Offtolivetheworld

If you read my last post you will see that nothing was mentioned about Coronavirus and you may wonder why.

Simple! it wasn’t a factor when we left home in February. It was only something happening in China and we weren’t travelling there.

On board we had no internet as very expensive and the tv channels were turned off and only showing movies. Hence our information was diluted and probably same as everyone else didn’t think it would turn the whole world upside down.

By the time we left Singapore for the second time we began to see that it was likely to affect some of our port calls and then just like that in a blink of an eye it all changed dramatically.

Malaysia announced we couldn’t dock as we’d been to Cambodia and so we were going to then spend two days at Phuket Thailand.

The captain anchored off Phuket and announced we needed to have a passenger taken off who was suffering pneumonia and had to be tested for Coronavirus before we’d be allowed into dock Portside.

24 hours later the whole world closed up and although the result was negative ports all around the world started shutting their docks to ships and the captain announced the cruise would be curtailed.

At first it was hoped Vietnam port of Phu My would allow us in to do a passenger exchange with the other CMV ship The Columbus that was in the vicinity and on their way back to England from their world cruise.

We would take the Australian and New Zealand passengers on board and they would take all ours from Europe, the UK and US.

In the end it was a week later and the exchange took place 18 nautical miles out at sea using both ships tenders.

It was an amazing feat and we sadly hugged Andrea and Thomas goodbye as they transferred to The Columbus.

Our destination now was our starting point Fremantle, Western Australia.

As with the rest of the world things changed daily and we went from thinking we’d all be able to get off and either fly home or take a holiday in WA to goal posts changing and doors shutting on every compromise we thought of.

We were told to have flights booked then the next day that changed to the fact we would be going into quarantine at Rottnest island then the next day passengers from WA would be the only ones going to Rottnest and the rest of us would be put in hotels.

Just on an aside, the government knew we were clear of Coronavirus and we hadn’t docked for almost three weeks so we were complexed as to why they didn’t get us all on the flights we had booked before the quarantine deadline which would have saved them massive dollars. And we could have all quarantined in our home states.

As a precaution they could easily have arranged testing while we were all on the ship.

The kiwis had a cursory check before being escorted off and flown home to Auckland.

Anyways we were all transported off the ship with police escorts,the army involved with luggage transfers and border patrol officers doing the rest.

Before I go on I have to applaud CMV who still gave us a great holiday by ensuring it was business as usual on board.

Not one aspect of the cruise was compromised from entertainment, food, service etc.

All this when we were now on a free cruise as we were assured of a money back promise and with great discounts offered on a future cruise their future cruise desk was Packed for days.

Onboard we continued with our daily lives with James taking pilate classes, ukele and going to the gym.

I had a daily hour walk with Jennifer and art classes to attend. We did quizzes, met for pre dinner cocktails and music, attended evening shows, cabarets, on deck parties etc. all in all we were living in a happy bubble.

And most of all we were healthy.

Life at the Crowne Metropol.

On arrival we were given our room numbers and picked up our envelopes off a table and one room at a time we took lifts to our floors and rooms.

We were also given a dinner pack down stairs. Unfortunately due to the length of time food had been waiting it was not particularly edible as was the breakfast the next day.

Things did improve and we also were delivered some groceries by our friends living in Perth. We used those extras to supplement our massive rations at each meal. The problem was it was all very high carb so the fruit and yogurt, ham, bbq chicken, tomatoes, Brie cheese we had bought in was great. We were not eating about half of what we were issued each day.

Just to be clear we are not complaining just telling it how it is.

Our room was extremely comfortable with a beautiful big bath tub and great view.

Unfortunately we had no window that opened so no fresh air.

And just in case you think we were staying in a five star hotel with all the perks NAH!

No alcohol, no cigarettes allowed no real cutlery, plates or even ice.

You couldn’t order in coffees or room service of any kind and not that we expected to get any of it for free if we could.

You could get delivery food but with no microwave to heat it was pretty hit and miss if it would be worth the cost. Hence grateful for our friends including a small sharp knife. Oh and tonic water and lemons for that illicit duty free gin I had. Shhhhh.

A knock on the door would let you know food has been delivered or fresh linen and cleaning products. Though no vacuum cleaner was allowed so floor got a bit messy.

Throughout our stay we kept each other amused with a group messenger site Vasco pirates with a group of our friends from onboard. There was some good laughs and funny video chats with everyone.

We played games like I spy by taking photos in our rooms or out our windows and giving the letter clue.

There was Friday formal frock night. Online exercises, online group music dance parties and so much more. Hence at the end of the first week I hadn’t even finished reading one book!

We spent time cancelling travel plans for the rest of the year, remember we weren’t due to come back to Australia till mid December.

Organising credits for those that didn’t give money refunds and we started to think about our options for when we got out of quarantine and flown back to NSW.

First we heard news that our friends on Rottnest had been told on the Thursday that they would be leaving the next day, we waited and waited to hear any news regarding those of us in the hotels. It didn’t come till late morning on the Friday with an announcement that we’d be free from 4:30 pm. Lots opened their doors and whooped with joy, and although no one overstepped the distance ruling we were quickly told to get back in our rooms!

We organised to all meet in the foyer and had a wonderful social distancing walk along the Swan river. To be fair we were too many in our group and although we were pretty good at the distancing thing knew we were getting a bit of leeway as we’d been cooped up.

Our flights back to Sydney we’re on the Monday and we’d been told that we would be put up for as long as it took to get home.

People including ourselves had flights booked then cancelled by the airlines as they either stopped flying altogether like Virgin or were running on the barest of schedules there were two flights a week showing for Perth to Sydney and none at all from Perth to Brisbane which is what we were really after.

Our thoughts on where we’d spend the next six months came down to this.

We didn’t have a vacant home we could move into so we would be renting wherever we went. We didn’t fancy winter in NSW in our caravan for more than a few weeks.

We decided to look for somewhere warm, somewhere coastal, somewhere we hadn’t been before ( so still like travelling and discovering ) and a place probably hurting from lack of tourists. Port Douglas fit the bill and the rental prices reflected the strain the town was feeling due to no tourists.

We registered as Qld residents, picked a fully furnished property and checked with all the appropriate departments etc.

Got our border pass online then began the journey to get there.

It was a flight, car hire, a flight, another car rental but we made it.

We are very happy with our choice of apartment. With its own plunge pool we don’t have to worry about the no swimming in communal pools, with two bedrooms and two bathrooms mean eventually people can come stay.

We made a list of the few extra things we felt we needed to make it a little more comfortable for us and set about setting up home.

A second hand coffee machine bought on our way from Cairns to Port ended up being fantastic and I purchased a smoothie maker too.

We finally were able to purchase push bikes from Kmart ( we bought our helmets and bike chains with us) and we also bought our motorcycle gear with us and will be looking to buy one before the four week car hire is up.

After spending a trillion dollars at the supermarket we settled in to life in the slow lane.

Push bike rides, swims in the pool, painting, exercise, binge series watching and back to cooking!

Looking forward to restrictions lifting bit by bit so we can explore more of the surrounding areas as we’re right on the Barrier reef doorstop as well as the Daintree and port Tribulation etc.

What a strange place the world is at the moment and most countries in the same boat so it’s a universal situation with lots of social media funnies and conspiracy theories to keep everyone entertained.

I wonder how things will be in a years time.

After spending the time from November 5th 2019 till early February 2020 doing the house keeping that a travellers lifestyle still requires, well ours does anyway!

We ended up painting the inside of two properties and the outside of two others, organised a series of other maintenance requirements for most of our rentals and ran the usual gauntlet of professional visits whilst still trying to enjoy our summer at the beach.

We managed to catch up with quite a few of our family and friends and had a lovely two week visit to NZ to see my dad who is 92 in March.

Before we knew it the time came to pick up Andrew, JungWon and Jett from the airport and drive on down to Canberra for the wedding of the new decade.

Allison and her James were married on the lakefront on a beautiful afternoon and it was the most perfect day.

The four nights with the family were precious and it was sad dropping them off in Sydney as we made our way back to the Central Coast for a quick turn around before flying to Perth the next day.

We were very blessed to be able to rent from friends Christine and Jim their one bed apartment under their house in between our month house sitting for Jacqui and Eric looking after Sasha and Willie their two beautiful Burmese cats and our visit to NZ.

Cathryn our dear friend puts us up on our last night and we sadly hug her goodbye after sharing many evening dinners together but excited that she is planning to join us for a month road tripping east Europe later this year.

An uber from Perth to Fremantle to our accommodation for the night and the opportunity to catch up with Terry and Sue whom we’d met on The Columbus in 2018 the next morning ( thanks for the lift to the ship with all our luggage-including a clothes airer for drying our clothes in our cabin) soon had us boarding The Vasco Da Gama and joining most of our group The crazy cruisers who will be sharing our first 71 night adventure as we cruise to London.

We’ve managed to score the big round table in the dining room which seats 12.

Along with us for the ride all the way to London are Lyndell, Stephen, Mark, Mandy, Andrea, Thomas, Isobel and Tony. Melissa and Stephen Bishop are joining us for the first twelve days and mates Belinda and Patrick from our Columbus trip are on board for the first 26 nights. Belinda and Patrick have introduced us to their friends Michelle and Rob who are also doing the full 71 nights.

Leaving us at Singapore after 12 nights will be Anti and Nela a wonderful Croatian couple that we met in the lineup boarding and have been sharing coffee dates with ever since. They spend half the year in Croatia and the other half in Perth. We will look forward to catching up with them in Croatia later this year.

Our cabin is comfortable particularly our bed and so far the food and entertainment has been spot on.

Our first stop after sailing was the next day to GERALDTON where Thomas and Andrea were able to lead a walk to the block of land they have bought with the intention of building their Australian dream home complete with amazing sea views.

