Palmer Family

After checking my calendar I noticed that the last blog was posted on the 8th of June, which just happened to be the Queen’s birthday. I was born the year that she became Queen (1953), however that is the only thing we have in common, I am not much of a royalist though I do acknowledge the benefits to this country of having a head of state who is largely respected by a great deal of the rest of the world. Today, we discovered that the British tax-payer had renovated Prince Harry and Megan’s home to the tune of £2.3M, now that to my mind is just plain wrong, the Queen has in excess of $500M, Prince Charles $100M, Prince Philip $30M and Megan is worth $5M, so I think the citizens of the UK need an explanation as to why the royals are not dipping into their very deep pockets and lending Harry a coin or two if he is financially compromised. Sue and I dipped (as no doubt many others do) into our savings to help out our three children with their first homes, so why can’t the Windsors do likewise? It does their reputation no good and just highlights yet again that those that have wealth and privilege prefer to drink deeply from the community trough provided by and for those that pay UK taxes, rather than rely on their own resources. Sadly, after the tax-payer has already  footed £30M of the £32M for their wedding bill I have no confidence that our Parliamentary representatives will address this unjust and ill-preferential situation as they have proved to have equally long snouts. It’s what the Honour System is all about.

Another unpleasant system this country seems to be presently locked into appears to bear more than a semblance to our political plight, the atmosphere above is determined to recycle the same cold, damp air ad infinitum. Good for lawns, farmers, the Water Companies and my potato plants! Usually, I try to add to the blog each month, preferably on a wet, inside day, but we have had so many of those. Today, it is raining (heavily), Sue was going orienteering in East Carlton Park but that got cancelled and I was taking Harry (the dog) out for a longish walk and lunch at a pub, while Charlotte spent a few hours in a new client’s garden in Great Bowden. Despite the inclemency, Charlotte braved the elements and the decided possibility of drowning, the pub did not get a visit by the dog and yours truly as Harry doesn’t like getting wet and preferred the comfort and dryness of the lounge sofa. Me too.

And now to catch up with the family news:

Sarah returned from Cyprus with a healthy tan and looked quite refreshed, though in the aftermath of the burglary the villa door locks had been changed which the following night resulted in them locking themselves out after another party night on the town. They had to burgle themselves back into the property, using the same method as the professionals of the night before. More locks needed to be replaced! Lee was relieved to see her back home and provided flowers and chocolates on her return, ‘Taken’ is a Liam Neeson film that he and I always think of when Sarah goes off on one of her jaunts!

On the 13th, I undertook my annual waitering duties at a Ladies’ charity lunch in nearby Marston Trussell Hall. The weather was awful, the women dressed accordingly, instead of the usual summer frilly outfits, it was trouser suits and fleeces. We volunteer waiters still had to wear our DJ’s to keep the formal atmosphere. Because of the weather the tables had to be accommodated inside the orangery and adjoined marquee, though those inside the marquee had to be sited strategically away from dripping holes, which made for rather cramped positioning. A jazz band played during the 5 course meal and a huge amount of wine and champagne was consumed to alleviate the inclemency, it made for a very happy bunch of women who were willing to part with a large amount of cash to support the charity. It was nice to meet a few ladies from my past, as well as a few parents I chatted to Branwin who was the secretary at Farndon Fields Primary School and Helen Campbell who taught at the school. On a sad note, I have since discovered that  Helen’s husband died in a hospice that very same day. He had suffered from a heart attack two years ago and had been in a vegetative state, so I guess you could call it a blessing for the family that he has passed away as I knew that they had been finding it very difficult to get on with their lives.

Charlotte and family attended the annual Rothwell Rowell Trinity Fair, it is an event that has been happening in the town for over 800 years. Sue and I have never been, but the history behind it is fascinating. Ellis persuaded Charlotte to have a go on some of the Fair rides and I don’t think she will make the same mistake again. A similar past experience taught Sue and I that when you reach a certain age, being whizzed around in tight circles has a detrimental effect on the contents of your inner workings. She had a difficult night.

Tragically, last month the fox got into to Charlotte’s hen house and killed all but one of her hens, but the lucky one that wasn’t fox food survived because she was laying an egg in the brood box. Some time later, fertilised eggs were acquired and given to the hen to hatch and she proved what a good mother she is.

On the 15th, Charlotte, Jamie and Sarah were due to attend a midnight Ghost Hunt at a stately home near Loughborough but this had to be postponed until the 29th as there weren’t enough brave stalkers to make the hunt viable. It was a shame as on the 16th it is traditional that we travel up to Caergwrle Castle in North Wales to visit the site where we scattered Nan’s ashes as it is her birthday. If the hunt had taken place it may have been an opportunity for Nan to have made an appearance? I wouldn’t put it past her! I and Peter cycled to Marston Trussell and enjoyed an afternoon sampling the brews available in the annual Beer festival.

I recently bought a wildlife camera and have been siting at various points around the garden and seeing what creatures are visiting our little oasis in the middle of Harborough. By far the most productive spot is the scots pine in front of the lounge window from which the bird feeders hang.

The 16th also happened to be Father’s Day. I spent part of it helping Jamie to dig out some holes in his front garden in readiness for some fencing. It soon became obvious that the task required more than the hammer and chisels that we had to break the concrete base of the nearby footpath to create a hole large and deep enough to support the posts. After sourcing a jack-hammer from a friend we retired to a Nepalese restaurant for a meal, the concrete would have to wait for another time.

Jamie and I have booked a few days away in the Ukraine to visit the nuclear accident site in Chernobyl, at the end of July. It should be an interesting trip. Charlotte and Sarah were desperate to join us but it proved too difficult to organise in the time required so perhaps they may visit at a later date after/if Jamie and I return.

Ashton and Jamie seem to be getting about quite a bit, they spent a rainy evening at a roof top cinema in London and a attended a rather smart wedding at the Ettingdon Park Hotel.

Sue continues to be very busy, supplementing her weekly walks, cinema visits, history talks/visits, and adventure activities she has now added Pilates and much to my dismay, Bridge! A game that I associate with a cadre of prickly, grumpy old card players that are short on patience and long on superiority. Or, perhaps that only applies (in my limited experience) to those characters that play the game on  board cruise ships? Eeeeeeek!

On the 22nd Susan, Charlotte, Sarah and I travelled up to seen Nan at Caergwrle Castle. Sarah stayed with us the night before and then drove us all to North Wales when Charlotte arrived, early the following morning. For once the weather was kind and it was a lovely warm day and we broke our journey with a visit to a garden centre, where Charlotte purchased a pot plant to be left on the castle. First, we called in to see Aunty Doreen before climbing the castle for a picnic, she was on her own as her grandson Andrew who lives with her was on holiday in Thailand. She seemed quiet but was looking forward to her next holiday to Croatia. She hasn’t seen or talked to her sister Josie since last Christmas as they have fallen out with each other whilst on a cruise in the Mediterranean (I bet they played Bridge!) It is sad that the sisters don’t talk, but I have to agree with Josie that Doreen is not the easiest person in the world to get on with. My mother had fallen out with her too, many years ago.

