5.45am: An early start for us on a Saturday. After a quick breakfast with Ralph and Karen (once again our companions for this holiday), it was off to Bedford Station to catch the train to St Pancras International and then onwards via the Tube to Heathrow, Terminal 5. Our flight wasn’t until 2.35, so that …
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Category:Holiday
My 60th – Turkish Delight
After a short lull in proceedings, my ‘big’ Birthday celebrations have restarted! Tonight, Ann and I travelled down to London for an evening meal with my close Trainer friends from the (many) days working on the British Airways project back in 2000. The restaurant of choice was the ever-reliable EV’s – our semi-regular haunt just …
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Catch-up with Jane and Mick
Cripes, I don’t think I ever eaten out so often as we have this month – and it’s only the 6th! Strangely, this one wasn’t birthday related – just an opportunity to catch-up with our old friends, Jane and Mick, who we haven’t seen for quite a few months. The Pub/Restaurant of choice was the …
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Australian Cruise: Singapore Stopover – Day 15 and 16
Written: Sunday, 23rd October Day 15 – Saturday So it’s goodbye to Celebrity Solstice and hello to dry land in Singapore. We’re here for two days before we fly home on Sunday. It’s our fifth visit and we love the place! We first came here 30 years ago (or thereabouts) so we thought we’d revisit …
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Australian Cruise: Brisbane – Day 3
Written: Monday, 10th October. Our day began early as we still haven’t got into a regular sleep pattern just yet. This meant we were at the Gym (for the second day running) by 6am. I stuck to my standard 30 minute ‘walk’, whilst Ann did all this and more! Then it was off for a …
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Australian Cruise: Final Two Days On-Board– Day 13 and 14
Written: Friday, 21st October Day 13 –Thursday Somebody must have spiked my iced-water last night! I didn’t wake-up until 7.45! – so much for the Gym at 7 then!!! If we were to get a prime position on Deck this morning, it was a good job we’d ordered breakfast in our room, because by the …
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Australian Cruise: Arrival in Benoa, Bali – Day 12
Written: Wednesday, 19th October We slipped into Benoa, Bali at around 7.30 this morning – we watched the arrival from the treadmill in the Gym! Strangely (and unlike yesterday) the Gym was deserted and we were able to ‘do our thing’ much more easily. Then, as usual, we headed for breakfast in Blu that was …
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Australian Cruise: On Board – Days 10 and 11
Written: Tuesday, 18th October Day 10 – Monday The Sea was like a mill-pond We’re now at sea for two days on our way to Benoa, Bali. We skipped the Gym today, in favour of a quick breakfast in order to gain some time and secure a suitably warm/shady spot on the Deck. Being on …
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Australian Cruise: Darwin – Day 9
Written: Sunday, 16th October Either we’d both been kidnapped and hidden in the glass-blowing ovens overnight – or we’d arrived in Darwin. The lack of glass around us proved it was the latter! Cor! What an absolute scorcher – and it’s only 7am!! So the main challenge today was about how we (or more specifically, …
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Australian Cruise: On Board – Days 7 and 8
Written: Saturday, 15th October Day 7 – Friday We’ve now got two days at sea, arriving in Darwin on Sunday. We’ve got no plans for today apart from seeing the conclusion of the glass-blowing demo that started last night. After breakfast in the Blu Restaurant, it was up onto the Solstice Deck for a comfy …
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Australian Cruise: Cairns – Day 6
Written: Thursday, 13th October After a decadent lie-in until 6.30, we hit the Gym for our daily punishment around 7am. Then it was off to the Blu Restaurant for brekky. I might be tempting fate, but with last night’s steak meal and this morning’s offering, that’s two in a row where the food has been …
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Australian Cruise: Airlie Beach, Great Barrier Reef – Day 5
Written: Wednesday, 12th October The big excursion today! The Ship’s blurb said… “Climb aboard a catamaran and sail to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Your destination is a large off-shore platform offering easy-to-operate semi-subs. Choose one and enter a world teeming with colourful fish, exotic creatures and brilliant coral. Afterwards, enjoy lunch on-board and lounge on …
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Australian Cruise: On Board – Day 2
Written: Sunday, 9th October We’re all at sea today! Although we slept well, we were both awake from the early hours. So what to do? Most normal couples would go back to sleep, but we headed for the Gym at 6am! Wow! It’s probably the largest Gym we’ve ever seen on a Cruise Ship with …
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Australian Cruise: On Board – Day 1
Written: Saturday, 8th October After a substantial breakfast close to our Apartment, we grabbed a taxi to take us to the OPT (Overseas Passenger Terminal). Well, getting the taxi-bit sounded OK in theory, but in reality, it seemed the rest of New South Wales had the same idea, and we were diverted away from our …
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Australian Cruise: On Board – Day 4