It wasn’t a long stop in Geraldton but it gave us the opportunity to pick up a few extra toiletries and enjoy a coffee on the waterfront as well as a glimpse of this pretty town. No doubt we will visit again in our caravan and enjoy the sea views from Andrea and Thomas’s new deck when it’s built.

Two days at sea before an overnight stop in BROOME where we hired cars for the first day and managed to see all that the hire car company would allow us to with their strict no unsealed roads conditions.

The first evening included Cable beach sunset and cocktails so was pretty special.

Broome has a lovely shopping precinct and beautiful beaches.

The local indigenous people enjoyed gathering together in the local parks under the trees and who can blame them, otherwise you’d be inside in air conditioning most of your life.

We visited the cemetery where the graves of the Japanese pearl divers have been fenced off to prevent vandalism and the local museum had some great videos of their lives as pearl divers along with the local indigenous divers who were treated despicably, another sad insight into our countries past relations between the European settlers and the indigenous people.

Leaving Broome was also our last sunset in Australia for close to ten months.

Another day at sea before landing in BALI

We had decided to get a scooter but James had come down with a cold and we decided on a gojek ride instead.

We took Andrea with us as she also suffering the beginnings of a cold and as it was her birthday a day to Sanur for a massage, facial and manicure was more appealing than driving around all day in a van full of people.

Our original plans of coffee at The Owl cafe and spa day at The Sanctuary were thrawted due to a Hindu celebration making it a public holiday. Luckily we were able to enjoy our treatments at a spa run by Muslim and Catholics not on holiday. We also had coffee at another coffee shop on the beachfront that we also frequent when staying in Sanur. A new sarong and Kaftan purchased and we made our way back to the ship and relaxed before we all got together for dinner to celebrate Andreas birthday. Mandy had hers a few days before and shouted a bottle of champagne and a bottle of red for the table and Andrea did the same with two bottles of champagne to share.

Along with birthday cakes from the ship it makes a nice touch for celebrating as a group.

The wonderful friendships shared with each other is one of the joys of cruising. All our group have embraced each other and the new friends we’ve met and it ensures our village grows in strength.

Following on from Bali we head to LOMBOK. The last time we were in Lombok James and I left feeling we wouldn’t probably return. We’d had a few experiences that didn’t endear us to Lombok. This time we left the ship and hired a scooter and headed to Mataram. A larger town/city where we were able to purchase some more meds for our colds that we both now had and a decent coffee with a very delicious donut light as air that we shared.

The ride was picturesque with rice paddies and lush green vegetation with numerous mosques dotted along the way.

We had friendly encounters with the locals and were pleased to change our reservations about returning.

We got caught in a heavy downpour on the way back and I navigated using the phone while James kept us safe.

Sea days become relaxing by the pool as we try to shake off our colds. Unfortunately James didn’t recover as well as he hoped and in fact his eyes became infected and he opted out of our trip to BORABADUR from SEMARANG JAVA.

We had organised a private tour for most of our group with the trippers changing in names and numbers as a few fell to the colds on board but 11 of us had a fabulous day driving through the magnificent countryside of clean lush surrounds with beautiful mountains in the background.

The temple was stunning and I’m thrilled I got to get there. It stands magnificently surrounded by manicured gardens and majestic views of the mountains beyond. The incredible carving of 1200 years ago is breathtaking.

Will have to return when James is better and take our time exploring more of the island by motorbike.

See another place added to the list!

The last couple of nights after dinner while waiting for the show we’ve played Pictionary with groups of 3 or 4. Lots of laughs and only a few near divorces lol.

Before we could blink an eye it comes to the last night for those getting off on the first stop at Singapore. Addresses exchanged and arrangements for drinks after dinner to say goodbye and salute new friendships.

SINGAPORE.

Last year we visited Singapore four times and we will visit at least three times this year.

Our first two stops are on this cruise. The ship didn’t arrive till 1 pm so we managed coffee with Ante and Nela before they left the ship.

Allison and James C were working from home so we made our way there and used their internet before we headed out for coffee with Allison.

So Singapore has been caught up in the Coronavirus pandemic and although they haven’t been closed to tourists they are certainly putting in measures to keep people safe.

At Allison’s apartment building we had our temperature taken and recorded and hand sanitisers were in place all around. We also had our temperature taken before entering the shopping centre precinct.

Penny their little dog was excited to have new people to spoil her and she had a good walk with us and James C before dinner and another one after dinner with us all although she did get carried a lot more on the second walk.

She’s very cute.

It was a lovely relaxing afternoon/ evening and look forward to seeing them both in two weeks. Allison’s belly is just starting to not be completely flat.

Apparently we had 140 no shows for passengers supposed to board in Singapore so we’re 698 guests for next two weeks.

Our next stop was after two days at sea at Kota Kinabalu and we had booked a ships tour called Borneo it’s people and wildlife. First stop was at the museum and a typical village that people lived in originally.

Though somewhat interesting it was disappointing to see that had we come independently it would have only been a few dollars admission and our next stop the wildlife park would have been about $5. The wildlife park had quite a good animal show but the park itself was a huge disappointment. Terribly run down and dirty and most of the enclosures were just dreadful.

Probably one of the worst shore excursions we’ve done.

When returned to the port we took the free shuttle into town for some wifi and a coffee before calling it a day.

Another two days at sea had us arrive at the port of Phu My, Vietnam. We had little expectations for this stop as we had been here two years ago and didn’t fancy the long trip to Saigon. We instead grabbed a van with Andrea, Thomas, Isobel and Tony and headed to Vung Tau a beachside area about an hours drive away.

This turned out to be a great choice and the trip there was really quite pleasant. The middle of the roads were planted with flowering Bougainvilleas and other pretty flowering trees lined the sidewalks.

We stopped at a Cathedral on the way, a market and had a look at the Big Jesus statue on the hill before all heading off to spend our time finding some where pleasant to spend the day.

We ended up at the Grand Imperial hotel by the pool along with Isobel and Tony, while Andrea and Thomas spent their time legitimately at the beach club that the hotel offered across the road beach side.

We bought coffees, beers and club sandwiches over the few hours we sat poolside and made use of their wifi to catch up with the world.

We’re all keeping an eye on the Coronavirus situation and wondering if it will affect our stops anywhere on our way to London.

There has been plenty of temperature taking at ports and hotel lobbies with no problems so far.

This stop is an overnight one so we decided to book the ships tour to the Mekong river for our second day.

What an incredible day and while our last shore excursion from the ship counted as one of the worst, this one was one of the best.

It started by having the tour divided into small groups of five or six in each van. So along with Stephen, Lyndell and Mandy, James and I felt like we had a fantastic private tour for the whole day.

With stops for coffee, Buddhist temple and a small boat ride to an island for local markets and tasting of local honey and tropical fruit products, we were sung too and had a small canoe ride up an estuary as well. A large lunch was also provided but not really necessary after all our tastings along the way.

Although the trip each way was long (3 hours each way) the comfortable vans with plenty of room and good company made it go fast.

One more sea day and it was time for Koh Samui Thailand. We love this island and decided to do what we did last time we came in by ship and hire a scooter and head to Lamai. Belinda and Pat joined us and once we tendered off the ship we were quickly on our way and enjoyed a coffee, small beach walk and JAMES and I indulged in a fantastic massage before we headed back to port area for lunch and quick walk around before it was time to grab a tender back to our home on the ship.

Certainly made me want to return to Koh Samui for a longer holiday again some time in the future.

I had been so looking forward to finally getting a glimpse of Cambodia and as the ship docked at Sihanoukville it all looked quite lovely, a modern skyline on one side and a very quaint row of little houses along the break wall all made it look quite appealing.

What a shock as we drove from the port to the shuttle drop off in the town.

Total chaos of roads ripped up, buildings started and not finished and abandoned looking.

But the dirt, poverty and huge amount of rubbish every where was so sad.

Quite a few people decided not to even get off the bus but return straight back to the ship.

We started with a large group of fifteen trying to negotiate a tour for the day and finally broke off and eight of us piled into two cars for a tour of the day.

Well it all started going pear shaped right from the start. The guy we had been negotiating with spoke English but the two drivers we ended up with didn’t and so the comedy of errors began.

We wanted to visit the Ream National Park, and to be fair we did get there but we didn’t think it was as there was large tracts of land burnt, cleared and with buildings started but abandoned. Again rubbish was everywhere. There was nothing to say look at this beautiful forest, bush or countryside.

We managed to get to a beach and have a swim. This beach could have been sensational if not for the rubbish littering the beautiful white sand.

Oh well that’s travelling isn’t it.

Our next day was spent back in Thailand and we grabbed a driver with Stephen, Lyndell, Mark and Mandy and headed to Pattaya.

We were pleasantly surprised after our last visit there two years ago left us feeling we wouldn’t care to return.

This time the place was cleaned up and lots of fresh new sand trucked onto the beach.

We had a few hours at a fantastic shopping centre, complete with replica Eiffel Tower, Golden Gate Bridge, leaning tower of Pisa. It was called terminal 21 and although as expensive as any shops in Australia was very nice to visit.

Lunch followed then we separated and James and I had a massage and James got a hair trim.

Mark stayed behind and Tony and Isobel joined us for the trip home and invited us along with Mandy, Lyndell and Stephen to bring our dinner to their suite which they had decided to upgrade themselves too. It was a great night. The decision to pay for the upgrade was mainly due to the concern of being quarantined in an inside cabin should it happen. Anyway it’s lovely and lovely that they’re happy to share it with us all.

Two sea days till we land back in Singapore and loose Pat and Belinda and gain Jennifer who will join the gang till Tilbury.

One of our sea days saw the build a pirate ship competition which was hotly contested and had two of our friends on board taking part.

