Category Archives: Travel Diary

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’sContinueContinue 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 wantedContinueContinue 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 itContinueContinue 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 inContinueContinue 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 mayContinueContinue 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 builderContinueContinue 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. IContinueContinue 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 lovelyContinueContinue 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 toContinueContinue 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 whilstContinueContinue 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 tookContinueContinue 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 cycleContinueContinue 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 clubContinueContinue 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 factContinueContinue 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, soContinueContinue 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 theirContinueContinue reading “Day 1, got the keys!”

Shobhana Devani 1937 – 2021 & Kishor Devani 1936 – 2021 Greetings everyone. I know that it has been nearly 2 years since my last posting and I did promise to write part 3 of my travels but as many of you will know, time just ran away and my time and attention was directedContinueContinue reading “Mum and Dad and Work In Progress……”

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 IContinueContinue 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 IContinueContinue 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 butContinueContinue 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 whatContinueContinue 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 andContinueContinue 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 HueContinueContinue 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 inContinueContinue 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 theContinueContinue reading “Thought of the day?”

As I mentioned before, I am making a little side trip back to UK via Singapore and so I am writing this a bit disjointed as I know I have not finished the Vietnam and Cambodia trip yet. It is all a bit of a blur, I will admit, with the jet lag, very earlyContinueContinue reading “Pressing the Pause Button”

Walking around the Old Town area of Hanoi in the afternoon confirmed my thoughts on how much it reminded me of some of the quieter Bombay streets. Shops piled up their wares on the pavement, hung up in string lengths, ladies sat on the pavement selling vegetables in great wicker baskets, so much like BreachContinueContinue reading “Hanoi to Hue, 23rd December, 2019.”

Dubai to Hanoi, 21 December, 2019. Yes, I know the title is cheesy but had to be done! Left Dubai at some silly time (3.40 am) for the 5 hour flight to Hanoi on my parent’s 58th Wedding Anniversary to start my trip, bittersweet journey but looking forward to it. I did wonder if IContinueContinue reading “Gooooood Morning Vietnam!”

Thank you for joining me on this adventure/ journey/ flight of fancy/ foolish waste of time and money….. take your pick. Actually I am writing this on a traditional Vietnamese junk boat sailing around Halong Bay so at this moment in time, it is a great adventure. So what is my motivation for this trip,ContinueContinue reading “Well, here goes….”