Chapter 10 starts with a tour of Greece, a country that Cheryl has never visited before.
Before we left Bristol we had several excellent evenings with Neil’s children and then with June and Roy to drop the car off before we headed to London. We stayed at Alex & Freddy’s house for a few nights but only managed to spend one night with them as they had a weekend wedding to go to. A very long lunch with Neil’s brother Bill and his wife Sue started with drinks in the Lamb & Flag in Covent Garden. It was another pub favoured by Charles Dickens but it’s history is much more colourful that that. In the early nineteenth century the pub staged bare-knuckle prize fights, earning it the nickname 'The Bucket of Blood’! Our excellent lunch was in a nearby French Restaurant which ended a mere 5hrs after we started in The Bucket!
Next stop Athens for a couple of days doing real touristy stuff – The Acropolis (UNESCO), The Plaka, the changing of the guard at the Parliament building and all things Athens. We expected to see some signs of the impact of the severe austerity measures but there weren’t many, apart from the extent of the graffiti……it was everywhere, even on some heritage buildings and it was quite hideous. Apart from the throngs of tourists, local people were well dressed, restaurants, bars and shops were packed and the streets litter free. We’ve both found it interesting that in our travels over the last few years to Portugal, Spain and now Greece, where each country has unemployment levels over 20%, we haven’t seen anything like the misery and depression in the recession that we remember in Britain back in the late 70’s. We can picture now the whole streets of shops that were closed and boarded up, factories derelict, unemployed teenagers hanging around on street corners, people protesting and then the unemployment rate was a mere 12%!
We hired a car and moved on to the UNESCO site of Delphi to visit the ancient city. Next we travelled north to yet another UNESCO site, Meteora, where monks built monasteries on remote stone peaks for safety from the oppressive Turks. It’s an absolutely stunning location with the beautiful monasteries almost defying gravity as they perch on the tops of rock pillars. We climbed up and went in to the monastery which was used as a location in the Bond film ‘For Your Eyes Only’….just look at the pictures.
Heading south we crossed an impressive new suspension bridge funded by the EU to the Peloponnese and headed for Kalavryta. We stayed by the coast so that we could travel the 750m up the gorge on the narrow-gauge railway to the town. In December 1942 the town was to suffer the most harrowing massacre by the Nazi’s who wanted to punish local partisans who killed some German prisoners and were stirring up pockets of resistance. The entire male population of the town aged 14 and upwards were taken to a hillside and mowed down by machine gun……almost 700 men and boys perished, the town was burnt to the ground and the women and children were locked inside the school which was also set on fire. When they broke out they faced the grim task of burying their dead in freezing temperatures and struggled to feed and home the remaining children. The museum is housed in the rebuilt school and the exhibits extremely moving with video recounts from some of the survivors who were children at the time. It left us both very stunned as we left.
We found an excellent studio apartment in the coast town of Diakopto for our two-night stay. After trawling around the small town we eventually found the only taverna. On arrival instead of getting a menu we were taken into the kitchen. Pot after pot was opened for us to peer into and decide what we fancied to eat. Neil had rabbit stifado and Cheryl had lamb with artichokes. While we waited for the food to be heated we were given bread and a feta & red pepper dip to nibble on. After the meal we were given Greek yogurt with honey as a free desert. This was typical Greek taverna hospitality so needless to say we went back again the next night!
Moving on quickly we travelled to another UNESCO site, Mystras, which has the ruins of a Byzantine City built on the top of a large hill. It was an exhausting climb but well worth the effort to a stunning location. We really were on a roll now and moved next day to Monemvasia another Byzantine town built on a huge rock island with a short causeway across from the mainland. The town has always been occupied so the lower town has remained almost intact and full of cafes, shops and boutique guest houses. The upper town and Citadel (another good climb uphill) are slowly being restored. It really was pretty and atmospheric with lots of narrow streets and alleys too narrow for cars and motor bikes……bliss! We stayed on the mainland and had a great room overlooking the island and we once again discovered typical Greek taverna hospitality. It was such a pretty place and so quiet that we stayed 3 nights and just enjoyed the rest from what had been a pretty busy schedule.
Having had a couple of days R&R we set off for a one night stay in Nafplio to visit another quaint and prosperous little town on the coast which also had lots of little alleys containing numerous good restaurants. It’s less than 2hrs from Athens so the quality was excellent if just a little more expensive than we had been used to. It also has a fort from the 18th Century perched high up on the hill. We checked into our ancient bijou guesthouse, had lunch and then stormed, well not quite stormed, the 999 steps to the gate of the fort. Rather than take the same 999 knee shattering steps back down we took the long meandering road which was surprisingly quite pleasant.
Next day we set off for the Corinth Canal which is quite a feat of engineering although it took a long time to complete. It was started by the Roman Emperor Nero and finally completed by the French in the 19th Century. It’s 6km long, 23m wide and the rock is cut down to make the gorge 90m deep. It really is an impressive engineering feat which went way over time and budget and is hardly used today but it does bring us onto our next paragraph.
It’s not often we talk domestic politics here in the blog but sometimes we do get animated about some issues and one that has got to us is Brexit. To be honest, after lots of mind changing we eventually decided to vote to stay in. However, after all the chest beating from non-elected European Federalist Bureaucrats we’ve completely changed our minds and now want to leave on the first train possible. What’s made our decision even more definite is the total waste of EU money that we see even on our own doorstep in Bristol. Bristol City, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to avail itself of EU money to build a bus route into Bristol called ‘High Speed Metro Bus’. The project started around 3 years ago around where we live, it’s caused years of traffic misery, run hopelessly over time and budget and we can’t actually see what it will do to improve the existing buses into Bristol. We have slightly wider roads, a new bus lane only on parts of the route, lots of very fancy bus stops but no sign of any Metro buses yet. 2 years ago we went to Portugal where the road infrastructure was incredible……same in Spain last year and now the same in Greece where motorways are still being built cutting through huge hills with a zillion tunnels. We think improving infrastructure is a great idea but when the new roads are empty we just see a massive waste of EU money. We also think this is the tip of the iceberg so goodbye EU!
Rant over. We spent our last 2 nights in the coastal resort of Nea Makri which is not too far from the airport. We needed some down time to write this blog, sort and label our photographs and attack some other jobs that we had neglected. We have had a great time in Greece. The weather has been perfect for sightseeing, around 25C every day, hardly any cloud, the food simple but excellent and the Greek people extremely hospitable. Regular readers will know that Neil doesn’t do culture but even he has been amazed by the extent of ancient and modern Greek history. We’ve probably never seen so many UNESCO sites in less than 3 weeks and we feel we’ve only scratched the surface of what Greece has to offer.
Our hire car was a Toyota Yaris Hybrid, we nicknamed it YETI after the number plate, and we averaged over 55MPG – and that’s with a lot of high speed motorway driving and lots of steep up hills……quite incredible. Rooms have been great value averaging around £35 night. We have stayed mainly in small guesthouses which have been very clean with good sheets & towels, beds have been on the firm side and many have had stunning views. We’ve eaten well in Tavernas and probably had too much wine. Average costs for lunch £20, dinner £25 including drinks. We’ve also discovered that portions are large and you can get Greek salad everywhere.
To cap what was a perfect trip we got an upgrade to Business Class on the flight into London and were able to enjoy a couple of Tanqueray & Tonic before a good meal. Were now back in London for a couple of days before flying off to Goa for our 3 months on the beach……..yeehaa!
Well, it’s been quite some time since we last posted and that’s mainly to do with the fact that we haven’t been up to much. Yes, we know, ‘so what’s new?’
We’ve been on a couple of boat trips one of which was to celebrate Cheryl’s birthday. Instead of the usual daytime dolphin watching trip we decided to take the sunset cruise which was fantastic. The food you get on the day cruise is excellent but on the night cruise it’s even better with a huge slab of delicious Sea Bass replacing Kingfish and strawberries and ice cream instead of fruit salad. Cheryl decided on a low key affair so we were a party of just 7 but we had a great night. In typically Indian fashion, the boat owner lost track of time so we didn’t actually make it out to sea for the sunset and had to settle for it dipping behind the boat yard and palm trees instead which actually turned out to be quite atmospheric.
We’ve also made some new friends including Yvonne and John from Bude in Cornwall and Alison and Paul from near Cardiff. John talked a couple of times about organizing a boat trip and asked if we were interested…….’is the Pope a Catholic’ we said? Anyway, the morning after Cheryl’s birthday boat trip there was a knock at the door. It was another new friend, Jerry and his wife Liz, to say ‘do you want to share a taxi tomorrow’, ‘what for’? I said, ‘John’s boat trip’ he replied. It was our fault as we didn’t tell John to give us a bit of leeway after Cheryl’s night out so we were forced to endure yet another day of eating and drinking. Life’s hard sometimes but you just can’t let people down.
We had a trip out to a new restaurant which was being opened by Rahul and Karem from our favourite curry house C5. C5 is very, very popular in Benaulim and a great earner for them but as most people spend their days on the beach they don’t get much trade at lunchtime. They decided to open a second restaurant in a commercial/industrial area near the airport in the hope that they would get a more balanced trade throughout the day. We were invited to the formal opening and we were treated as guests which meant we don’t pay. The food was delicious, which was expected, but on the basis that our party of 6 did consume considerable amounts of alcohol we thought it only fair to pay to for our drinks. It’s not in a particularly salubrious area but, hey, these guys just want to make money and who can blame them. Rahul left home aged 14 with nowhere to stay and slept rough for a long time. He found work but always had it in his head that he wanted to be his own boss and to be in control of his own life. We first met him working in a beach shack in 2006 but now he’s very much his own boss. They are both lovely guys and at least in the future we can say we knew Rahul and Karem when they were young and ambitious as they drive past us in their Ferraris!