Judged on aesthetics, float abilities and if it could withstand a pirate attack ( golf balls being thrown at it).

Tony was victorious and was a very happy recipient of the calico bag with a bottle of sparkling and other bits and pieces.

One of the highlights on board are the shows each night. The last night before Singapore we had Wayne Rogers a drag queen act who entertained us all and had Mark up on stage with him. Mark was fantastic really played along and was a hit.

Before we knew it we were docked alongside Singapore and with teary hugs and kisses we farewelled our darling friends Pat and Belinda who had become the darlings of all our friends. It just won’t be the same without our crazy rainbow bikini wearing Belinda spreading her sparkling personality everywhere.

This also ended the second cruise of the three back to backs heading to Tilbury. With the last one the longest with 45 nights.

We dropped Allison off and drove home past the pink lakes and Flamingos not your every day sight, and once home we started an extra big clean up outside of Paula’s. The storms had done minimal damage but we wanted to rake up leaves and clean the tile areas to stop them blowing into the pool. The sad truth is you need to use more water to clean up after the damage from too much water.

It gave me something active to do while I was sad, missing my girl.

We decided to walk to the massive shopping centre and really started to comprehend how big it is. I did get some new sunglasses.

It’s still high temperatures and after a long walk on the Sunday to check out the damage at La Zenia beach to see how the clean up was coming along, we were grateful for Paula’s pool to cool off in as the sea water though getting better wasn’t up to our standards for swimming.

The local powers that be have actually been quick to get the beaches back in shape for people to enjoy sunbathing etc, but obviously the water cleanliness is up to Mother Nature.

We decided to walk out for dinner on Sunday night and after doing the strip walk thought we’d try the one place offering tapas, hmmmmm wish we hadn’t bothered. Malaga will hold those precious memories of good tapas in a vibrant atmosphere.

Monday saw us at home for the day except a food shop trip. We were looking at car rentals, flights and started looking at booking our holiday in Cavtat, Croatia for August 2020.

Because of the length of time we will be up this part of the world in 2020 we have to play the numbers game carefully with The Schengen zone agreement. One of the reasons we love Croatia is it gives us the opportunity to extend our stay in Europe as it’s not in The Schengen zone and it’s beautiful coastline and history are pretty near impossible to beat.

It was time to change our rental car, which meant another drive to the airport. The handover of the old vehicle was fairly quick but again the new car with a different company was drawn out and painful. But finally we were on our way in our little Ford Fiesta. The last car had been a small suv ( Opal, Mokka) which was bigger and much more comfortable for our road trips with Allison on board too.

Now that it’s just the two of us we can zoom around in our fiesta Spanish party car.

Wednesday we decided to start looking at the beaches close by and started and ended at Punta Prima which we thought was lovely. By now the water had cleared up and was beautiful for swimming in.

That evening we went to the town of Villamartin to go to the Chinese restaurant. Sitting outside we were stunned by the amount of people and traffic, there was even traffic patrolmen guiding people.

The stream of people were heading into the plaza.

So after we finished eating we walked over to see what was going on.

The plaza is a huge two story complex with a stage on the ground level, meaning all the bars and restaurants all only need to pay a minimum amount to pay for entertainment that they can all share. Turns out on this evening Les McKeon from The Bay City Rollers was going to be performing.

Thursday I decided to call the Singapore consulate to confirm if they would let me into the country with an outgoing ticket if my passport had less than six months on it. Apparently NOT! So spent the morning organising an appointment at the Australian consulate in Madrid and getting paperwork printed, booked a pet friendly hotel so we can take little Dolly the dog with us, with her mums ok. Dolly arrived the next day Friday to stay with us for a week and with the passports taking three weeks ( no emergency passports here) we had to go ASAP so I’ll be good to fly to Milan on the 28th October.

Phew another adventure in the life of travelling.

Friday we spent organising ourselves for after our July reunion cruise with our buddies from 2010 Europe trip. Organised a car hire to get to Luton airport from Southhampton, flights to Dubrovnik and organised our accommodation in Cavtat for six weeks at the same villa we stayed at in 2018.

Had a catch up dinner and show with our Columbus ship mates on the Friday night. Always good company.

Saturday we spent organising flights to NZ in January to see my dad, the rest of the family and friends before we take off in February for most of 2020.

Sunday saw us pack up the car along with Dolly dog and head to Madrid for my 11am Monday appointment at the Australian consulate.

We had a couple of coffee stops and water/ toilet breaks for Dolly and arrived at our pet friendly hotel by 3pm. We’ve never taken a dog to a hotel before and Dolly was brilliant.

It was in a strange area where the food markets are and we had to go through a barrier each time and confirm we were staying at the hotel.

There was absolutely nothing around except the big warehouses so we went for a drive to see where the consulate was and grab dinner out.

It wasn’t a fantastic opportunity to sightsee but luckily we have been to Madrid before and eating in a local area was great for watching every day Spanish enjoying their evenings at the small local parks and cafes.

My appointment on Monday couldn’t have been easier or quicker and fingers crossed The passport arrives back from Australia ok and in time for our flight to Milan end of October. They will let me know when it arrives and we can decide whether to go collect it or get it couriered. If we go back to collect it hopefully it will allow us a few days more to sightsee there.

We arrived back in Cabo Roig on Monday evening in time to cook dinner and binge watch a funny show called “Back to life”. Quite entertaining. Last week we watched the series “ an ordinary woman” from Russia, also a great watch.

Paula has a firestick for watching shows on her tv and we also change our VPN and hook the iPad up to the tv to watch stuff from Australia.

Tuesday I got Paula’s sewing machine out and hemmed some pants and after food shopping we basically spent the day reading, and doing some office work. Life is often just like at home just somewhere different. Bills have to be paid, calendars tagged, shopping, washing.

The week continues to have beautiful sunny warm days and we take walks along the coast and swim in the sea which is now back to normal after the storms and sometimes we’ll have a coffee at one of the beach kiosks and dry in the sunshine. It really feels like a summer holiday when you get to enjoy the beach.

I had a dental appointment to see about a root canal and go back next week to start the treatment. Very professional looking outfit and good pricing. Let’s wait and see how it pans out.

As it turns out, could not have gone better, forty minutes tops in chair, no anaesthetic required as nerve dead, go back on the 21st for filling in root then next day for composite filling over the lot. $400 Australian all up.

We had a lovely day at Cartagena in the sunshine exploring this town which was the base for the Spanish Armada .

Fantastic old Roman theatre which had only been rediscovered in 1990 and what a lot has had to happen to bring it back. After centuries being built upon by churches and homes the Spanish have managed to renovate it to such a standard that a part of each of the sites history is preserved whilst bringing the old theatre back to life.

A new one has been built next door.

The town is lovely for strolling and the harbour port offers boat rides which we did take a 45 minute catamaran tour. Not quite as spectacular as the photos displayed had you thinking but, it’s always nice to be on the water on a sunny day.

Two dinners out one with Lesley and Mark, Dolly dogs mum and dad which was great with drinks at a bar first before a sumptuous Asian fusion dinner.

A Chinese with all of Paula’s friends at the chinky, quite a gathering requiring two tables of 9 and 12. Met some other lovely interlopers like us, visiting their Friends from the group and hopefully we’ll catch up next year in Ealing where one of them lives.

A day trip to the town of Murcia which also encompassed a reconnaissance of the Murcia airport for picking Paula up whom unfortunately has had to cut her trip early to undertake a skin cancer treatment.

Murcia was another lovely day trip, and we managed to see a civic parade which was the start of the weekend celebration of Espania Dia.

We enjoyed a delicious tapas lunch, soaking up the people watching and sunshine which has been delightful.

Sunday morning the 13th of October we walked to our pick up spot for our trip to Benidorm and The Rollingstone tribute show. Our friends Beryl and Alan got on about an hour later as we rode around the countryside making pickups but still only 21 on the coach.

The deal included a lunch, dinner and breakfast as well as accommodation at the hotel Poseidon resort, tickets to the show, transfers to the Benidorm palace and of course the ride there and back, for 95€ each we thought it was great value.

We had plenty of time when we arrived for a lovely walk with Beryl and Alan through the old town and quite a way along The esplanade of the next bay enjoying a cold drink at a waterfront cafe and heading back for a quick nap,shower and dinner before the show.

What a brilliant night! we caught up with our other partners in crime Pat and Derek inside The Palace and even another of Paula’s friends found us.

After enjoying a fantastic show we three couples walked to the Rock n roll bar down the street where we watched the last of a Blues brothers set, then an incredible Argentinian guy who had the crowd in his palm from the first minute. At one point he was on the table tops playing his fiddle and entertaining everyone with his endless talent. Next at about 1:15 we had a change again, another guy who looked like Bryan Ferry and who did sing a Roxy music song but was mostly doing 50s Rock n roll.

I think he may actually have a preference for Roxy Music but the gig called for rock n roll. He wasn’t disappointing. Plenty of dancing occurred and just the great atmosphere and geniality of the other patrons made it a night to remember.

All of a sudden it’s well after 2am and we decide we better call it a night.

After breakfast the next day Beryl, Alan, James and I went for another walk and coffee before meeting Pat and Derek for lunch, they had come to Benidorm in Derek’s camper van and staying a few extra days for a change of scenery.

Derek comes from Blackpool and we love his English sayings like yeah anytime come and stay at My Gaff.

And Alan pointed out it wasn’t a surprise I had a bit of a headache as I’d been necking it the night before, meaning I’d been guzzling down the grog.

What a great little trip away, as Pat said isn’t just fantastic we all met on a cruise and here we are having a night out together in Benidorm. Yip one of the wonderful moments that travelling and meeting new friends gives you.

We didn’t get picked up till 5:30 pm so you really got plenty of time to enjoy getting out and about.

