Weds March 22nd Granada Having been given a free pass Steve and I departed Cadiar (without kids) and retraced our steps along the Lanjaron road to Granada. It's almost as scary in that direction. Compared to the Alpujarras, Granada is a huge metropolis and the traffic is horrendous..as are the road signs. We found a sign for the hotel we had booked a room in, followed it and then the signs stopped! A couple of circuits and we found the hotel ...with road works, complete with digger, outside stopping us getting to it. A brief tour of the back roads and [View Full Entry]

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Happy Birthday Phil Wednesday 8th March contd. Cadiar is a small village but has lots of Brits, plus two Brit-speaking bars Jamanandel's and Bar Central, both featuring internet, but Jamanandel's also has a delicious and inexpensive lentil and veg dish. After a long series of reunion drinks with the family (Alex, Dianne, Jack, Chris, Helen, Joe, Patrick and Rowan) at Jamanandel's cafe bar we went shopping. The houses here are built to be cool in the hot weather. While it is sunny in the daytime it can become cold at night so slippers are necessary. I paid 11.50 euros for Rory' [View Full Entry]

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First I have to correct an entry from Nackenheim .... The friend playing footie with Owen , Anthony and Philip is Johannes and not Nicholas. Sorry Johannes. Sunday 5th March Set off from Nackenheim on a beautiful sunny morning, no sign of any more snow. Good progress to Saarbrucken and across to Metz, snow everywhere. Stopped south of Metz for a snack but the resto had no frites left ! Carried on towards Dijon, not very exciting landscape but still snow-covered. Left motorway at Nuits-St-Georges, town centre still had lots of snow. Very attractive but slow r [View Full Entry]

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Weds 15th February Ferry Dover to Dunkirk, "moderate to rough conditions ahead. Stay in your seats as much as possible." Quite a swell but gradually improved, must have missed the worst of it. Easy drive up to Ostend, arriving in daylight. Parked in the underground section of the Mijn Plein car park as Thursday is market day on the ground level. Collected Simon's keys from the ESP. Takeaway pizza for tea from a place at the end of Hertstraat. Very good but not so warm by the time we got it back to the apartment. Rory/Owen had figured out how to [View Full Entry]

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We left Oldham (birthplace of William Walton) and drove down to Hertfordshire where we were given the challenge of clearing a neglected garden in Walton-on-Thames. Deb and I took up the challenge, leaving Rory and Owen with friends and in-laws. A week soon passed and we both have aching limbs to prove it. Last weekend we went kiting, (real kiting) with Dave and Kim. Unfortunately the weather was naff on Sunday so we could not have another go. If you get the chance, try it ! Today we are catching a ferry to Dunkirk then on to Ostend before driving to [View Full Entry]

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Hi everyone. We are almost back on the road. But first .... Happy Birthday Stuart !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are about to set off for Hertfordshire, a brief stop before heading over to Europe. We are aiming for Nackenheim in Germany, followed by Provence (possibly) and Cadiar in the Alpujarras mountains of Spain. More later. Steve, Deb, Owen and Rory [View Full Entry]

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Due to family illness we are returning to the UK asap. Will resume the blog as and when. [View Full Entry]

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Tuesday 8th November To Uranda Author Steve. Set off south from Mareeba following the Atherton road, continuing to Ravenshoe (highest town in QLD 920m) where we stopped to eat and nothing happened. Continued south, dropping down into scrubland. Road alternated between two-lane single-carriageway, and single-lane single-carriageway. If I saw a road train coming I simply stopped off-road while it thundered past. (Deb: And I just shut my eyes for all 50 metres of each one) We arrived at Undara late afternoon. The pitches had once had some rough grass but now were more or less rough pack [View Full Entry]

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November 1st Spent the day at Hartley's Crocodile Farm, just outside Cairns. Saw some very frisky (for them) Koalas. Kept the boys amused for ages. Then on to see the Salt Water crocodiles being fed. Learnt that they are lazy creatures with brains the size of a golf ball but are very strong. They move a lot faster in water than out. Most of their energy is from the sun. They will eat or kill at any time even if they are not hungry. Looked really fearsome to me. We moved to the freshwater crocs which are smaller and less of [View Full Entry]

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October 24th Cairns Check out time 9.30 a little early. Steve picked up car but because he was early we got an upgrade. Drove along the coast, which appears similar to Hawaii, for a few kilometres and then turned inland. The scenery really changes here. Steep roads, rampant, lush and tropical vegetation. We are now in Far North Queensland in the Wet Tropics ...rainforest. Great views of the Cairns area from the lookout points. Can see the Hawl Along waterskiers. They have a zip wire and are dragged round the lake by that instead of a boat. Arrived at Kuranda mid [View Full Entry]

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