It has finally happened, I have the lurgy 😳, I suppose it had to happen and luckily I am currently in Queenstown, South Island and I had planned to stay here for 3 nights and I can chill. I have been on the go and possibly putting too much pressure on myself to keep doingContinue reading "East Coast Road Trip 🛣️🚘🌦️🌊🦘🪸"

I arrived in to Sydney on the Thursday evening and spent the first 2 nights in a hostel in the Surrey Hills area, it was very nice, it had a nice courtyard to relax in and nice room mates who were very chatty - both had Persian and Indian heritage so we had things toContinue reading "Sydney part 1 🦘🛬"

I am sat in an airport hotel in Brisbane as tomorrow I fly to Auckland, so my time in Australia is at an end and I don’t know where the time has gone! After Perth I flew to Adelaide which I did not know much about apart from the fact that a friend from TauntonContinue reading "After Perth….."

As I mentioned, I am in Mackay today for Christmas Day, it was a convenient stop as the distance is huge, but it is the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef - not that I could do lots as everything was shut down and I have seen no one - the place is desertedContinue reading "Christmas Day 🎄🦘"

I had a thought yesterday, it was my lovely friend Noolyn Jo’s idea actually… maybe do a video! I was on a long drive yesterday and I stopped off and so said to myself ‘why not’? I have never, I don’t think, watched myself before and I had no idea I spoke like that, plusContinue reading "Life on the road 🚗"

I know that I need to continue with the travels, Adelaide where the highlight was staying with Lucy and her parents, Melbourne where I took a helicopter flight over the 12 Apostles, Tasmania - gorgeous, and Sydney where the highlight was catching up with JoJo, but I am now into week 3 of my SydneyContinue reading "Random Notes 📝 🌏"

Perth I am sat at Hobart airport faced with a 2 hour delay for my flight to Sydney, a good time to start reporting on the Australia part of the trip. To be honest, it is the first delay I have had in the whole trip so far so I can’t complain. So Perth, it’sContinue reading "G’Day Australia!"

I left Penang for Langkawi just in time as there was a huge thunderstorm that morning, not sure how long it went on for though. Penang had been really good but I was ok with leaving.  I am not sure where I had heard about the island but it was always somewhere where I wantedContinue reading "Langkawi"

Penang had been on my list of places to travel to, there are many but Penang had worked it’s way to the top end and this trip was perfect for a stopover. I found the city enchanting and totally engaging, right from the start. Yes, the hostel was a bit of a disappointing but itContinue reading "Reflections on Penang"

I am sat here in the garden of my hostel in Perth, having arrived late last night. One of the lessons I have learnt writing this blog is to not wait too long to write a post as then it all gets too late, I forget stuff or then can’t be bothered! Having arrived inContinue reading "More on Penang"

I arrived late on Saturday night, no idea what to expect! It was hot and muggy, even 11 at night. Penang has been on my list for years, ever since Mum talked about it when I was a teenager, having visited Kuala Lumpur a couple of years ago, I sort of knew what it mayContinue reading "Penang"

Yes, believe it or not, another builder has gone. I sometimes feel that God is telling me that what I have started should not be, I can't think of any other reason why I have been having so many problems with builders. Either that, or I am not cut out for this lark!! My builderContinue reading "Another one bites the dust…:-("

I was recently reminded that I have not written a post showing progress on the house! It has moved along and slowed down, all at the same time, odd thing to write but true! It has progressed, with a completed bathroom and a working kitchen, along with a bedroom that I can stay in. IContinue reading "Five months in one post.."

It has been a while, since February I worked out, that I have posted. It has been a really busy couple of months, some good stuff and some bad stuff...... crashed my car, sacked the builder boss man, went to New Orleans, Belize and Honduras, got a lovely new car (new to me), spent lovelyContinue reading "The Species of Mankind Known as ‘The Builder’…"

I am tired today (helped dig a ditch for a poly tunnel and practicing baking) so I don't have the energy to think of a title that will make people want to read this! I am trying to get to know people, trying to settle in and build a life here, and I have toContinue reading "I am running out of snappy titles…."

