Geo: -36.8474, 174.766It seems like only 3.5 months ago I was at Auckland airport ready to board Flight MH123 to KL and yet here I am again. This time with much less luggage, only a carry on bag and no winter coats to cart around. Thanks to the wonderful Margy I am here on good time. With all the Auckland traffic dramas lately it could have been an adventure just getting here. So where am I off to? Nine days on an Intrepid tour in Cambodia and then a few days in KL. So Christmas day in Phnom Penh, New Year in Siam Reap and some trekking, kayaking and biking in between.I am not sure how the blog will go without my tea lady Linda to keep me going, I will have to find a drinks ... read more

Geo: -36.8474, 174.766To use flying parlance we had a 'touch and go' in Auckland, arriving home at about 1:30 am and then after a snooze and breakfast, off to the airport again to head further south. Barry met us at Dunedin airport and we had cheese rolls ( of course) at his brand new house at the mill. It looks great but due to jetlag, I didn't take any photos (doh). I got the guided tour of the sawmill and I am sure some if the gear there is older than what we saw in some of the museums in Wales! But a great set-up all the same. Luckily Linda had a couple of photos she had prepared earlierThen, on to Lauder via the high country.... read more

Geo: 51.4989, -0.127287After a leisurely start on Sunday morning we caught up with the unchanging Andrew Bailey who kindly chauffeured us from the rental car drop off to the Reading train station. It was great to see him again and we swapped 'remember so and so from BCL' stories over coffee.We arrived at Paddington station all wide eyed and touristy but made our way without much drama to the Ambassador Hotel near Earl's Court. We ditched our bags and went exploring into Kensington Gardens which are just a 10 minute walk away. We joined the many folks enjoying the Sunday sun and took in the sights of Princess Diana Fountain, the Serpentine gallery and of course Kensington Palace. The wide open spaces are almost at odds with the elaborate adjacent architecture of the Albert Hall and ... read more

Geo: 52.2819, -1.58447Well, it is The Globe pub at Warwick, not Stratford Upon Avon though we have spent a very pleasant few hours wandering through Shakespeare's delightful home town. There was a food fair there today so we had traditional Indian and Spanish food for lunch.Yesterday we shopped to we dropped at Rugby - took all of 20 minutes - and then found ourselves a pleasant spot to stop for our last night on Cameo, our trusty canal boat. We went rambling around the countryside before having pizza and and a can of ale for dinner!We returned to Rose Canal boats this morning and have traded our lovely 54' long home for a car and set off for Shakespeare country and then on to the town of Warwick which is very pleasant. We have visited the ... read more

Geo: 52.2911, -1.21004Well, we completed out 13 point turn without any drama whatsoever and are retracing our steps now. We are back in Braughton, it is starting to feel like home. The highlight of the last 24 hours was seeing two small Roe deer on the towing path near our boat at dusk last night. As it was raining we couldn't get a photo so you will just have to take our word for it. A couple of photos for Linda's grandchildren today - 'Cousin Jack' on the canal and 'Isla' who we will enjoy with pasta and Cambridge Cracker sausages!... read more