One of the great things about this holiday has been the frequent changes that take place. I have travelled by myself and then with different groups of people and for the last 4 days I’ve been watching cricket with my long-time mate from the cricket club, Shane Murray, aka Muzza. I still remember sitting at his dining table, almost a year ago, lap top open, choosing tickets and in the following months, working out other logistics, so that we could have a great time at Old Trafford watching the Aussies take on the old enemy. The disappointment of losing the last test made the stakes higher for the 4th and 5th tests of the series and a win in either of them will see Australia retain the Ashes. We haven’t come home from England with the ... read more

I like a lot of the place names in the UK, but whoever named the villages in Bourne were having a laugh when they came up with these ones. Ness and Rich, the bride and groom, live in Rippingale, or Rippers to those who know it well. Rippers is a quaint little spot with just one pub and only 5 rooms in that pub. These 5 rooms were snapped up quickly for the duration of the wedding festivities and I was a bit slow off the mark so I stayed at the hamlet down the road, Dyke. That’s right, a real place name! Dyke is set amongst the hay fields just a 20-minute walk from the outskirts of Bourne (what an ordinary name) and Sutho (best man) and I were the only two staying out of ... read more

We stayed near Noumea for our last night on the boat, because it had to be returned at 8 AM in the morning. Our anchorage in Baie de Sainte Marie protected us from the fierce easterly winds that played havoc the previous night. This time we were safely tucked away in a cove that was protected by a small hill. The location itself wasn’t spectacular. No crystal-clear waters, corals and fish here. But we did see some soldiers doing some sort of training on the beach with what looked like proper automatic machine guns. And just to the left of them a school group sailing small catamarans. To their right the rest of the school kids kayaking. They didn’t seem to have any problem with me walking around very close to their training drill to explore ... read more

Us Stevensons have always been a holiday loving tribe who took every opportunity to spend extended periods abroad to see interesting places and come home with new experiences and memories. So, it will come as no surprise to know that I have made changes to my work life to allow more flexibility when it comes to holidays and travel. At the end of last year, I finished up as an ongoing member of staff at McKinnon Secondary and now I work on a casual basis and take a few contracts to fill in when other staff take leave (generally for their holidays). That means that we have three holidays planned for 2019 and I’m going to tell you about No. 2 through this blog. No. 1 was a week at the Gold Coast, which was great ... read more

I don’t recall going to an LGBTI meeting before, but I can highly recommend them to everyone. The first afternoon on our cruise ship there was one such meeting and we all went to say hello. They start by handing out free champagne to everyone and if someone in the group tells them it is their birthday, they give you more! Two bottles later we were all feeling the love in this friendly group. To top it off the two hosts were good fun and we met them again throughout the cruise. Mainly at the nightclub, where one of them was the DJ and the other just came for the free drinks Craig was buying him. These guys clearly enjoyed their work. And we decided that the night club should be renamed a day club due ... read more