rickandsuejohnson

Toronto
Toronto, Canada
Saturday/Sunday
Delays on our journey reminiscent of our flight to Sydney but there the comparison ends. Smooth flight, plenty of legroom and lovely staff. Thumbs up for Canadian Affair.
View from our room
Because ours was not the only flight that had been held up, on arrival at Lester Pearson, we had to wait around an hour before we finally emerged from immigration to collect our bags (not enough staff to deal with the unexpected influx). Couldn't get through on Rick's international Mobile to let Ol and Ang know what was going on but there they were smiling and relieved when we reached the arrivals hall and their lovely new car complete with air conditioning, much needed in the temperatures even at 10 pm local time.
Home of the Blue Jays
Ol and Ang had booked us all in to the Renaissance hotel, central Toronto, right next to the Blue Jays stadium and the Tower – great location. You can see the pitch from one of the hotel's bars! Next morning we set off for a brief walk before meeting up for a tasty and filling breakfast at nearby 'Coras'. Everything imaginable on the menu and great value.
ROM
Off to the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) via the tube to see the The Warrior Emperor and China's Terracotta Army exhibition. Really beautifully presented and not too crowded either -an opportunity not to be missed. It didn't seem that we had been in there for two and a half hours and in that time the last clouds had drifted away and the sun was shining.
A walk through Kensington Market to Little Italy for a meal outside on a covered veranda. A great summer deal with a set menu at $15 a head. We chose Gazpacho or Bruschetta for starters; Linguine or Green Salad with Mushrooms and Parmesan for mains; Almond Gelato or Tiramasu dessert. A walk back through the market to pick up the car and then off to Waterloo and Ol and Ang's lovely flat and their welcoming boys.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on July 25, 2010 from Toronto, Canada
from the travel blog: Go west, then go west some more.

From rainy Manchester to very rainy Toronto!
Toronto, Canada
I programmed my new (early birthday present) toy for T1 long stay car park. TomTom was particularly helpful in the navigation of the last stages to the car park with lane information. Though I reckon someone has had a little joke with modified route information making you leave the M56 one junction early and then take you straight back on again!
In an eery reversal of last year, we had a traffic and rain free trip until we parked at 09:45, when the heavens opened and we decided to wait in the car for it to subside. Every time it looked like stopping and I poked my head out, it would wait until I got to the boot before tipping down again.
The route to the checkin point was less than well signposted and the queue was quite long when we got there – of course, our line had to be the one with the difficult family with oversize and overweight baggage which took a long time to sort out. Our main concern was that we may not get two seats together but we were OK. The passage through security was thorough but one of the easiest passages we have had. Into the departure lounge quite unstressed, where we had a drink and a bacon bap. We got on board the Transat Airbus 310 in good time but had to wait 30 mins for a clubclass passenger who was late. Someone who obviously was more important than the rest of us put together. The seats were very comfortable and there was more legroom than we had on the jumbo with BA last year – all in all a pleasant experience.
We arrived about 30 mins late, had a relatively easy passage through airport controls apart from a mercifully brief encounter with a fairly miserable immigration officer who'd had a charisma bypass. I thought of asking him if he was having problems with his piles but decided that I should hold my tongue. We emerged to see Ollie and Ang waiting for us at the arrivals gate.
The rain had followed us to Toronto and a heavy mist shrouded the city but we managed to see some of the landmarks on the way to the hotel.
CN Tower
After a nice meal served by a very attentive waitress who really understood customer service, we went on a walk through Chinatown in the rain – at least it was not cold!
Ang & Ollie, The Keg
Back at the hotel, Sue & I had an early night (well it was 03:00 our time).
written by  rickandsuejohnson on July 19, 2008 from Toronto, Canada
from the travel blog: Two Thumbs up for the Canucks

Arrival
Budapest, Hungary
Parliament building in the evening sun
And today's lesson is.................when you change your pin, don't forget to change the note you made of it. Embarrassment at Manchester Airport when the card I had got for this trip back in October didn't respond to the pin I thought it had. When able to think in the cool light of a pint of Guinness, I realised that I had probably changed it to something more memorable and forgotten to note it. A slight hiatus with crossed fingers at a restaurant in Buda having tried the alternative showed this to be accurate.
View of Matthias Church from our room
Although leaving 15 minutes late because some nonce had checked their baggage in but not arrived at the departure gate until 15 minutes after we were due to leave, we actually landed ahead of time some 20 minutes early. Well done Jet2.com! Mind you while seat pitch was quite generous, I got the feeling that travelling light is Jet2's watchword, we had to walk across the tarmac to (in the rain) and from the plane and every opportunity was taken to relieve passengers of the weight of their cash during the flight. I didn't use the toilet as I suspected there may be a charge for that. During the flight we were overtaken by a 4 engined jet; it is the first time I have seen this and it was fascinating.
Arrival at Ferengy was trouble free, a tiny airport everything was compact – about 20 metres from the tarmac to passport control, 5 metres to the baggage reclaim and another 10 to the exit!
Our taxi driver was waiting and he escorted us to the taxi in the pleasantly warm 23 degree temperature. He made purposefully towards the car park and then towards an isolated Lada that had seen better days. I breathed a sigh of relief as he went past. The 25 km trip to the hotel would be relatively quiet being a Sunday our driver told us. Leaving the airport, there were all the signs I had expected of a former eastern bloc nation becoming part of Europe. Areas of timewarped, charming if tired 30's & 40's building with some derelict factories gave way to a huge modern business, hotel and shopping complex.
Evening Meal
I wondered how long the huge grey tenement blocks in the background would stay before someone realised that they spoiled the impression. The road was lined with trees on either side and I was struck by the sheer quantity of greenery around.
At the hotel we checked in and went for a wander in the immediate vicinity. Being in the old castle district of Buda we were high up over the Danube and had a fabulous view over the ramparts to Pest and the Parliament below in the evening sunshine. We found a nice place for our evening meal (11,500 HUFs!!!) and as we walked back saw the Matthias Church opposite the hotel all lit up – very spectacular.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on May 29, 2011 from Budapest, Hungary
from the travel blog: Hungary anyone?

At the start
Waterloo, Canada
Downtown approach from the air (CN Tower in background)
Arrived at the terminal for 10 and found the queue for Air Transat. While substantial, it was not horrendously long and we soon found ourselves at a check in desk where we had to have our hand baggages checked for weight and tagged prior to checking in the hold cases. It was worth the time spent making sure that we were within limits! We went straight to security and were again surprised to find no long queues; we were through quite quickly albeit directed by a guard who had had a recent charisma bypass and was still recovering from the surgery..
In the departure lounge we were amazed to find that there were seats available and that the bar area wasn't packed. We took the opportunity to nab a couple of comfy seats and grab a nice bacon bap and pint. Our gate wasn't announced until and hour before departure and we were beginning to think we would be facing a delay again but this was unfounded. Nevertheless, by the time it was announced the airport had filled considerably.
Having booked seats at the front of cattle class, we were among the last to be called to board. The bloke in front of me chose to put his trainers under his seat rather than the seat in front which gave me little room for manoeuvre and after gentle hints by pushing didn't work I gave up subtlety and just trampled on them.
In the isle seats one row back from us there was a family with a small boy of about 2½. Apart from not enjoying being strapped in for take off and landing (which meant he couldn't be easily comforted), he was very well behaved. We couldn't help but think of Zoe, Neil, Ben & Ellie next may and hope it goes as well for them.
We had a good flight with only a small amount of turbulence for a short while and enjoyed the in-flight service. Having left in sunshine, we flew over cloud for most of the way with only occasional breaks to see the atlantic. The coast of Canada was under cloud and there was no break for about an hour before the coastline of the St Lawrence began to emerge. We flew in to Toronto in slightly hazy sunshine to be met by Ollie and Ang 25 minutes early having passed through border control without problem, though lack of charisma seems to be contagious among customer facing staff.
The temperature was a low 27degrees C as we stepped out of the airport and made our way to the car. A short hour or so later and we were sitting outside Ollie & Ang's house sipping sangria and enjoying the late afternoon sunshine.
Early (?) to bed at 9 when our bodies were grumbling that it was 2.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on July 22, 2012 from Waterloo, Canada
from the travel blog: Go West then go East

