We went to look at some of the local shops at the Pelican Craft Centre. Great set of shops but very very hot so we drove from there to HarrySmith Beach which is very off the beaten track. The drive was not a good one as we had decided to go via Bridgetown and "Cath Cath" was irritated with the volume of traffic and we didnt help by giving her bad information. However after the longest journey of our time on Barbados we arrived at the Harry Smith Great House. This great house then became a hotel and is now [View Full Entry]

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We drove to the Animal Flower Cave and the most northly point on the island (surprisingly called North Point). This is another Geocache location so we solved the 3 puzzles we needed here. Thats 2 out of 6 on the island. The caves hadn't changed much since we were last there 12 years ago - I looked for my business card in the hut but as there were thousands couldnt find it. We went down into the caves and Christopher and Matthew swam in the rock pool. The guide showed us the "hand", the "lizard" and the "turtle". I could [View Full Entry]

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Today we decided to use the Body Boards so we went to the Crane Beach. We stopped of at the Crane Hotel and got some good pictures of the beach. To get to the beach you had to walk over some stone steps and a plank of wood which was an interesting challenege. The body boarding was very good apart from the fact that the waves tended to cross over each other and push us down the beach. It was very safe though with lifeguards watching and an onshore current. We stayed in the sea for a long time and [View Full Entry]

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It rained late last night and by early morning it was throwing it down and I mean throwing it down - so much so it was coming in through the bedroom and wetting the bed - either that or one of us had had an accident? Didnt stop us going in the pool though once we were up! As it was cooler because of the rain we decided to go to the Barbados Museum - this was also the site of a GeoCache so we covered that of at the same time (2 cannons and closed on public holidays for [View Full Entry]

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Go up to a lovely day - as we were going to the Grand Kadooment carnival we stayed around the pool until about 11.30 then parked on the Spring Garden Highway and walked down to stand near Weezers on Brighton Beach. We arrived about midday and shortly afterwards the first bands and the rains arrived, and boy did it rain and rain and rain... As you see in the pictures we were absolutely soaked and I eventually had to hide the camera as the rain had come through everything. The carnival was very interesting and I don't think I had ever [View Full Entry]

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We were all up at a reasonable time today. So after the usual trip to the pool and breakfast we headed via the Spring Garden Highway to the South Coast and stopped at Dover. This was absolutely gorgeous with a brilliant blue sea. Hassled by the desk chair boys but we just say no thanks and they go away - We stayed for a couuple of hours then headed towards Crane Bay. We got out at Crane Bay but hunger overcame us before we got in the sea and we stopped at another Chefette or lunch - thats 2 out [View Full Entry]

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Played around in the pool, ice-cream for breakfast. Then packed up and drove along the West Coast until we found a beach to stop at. Mullins was the one today and it was gorgeous. So nice I didnt even take any pictures! We saw an enormous snake/eel thing in the water. We thrn bought our first Chefette meal and brought it back to the house to eat. The kids then slobbed around the pool while Catherine and I did a proper food shop. When we got back we showed some people around the house as its up for sale. Then they [View Full Entry]

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Everyone was awake early - we managed to stay in bed until about 6 am. and in the pool by about 5 past! We needed some food so just before 8 am. we headed to the "Super Centre" supermarket and bought a reasonable amount of food - as Catherine said this was the most British supermarket not in Britain we'd ever been too as it appears to sell Waitrose products, Tetley tea bags and Cadburys dairy milk! Back home Breakfast appeared to be Frosties, Danish pastries and the newly acquired ic-cream. Then we went to Paynes Bay and the beach [View Full Entry]

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Taxi to Wycombe station at 6:30 we'd already bought the tickets so straight onto the train (6:50 to Marylebone) and then tube to Victoria (changing at Oxford Circus - its really easy as you just cross platforms from the Bakerloo line to the Victoria line). Then the Gatwick express to surprisingly Gatwick. Plane was going to be on time but we were early enough to have some breakfast and join the IRIS recognition program run by customs - hopefully on the way back in we can jump the queue and go through the IRIS recognition channel! In reality if it works [View Full Entry]

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We've packed and are just about ready to go. The animals have been cleaned, the plants watered and the relatives phoned. Checked in for our flights at 11.20 tomorrow and got our boarding passes. This year as we are flying from Gatwick we've decided to let the train take the strain. We have a taxi booked for 6.30 and will go via Marylebone, tube to Victoria and then Gatwick Express from Victoria. Glad we are travelling light(ish)! Now all that needs to be done is various mail forwarding, DVD setting (making sure we record Heroes) and turning of the hot water. [View Full Entry]

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