So I had a birthday here in Spain. We had an airport change of cars at Alicante and a pick up of Paula at Murcia airport in the evening. But during the day we enjoyed visiting the town of Alicante and a lovely waterfront lunch at the marina there.

Paula had to fly back early for a hospital appointment but made arrangements once it went well to fly back to England for a few days and come home on her original ticket.

This allowed us to organise a final catch up lunch with all the gang from our cruise last year and say goodbye to everyone. All of them great travellers and excellent company. As Beryl said Hasta Luego not Adios.

While Paula was here we also had a last dinner at the Chinese with whomever turns up every Wednesday night.

James and I took a day trip to Tarbaca island, just off the coast.

A small island with half residential homes ( think Mediterranean village houses ) and the other half more nature reserve with a small walled cemetery, remains of a goal and some beautiful clear waters for swimming.

We initially thought we might stay overnight but after seeing the prices at the eateries we’re glad we didn’t. A day trip was fine.

We dropped Paula off very early on the Saturday morning and said our thank you’s and goodbye as when she arrives back we will have gone on a road trip for the last six days of our time in Spain.

What can we say! how generous to offer your home to new friends and allow us the opportunity to live locally with a few trips away using her home as a base.

Humbling to meet such kind and generous people in our travels.

Hope one day we can reciprocate.

Before we knew it our trips to the dentist to finish my root canal and James check up and clean were done, we’d tidied up and repackaged our suitcases, enjoyed a couple of drinks with Mike and Val, Paula’s neighbours and enjoyed our last walks and swims at the beach and it was time to take off for our last days in Spain on a little road trip.

Our first stop was Valencia and after navigating the narrow streets inside the old town we made it safely to our Airbnb and met Irina our host.

We could not have been more delighted with our choice of accommodation or it’s location.

With our little penthouse cottage having awesome views and comfortable living arrangements, we settled in quickly and went out exploring.

Valencia is an incredible place and probably more attractive than Barcelona in many ways.

We did however find it a tad more expensive than a lot of Spanish towns and cities especially after Malaga.

We only had two nights here and will have to come back to experience more of Valencia outside the historical centre. We had been here before in 2015 but again that was just an appetiser.

Having googled great towns to visit from Valencia we plotted our next few days travelling with our next stop to be the furthest north to Morella. Described as one of the prettiest towns in Spain we booked a nights accommodation at The El CID hotel, coincidentally it started hosting guests in 1928 the year of both my parents birth.

A comfortable room with great views of the surrounding countryside and just inside the old city walls.

We had a wonderful time exploring the Castile and township.

Dinner in Spain often doesn’t begin to be served until at least 8:30 pm so we had an opportunity to have a drink in the bar and a quick nap before heading to the restaurant for a delicious meal of courgette thinly sliced and sandwiched between ham and cheese then lightly breadcrumbed and pan fried, followed by slow cooked Pork. With a bottle of wine and coffee around £12 each.

The next morning we enjoyed a couple of coffee con leches before heading off towards our next stop Tirig.

We had heard it was a lovely town with cave paintings.

Little did we know it has the most concentrated amount anywhere in the world. Striking it lucky we perfectly timed a guided tour from the free museum for a few kilometres walk there and back to see some original paintings, see a Little Rock shelter built approximately 200 years ago with an incredible domed roof and see the incredible scenery and hear about the areas past.

Fantastic! We shared the tour with a couple from a France and another from Brazil who actually had pretty good English and helped with some of the translation.

How wonderful to experience something so incredible just by travelling the road least travelled.

Onto our stop for the night the town of Requena.

A smaller old historical town with plenty of churches and a rich history associated with the wine industry. The town sits high overlooking the surrounding areas of vineyards.

The town has quite a delapidated feel in many streets, but there was several quite extensive renovation projects happening which will help preserve this town for many years still.

Again we ended up eating at the hotel, seated near the fire as the weather has turned cooler morning and evenings now, we both enjoyed a delicious red wine and James had Iberian sirloin and I had melt in your mouth duck.

An included breakfast the next morning and we were back on the road heading towards Xativa.

Another beautiful old town surrounded by a more modern and still vibrant township bought more interesting streets to explore.

We visited the old church and witnessed a christening, popped in to see the amazing larger than life paper mache puppets used in the towns corpus celebrations, found some of the water fountains the town is known for including one of only four remaining gothic fountains in the Country.

We had visited the tourist centre so having parked and paid for town parking we did the town before driving up the twisting narrow streets to Xativa castle.

Built purportedly by Isobel Borgia the history reaches further back to the tenth century and has several distinct styles. Definitely Arab and Christians have had their hands on it and has held a prison back in Aragon days.

It’s high location over the surrounding area offers 360 degree views from different vantage points. A most enjoyable visit.

By the time we arrived at Bocairent our stop for the night we were both happy to find our accommodation to be quite luxurious and we had a comfortable late afternoon nap before heading in to look at the historical town centre.

The light was going fast so although we managed a few photos most will have to wait till tomorrow.

We did however enjoy what we saw and deciding that we would head back to our hotel to eat were once again thrilled with our meal.

They bought our nuts, bread, aioli, and a free tapas of Finley crumbed fish pieces before James was presented with a hot stone plate of steak pieces and I the lamb shank minus the bone and delicious cooked eggplant.

I had two glasses of cava , James two beers, a large bottle of mineral water, and a coffee each, presented with complimentary chocolate brownies all for 44€.

The next day we explored all over the town and surrounding area getting some beautiful shots and seeing the local cemetery open went in-for a look.

There were dozens of families cleaning the plaques of their dead loved ones polishing them till they gleamed and it was almost like a competition as to whose family cared the most.

Before long it was time to head toward Alicante for the night as we prepared to leave the next day to Milano Italy for a few days before heading to Singapore then Sydney.

Milano was a quick two day visit and we had booked an airbnb which didn’t let us down in style, comfort and closeness to transport.

We spent our first day going into the city centre to visit the Duomo

Outstanding experience walking the roof and getting a close encounter with the architecture.

We visited the big gallery shopping centre before arriving back to our accommodation.

Our last day we took the train to Como and took a ferry to Bellagio and back. The weather wasn’t stunning but you could see on a bright sunny day it would be even more spectacular than how pretty it still looked.

Of course I googled so we could tell which house belonged to George Clooney.

Before we knew it we were back at Milano airport and preparing to take off and leave our adventures behind. Lots of great memories made along with new friends and old friends it was an awesome time.

We touched down in Singapore for our fourth visit in 2019. We booked The Park Royal this visit as we had checked it our on a previous visit and liked its location and pool.

I got to go Wedding dress shopping with Allison which is a highlight for mummy’s to do. Photo shown is not the dress chosen for their big day but you get the idea of how beautiful the dresses are.

and we got to meet the adorable miss Penny, Allison and her James’s little cockapoo puppy. The Sunday Penny has her last shots in the morning which meant she was allowed to socialise with other dogs and people so we all went to a lovely park where at the restaurant it’s dog friendly and so is the park.

What a really lovely day we had.

Another lovely short visit came to an end and on the Monday evening we flew out of Singapore, homeward bound for Sydney just over 31 weeks since we left at the end of March.

In the 14 weeks till we leave Fremantle on February 12/2020 we have two weeks in New Zealand a wedding in Canberra for daughter Allison and her James, countless catch ups, investment property maintenance and all the usual round of accountants, lawyers, doctors etc plus two house sits booked.

Whenever you travel by plane it’s an all day write off and our day leaving the UK for Spain was no different.

Wake up to our once again delicious full English at The Grange Guesthouse in Ealing, final packing or rather squashing in so that our bags fit the regulation two carry on bags. Drive to the car hire drop off, take shuttle to Heathrow airport, take bus to Gatwick airport, flight delayed, take flight to Alicante, go to hire car, blah blah blah with them, check out car in the dark, photograph all scratches, dents etc, take back to car hire office, then drive to hotel on the European side of the road, check in, get food, crash out.

First full day we drive to Benidorm to the cheapest, not complete dump hotel and are pleasantly surprised at how nice it actually is, both hotel and Benidorm.

We are a fair walk down to the seafront etc, but we had a good long explore and were surprised by a few things we hadn’t seen before like tandem mobility scooters!

There were heaps of shoe shops, restaurants, sunshine, people, umbrellas for as far as you could sea and a pretty relaxed vibe.

Back at the hotel we opted for staying there for dinner and had a decent meal. Met a lovely couple from the UK, whom we then ran into a few times at breakfast and hopefully we’ll catch up with them next year in the UK.

We were going to spend only one night there but as the pricing was great we opted for another night and drove off to El Castell de Guadalest. What a lovely drive to the mountains and stunning vistas from the lovely town.

Really enjoyed it.

This was a great trip for James to get comfortable with driving as not busy and he also had to navigate the incredible amount of roundabouts. I’m really impressed.

That evening we walked into the old town and had a lovely dinner over looking the length of the beach from the terrace of the restaurant. A lovely stroll along the waterfront then back to our hotel.

We’re already acclimatising to the Spanish lifestyle as we always do and not having to check out till noon helps tremendously with not having dinner till at least 9 pm at night and we have never minded an afternoon siesta.

After two nights staying in Benidorm we booked a hotel not far away in Albir. But before heading there we took a drive to Denia. The town and beach didn’t really float our boat but we had a nice lunch then drove to our cheap but again comfortable and clean hotel.

This one turned out to be a closer walk to the waterfront and we were really impressed. Lovely boardwalk, bars and restaurants, so stopped for a couple of pre dinner drinks and people watching before finding a lovely Italian restaurant for a delicious meal and with a glass of wine that was the largest glass of wine I’ve ever been served and very drinkable for €1.50!!

A really lovely evening.

