Xmas greetings

It does not seem possible that we are thinking of Christmas. We have settled back into Sydney life and the holiday seems a long time ago.

Jane took 6 weeks to find employment but is quite happy as financial controller at Killara Golf Club. She joined at year end so has had auditors under her feet and the annual report to write but with all that behind her she expects to change to part time very quickly. Stephen has been busy managing the bathroom renovations, rekindling a few contracts he had before we went away and most importantly looking for a new boat.

The boat hunting has been frustrating as we had both expected to buy within a few days not a few months or even years. We have now seen too many boats and making a choice is getting harder not easier.

We have had a couple of visitors in the last few months. Ron and Barbara from Townsville who we sailed north with last year and Doug and Julia from Wokingham UK.

Kate and Jason are well and very happy with their new home.

We hope to hear from you all in the next few months. We wish you and your families a happy Christmas and a prosperous and healthy 2007. Take care and write or visit if you have time.

We expect this to be our last update for 2006. Thanks for taking the time to read about our adventure. Best wishes Stephen and Jane.

Back Home

We are back in Sydney, the house has been looked after and apart from some major maintenence on the solar hot water system all is well.
Those of you who have read our blog will know we have had a brilliant time and enjoyed ourselves everyday. Are we sorry it is over? Yes but it is nice to be home. Our focus now is to find employment and a new boat.
Thanks to you all for your kind comments on our blog, we have had a great time composing it and it will serve as an additional reminder to us of our trip. We look forward to catching up with our Aussie friends and to those of you from the UK who plan to make the trip downunder you are always welcome to come and stay.
Until the next time
Stephen and Jane.

Bangkok

We arrived in Bangkok and made our way to our hotel. We had tried to book the rooms in the UK on line with Thomas Cook but their system would not accept our Aussie credit card so ended up booking with Asiarooms.com. The price we had paid was significantly less than that quoted by Thomas Cook and included breakfast so we always worried there would be no room when we arrived. Surprise, surprise not only a room but an upgrade to deluxe!

It was hot and steamy so we booked a coach tour for the following day to take us out of the city to visit the floating markets and to ride the canals on the longtails. Our first evening and a quick walk to the local shops for a few bargains and dinner. Unfortunately I missed my footing as we left the shopping centre and landed quite literally flat on my face. It was extremely frightening and our first thoughts were had I damaged my neck again. Stephen thinks I do these things to give him maximum stress. To cut a long story short it is a week later as I write the blog and my neck is still sore but functioning, my right knee is still very bruised and my nose finally looks normal again.

Our day trip the next day was brilliant even if I did wear the
travel pillow on my neck and look quite silly whenever we were
seated on the coach. The photos show the floating markets and
elephants at play.

Kate arrives in UK

It is the 25th August, just 5 days before we leave England and Kate arrives from Australia on her way to Vienna and spends just over 24 hours with us. We are so excited to see her at the airport, I am not at all sure how Stephen managed to focus on driving.
We head first to Brenda's for a quick shower and breakfast before the journey south to Bournemouth to see Stephen's Mum. The photo shows the 3 generations having a great time.

After lunch it is back to Bill's where my family gather. The photos show Kate with her 3 cousins and the entire family (missing are Stephen - taking the photo and Phil and John). We had a splendid time and Bill and Viv made us so welcome once again.


We drove Kate back to the airport and then spent the night with Hazel and David (ex ICL) who we had not seen for many years. We passed an entire evening catching up with the news of all our ICL friends.

One more visit to Stephen's Mum for a few days and it was time to leave the UK.

I should add that the van was sold the day before Kate arrived. It went back to the dealer from where we bought it in a very painless transaction. We would have liked a private sale which would perhaps have given us an extra 1000 pounds but it was not to be and we had always been prepared to lose a bit more than planned. Buying new gave us the best of both worlds - we had a new reliable vehicle for the trip and it was at least 50% cheaper than hiring for the same period of time.

Back in the UK

We had a perfectly calm crossing of the channel and arrived safely back at Bill and Viv's late Tuesday evening. We then spent 2 days cleaning the van for sale. The big question is of course do we really want to sell? Should we store the van to use next year? Should we then take it back to Australia? Who knows!

Friday we went north to Shropshire to visit Jane's friend from when she was 7 years old. We had not seen each other for 15 years and we had a great time catching up. Marion and Martin have a garden that should be entered in competitions it was so beautiful.




Saturday we went south to Warwickshire and spent 2 days with Stephen's cousin Geoff, his wife Judy and their family. We got to sleep in a bed for the first time in over 4 months and we had forgotten how comfortable it could be. The 2 days were spent enjoying their company and getting to know them again.




Monday south again to Oxfordshire and Jenny and Phil. Jane went to school with Jenny and had managed to get in contact again through Friends Re-united. Phil is a Morris Dancer and fortunately was dancing last night so it was a pleasure to be invited along to watch. It looks great fun.

Paris

Paris was our last major city on this trip and we arrived with mixed emotions. The last 2 weeks have flown by and while we are anxious now to see family and friends we do not want the trip to end. We have had the best time.

The weather forecast was for 3 days of rain but in the end we only needed the rain jackets to keep warm as we walked the city streets reliving previous visits.
A day at Versailles was a first for Jane and we thoroughly enjoyed a visit through the palace. We had not expected the crowds but it is August now and the french are on holidays.
The campsite in Paris was huge with facilities that were severely lacking. However our pitch was on the banks of the Seine and we could lay in bed watching the waters flow past.
We were so lucky to meet with Maureen and John who were parked opposite, they were wonderful neighbours and great hosts for dinner. It seemed we ate more meat on our last evening than we have eaten all holiday. It was cooked to perfection on their portable BBQ.

Champagne

On our way to Paris we stopped at Epernay - at the centre of the champagne region. We had seen a map showing a number of champagne houses and thought we would visit Moet et Chandon. Little did we realise we would be able to walk some of their 28 klm of caves with over 50 million bottles stored. The tour in English was very informative and the glass of champagne at the end (Moet of course) was a lovely way to celebrate Kate's anniversary and Stephen's birthday. The largest bottle of champagne in the picture is only 1210 Euros! A normal size bottle is fourth from left.