Charlotte borrowed a small spade from Doreen with the aim of digging a hole somewhere on the castle to put her plant into as a birthday present for Nan, but in the end, after our picnic on the ruined castle walls under a lovely blue sky and warm sun (hard to remember what that yellow ball was) it was planted into a tub inside the War Memorial garden just over the wall behind Nan’s bench. It was a lovely thought that I am sure Nan would appreciate.

After returning the spade we drove up to Brymbo and spent a pleasant hour with Aunty Josie, David and Lesley. Since I last saw her she has had a pace-maker fitted and is suffering quite a bit from arthritis, despite considerable difficulties she always has a smile and is very easy to talk to. I like my Aunty Josie, a lot.

Next we travelled to Mold. It had been our intention to visit Noel and Gaye who lived just outside the town but as is often the case when we travel to Wales, they are away either on holiday or on parental duties. This time they were baby sitting in Burton on Trent at their daughters’. We had booked a hotel for the night so we checked into the Beaufort Hotel, in New Brighton. Charlotte was recovering from a bout of water infection, she had been in Kettering hospital the night before and been given antibiotics so was feeling quite worn. We left her sleeping in the room while we went into Mold to visit the street market and have a look around the town. It is quite an attractive place and it looks as if there is quite a lot of things to do in and around the town, well worth an extended visit I think.

Later that evening, with a refreshed Charlotte we had our evening meal at The Griffin. The three ladies in the party had a dish called Cambodian Street Food, I stuck to a traditional pie on the assumption that you can never be too sure with foreign food. I have been to Cambodia and the streets are none too clean!

After breakfast we drove to Upton, near Chester and paid a visit to Jan and Ray Bengree, who are Sue’s cousins. We only stayed and hour or so as they are both very theatrical and had a play rehearsal to go to that afternoon. They live just a few hundred metres from Chester Zoo and each time we go we always say we should visit the zoo. We didn’t do it this time either. Perhaps one day. We drove back to Harborough without incident, where Charlotte and Sarah went their separate ways, keen no doubt to see how the menfolk had got on without them for a day.

In the garden its’s that time of year when nature slips into full gear; plant life erupts from its winter dormancy in anticipation of summer warmth and most visiting creatures are involved in quite entertaining reproductive pursuits. It’s a fascinating time, the Scots Pine growing just a few metres from the lounge window has many patrons to its seed and fat ball hanging containers festooned on its lower branches and the seed scattered daily at its base receives a miscellany of visitors of the non-feathered variety. Sue is quite an expert in the many bird species seen hopping from branch to branch in the queue for breakfast lunch and dinner. The spotted woodpecker seems to be her present favourite, Mr and Mrs Pheasant are mine, and our resident boisterous Robin is welcomed by both of us. A pair of rooks, a gaggle of blackbirds and gang of strutting wood pigeons are less welcome as they bully and consume large quantities of seed, while the smaller varieties of avian look on in envy. Of the four legged creatures, a pair of Muntjac deer have taken to visiting the base of the pine at various times of the day, naturally very skittish, this couple seem uncaring of the passing pedestrians and vehicles just 50m away on Welland Park Road. Going about our internal house duties, we often stop to gaze at the activity on and around our banquet tree, often calling each other to observe some fresh sight and then standing and chatting, I do believe we spend more time discussing the garden wildlife than watching TV!

The nest building/improving urge seems to have spread to the Palmer family. I (after putting off for quite a few years) have painted our bedroom, thinking that the £10 tin of Whispering Sage was a good economical investment in ‘modernising’ our sleeping quarters turned to dismay when ‘to match’ Sue felt the need to change the curtains and the bedside lights and no doubt a new duvet is on its way. Apparently the main light switch is now the wrong colour too!

Staying with the sap rising theme, on the last day of the month (May) Peter and I drove over to Newbold Verdon to take down a very large holly tree that was shading Sarah and Lee’s wildlife pond. The previous day I had used my chain saw in Desborough, cutting up some railway sleepers in the back garden of Sean’s daughter in readiness for her dad to create some steps. Surprisingly the chain was still good enough (without being sharpened) to fell the holly. However, things were going far too well so it was appropriate when the main trunk fell across the pond and punctured the liner causing it to slowly empty. Lee noticed the drop in level as we were disposing of the wood, so before leaving for Harborough we moved the over-large liner slightly so that the hole was above the water line and then refilled it. The frogs can now sunbathe to their hearts content.

Charlotte wanted me to take out a buddleia that was more like a tree than a bush, it was growing in the corner of her back garden and she wanted to put her compost bin in the spot where it grew. The chainsaw had another outing and I benefitted by yet more firewood for next winter.

Jamie caught the bug too. He asked me if I could help him move his shed, but 35 minutes later when I got there, he had already done it! Some how he had managed to lift it from one side of the garden to the other and set it by the new wall of his garage that he had built the previous week, when I arrived he was busy painting it. I set about helping him by cutting up all the wood that was surplus to his garage and then after packing it all into my Fiesta I cleared out the rubbish in his garage and took that down to the dump on my way back home. His next project is to put a low fence along the front of his property.

On the 9th, Suraj and I had a meal at the Nepalese restaurant in Desborough, we were keen to see if the standard had dropped since we had been there ( a couple of years ago), the meal was good and we should go again.

Jamie was involved in a charity event to raise money to support the son a school friend of his. Michael Hobbs’s son has a rare genetical condition that is quite life limiting. The Mudder Challenge looked the sort of thing that I would love to have done, Bl****y Knee!

Sue has continues to be heavily involved in many U3A activities. She has recently discovered that her archery skills would have guaranteed her a place among Robin Hood’s band of merry men and her bowling prowess wouldn’t have been out of place on Plymouth Ho alongside Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Francis Drake. Along with walking, weekly cinema visits and car booting on a Sunday she still finds time to terrorise the spiders in the garden and hoover up fallen leaves within an hour of them leaving the tree!

During the middle of the month Sarah came over and I helped her erect a huge Marquee and a large 6 man tent that the previous owner of her house had left. It needed to be done on our lawn as the marquee was seriously big, it had been used to house children’s birthday parties. It took a quite a time to work out how to put them up, but all the bits were there and in excellent condition. There wasn’t time to take them down before she and Lee had to leave to visit some friends that evening. The following day it rained, Sarah and Lee drove down to Oxford for the day so the tents couldn’t be packed away until they dried out. Two days later Peter and I did the job, however, both of them had been sold by then on Facebook, so Lee picked them up later that week.

Sarah came out of her leg support a few days before she and Lee flew off to Iceland on the 22nd May. They stayed the night prior to flying with us and we had the pleasure of looking after Mia for the week. They stayed in an Air B&B in Reykjavik and hired a car to get around. They had a wonderful time, were lucky with the weather and visited most of the well known tourist spots as well as some they discovered themselves.

Sarah returned to work the day after they returned, she found it quite tiring after nearly two months off. On the 4th of June Sarah again jetted off, this time with four other friends to Cyprus. She is there at present, though today she contacted us to say that the villa that they are staying was burgled while they out last night and £1500 in cash was take. Luckily, Sarah only lost £30 and the robbers weren’t interested in the passports or tablet/laptops and left them. The Cypriot police told them that there are several gangs working the tourist spots and that they had been probably watched over several days. More on this in the next blog.

