 hour delay at Toronto airport we took deep breaths, checked our luggage in and headed off to explore downtown Toronto. With a 14 hour flight ahead of us we both folded like cheap suits and knocked back Canada’s infamous coffee - Tim Horton’s - like it was going out of fashion. From de-tox in Thailand to re-tox in Canada!

Others must have done the same plus e-numbers as when we returned some of the rapid fire abuse the poor airline staff were getting at check-in was jaw dropping. We sat back and watched as insults where exchanged between fuming passengers and the team that was only doing their jobs and apologizing through understandably gritted teeth.

Rather than step in and try and save the day we thanked the staff for doing a great job and understood what pressure they must have been under explaining the reasons for the delay (Emergency maintenance work in London - Gulp) that was out of their control.

So, two questions for you to ponder and reply to:

1) What would you have done during an 8 hour delay in a major City with only hand luggage to hand?

2) Would you have stepped in to stop the insults to the airline crew - assuming you wouldn’t opt to complain yourself, of course.

We’d love to read your comments on this one and please, 25 words per person is your maximum word limit permitted on this post and anything that is fluid and over 100ml has to be displayed in a clear plastic bag 

I was thinking it’s great to hear from Jim and Emma and their adventure on the ranch in Canada and asking about our own bucket lists. Well one the things I am going to do in just over a week from now is trek the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea and we, that is the team I’m a part of, will be leaving very cold Melbourne on the 20th June to head over to a tropical environment where the temperatures range between 85 Farenheit/30 Celcius during the day and 75 Farenheit/23 Celcius at night with around 77% humidity.

The last four months I have spent training in the Dandenong Ranges in Melbourne climbing the 1000 steps and the Glasgow Rd trek which is a rugged mountain of uneven steps and can be very slippery coming down. This is the suggested training in preparation for the Kokoda Trail (this link is a map of the trek), as well as sessions in the gym and a weekend away trekking mountains for five and three hour sessions one day after another.

The track itself is a 96km single footpath with unrelenting climbs and slippery steep descents. It was the scene of a very horrendous battle between the Aussie soldiers - nicknamed “chocos” and the Japanese which the diggers managed to stave off and prevent from invading Australia along the northern coast during WWII. There is a lot of history on that track and oh… it’s VERY muddy too. I will be right out of my comfort zone as I have never hiked or camped away from civilization and once you are on the track, there’s no getting out except via the finish line.

We will be camping in villages for the most part, maybe get a hot shower at the end of the night, there will be plenty of river crossings and I will definitely employ a personal porter to carry the bulk of my belongings. I will carry my essentials of 4 litres of water per day, my snack packs made up mainly of sugar fixes and cup of soups for lunches. I will also have an emergency medical kit in my pack and my camera. The rest which is made up of a couple of changes of clothes (one for night and one spare), towel, sleeping bag and mat, spare socks, running shoes just in case, a journal for writing my experience, pen, some toiletries, a head torch and spare batteries and that’s about it! Very basic for the 8 day trek!

I should explain that the reason I chose to go on this trek is because it is a great personal challenge and a good way of finding out exactly what I am made of. I think I am mentally tough and this trek will show me just how much! As my journey progresses through my personal development, this kind of challenge will only help me on my way. After all, if I don’t put myself out there and get out of my comfort zone, how else will I know what I am capable of?

Has anyone here done any trekking like this before? Would you like to be adventurous and get out of your comfort zone or are you comfortable with yourself as you are? Do you think you will attempt this or something similar? Am I crazy leaving two young kids and my partner behind to take this on? Yes I want some feedback… good and/or bad. Let me know your thoughts on this.

PS: I forgot to mention that this is some of the most pristine rainforest around and I’m glad I don’t have to fly all the way to Brazil to experience this… not yet anyway… maybe next time.

Hi gang from Toronto where we have the bonus of internet access! The first time in 18 days and it’s amazing how slow the old typing GO!s after what seems like an eternity pretty much offline. First off a HUGE thanks to all the founders who have kept the garden growing since we signed off on May 21st - only once did we get a chance to take a peak at GO! Smell the flowers and were so proud of the content that this community is producing.

Having survived the saddle soreness of the Homeplace Ranch in Alberta and heading onto the sights and sounds of Havana, Cuba  - Em’s 40th birthday went according to plan in our latest adventure where we met some incredible people from all walks of life. We’ll be downloading some of the highlights of the trip here at flowers when we’ve re-grouped back in Dubai.

Visits to Cuba and Canada where two of the things on our bucket list  -things we wanted to do before we die that we’d mentioned before we left. Here’s the trailer for the film that we saw on our flight from Thailand:

Do share with us one thing on your bucket list that you MUST DO before you are pushing up the flowers and WHEN you intend to do it by. It can be travel, family, finance, writing, reading, watching or just plain old whatever you want it to be - Cheers!

Well folks we’re signing off now for THREE WEEKS (gasp) as we head off to Canada on a working ranch to celebrate Em’s 40th birthday. We’re leaving all the content to the trusted founders here at GO! Smell the flowers as we STOP online activity for the first time in a few years.

So, over to you founders - good luck, enjoy and we look forward to seeing what the garden looks like in a few weeks! Maybe more founders badges awarded, new visitors, flowers, thorns and plenty of threads to get cyberspace thinking?