Farewell Angleterre
Bailleul, France
Why is it that the UK manages to screw up its road maintenance so badly? We have travelled 24 years in France without significant problems due to roadworks. The only times we have been held up significantly are because of a bad accident. The French appear to prefer rolling roadworks which mean a lot of work going on in a small space and minimum inconvenience. In Canada last year we travelled huge distances and yet we only had one incident of significant delay, when a bridge was being replaced. And they have an excuse – they can only do their work in the 5 months of Summer. Canada may have 4 seasons but two of them only last about 1 month and Winters are savage! But in the UK we want to cordon off an area of about a mile either side of a set of roadworks and leave one man and his dog to do the work – when, that is, they are not having a tea break. We have a climate that by-and-large will allow work 12 months of the year and have probably the most congested roads in Europe if not the world. Yet we wait until July and August when most people are on holiday and clogging up the roads to do the work. You would have thought that some minister or perhaps a civil servant would have considered that these months should be avoided if at all possible? Surely someone, somewhere should have worked out that there are endless possibilities for additional bureaucracy and self-interest by Banning roadworks in this period without special dispensation? Thereby ensuring as an additional and unintentional by-product the holiday motorist is able to plan a trip without having to build in an extra 25% journey time for time-critical trips? If I ruled the world......................................
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 4, 2011 from Bailleul, France
from the travel blog: Paying our respects

Getting ready
Shrewsbury, United Kingdom
Preparing for our trip has been the most complex, time consuming and exhausting of anything we have done before. We could, of course have opted for a package tour but as you will all know, this isn't our style. So it has all been done manually. We had to arrange for our hotel before we could apply for visas, which need confirmation of the dates you have accomodation arranged, accompanying the applications. The applications themselves are not the most friendly forms to complete, nor are they inexpensive. The detail required is a bit frightening - like what is the name and address of your previous two employers and to whom did you report. Bearing in mind that I was with ASL for 29 years, I am not sure how relevant my details with ICI are!
We got a Russian phrase book to be able to at least deal with some of the pleasantries and make an effort. I had expected it to be less than straightforward as the Cyrillic alphabet is different to ours but I hadn't expected how much. There are 4 letters that correlate and the rest are quite new or just sound quite different. Russian C is an 's' sound, P is an 'r', B is a 'v' etc.; getting your head around it is difficult when you don't suffer from senior moments! However, we are making progress slowly.
Being locked in to school dates for taking holiday means that we are going rather later than we would like and the weather promises to be around what you might expect for a UK January or February - pretty cold. So we have prepared ourselves to take plenty of layers and shall be wearing our thermals! Our particular thanks to Ollie for reminding us that it would be a good idea to take our hats, scarves and gloves, together with spares in case one lot got wet (I knew that time spent travelling would be worthwhile). We have put in quite a lot of time researching where to go in the hope of avoiding too much wasted time, but we shall not actually make decisions until we are on the ground and can take account of the situation there.
I am sure that we are in for a marvellous experience; IT permitting, I hope you will be able to join us there. Da sveedaneeya
written by  rickandsuejohnson on October 20, 2009 from Shrewsbury, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: Venice of the North - St Petersburg

Off to Bastia
Bastia, France
Vieux Port, now a marina
Up early at 05:30. On our way by 06:50, arriving at Birmingham International just after 08:00 after a good run with only the predictable slow traffic on the M42. We had tried to check-in online last night but the site was not working, so we waited in the quite long queue for check-in and we were issued middle seats on opposite sides of the aircraft.
We got through security and into the departure lounge with no time for the breakfast for which we had hoped. Air France today has responded to the low price fares by not doing meals and we just got a glass of orange juice and a biscuit before Paris. On arrival we decided we would get to Orly before eating. The Air France bus did not arrive for some time and then took some time to depart just after. On the periferique, traffic was slow in places and I began to get a bit concerned that we would be late. As it was we got to Orly check-in with a little time to spare. Once in the departure lounge we only had time for a toilet break and buy a couple of sandwiches before we were called to board.
The flight to Bastia was quite pleasant; the flight through southern France was bordered on the east by the Alps, the snow caps looking glorious in the spring sunshine. Shortly after this we flew over what I guess may have been Nice and as we reached the Mediterranean, started our descent to Bastia. Our approach crossed the island at the bottom end of the Cap Corse. We appeared to fly through the middle of a gap in the hills, the lighthouse on the hill nearest me appeared to be almost level and only a few hundred feet from our wingtip. It was quite an impressive bit of flying.
We collected our car and found we had been allocated a megane, which was very nice but the checkout inspection was pretty cursory and we had to point out some damage. We were then left without any instruction on usage. The key was a card which had been left in the car and pressing the start button did nothing. I found that we had to remove then replace the card, press the footbrake and press start. Once under way, at the first roundabout momentary panic as I couldn't find the gearstick. Unsurprising really as I was searching for it with my left hand somewhere in the door pocket.
We made it to Bastia relatively uneventfully, although one or two locals did make the mistake of thinking they could mess with me – and I can behave like a frenchman when necessary! We found our Hotel quite easily but were told they had no reservation in our name!! Fortunately they did have a room available for the 4 nights we required, so all was sorted.
We found a nice little restaurant for our meal, for which we were very ready. Then back to the hotel and an early bed.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on March 20, 2008 from Bastia, France
from the travel blog: The island of birth for 'Le petit caporal' and the roots of Bernard Nobili

