Although we live in England we don't always appreciate the things so close to home. Dave, my brother and partner Claire came for a visit from Australia and we showed them the local sites. First we went to my favourite place, The Lake District, Cumbria. First stop, Ambleside to see the famous bridge house where a family of about 8 lived and the man of the house also conducted his carpentry business of making chairs. Next stop we drove over the mountains from Grassmere to the Langdales, one of my favourite places, the views are amazing without having to climb the mountains on foot which was fine considering we had my 79 year old mum with us and I was recovering from a foot operation. We ended the day by visiting Tarn Howes, a favourite haunt ... read more

We were suddenly blessed with a few unexpected days off work. As the weather was gorgeous at the time we decided not to waste it but to go camping in our favourite place, The Lake District. As usual we headed for Castlerigg, Keswick. The campsite we've been going to for the last 20 years or more. We spent the whole 4 days climbing the fells and relaxing at the campsite. The weather was perfect and as it was June we had daylight until almost eleven o clock each day so no worries about getting lost on the fells. The photos show the mountains we climbed.... read more

After our short break in ”Paradise” we landed in Melbourne, Australia, and were greeted with horrendous queues to get through customs. Two hours and a bit of queue jumping later, we met up with Duncan (June's son) who took us to June’s house in the Dandenong Mountains. The skies were grey as we drove through the suburbs and it felt very much like we'd returned to England. Fortunately it was just a blip and the weather went on to improve immensely. During our time here we spent most evenings sipping a cold beer and talking with June, Chris and Janet (June's daughter.) In between hospital visits our days were filled with walks in the nearby forest listening to the strange noise of the kookaburras and searching in vain for Lyre Birds. One day Melanie and Pud ... read more

Well, this travelling gets addictive! We'd only been home a few weeks from Bali when we both found ourselves with a weeks holiday from work. Couldn't stand the thought of England's grey skies so booked a flight to Turkey. We ended up in Marmaris, it was fairly quiet as it was the end of the season. The weather was a pleasant 25 degrees by day, a bit cool in the evening. We did plenty of running around on the dolmus buses, visiting Icmeler and Turunc. Both were lovely small towns backed by high mountains. On our last day we visited the famous rock tombs of Dalyan and also the supposed healing mud baths close by. This turned out to be quite a fun affair, although I have to admit that I declined from completly submerge myself ... read more

Before the wedding of course came the Stag / Hen night in Kuta. It had been decided that the hen and stag party would be combined as all the guests had travelled a long way and wanted to stay together. It began with a meal at La Cabana Restaurant in Kuta. After the meal we all wandered around until we came across a nice quiet bar. Not for long! The barmen looked so bewildered when over 25 people arrived all at once, that Michelle from New Zealand joined in making cocktails! No-one knew who owed what but it all got sorted out somehow. The day of 'recovery' before the wedding was spent at Dreamland Beach where I nearly got washed away! The sea had turned VERY rough and made it extremly difficult to get out ... read more