Depressingly my foot, knee and now right hip are still giving me problems. As yet I still can’t walk very far and have had to put off long rambles with John or take Harry and Mia out for the day, they are limited to short walks during the day on the occasions when we are looking after them. Frustratingly, going away walking for a few days is out of the question. Doreen continues to give me regular reflexology sessions and I have recently purchased a specialised knee support that seems to be helping. Improvement is slow, but it is getting better, sloooooowly!!!

On the 16th April, while Sue went took Ellis to see the film ‘Dumbo’, Peter and I visited Sarah in Newbold Verdon. We ripped up the decking surrounding their summer house that the previous owner had failed to maintain and was now in a sorry state. It took us most of the day, only stopping briefly for a fish and chip lunch.

On the 20th Sue and I went to see a Queen tribute band called ‘Mercury’. They gave a decent performance at the lighthouse theatre in Kettering, having never seen Queen perform ’in the flesh’ I can only judge by what I have seen on the TV and from the 1918 film ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ but the audience around us certainly were enthusiastic in their singing and clapping to each song. The band have been going for twenty years and were authentic in their reproduction of the music, but somehow I felt a little disappointed and I don’t know why.

Easter Sunday saw the family meet up in Rothwell to have lunch prepared by Charlotte. Sarah and Lee brought dessert (too much) and we supplied some of the drink. Jamie had flown out to Corfu earlier that morning with a couple of his friends. After what was a splendid meal it was decided to take the dogs and the boys for a walk. The knee and foot that had been causing me such problems over the last few months had started to feel ok, soooooo why did I think it a good thing to chase after Lucas when it was running that caused my knee ligament to tear? As I set off on the chase it passed through my mind that I shouldn’t be doing this, then the inevitable happened, something exploded in my foot.

I am now back in pain with my right anterior talofibular ligament torn. How stupid can you get? The number of times I have insisted on children and fellow rugby players on ‘warming up’ before any explosive activity are legion throughout a lengthy teaching and coaching career. Why didn’t I take my own advice? Obviously, with age you get stupid!!!!

However, life goes on, so the following morning I drove up to Newbold Verdon with Peter to laydown the new decking for the summer house. My foot was sore, but I took it carefully and let Peter do a lot of the carrying. Lee Joined us on the second day and we managed to complete the job by 6pm. Just enough time for Lee to paint the new decking as we drove back to Harborough and before it got too dark to see.

With the arrival of much needed rain I managed to sow three rows each of carrots and beetroot in my top allotment. I was lucky that the couple of hours it took to finish the task, the inclement weather decided to take a break, being distrustful of weather forecasts I also filled up my four water butts. It began to rain as I finished! Pleasingly, the potatoes had started to pop up and the onion sets were growing strongly, even some of the asparagus were making an appearance. Returning home through a short shower I was keen to keep the ball rolling and set about transplanting lettuce from the greenhouse into one of my raised vegetable beds in the garden. Again as I finished along came another brief shower. Shall I buy a lottery ticket I thought? I didn’t, so will never know whether I would have been the next UK millionaire, at the time Charlotte was on a run of four consecutive wins of a free lucky dip, how lucky (or unfortunate) is that?

The Friday night family gathering (26th April) for curry didn’t take place; Jamie was still in Corfu, Sarah and Lee were recuperating in Newbold Verdon and Charlotte and family were house bound with Ellis ill, suffering from a sickness bug. Sue decided to exploit the unexpected break in routine and booked a ticket to see a Bob Dylan tribute band in Kettering. For once I didn’t accompany her, Mr. Dylan’s music has never appealed to me and his failure to turn up at his own Nobel Prize Award ceremony hasn’t ingratiated himself to me, or I expect to many of his fans. There were many unsold seats on this tribute performance. I stayed at home with my poorly feet up and watched a film on Netflix on the cinema system with a bottle of ‘Chateau Vin-allo’ as company.

On the 27th I had a dilemma, should I go and watch Leicester Tigers take on Bristol Bears at Welford Road or should I watch the Harborough 1st team take on Dronefield from Derbyshire in an end of season promotional match? I made the right choice! I chose Harborough. The weather was horrible, cold and windy with a few spots of rain in the air but the rugby was first class, better than any I have witnessed at Welford Road for quite a number of seasons. The skill, commitment and drama was worthy of any Premiership match. Opting to play into a fierce wind, after 10 minutes Harborough were soon behind by two penalties (0:6) and when one of the home forwards (George Lee) was shown a red card for foul play (after a lengthy discussion between referee and intervening female linesman), the prospects of a Harborough win diminished greatly. Dronefield are a good side and with the wind at their backs,attacked relentlessly, but the 14 men of Harborough stood firm and tackled like demons. When Harborough did get their hands on the ball they showed that they were lethal in attack with one move resulting in a try to edge them into the lead (7:6). Disappointingly, after a succession of penalties the Harborough defence was breached on the stroke of half time and went behind (7:13). With the wind now in their favour, soon after half time the home side crossed the white line but failed to convert (12:13). Now on the the attack a penalty soon edged them into the lead (15:13), but Dronefield were as good in their defence as Harborough had shown in the first half and broke away to score an unconverted try (15:18). Soon after Harborough replied with a penalty (18:18). As the game was coming to a close Harborough forced themselves over the line only to drop the ball on the grounding. Frustratingly it was the last action of the half and the whistle blew, with another two ten minute halves now having to be played. Was it not going to be Harborough’s day? They had played with 14 men for most of the match and now they had another twenty minutes, had they the energy left? Again, playing against the wind they went down a penalty (18:21), but resolute defending saw the half out. Now with the wind in their favour Harborough swept downfield in a gorgeously flowing move to score out wide and a superb touchline kick edged them back in front (25:21). With the game fast running out, Dronefield built up a series of attacks that resulted in a yellow card for one of the Harborough players. Now with only 13 men, the defending was desperate, with just a few seconds remaining it looked likely that Dronefield were going to score, but as often happens, the last pass that would have resulted in a certain try was fumbled a metre short of the line and to the relief of the partisan crowd, the final whistle blew. What drama, what a game!

Oh yes, the Tigers lost at home to Bristol Bears after leading, in the dying moments of the game to a try scored by ex-Tigers player Thacker. There is still a chance they may be relegated and they have never in their history lost back to back games to Bristol! Oh yes, I made the right choice.

It turned out to be quite a successful end to the season for the club as a whole. The Under 13’s, 14’s, 16’s and 17’s all became County Champions, the under 15’s narrowly losing in the final as did the Colts. I went to see the under 16’s final in Market Bosworth after a day of working on Sarah’s summer house in nearby Newbold Verdon and the Colts were unlucky not to have won their final at Welford Road. One try they scored deserved a better ending to the game than runners-up.