Christchurch, New Zealand
We apologise dear readers for the delay in posting this blog. The first draft got lost in Bagkok. The Captain of BA9 must have uttered words very similar to the heading as we flew somewhere over eastern Europe en-route to Sydney. But I get ahead of myself – let's start at the beginning. On the morning we were due to depart, we had to make a quick detour to Ellesmere to pick up something that should have already arrived. Not to worry , we had left plenty of time - Heathrow will normally take about 3.5 hours from Cockshutt, 4.5 hours on a bad day and we were leaving at midday for a 7pm deadline for checkin. It started raining as I was packing the car and got steadily worse as we progressed along the M54. It was so bad that traffic was seized up on the M6 and it took us an hour 15 mins to do what would normally have taken 45 minutes. The M6 toll was running freely but the rain was so bad that we had to keep the speed down to 60 or less at times. We kept hearing reports of problems on our intended route down the M40, so against my better judgement I was persuaded to re-route down the M1. I was convinced that the M25 would be static by the time we got there on a Friday. It must be said that the navigator was right and I was wrong. (It must also be noted that the only reason I agreed is that experience has shown this is usually the case). We duly rolled into Heathrow car park just after 6 and quickly notified the family of our status. (We discovered we had got off lightly – Ben had had to abandon his car and taken 2 hours to get home while poor Ellie we discovered later didn't make it 'till 9:30.) Having been clever and checked in on-line the night before, apparently all we had to do was drop our bags at the fast bag drop and we could get through the checks and settled in for a quiet wait in the departure lounge. We hadn't recognised that this is the busiest Friday of the year and Heathrow was heaving. The fast baggage drop was we discovered a relative term. We had a long queue to negotiate, first for the baggage drop then for the security checks then for the passport control. We finally made it to the departure lounge at about 8pm. Not to worry we said to each other, we're on holiday – what's a little hold up. We were about to begin to discover.............
At ticket collection we had been told that the gate number hadn't been allocated – we should watch the screens. We had a meal then settled down to wait for the 10pm flight- and wait. By 9:55 we were getting a bit anxious as we had heard absolutely nothing over the announcement system and there was nothing on the screen. I approached one of the counters at a gate and asked if they had any idea – they checked their screen – apparently the aircraft was being towed to its departure gate but would need provisioning and loading. A delay of some 45 minutes was likely; we thought OK what's a little delay, after all we were due to have a stopover of almost 3 hours at Bangkok, perhaps this could be reduced? We settled down by the gate expected until we were called at around midnight and actually took off about 45 minutes later. The Captain apologised profusely for the delays which were caused by the flight being 'lost in the system' and the poor crew had been stranded without a pick-up bus for the same reason. After our evening meal had been served at 2:00 we settled down for a bit of kip before Bangkok. The Captain had taken on extra fuel and would be aiming to make up some time. I noticed we were flying at about 700mph, which I think is just under the speed of sound.
We duly touched down at the stylish new Bangkok International Airport about 2 hours late at 6pm local time;at which point the Captain apologised that we hadn't made up any time – 'as you may have noticed' one engine had developed problems and been cut 2 hours into our flight so we were not able to fly as quickly. He warned us that the engine would need attention and repair before we would be able to continue. Never mind we thought, we're on holiday, getting to Sydney a few hours late will not matter. We had to disembark from the aircraft anyway but although we would be boarding from the same gate, the Authorities presumably take the view that there is no point in having a new airport if people don't enjoy it. So off we walked from the extremes of the airport to the centre and back to the gate, passing through the security screens, bag checks etc to get to the departure gate. We watched as engineers peered at the engine; the new crew tried to keep us informed of progress but information was at best sporadic. Finally the decision was made that the onward trip to Sydney was cancelled. We would be put up in the Airport Novotel overnight until onward transport could be arranged. Tired, depressed and dispirited we made our way back again to the central hub but this time to check out. We had to wait some time for this as the Thai authorities refused to let us into the hall until a new team was assembled specifically to deal with us. We then had to queue for some time to get through the customs controls – none of us had visas, so the Thai authorities insisted on holding on to our passports if we wanted to leave the airport building. No-one was happy about this but we had no choice; 100 years ago this would probably have resulted in a gunboat being dispatched! When we got to the hotel, there was the inevitable queue with 300 people checking in at once. We finally made it to our room at 10:50pm local; 10 minutes before the restaurant was due to close – and we were hungry. But the hotel kept the restaurant open for us. Crawled into bed and crashed out. We were told that there would be a meeting at 1pm to tell us what was going to be done.
Novotel Bangkok Airport lobby
By early Sunday morning, one or two people who had not been satisfied with waiting had got seats and the rest were getting restless, so the Hotel management asked the airline to send someone to address a hastily arranged conference at 10am. We were put in the picture; the aircraft was to be repatriated for repair. We would be found flights with anyone else that could give us a seat in the priority according to the price we paid. We were warned that it may take a day or two as this was a busy weekend; there were no spare 747's to take us on, few airlines operated direct to Sydney from Bangkok and if anyone were prepared to choose an alternative destination, it would alleviate the situation. The meeting was repeated at 1pm to make sure everyone had the information. We let them know that if we couldn't get a flight to Sydney in good time, we would prefer to go direct to Christchurch where we were due to meet up with Ollie and Ang on Wednesday. Some people who were not under any time pressures accepted an offer of transport to a resort on the coast for a couple of days. The rest of us were told that we would need to be ready to be available to rush for a flight at 45 minutes notice.
The pool outside the room
So we chilled as much as we could. In fact the cage in which we were trapped was quite a spectacularly gilded one even if it was not where we wanted to be. By the following morning, there was an apparent discrepancy between what we were being told by the airline and what people were able to achieve themselves on the net; the manager was duly summoned for a 1pm meeting to face the music with many people extremely angry. Poor guy took a terrible verbal hammering and his protests that facing us was taking him away from helping us fell on deaf ears; this was our second day and we had already been overtaken by people on the flight the day after us – we were taking no prisoners. After some time he was interrupted – there were 4 seats on Singapore Airlines to Sydney via Christchurch. We were apparently already booked on it and had to be at the airport immediately for a check-in by 3. Although we hadn't unpacked, we still had to get our things together hurriedly and raced to catch the shuttle bus with a mother and daughter, escorted by airline staff to collect our passports and get to the check-in desk. We arrived 2 minutes after it had closed. Thwarted at every turn! We were then whisked round to the airline desk and were checked in to the same flight that we would have been on 2 days ago! When our boarding passes were issued, we were escorted to the customs formalities by a girl who admitted she was on her first day! We had a grand tour of the airport before we got to the departure lounge. As the time of the flight drew near more and more of our friends from the stricken flight arrived and it was clear that a decision had been made to move us all without further delay.
The flight from London landed to great cheers and after it had been reprovisioned and loaded we were invited to board to even more cheers. But it wasn't over yet. The cold hand of fate had more in store for us. After initial boarding checks, the Captain told us he was having problems starting an engine; the 'plane was taken off the stand to be started on the apron. This didn't work, the cabin systems were shut down to divert energy to the start, so the cabin got hot and a lady fainted. We were taken back to the gate and when the lady was recovered, the engine was started at the gate. We were towed back to the apron ready for permission to fly and while we were waiting, one of the passengers became very sick; we had to wait for a decision from the airline medical team about what to do. He was to be medivaced. We returned to the gate to disembark the poor unfortunate, get on some cleaners and take off his baggage. We also took on some more fuel! Because of Australian concern about importation of unwanted insect life, each time the doors were opened, the crew had to walk up and down the aircraft with insecticide to fumigate it! I couldn't help hoping that none had stowed away in my case while it was open at the hotel or Australia could be in for trouble. Finally we made it past the apron and out onto the runway ready for take-off, two days and two hours late. As we finally made it into the air, the prisoners of the gilded cage raised another shout; we had been beginning to think we would have to return to the tender ministrations of Louis again. But what is a little delay when you're on holiday? As we settled down for the flight to Sydney we thought it would be good to watch 'Amazing Grace' with the inflight video on demand, needless to say it didn't work. So we mused on the effect for our truncated time in Sydney on our never-to-be-repeated-holiday-of-a-lifetime. Our 3 days of sightseeing would have to be condensed into one; we decided on just 4 things we would do: see the Opera House, see Sydney Harbour Bridge and do a harbour tour. We would have our anniversary dinner, as originally planned in Guillaumes in one of the Opera House shells, overlooking the harbour and the bridge. We should have known better........................
written by  rickandsuejohnson on July 31, 2007 from Christchurch, New Zealand
from the travel blog: From the Shire to Middle Earth and back