You will also see some pictures of Rahul’s wedding in this entry. We knew he was getting married last April and we sent him a good luck message for his big day as we couldn’t make it. This was a traditional Hindu wedding so it went on for a big week! They both looked stunning especially the bride in such a beautiful dress and the groom on his traditional white horse. We haven’t posted all the pictures he sent us but suffice it to say it must have been a terrific event. Now, of course, she’s pregnant ……. congratulations Rahul!
We also experienced the after effects of Cyclone Ockhi which hit Kerala very hard and, sadly, there are still many fishermen missing. The cyclone passed Goa out in the Gulf of Arabia but it still caused major disruption. The rough seas, rain and high winds combined with a full moon to make the tides the highest we have ever seen. A few shacks were flooded, some very badly damaged but the one we use, Pescador, escaped unharmed as it’s set on slightly higher land. Thankfully, all is now back to normal.
We wish you all a Cracking Christmas and a ‘No Fake News’ New Year! We’ll be back in 2018.
What a time we had at Christmas and New Year. Firstly, we had house guests for 3 nights that we’d never met before. Then a quiz night where we finished Numero Uno. We had 2 boat trips in less than a week including The Santa Special and that was all before Christmas Day. Finally, we have a massive surprise for you all from New Years Eve.
Now, to put some meat on the above summary of events. Graham and Jean contacted us via TripAdvisor about a review of a guesthouse that we stayed at in The Philippines. That was in 2015 and since then we’ve been reading each other’s blogs and picking each other’s brains for ideas on various trips. When they said they wanted to visit Benaulim we had no hesitation in offering one of our spare rooms. We really enjoyed their company, winning the regular Monday night quiz along with Jeff and Mary and then took them on a relatively sedate dolphin cruise – sedate because they were flying home that night.
A couple of days later we were on The Santa Special – definitely not sedate! A great day partying and dancing and some of us, not mentioning any Cheryl’s, slightly over indulged the G&T’s and didn’t quite remember clambering into bed as soon as we got home at about 3.30PM. To be fair, she did manage to get up for a light dinner that was washed down with a plain soda. The boat trip was fantastic with Santa handing out the usual joke presents, we had Christmas songs before dancing music all of which took us hours to put together on a USB. Special thanks to Hugh for also downloading loads of music for us.
For various reasons we’re trying a new shack, Café Arbat, and before Christmas lunch Neil had his customary couple of beers and quiet time to remember his mum and dad. Then we had our Christmas lunch of chicken tikka and prawns wrapped in bacon or better known at home at Christmas as prawns in blankets and all washed down with a bottle of sauvignon blanc…..delicious. Then, to our surprise the shack handed us two pieces of plumb cake…..wow, a cross between Christmas Cake and Christmas Pudding! It was so good we did our best impression of Oliver Twist…’please Soro can we have some more’?
After lunch we had calls with Leanne & Neil, Paul and Alex & Freddy before setting off to meet friends in another shack for sundowners and Bee’s homemade mince pies with brandy. Bee and Dave gave us the card that we should have received 2 years ago……that brought a lot of laughs. So, can it get any better? Well, yes it can. What better way to top a fantastic day than on our way home sharing a simple dinner of our favourite beef vindaloo with plain roti in a restaurant we’ve passed by for 10 years and only discovered this trip. What a cracking day.
On New Years Eve there was the usual beach party at Rex’s which promised a super moon and a number of people mooning at the moon plus lots of fireworks. Sadly, the moon wasn’t that super and the actual moon set was even less super but the fireworks were great.
Now here’s the big New Years Eve surprise. As the fireworks were going off at midnight Cheryl accepted Neil’s marriage proposal……yes, were getting married! We enjoyed the rest of the party getting home about 4.30am. We didn’t say anything to anybody about our secret as we wanted to let the children know first. Now of course, you’ve all read this and now you know! Happy New Year.
A huge surprise came just a few days after we announced we were getting married in the form of a call from the UK to say that we will become grandparents in July. That gave us a focus to get on with our own wedding plans and first task was to find a date when all three children and their respective partners would be available – you don’t know just how hard that was! Anyway, our big day is June 2nd in Bath at 4pm.
Having set the date, we took some advice from John and Suz about shopping for rings. They have used the same jeweller a short bus ride down the coast for a number of years and always found his service and value excellent especially when getting the jewellery valued when back in the UK. So, off we went for the day, spent ages choosing the design for Cheryl’s engagement ring and our wedding bands. Committed to a large spend a week later we headed to a lovely riverside restaurant with J&S to celebrate. We then went back a week later to get the rings and go to the same restaurant to celebrate again. When J&S read our initial blog posting of our engagement they were just about to pass through Gatwick and so very kindly bought a bottle of Champagne to celebrate – a few days after picking up the rings we headed off to Luna for bubbly, pizza and red wine…….phew, it’s one long celebration!
This month we’ve spent very little time on the beach due to our excessive shopping, celebrating and organising. Trying to get the date for the wedding was tricky enough, then with Miranda’s help and a phone call to the UK we managed to book the registry office in Bath and make the appointment with our local authority for our interviews to make sure that we weren’t, amongst other things, a marriage of convenience! In addition, we’ve also planned and booked most of our honeymoon. We had considered various places in the US, Egypt, The Land of the Midnight Sun but finally decided that we wanted something much more romantic. Verona, the home of Romeo and Juliet, is to be our start point but we plan to hire a car and travel to Tuscany to visit Florence, Pisa, Sienna and many other historic cities.
Then we had more celebrations, this time a visit to The Hyatt Hotel just a short ride up the coast. It’s a very expensive hotel to stay in but they have a Sunday Brunch which is open to anyone providing they’re prepared to pay just under £30 each. We went with Brenda and Tony, celebrating Brenda’s birthday, and Colin and Jan, celebrating Colin’s birthday. None of them had said anything to us about our announcement so we suspected that they hadn’t read the blog so as we toasted the two birthdays Cheryl held out hand to show off her ring. ‘More champagne please Pradeep, we have an engagement to celebrate!’
That’s how the day went, lots of excellent food and lots of champagne, fine Australian wines and even more fine Aussie wines. It did get out of control – just take a look at the pictures. Brenda managed to hold Cheryl up for the walk back to the ride home and Cheryl managed to hold Brenda up. However, Neil managed ‘not’ to negotiate his way into the tuk tuk for the journey home but somehow managed to fall and cut his arm and the top of his head. There was blood everywhere but the guys at the security gate were out in a flash and had him cleaned, coated in iodine and bandaged in no time.
We had decided to have our ‘goodbye Goa’ party on the sunset cruise on Cris Boats. With the help of Hugh we put together a great playlist of 60’s party music and asked people to try and dress 60’s style. Sadly, Hugh was sick and couldn’t make it…..he was sorely missed. It was a huge success with most people putting on the style and enjoying the great music, food and of course a drink or two. This time we didn’t overdo it and had no mishaps on the way home…..well not as far as we were aware. The pictures of the fancy dress say it all.
That’s pretty much it for Goa this time, we have a couple of days before we head off with John and Suz for a week long whistle stop tour of some of the highlights of Rajasthan. However, just to remind you, we have booked for next year so we’re open for bookings!
It was time to say goodbye to Goa and head off for a short tour of Rajasthan with John & Suz.
On January 31st, the night before we left, we went to the beach to witness the Super Blue Blood Moon. This is something which only happens around every 150 years. There are one or two super moons each year (that’s when it appears very large due to its proximity to Earth), Blue moons occur every 2.5 years (that’s when you get two full moons in a month) and a Blood moon (where it appears red due to the earth eclipsing the moon) happens every 2.5 years or so. To get all three together is very rare. We were all very excited to see the phenomenon but sadly we were also quite disappointed. The pictures are OK but what we saw was a vague outline of the moon which at its peak of ‘bloodness’ was very low in the sky having just risen above the horizon. But, hey, this is nature and we did see it and we’re pretty sure we won’t be around next time it happens!
Next day we flew to Delhi for a week-long tour. Last year John and Suz said they would like to visit Rajasthan so we jumped at the chance to revisit some of the places we visited during our two month tour in 2012. It was also a chance for Neil to see Jaipur City as he was ill last time. We spent some time last summer putting an itinerary together with plans to hire a car and driver to pick us up at the airport and drive us Agra, Jaipur, Mahansar and then back to Delhi where we to go our separate ways.
We arrived in Delhi and we were met by our driver Keshav. We set off for Agra and our first stop was the Taj Mahal with just 15 minutes to spare before they stopped selling tickets for the day. Pankaj, the tour operator who had provided our driver Keshav, had arranged for a tour guide to give us some details about the Taj. It is stunningly beautiful and as we had arrived quite late in the day the light was extremely good for photographs. Next morning it was off to Agra Fort before the drive to Jaipur stopping on the way at the deserted city of Fatepur Sikri. Unknown to us Kashev had an extra stop planned before we got to Jaipur which was one of the deepest and well preserved step wells that we had ever seen…….stunning.
Next morning our tour operator had arranged for another guide to give us the low down on all the sights in Jaipur which was excellent. That afternoon we had some time off from sightseeing and Cheryl and Neil set about finding a place to eat whilst John and Suz set off for retail therapy. They were looking for some textiles and were treated to a tour of a factory to see how the fabrics were made and dyed.