Away from the end of season rugby, I have been keeping myself busy in one garden or other: Sarah’s summer house renovations were completed, Charlotte’s path in the chicken run was finally finished (after a winter’s delay) and I installed an alarm system in Jamie’s new house while he and a friend erected a fence to enclose their waste bins. The greenhouse is now fully planted up with tomatoes and cucumbers, this year I opted not to use ‘grow-bags’ but made a growing medium from grass turf, leaf compost and soil from two large tubs I had planted up last year. It is a bit of an experiment but I have saved £24 and it should work, time will tell.

Since the last post there has been an election of our local councillors. Sue is so disgusted at the conduct of our Parliamentary representatives that I couldn’t persuade her (for the first time ever) to vote. I did take myself along to the polling station and opted for a new and Green solution, though I do not agree with their policy on Brexit, I along with what appears to be the majority of the voting public have had enough of con-tricks from the traditional political parties. It is a great pity that many hardworking, conscientious and democratic local councillors have been ousted because of our toadying, self interested and supposedly national representatives. And it now seems certain that we are going to subjected to the nonsense (at great expense) of taking part in European elections for no purpose what so ever as we shall now be leaving Europe in October (or are we being conned again?) And would a majority (no matter how slender) still guarantee that you win? It appears that premise no longer applies. Remind me again, what is the title of this post?

Rant temporarily over, or at least until the next blog.

Just as I was about to close this post, look what has hit the headlines (I am sure many will not be surprised).

Hundreds of MPs including Jeremy Corbyn, Boris Johnson and nine Cabinet ministers have had official credit cards suspended by the expenses watchdog. 377 MPs to be penalised since 2015 for breaking the rules by not providing receipts or failing to pay back ineligible expenses.
The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority tried to prevent the disclosure, saying it would have a ‘chilling effect’ on its relations with MPs. But a former High Court judge reversed the decision, saying that the risk of embarrassing MPs was no reason to keep the information secret.

In a previous post I mentioned a past pupil who had been arrested for the suspicious deaths of two people he had lived with. The case has now come to trial and it appears that the quiet, and very clever little boy at the age of 8yrs had the potential to be really quite evil. Ben Field.

The one benefit of being on a long cruise was that Sue and I didn’t have to listen to the daily bombardment by politicians and supporters from both sides of the Brexit argument, continually manipulating the news 24/7 to further their own agenda. Thankfully, the topic was rarely discussed by our fellow passengers and when it was the chatter was principally concerned with the shame the nation felt being represented by a bunch of self-interested yapping buffoons who lack the moral courage to work together for the betterment of the country in which they were elected and charged with the responsibility of carrying the mantle of democracy. Foolishly, we all assumed that by the time we returned to the UK the matter would have been resolved. Oliver Cromwell aptly summed up the situation better than I could ever do in his speech to Parliament on the 20th April 1653:

‘It is high time for me to put an end to your sitting in this place, which you have dishonoured by your contempt of all virtue, and defiled by your practice of every vice; ye are a factious crew, and enemies to all good government; ye are a pack of mercenary wretches, and would like Esau sell your country for a mess of pottage, and like Judas betray your God for a few pieces of money.

Is there a single virtue now remaining amongst you? Is there one vice you do not possess? Ye have no more religion than my horse; gold is your God; which of you have not barter’d your conscience for bribes? Is there a man amongst you that has the least care for the good of the Commonwealth?

Ye sordid prostitutes have you not defil’d this sacred place, and turn’d the Lord’s temple into a den of thieves, by your immoral principles and wicked practices? Ye are grown intolerably odious to the whole nation; you were deputed here by the people to get grievances redress’d, are yourselves gone! So! Take away that shining bauble there, and lock up the doors.

In the name of God, go!’

Well the issue is still not resolved and doesn’t look like being any time soon, so it seemed like a sanity saving move to escape the nonsense and visit Phil and Joan in Italy, so we booked some flights!

Rant over.

Mother’s Day saw Sue treated to afternoon tea at a lovely venue in Market Bosworth, with Charlotte, Jamie and Sarah. I had another reflexology session with Doreen and the following day (April Fool’s) an appointment with the doctor. I came away with a prescription for Naproxen (strong anti-inflammatory).

On the 2nd April, despite an awful weather forecast, Sue joined her U3A group for a walk from Launde Abbey. Her gamble didn’t pay off as she and the group got a thorough soaking on a particularly cold day. On her return to a warm Willow Bank log fire, we both spent the late afternoon packing and sorting out the house in readiness for an early night and an even earlier start before our drive down to Stansted Airport the following morning. As we were getting ready for bed we had a phone call from Salford informing us that Uncle Stan had fallen at home and broken his hip, he was now in hospital and was recovering from an operation. There was little we could do so we resolved to visit when we returned

We rose at 1am and as it turned out we were fortunately on the road (A14) half an hour later. All went well, until after passing under a closed A1 (both North and South) which ironically turned out to be an indicator that the Highway Authorities had decided that night to go mad. As we approached Cambridge the road narrowed to a single lane and we entered a series of three large roundabouts. There was only one exit on each of them (other than the one we had entered by) but the signage displayed was confusing, informing us that we were exiting onto the A14 West AND the A14 East! I circumnavigated each of these twice to check that I hadn’t missed any other exits. Despite updating my TomTom the previous day it had no such roundabouts displaying and only returned from oblivion as we exited a fourth and smaller roundabout. Thankfully we sped on with reassuring A14 Diversion signs at regular intervals, until TomTom asked me to turn off the dual carriageway. This I did. A couple of miles later we came across lorries parked up on both sides and the road ahead shut. Returning to the point where we diverted, we again followed the signs for A14 E and confusingly we returned to the same sequence of roundabouts experienced half an hour prior. Tensions rising rapidly. This time we sped through them at speed and ignoring Satnav we ploughed on into the dark following the yellow A14 E Diversion signs. Relief at coming across a diversion sign that pointed to us exiting the dual carriageway was short-lived as within a mile we again came across lorries parked up on either side and the road again closed. Yes, we were now 5 miles further on than before and it was a different lorry park. Trying to make sense of where we were a kindly (and equally confused) lorry driver knocked on the window and told us to ignore Satnav and the last detour sign and keep going on the A14 E. Returning to the dual carriageway we again followed the yellow signs for A14 E and crazily ended up back at the sequence of roundabouts! How can this be? With growing depression we sped through them again and ignoring the Satnav turn-off and then the A14 E detour off the dual carriageway we rocketed on into the night, again coming across the reassuring A14 E signs. After many more miles and signs, imagine the shock when we came across a road sign saying Kettering ahead!!!! We had been beginning to suspect we were going west and this was proof! Pulling off at the next junction I stopped the car and consulted the map on TomTom and set it to take us to Royston which I knew was directly south and away from this madness. In Royston, I adjusted TomTom to shortest route to Stansted so that it would not take us anywhere near the A14 or M11. Rallying down country lanes through small hamlets and villages and several fords, luckily only meeting one other car on route, at around 10 miles from destination I adjusted TomTom back to fastest route so that there was no danger of any further surprises.

As soon as we parked up in JetParks the shuttle bus thankfully arrived. Racing through security, the gate number was up and miraculously it wasn’t closed. We joined the queue and soon afterwards with shattered nerves and thoroughly exhausted, we boarded the plane. It took off on time at 6.35 am.