Week one
Argentat, France
Saturday 1st August
Up early and away for just after 09:30. Followed TomTom suggestion of M6 and M1 to M25 and Dartford crossing. All went well until we got to 7 miles of QEII bridge, when we stopped in a queue of traffic. Took us 50 minutes to go that 7 miles and although I ran at 70 most of the rest of the way, we got to Dover 10 minutes after last checkin and saw the ferry being loaded while we sat there. Not all lost though, as we only had to wait 45 minutes for the next. Good crossing and TomTom made light work of the route to Guines, despite the road having been changed since we were last there: there is a roundabout with the camp entrance off it now! A nice pitch and a good early night 10:00, we woke early at 06:50 (French time) thinking it was much later and were surprised nobody was moving!
Sunday 2nd August
Managed to get away for 09:00. The longest hop on our trip at about 340 miles; Sue & I shared 2 hour stints of driving. Having programmed TomTom to go via Rennes, she took us flawlessly all the way to Chateauroux without a single wrong turn. Having found some problems in navigating through Rennes last time this was a relief. She even found us supermarket fuel so that we didn't have to pay motorway rates! The supermarkets here appear to have wholeheartedly committed to a chip and pin payment method that is based on the pumps as I refuelled without seeing a cashier! A nice pitch again at Chateauroux, having arrived at about 4pm. After a cup of tea and getting ourselves sorted, we had supper then went for a nice walk around the lake next to the site. It is a lovely facility.
Monday 3rd August
Up reasonably early; too early for the showers it appears as the hot water didn't come through the showers until after 8am!
Away shortly after 09:30, having got fuel from Leclerc, courtesy of TomTom. The way out of town shown by Tomtom was different to our usual route but took us to a southern access to A20, instead of the northern one we have used before and likely to be quicker. Our journey south to Le Gib now that the A20 has been extended around Tulle meant that only the last 30 miles or so of the 150 are not on A20. A good run down with Sue and I sharing the driving again. Only 2 problems – we decided to stop early for lunch at 12:15 but the French had got there first in large numbers! The first 2 rest areas we tried were absolutely packed with any spaces for car & trailer filled by cars if not actually occupied by a caravan. At the third rest area we went straight to the truck area and had lunch there. Something useful I have spotted this year is that the rest areas are marked on the Michelin map with a green spot either side of the motorway for basic areas and a blue spot for full service areas. The other problem en-route was motorway repair work following a fatal crash just north of Limoges this caused a bottleneck of some miles with very slow moving traffic. For the first time, I noticed the effort of towing uphill at very slow speed was more than the cooling system could handle and we got quite hot just prior to finally getting going.
Le Gibanel looking familiar on the final approach
On site we reported in and were told Francine had retired. There is a distinct family resemblance and suspect that a sister is now running the show. The changes appear to be superficial and aimed at making the place more attractive. As it was not too hot, we decided to put up the awning tonight, completing this by about 19:30. We got chips from the takeaway and enjoyed them with frankfurters washed down with a nice beer.
Tuesday 4th August
Mist in the morning, le Gibanel
The day started bright and clear with a little mist hovering over the lake. It was going to be a very warm day. Texted Zoe 1st thing to wish her a happy birthday. We got croissants for breakfast from the shop then took Zoe's call on our return.
After breakfast had our shower then went into town, parked up in the market place (which has changed so that cars can now only park down both edges, albeit under the shade of the maples). We had a little wander to see what else has changed and found that while the town is essentially the same, a few shops have moved across the street into larger premises like the pizzeria and the fishing shop – which has now become a Millets and Kingfisher rolled into one with a gunsmith thrown in for good measure. Talk about celebrating the outdoors!! On the quay, we saw the gabare that was being made about 6 or 7 years ago sitting in the water growing old and not evidently used. Last time we were here, I am sure that they were giving trips up and down stream in it but perhaps this has not taken off in the way they hoped. While on the quay, we were delighted to see Roger's old Peugeot advertising a new venture – an art gallery and glacier with an address on the quayside. Of course we had to check it out. We had only had breakfast not long ago so were not so much hungry as thirsty as by now it was getting quite hot. We settled for a medium and a small pression. I had a little chat with Roger himself – telling him that we had heard that he had retired. He assured me that he had not and was now enjoying himself just running this little business with himself and his wife, working perhaps 6 hours a day rather than the 10 – 12 hours he had put into the café and no staffing problems. We shall certainly go back there for his ices later in the week.
Our next port of call was the tourist information office to check up on what was going on and to see if they could tell us of any internet café, since the campsite appear to have stuck with the one computer in reception (which is generously free, but since all the youngsters cannot possibly be apart from facebook for more than a few minutes, there is a constant queue to use it and the 10 minutes allowed is frequently exceeded). We were told that the town had set up a weefee facility in the square, so we shall have to try this out later in the week – internet al fresco! It has brought home how advanced the NZ campsites are compared with the miserable offerings in Europe anyway.
By now quite hungry we popped into what used to be Chez Roger to ask for a cassecrout only to be advised that they didn't do this and suggested we try next door! Obviously only a bar now. The bar next door appeared not to do snacks, so we just went straight to plan B and did our supermarket shopping and had something to eat when we got back to the site. Speaking of supermarkets, we went to Super U which used to be a huge place; they have had a revamp, turned everything through 90° and it appears to be smaller and contain less. We shall try the Casino next time, which has taken over the old Intermarche store.
We rested in the afternoon before having a stroll around the site to see if there were any old friends still coming back. Sadly, we didn't spot any of the old crowd – but our next door neighbour introduced herself and we found that they have been using the same pitch for the last 3 years and we knew one another from 3 years ago. They recognised us from the boat on the roof while they have changed their outfit.
In the evening, we had a barbeque with some limousin steak. Nothing fancy just grilled with a salad. It was absolutely gorgeous.
Wednesday 5th August
Lake at Marcillac La Criosille
Another bright and sunny day; it is getting hotter. Went up to Marcillac la Croiselle to sail the boat on the lake, have a picnic and get in a spot of fishing. We needed bread, so had a look around the village to try and find a bakery. We have never explored it before so were delighted to find it was quite charming even if on exiting the car, the air raid sirens started up on (we assume) a regular test. I can confirm they work and could probably be heard in Limoges. The sound was obviously just on one dog's wavelength as he set up howling in harmony. The baker had stuck up a notice saying out of bread, so he had obviously heard of the nuclear threat and was stockpiling. Strangely, a couple of people walked out of the door with bread!
We got to the lake and set up the boat with the new trolley. It certainly made the job a lot easier as we could completely assemble and dismantle the boat next to the car rather than put the boat together, get it down to the water then make several trips to fill it with oars, motor and items for the trip. We stopped in a nice, quiet, deserted little bay opposite the slipway and spent a pleasant half hour or so watching the world go by. Back to the slipway, it was a cinch to take the boat out of the water and park it by the car while we had our picnic.
I spent a little while fishing but only caught one little chub who hopped off the hook as soon as he saw me! I think it may not have been ideal weather for the fish. We made another little tour of the lake before heading back to the site for an evening meal of omelette and salad. Temperature of 29°C at 7pm.
Thursday 6th August
The Market
Up fairly early so that we could get into the open market that's held every Thursday. It was absolutely huge and very spectacular but we still didn't find anything compelling to buy. Back to our pitch for a late lunch. It was by now very hot; the thermometer showed a temperature of 30°C in the shade mid afternoon. It was too hot to do anything but sit in our loungers, read and doze – which we managed without too much effort. We managed to rouse ourselves with some effort to make supper at 8 and enjoyed some nice pork cutlets grilled on the barbeque.
Friday 7th August
During the night we had the suspected rain but although at times it was quite steady, was not the storm we had expected. In the morning just after rising was when the storm hit but it was tame by Argentat standards. Some brief heavy rain, a couple of claps of thunder and the odd flash of lightning. Although I had prepared the defences, they were not needed this time. It rained intermittently most of the morning, so we sat and read. Sue got the washing on in the anticipation of dry weather later. After lunch the rain died off as suspected with blue skies and intermittent fluffy white clouds; once again giving a low layer of mist over the river as the moisture dried up.
Lovely view over the Dordogne
We put the washing on the line and went for a 2 hour walk down the lane along the riverbank. There were a number of people fishing in the favourite spots and we were pleased to see that cruises by gabare have been started up river towards chastang. At the front of the boat there was an animateur who presumably was guiding the tour but he was also clearly entertaining the occupants as he sang songs that sounded folksy and we assumed were gabarier songs to put the masses into the right mood.
Gabare on the Dordogne
Back on site we collapsed into our chairs until we had to stir ourselves for supper; as it was looking a little black we didn't risk barbequeing but we need not have worried!
Coming up shortly ….................. Boules Carrees a Pierrfort
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 10, 2009 from Argentat, France
from the travel blog: Argentat de nouveau