Next morning it was back on the tour trail again to see The Amber Fort before taking the long drive to Mahansar Fort. It was here that 5 years ago Cheryl and Neil became friends with Bhagwati and Seema and their family at their historical home. Bhagwati is the ‘Thakkur’ the head of what was the ruling family in Mahansar and he has made his share of the fort into a heritage hotel. It’s an incredibly atmospheric place in a tiny village which was once a very wealthy place on a major trading route.
There was to be another surprise, this time in the form of a ‘royal’ wedding in the extended family and whilst we were to leave before the main event there was enough going on to ensure that sleep was in short supply. The bridegroom arrived spectacularly in a helicopter which we watched from the rooftop of the fort. There was constant drumming and traditional pipes played during the day and we were able to see the final preparations being made to several venues being used for the event. Cheryl & Suz were dressed up in Saris by Seema and participated in the traditional dancing by the women on the night before the wedding. The ladies take turns to dance to incredibly loud music and as they dance the other ladies donate money to the poor as good luck, waving the rupee notes over the head of the dancers. Although they had no idea how to dance properly Cheryl & Suz had a go and were delighted when a huge number of the other ladies decided to donate as they were dancing. The dancing went on into the small hours but we left just after midnight. The quote of the trip has to go to Suz who said to Neil ‘Don’t go, I want to show you my underwear’!!!!!!
Sightseeing and partying over we took the long drive to Delhi for our final night in India before flying to Australia. Thanks John & Suz for a great trip with a lot of laughs and some unforgettable experiences.
Our experiences with Air India in the past haven’t been good so we were a little unsure about flying Business with them to Melbourne. They were the only direct flight, and all the other options would have been a little painful so if all we got was a flatbed on the 12hr flight then so be it. However, it was all good. The lounge in New Delhi was very good, they did get us there in one piece, on time and with very good comfort, food, drink and service. So, we would fly Business with them again although probably not on a popular route like London.
We remembered to pick up some duty free as we passed through the terminal and did the self-serve visa and passport checks without a hitch. Our 12Kg cases were amongst the first to arrive and then it all ground to a halt as everyone leaving the terminal had to go through just two painfully slow queues to hand in the ‘anything to declare’ form before being allowed to get out. The ineptness made it all feel like India again.
However, it was soon apparent that we were in a ‘civilised’ country as no one pushed or jumped any queues, there were no strange odours, spit stains or litter and everyone was smiley and helpful. However, civilization does come at a price and we’re still amazed by how expensive everything seems to be. It’s really on a par with London prices but when you’ve spent three months having dinner for two with drinks and still having change from a tenner it takes a bit of getting used to.
As the flight arrived at 7am we used the airport bus into the city, then a train to the suburbs where we were met by Callum and Dan, Neil’s great nephews, who drove us to the family home. We were staying with the Bradburys for the first few days. They have an enormous house in Narre Warren on the edge of Melbourne. Four ensuite bedrooms (thanks Cal for giving us yours), a study, a movie room, a snooker room, upstairs lounge area, enormous kitchen/diner/living room, a huge outside deck area with hot tub, 2 dining tables, lounge area and a garden. Then, of course, there’s Oscar the family dog that we remember from last time and he has a new playmate, Eddy, a very excitable but lovable 12 month old cross between we don’t really know or care – he’s fun!
We enjoyed our time with the family so much when we first came to Australia in 2016 and spending time with Lisa, Simon, Cal, Dan & Jack was a major reason for us returning. This time Neil was able to watch Dan play in a golf match and Cheryl watched Jack play in a football match before watching some trash TV with Lisa – Neil went to bed! Staying with the family also gave us a chance to get familiar with being back in Australia. First up, everything gets a shortened name. Stay with the rellies, have a glass of chard or sav, visit ‘vinnies op shop’ (charity shop St Vincent de Paul’s) or salvos (Salvation army) in the arvo. Next, everything is out to kill you so watch out for the spiders, snakes, ants, mozzies and even roos throwing themselves at your car at night. More on Aussie rules later in the blog.
After a few days it was time to move on and stay with Cheryl’s cousin Roy and his partner Heather. They met us at the station in Ballarat and spent the next few days treating us to gourmet treats and more gin, wine & beer than was good for us. Neil cooked one night and made a large rice pudding which Heather enjoyed so much she devoured it all meaning there was none left to go in the freezer for Roy!
Their house was the former police station in the small town of Learmonth and they are carrying out a renovation of one of the small buildings which was once the police office. It will be a self-contained annex and was originally planned to be completed for our arrival. It’s still a way off being completed but we will return at the end of our visit in mid April and Heather has told us we will be its first occupants. We weren’t so sure it will be finished but Heather accepted our $2 bet so let’s see who wins the money.
After a few days of fantastic hospitality Roy and Heather drove us to Bendigo to pick up our campervan, our home for the next eight weeks.
The next stage of the trip started in Bendigo in Victoria where we were introduced to our home for the next six weeks. Regular readers will remember our last trip to Oz in 2016 when we hired the beast that was Cazza & BygBlu that made our own 4x4 and caravan look like Dinky toys. This time we have a modest campervan which we hope will be a lot easier to cope with.
It didn’t take long to be talked through how the van worked and we headed off to Swan Hill with the intention of continuing west before heading north east to eventually meet up with friends Chris & Viv in Caloundra just North of Brisbane in Queensland. The campsite in Swan Hill was beside the mighty Murray River and each evening we were treated to an awesome sight as hundreds of white cockatoos came in before dusk to roost in the gum trees. It was incredibly noisy but wonderful to watch as the many flocks jostled for positions amongst the trees and randomly all took off to swirl around before landing again in a bird version of what looked like musical branches. We’ve since discovered that many Australians consider them to be noisy pests but for us it was a splendid spectacle.
We had the first of many changes of plan and decided that heading West was a bad idea as it was too hot and this was better left towards the end of our trip. We headed North East and decided to stop off at Griffith, which is home to many Italians. Unfortunately, the camp site we booked was grim and our drive through the town didn’t inspire us to linger so it became an overnight stop. The camp BBQ area was disgusting so we tried to use the pull-out BBQ on the van. That couldn’t connect to the gas supply so we settled on a cheese & cracker dinner with plenty of red wine. Things went from bad to worse when Cheryl started to get bitten by mozzies and decided to close the door on the van forgetting the table was attached to it. Ooops! The table collapsed and the supporting leg fell off. Next morning the man in the office provided tools so that Neil could screw the thing back on.
Cheryl’s son Alex has recently sold his business to Forbes and is now their European Editor so when we saw there was a town named Forbes in Australia it was the obvious choice for the next stop. It’s also a town with historical buildings and had a local bad boy, Ben Hall. He was a bush ranger which means he robbed banks and people during the gold rush but he never shot anyone. He was eventually shot down by the police and ended up as a folk hero. We explored the town heritage trail and headed back for a BBQ dinner and ate outside the van. On this site we had a concrete slab beside the van to put out the table and chairs. The fixed table was at a slight angle as the slab was higher than the ground. Not a problem we thought until nearly at the end of the meal when the whole thing collapsed with a crash, sending everything flying including the excellent bottle of red we had just opened. Fortunately for us the worst damage was the wine splattered up the side of the van from our glasses as luckily the top was on the bottle and we found it intact under the van, hurrah! The leg had once again come off and we both agreed not to use that bl**dy thing again!!
Of those campsites that allow pets they all insist they are kept on a lead. The day we left Forbes Neil was getting the camper ready to go when he was ‘adopted’ by a white dog that appeared from nowhere. It followed him everywhere and when Cheryl walked to open the gate for us to leave he followed her too. Then when we left and drove along the road he ran after us until we lost him. We called him White Dog as he reminded us of Red Dog from the North West of Australia made famous in a film…..watch it, it’s very entertaining.
Next stop was Gunnedah but again a bad choice of campsite. It was still hot so asking for a shady pitch and wifi seemed too much for the grumpy bloke on reception. We settled on the pitch in full sun closest to reception as that was as far as the wifi would stretch. We then found the wifi was useless so moved ourselves to some shade which he said didn’t exist. We then found there was a charge to use the BBQ – OK it was only 20 cents but there was a principle here. We were getting a bit fed up. Last trip the campsites were great but this time we were struggling to find good ones and particularly ones with decent wifi as we still had some planning to do.
Next stop was Armidale, the highest city in Australia at 980m. It was a lot cooler but unfortunately it was also raining. The campsite had wifi – hurrah, but it was useless – bo**ocks!! On the way to our next stop, Glen Innis, we stopped off to visit the grave of another local bush ranger, Captain Thunderbolt. He too supposedly didn’t kill anyone but he came to a similar end to Ben Hall…..full of lead! We finally found a lovely campsite at Glen Innes and the manager did point out that local wifi was working but can be unreliable so we finally decided to buy data on a local sim card. Glen Innes has a Scottish heritage and hosts an annual Celtic Games in May with bagpipes and haggis. In 1992 the town built a circle of standing stones which is an impressive site and was to celebrate their Celtic heritage. Glen Innes is also known as ‘The land of the Beardies’ and we went to the excellent museum which housed an eclectic mix of old artefacts from the early settler days up until the late Twentieth Century.
