What a delight that the cold wind eased and Bridport and surrounds pulled out all stops to greet us and the daughter and partner interlopers! I booked a sauna at Seatown for us at the beach which turned out to be a great hit and although I was ridiculed for pronouncing quite loudly that the last time I'd been in a sauna had been in Norway above the Arctic circle a good time was had by all after the guffawing had died down. Yes, the water was cold but, as you may know, you hardly feel it after a sauna, although the race down to the sea was rather challenging due to the pebbles and the lack of water shoes. Three cold water dunks later we called it a day and retired to the pub for ... read more

The remnants of celebratory flags wafted in the breeze especially over the large buildings. King Charles was not in sight and Queen Camilla was missing in action but a few people were wandering around waving flags in a dazed manner. Had they still been celebrating or did they not know it was all over? Most Londoners, and from all accounts most British, seemed to have yawned and watched match of the day instead. Having arrived the week after I took a few snaps with the obligatory London buses and the fluttering Union Jacks. We were on our way to the Bloomsbury Cabaret Club to a programme called The Three Queens. Wasn't sure what to expect and I'm not sure the cast did either! I haven't ever been to a cabaret show before but if this was ... read more

'So where are you off to?' Asks George, or is it Dave From George and Dave's cafe in Shearwater? We had just driven straight from Devonport after our overnight crossing from Melbourne. I had been in fear and trepidation of sea sickness but slept like a baby lightly rocked in the cabin. Or of course it could have been the sea sickness pill I took which just knocked me out! So, where were we going? I couldn't blame jetlag but I was stumbling on the pronunciation of Narawntapu. 'I don't know how to pronounce it...the one that used to be called Asbestos Ranges.' 'Ah, Narawntapu,' he grins. I try again. 'It's easy,' says Dave or George,'you just say Now-I-want-a-poo and sort of run it all together.' We both try with limited success but enough to make ... read more

The low cloud is chased away, lingering wraiths in the gullies and ravines. There are advantages to the wet; waterfalls mist, trickle and cascade making Spring growth brighter, greener. The traditional wooden stilt buildings perch over the river, their newly fir clad exteriors gleaming gold. The bamboo scaffolding nearly meets across the narrow road leading up to more villages. At the base of Dhazai we change buses and master a muddy track slithering and sliding across the yellow ruts. We arrive at another car park under construction. We make our way down a concrete road slick with running water down into a village. When they thought of this road did they think of the flooding it would cause in really heavy rains? Our hotel, Elegant Wind, is shrouded in mist, we could be anywhere. Our fir-clad ... read more

China is full of progress. Mostly this means new concrete buildings, concrete roads and large cars. We are fortunate to find ourselves in Yangshou County, Guangxi province in the small village of Chaolong where we are volunteering at Zhou Yue English college where although concrete hotels abound there are some tastefully renovated mud brick houses which hold in the heat and keep cool in Summer. Not so the concrete, uninsulated, single skin brick or concrete monstrosities popping up all along the Yulong valley. ‘When I came here 15 years ago there were only a handful of hotels along the whole Yulong valley. Now there are over 150 with many more under construction,’ Ronald, a local hotelier tells us. He has converted some beautiful old mudbrick buildings into the welcoming Outside Inn where we like to go ... read more