What does everyone want in their Christmas stocking?! An early morning wake up and the chance to spend the day with chain-smoking half naked Russians! If your answer is yes, then you’re in the right place! Santa’s exceptional navigational abilities enabled him to find us here and his delivery partially offset the offence caused by the early start. Breakfast, pick up, some grumpy Russians and before too long we were on the boat with more. Luckily they had endless ciggies to suck down. But all was not too bad as we headed seawards into the waves towards Samadai reef, or dolphin house, hoping they had not been in touch with their lazier cousins of yesterday. A bit of rocking and rolling, some ciggies and more than our fair share of man boob and we were there. ... read more

The day began with a leisurely breakfast on the deck and the promise of more ugh history to please the masses. Jumped on our tug for a quick trip to Gebel el Silsila which was the site of the quarry used for much of the building material around the place. First stop was a small temple built for the workers which was built by the successor to Tut. Then we wandered through the quarry and visited the project manager’s house. Being a kin of ours, we were interested in his set up - lived there with his wife and daughter while the other workers lived across the Nile. We were fascinated (ok, some of us were, some of us passed the time by singing Taylor Swift songs) by the way they organised the workers - not ... read more

Everyone knows about all the ancient stuff here, lots of temples and ruins and stuff…almost like the land that time forgot. Cleverly, the Egyptians have also managed to mix it up a bit and create the land that forgot time, or at least how to tell it, or stick by it, or pay any attention to it at all! Lucky we’re in beautiful Aswan, on the banks of the Nile so we have plenty of opportunity to soak up the ambience while we’re doing our waiting. Arrived at our Nubian Farm under the cover of darkness - an eerie experience for those of us who hadn’t completely succumbed to jet lag and passed out. Our boat wove through the tall granite protrusions of the river under the light of Aga Khan’s illuminated mausoleum high on the ... read more

And so it is that all roads eventually lead us back here and we must start listing off our ‘lasts’ as we head home. Last morning at the villa, last rally drive down the hill and last visit to a hilltop town…until next time! An early start to pack and get everything sorted, especially the mountain of garbage and empty bottles!! Goodbyes to all our flat mates of the last week and we were off down the freeway to Orvieto, via our last coffee at the autogrill. Another parking arrangement with the marriage in tact and we were off up the hill to Orvieto. Another beautiful town with photo opportunities at every turn. However the highlight was undoubtedly the cathedral - absolutely stunning! I’m not normally a huge fan of religious buildings, but the pope who ... read more

My meticulous and stringent planning didn’t exactly work on the clan today and I couldn’t get anyone to commit to any lake-based activities. And it’s unusual for me to say this, but just as well, cause honestly, the lake kind of sucked. Crystal clear and idyllic it was not. Murky and kind of wee-temperatured it was. After deciding it was too hot for biking to wineries, we thought a nice swim might be in order. Having (wisely) rejected the idea of boating, the others decided to embark on some SUPping and kayaking. We finally arrived at the shore, only to be underwhelmed by what was on offer - a silty smelly shoreline, green murky water and a dead fish floating by for good measure. We tried some kayaking and the girls went on the SUP but ... read more