A few days later we arrived in Caloundra. We had booked a 2 bedroom waterfront cabin to share with Chris & Viv. Neil worked with Chris is the UK back in the 70’s before he emigrated with Viv in 1986. We had made an excellent choice - a new cabin which was well kitted out and we had a deck with a fabulous view across to Bribie Island and the sea beyond. We spent the weekend catching up over wine and great food and walks along the coast paths. We also took a drive out to see the Glass House Mountains with a quick stop on the way to sample some beer at a local brewery. We ordered a paddle to try a few and most of it was OK but beer with chilli, mmm, not so sure on that one. After a great weekend we set off on a 6hr drive south whilst Chris and Viv flew back to Sydney.
Having given our livers a bit of a hammering with Chris and Viv we set off for a 7hr journey south for an overnight stop at Urunga. It was a very quiet site with lots of colourful parrots and an owner with a passion for taking beaten up old Ford Capris and turning them into 1000BHP monsters!
Next day we climbed up the hills to Dorrigo via The Waterfall Way where we took a 3hr stroll through a rainforest. It was beautiful with waterfalls you can walk behind and it was so cool in the shade of the forest canopy. It was quiet and great for listening to the birds, watching a Goanna go about its day and enjoying a lovey picnic fighting off the hungry forest turkeys. Afterwards we had a short drive to Armidale for an overnight stop and a little bit of clothes shopping.
Next morning we set off for Murrurundi for 2 nights on a campsite run by a lovely couple that kept the site spotless and with a camp kitchen containing all sorts of memorabilia and a fridge with 2 large wine boxes labelled ‘have a drink on us’. We came here to walk to The Eye of The Needle in the hills and to explore the town. It was also a stop off to visit The Burning Mountain which is a coal seam, 30m underground, that has been burning for thousands of years at the rate of about a meter a year. As you climb the hill you can see various signs pointing out the different state of the ground as the vegetation is killed by the heat and then as the burning moves on it is replaced by different plants until the Gum Trees reestablish themselves as the dominant force. It was also our first sighting of Grey Kangaroos that seemed extremely comfortable with our presence.
Next stop was Mudgee which is a very popular haunt for wine lovers. There are lots of wineries and we decided to take a one-day tour for $95 (just over £50) which included tastings at multiple wineries, lunch and a Gin distillery. We were the first pick up so sat at the front behind our gregarious driver Jim. As more and more people got on, about 17 in total, we quickly realized we were in for a fun day. Our first tasting started at 9.45am and once back on the bus we took a selfie of us all. After that we took a bus selfie after each stop and you can see from the pictures that as we moved through the day the party got more and more boisterous. In the process of having a very boozy day we made an impulse buy of a box of 6 Kama Sutra Wines just before we had lunch which was an enormous cheese platter and antipasto platter. We almost finished the antipasto but decided to take the cheese home with us. We were in bed very early that night and slept soundly until about 7am.
Next stop was The Hunter Valley which is also very popular with wine lovers. We booked another day tour and hoped for another fun day out. It was a contrast to Mudgee as the group we were with turned out to be much quieter types. We also found the hosts at each tasting were keen to enhance our appreciation of their wines and took time to explain how their winemakers made a difference. We felt we learned a lot on the day, and we returned to the campsite without the need to crash into bed. A final relaxed day at Cessnock allowed us to prepare for another weekend with Chris and Viv.
We booked a 2-bedroom water view cabin at Lake Macquarie just North of Sydney. It’s a vast lake and the campsite was situated at the water’s edge. The cabin was fine but the water view was a bit of a disappointment as you could see the lake but only if you stood sideways on the deck! The deck itself also didn’t have much shade and the weather was so hot we had to stay indoors until the sun went down. We set off for a walk along the lakeshore path only to find it ran out after about ten minutes walking so we turned round to try the path on the left of the site. Oh dear, another dud which soon ground to a halt. Things weren’t going well so we decided to start the BBQ and make a start on the Kama Sutra wine we bought in Mudgee. Neil got creative with pork, prunes and peas and we got chatting to a group of Samoan lads who were cooking enough chicken to cover the entire BBQ.
Next morning we set off for some sightseeing and following the local tourist guide leaflet tried to find St Catherine’s Bay, a historical mining site. We failed. Next stop Caves Bay for a walk along the coast. This started well with some fine views, but the path soon deteriorated and we made a few guesses as to where to go as there were no sign posts. It was a good walk but after an hour we were getting hot and headed back to the car. The nearest major town was Swansea so we set off to see the small opening where the lake meets the Pacific Ocean. The town was unexciting, so we returned to the campsite for a relatively quiet and restrained night. We spotted our first possums on the roof of the cabin next door and managed to get a good photo.
Saturday was predicted to be hotter so we looked for a walk in the tourist guide which might offer some shade. A long walk along the esplanade at Warners Bay with plenty of photographic opportunities looked good and we decided to start at the end with the Art Gallery. It began in full sun but it was early and not too hot. The path curved around the bay but no mention in the tourist guide that we would soon be walking along the edge of the highway as it crossed over a large bridge. After 25 minutes walking with the traffic blasting alongside we gave up and went back to the Gallery Café for a drink. A closer look at Google Maps showed the walk continued along the side of the B53 pretty much all the way into Warners Bay!
Cheryl remembered the guide had another walk at Wangi Wangi which we went past on the way so we drove to the town in search of the start point. No signs at all so with the help of Google again we finally tracked it down to the end of the promontory and found the car park and large signboard showing a circular walk in the trees, hurrah! This started well with a peaceful track and lake views. Inevitably, the promised ‘well signposted’ track soon disappeared so with a few detours and backtracks when the trail disappeared we finally made it all the way around.
The evening was spent in the usual fashion, finishing off Viv’s lovely Massaman Curry followed by blue cheese & crackers and a few bottles of wine – far too many!
Apart from having a great time with Chris and Viv Lake Macquarie had turned into something of a dud and it wasn’t helped by the weather forecast. C&V were due to drive back to Sydney on Sunday and we had decided to stay on until Monday. However, the weather forecast for Sunday was for around 40C which would have been horrific. So, we too packed our bags early and left for the cooler climate of the Blue Mountains.
After the weekend with Chris & Viv we thought that the decision to leave the coast a day early was a great idea. Miss out on 40C and go to the mountains for some walking in temperatures of around 30C and less. That’s what we got on our arrival 30C, the next day we took the walk from Govetts Leap to Pulpit Rock at 25C and the following day our friend Ian visited and we had a lovely day, with picnic, walking the cliff path near Katoomba at 23C. That’s where it all went tits up – 3 days of solid full on rain, mist and temperatures of 15C at best…….oh bugger!
OK, so the weather did turn rather foul bit before the rain came in we did manage the 3hr hard walk from Govetts Leap to Pulpit Rock. It was a hot day, around 30C, but it was superb and we hardly saw anybody. We had our picnic lunch on the rock with no one around catching what bit of shade there was behind a trig point rock. What a view for a picnic – probably one our best ever. The following day our friend Ian who was visiting friends in Sydney caught the train up to us and we had another lovely walk and picnic along the cliff path.
It was next day that it all went south but the silver lining was that it made us take time to write the blog, sort out the photos, finish booking the hotels for our honeymoon, catch up on emails and generally do all the things we’ve been putting off. There were a couple of periods when the rain was forecast to ease, and it did, so we grabbed a couple of 1-2hr walks to ensure we didn’t go completely stir crazy. On our last day the sun came out and we took the walk down to the bottom of the range, around 500m, walked along Federal Pass for 1hr or so before taking the 900 steps back up near The 3 Sisters. We reckon around 600 calories burned over the 3.5hr walk meaning extra beers and Gin for us tonight! An hour after we got back the thunderstorms set in once again so all in all we got lucky. Lucky is Neil’s middle name.
Sunday morning we set off for Cowra. We passed via a town called Bathurst which brought back a few memories for Neil from when he worked at MMT Energy. He never got to travel here as the project was before his time but there was often lots of banter in the office about the town, the project and the crazy things that some of the guys got up to where they were here. The town had a WW2 POW camp and in August 1944, 1104 Japanese prisoners staged a break out armed with whatever weapons they could utilize such as baseball bats, homemade clubs and sharpened kitchen knives. It took nine days to round them up during which four Australian soldiers and 231 Japanese died. The camp also housed over a thousand Italians but they were not regarded as a threat and many worked on local farms. After the war ended the Japanese were touched by the way in which the Australians had looked after the graves of the war dead and suggested an official Japanese War Cemetery. The theme of reconciliation continued with the establishment of a Japanese Garden and finally the Australian World Peace Bell in the town.
The camp site was at the river’s edge and had a large contingent of day time Cockatoos. Very noisy but very entertaining to watch when they all decided it was time to take off. We found ourselves sharing the BBQ area with a large group having a family reunion and they were keen to chat. Two brothers told tales of their mum and dad arriving as £10 POMs and taking up the offer of work with accommodation provided only to find it was in the middle of nowhere with no running water. We are really enjoying the social side of the campsites and the BBQ is the natural hub to chat while dinner is sizzling. On the second night the conversation was all about the baffling nature of Australian politics – and no we didn’t understand much of what we were told.
Next stop Narrandera for a night to visit a Koala regeneration reserve. It was all going well until just 8kms from town when the van started to shudder, there was a bang and we ground to a halt. The rear offside wheel was down to the metal. Ooops! We managed to trundle on a bit to get the van off the highway and called RACV. Rodney couldn’t fix it and put the spare on. The whole process was very efficient and we were on our way in less than an hour. If you look at the picture you will see the state it was in which was politely termed as ‘totalled’ by the tyre repair centre in Narrandera where we got a replacement….Neil had another word for it!