In the past Phil and Joan have picked us up at the airport and taken us to Santa Vittoria, but on this occasion we had hired a car at the airport and booked a hotel in Ancona for a couple of nights as we thought we would explore the town and area before driving to Joan’s. We stayed in the EGO Hotel, chosen because it was close to the airport and town and had its own on-site parking. It turned out to be an excellent choice with a lovely breakfast and staff that were amazingly friendly and helpful, much-needed after the trauma of the A14 E.

We checked in early and took a walk around the area to orientate ourselves before driving into Ancona and visiting the rather impressive Cathedral. It is situated on the hill above the town and gives impressive views of the port and across the bay back towards our hotel. There was a large cruise liner being extensively worked on below us, it was fascinating to watch the workforce clambering all over the ship and trying to figure out what they were doing. Inside the cathedral we came across a school group being instructed by their megaphone toting teacher. In the crypt there were several macabre but interesting, elaborate and gold encrusted sarcophagus containing previous abbots (or equivalent). As with most Catholic churches there are plenty of paintings and murals to see, many with a liberal amount of gold leaf embedded into them. But by far the most striking effect was the shadow cast onto the wall of an apse by a judiciously placed spotlight in front of a statue of Christ on the cross. Worth visiting this cathedral for that alone.

From the cathedral we walked to the nearby amphitheatre. Though it wasn’t open (far too early in the year) it wasn’t a disappointment as all could be seen from the peripheral wall and the information boards were in Italian and English. It was obvious that the town had made much of this feature of their history in the past, but you could tell that of late they had neglected to maintain the site as a viewing auditorium set to one side had several bushes growing out from the modern seating. A shame.

We moved on up the hill, passing an ancient Roman cemetery with block head stones scattered across the site and fenced off from the public, eventually arriving at the old lighthouse, from which we could see the outline of the ancient port below. We took shelter under a large holly tree during a brief shower and then returned to the comfort of our Fiat Panda.

That evening we aptly ate Italian in the hotel before retiring for an early night.

The next day we drove a short way down the coast along a winding and spectacular coastal road to Portonova. What a stunning route down to the beach from the towering cliffs above. This former fishing hamlet is at the foot of Monte Conero in the beautiful and unspoilt Conero Nature reserve. The place was formed many millions of years ago when part of the mountain slipped into the sea and formed this gorgeous spot. Well worth a visit. We came across another group of students, this time with quadrats and busily engaged in counting shells on the beach. We stood awhile and watched some wind surfers flying along in tricky conditions with a stiff breeze making their sport a little more exciting than usual. Satisfied with the pebbly beach we briefly took a trail into the woods behind the car park and discovered a small lake, very pretty with a couple of sleeping ducks our only company. The path was a circular one of quite a few kilometres but today we were not to walk it, my knee was sore and if I was to continue driving it wasn’t worth the risk. We moved on by car to the far end of the beach and sat contentedly on a sunny bench chatting and watching the cormorants diving for fish. A friendly dog came to say ciao but couldn’t understand English, so quickly returned to it owner, what do they teach them at kennel school nowadays? On the way back to the car, we again sat and procrastinated, this time by another small reedy lake, listening to the noisy mating calls of several hidden Casanova frogs.

We returned to the hotel by a different and less interesting route, made worse by having to negotiate a couple of uniquely Italian road junctions, where you roll a dice and slam your foot on the accelerator and cut across several lanes of oncoming traffic, hoping you threw a 6. I did, twice!

That evening we ate in a small restaurant below the hotel. Sue had a good, meal I didn’t. Apparently Pizza Pecorino is a flat, dry, burnt, bread base, heaped with a 5cm topping of rocket leaves with, 4 x 2cm cubes of brie and a small twirl of spiced ham in the centre and not the delicious strong-tasting cheesy pizza I was expecting. Hmm, I wish my Italian vocabulary extended beyond Gratzi!

After breakfast we were to travel to Santa Vittoria, so we hit the road again just after 10am. Italian roads (including motorways) in April are very, very quiet in comparison to British highways. If it wasn’t for the necessity to continually check your rear view mirror to gauge when the Roman charioteer a metre or two behind your rear bumper has made the decision to overtake, then you could probably catch a nap or two on a journey of any length. However, it wasn’t too long before I cottoned onto the Latin psyche for overtaking; when there is a blind bend, preferably on or near the top of a blind hill and you are absolutely certain there is oncoming traffic, that is the best time to overtake! If there are a couple of slower cars in front of you, that is even more advantageous. I guess they consider that all Italian cars have engines built by Ferrari, mine certainly did.

We took the motorway down the coast to Porto Civitanova and spent a pleasant couple of hours enjoying the warmth of the sun and a few of the sites this pleasant seaside holiday destination had to offer. Most memorable was the midday chimes emanating from an over large imposing tower, fronting the town church, situated next to the marina. The melody played was pleasant but must have lasted a good five minutes. Not good if you work shifts and want to sleep during the day, but I guess you would get used to it and in defence, it was quite tuneful. We stretched our legs and walked the harbour wall all the way to the little green painted lighthouse at the end, before stopping to cogitate on the large graffiti/murals/artwork seen on the opposite sea wall. We agreed which we liked and considered the rest as ‘Banksy’ wannabees.

Returning to the car we headed inland, deep into the countryside. After leaving the coastal plain, we began to steadily rise, at first passing around and beneath the hilltop towns so characteristic of Tuscany and the lesser known Marche, before we eventually began to wind our way up through these very pretty medieval settlements. We stopped to investigate a few of them, always admiring the spectacular views that could be seen from a central piazza or pinnacled church. As we were to discover during the next few days, though each of these small towns are in their own way quite unique, they all seem to be devoid of inhabitants. Only on the Sunday did we witness more than half a dozen people at any one time and as you can guess they were on their way to church.

It was around 4pm when we parked up next to Phil’s car outside the renovated and very white farmhouse that Joan and Phil have lived in for the last 12 years. Many of the less solidly constructed buildings in the area, particularly in the town above have succumbed to frequent earthquakes and have either collapsed or are now heavily supported by huge wooden ties. It is a with a sense of bewilderment that we none Italians (or Catholics) find it difficult to comprehend that priority is given to the repair of the churches before the homes that people live in. Many families and individuals find themselves in hotels and B&B’s with the likelihood this will be the case for many years to come. Why the people accept this situation is beyond me.

We had seen Joan and Phil just before Christmas and they had changed very little, seemingly pleased to have some company after what had been a particularly cold and inhospitable Italian winter. They have fully embraced the rural Marche way of life, living simply, eating fresh food, drinking local wine and enjoying the peace and tranquillity of a rustic life style. Phil has his music (a vast selection of CD’s) and technical magazines, Joan has her books and a more than the average garden to exercise her horticultural skills. Oh yes, and they have a cat. Cat lives outside under the veranda, it was one of several pets owned by a British family down in the valley, but when they left to return to the UK a couple of years ago, it sensibly made its way to the white house below the town where it knew it would find a home. Though on the surface Joan and Phil appear to discourage the animal, it is well fed and watered and provided with a comfortable place to sleep, and the cat knows better!