What a delightful surprise breakfast was. Fresh, fresh, fresh, bread, pastries, fruits, eggs, bacon etc and also including the little yoghurt drinks and a decent coffee machine.

There was a nice pool area which we made use of later in the day after we took a trip to Calp another lovely seaside holiday spot with a fantastic waterfront and after a good walk we were able to enjoy a very tasty and affordable lunch overlooking the esplanade and beach.

On the way home we had a quick look at the beach closest to us Aleta, but the wind had come up and it was a pebble beach so decided to head back to the comfort of a sun lounger in the shade pool side where of course you can also order a beer.

Once again we walked into the heart of the town for dinner and enjoying our meal the night before and the generous drinks- opted to go straight to the restaurant just after 9 pm, the night before we had arrived at 10 pm. See what I mean about living the Spanish lifestyle.

Both nights we had met lovely people to chat with either while having a drink at the bar or sitting next to us at dinner.

Sunday September 1st saw us pack up the car and head towards Villajoyosa a lovely colourful beach town that we had visited on our 2015 tour of Spain, Portugal and Morocco.

After a stroll along the promenade we hopped in our car for our last leg to arrive at Cabo Roig to our friend Paula’s home where we are going to stay till late October. This was a wonderful offer by Paula last year on the cruise where we met and we quickly took it up as an opportunity to immerse ourselves into the expat life on the Costa Blanca.

A very warm welcome from Paula and her little friend Dolly the cute dog she was sitting.

After looking at all the houses on A place on the sun tv show we were not expected to arrive at such a generous sized home and grounds. Not only that but it’s very close to the large town centre with lots of shops and services. A great location for the European expat community. Not only that but she has her own swimming pool and there’s also a communal one too.

Paula had dinner organised for that evening and also on Monday night.

Monday saw us go on a Paula tour of the local area and the chance to get a SIM card for our phone sorted.

Wednesday we caught up with Pat, a lovely coffee out and lunch back at Paula’s and will be seeing her and Derek again on Friday when the whole gang get together for lunch.

It was a day of visits with little Dolly being picked up by her mum and later Eileen popping in. The evening was a lovely Chinese restaurant meal where Paula’s gang meet every Wednesday night and have done so for years.

We got a very warm welcome and what a bargain meal. €9 each which included a tip got us a drink( beer, wine,water,soft drink) a starter, main, desert and a liquor to finish!

Great company and an invite to join them again.

Friday saw the gang from CMV 2018 have a catch up lunch at The Castle.

What a stunning day it was, undercover the temperature was perfect for outdoor dining and laughing and chatting away, making plans for more dates while most of us are in town.

Unfortunately Paula will miss out but I’m sure she will be enjoying her time in the USA with her very dear friends.

I didn’t feel so great, not sure what it was ( not had any alcohol so can’t blame that) but I headed to bed after getting home and basically sleeping the night away waking up completely recovered.

Saturday morning was time to take Paula to the airport and wave her off for her six weeks away.

On the Sunday We decided to take a walk to the beach and ended up taking a fabulous coastal walk to La Zenia beach where we had brunch at the cafe/bar on the beach.its one of several at the different beaches offering the same menu.

We had a swim and walked back home.

That night we drove back to the airport to pick up daughter Allison who flew in from Milan to spend almost two weeks with us.

Monday we took a quicker walk to La Zenia with her then the coastal walk back home. We were all glad to be able to dive in the pool on our return as we had left a little later and it was very warm.

Tuesday we only made it down to Cabo Roig beach and swam and had brunch there before returning home in time for allison to get ready to take the bus to Alicante and catch up with a work mate from her time in London. She ended up going back to Benidorm with her mate and staying the night.

We just relaxed at home as we sometimes do.

With warnings of bad storms about to descend our way we were glad to make an early getaway on Thursday morning for a few days in Granada. We had been before but Allison hadn’t seen The Alhambra Palace and we wanted to take her on a road trip there and spend a couple of nights in Granada.

We had a lovely lunch stop at Velez-Rubio with its lovely old streets and church in the square.

Our Airbnb in Granada was down a narrow lane and it was with trepidation that we not only made it there but with guidance from our host got the car parked in the underground car park. Really a motorbike would have been more suitable.

Our apartment couldn’t have been more fab, newly decorated with style and comfortable beds. Each bedroom, kitchen and lounge had a little Juliette balcony onto the street. We were all thrilled with our choice and once the car was garaged there was no need to get it out again till we left.

Just a great location for exploring the city centre. We quickly got ready to make the most of the afternoon and headed off exploring. Some places were familiar from our previous visit in 2015 and we managed to cover a fair amount of area resting for a cold drink just directly opposite The Alhambra as James and I had done with tour friends in 2015. Of course the prices were ridiculous but you have to do it for the view just once at least.

We headed home for a siesta although it was a 7 pm one and left for a stroll for dinner around 8:45pm. After our meal we walked back to see the Alhambra at night then made it home before it was already the next day.

A slow start the next day but with our tickets already purchased online we headed out for our 20 minute walk all uphill to start our day at The Palace. As with our last visit we were in awe of the majesty and magical scenery and buildings that make up this must see Palace.

A lovely stop for lunch at The American hotel in the grounds turned out to be both tasty and inexpensive. The courtyard setting was delightful as well.

The storms that had hit the coast looked to be descending quickly our way and we made our way back to our apartment all happy with our outing.

Fortunately they passed over quickly and the afternoon spent resting at home before dinner out was dry allowing us to open all our balcony doors letting in the fresh air and sounds of the world making their own way through the day.

After our obligatory siesta we headed out later and decided to take the tourist train around and then have dinner. Best idea as we got to see so much more than we knew existed in Granada. Then a lovely little alley way for dinner and walk home.

Granada was everything we hoped for and more.

Our trip home we decided to go towards the coast and look at the beaches on the way up from Motril, well apart from Calahonda we wouldn’t spend a half day at any.

If the beaches weren’t unappealing the acres upon acres of plastic greenhouses right from the mountain ranges to the sea line definitely were. Also we had watched a documentary by Simon Reeves who spoke not only about the appalling conditions of the poor African immigrants working in these ridiculous hot conditions with no basic human rights but also how as the plastic rips and is useless for their needs they are just buried in the sand near the waterways where when a storm comes along they are taken out to sea polluting our oceans and seas.

On return to Paula’s it was to find her property had sustained very little effects from the wild and ferocious storms that had passed over the area, killing at least three people and leaving huge devastation behind.

A good sweep and clean down of the back yard, a backwash of the pool,vacuum and skim had everything back to rights.

Sunday late afternoon we headed down to visit our friends Melissa, Tom and their two daughters Tara and Ciara who planned a stop for the night so we could catch up. Fantastic to see them and catch up on all the news over drinks by the pool then dinner out.

Monday they were heading to Seville and we were off to Malaga for four nights.

We arrived at our three bed,two bath Airbnb in Malaga by 4:30 pm and after a rest we decided to walk into the old town for a look and dinner.

Malaga old town is sensational looking at night as we soon found out and we were all thrilled with our first look around.

Tuesday we drove the most scenic route through the mountains to Ronda.

We had been there before but wanted to show Allison. What can we say it’s a wowser from every scenic vantage point.

If you ever do a trip to Spain put it on your list, you won’t be disappointed.

So Tuesday was a wonderful day for me as I got to catch up with my old neighbour and bestie till 1969 -fifty years ago when her family sailed back to England.

As youngsters we probably spent almost every day together and I still have great memories of those days.

It was a bit tearful when we saw each other and we had just the best time catching up.

Dallas and her lovely husband Derek live on The Costa Del Sol between Malaga and Torremolinas. It’s a fabulous place. We loved it. Their apartment is extremely spacious and wonderful sea views filled with their charming company, what more could you want.

All too soon it was time to leave and I know we’ll be back to visit again.

Another great evening of walking around Malaga took us along the waterfront and seaport with all the new development of bars and restaurants , just past that is a long stretch of beach. We walked back into the old town for another evening meal of tapas and drinks. It’s so funny we didn’t sit down to close to 10 pm and even walking home at 11:30 people were still sitting down to dine and drink.

Thursday our last day here we ventured along the waterfront then cutting in to take the quite steep climb to the top of the Castillo de Gibraltar’s. Walked the fortified walls and then back down.

there we took a visit to the Cathedral de la Encarnacion de Malaga.

I think it is probably one of the most impressive and beautiful Cathedrals we’ve been to. It really was breathtaking.

We left Allison to shop and we started to head home via Costa coffee for a beer! Because yeah that’s a thing here, you can buy beer or a bottle of sangria even an ice cream at Costa in Malaga.

In reflection we have decided that Malaga is one of the most liveable cities we’ve visited. It’s easy to walk, there’s a great vibe, historical museums and areas,awesome Spanish food etc, a sea port to travel from, an airport, countryside and mountains to escape too along with beaches we don’t have anything to criticise.

Our last night we walked back into the old town for our last night of delicious tapas and soak up the vibe. On the way Allison managed to buy a few more things as her shopping in the afternoon was cut short due to shops closing for siesta.

We got away by 9:30 am the next morning and with just one stop for lunch and another at lidl for a few things were home at Paula’s around 2:30 pm.

We had an early start the next morning to get Allison to the airport and it’s hard waking at 6 am to darkness, in fact it wasn’t light till 7:30 and it’s just the beginning of Autumn.

It was a tearful goodbye, but we will be in Singapore the first weekend in November and Allison will be in Australia for a wedding in December so have actually managed to see her quite a few times this year.

It was a great visit for road trips and sharing the experiences that travelling brings and hopefully we’ll repeat a trip together next year.

On the day we were to arrive at Carolyn, Alan and their son Dougies home we first went into Swindon to the outlet shopping centre to look around. We made some great purchases and I was rapt to buy a whole new wardrobe of tops in different colours as I try to faze out the black and head towards a change to navy as a base.

