They call this a forest but it looks like jungle to me. There is a real Jurassic Park feel to the place. You’ll walk down a track and look up to see a fern 30 feet above your head and vines hanging from trees so high you can’t see the top. Living in the tree house was great fun and an unmissable experience. There were a few other campers in huts and a couple in a tent (yes, a two-man tent in the jungle!), plus a little communal kitchen where we all cooked over a wood fire. Each time we wanted to go somewhere we had to descend the 15 minute trail to base camp before starting out. We swam in a deep pool in the river called the mermaid pool a couple of times. We ... read more

Our last night in St Lucia saw this beautiful sunset. The following morning it was taxi to Castries and the ferry trip to Martinique. Oh… how French is this! OK it’s January and it’s hot, but apart from that you could be anywhere in France. Hired a Peugeot and drove around the island. St Pierre where the whole town was destroyed in a volcanic eruption in 1903; Fort de France, the capital (will be nice when it’s finished); the south coast beaches and the west coast fishing villages. Every little protected bay is full of sail boats, but we aren’t envious, an air-conditioned room is way better. With the Euros haemorrhaging from the wallet, we’ll be glad to get to Dominica tomorrow and back to sensible prices. Just a little more rum to drink before then. ... read more

We went back to Freedom in late June and found ourselves slowed up by engine and outboard problems. In July we headed south from Levkas to Kefalonia and Zycanthos then on to the Gulf of Corinth. For the first month we didn't see a single cloud. During August while the Ionian was busy with summer sailors, we were a hundred miles away on the tny island of Trizonia and visiting Delphi. In September we returned to the Ionian to collect visitors from Preveza airport for family sailing time. First it was Richard and Jill for a week of sailing fun, then Susan for silliness and finally Mum T for less frantic relaxing. Freedom was lifted out at Preveza marine in late October when it had already become too cold to live on board and the rain ... read more

In the last few days we have been completely ‘blown away’ by the number of grey whale spouts we have seen as we have been driving south down the pacific coastal road. From Monterey we spent the day stopping and gawking and pointing at the ocean - very exciting and very special. We stopped in Cambria for a night and in Santa Barbara for 2 nights. We had a very posh meal one night (a pound of fillet steak between us) and went out on a whale watching trip to see the grey whales. ... read more

As we left our cute cottage, plucked an orange from the bush outside and set off to San Francisco. We stopped at the town where they filmed ‘The Birds’ - ooh ere - and then drove across the Golden Gate bridge. With Andy navigating and Kate driving, we took a rollercoaster ride up and down those famous streets and along the “crookedest” street. Whilst here we have taken the tour to Alcatraz, walked around Fisherman’s Wharf with the lazing seals on pier 39, visited union square, city hall and Chinatown, and taken the cable car on it’s steepest run - ding a ling!! Before we left did a great Movie tour - with the famous SF scenes sequenced in time with the route of the bus - now we have so many movies to watch when ... read more