We stayed five days. The weather was kind to us, certainly better than that being experienced by those back in the UK. For most, the days were bright, sunny and warm, though on occasion at the more exposed sites we visited, a northerly breeze invite us to add an extra layer of clothing. As we had our own transport we took the opportunity to visit the surrounding towns that I had visited with Joan and Phil when Roger and I came to visit in the early years of retirement. As expected little had changed other than many buildings were now shorn-up and there was fewer people about. Some of the churches were open and we always took the opportunity to investigate their interiors, often coming across some beautiful frescos or interesting architecture and occasionally a description in English to aid our understanding. A favourite haunt are the cemeteries attached to each settlement, we can spend ages discussing how the deceased met their end from the dates, ages and photograph supplied on each internment. Identifying family names is another fascinating habit we have acquired as a diversion.

Here is a list of the hill top towns visited: Montelparo, Monteleone di Fermo, Servigliano, Montefalcone Appenino, Smerillo, Monte San Martino.

On one morning there was a vintage car rally passing through Santa Vittoria so we spent pleasant hour watching the rather noisy but lovingly restored and polished vintage models rumble into the town square, collect a ticket before roaring away under the clock tower.

We also spent several hours walking around Lago del Tenna (lake). Both Sue and I and Roger and I have eaten at the lake side restaurant in the past with our hosts, but never circumnavigated it. There is a well-marked and path that takes you on a complete circuit of the lake, but today part of the path has been washed away by the river that runs into the lake and prevents you from following the mapped route. This must have been the case for a number of years now, as evident by the tree growth on the eroded section, yet none of the signage has been changed to show that you can no longer complete the route. As we had trekked more than half the distance we returned to the car by the less satisfactory roadway. I guess, with the earthquake damage the authorities have more pressing issues to attend to.

Both Joan and Phil (despite being vegetarians) are exceptional cooks and eating with the Smiths is always a treat and coupled with their own blend of wine, the evenings pass far too quickly. As two couples, we did sample the local cuisine; an evening meal in the Farfense in the town and lunch at a roadside café in Ponte Maglio. Both meals were splendid (though Sue was less impressed by the latter), but neither could match those that our hosts provided for us daily, casually described as simple fayre, worthy of a Michelin star or two. I can see why Phil has put a bit of weight on.

Our short time in Santa Vittoria came to an end at 5.30am on the 10th with Phil, Joan and Cat waving us goodbye under a chilly star bright sky. We made good progress back to Ancona, with little traffic encountered on route, we stopped briefly just before the airport to fill the tank up with fuel and finding the rental car park we popped the keys into the drop box as the staff were yet to come on duty.

After a breakfast snack we made our way through security and waited for the flight, which left on time. Though allocated seats in different part of the aircraft I had no one either side so Sue joined me. I slept most of the flight away.

The drive was interesting from the point of view that we didn’t encounter the dreaded roundabouts (they were being worked on) but we did pick up the maliciously inaccurate A14 E signs all the way to the Wellingborough turn off, before Kettering! I can only guess that some idiots had been given the signs to indicate an A14 diversion East, but the clowns had (in the dark, like us) taken the west bound carriageway by error and dropped them off at all the turn-offs until the had run out of signage. I can’t think of any other reason, but why are they still there after a week, too scared to admit the error and collect them? I will never know and don’t care now.

Since returning we have been looking after Ellis (who is on half term) and Harry (the greyhound) while Charlotte attends to her clients gardens. The weather has been good, the grass has been growing, the blossom bursting and my onions and broad beans have all poked their noses out of the soil just in time for a run of night frosts.

Not a partridge in a pear tree, but two pheasants under a fir tree!!

On our return from Italy Sue telephoned the hospital that Stanley was in to find that he had gone rapidly downhill. The nurse didn’t think that he was long for this world. We scheduled a visit on the 17th as this was the only day we didn’t have prior commitments.

On the day before our journey north to Salford Royal Hospital I, Peter and Harry travelled to Newbold Verdon to work on Sarah’s summer-house while she was incapacitated after her operation. Sue took Ellis to see Dumbo at the cinema in Kettering while Charlotte worked on a large garden in Harborough. Sue again contacted the Salford hospital to find that thankfully Stanley had rallied and was doing better. We shall see for ourselves tomorrow.

Update: We visited Stanley for around half an hour, he is now blind and has difficulty hearing. He finds it difficult to breathe with quite a lot of fluid on his chest and spends most of his time asleep. He is quite cantankerous and complained in the brief time we were there about the surgeons, doctors, nurses, food etc. etc. His mind seems as sharp as ever. He clearly had enough of our visit and after awhile politely asked us to go. He surprisingly looked well, though he obviously is not, according to the nurses he is not eating much.

Prior to our hospital visit we called in to check on Stanley’s house, it had been cleared, cleaned, painted and re-carpeted and seemed in good order. He had put a couple of mats down in he lounge by the kitchen door and we guess that these contributed to his fall. We only made a brief visit as everything seemed fine before driving to Blackleech Park to eat our packed lunch as it was too early for the hospital visiting times.

On our way back to Harborough we called in to see Sarah and I filled the back of the car with fire wood that Lee had been saving for us.

Our return to the UK went without a hitch. The taxi transfer to the airport arrived early and the Etihad flight took off on time. Our transit through Abu Dhabi went smoothly and the chill of a Heathrow landing was an apt wake-up for our onward journey, first by underground to St Pancras and then fast train back to Harborough. A much fitter and happier Charlotte greeted us with Harry (the greyhound) on the platform to give us a lift back to Willow Bank. She informed us that the last week had been rather warm and that today was going to be last before a cold spell was due (she proved to be right!) It was quite a while and a struggle before we acclimatised to northern hemisphere late winter temperatures and our internal clocks adjusted back to Greenwich Meantime.

A few days later we were treated to Sunday lunch at Charlotte’s and distributed a few presents before  travelling to Desborough to see Jamie and Ashton in their new home. They were in the middle of decorating and some of their furniture was yet to be delivered but it is a lovely starter home for them and it looks easy to maintain. A few days later I spent an afternoon helping Jamie re-roof  his garden shed with felt, then build a shelf inside the airing cupboard before providing moral support as he finished off painting the staircase wall.

The following day was my birthday and I celebrated it with a trip to the Leicester Royal Hospital for an eye check-up. A scan showed that everything was stable and I no longer required any further injections and have been placed on the regular check-up list. Not a bad birthday present I thought and I celebrated with a sausage roll from Greggs. I spent the rest of the day shopping in Harborough for seeds, in readiness for the growing season.

Sue and I travelled to the Black Horse in Walcote for a delightful meal that was a very late Christmas present from Sarah and Lee, the following evening Jamie took me for a birthday meal to the Mexican restaurant in Harborough. Having just completed two months of a continual sea-borne feeding frenzy, within five days I had negated my promised fast with three substantial meals in five days!