Arriving at 3 pm after driving through the rural countryside and one way lanes we were met by our new furry dog friends Mac and Laurie and little cat Bonnie.

As Alan showed James how to use the ride on mower, work the spa pool etc, Dougie the son and I cooked dinner for everyone so that when Carolyn got home from work we were all ready to break bread together and chat before it was time to head to bed for their early pick up for the airport.

Another beautiful country setting and comfortable home to enjoy for the next three weeks.

We can’t believe how well behaved all the dogs have been and affectionate the cats and one rabbit have been. Each has been a joy to spend time with and you really do bond quickly.

Our first day was our food shopping day and pottering around home so the animals get used to us, a lovely walk with the dogs in the afternoon through the fields surrounding us and we enjoyed a drink sitting outside in the perfect summers evening.

The next morning after our watering the garden and taking care of our charges, including some bed snuggles with Bonnie while we had coffee in bed ( yes there’s a coffee machine), we headed off towards the Cotswolds to visit Chastleton Park stopping at the ridiculously cute town of Burford for a wander and cream tea ( of course). I managed to pick up some 3/4 pants in navy and tan to help my change over from black being my dominant colour scheme.

Chastleton manor was built in the Jacobean fashion four hundred years ago when the family had money. But their wealth soon declined and until they handed it over to the National trust they never had enough money to update anything so when the National trust got hold of it they made a conscious decision to keep it as it was. The furniture is from the house including the dining setting, and as each generation actually lived there although not updated it hadn’t fallen into complete ruin.

It’s fascinating to walk through history as it was.

The next day we were off again this time to Basildon Park another fabulous trust property given to then in 1978 by Lord and Lady Iliffe who fell in love with the dilapidated property in 1952 and started an ambitious program of repair.

The property originally built for sir Francis Sykes who made a fortune with the East India company.

Lady Iliffe had impeccable taste and with money obviously no problem they created a stunning home that they still lived in a part of even after giving it to the Trust, till their deaths.

Occasionally you have to have a day at home organising tickets and accommodation for further on in our travels and also go food shopping and haircuts etc. We do some house work and or gardening everyday to keep on top of everything and we find the animals love it when you’re outside even the cats.

Little Bonnie likes to come for her morning snuggles on the bed and Mac comes up says hello then plonks himself outside the door keeping us safe. His brother Laurie sits outside each night keeping watch while we watch tv inside with his brother Mac and Bonnie. Funny little personalities they all have. The boys are so good, go to bed when you tell them, lie still while I brush them, just very relaxed and no bother at all.

Another day we went off to Waddesdon Manor but didn’t realise we had to book in our tour of the house times so did that for a couple of days later and headed to Nuffield house.

Owned by lord and Lady Nuffield. Born William Morris he started out from humble beginnings starting with a bicycle repair shop to building one of the most respected and successful car businesses.

Having no children themselves and living very frugally ( they even sewed car mats together for the carpet in his bedroom) and famously saying ‘ you can only wear one suit at a time’ they gave away literally almost all their money for good causes including using the car factory in the height of the Polio epidemic to build iron lungs and donating them free of charge all around the UK and Commonwealth.

They gave huge amounts to hospitals etc even built a few.

Wonderful people and a lovely story.

We then went on to Greys Court a Jacobean style home where we also managed to get a private tour of the gardens which was wonderful.

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We really are loving The National Trust pass its given us a great excuse to potter around the country down through villages and towns visiting places we had never heard of before and some we have seen in movies and tv series.

We went back to Waddesdon Manor and were in awe of the sheer magnitude of the collections in held. Plus as The Rothschild foundation still have a large hand in its upkeep etc it is in excellent condition. It’s actually not as old as you would think as it’s decorated in a earlier time period than when it was built.

Architecturally French Chateau and with wine cellars as you would expect from The Rothschild family we along with everyone else were ooohing and aaaahing and going WOW the whole way through.

Another day trip to Oxford to catch up with David and Gerry, friends I met in New Orleans in 2000 we coincidentally sat at the same table in the same bar we had with Pratek and Damian just over a week earlier.

A few wines, lunch and then a move to a cocktail bar later………

Isn’t it wonderful catching up with people all over the world in their home towns.

We also caught up with our previous house sit couple Tony and Pam for morning tea in Newbury, a lovely couple I’m sure we’ll see again, already planning our next house sit for them with Honey girl next year.

Other day trips have seen us drive to Bourton on the water. An historical town that was completely overrun with tourists but luckily we got there before it was tooo ridiculous and enjoyed a cuppa at a cafe beside the stream and the great motor transport museum.

On the way home we stopped at the ruins of a Roman villa. It’s incredible how much history England and the UK have and these Roman villas are so unexpected when they’re very much like you would imagine you’d see in Italy. The same bath houses, mosaic tiling etc and there are so many of them.

We took a look at Bicester outlet village LORDY LORDY it was all designer shops and incredibly full of people queuing to get into some of the stores!!

It has a fake fascade feel about it like a movie prop town, Disneyland vibe especially with the people queuing. Anyway we did a lap up and back then hopped in our car and drove to the Tesco superstore just down the road… more our price level haha.

Another home day saw us finally get into the spa pool outside here. Lovely must get into it one evening and look at the stars.

We’ve been lucky to get some recommendations from UK friends about where to go and what to see.

So thanks to Sue and Terry we headed to Woodstock another of those Cotswolds beauty towns.

Not far from Woodstock is Blenheim palace which looks to be beyond fantastic and we will have to try to get there next year when we return as we ran out of time on our day trip as we needed to get home to feed and walk the boys before heading to The Carpenters Arms pub to meet Louise and Tammy two lovely friends we met on our day trip to Doubtful sound in NZs South Island in February. Wonderful to catch up and look forward to seeing them next year.

But although we didn’t have time to give Blenheim Palace a tour we were able to travel the short distance to the town of Bladon to the church of St Martins the resting place of the Churchill family in particular Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill 1874-1965 not a bad innings for an overweight, hard drinking smoker with the stress of running a country during war time.

Our friend Louise had recommended Snowshill Manor with its totally eclectic hoarding by Charles Wade. It’s incredible mix of ordinary items that he seemed to collect en-mass all housed in a manor he bought solely to store his collections, whilst living in a little cottage out back is a great visit.

Even better it’s National trust run so used our pass.

I’ll let the photos show the variety of wares.

I think he was a little mad, definitely eccentric and at 61 he married his wife whom was 44 at the time and for several years they lived in the small hoarders cottage before leaving the estate to the National trust.

Another fabulous day out recommended by Louise was the British Motor museum in Gaydon.

Loved it, happily spent hours there. Great day out for all. So many awesome displays. They also have a collection of first and last off the line production cars.

Our days were passing by and we still had places to see as well as start planning our departure from the UK. Our tickets for the moto GP finally arrived which was a relief as it was less than a week away.

Our two boys Mac and Laurie along with Bonnie the cat have become quite the furry family, coming upstairs in the morning to say hello and sit by the bed or on the bed for Bonnie while we read or go online. The boys love their walks and we’ve seen, deer, squirrels, hawks, rabbits, dogs, sheep and horses on just about every walk.

There are some Black sheep in a field with some black and white ones which I’ve found out are called Badger faces, a Walsh breed. White with black underbellies and black stripe down their face.

On our last Monday at our final house sit we drove to Hughendon Manor.

This was interesting as it was the home of The Victorian British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. It featured beautiful gardens with deck chairs for visitors to sit in and a display about the use of the Manor during WW2 as a secret map drawing property. This only came to light a few years ago as all who served there had been signed to the secrets act. Along with memorabilia of The Disraelis time there and gifts given by Queen Victoria it made for an interesting trip.

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Their grave is in the churchyard next door and in the church there is a memorial to him by Queen Victoria who trusted him as a close friend.

Some of our drives to these places take up to an hour and a half to get to, but half the fun of the day out is travelling through the countryside and villages. There’s usually a first stop at the tea rooms when we get there for a tea and scone or something light to eat.

Our trip on the Tuesday of our last week was to Ascott house another home of the Rothschild family, but this one they actually use and so with an arrangement with the National trust five large rooms are open for visitors from 2-6 pm most of the summer months and a fair bit of the grounds which are fantastic.

The five rooms are also still used by the family so look comfortable and homely considering the collections they hold. Dutch masters, Gainsborough, Turners along with one of Britain’s largest Chinese pottery collection which is so beautifully displayed. Unfortunately no photos are allowed but you can google it.

We planned our Wednesday to include James mowing the lawn/ field in the morning then going out in the afternoon, however fate had a different idea.

James accidentally mowed over the mole deterrent in the garden, breaking one of the belts under the mower, as well as shredding the deterrent.

Googling any local repair shops that specialised in the ride on turned out a lucky hit as the one we contacted was the one they had bought it from and use to service it. They hoped to collect it that afternoon but it was Thursday morning so Wednesday became a right off day.

The rest of Thursday was our start to get ready to move on plan, cleaning, sorting and waiting to hear about the mower.

I think we were just hoping we could get it fixed and back and grass sorted before they got home. We sourced a new mole deterrent and spent a few evenings in the spa enjoying watching the stars come out and our last days in the countryside.

On Thursday evening we traveled back to Burghclere to drop a box of things to our new friends Tony and Pam for them to store for us till next year. We all went to the pub for dinner and we got to say goodbye to Honey again with the hopes that we’ll see them next year to stay if all goes well.

We got the mower back late Friday afternoon and James quickly got onto the lawn. However the repairers had mentioned that there were some other issues coming up with the mower due to general wear and tear but could probably wait till it was taken in for its end of season service. However this didn’t end up being the case and before James could finish the grass it stopped working because the transition belt went. Oh well we had done our best.