Excitement over for the day we arrived at yet another good campsite by the side of Lake Talbot and set off for a long walk to the Koala reserve in search of the critters. Unfortunately for us they were being shy unlike the kangaroos that seemed very interested in us, to a point, and so 3 hours later we gave up the koala hunt and returned to the campsite for another BBQ and a great sunset.
Moving on again next morning we headed for Echuca which has a great history as it was once Australia’s largest inland port transporting timber and other goods down the Murray River to the sea ports. It’s all been ‘prettified’ but it did give you a good insight into what it might have been like 150 years ago when the original wharf was almost 800m long. Old paddle steamers ply the river giving very expensive rides up and down which were pleasant to watch from the bank.
It was here that we just about finished our crazy shopping spree………yes, shopping and that includes Neil who announced that ‘today was such a cracking successful shopping day’. Yes, it’s strange for Neil to enjoy shopping but we’ve been buying shorts, T-shirts and polo shirts in the Autumn sales. How about a T-shirt made of cotton for £1.50, a polo shirt made of cotton for £3 and linen mix shorts for £5? We’ve never experienced such prices even in India and the quality seems to be pretty good. The reason that Neil was really excited was that since we decided to get married Cheryl has been looking for clothes to get married in. It was beginning to look very difficult and Cheryl was getting a little downhearted until she found 2 items on the same day on the same street…….ace…..job done!
Next day we moved onto Bendigo to exchange vans. Almost as we arrived in Oz we decided to extend our rental for a week but we couldn’t keep the original van as it was already booked out but Phil the rental man was happy to give us an upgrade to a proper motorhome instead. The upgrade was even better than we thought as Phil asked us to return to him a week early so he could get the campervan ready for its second rental. Our new home feels huge in comparison to the campervan as it has a fixed bed, much larger shower and toilet and a proper dining area. The engine is a Fiat which has taken a bit of getting used to as it drives very differently from the Mercedes Sprinter which was the base for the campervan. It’s definitely a huge step up from the campervan and is more like the space we have in our caravan back home in England. Did we mention that ‘Lucky’ is Neil’s middle name?
We were happy to head back to Bendigo over Easter as they have a massive fair all weekend including processions. There is a very large Chinese community here which goes back to when Bendigo was a gold mining town so a lot of the things we saw came from the Chinese influence on the town. All the campsites in town were booked up months ago so Phil invited us to stay on the forecourt for free, gave us a BBQ to use and access to the toilet and shower………..fantastic, it worked well and it saved us at least $80.
Bendigo is a large and affluent town with many heritage buildings as well as parks and green spaces. It’s wealth all comes from the Goldrush days and its still a buzzing place today with many stylish boutiques, bars, cafes and restaurants. The town was packed for Easter and there were a number of events all over town including ‘waking the dragon’ ceremonies as well as the torchlight procession which we went along to. In one of his chats with Phil, Neil was given a hint that there would be a lot of firemen in the procession. That sounds promising thought Cheryl. We took a taxi into town and quickly found a good spot to view near to where the parade would start. After twenty minutes of watching small groups of variously shaped (i.e. not young and hunky looking as Cheryl had anticipated!) local fire volunteers from what seemed to be every outlying town waving very small flaming torches and riding in their trucks we were thinking it was so lame that it was actually giving us the giggles. There were a couple of marching bands of bagpipes and drums, and some other local community groups which did break the monotony. Finally we started to see some proper floats with music and costumes and dancing – hurrah! And then it got better when the Chinese dragons arrived and they were just so spectacular.
Our trail of lots of ‘bad boys’ or bushrangers on this trip would not be complete without the infamous Ned Kelly. Many towns use his name to cash in on the tourist draw and Glenrowan is the one that takes the biscuit for tackiness. To be fair, it was the site of Ned’s last stand where, dressed in his home made armour, he was shot 28 times and caught. He didn’t live here, he didn’t appear in court here but Glenrowan takes first prize for milking his name. There’s the huge statue as you enter the town, the pub sells Kelly Gang Beer and there’s a ‘scary’ reenactment of the capture using moving dummies which according to the board outside is not for the fainthearted. Lonely Planet says that it’s a bucket of shite and yet it costs $30!! We stopped briefly to take some pictures and then we moved on.
Wodonga is not a place to spend Easter with your kids, at least we didn’t think so as there wasn’t much to see and do there. On arrival the guy in reception told us to watch out for the 120 kids on site. We thought he was exaggerating but quickly realized he wasn’t kidding (!!) as the campsite was completely full.
We were there to visit Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre. This is where refugees and migrants from Europe after WW2 were housed on arrival starting in 1947. Italians, Greeks, Germans and any nation where people were displaced by the events of the war. They lived here for a while learning English and waiting to be placed in work which could have been anywhere in Australia. We were met at reception by one of the volunteer ladies who came here from Switzerland as a small child before being shipped to Perth where her parents were given jobs. It’s also where Neil might have come when he was about 7 as his parents were considering becoming ‘£10 POMs’.
Our next stop was Beechworth where we had a campsite pitch to die for. Plus, and now you must excuse the pun, we had just settled down for lunch when a large group arrived and explained that they were here to have a short service and then scatter the ashes of Fred across the lake. It was a jovial event and quite touching as his widow came across to apologise………’for what’ we said ‘we have been quite moved by the whole event’. Take a look at the pictures and see just how lucky we were to get the best pitch on the site.
Beechworth does have a legitimate claim to fame with good old Ned. He lived not too far away, he spent many a happy hour in the local pubs, in the court and goal here as did his mother. She did 3 years hard labour for whacking a drunken policeman over the head with a shovel who was ‘messing’ with her daughter. Ned also served 3 years hard labour in the goal from the age of 15 for a crime he didn’t commit. Whilst we think he probably would always have gone the wrong side of the law many things happened to him and his family which probably made sure that he would live a life of crime. As with many of the bush rangers their treatment by the police was not good and probably put many over the edge. It was also here that he was sentenced to hang and was duly taken to Melbourne where the execution took place.
We took 2 walking tours with our guide, Rod, dressed in 1850’s gear along with boots, bowler hat and waistcoat. We toured all the perfectly preserved buildings in town and learnt so much more about the history of Beechworth and Ned Kelly’s tragic story. Whilst Glenrowan glorified the story, Beechworth seemed to tell the us the history in a tasteful and respectful way.
Ned’s mum eloped after getting pregnant by John Kelly who had been transported for theft in 1841. From there it was down hill all the way. Life was very harsh in those days living in a wooden hut which would have been stifling in summer and freezing in winter. She had 12 children, mixed with all the wrong people and getting pregnant by several bush rangers. She did various stints in goal for varying crimes many of which were fabricated by the police. Ned never had a chance and after the first stint in an adult goal at the age of 15 for a crime he didn’t commit he really was only going to become a ‘bad boy’.
The courtroom where both Ned and his mum were sentenced is original including the dock and the bench where the judge, Sir Redmond Berry (aka ‘the hanging judge’) sentenced him to death. Mum died at the age of 91 in 1923. It is a fascinating family story that is probably mirrored so many times across Australia. Ned just made them famous because of his armour and the scale of his crimes.
As a nation most of us have grown up with John Wayne movies depicting the wild west as a lawless place. Can you imagine how lawless Oz must have been when most of its original population were criminals transported here in the late 1700’s for mostly petty crimes such as simply stealing a loaf of bread? Then with the discovery of gold in the mid 1850’s it’s no surprise that this place was probably as bad, if not worse, that Big John’s wild west. Think about it, it’s not that long ago is it, 150 years?
We’ve been on the road now for around 6 weeks and everywhere we’ve been Neil has been looking for wildlife. We’ve seen lots of roos, our first possum and emus but cuddly Koalas have remained very elusive. We even had a late afternoon 3 hour walk through a koala sanctuary and came up with nothing but roos. Finally, he did it, on the 2hr walk from Lake Sambell to Lake Kerford he found one just chilling out about 10-15m up a gum tree. He managed to get some good pictures despite not being able to get the bottom of the tree due to the bush. He’s very pleased with himself now even though we’ve still not seen a wombat or an echidna. These are nocturnal and shy so we’re unlikely to see one of them.
We then moved on to Mount Beauty which is in the Alpine National Park. The scenery is stunning and the walking tracks are some of the best we have come across. In addition, the daytime temperatures were in the high 20’s and at night time down to as low as 2 or 3C. No problem, we had a huge fire pit to keep us warm whilst we tucked into our food and at night we have a thick doona from Phil at the motorhome hire centre.
We had a couple of evenings where we had one of those fantastic communal camp BBQ experiences. A huge group of Asian families on a short trip from Melbourne arrived en masse to cook. They originated from Malaysia, Indonesia and Korea just to name a few countries. They were an extremely friendly bunch and while cooking massive amounts of food on the BBQ told us their various stories. Most S E Asian countries won’t accept dual nationality, so they have to choose to keep their original citizenship or take up full Australian status. Those children that are born here must choose when they are 18. Most met at University here and through the network of Oriental groups that exist in Melbourne.
On the first night they gave us food to sample and it was delicious. On the second night Henry, a pharmacist from Indonesia, and his wife Juliana announced that they were all leaving in the morning and so would we like the left-over beef in Korean spices, lamb sausages and an enormous box of salad? Yes please!
The group had 2 sets of twins and we had some banter with the kids. One 6 year old boy joked about the large gap in his front teeth and Neil met him in the shower block later that evening where he was cleaning his teeth. Suddenly, the other identical twin just came up to Neil, gave him a big hug, and shouted ‘bye’ before he headed off to bed. Great people and another lovely social evening in the campsite.