On the 10th March we journeyed to Newbold Verdon to inspect Sarah and Lee’s decorating skills in their new home and were quite impressed with what we saw. They had been putting in a lot of hard work over many late nights to decorate the rooms downstairs to their own taste and style, the upstairs and the outside would have to wait until the spring arrives. That afternoon the four of us had a very pleasant and substantial four course Sunday lunch at the Bosworth Hall Hotel in nearby Market Bosworth. Later that evening Sue and I went to De Montfort Hall in Leicester to see the British Pink Floyd. It was a birthday present from Charlotte and Sarah and what and a thoroughly enjoyable one it was too. The band was magnificent, I have seen the real Pink Floyd twice as I have the Australian version twice, but the music and blend of theatre in the performance by the Brits was something rather special. We shall see them again in the future, I am sure.

On the 14th, Charlotte invited Sue and I over for an evening meal, Suraj was away for the week up in Leeds on an IT course and she fancied a bit of adult company to dilute the energy of two boys and a greyhound.

On the 15th Jamie bought a new car, sadly he had sold his Aston Martin the previous week to an employee of Aston Martin itself from London. He now has a black V10 Audi R8. It certainly is a beast of a machine, but I did love his Aston and there was a time when I would have made an offer for it, but not now, my little Fiesta rarely leaves the garage and when it does it spends most of its time in an airport long stay car park, where would I put my grow bags and grass cuttings?

On the weekend of the 23rd, Sue drove to Tenbury Wells for the weekend. She was attending a  re-union that had been arranged by old school friends. She stayed with Sheila on the Saturday night after a buffet meal and disco at the Fountain Inn in the town. Around a hundred or so of her past school chums attended, many of whom she has kept in touch with through a website where they share photos of their school days and also of the various activities in the town during the same era. She particularly enjoyed chatting to the teachers that attended, they were in their 80’s and 90’s and still apparently quite spritely, taking to the dance floor with energy.

As Sue was still in Tenbury on the Sunday, Charlotte kindly invited me over for lunch with Suraj, the boys and Harry. Much better than the bowl of tomato soup that I had been planning on!

During the three weeks since returning from our cruise we have gradually settled back into our Harborough routine. I have planted 5 rows of potatoes, 3 rows of broad beans and 10 rows of onions at the allotment. As usual I am risking the late frosts, but only time will tell if the gamble pays off. The pool has been cleaned, though the pump did have to be disassembled and sprayed with WD40 as it had somehow managed to seize while we were away. The lawns have been mowed though a more accurate description would be that the moss has been cut shorter!!!! Sue is back walking with the U3A and has already attended a couple of lectures too. We have attended several Silver Screen films at the Odeon in Kettering of which I can recommend ‘Stan and Laurel’ and ‘The Green Book’ as being worthwhile the effort of seeking out.

We have had the company of both Mia and Harry several times, while their respective owners have been working, though not at the same time. Mia is naturally adorable and we are well used to her cheeky ways. Harry is a different kettle of fish, he is so laid back that he spends a great deal of time sleeping, but when he is awake he is keen on his walks, while being well-behaved on the leash, off it is another story. He was a racing greyhound and you can see why when he is released. At present he has to be let loose in an enclosed space until he learns to come on call or I doubt we would see him ever again, he just flies! He has a lovely nature and enjoys his cuddles and strokes and it is still very early days for him, he is used to kennel routines and the company of other greyhounds, it is a very steep learning curve for all.

BONE TROUBLE

I have returned intermittently to my morning cycle rides, but a peripheral bone foot injury picked up before Christmas and a medial knee ligament injury picked up on the running machine on board the Columbus has made most physical activities a painful and difficult experience. Despite taking bucket loads of Ibuprofen and resting as much as possible, healing is slow. In desperation I have had several sessions of reflexology with Doreen in her new penthouse apartment. Though I don’t think the sessions have helped my knee, my foot has shown a marked improvement since. Plus, it is a totally relaxing experience and I am sure is good for the inner me. I find driving particularly painful, though after 15 minutes or so the pain subsides to a tolerable ache. I have an appointment with the doctor on April Fool’s Day, and two days later I shall be driving down to Stansted to catch a flight with Sue to see Joan and Phil in Italy. I have hired a car for the week, I just hope that there is a marked improvement before then!

Charlotte has returned to her gardening job and is obviously enjoying being back among the plants . However, she has been experiencing hip pain for quite a few years now and this week she had a scan of her hips at a private hospital and the diagnosis was not good. The joints are showing evidence of arthritis and severe wear, with larger than normal gaps in the ball and socket joints. The specialist has diagnosed that she will probably be needing artificial joints by the time she is in her 40’s and that she will require strong painkillers in the future. She is quite worried that when she does eventually require surgery it may not be available or speedy enough through the NHS. We shall see when the time comes, but we won’t let her suffer and if she has to go privately than that is what will happen.

Sarah went into Glenfield Hospital for an operation on her ankle, both ankles have been giving her problems the last few years and surgery is the long-term solution. The operation took place in the morning, late in the afternoon she was discharged home in a full leg pot. She will be off work for eight weeks. However, the following day  she had to return to hospital as the leg was giving her great pain as it had swollen and there was no room inside the pot. The cast was split down the front, allowing the blood supply to be less restricted and ease the pain. She was again discharged back home.

The following day Charlotte and I drove up to Newbold Verdon to see Sarah and help sort out her garden. Harry accompanied us. It was obvious by the drawn and pained look on her face that she was suffering from the operation, but it was reassuring to see that by the end of the day she seemed a lot perkier and more her old self. Charlotte was keen to clear the moss from the top of the patio roof and was soon up the ladder and jet washing while I busied myself mowing the lawns, then cutting down a large bamboo that was shading the greenhouse. It was a lovely sunny day, just right for a spot of gardening. For lunch we visited the local fish and chip shop and brought back our individual fayre to eat on the patio. Afterwards, Charlotte tackled the fishpond, cleaning it out and then seeding it with some bedraggled tadpoles, whose container Harry had knocked over earlier that morning. Hopefully they would survive, but it looked doubtful. After carrying the bamboo cuttings and other bagged up rubbish to the front of the house, ready for disposal, I helped Charlotte  pull out a weeping willow and plant a magnolia in its place. Bent on destruction she then ripped out a good section of conifer hedge, before pruning a pear tree and moving back onto the roof of the patio. Doesn’t she ever stop for a rest I thought! Lee had come home from work and it was getting dark before we set off back to Harborough. Sue had picked Ellis up from school and given him tea while Suraj had taken Lucas to football practise. I had a very early night!!!!

(25th – 25th Feb)

The Columbus took on her pilot outside Sydney harbour at 5.30am, many of the passengers were up on deck in the dark to watch the iconic Opera House and Harbour Bridge pass by as we made our way to a berth in White Harbour, but to their disappointment the Opera House was in darkness and the usual brightly illuminated bridge had just the navigation lights lit, though its outline was clearly visible. Sue and I watched the bridge slowly progress towards us from the comfort of our cabin bed, before making our way up top for breakfast as we made fast to the wharf.

We were jumping ship today and had packed our cases the previous evening, during breakfast they were being transferred ashore in readiness for our collection. We left our home of the last two months around 8.45am and after passing through customs we collected the cases and found our taxi transfer to the hotel in Castlehills. The journey there was surprisingly long (nearly an hour) and if it hadn’t been a Sunday it may have been even longer.