Another more stressful event happened. We were expecting our home owners rerun around noon on Saturday. But we heard nothing all day. What had happened to them? We had dinner booked with friends and an Airbnb booked for that night.

We had to cancel both as it transpired they had given us the wrong return date.

They were coming home on the Sunday!

We were relieved that nothing serious had happened and we were able to rebook with our friends for the next night.

We got up early Sunday, fed our babies and sadly patted them goodbye , knowing they would only be alone for just over an hour, and made our way to the park and ride at Towcester to take us to Silverstone race track for the motogp.

Everything went smoothly and we had a great day. It was very warm and we were grateful to get to Sanjees house for shower before going to dinner with Gerry and David.

Sanjeev is a delightful host with the most and insisted he drive us and pick us back up so we could make use of the two for one cocktails. 😂.

Our room was beautifully styled and Sanjee was hysterically funny, great story teller, he’s missing his calling as an entertainer for sure.

One thing we saw outside Sanjees house was a robot delivery happening. A cooler box on wheels driven remotely to a house with a delivery of shopping, the people came out, opened the lid, took out their stuff, closed the lid and the cooler box turned around said Thank you and rode off up the road. Incredible.

Monday we decided to visit Bletchley Park, home of the decoders during world war 2 as it was very close by. Great visit, well worth it if you’re interested in espionage etc.

Most incredibly we ran into Adrianne and Michael from our cruise last year. We had lost their contact details as I’d wanted to visit them when we were in NZ and was so disappointed not to find them. What a hoot. We had a cuppa with them and Michaels sister and brother in law before making sure we had inputted their details into our phones and hopefully we’ll see them in NZ some time.

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We spent quite a few hours at Bletchley before making our way back to where it all started in Ealing early June at the Grange lodge. We knew we’d be comfortable and close to Heathrow for dropping the car off the next day.

It was strange handing the car in after three months and catching the bus to Gatwick to get our flight to Alicante, Spain and new adventures ahead.

We had a fabulous time in the UK and loved our house sitting gigs. They gave us the opportunity to live really like locals including our very own pets, all of whom we fell in love with. We can’t believe how well behaved all the dogs are in the UK.

Even the cats loved cuddles and purred away happily.

Below is a field harvested near our last home. It was an awesome sight.

After a comfortable night we headed off towards Burghclere for our next house sit with the adorable cocker spaniel Honey.

We had time to visit the nearby town of Newbury and were surprised at how big it was and what a lovely town centre they had.

Also surprised to see a jewellery shop called J Lawrence jeweller then two shops opposite each other one called Boswells cafe and the other Shaw’s direct. My mother was a miss Boswell before she became Mrs Shaw and of course I was J Lawrence for over 30 years. Will look out for more family name coincidences on our next visit there.

On arriving at our new house sit Tony and Pam welcomed us back as we had visited them before when we were at Wiltshire on our first sit, and we all walked to the local pub for a delicious dinner before Honey, James and I waved them off for the little sojourn in France.

Their home is in the most beautiful location of woodland and estate properties.

But only a short drive to fabulous shopping and Highclere castle where Downtown abbey was filmed so we must go visit.

We spent our first day just going to the massive Tesco mega store to shop and spent the rest of the day chilling at home and enjoying their beautiful garden letting Honey get used to us and feeling secure that we’re here taking care of her doggie needs.

She’s delightful.

Well the second hottest day on record here in the UK found us taking a drive to Marlborough a beautiful town with lots of old quirky buildings and some nice shops to look around.

We had lunch in a redundant church which is now renting out space to several small businesses like the cafe and jewellery and gift stalls.

A great idea to save the church from been pulled down for a roundabout.

Once back home we walked up to Sandham memorial chapel just up the road and part of the National trust. To be honest glad we didn’t go out of our way to visit. It has some of the paintings by the First World War artist Stanley Spencer.

Honey our little girl has settled in well with us and now follows us around and happy to sit near us wherever we are.

She was very excited to go for an outing in the car to The New Forest for a cream tea and walk.

A lovely area with so many walks, hikes, bike rides, horse rides etc it was great to see cows and horses with their foals not fenced off from the public and watch the horses approach picnickers to see if they could get to share.

The church St Michaels of all angels in the historic town of Lyndhurst had the grave of Mrs Reginald Hargreaves whom was The Alice in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. Just came across it with no idea it was there.

Another day we took Honey in the car to Newbury to catch the artisan markets then walk along the canal to see all the barges and walk in the park. That night I could hear her having little dreams so cute.

We HAD to go to Highclere castle, home to the Downton Abbey series since it was so close and it didn’t disappoint, we had driven there a few days earlier to see what the go was and the guy told us get there at the opening and beat the coaches. So we did and as the house didn’t open for a while we were able to walk around the lovely gardens virtually with no one else around.

They have displayed the house beautifully and had some large photos of cast in situ which was great.

A lot of the houses furnishings are used as well so the authenticity is believable.

There are a few villages in the UK that have been kept very much original and one town Lacock is mostly owned by the National Trust it also has a wonderful 12th century Abbey which was then bought by a family and there are some wonderful insights into life in those days.

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The wonderful thing about the village of Lacock and also the fabulous village of Castle Coombes is that they haven’t allowed overhead cables etc so filming of these towns is quite common for period shows.

We were fortunate that on the day we visited although there were a lot of showers that day we managed to get enough breaks to walk and see what we wanted, quite incredible considering how much it actually did rain.

James had been in contact with an ex work colleague whom at 30 decided to take a year off work and do his Masters degree at Oxford University. Pratik generously offered to show us around some of his favourite Oxford University spots.

With his student card we were able to access places we would normally never get to see and he has a great knowledge of the history so it was a great tour and we caught up with Damien another work colleague whom met us all for lunch as he was working in Oxford that morning.

We really appreciate the young folk making time for us.

All too soon it was time to welcome home Pam and Tony and say goodbye to our beautiful Honey girl. We had a wonderful stay and hope very much that it works out that we will see them again.

We had booked a night accommodation at The Bear pub in the quaint village of Hungerford for the night before we were due to start our fifth and final house sit not that far from our last one.

Tony and Pam had generously told us to stay the night with them but we had already booked and paid. We have been humbled by the outstanding generosity and warm welcome we have received from all our home owners at our sits. It has been an incredible experience and will certainly try to book a few again next year when we return to the UK.

We arrived in the quaint village of Marbury, Cheshire on Friday the 5th July.

Our new homeowners weren’t quite ready for us so we took advantage and drove into Whitchurch for breakfast before returning to meet Tracey and Gary to go through everything before they left with three dogs in tow leaving us to care for 12 year old brother and sister cats George and Rosie. Oh did I mention their home is a four hundred year old black and white cottage!

It’s been superbly renovated and apart from James being a little too tall sometimes ( ouch) we swiftly settled in to our new home and pets.

You quickly start to pick up on each pets personality and Rosie is quite the talker, occasionally bossing her brother, who escapes for most of the day and evening into the incredible fields surrounding the church nearby.

St Michaels church was built in the 15th century on ground where the original was built in 1299. The bells chime the hour for the daylight hours but thankfully not through the night.it has an imposing vista over the large Mer and fields all around.

The vicarage next door to the church is large and beautiful and the has a lady vicar who of course I dub the vicar of Dibley.

There is a fabulous pub called The Swan and that’s all the amenities in the village. Everything else is a fairly shortish drive away through pretty countryside and a few narrow laneways.

We’ve spent our time here exploring the local towns around and a big walk around the Mer and paddocks which had James getting run at by the cows and me scrambling under a barbed wire fence to escape…. lol city folk in the countryside.

Our very first full day here saw us funnily returning to Manchester and literally a twenty minute walk from where we had housesat for Phil and Jo to watch Australia versus South Africa in the cricket World Cup. We sat surrounded by mostly South African supporters but we had some friendly chats and although they won we had had an enjoyable day at Old Trafford.

We’ve used our National trust membership to visit Chirk castle and Erddig hall both in Wales which again were fabulous days.

Erddig Hall was complete with the most outstanding gardens that were just a dream to walk around. The estate was offered to the National trust in very poor condition and they didn’t originally want to take it on. Well what an incredible job they have done.

As the last two estate owners had been childless bachelors there was no one left in the family to pass it onto.

Chirk Castle really looks like a traditional castle complete with dungeons and we happily wiled away a few hours walking their extensive grounds as well as the parts of the castle open to public.

We also took another day trip to the Walsh seaside town of Llandudno. Wow what a fantastic surprise was this place. Similar in some ways to Brighton and other coastal holiday towns but with the added bonus of the the Great Orme with its incredible views, flora and fauna, tramway and cable car it was a fabulous day.

We first took a boat ride around the headland and back which gave us that great from the water perspective.

Then we took the cable car, which started on June 30th 1969 the two miles up to the top of The Orme. The views all the way up were mesmerising and just stunning. There is a blue butterfly and a plant here that are to found nowhere else in the world.

A coffee in the beautiful Victorian town before we concluded our day saw us thinking how we would happily have spent a few days there walking the Orme and exploring the larger area around more.

Some days we’ve just spent at home maybe going over to the swan for a coffee or like one day when we went over for a coffee but ended up having a few alcoholic drinks instead, oh well not far to walk home ..

Sometimes we just go for a drive nowhere in particular and stop somewhere for a coffee.

We did book to go to the theatre in Crewe to see The Lady vanishes by Alfred Hitchcock. What should have been an easy drive in with plenty of time to spare for a drink at the bar beforehand turned into a ridiculous comedy of errors. Firstly the sat nav started us off on the long way there which we weren’t really aware of, which led us to a road closure due to an accident. An alternative trip led us back around to the Accident before we drove back home to see if we could change the ticket dates , receiving a rude NO had us back in the car to the theatre to at least see most of the play. Luckily we had by then worked out that there was a quicker way….. if only we had realised at the start. Never mind we enjoyed what we saw which was most of it.

