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Thailand
It being my 65th birthday this month, Ian’s 60th in January, and also the start of the 40th year we have know each other, we have decided on a new mega trip, via Thailand to New Zealand and the...
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Thailand 2
The rainy season decided to go out with a bang, with 2 days of on again off again heavy rain, but the final 2 days were largely sunny and warm, so maybe the dry season is with us. Ian has made a slow...
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Thailand 3
I'm getting to know this beach and its wildlife. And there's lots of it. I've walked most of the 10km bay, its soft hard sand a good home for crabs. There are sand coloured crabs that freeze, hoping...
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New Zealand 1
Another day, another very different beach. We have reached Hokitika, in South Island’s Westland. Overnight, there was a huge storm - thunder, lightning, torrential rain, the full works - and now...
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New Zealand 3
After that doom laden first full day in NZ, the weather bucked up and produced another fine spring day for our next leg, to Franz Josef. A lovely trip, this, down the coastal highway, with the...
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New Zealand 4
A beautiful relaxing Sunday in Wanaka. This town sits around a bay at the end of its mountain ringed lake, which reflects the snow capped peaks and scudding clouds. The lake is fringed by huge poplars,...
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New Zealand 5
Next, deep into Fiordland, to Te Anau, another little lakeside town, from where we struck out to Milford Sound. Rain lashing down, valleys filled with cloud and mist, dramatic but foreboding. Also...
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New Zealand 6
The drive in to Aoraki gets more and more interesting: first through coastal farmland, with distant views of mountains way across the island in the clear NZ light; then up the Waitaki valley past...
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New Zealand 7
Now we had a long journey ahead as we decided to spend some time in North Island to replace the train trip. Back down the lake, as brilliantly coloured as ever, and then out across the increasingly...
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Rarotonga
Now this is strange. We put our clocks one hour forward and one day back, on the short flight from Auckland, as we crossed the international dateline, leaving on Wednesday and arriving on Tuesday. The...
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Wonders and blunders
When King Bhumipol died just before we set off to Thailand, should we have seen this as a portent of things to come? Though it had little effect on our trip in the event, this has been one of the most...
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Happy holidays
P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; } It was a mammoth trip and good to be back, even though now it's the shortest days with the sun setting mid afternoon and long cold nights. For me, London is still...
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Showtime
P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; } It's been a good time to catch up on London cultural life. Best of the shows? Two stand outs: the first is on tour and I imagine the second will be on again soon:...
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The Beach (again!)
P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; } After a very sociable holiday period back in London and nearby, it's off to the beach!2016 was a year of beaches: the dunes of Maspalomas and the French Atlantic...
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capital ring 1
Ian and I have decided to walk the Capital Ring over the next few weeks. This is a 78 mile route linking the commons, parks, heaths and woods that surround inner London, along footpaths and...
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capital ring 2
Another brilliantly sunny but even colder day, 2 days later on the Sunday, and we are off with Gail again for the second leg of our epic tour d'horizon. This second leg took us from Hackney...
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capital ring 3
Another good day for a walk as we picked up where we left off. Our third walk turned out to be through spectacular woods, commons and hills, part of the Green Chain of footpaths of south-east...
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capital ring 4
Gail and I decided to brave it for the fourth leg, despite forecasts of rain, but we managed to complete it in blustery but mostly sunny weather. This took us from Eltham Park through a series of...
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Best laid schemes... We had to cancel a couple of dates over the weekend as the weather was vile, but we managed to arrange one quickly for Tuesday when the weather seemed to be opening up. And in...
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