The Hills Lodge Grand Mercure is a very modern hotel built to look like an authentic British mansion, but the climate and flora betrays its true origin. We were disappointed to discover how far out from Central Quay it was located, but we were determined to find the best the area had to offer. It seems that during the coming weekend, Carnival was coming to Sydney and the hotels in the centre were 100% booked and had been for a year. It is more popular than Australia Day and the New Year celebrations and is held exclusively for the Gay community. How the world changes.

The hotel reception were brilliant at providing us with Opal cards, cash and a taxi soon after our arrival to take us to Parramatta Ferry, where we were to visit Cockatoo Island. The ferry takes you down the Parramatta River, eventually ending up at Central Quay, though our destination was two stops short. The ferry is much used by locals and visitors alike and is usually quite full, with an ever changing number due to the large number of stops along the route. Our journey took 1hr and 5 min. To off load and take on new passengers never took more than a moments as the crew had the procedure of coming alongside the wharfs as efficient as it could possibly get and they hit their timetable targets every time.

At first the river was fairly narrow, around 40m in width and mangrove grew on either side, our speed was limited here to 5mph as not to create a wash that would destroy the shoreline vegetation. The mangrove teemed with bird life, pelicans, herons and cockatoos were prevalent but there were many other colourful species that I don’t know the name of. As the river broadened and the banks became reinforced with rocks the ferry picked up speed and the stops became more numerous. Some having names such as Kissing Point, Abbotsford and Dulwich. The houses and settlements along the shore were certainly upmarket and under a warm sun and clear blue sky were seen at their best. It must be a lovely place to live, if you could afford it. After passing Sydney Olympic Park we started to see apartment blocks, presumably built for the athletes but now used by resident Aussies. Glass seems to be the most used material all along this river.

Cockatoo Island is very close to central Sydney, originally a inhabited by the aborigines (it is sacred to them), but when the British came we used it as prison for those miscreants who were rejected by other gaols as being too violent or disruptive. Soon after wards a dry dock was built there to furnish and repair the British fleet. Of course the prisoners did most of the work in building the facilities and on the ships themselves. The conditions for the prisoners were the worst in the British Empire and deaths were common. The warders had a fearsome reputation for brutality. When the prison was closed it remained a place where ships were repaired and built, before briefly becoming a prison again. It has also been a school for girls. During the 1st and 2nd World War it again become important for ship building for the Australian navy, before being abandoned in the 60’s. Today, it has been recognised as an important heritage sight and work is on going to preserve it.

The island is free to visit, the only charge is $5 for a headset from the Tourist Information office that provides information along the various stopping points on the marked routes of a provided map. We arrived early in the afternoon and there were few visitors, but as the afternoon wore on it became quite busy. Most of the buildings concerned with ship building remain, though most in a poor state, many of which you cannot enter, those concerned with its past as a prison seemed to have had quite a bit of restoration work done on them. The information boards on most of the buildings were excellent and really gave you a feel of the past.

There are three tunnels that go from one side of the island to the other, only two can be walked through, which we did, noticing the chisel marks evident on the walls, chipped out by criminals of the past. From the top of the island you get great views of the Parramatta River, Sydney Harbour Bridge, and the central part of Sydney, you can even see the Opera House.

It was lovely way to spend and afternoon and to get to know and experience a bit of Aussie history that the Aussies themselves are only just waking up to, the trip up and down the River are worth the effort alone. It was this river that Captain Phillip sailed up and created the first settlement in Australia on the site of present Parramatta.

Returning by way of the ferry again, we stopped to have a meal in a little restaurant by the river before taking a taxi back to the hotel, we were very tired, it had been a long day.

We decided to spend our final full day in Castlehill visiting the Koala Bear Reserve. Armed with our Opal cards and Google maps on my mobile phone we caught a bus to Castlehill Terminus then caught another almost immediately to the Reserve, just a few kilometres away. They have a very efficient transport system here.

After paying the entrance fee of $28 each we set off armed with a site map and schedule of feeding times to enjoy ourselves. Highlights were; stroking the koalas, feeding the kangaroos and an emu, talking to a very friendly kookaburra and penguin, spotting an echidna move, woke up two wombats and watched a sheep being sheered. Plus a lot of other animals like bats, that just hung around and didn’t want to interact with us. Nearly forgot, Sue stroked the obligatory snake that she always seems to find.

We had lunch in the Reserve restaurant after seeing everything, then went around again to see our favourites. A lovely way to spend a day and there was plenty to see, even shetland ponies, but we couldn’t work out why they were there.

We retraced our steps to return to the hotel, stopping to have a look around the shops in Castlehill on the way.

That evening we ate dinner in one of the local bars before returning to our room and packing in readiness for our transfer to the airport the following morning.

(21st – 24th Feb)

Quite a few of the passengers disembarked in Auckland and were replaced by new faces, not Kiwi’s as you would expect, but Aussies taking advantage of a shortish cruise back home. We are told that there will be a further 200 disembarking in Sydney and we will be among their company. On the 22nd we met a couple during lunch who we discovered had been allocated to our evening dinner table, not unusually they were Brits that had relocated to Australia quite a few years ago and were at present about to downsize their home near Sydney to another, a short distance away. They were taking the cruise to escape the stress of the lead up to the moving day. Not an option open to Sarah or Jamie on their recent house moves, but I am sure they could see the benefits of doing such a thing.

Unfortunately, on what should have been our first full compliment of evening diners on our table, Ian and Diane were guests at another couples’ renewal of their vows and had been invited to the celebratory meal and were absent.

As we ploughed our way towards Australia, the weather cooled down to a more reasonable 25 degrees, but the swell increased to around 3m which made for some erratic movement of the ship. Whilst walking along the decks you would suddenly get the sensation that you were walking up hill with a heavy body and then a few moments later one of descending downhill with a floating sensation, though there are no visual clues as to what is happening other than a feeling. Whilst lying in bed, this rhythmic fluctuation from heavy to light has the benefit of lulling me to sleep, I am not so sure about Sue. However, on cruises in the past I have occasionally had to dine on my own due to Sue’s seasickness, not so on this trip, so far.

A funny thing is coincidence. Our cabin is located on deck 6, our lifeboat is also number 6, but much stranger is that on each of the shore tours (every single one) we have been allocated number 6. So guess what our allocated three digit number dining table is? 666? No, it is 111. Also, the other day I noticed that there is no deck 13, it took 50 days to spot that. I wonder if Chinese cruise ships are missing deck 7?

On the final evening before landfall in Australia the captain gave an announcement during dinner that they had been closely watching a cyclone developing over the Tasman Sea and this had now led to his decision to stay two nights in the safety of Sydney harbour rather than one and miss visiting Hamilton Island. I was surprised by the amount of cheers that went up, indicating that this decision was most welcome. I know Sydney is a great place to stay but I have never been to Hamilton Island so I would have been disappointed, but a cyclone is a cyclone and in a ship it isn’t wise not to take them seriously.