Le Tournoi International de Boules Carres
Pierrefort, France
The town on the hill
Saturday 8th August
Got up reasonably early and got packed for our trip to Pierrefort. By the time we had left the outfit ready for any weather in our absence and filled up, we were running a little later than we had planned. We went directly from Aurillac to Pierrefort rather than going via Vic-sur-Cere as we usually do. We stopped for a brief snack lunch on the top of the Auvergne plateau and wished Neil a Happy Birthday, quite gently as he was still feeling a little fragile after the previous night. The temperature had dropped from a cool 16°C when we left Argentat to a chilly 13.5°C on top.
Mist in the high auvergne
Fabulous views and Sue's favourite kind of motoring on the way up. Going across the top, we saw a huge bird of prey, that lifted off from the top of a telephone pole as we approached, casually beating its wings in slow, majestic flight just ahead of the car. It was not a buzzard nor a kite, so I assume it was an eagle. We saw a kite as we approached Pierrefort, going about its business in a wide spiral about 100 feet over the car.
madness - pure madness
Arriving at Pierrefort, where it was a warm 23°C Rene was already hard at work starting the draw for the first group but he greeted us enthusiastically and was delighted that we had decided we would play this year. We checked in to the Panoramic, again greeted as old friends by Rosalie(?) with the customary Cantal 2 kisses on either cheek. We have never really fathomed the mysteries of this French traditional etiquette; its confusing enough alternating cheeks without having to remember how many you have delivered. Typically French, of course, there are differing numbers of kisses due, depending on where you are and the relationship of the participants. The average Frenchman will have learned this at his(or her) Grannies knee and it is now second nature but to the average English person it is a mystery. You can go for the safe bet of one on either cheek but then find yourself recalled to finish the job. It is a delightful custom – I just wish I understood it!
Our 2nd opponents
Rene had arranged for our inscription so when we showed up, Team 142 was swiftly up and running in Group B. Our first match was against a couple of lads who were apparently visiting their Grandma who lives locally. Although they claimed that they hadn't played much, they were either very good or very lucky – we only scored one point! Our second match was against another couple of young lads who were quite embarrassed to loose to us, I think. Our final match of the first round was against a couple of mature ladies and it was nip and tuck – the match not the ladies.
our 3rd opponents
On our way to the terrain, we asked the way of another player on his way to a neighbouring pitch. He was well oiled but reasonable coherent. However, he couldn't resist turning on the Gallic charm with the two ladies who good humouredly returned the banter. But one of the ladies made it quite clear to me that she would have two of him for breakfast! We managed to get a result and as a reward were through to the next round! This was against a team that mixed youth with experience. We were soon down 8-0 and it was not looking too good but we battled back taking one point at a time; finally going down 13-7!
Our 2nd round opponents
The boys bought us a commiseratory drink for which we were very ready. It was very warm and getting very humid. And it was now 8:30pm!! After our drinks we popped in to see Rose marie & Rene to see when we would be called to present the Shrewsbury Cup which was to be awarded to the best female team. It was not going to be very soon, so we went and had a shower and refreshed ourselves. After a brief discussion with Rose marie we went to have dinner, as otherwise the restaurant may be closed; Rene was to come and fetch us for the presentation when needed. In the restaurant, our table was next to a long table which contained a party from Clermont Ferrand, most of whom had been in the tournoi. Several of them we recognised from previous years and one older lady in particular recognised us; she had clearly been enjoying herself for some time and was leading some sing-songs. We were quizzed about where we came from then about le fut about which I said I knew very little, my interest being in rugby. Needless to say, being from Clermont Ferrand, they were all avid supporters and we had a discussion about which English players were involved in Ferrand and Brive (Jonnee Weelkeenson). Shortly after we started on our main course, we were called away for the presentation.
Winners of the Shrewsbury Cup, Ladies winners
I was pleased to see it was still there on our return - a delicious braised steak with mashed potato and being a warm evening was still very palatable. After an intermezzo of cheese, we had our pudding of cream filled choux pastry rather like a very large profiterole. During our sweet, the Ferrand contingent celebrated the 10th birthday of a little girl and we all joined in with singing Joyeux Anniversaire (same tune as Happy Birthday) not all of us knew all the French words and some improvisation was required. Panoramic had baked a special birthday gateaux for her, which looked very good.
We retired to bed close to midnight; as we were down two floors, we were not disturbed by the ball going on overhead!
Next – Les Monts du Cantal
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 11, 2009 from Pierrefort, France
from the travel blog: Argentat de nouveau

Sydney in 12 hours and off to New Zealand
Te Anau, New Zealand
View outside our hotel
Our hotel couldn’t have been more convenient for a short stay. From the front door we could see the Harbour Bridge at the end of the road and across the street the entrance to Circular Quay, so we eagerly set off to walk round the Quay and checked out the harbour cruises.
The famous Bridge
I’d read in the Rough Guide that the Opera Café on the lower concourse was a good bet with beautiful views of the harbour and bridge so we made our way there for lunch before taking our boat trip. A really great way to get a taste of the layout and beauty of it all. The boat stopped at various points around the harbour area and if we had had the time we could have hopped off and then caught a later boat to get to the next highlight. By the end of our tour it was beginning to get dark so we headed back to the hotel for a quick shower and change before heading to Guillame’s in the Opera House
The Opera House
for our anniversary meal ………….. only to find a notice apologising to clientelle for the fact that the restaurant was closed for the evening for a private function!! We looked at one another and started to laugh. With the luck we had been having it wasn‘t too much of a disappointment. We headed back along the quay and dined in the open (next to a patio heater) with the harbour in the background with twinkling lights reflected in the water along with the coloured neons from the skyscrapers that surround the area - one of them being AXA. It couldn’t have been a better substitute to our original choice and it began to feel as though we were really on our holiday. We headed back to The Russell for an early night, we needed to be at the airport again for a 7 am check in for our flight to Christchurch. Well you’ve guessed it the flight was nearly 2 hours late in taking off. However, we ended up only an hour late for our link up with Ol and Ang. It was wonderful to see them again and Ol and Rick headed off to collect our campervan while Ang and I chatted over a drink in the airport café. The men seemed to have been gone for quite a time and then we saw Ol. He asked me would I like the good news or the bad first. ‘It better be the bad love’ I said. ‘Well the bad news is the hire place is all locked up and no-one is there, but the good news is that we’ve managed to get you a cabin for the night at the campsite where we’re staying and we can sort out the van in the morning’. Relieved that we had successfully met up after all the hiccups we had had along the way I was surprisingly unphased. The cabin was great and we slept like logs before the start of our wonderful time in New Zealand.
We picked up our campervan early next morning. They said they had no idea we were coming and deducted a day’s hire and upgraded us to a bigger van. A whirlwind tour of the facilities and various keys for various lockers saw us off and on our way to Oamarou.
Lake Ellesmere
We filled up with diesel and hit the road. It was a little disconcerting to see plumes of black smoke gushing out of the exhaust from the wing mirrors but we put that down to it being a diesel engine. We also guessed that Minnie, as Rick christened her, had not been on the road for some considerable time as she was a little musty with overtones of disinfectant in the cab. We arrived at Oamarou at sunset and headed straight to the Blue Penguin viewing arena. Wrapped up against the cold (it is their winter) we sat and waited. We weren’t disappointed as right on cue first one group and then another started clambering up the rocks leading from the beach to their little nesting burrows. They are the smallest penguins in the world and are really cute. They gather in little groups at the edge of the rocks before making a run for their burrows across a floodlit track.
Sue & Rick on a boulder
The next day we stopped off to see the Moeraki Boulders and more photo opportunities on our way through Dunedin and then inland to Te Anau. It was a long drive and we took turns at the wheel. On the last stretch I resorted to a repertoire of nursery rhymes and any songs I could think of to keep me awake (I was driving) as surprise, surprise we discovered on day one that the radio didn’t work. Painful for Rick but better than me falling asleep!! This sounds worse than it was - there are literally no other cars on the road!! We discovered over the next day or so that Minnie had a blocked up waste water pipe (could have been embarrassing if not sorted) and a broken rear light bulb. Rick as ever got her in order. We ended up getting quite attached to Minnie over the fortnight, as apart from the windscreen wiper falling off in Auckland she coped with everything thrown at her!
How to ruin beautiful scenery
We had planned to spend our time at Te Anau by taking a trip down Milford Sound. When we arrived at the campsite Reception to book we were told that, due to the danger of Avalanches, the Milford trip had been cancelled and the alternative to Doubtful Sound was fully booked. A quick change of plan took us to Queenstown for the day and we booked for Doubtful for the next. We loved Queenstown.
Ollie luges
On the edge of a beautiful lake, surrounded by snow capped mountains, lovely cafes and a cable car ride for panoramic views of the whole area.
Ang in mid luge
A great day with the prospect of further adventure and promises of even more beautiful scenery and wildlife the following.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 5, 2007 from Te Anau, New Zealand
from the travel blog: From the Shire to Middle Earth and back