Written: Tuesday, October 11thAnother day at sea today as we head in the direction of Airlie Beach and the Great Barrier Reef tomorrow.A perfect opportunity to test-drive the room-service breakfast!Breakfast sorted! Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love …
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Australian Cruise: Day 3 – Last Day in Sydney
We were up earlier than yesterday – not sure why – so we had breakfast in our room before taking the shortish walk down to Darling Harbour.We planned to catch the Ferry to Parramatta (as every Australian school-kid knows, is west of Sydney and one of their major business districts. It’s also one of the …
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Australian Cruise: Day 2 – Exploring Sydney
After a really good night’s sleep, today we were ready to take on the rest of what Sydney had to offer! But the first job was to seek out breakfast – and we found somewhere very near the David Jones Department Store… Suitably stuffed, and after our daily dose of retail therapy in the rather …
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Australian Cruise: Day 1 – Arrival in Sydney
After the flight out of Birmingham, courtesy of Emirates, stopping off at Dubai and Bangkok, we eventually arrived in Sydney – I think it’s been our longest flight-to-date, at around 23 hours. We’re staying at the Wyndham City Resort Hotel in the Harbour area of the City. We arrived around 11am and that was far …
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Holiday: Cruise to America – Day 11 (Final Day): Kennedy Space Center
Our last day and we’re on a full-day tour of Kennedy Space Center with the optional up close part! It was an early start so no time for the Gym today – I’m so disappointed! We disembarked to be greeted by a fleet of coaches that eventually whisked us to our destination. Over the course …
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Holiday: Cruise to America – Day 10: Port Canaveral
So, here we are in Cape Canaveral almost a day ahead of schedule due to some nifty seamanship by the Captain! In reality, we think they got the timings wrong in terms how long it would take to get us all through US Immigration (in our experience, they’re very, very, very fussy) AND fit in …
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Holiday: Cruise to America – Days 5 to 10: All at Sea
We said goodbye to land yesterday evening, and we are now at sea for six days. Next stop – Port Canaveral, on the east cast of America. So, now it’s just a question of keeping ourselves occupied on-board until we reach the USA next Thursday! DAY 5 – FRIDAY Up at 7.30… Breakfast in the …
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Holiday: Cruise to America – Day 4: The Azores
So, here we are in Ponta Delgado, some 700+ miles off the west coast of Portugal. We arrived around four hours earlier than planned due to a medical emergency on board a few days ago. It was obviously serious enough for the Ship to proceed at full tilt. The Ship actually docked around 1am and …
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Holiday: Cruise to America – Day 1, 2 and 3: All at Sea
The food in the restaurant last night was excellent and although our request for a ‘table for two’ got lost in the administration, we did end up on a table for (just) six – all of whom seemed ideal table-partners* (I HATE being sociable with strangers when I’m on holiday! – Ann is all I …
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Holiday: Cruise to America – Day 0: Arrival and Departure
So, here we are, it’s just before 7.45am and we’re all packed and ready to head off for our Cruise. This time, we’re travelling all the way to Southampton by public transort – and that’s a first for us. David was good enough to act as taxi-driver and took us to Kettering Station. It was …
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Test OLW – 003
Testing OLW from Laptop. Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a …
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Test OLW – 002
Testing second post. Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words …
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Test OLW Nightly Build – 001
This is a test of the nightly build of the new Open Live Writer, showing soime basic text (this line) and a photograph (below), and finally an emoji. I have been able to succesfully add two blogger accounts to #OLW. Example graphic Example emojis Thanks Guys! This is a great start! Steve PalmerI got …
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Collective Curry
In our plan to catch up with all our neighbours before Christmas, tonight we hosted a mega-curry evening and invited Jo, Janet, Carol, Julie, Tom, Rosi and David round. Well, that certainly put the dining room table under a bit of pressure – even with the extension out! – still, we like a challenge! Ann …
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Holiday in Northumberland – Day 7 (of 7): Bamburgh Castle
Our last full day here, and with the weather looking dry and bright (ish!), we decided to head for Bamburgh Castle. Actually, the weather just got better and better! By the time we arrived, this big yellow thing had appeared in the sky, turning it into the perfect day for looking round the outside of …
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Holiday in Northumberland – Day 6 (of 7): Night Sky Safari
Today’s highlight is going to be our visit to the Kielder Observatory tonight. All we need is a change in the weather to make the most of the clear skies! Well, as luck would have it, the local forecast, was the best it’s been all week – hardly a heatwave, but good enough. Looking at …
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