and the winner is...

best display of colour - india

best scenery - new zealand

best beach - costa malabari, kerala, india

best town - joint winners luang prabang, laos and hoi-an, vietnam

best food - india, with special mention to savage garden restaurant in udaipur and costa malabari in kerala

best song lyric to fit my year - 'fantastic expectations, amazing revelations' from Ian Brown F.E.A.R.

best travelling from A to B - slowboat in laos

best adventure - desert in namibia

best swimming pool - at jim's flat, bangkok

best shopping - india

best day - stand out memory is City2Surf day in sydney. i couldn't say why it wins - maybe the quality time with my brother, the delicious and long-awaited lunch, the sense of achievement, the endomorphines running around my system, the well-deserved swim in the sea, the feeling of being part of a 63,000 strong crowd, coming home to my parents...

best email received - from helen on the morning of her wedding

best letter received - mr andy mason wins every time

best present received - caramelised peanuts made by innocence

best comedy moment - falling into pit dug for toilet at innocence's house on morning of day 2

best miracle - meeting a friend who could show me the way, filippe, in the dark on my first eve in mozambique

best book read - gilead

best tv programme seen - grey's anatomy

best church meeting attended - gospel choir competition in blantyre, malawi

best wildlife spotting - amazing coloured fish whilst snorkelling on great barrier reef

i could go on, there have been so many joys. of course there were also not so great moments..

scariest day - in desert in namibia

worst sunburn - snorkelling on great barrier reef

loneliest times - getting around sydney suburbs alone

saddest day - last day in mozambique attending a funeral and saying goodbye

most wanting to come home day - christmas day missing my mum!

but overall i cannot believe how good this year has been, and i'm not even quite finished with it yet! it has been a year of blessing - that is the best word i could use to sum up my time. it has been a year full of fantastic hospitality shown me by others, good health, amazing scenery, eye-opening experiences, freely given friendship, care and kindness shown to me, the unexpected joys of my own company and awe and wonder at life in this beautiful world.

i wouldn't say this is chance, good luck or a result of my excellent common sense! i definitely credit this year to my lord who led me on my journey and created the beauty i saw and who never left my side. i think this may be a first on this blog, but a little bible quote for you (slightly edited by me!) from psalm 4

let the light of your face shine upon me, o lord

you have filled my heart with great joy

i will lie down and sleep in peace

for you alone o lord make me dwell in safety