Bastia
Bastia, France
A beautiful sunny day and a deep blue sky greeted us as we stepped out of the hotel to start our walking tour of Bastia. The Square St Nicholas is only a short hop from where we are staying. The guide books say that it is one of the largest squares in France. One of the two longest sides is completely devoid of buildings and adjoins the harbour where the ferries from the mainland dock; the other is flanked by tall pastel coloured 18th century buildings. The square has two statues one at each end: a mother giving her son to the motherland (war memorial) and Napoleon dressed as a Roman Emperor and surrounded by palm trees. There's also the conning tower of a submarine – Le Casabianca., which took part in a number of missions to support the Corsican resistance in the year before liberation, 1943. For anyone interested in history the sub was named after the 12 year old Giocante de Casabianca at Aboukir in 1798 when he refused to leave his father's ship after it had been attacked by Nelson (”the boy stood on the burning deck....”.)
Vieux Port, now a marina
We made our way through the town towards the old port, now a marina, and walked along the sea wall before climbing up through the Jardin Romiu to the citadel. There wasn't very much actually left of the citadel to see so we made our way back in the direction of the hotel, stopping off to look inside the very ornate churches that appear in nearly every street. The doors of these were all open and candles laid out in front of the alters in the shape of a cross (it being Good Friday).
Oratory of the Immaculate Conception, Good Friday
Beside one of the churches we spotted a nice restaurant-pizzeria 'Il Pulcinella' where we were able to share a lovely pizza with mushrooms, ham and emmental. This was followed by a complimentary limoncella, yum, and off we set again making sure we called in at a chocolaterie to buy some little easter eggs for Sunday! In the evening we went back to the old port for our meal at a restaurant recommended to us by the guy on reception – A Scaletta. We had a typical Corsican menu, starting with an aperitif called Cap Corse Mattei and finishing with a myrtle liqueur. Back to the hotel then to plan our next day, the east coast of Cap Corse.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on March 23, 2008 from Bastia, France
from the travel blog: The island of birth for 'Le petit caporal' and the roots of Bernard Nobili

