Blogs from Newton Abbot, Devon, England, United Kingdom, Europe

No post yesterday as nothing happened. EXCEPT GEELONG WON THE GRAND FINAL. Today was moors and tors day. From Newton Abbot back to Dartmoor. And how good is it to be back on the moors and walking! Drove through Widecombe-on-the-Moor and over to Dartmoor for a bit of a walk and wander around the moors and tors. Actually went to King Tor and a couple of the neighbouring tors. One of our BnB hosts said there were 168 tors in Cornwall alone so how many there are in Devon is a guess I’m not prepared to make. But it was a lovely walk. Even though the heather bloom is ancient history it still looks good and it’s still a delight to walk through. The moors are still delightful, expansive and evocative. The environment is not pretty ... read more

Hello friends. When last we spoke, I was in the lovely town of Salzburg. Funny place, if you were a local you would go crazy, you can't go 10 minutes without some puffed up tourist breaking into song. Some better than others. Took a couple days off, so to speak. Enjoyed a nice dinner and glass of wine by myself. I think the waiting staff was confused, or thought I had been stood up, because it took them an hour and a half to ask for my order. Austrian food = gives greek food a run for its money. Not a long run, mind you fish, but it is damn good. Lots of gravy, dumplings, caramelized onions, and good icecream. Also, sorry to everyone else, but note to fish: this hostel was AMAZING. will send you ... read more

Birthday Weekend in Cornwall & Devon 24th - 26th April, 2009 Rupesh and I are loving having our own place and being able to have visitors. On Easter Sunday, the Dornoms arrived - not Bern and Elizabeth but their parents and brother. Bern and Elizabeth were in their last weeks of work at the end of the ski season in France. Susan, Ian and Timothy spent a week with us in London before heading off on a road trip to southern England and then on to France to stay with the girls. We enjoyed having them stay but what I enjoyed even more was picking up on where the Bern & Elizabeth's genes came from! When Bern and Elizabeth travelled with mum and I they found it highly amusing to tell me how much like my ... read more

Europe here we come Sam and Debbie are finally on the road and we are First Trip Well Betty has made her first trip of many. A relatively sedate 5 hours from North London to Newton Abbot to stay with my Auntie Lissie. The last few weeks has been absolutely mental. We have been running around organising things and trying to get the load on Bettie down to something reasonable. As it is there is not a space left in her. But sadly we forgot the booze! However I'm sure we will be able to find some decent plonk in France. We are off tomorrow to Plymouth to catch the 15:00 ferry to Roscof where we then drive for an hour in dark and unfamiliar France to a B&B where we will be spending the ... read more

So, I have left my job at the MDA (as of yesterday) and although I am sad to leave all the great people I worked with, I am so very excited!! My flights are booked and the plane I'm catching leaves heathrow on 20th February for Hong Kong. I'll be staying in Hong Kong for 4 days then flying to Sydney, landing on the 25th. I'm gonna be staying in Australia for about a year, hopefully. I plan to work in Sydney for about 3 months then travel up the east coast with Oz Experience finishing at Cairns over about a 2 month period. The plan from then gets a little blurry and there will be a large amount of 'winging it', but hey that's all part of the fun!!! All I know is I will ... read more