It’s all rather busy at the moment. My folks from New Zealand are currently visiting the UK. After a delightful week and a half of entertaining them in Londonthey have gone off on a road trip of England. I decided, right at the last minute (after having a mini meltdown), that I would indeed join them for a few days to enjoy the sights of Cornwall. It was bliss.

 Now I’m back in London and I have three days before I jet off to St Kitts and Nevis – a two-island nation in the west Caribbean featuring beaches, volcanoes, rainforests, monkeys, former sugarcane plantations, and thankfully no Zika virus (yet). It is here that I will be climbing volcano number two in my #40by40 quest.

The volcano in question is Nevis Peak. This 985m stratovolcano sits in the centre of Nevis, the smaller of the two islands, with its summit often shrouded in a layer of cloud. Although less than 1,000m in height, the hike to the top is described as challenging (a guide is recommended), including a treacherous and muddy scramble. It’s this that attracted me. It sounds great!

I was hoping to attempt Mt Liamuiga on St Kitts but I’m having trouble coinciding times and guides so it looks like I will have to give this one a miss, much to my annoyance.

Besides lounging on the beach with cocktail in hand, there are plenty of activities to keep me occupied. I certainly intend to check out the monkeys and do some exploring by foot.

I have been nervous about this trip – from travelling solo, to going to a part of the world I haven’t been to before, to having to figure out how to get from one island to the other, to hoping my questionable cardiovascular fitness won’t be a problem, and obviously worrying about the Zika outbreak and possible terrorist attacks. I’ve even had a couple of sleepless nights worrying about what might go wrong. But now the trip is just around the corner and I’m trying to tame the nerves – although I have to admit, I equally can’t wait for a bit of rest and relaxation and to cross off my second volcano.