Churches, bridges and men in tights.
Saint Petersburg, Russia
Saturday 24th October
Up at 5 and left the cottage at 6. Surprisingly heavy traffic, light rain but reached T2 for 7:15. Although we had checked in online, KLM have made the mistake of leaving the airport check in robots at the entry to the queues for the baggage drop, so people that hadn't already checked in were obstructing the flow of pre-booked boarding card holders. Once at the baggage drop, though all was very swift. The usually dreary queueing to get through security was remarkably swift and the whole operation very efficiently completed. We found a restaurant and ordered our full English; although we had to wait a bit, when it arrived it was very good but we had to get on with it as by then our flight was starting to board. Fortunately, our gate wasn't far away and we were in the lounge in good time.
We were waiting on the apron for a few minutes as some woman took it into her head to go to the loo as soon as she boarded and we couldn't do the safety demo in her absence which meant in turn that we couldn't start taxiing. Memories of Bangkok sprang to mind! She was duly prised out and off we went, arriving in Amsterdam about 15 minutes late. I was a little concerned about the connection but I needn't have been. The departure gate for our flight to St Petersburg was only a couple of gates further down the pod and had its own security checks, so we were in good time for our flight.
We arrived in St Petersburg, having completed our immigration and customs declarations while on board; I am sure that the lovely lady customs official smirked as she looked at my passport photo – clearly thinking that it didn't bear much resemblance! We went through the red channel but were told that for what we had, we should proceed through the green – fair enough; at least we had volunteered the information and been officially told we didn't need to bother.
Out in the main concourse we found our taxi driver and he helped us with our bags to his car; I had a feeling we were in for an interesting ride as it was a Nissan V6. This proved to be the case and he swiftly carved a way though the traffic into the heart of St Petersburg while making various arrangements on his mobile phone, clamped firmly to his right ear. Of course, being an automatic with power steering (and probably autopilot too) his right hand was strictly speaking not needed although once or twice, I would quite have liked all his brain power being devoted to managing the traffic. I am aware of fairly normal speed limits (60kph in town) being expected in town but it was quite clear that this expectation was not shared by the majority of drivers. We had evidence of a certain disparity of expectation when we came upon a disagreement that had occurred between two drivers now being mediated by police.
Once at the hotel, we checked in and tried to get some cash out of each of the two ATMs in the hotel; the bellhop who accompanied us to the tills went for help but was assured that occasionally the machines ran out of cash – not to worry, our card would not have been debited. We couldn't help being a little concerned – not only had we entered two lots of cash without any return but we were still without any Russian rubles. We couldn't pay for anything in cash.
After depositing our bags and settling in, we went for a walk and stopped off at the first hotel asking to use their ATM fortunately this time it worked! We had a nice walk in the fresh air (4°C) around the block past the St Isaac's Cathedral, up to Nevsky Prospekt, getting a glimpse of the Hermitage all lit up, down Admiralty and much surprised to see a fountain playing before heading back to the hotel.
We decided to eat in the first night. I had Borscht followed by stroganoff, which was truly excellent while Sue had pickled vegetables followed by Salmon en croute with hard boiled egg, which was also very good. Drinks appear to be quite expensive unless you go for local stuff – local wine is about £8 a bottle while others start at around £20 per bottle!! Beer, at the hotel is not cheap either with the local ale at around £4 per pint. Anyway the wine we had was quite good fruity stuff with a bit of punch and some character, unpretentious, rustic and very drinkable.
Having taken our watches forward an hour for Amsterdam and two more for St Petersburg, we had to turn them back an hour before bed as daylight saving comes to an end here as well as at home.
Tranquil canal returning from Mariinski
Sunday 25th October
The room being very warm didn't help with a good nights sleep but managed enough. Up reasonably early and had a continental breakfast in the hotel. Once out made our way to Nevsky Prospekt then across to get a good view of the Hermitage. We retraced our steps back to Nevsky Prospekt and towards the Griboedova Canal, just before which was Our Lady of Kazan Cathedral.
Our Lady of Kazan
There was a service on and the choir produced the most extraordinarily beautiful sound which seemed to go over the heads in every sense of the many people who were visiting visiting, thronging the cathedral. Most people were obviously believers making the sign of the cross several times before solemnly bowing. Leaving aside the level of bling that would make the most insensitive of wags blush, you had to admire the craftsmanship at work and the sheer decorative impact. Llewellyn Bowen eat your heart out!! The other thing that struck us is that churches here have discovered how to heat themselves, which is different to back home.
Bank's Bridge, Gribodoeva Canal
We followed the Griboedeva Canal to Sennaya Ploshchad, passing some lovely footbridges on the way. The Bank Bridge is the narrowest and rather charming, flanked by 4 griffins. The Lion Bridge is surprisingly flanked by 4 lions. Depending on your point of view, Sennaya Ploshchad is lively or rather seedy. We didn't spend much time there as it seemed a bit lively, carrying on along the canal until we reached St Nicholas Cathedral. It is undergoing considerable restoration at the moment, being covered in fabric.
St Nicholas
The bits that you can see look as though Wedgewood had a hand in its design with white reliefs against a blue background. The massive golden globes on top are very eastern. Inside once again, nice and warm and full of iconography.
On leaving we decided it was time for lunch and made our way to Christopher Columbus restaurant, where it is kitted out as a ship inside. We had a splendid meal of thick chicken and turnip soup followed by Pork loin with sauteed potato wedges.
Before returning to the hotel, we had a look in Malaya Morskaya Ulitsa
Tchaiskovski lived here
for 13, where Tchaikovski died, 17 where Gogol lived and 23 where Dostoyevski lived; then crossed the road to the hotel.
Gogol lived here
After a rest, we went to the Mariinski for a performance of Swan Lake.
Outside the Mariinski
I am a complete philistine when it comes to ballet; I just don't get why blokes equipped on their lower half with simply a codpiece and spray-on tights (so that you don't have to work out who is who, white for the goodies and black for the baddies); who walk with their toes stuck to the floor then prance about as though they have been stung by a bee while showing a degree of cleavage that a builder wouldn't dream of, should appear so fascinating.
View of the stage from our box
Having said that , you have to admire the stamina, athletic prowess, control and sheer physical strength of all the dancers; the leading lady was very tall and stick thin but she must have weighed 8.5 stones and the blokes were lifting her with no apparent effort at all. Very impressive. The leading man appeared to be a bit simple; he was given a loaded crossbow and started prancing around with it; I suppose I should credit him with working out which is the sharp end but I was always taught not to wave a loaded weapon about.
Sue in our box, Royal Box in the background
Continuity had a bad evening too; in a solo dance with music provided by a trumpet solo the dancer was waving a stringless lute about – I couldn't work out where that was coming from. Another thing I didn't get was after every dance, the dancers would stop and milk applause and after each act, larger and larger bouquets were delivered to the leading players. The final bouquet for the leading lady required two men to bring it on, so I imagine it must have been about 17 stones. The applause after the final curtain went on for some time I have often wondered the etymology of the expression 'clapped out' – now I know!
Final Curtain, Swan Lake
The theatre oozes a sense of history with every fibre of its existence and is so intimate that you can't help but be involved. The royal box is suitably aloof and appropriate filled with the power of the future; a number of Chinese. The stage is absolutely huge, necessary for some of the routines but not intimidating. Despite the lack of apparent appreciation, I did enjoy the spectacle and would not have missed it for the world; Sue thoroughly enjoyed it.
We clocked up 8.13 Kilometres today!
Monday 26th October
Had a better night having worked out how the air conditioning works – you switch off the fan, turn off the radiator and open the window for half an hour. This cooled the room enough for it to be comfortable to sleep in! We were not in too much of a hurry to go out as it had been raining steadily for some hours and no immediate likelihood of stopping.
Church on Spilled Blood
But up reasonably early and down to breakfast at 9:30. We had a very good, healthy breakfast that left us replete and ready to face the day – and we needed to be. We got ready for the day with full waterproofs and sallied forth – to find that the rain had just about stopped. We found the siege plaque in Nevski Prospekt and I don't know why we found it so unremarkable bearing in mind its message – 'citizens, this side of the street is more dangerous during an artillery bombardment' was simply a reminder put up during the siege of Leningrad during the 2nd World war.
Church on spilled blood
We made for the Church built on spilled blood, erected on the spot Alexander II was murdered in 1881. It had apparently been allowed to fall into disrepair but has been restored in the last 20 years or so. They have certainly done a good job; both interior and exterior are simply stunning and at least to western eyes so unusual architecturally and vibrant.
Having filled our eyes and minds there we walked across the Field of Mars, where we saw the eternal flame burning brightly before crossing over the Neva by Trinity Bridge and turning right to walk along the waterfront to see Peter The Great's Hut (which was closed, but we hope to see it tomorrow), guarded by the Manchurian Lions, then on to the Cruiser Aurora which fired the signal that started the storming of the Winter Palace in 1917. The Aurora is now a museum but we decided instead to go on to the Peter & Paul Fortress and look around there. The fortress was the first set of buildings in the Tsar's new capital and although originally designed for defence against the Swedes, was never used for that purpose – instead it served as a prison and torture chamber and had several notable people incarcerated within its walls; the Tsar's own rebellious son Alexei! Dostoyevski and Trotsky were among other notable inmates.
Church of Sts Peter & Paul, Peter & Paul Fortress
The Sts. Peter & Paul Cathedral is in the centre of the fortress and is yet another exquisitely beautiful building, inside and out. The interior decoration is much more restrained and at least to my eye, rather more beautiful than many of the other blingy interiors we have seen.
Our legs were beginning to feel the effects of the distance we had travelled by now but we steeled ourselves for the walk back to the hotel past the Rostral Columns on Vasilevskiy Island. While peering along the vast width of the Neva at this point we noticed a huge streeeeetch limo pull up and a bride and groom got out. Immediately afterwards, a bus pulled up with a load of guests who piled out. Quite a number were holding glasses of bubbly.
The wedding party, scruffy photographer with regulation black leather jacket
Photos were to be taken around the column and a couple of white doves released by the couple. Everyone was in a good mood, fuelled by quite a number of bottles of bubbly that someone had thoughtfully provided. It was a privilege to be a bystander at this and I managed to capture the release of the doves. We wish them every happiness. Onward and across the Dvortsovy Bridge back to the mainland, through the Admiralty Gardens and to our hotel. An exhausting an exhilarating day.
10.24 kilometres today.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on October 26, 2009 from Saint Petersburg, Russia
from the travel blog: Venice of the North - St Petersburg

The view from here
Bailleul, France
On site at Camping Du Mont Noir, Domaine des Sabliers
Leisurely start to the day, then put up the awning and had a bite of lunch before setting out out explore the local town, Bailleul. We found a medium sized Intermarche for our shopping and then parked in the main square to have a look around. It was striking how many of the local buildings had been built post 1920.
Bailleul town centre
The town was badly damaged during WW1 so pretty well all the buildings post-date it. An extraordinary feat when you think that it was not just this town but many others that had the same problem and finding the workforce to rebuild in a short time cannot have been easy. We went back to the site and were mildly surprised to find that we were not just close to the Belgian border; we were practically on it! Mont Noir is one of several large hills in the area known as Les Monts du Flandres and unsurprisingly is strategically important. It was much contested in WW1 for the views it affords and just below the campsite is a military cemetery. We left the site at the top of the hill and decided we'd walk to Belgium.
Down the hill 150m from the campsite, looking back; site at the top just out of sight
150 metres later we passed the sign announcing we were in Belgium; we were astonished to see how busy the village was – absolutely packed to the gunwales with cars and people. We decided that French people nearby cross the border for cheaper goods (well we assume so as you would be unlikely to cross it for more expensive ones!) On the one hand it was undoubtedly a proud and unpretentious working community while on the other there were shades of Cockshutt meets Southend! The village itself is about the same size as Cockshutt but there are some strange anomalies such as the huge boulangerie – much larger than a small village requires and the exquisite chocolaterie, again much larger and well stocked than a small village requires. Against this is the huge games arcade and casino that you wouldn't normally find in a village like Cockshutt. While I wouldn't be altogether against the first two, I'm sure I wouldn't be happy with the third, especially with the unwashed masses the place seemed to attract! At the end of the village was a chair lift which runs from there to the next small hill about 1Km away across a small valley over the main road and some beautifully arranged vineyards. We decided it might be interesting to take the trip. The bar that would normally keep you safe in such circumstances had been replaced by a self-assembly steel strap; the whole affair looked rather basic and we wondered if we may have some explaining to do to our children if an accident befell us. Fortunately we managed the round trip with only the odd need to lift legs to avoid bits of tree.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 5, 2011 from Bailleul, France
from the travel blog: Paying our respects

