We’ve now been home two weeks and our feet have hardly touched the ground. We were laid low for the first few days to recover from the flu. Then we headed down to Michelle and Izzy’s at Boyne Island for a few days to catch up. They’ve settled back in well after touring the globe. They now have their house up for sale and if all goes well they should be in their new home at Tannum Sands by Christmas. Kristelle is busy planning her engagement party (16th Nov) and studying for her final CPA exam. I’ve decided to post a [View Full Entry]

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Europe……… We loved the ferry trip from Dover to Calais in France, once again the sun shone and it was a smooth crossing. To meet us was our guide Francesca who’s a real sweetie. It was then off to Belguim where we spent our first night in Brussels. After a tour of the city with a local guide we dined out in one of the streets at a Greek restaurant and we were serenaded by a couple of local musicians. The next day it was Brekkie in Belgium, smoko in Luxembourg, lunch in France and Switzerland for Tea!!!!!! Not as crazy [View Full Entry]

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The Rugby…Wales…England It’s been hard finding the time to do an update but here goes- We arrived in Cardiff and the first sign we saw was ALLAN it seems the Welsh have worked out what to do with their Allan’s as it means Exit. We loved Cardiff a good mix of the old and the new, the locals were also very friendly. We stayed at a farm B & B just west of Cardiff, the house was full of Rubgy fans so loads of fun. We caught a train into Cardiff for the Rugby and it was a sea of Red [View Full Entry]

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The other half of the Aussie Gypsies have arrived. We were flat strap the first few days showing them the sights of Nth Ireland then we headed into Southern Ireland. The weather has been fantastic, sunshine nearly all the way. We've toured castles, old estates and cathedrals, sang and danced in Pubs, over indulged in too much fine Irish food, pulled a guinness, climbed mountains, stood on cliffs, walked along and rode across Loughs, visited ancient Abbeys, toured a whiskey distillery, visited St Patrick's grave the list goes on and on, but Laura has all the photos about 4000 at the [View Full Entry]

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Sligo or Sleagch home to W.B. Yeats, where the Atlantic washes onto beautiful beaches, Hidden Castles teetering on sparkling Loughs, Great Seafood, interesting Seafaring history still being made today and much much more. We were so glad we took up Margaret and Dave’s invitation to join them on the West Coast of Ireland at Rosses Point. We managed to catch a bus over, it took about four hours as the bus detoured into a lot of little villages on the way. The driver was a bit of a cowboy, accelerating around hairy bends. Even though it was an express bus like [View Full Entry]

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Just a quick entry as you know Travel Blog collapsed hopefully it wasn't the Belfast Bloggers corrupting the system. The kids have been and gone. We had a great time showing them the sights, touring Alan's childhood neighbourhood and meeting rellies again. Kristelle and Ryan will be back in Australia tomorrow. They've had a great holiday but are looking forward to home. Michelle and Iz are in Amsterdam tonight and will continue around Europe for a bit before China then home. Michelle has managed to rescue her blogs and she should start blogging again soon for those who have been following [View Full Entry]

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A nice surprise!!! We received a call the other morning from Ryan wanting to speak with Alan, as usual I panicked thinking something was wrong at home. He was calling to ask for Kristelle’s hand in marriage, very sweet. We had to then keep quiet until he proposed in Paris. He had the ring and she was really taken by surprise. It’s wonderful news, so there will probably be a wedding sometime next year folks, we will keep you posted. We cannot wait to see them on Saturday when they arrive in Ireland. Michelle and Iz are having a great time, [View Full Entry]

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July and there’s some Sunshine at last After the wettest June on record and July heading that way it was great to see the sun shining this week. Stan’s is doing really well now and fairly independent again so Alan and I have been doing some sightseeing. We visited the fairly new Bangor Castle built around 1850. In the grounds is also an old Abbey and we enjoyed checking out the old cemetery. The grounds are the site of a very old settlement from about 600ad, there was a wonderful museum in the castle with a herb garden with varieties of [View Full Entry]

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After many months of planning we were finally on our way, leaving Oz for four months. As most of you know it was touch and go for awhile. After reaching Sydney, finding our way to hotel, having something to eat etc., we were settling in for the night when I realised Stan's suitcase had Danielle Keogh on it!! Poor Alan had to race back to the Airport and sort. Hopefully poor Danielle Keogh was not already halfway around the world. Apparently it had the same coloured strap as Stan's! We were able to laugh about it the next day with Bill [View Full Entry]

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