Our last few days were spent catching up with the Rellies - The Bradbury family at Lake Eildon and Cousin Roy and partner Heather in Learmonth. We had a short stop in Mansfield where Cheryl met another new cousin, Rebecca Douglas-Rhoderick. After a coffee and a chat to learn more about the family we continued our journey to a campsite near Lake Eildon. It’s still Easter Holidays so we were surprised to find we were almost alone on the site. Dinner that night was the leftover Korean spicy beef with salad – yum.
Next morning we awoke to a few showers, grey skies and wind blowing dust all around. Not as forecast and not what we wanted for a day out on the boat with the Bradburys. It turned out fine as it was still warm at around 28 degrees and the few spots of rain hardly mattered when the focus of the day was to get wet in the lake. Neil tried kneeboarding and performed really well, even crossing the wake behind the boat without falling off. Watch the video as he, quote Cheryl, ‘shows off’. He had anticipated that he would be giving the boys lots of laughs as he tried ineptly to master the art so he is just a tad pleased with himself especially as, at the time, Jack told him that no one has ever done it first time. Dan and Jack were, as to be expected, very polished and showed off some impressive moves.
We cruised across the vast and empty lake to a restaurant for lunch before heading back onto the water for a go on the sidewinder which was a large inflatable sofa big enough to seat three people. It is dragged behind the boat and as the boat swerves the sidewinder shoots out sideways and bounces back across the wake. Cheryl took some video but unfortunately missed the total wipeout when Neil, Jack and Dan were tossed into the water. Neil did get a bloodshot eye and a bruised backside from all the crashing about from the bouncing. Lisa, Jack and Dan took the final ride and we laughed as all we could see were their feet sticking up as the boat sped off. What we didn’t realise was that the sidewinder was slowly deflating and they were being tipped backwards! We had a great day out with Lisa, Simon, Jack and Dan…..sorry we missed you Cal. They dropped us back off at the campsite and had a quick look at the campervan.
Next day we moved on to Learmonth to visit Roy & Heather. When we visited last time they had been in the process of renovating the old police office and turning it into a guest suite including a small kitchenette. Their original plan was to have it ready for us to use when we arrived in February but it had taken a lot longer than they thought. The Tradie was concreting the bathroom floor and the room itself was a bare shell. Cheryl joked with Heather that it would not be ready for our return visit and bet her $2….Cheryl lost the bet! The new suite is fantastic and so spacious. They have done an excellent job and we are very impressed.
The weather turned very chilly and rainy so we spent most days chatting and enjoying their company. We also went to see a production of Spamalot in Ballarat. Heather is a music teacher and, of course, an accomplished musician. She was playing Saxaphone, clarinet, flute and piccolo in the orchestra that played for the production so we went along to see the show. It was brilliant and so funny, the staging was creative and the performers outstanding……what a great evening. Our last evening was spent enjoying some excellent pie cooked by Roy and Neil's special rice pudding that Heather really loved. All washed down with some excellent red wine. Thanks Roy and Heather for being such excellent hosts.
So, yet another good tour of Oz. Apart from finding some pretty dodgy campsites during the first week or so we’ve had yet another magical trip. It’s been great to meet up with the family, we’ve enjoyed taking the walks through the bush, the history has been fascinating, and the campsite camaraderie has been a hoot. Our last few days in the national park allowed us to enjoy the colours of Autumn and some unseasonably warm and pleasant weather. We loved being in the motorhome and the only regret we have is that we didn’t book it instead of the campervan right from the start. It has been much more comfortable and to have taken it from the start would have cost us just a few extra £’s/day.
We’ve both updated our wardrobes for less money than it would cost in a UK charity shop or India for that matter. We still find it hard to believe the prices that we’ve paid for shirts and shorts and the fact that most are made of cotton and seem to be very good quality. What with Neil getting his wedding suit in Goa and Cheryl now pretty much kitted out we’re good to go for the wedding of the year. Eat your hearts out Harry and Meghan……bet you won’t look as hot as we will!
Way back when we started this trip we decided that enough was enough. We’ve both been in denial about our gradual weight gain over the last 2/3 years and before we left the UK last October we planned a gentle diet to bring us close to where we really should be. The decision to get married did put a little bit of extra pressure on us as who wants to be a fat bride or groom! Neil reduced his beer intake which in the social scene of Goa was a tough one. Equally, being in the heat of Oz made slurping water instead of beer a big ask. Cheryl was just as hard on herself by cutting down on her G&Ts even to the extent of buying a measure to make sure she only had 50ml instead of an exaggerated guess.
We have both cut back on portion sizes - we’re probably eating half the portion sizes of meat and fish that we were used to in the UK and carbs are almost a thing of the past. The net result is that with the help of the digital scales we bought in Goa and here in Oz we’ve both lost close to 5kg. Our diet has been good, lots of fruit and veg and quality protein. However, we’ve continued to enjoy the wines and we’ve still been able to splurge now and again with trips to The Hyatt in Goa, boat trips in Goa, mega weekends with Chris and Viv and just generally enjoying the company of family. We’re pleased with our progress but there’s still a way to go.
Tomorrow Roy will take us Melbourne to catch the flight home. We are breaking up the journey with two nights in Hong Kong.
………the question is will we be back to Oz?
‘How do you manage to plan over half a year ahead to arrive back in England during the hottest "April" week in 70 years?’ This was the message on the blog that we had from Roger & Ann. Well guys, Lucky is Neil’s middle name. While we’re on ‘lucky’ we haven’t told you that we’ve already booked flights for Goa next year, with Swiss Air, an amazing price hundreds of pounds cheaper than BA. We arrive in Goa on October 23rd and leave February 1st 2019 and don’t forget we have a spare room or two! We’ve also booked flights for the second part of our winter trip next year……Mexico for the first time!
Back to chapter 10 - the first leg home from Melbourne to Hong Kong was with Cathay Pacific so it was always likely to be a good one. An excellent G&T and Bloody Mary to kick off and very good food and wine. Neil majored on the Parma ham and red wine before we both had an excellent sleep. We landed at 10pm, grabbed a taxi and headed for the unknown. For those of you that have been to HK you will know that property is very expensive and that hotel rooms are tiny at best. We had booked a room with a view of HK harbour for only £70 which in HK is a bargain price. Well, what a find, a fab view, albeit in a bijou room and location just perfect so, we repeat, what a find!
We rode the trams and the ferries to explore and observe daily life, took the amazing escalator up the hillside that took 15 minutes to reach the top, walked back down via the botanical gardens that included a small zoo and just generally hung out for a couple of days. HK is full on and yet it’s relaxing……quite a strange feeling when you’re in a 24/7 city, we slept very well.
Having had a great experience on Cathay we weren’t expecting much on the final leg home to London. BA haven’t been great recently, so we just use them to accrue and spend air miles. However, we were pleasantly surprised. We had access to the excellent Qantas Business Lounge, the flight comfort very good and the food first class. Only one downside for Neil was the very poor choice in music which he prefers to watching TV….hey, you can’t have everything!
We landed at 4.40am, flew through the airport in record time and got the first tube of the day at 5.21am. We got Alex and Freddy out of bed at around 6.45am and then spent Saturday with them enjoying the fabulous weather which saw temperatures in the mid 20’s. They have a new house in Islington set over 3 floors with a superb south facing back garden which, by Islington standards, is very big. On Sunday we had lunch with Bill & Sue before going to the quaint cinema in Islington to watch ‘The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society’……what a title and a very good film.
Next stop was Gloucester to stay with June & Roy and pick up the car which they have been baby sitting for us while we’ve been away. As usual, delicious food and homegrown vegetables. June & Tracy also took Cheryl out to Worcester for a ‘girls day out’ in advance of our wedding.
Well Roger and Ann, we might have had a couple of days of sunshine and warm weather when we arrived home but England didn’t take long to bring us back down to earth……rain, wind and a daytime high of just 8C!!
Next stop Bristol to collect our new caravan.
We arrived in Bristol and went to collect our new summer home, a brand-new Bailey caravan. We were very excited and looking forward to moving into it and checking everything was OK. It looked great and it was all going well until it came to pay the balance and Neil’s bank, Santander, took the icing off the cake.
Cheryl made her half payment using her debit card but Neil’s refused to work. He called the bank and they confirmed that his card had been frozen. They couldn’t tell him why! We then had the idea of doing a bank transfer but that involved Cheryl taking Neil’s phone outside, standing on her left foot with the phone in her right hand with it tucked under her left arm in order to get a signal to collect the OTP that the bank would send to allow him to set up a new payee. An exaggeration? Slightly, but in essence this is what happened.
Frustratingly the bank didn’t stop interfering with our exciting day at this point. Whilst the accountant in the office sat patiently looking at the computer screen waiting for the money to arrive Neil checked his account and it had definitely left. Neil went outside to phone the bank only to be told that because of the recent ‘suspicious’ account activity the bank insisted on further security before sending the payment through. By now we were both thoroughly embarrassed and Neil absolutely fuming…….the payment finally went through more than 2 hours later…….all this hassle for less than £5000!!
The bank has since coughed up some compensation and moved him to a select account giving him direct access to an account manager. It’s some compensation but the caravan is even better compensation………we love it and have been travelling around Somerset, Devon and Cornwall for several weeks.
