New Zealand

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Countryside just north of where I am working

 

Some amazing sunsets – I have to walk nearly three minutes to end of the street to get a good view over the water without all the houses 

Not the most attractive of beaches but would love to go and have a bonfire one night

The beach – nice hills though

 

Petone where I’m staying – some lovely old buildings and timber houses

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The view from up the hill

Houses in Petone

 

 

The Wharf

 

More scenery

Another beach

Someone from work bought in a real live Logie and they’re incredibly heavy

Last day in London November 2017

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Absolutely glorious day in London today (my last day in London for who knows how long). Brick Lane, Tower of London, Tower Bridge and a stroll along South Bank (and a crash into a bench and now a sore leg!!)

I can hear so many fireworks tonight and last night and can’t see a single one!

Near Brick Lane Market

 

 

Looks impressive but only 7/10

 

Tower Bridge and the Thames

 

 

Cornwall

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So I arrived in Cornwall at the tail end of ex Hurricane Ophelia and then encountered Storm Brian but have got some lovely accommodation and here for a week so it’s no hardship to be inside and I have plenty of food and wine (just no hot water this morning – a minor inconvenience)

My bedroom

 

 

My living room

 

View from my bedroom

 

The green chair is in my bedroom so I just sit in there and read my book

And then there was a rainbow over St Ives

 

And the view from my balcony when the sun came out

Bordeaux

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Way behind with posting photos but here are few of Bordeaux to keep you going.  We had a couple of average apartments in Spain but we’re in a beautiful apartment in Bordeaux in the middle of the old town

 

 

 

 

Scotland trip Part 1 Gretna Green to Gairloch

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Gretna Green (obviously)

 

Definitely in Scotland now

 

On the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond

 

Totally self sufficient in power (all the rain has to be useful for something)

 

Old church on the edge of another loch that they are trying to o up

Oban

Oban – beautiful little town with a really busy harbour – lots of ferries chugging in and out. I really liked it and wished I could have stayed longer (and a great fish restaurant for dinner as well)

Some of these places are old

 

A random ruined castle on a loch

 

Glencoe (no not the one near Mt Gambier) 

 

 

35 years ago I caught the train from Fort William to Mallaig and it made a huge impact because it was so beautiful. It was still just as beautiful.

I really wanted to stop at the Glenfinnan viaduct but you couldn’t get a park within a mile so just carried on. There are lots of places to stop on the road from Fort William to Mallaig and I pulled into one and just as I did the train came along

 

And it appeared in Mallaig a couple of hours later

Kyleakin – now forever etched in my mind as the 2nd worst Airbnb I’ve stayed at

 

Eilean Donan Castle

Heather just growing out of rocks

Lots of cemeteries by the sea – windy and bleak but beautiful

 

The bridge from Skye to the mainland – I caught the ferry over and bridge back

 

Now for the start of the NC500 http://www.northcoast500.com/

 

 

It took me a lot longer than that

 

Strathcarron to Applecross – the road wasn’t too bad but I don’t like heights and it was a bit scary up the top (and very bloody windy)

They had a sign saying the were the best icecream and I had the almond and apricot and it was fantastic – hard work to get back there though for another one

applecross ice cream

 

The road from Applecross to Shieldaig was some of the prettiest coastline I have ever seen – just beautiful 

 

My first coo

 

 

Sheep all over the road and one day a goat bounced onto the road in front of me and then just bounced away

 

Very windy – I thought Harvey’s ears were going to blow off

 

 

Scotland update

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Thanks to everyone who contacted me about the blog so I’ll keep going.  For those who don’t know you can add comments on each of the posts.

Currently in Scotland drove some of the most magnificent coastline today.  Photos to follow

Update

Currently in Scotland and was going to post lots of photos and update my blog. 15 minutes from my BnB for the night the road was blocked by a fatal road accident and the only alternative was to turn back or drive 90 minutes on single lane highway into the setting sun. Headed back and found the loveliest BnB with a fantastic view and the owner offered to drive me into town so I could have a few drinks with dinner. So photos and blog update will be a couple of days because an extra long day of driving tomorrow.
 
The scenery here is just amazing!!

 

Wales continues

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Been a bit slack keeping up with this.  Would like some comments on whether people are reading this and enjoying it or am I wasting my time

After Cardiff I booked an AirBNB near Abergavenny out in the countryside. I got there and it the countryside was beautiful – very rural with lots of sheep and only the owners next door and then another 500m or more to the next farmhouse. I settled in and couldn’t get the bathroom light to work so they came over and fiddled and got it working. Got the wifi password but that only worked if you were by the window and had one leg in the air and very poor mobile reception – can live with both of these for three nights. The place itself was OK but not one that I would want to revisit.

Toddled off to bed and about 12.30am the lights in the living room switched themselves on and the sound of sparking was very loud – there was a plate in the bedroom where there had been a switch and you could see the sparks coming out of that. Then all the lights just went out again. So – no sleep for me that night and the owners had headed off on holiday for a few weeks. In the morning I thought I really don’t want to be here with that sort of thing) so sent a message to the owner and checked myself out of there. In the meantime found another AirBNB near Hereford that was just lovely and had a lovely couple of nights. The owner said her father was an electrician and checked the place out and couldn’t find anything wrong HUH but got most of my money back anyway

So the photos

Just another pretty pub in Bedgellert and the story https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beddgelert

 

 

 

 

Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn Wildlife – Osprey sites – there were quite a few weird twitchers out there

 

 

Conwy – it was minute – about the size of my bathroom but two story

The walls were huge

 

 

Beaumauris

Some town in Wales

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plas_Mawr 

I found this place fascinating

 

And for all the lab people some interesting stuff in this house

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/plas-newydd-country-house-and-gardens

Menai Bridge

 

And I went on a tour to Puffin Island (but no puffins).  I bought an icecream while I was waiting for the boat and the lady said watch out for seagulls and I thought OK but this guy proceeded to put his jacket around me because the buggers just wouldn’t go away

Beaumaris castle

Cardiff July 2017

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I really enjoyed Cardiff – it’s got a population of about 250,000 but fastest growing city in Europe (according to the guide). It’s quite walkable and the new port area is lovely

The castle – very ornate rooms

 

 

 

Flowers everywhere

 

The old library – tiles were just beautiful

 

 

 

 

More pubs with flowers

 

The guy who started the NHS

 

Beautiful public buildings

 

 

 

 

 

I declined the free bible exhibition

 

 

Outside the sports stadium

Cardiff Bay

The Cardiff Millennium building – everything is made from Welsh products