What would struggle to give up for 3 weeks? Do tell - A 3 week spell without…………? Do tell……

Hi  GO! Smell the flowers from  the Spa Koh Chang. Our final day here having completed the cleansing program and we’ve both lost eleven pounds each in weight, feel clear headed, healthier inside & out and generally more chilled out.

To ‘keep it real’ we’ll report back on our result in 3-4 months time. Before the cleanse Jim had blood pressure, pulse and  blood work done (his biggest fear - needles  ) to measure pre-cleanse lipid profile, (cholesterol & triglycerides), Biochemistry (Blood glucose) , Endocrinology (testosterone) and thyroid.

The immediate step-on-the-scales-whoop-whooop-high-5 results but that could be down to water loss, clearly a lack of carbs and just giving the body a break so time will tell and getting back amongst ‘reality’.

We ‘broke-fast’ with Papaya, mango and bee pollen:

Back for more general abuse with Thai massage:

Smell the flowers, Em:

We’ll reflect on the key things we learned and share them with you here when we return to Dubai  in the next couple of days. It’s been great learning and laughing at the threads here at GO! Smell the flowers, at times when we barely had the energy or the inclination so thanks for all your interest, support and comments.

NOW! Where did we put that hose pipe?  Do share how you’ve found our detox diaries and this whole experience we’ve shared with GO! Smell the flowers and feel free to add a few captions to the photos above just for fun as we leave ourselves wide open as ever, which, after 8 days of colonics could be interesting - Cheers!

Just as mobiles have become an extension of many peoples lives,are things about to go one step further……

Ryanair are currently working on installing equipment on twenty of their fleet,to allow mobile phone calls from 35,000ft,they are anticipating lucrative profits from the service. Emirates have recently equipped an A340 with the needed equipment.

So as the Dom Jolly gag was almost forgotten,what are your thoughts on this,will it be convenient or a nuisance….necessary or not…txt ur ansrs 2….

Our final day of the cleanse! Energy levels are pretty high considering it’s 7 days since we’ve consumed any solids and drink with the exception of water, coconut water, Wheatgrass:

Cocktails of Carrot juice and slurps of Oolong tea, a herb popular in China we understand.

So, with only 1 final flush to go (pure water first thing tomorrow morning) and a few ‘flora grow’ bacteria tablets we’re done! Then after breaking our fast we can star gradually re-introducing solids back into our day to day lives.

What would you break your fast with? Comments welcomed as we prepare to post how we feel after this intensive cleansing experience. Cheers! (B)

Hi from the Spa Koh Chang with less than 48 hours to GO! before we break the fast with only 4 more colonics remaining.

To help keep things moving we’ve tried our hand at Yoga, first thing, in the morning to help us stay us on track and our bodies active without food. Whatever your capabilities it can aid relaxation, improve flexibility, help with detox and massage the organs of the body - always a bonus, right?

Pictured above with Yoga instructor Cliff on Day 5 of our fast we declined to bring our feet together like that - maybe another time, after a few ice cold Chang beers perhaps (B) A big thanks to our teacher Cliff who taught us a few stretches that’ll keep tension at bay and exercise our eyes whilst we tip-tap away on the laptop.

So anyone ever tried Yoga? How do you help stay / get in physical and mental shape and as the years catch up with you? Do tell, hold that pose and release!

One of the things that erks me big time is miss pronounciations.

It sounds silly but it really bugs me.  The worst is place names. You see if you travel the one thing you need to know is how to say the place names like a local, it is how we tell you are tourist.  If you have an accent but say the name like a local then your in.

So here is my little contribution to solving this puzzle.

Here is a list of the most mis pronounced Aussie Cities and the correct way to say them.

Please add yours in the comments so we can all share in this language exchange.

Newcastle: tourist say New Ca sel, correct New Car sel

Sydney: tourist Sid in nee, correct Sid nee

Melbourne: tourist Mel  born, correct Mel Bin

Brisbane: tourist Bris Bain, correct Bris bin

Canberra: tourist Can Berra, correct Can Bra

Uluru tourist Uluru, correct Ayres Rock

Australia: tourist Au stra li a, correct ost stral ya

So there you have it, if you are coming to Oz practice these before you come and you’ll be treated like a local. Just dont order Fosters at the Pub, thats a dead give away.

We’ve only just realised it’s Saturday so happy weekend to all from us here mid De-tox at the rainy & chilled out Spa Koh Chang, Thailand.

So, getting straight down to the process of our bi-daily flush out we thought we’d share some of the finer highlights of our stay. DON’T try this at home - not even gardeners who KNOW their hosepipes:

Step 1 - Fill a 16 litre bucket full of coffee solution:

Step 2 - Lie down, insert and RELEASE as the next 20 -30 minutes ‘pass’:

We’ll spare you the detail of sharing with you what ends up in the pink plastic sieve after emptying but it’s far from smelling of flowers

We’re feeling far more ‘human’ today and are getting into the early doors exercises, detox drinks and the general way of the spa here. Time for our Midday broth, carrot juice and detox drink - more on that tomorrow.

The key to success in this procedure is to relax and let it GO! on every level so we ask YOU - how do you relax and ‘let it go’ in your day to day life generally? Do tell!