Whilst we’ve been travelling around we’ve also been keeping an eye on Neil’s daughter’s travels. Leanne’s latest expedition with partner Neil and 2 other friends was to Svalbard. Check it out on google maps but suffice it to say it’s a hell of a long way north of Finland. Neil had this great idea of crossing Svalbard on skis, totally unsupported and dragging their food and kit behind them, in a place where the inhabitants are outnumbered by the polar bears and the temperature would drop below -20C! Leanne was chosen to be trained as the sharp shooter and to carry the rifle in the event that a bear took a fancy to humans for dinner. Thankfully she returned home unscathed albeit disappointed she didn’t see a single bear. She asked for sponsorship and thanks to everyone who gave her money, plus her employer who will match what she raises, she’ll raise £1000 for Mental Health UK…..what a star she is.
Of course, we wouldn’t be back in the UK without mentioning the weather……..rain glorious rain and miserable low temperatures! However, the bad weather didn’t stay for too long and we were able to enjoy some beautiful sunny days whilst walking the coastal path in North Cornwall. We’ve also been visiting various places to buy a house and have managed to cross lots of places off the list and confirm one or two as definite possibilities. During our travels we met up with Dave and Kim in Torquay, missed out on Sue and Andy who had visitors, and met with John and Yvonne who live in Bude. All are friends from Goa.
That’s it for now, we’re back in Bristol and finalizing a few things before the big day!!
After being together for around 20 years at the stroke of midnight on New Years Eve we decided to get married. Marriage is not something you rush into so we felt that 20 years was a decent enough time to be sure. Arrangements went brilliantly until the evening before the big day when Cheryl had one of those ‘oh shit’ moments which almost sent her into a complete breakdown.
She had the trousers for her wedding outfit which had somehow got marks on them. We had shopped a lot in Australia and bought two tops, one of which matched perfectly. She decided to wash the trousers to remove the marks only to find the night before the wedding that they had gone several shades whiter and the top didn’t match anymore……bugger! At 7pm we were hurtling around the local out of town shopping mall to buy another pair of trousers which, amazingly, matched perfectly…..how lucky was that?
We chose to have our wedding at The Guildhall in Bath and as we were to be only 8 people we chose The Russell Room which has a maximum of 14 places. The guests were to be our 3 children and their partners and we booked 4 rooms at the very swanky Gainsborough Bath Spa. It is the only hotel in the UK which has its own natural springs which we were able to bathe in and use all the other facilities like sauna and steam room.
We had a fabulous time with the children and the rooms came with complimentary mini bar and a bottle of champagne. We held a pre-wedding party in our room before the ceremony where we drank 2 bottles of champagne. Off we went to ‘do the deed’ and then on the way back to the hotel we stopped for Neil to get his pint of ale in The Crystal Palace which ended up being 2 pints. Then it was back to the hotel for 2 more bottles of bubbly before our 6 course taster menu and wine flight in the hotel restaurant. It was a great evening.
Next morning we spent time wallowing in the spa before breakfast and our departure to Gatwick Airport to go on honeymoon. This was a truly fabulous day, one that we will never, ever, forget. More pictures will follow from our 2 photographers – Alex and Paul.
We made it to Gatwick Airport to catch the late afternoon flight to Verona, the city of love and Romeo and Juliet. The flight went well with plenty of bubbly and malt whisky and arrived just about on time. We had notified the hotel that we were on honeymoon and that we would arrive quite late and asked if they could provide us with a bottle and a cold meat platter. That’s exactly what we got except they had us down for a 10th wedding anniversary!
Verona is a very pretty city and amazingly quiet. It’s the setting for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and the local tourist industry has come up with ‘Juliet’s House’ complete with a balcony which fits the story so who cares if it’s not real. There’s even Romeo’s house for good measure as well as many other picturesque historic buildings.
After 2 nights we picked up the hire car, a Fiat 500 no less, and headed off to Florence for a further 2 nights of sightseeing, eating and drinking. Florence, whilst also very pretty, was mobbed with tourists and a traffic nightmare. We spent our first afternoon across the river at a viewpoint high up on the hill which gave a splendid view of the city. The cathedral, The Duomo, is pretty stunning and dominates the skyline of the town. There is also an extremely pretty bridge, The Ponte Vecchio, which is crammed with jewellery shops along its length. These replaced the original street of butcher’s shops in the 16th century. They had the habit of throwing waste directly into the river below. We approved of the change of use, especially as it was very warm and sunny!
Next stop was Siena which was much quieter and pleasant. Once again the sightseeing was superb and The Duomo even more stunning than the one in Florence. There’s also The Piazza del Campo which was a great place to people watch. It’s divided into 9 sectors which represents the members of the consiglio, or old town districts which take part in many competitions including The Palio, a world famous horse race, that takes place every year around the piazza. Some of the restaurants show film of it and it looks pretty dangerous! It was great to just wander through the narrow streets and spend long hours over lunch and dinner.
Two days later we took the short drive to San Gimignano to be greeted by our hosts for 2 nights at a small guesthouse owned by Mauro and his wife Marri. We arrived to be immediately hugged by her as though we were her long lost children. She spoke little English and we don’t speak Italian but we managed to understand each other pretty well. Breakfast every morning was delivered to our own private terrace and came with lots more hugs. We had multiple hugs and kisses when we left so we now feel we’re part of the family.
The town itself is described as a medieval Manhattan as the wealthy families built towers to show off to their neighbours until most of the town was wiped out by the Black Death. It’s beautifully preserved and incredibly touristy, but it was delightful and we wished we had stayed here longer. It’s set on a hill and overlooks wonderful rolling Tuscan countryside with vineyards ringed with Cyprus trees stretching as far as the eye can see. It’s also home to lots of narrow alleys and streets and some sumptuous food and wines. We found two exceptionally good places to enjoy the local pasta, wild boar sausages and the best beef cooked in Chianti. It’s also the home of the World Champion Gelato maker so we had to indulge. The diet we’ve been on over the last 6 months, losing a stone each (7Kgs), was quickly forgotten.
From San G. we passed through Pisa to take in the Leaning Tower and The Duomo before stopping in Lucca which is much more pleasant than Pisa town. The medieval walls are complete and spectacular as they are wide enough to be topped with a tree lined promenade. It’s another town with lots of narrow lanes and is home to a Michelin recommended restaurant which wasn’t particularly expensive and its signature dish was roast baby goat with small white onions……..it was mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. We walked the walls, wandered the streets, ate goat and drank too much wine….again.
Our final stop before the flight home was to take a brief view of Lake Garda. It is very pretty but it’s mobbed by foreign tourists and the restaurants served mostly fish which was a pity as we wanted to end our trip with classic Italian pizza and pasta. What we didn’t get in great food was made up for by the room we managed to discount which had a terrace overlooking the lake. Perfect for a last Aperol Spritz and a few Grappas.
The honeymoon, as they say, was over and it was a short drive to the airport for a 2hr delay on the flight home……ho hum…….life was back to normal.
The last few weeks have found us buying another car, taking our annual boat trip, enjoying a surprise encounter with a friend from Goa, a tiny bit of naughtiness and a trip to Brecon to meet more friends from Goa and a long scheduled get together with very old friends from Sydney, Australia. Finally, we’ve enjoyed some of the best summer weather in decades.
Before we went on honeymoon we had the car serviced. Sadly, Richard told us that it was time to let our faithful car move on as there was quite a bit of work to be done in the next few months. Albeit said it’s been a great car and apart from the initial purchase price has cost us nothing. It was sad to say goodbye to our trusty workhorse but it was time to say goodbye. On the way home from Gatwick Airport we stopped off in Basingstoke to look at a replacement. We bought it and having been offered very little for a trade in we decided to sell the old one privately. There was a slight problem as we had plans throughout the summer so being in one place to sell it was going to be tough. Brother in Law Roy agreed to sell it for us in exchange for a ‘financial arrangement’. It worked perfectly as the first person to view bought it! Our new car is a 2015 diesel Hyundai Santa Fe that does between 40-50% more MPG than the old very thirsty model.
Our annual narrow boat trip took us to Stratford Upon Avon, home of William Shakespeare and author of Romeo and Juliet which seemed apt after going to Verona for our honeymoon. The weather was fantastic and the canal beautiful but with one problem – horse flies! This might be the Chinese Year of the Dog but it’s definitely the English Year of the Horse Fly……zillions of the little sods that just love the great taste of Neil. It was The Summer Solstice while we were on the boat and Neil dared Gail and Cheryl to celebrate in a pagan style. Cheryl said no but Gail, always up for a hoot, agreed and they both stripped off completely before running about 400m up and down the tow path. Nobody saw them which was probably for the best as it wasn’t a pretty sight. Just a few minutes after they dressed 3 cyclists came along……phew, close shave.
We had a couple of visits to National Trust properties where Neil randomly asked about a particular painting which the volunteer guide said was painted to represent the ‘Perfect Wife’. It’s an allegorical portrait of a bride standing in an interior with her foot on a tortoise to illustrate the fact that she will not stray away from home. There are keys at her waist to represent the fact that she will be a good housekeeper and her fingers are held to her lips to illustrate the fact that she will not be a gossip. A dove held in her left hand represents the fact that she will strive to keep the peace, in other words, she will refrain from being quarrelsome. Hmmm, don’t think that sounds like Cheryl somehow.
We also had a surprise close encounter with ‘Stratford John’ who frequents one of our favourite restaurants in Goa and we caught sight of some Morris Dancers performing outside a pub in Alvechurch. The photos show that a lot of them had the traditional ‘blackface’ makeup and they seemed a lot fiercer than the white hanky twiddling type who are more common further south. The performances were very energetic and enthusiastic, and the dancers were all ages shapes and sizes and having a great time.