A lot has happened with the house since my last post in October. I know the plan was to wait until March for the work to start as that is when I can move out into the the caravan in Teignmouth, but, always a but, the opportunity arose for me to stay on site whilstContinue reading "5 Meadow Villas ;-)"

The previous post ended with leaving Yogyakarta by train on to Malang, and who doesn't like a scenic train ride?! It was a comfortable train, airconditioned and sold fried chicken! It was a 4 hour ride through central Java and some stunning scenery, lush paddy fields, hills covered in tropical trees and, well I tookContinue reading "Eastern Java, Bali in the distance."

I know that I need to think of better titles, maybe next time! We did have a bit of a hiccup with the start of the tour as the G20 cultural summit so there were some last minute changes to the itinerary. On Day 2, we had a bekak/rickshaw tour of Yogyakarta, not the cycleContinue reading "Java Part 2"

It has taken a while but I have finally got the designs for the house that can go to planning! It has been great being here already, have unpacked some stuff to make it comfortable and homely for now. Jenny next door has been a star and I am now part of the film clubContinue reading "Update on the new house"

Java sounds so exotic, and it is! Java is part of the Republic of Indonesia which is made up of approx 17,000 islands and Java is home to almost half of the population. I have always wanted to visit and loved the sound of Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi, but I was ignorant to the factContinue reading "Indonesia, part 1 – Java"

Thank you for visiting this site and reading my post, it is nice that people are interested in what I am doing! No idea why you may be interested but I am grateful for your visit!!! I just realised that my last post was back in May, seems such a short time ago yet, soContinue reading "An Update…"

Today I picked the keys up to the Newlyn House. Of course it was amazingly exciting but it is my parents' legacy that has enabled me to do this, but I am sure they would want to me to be wise in my decisions and enjoy life. That is what all parents want for theirContinue reading "Day 1, got the keys!"

Part 1 was back in April and here we are now in July! It's not that I have been avoiding starting part 2, well much anyway, but I think that I was sulking and feeling sorry for myself. I was robbed, Guv, in colloquial terms, what I mean is that I was sulking because IContinue reading "My Time in Cambodia, Part 2"

I have not posted much about the time I spent in Phnom Penh on my volunteering stint so I thought I would some of this enforced stay at home time to put some words down. I think it will be a post of things I actually did and then some thoughts or observations that IContinue reading "My time in Cambodia… Part 1"

I am going back to London, I resisted it for ages but when the Programme Director at work advised me to leave, I listened. This whole COVID 19 situation has scuppered my plans which I am very disappointed about. I don’t think that I did half of what I wanted to here in PP butContinue reading "Well I wasn’t expecting this…"

I have just realised how long it has been since my last post and I must finish the 'Journey to Ankor Wat blog, before I forget what happened. My last post ended with the info that I was bitten by a bug of sorts in my eye, yes sounds bloody stupid but that is whatContinue reading "Phnom Penh and Siem Reap"

Saturday morning began at 3.30am for us as we had to get the 7am flight from Da Nang airport to Ho Chi Minh, which most people still call Saigon. The plan was to arrive into Saigon and then drive to the Mekong Delta, ''Mekong Delta is famous for its abundantharvests of tropical fruits, flowers andContinue reading "Goodbye Vietnam, Hello Cambodia"

We arrived in Hoi An and all I knew is that we were there for 3 nights so I could unpack and sort myself out. I have to admit that I had not done too much research on the area, I just wanted to go with the flow. It is about 100 miles from HueContinue reading "The Highs and Lows of Hoi An"

Christmas Eve, 2019 was spent in Hue, after the dragon boat ride along the Perfume River, we were treated to a Christmas Eve dinner courtesy of On the Go Tours, let’s just say that the thought was there!! Adam, a fellow traveller, had gone out and bought us all Christmas hats to get us inContinue reading "Sticky Rice and Happy Stops…."

I am going to stray a bit here and I will apologise for that from the start. This post will probably come across as a bit of a personal therapy session but please bear with me. Within the last 10 months I have had to attend two funerals, which may not seem noteworthy i theContinue reading "Thought of the day?"