We had a lovely visit from Tracey and Andy Burt whom I had had the honour of marrying back in 2014 when they came out to Australia to elope. We’ve kept in touch since then via Facebook and after us being here a few times we finally managed to make it work to catch up. Just lovely.

Our charges George and Rosie have been delightful, although George is a late home comer which means we seem to be calling out to him each evening to come home so I can text his mummy he’s in safe. Then strolls in like WHATEVER!

One day we were in Whitchurch for a few things and I went into a shop to buy some 3/4 trousers and started a lovely chat with the shop keeper who happened to have been bought up in Jamberoo Australia, moving to the UK in 1969.

We were delighted when she extended an invite to afternoon tea at hers the next day. We had a wonderful afternoon at Christines gorgeous character filled home and after scones and tea we opened a bottle of wine and had nibbles before we finally left her with the hopes of meeting again either before we go or on our next visit to the UK.

On our last Thursday here in Marbury we drove to the amazing Shrewsbury, an unexpectedly fabulous town with castle, abbey, medieval buildings, and a canal that we really must go back.

We went a little past the town to meet up with Pat and Derek whom we met on our cruise in 2018. We will be seeing them again in Spain yippee.

What a fun couple they are and our lunch at the pub was super delicious and just a wonderful catch up.

With a bit of rain the next day we only ventured to The Swan across the road for coffee, they have a brilliant library of books there and could easily have spent all afternoon reading. We did manage to use the time to look for flights homeward bound later in October/November so getting things in place.

Another day took us not too far away to Nantwich secret bomb shelter. Quite a crazy mix of war time memorabilia and very interesting couple of hours.

We’ve had a lovely message from our next housesit telling us they’ve booked us all in for pub dinner their shout on our arrival night. How wonderful is that.

As you can see house sitting is suiting our way of travelling very well and I’m sure we will be using it again to spend some quality time in places of interest and with the added bonus of warm welcomes home from our foster babies it’s a lovely way to feel right at home.

Our last Saturday at Marbury we hopped in the car and travelled to Little Moreton Hall a truly fantastic chance to see a real Tudor style home built in 1504 and added onto over the next hundred years but not since.

Complete with sagging floors and bulging outside walls, once again The National Trust have excelled in presenting a magnificent slice of history.

A little nap at home then we started off for a walk to our local canal to watch a few of the long barge boats tackle the Marbury lock.

It’s just beautiful scenery here and we’ve enjoyed our stay here immensely. And although we haven’t been over to The Swan that often they all know where we’re staying and say hi.

One of the things we’ve enjoyed at this home is the beautiful electric range that has cooked our food beautifully.

Our lovely home owners Tracey and Gary arrived home in amazing good form after a long 15 hour day of driving with three dogs in the car. Kudos to them.

We had a quick catch up then off to bed before we saw them to say goodbye the next morning.

What a lovely stay we had and I’m sure we’ll see them all again sometime in the future. Whether that will be in the UK or in France who knows!

We drove on into Birmingham but just couldn’t face the city palaver and headed to our stay at Castle Bromwich. We were early and they suggested a tour of the 17th century garden which no longer combined with the castle was just next door.

We paid our £4.50 each which is not a huge sum but was a massive disappointment they were. Another couple of ladies approached us and asked what we thought and concurred when we said rather disappointed. It was just weeds weeds weeds, overgrown lawn and lacking names of plants or actually anything visually interesting.

After all the beautiful gardens we’ve seen attached to National trust properties I guess we expected similar.

Back to our castle Bromwich and we had a lovely room. A misunderstanding or should I say miscommunication from the staff about menus,times and prices led us from eating there and we ended up having chicken tikamasala at Sainsburys, what a laugh, but actually it was pretty good.

NEXT STOP THE BEAUTIFUL VILLAGE OF BURGHCLERE.

June 9th

It’s almost three weeks since we came onboard and the “Sea Princess ” became our home. From our original thought of small cabin to our now feeling like its our  studio apartment we’ve come a long way both in distance and relaxing into the groove. 

We know our way around the ship, realise we don’t have to do anything but what we want in regards to what’s on offer. We have used the long stretch of sea days on the first segment of the world cruise Sydney to Dubai to really get in the holiday mood, ( just what we needed).

We’ve settled into having dinner each night in the dining room at our scheduled time of 7:45 and  attending the 9:45pm show. Our waiters Ronaldo and Joseph, both from the Philippines are delightful and we have lots of laughs with them. They call us all “sir” or “madam” in this lovely Filipino accent which sounds affectionately grand. 

Last night was our anniversary dinner and it’s made extra special with about 8-10 of the dining room staff coming over to sing and play a love song just for us and of course there is the “cake”. 

Rudi’s lady love Sylvie did make it onboard and will leave us at Dover when his daughter will join him till New York and Sylvie might rejoin the ship to Auckland. Sylvie is a welcome addition to our dinner table joining us for her first dinner with us last night. A retired English nurse, she is glamorous and reminds me of a young Jackie Collins. Great conversationalist and a really lively personality. Rudi was smiling from ear to ear.

We have Ten days with only the one stop at Aqaba and a tour into Petra before we hit The Mediterranean and start a busy three weeks of port calls, which will probably change our daily habits. The sea days in between we will want to relax, and prepare for the next day off the ship. Wanting to make the most of the ports to see as much and enjoy the sights and experience the food and wines of the different regions.

The last two stops, Colombo and Dubai couldn’t be more different in many regards. Colombo clearly a poor nation and honest in their presentation of their city, whereas Dubai, from the hyper spiel from the guide appeared shallow, sensationalist,  and arrogant in their efforts of one upmanship hiding their blatant exploitation of Indian workers who are the ones really building Dubai into what it is and their appalling living conditions  compared with the obscene wealth of the Emiraties citizens. The old part of Dubai is the area with real character and gives you the taste and feel of those other great African/Arabic and Muslim cities with their gold, fabric and spice souks and markets. And what a lot of lovely things there are to see. This area would bring you back here and if you just accept Dubai for what it is you could have a fun time shopping, on the water and perhaps doing a trip out to the desert. 

June 14: I’ve had my hair done at the salon today and it looks very glamorous, probably should have waited till after tomorrows trip to Petra from Aqaba when no doubt will look like a flat bedraggled mess, but will have to go out to dinner tonight to show it off. This is one of our laughs as we take turns saying our shout tonight for dinner! 

I can honestly say, there is absolutely nothing to complain about on this amazing adventure onboard ” our beautiful and friendly Sea Princess” as our Captain says everyday at the conclusion of his midday chat. The bell rings to announce noon and the captain tells us where we are and what’s coming up and then he gives a little talk about the meaning of some phrase, yesterday we learnt the man who invented the porthole was a James Baker. 

The Captain is from Italy and quite the dishy  looker. In fact Michelle not recognising him in his casual clothes told me the other day that she’d seen the first “hot bloke” on board. A couple of days later when we saw him again in his casual clothes we realised the “hot bloke” is in fact our Captain. 

We have also had a galley tour which was a real eye opener to how the ship is run by a dedicated and professional team. The cleanliness and attention to detail to give each guest the best meal they can was incredible. Even down to a sign by the door as they leave the galley.” Smile you’re entering a passenger zone. If you see a fellow worker without a smile give him/ her one of yours.
The staff are fantastic and we are really treated like Royalty, the ship is constantly being cleaned and having maintenance done to keep it “ship shape”. The food has been incredible, the entertainment has also been diverse and there have been some stand out acts. In fact James was telling me quite a few people mentioned to him that it’s been the best entertainment they’ve had on a ship, believe me that’s a big say as its incredible how many people on here have traveled for basically the equivalent of years on ships! it really is luxury living and the most fantastic value holiday.

At Dubai our cruise director and her husband and fellow entertainment director left to go home to England. Angela and Dave were a great team and extremely funny, especially Dave who was quick with his quips and cockney accent. They have been replaced with John from Trinidad and Tobago with his dreadlocks and another fun personality his new side kick is Song she hails from South Korea. The staff as you can see are very international and we love it.

We have spent the time from Dubai, totally relaxing spending long days by the pool under the shade from he mezzanine deck above. Really feel like we’re at a holiday resort. We are becoming more familiar with different people on the ship, enough for hellos and shared conversations, having breakfast in the dining room where you sit with different people widens the circle and it feels like we are on a floating hotel with a little village community. 

Last night we had an open deck party to celebrate that we have two nights without Pirate watch and forced closed deck curfew. Great night, the weather is hot and we still are bemused that the sea temperatures are the same as the air! Often 32 degrees!!

We are in awe of where we are geographically now, travelling through the Middle East, sailing past Iran, Somalia, Yemen etc places we will not likely travel to on land anytime in the near future. We are now in the Red Sea and after Aqaba tomorrow will start our transit through the Suez Canal. 

We have seen, dolphins and Whales and flying fish on the trip, always a magical sighting wherever you are in the world.

So so different to the Suez Canal, The Panama was a marvellous day watching with great interest the wonderful engineering that is the workings of The Panama Canal.

With our late departure from Cartagena our transit through the canal started a little later which was probably fine by all of us onboard as we were able to get up and breakfast before finding our positions to watch the first loch approach.

During the day we again as we did with the Suez, moved around from side to side, back to front and relaxed by the pool and enjoyed several dips in as it was a steamy hot day.
It was basically a full 12 hours from start of our transit till 8:30 pm when Captain Aldo came on speaker to say we were officially through and into the Pacific Ocean again and about to farewell our pilot boat.
 The first lochs were the Gatun lochs and there were three we needed to transit through.