Next stop was Brecon where we met up with more friends from Goa, Alison and Paul, who live not too far away. It was great to see them over a BBQ in the continuing wonderful summer. This was followed by several meetings with Chris and Viv from Oz who are in the UK visiting family. We had a couple of walks in The Beacons followed by lunch, BBQ on the final evening (yes the weather continues to hold even in Wales), lots of laughs and far too much alcohol…….the weight loss program is faltering!
We moved on to Gloucester for the family party scheduled for July 7th. However, our number 1 grandson made an unscheduled early arrival on July 5th causing ‘mum and dad’ a great deal of panic. Suffice to say, Toby’s birth was very complicated. Well done to mum and the paramedics for knowing exactly what to do in such a dangerous situation. Toby Asher (this means happy, fortunate or blessed) is tiny, beautiful and doing well.
The big family party was great with the weather being very kind to us. Almost 20 brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces and grandchildren came together to make a fantastic day. Food was superb, a few beers and lots of laughing. Thanks to June and Roy for hosting the event.
We moved on to Cheltenham to meet up with Neil’s old school friend Clive and his wife Karen. They too lead a semi-nomadic lifestyle, so it has been 2 years since we got together. We had to make it happen this year as Neil and Clive wanted to celebrate being 65 as their birthdays are just a month apart. More beers, great BBQ and lots more laughing and joking and reminiscing.
We‘re really moving fast now so after just one night in Cheltenham we took off down the M5 for a night in Bristol to meet Number 1 grandson for the first time. He didn’t say much as he slept a lot but it was great to cuddle him and enjoy a celebratory bottle of bubbly with mum and dad.
One night in Bristol and we were away again. This time to just off the M5 near Taunton to base ourselves for a quick foray into Somerset and Dorset to check out new home possibilities. Ilminster and Crewkerne were to be checked out once more and Dorchester and Blandford Forum for the first time. It proved a successful trip as Ilminster and Crewkerne continue to attract and we agreed to visit again for a better look later in the month at Dorchester and Blandford Forum.
2 nights and we were on the move again. This time to have a more detailed look at Torbay and to meet up with Sue and Andy who are long term friends from Goa. Having previously been high on our list of places to move to, Torbay crashed and burnt after just 24hrs. We quickly concluded that it’s just too big, there’s too much traffic and Babbacombe Bay Promenade looked like God’s waiting room! It was a pity as we had liked it the first time we came but then our evening with Sue and Andy more than made up for our disappointment. They bought a dilapidated listed home in a quiet suburb and set about renovation. As it’s listed Sue did a lot of research, kept the project on budget and along with Andy’s outstanding workmanship they made a great team. After 2 years they brought the 200 year old ex Admiralty house back to life. It overlooks the private park in a lovely suburb – it’s fantastic. More bubbly to celebrate our wedding and the finishing of the house.
So, having planned to stay in Torbay for a week or so we changed plans again and after three nights moved back to Dorset to check out Dorchester and Blandford Forum in detail. Neither made the cut for various reasons so we moved to Sherborne. We like it and it’s definitely on our list.
After 4 nights around Sherborne we moved on to Axminster which is fairly central for us to continue exploring South Devon and Dorset. Having had Budleigh Salterton on our list some time ago, but we crossed it off for being too small, it somehow came back onto the radar. So, having spent a little time there it’s now very much in the picture along with Sherborne, Ilminster, Crewkerne, Bridport, Lyme Regis and Sidmouth. We think that’s pretty much it for house location hunting so all we need to do now is sell our houses next spring and watch out for that bargain home that ticks all, or most, of the boxes.
With location spotting finished on the south coast we moved on to enjoy a one of our wedding presents. It was for a UK vineyard tour, wine tasting and lunch and we chose one near Malvern. We found a small caravan site which was just a 30 minute walk away. The tour was fascinating especially the explanation of the origin of the vineyard which was something of a whim of the owners. It’s only been open for around 10 years. The wines were surprisingly good, so good in fact, that we bought 6 bottles of Siegerrebe. No, we’d never heard of it either just like most of the other grapes that are grown on the vineyard. We’re all used to varieties like Shiraz, Pinot and Chardonnay but there are many European types that are grown here due to the cooler climate that we’ve never heard of. Lunch was a cheese and cold meat platter which really suited us followed by a creamy desert or fresh fruit. It was a great day and was the perfect pressie for us.
We moved back to Bristol for Neil to catch up on a few property jobs and for Cheryl to head to London to spend some time with Alex and Freddy. Of course, we took the opportunity to go and have cuddles with the latest addition to the family…….he’s such a cutie and of course we’re not biased at all! It was also time to start Neil’s 65th birthday celebrations. The Saturday before his birthday was the only day we could all get together. We went to The Pig, a rather nice restaurant set in a country house, where we had delicious food, beers and wines and lots of chatter. For Neil it was such a fantastic way to celebrate his birthday surrounded by his family. After our long lunch we got a taxi back where we had a few more drinks, a snooze for Neil and then more drinks that went way into the wee hours……..we both slept soundly!
With the family celebrations over we set off for Pembrokeshire to spend some time walking the coastal path. Neil had also decided his curry cravings had reached desperation level so he wanted to celebrate the actual birthday on the 16th over an Indian meal. We found a caravan site within walking distance of an Indian which had good reviews and a pub with exceptional reviews. A light lunch at the pub turned out to be a lamb and mint pie with the usual trimmings and fish ‘n chips, not very light, and the evening Indian meal was absolutely delicious….it really hit the spot. Neil liked his Bangla beer glass so much he asked if he could keep it. They didn’t say no, so we took it along with the doggy bag of the leftovers that were quite substantial.
We also had some impromptu entertainment. Several burly immigration officers bounced into the restaurant apologising profusely about interrupting everyone’s meal. It didn’t bother us as it was interesting as they marched several of the kitchen staff outside for questioning. Some of the staff were still being restrained by the officers when they were returned to the kitchen so we’re not sure quite how it turned out. After starting celebrations at around 11am multiple drinks later Neil, aided by Cheryl, meandered back to the caravan like an out of control pin-ball and struggled with the simple operation of closing the site gate before falling into bed for a very deep sleep.
Moving back to where we started the beginning of this blog entry. Just when we thought it was all over, and just to confuse matters even more, we’ve added another place to our list of possible places to live. Tenby, we’ve decided, is a stunning town with several small streets of shops, pubs and restaurants surrounded by medieval walls. The long sandy beaches are quite spectacular as is the quaint little harbour. It’s also a much cheaper place to buy a house so its shortcomings need some consideration. First, it’s a little further away from family than we would like and, second, there’s always the Welsh weather. Having said that, everywhere we’ve looked at has something that’s not ideal about it, so we’ll have to compromise wherever we live. Sometime soon, on our way back to Bristol, we’re going to stop off for a few days and take a closer look.
August 29th gave Neil a mention on BBC Radio 2. Mark Goodier was sitting in for Chris Evans on the Breakfast Show. There is a regular slot after 9am called ‘First and Last’ where you select a track from the first band you saw live and the last band you saw live. Neil selected Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin having seen them when he was 16 at the Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Rock in 1970. His last track was by Andy Fairweather-Lowe, ‘If Paradise is Half as Nice’, which he performed when we saw him at The Maryport Blues Festival last year. He first recorded the song in 1969 when a member of Amen Corner. Almost immediately after the programme was broadcast Neil got an email from our mortgage broker who was listening to it in her office – fame at last!
Some people do read our blog – it’s official! Neil got an email from old friend Steve Chalkley. When Neil was 8 he left Manchester to live in Gloucester and moved into the house next door to Steve. They grew up together, fished together, camped out together, went to school together and went through The Scouts together. When we posted our last blog entry in Pembrokeshire Steve contacted us to say he was now living just a short drive away. We met up for an Indian meal and caught up with all sorts of stuff. Steve and Denise have just finished cycling through France, having left the UK shortly after we met up, and they’ve clocked up just under 1000 miles ……respect guys!
We’ve also met up with Clive and Karen again but sadly it was to attend the funeral of Clive’s mum. She was in her 90’s so for Clive it was a celebration of her life rather than a mournful occasion. We both want our kids to have a humungous party when we go, bright colours, maybe fancy dress, loud music from our collection and to generally reminisce about their lives growing up with their parents. Such things why Cheryl gave Alex the same plate of food 3 days running as he refused to eat it and why Neil would never take his kids into a McDonalds – what wicked parents we are!
Our house hunting continues or at least finding the location where we might want to settle down. Our travels took in the south coast again which continues to look promising. We looked at The Gower Peninsular, which is absolutely stunning, but it isn’t the place for us. Tenby is still on our radar and now we’ve introduced the nearby town of Narberth, a foody paradise. It’s quite small but active in many ways such as running their own community centre with sports facilities and even raising funds to buy the local swimming pool when the council threatened to close it. There are also more delicatessens, eateries, butchers and fancy clothes shops than you can imagine for such a small market town in Wales. The local theatre hosts at least one event a month and whilst we were visiting there was the annual Festival of Food going on. It all seems a bit unreal but it’s a thriving community that has been gently growing for the last 10-15 years and it’s the kind of place that we think we might like to live.
This is the end of Chapter 10 and we’ve included some of our favourite photographs from our truly amazing year. We started with Cheryl’s first trip to Greece. Then we got engaged at the stroke of midnight on New Years Eve. We travelled to new parts of Australia. On June 2nd there was the small matter of getting married which was followed by a terrific honeymoon in Tuscany. In July our very first grandchild made an early arrival into the world and on August 16th Neil made it to 65 and can now be officially called a grumpy old git. This has been a year to remember.