Hot Hot Hotter
Waterloo, Canada
Craft Beer & Ribfest (craft beer section)
Off to a Rib Fest around lunch time in Victoria Park, central Kitchener. Tokens bought, we charged our sampling glasses and headed for the shade. A huge range of craft beer stands bordered one side of the central area of the park (porters, light and dark ales, lagers and fruit flavoured beers!); stands selling ribs, chicken and huge onions dipped in batter vied with one another on the other. Large tables sporting trophies from past glories fronted some of the latter.
Craft Beer & Ribfest (ribfest section)
This was a serious business. It seemed the more trophies that were displayed the larger the queue line. Ol and Rick headed off and decided a half rib from the stand with the shortest line was a good idea. Good choice boys – the judges agreed with you – it beat the established trophy holders hands down!
Craft beer appreciation society
A couple of hours had passed under the trees and a pleasant breeze was building up along with the cloud cover. We decided to take a walk in the park away from the fest. The sky had turned a steely grey – better head back to the car we thought as a few large drops of rain fell on the lake. Car reached, the heavens briefly opened. No sign that there had been any when we got back home. Ol and Ang's friends and previous near neighbours, Steph and Dave, arrived to share the evening with us. It was great to get to know them.
Sunset in Waterloo
Temperatures predicted to rise even higher today so after a leisurely start we headed off to West Montrose to see the oldest covered bridge in Ontario and the town where Bill Tutt one of the Bletchley Park code breakers settled after the war. He was invited to became a professor of Mathematics at Toronto in 1948 and then moved to nearby University of Waterloo in 1962. He returned briefly to Newmarket, his place of birth, after the death of his wife in 1994 but the call of his adopted homeland brought him back to Ontario.
City Centre
On to Guelph and after a brief stop for lunch at Pitta Pit (great value and really tasty) we reached John McCrae's House (place of birth) and now a small museum dedicated to his memory and to those whom he treated as a Colonel in the Canadian Medical corps in the Great War.
John MaCrea Birthplace
It is thought that he wrote 'In Flanders Fields' following the death of a great friend in 1915. We had visited 'Essex Road' one of the dressing stations where Col McCrae had worked and had written the poem when we stayed near Ypres last summer but both of us had assumed that he had been killed from shelling. Not so - apparently he had suffered badly from asthma throughout his life and contracted pneumonia while working at a Field Hospital near Boulogne. Meningitis took hold and he died only a few days later in January 1918.
A detour to look at a possible rental for next May on our way to the very small museum in the local bakery dedicated to Lucy Maud Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables) at Norval. Norval was the second place in Ontario where Maud's husband Ewan was minister. Back home to delicious barbecued steaks and corn on the cob!
written by  rickandsuejohnson on July 24, 2012 from Waterloo, Canada
from the travel blog: Go West then go East

Hop on - hop off
Budapest, Hungary
Vienna Gate
A walk round the old town taking in the Vienna Gate and views of the surrounding Buda Hills before catching the Hop on Hop Off Bus from the Palace about 300 metres from our hotel. A great way to get our bearings and have an idea of what we might want to return to to explore in more depth later in the week. The bus dropped (well it felt like it though it followed the road) down to the embankment and then climbed to the Citadel, past the striking Liberty statue that dominates the sky line before descending to cross the Elizabeth Bridge from Buda to Pest.
The Opera House
Turning left along the embankment up to the beautiful Parliament Building before doubling back and taking Andressy Ut we passed the Opera and Liszt's house. Everywhere little squares with statues of famous Hungarians and impressive buildings with late 19th century facades, ornate iron worked grilling to windows and balconies.
Castle in a city park
Our first 'hop off' was at 'Heroes Square' at the western end of Andrassy Ut in Pest and the entrance to the City Park complete with its own castle, zoo and thermal baths. We stopped for lunch in the park and then took the next bus to reach the Pest embankment for a boat trip to Margaret Island. Once underway the guide told us that they couldn't go to the Island due to extensive bridge work there but they would drop us off at the nearest point Bathyanay Ter. We eventually discovered the pick up point for the next Hop On (they aren't marked you just have to hope that other people are waiting too or someone selling tickets for the Tours spots you and points you to the exact pick up point!).
Millenium fountain, Margit Island
One stop later we Hopped Off into the middle of the Bridge Works. And how did the chickens cross the four lanes of traffic plus 2 tram lines? Well they tried the sensible way first but couldn't find the right exit in the underpass and then they negotiated several pedestrian crossings before reaching the other side. A short walk along the Margaret Bridge and then on to the island. Halfway along the island Rick's pedometer gave out just after gasping '14,000 steps' – he said it was the batteries; I think it died of exhaustion!! It's a beautiful park with ruins of Fransiscan and Dominican churches (one the final resting place of Margaret the daughter of King Bela IV); a huge water park with slides, pools and trick fountains; two thermal spas and a Japanese and a Rose Garden.
Sue takes the long path up Margit Island
An hour or so and one gorgeous and very reasonable ice cream later we retraced our steps to the entrance at Margaret Bridge. You can hire bikes, or beach buggies on the island, there are several cafes and stands; 2 Wcs (100HUF entrance – standard in Budapest) and along the main path lots of drinking fountains – very handy in temperatures in the high 20s. Despite much time with TomTom, Rick's homing pigeon senses have not grown weak and with map in hand we negotiated the back streets to find our way back to the Castle district and home. The route took up us a stone staircase to the Vienna Gate – a fairly long climb of about 300 feet from top to bottom. Doesn't sound much but the backs of my legs are telling me it was! A long drink, rest and shower before heading out for our evening meal. Hungarian Beef Strips with Peppers for Rick and Pork Tenderloin Strips with Blue cheese and Vegetables for me all washed down with local draught beer – great.
Watch out Canada - huge maples on Margit Island
Looks like another hot day tomorrow. Maybe a trip to the Buda Hills on the cog railway followed by a dip in the thermal baths at Gellart.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on May 30, 2011 from Budapest, Hungary
from the travel blog: Hungary anyone?

Toronto to London
London, Canada
City Buildings at dusk
From our bedroom window at the Sheraton we had a great view of the Old Town Hall complete with clock tower, reminiscent of Big Ben, and the CN Tower in the distance. At 6 am, it was dark enough for the clock face to be shining out making the whole scene look rather pretty as the clouds began to shroud the skyscrapers in the distance. It was still raining but only slightly. By the time we were ready to have breakfast the clouds had closed in and the rain was torrential. Not the sort of day to be going up the Tower for that iconic view of Lake Ontario with maybe a hint of the spray from Niagra in the distance!
The MacMichael Gallery
Having been introduced to the wonderful impressionist works of Canada's renowned Group of Seven by Ang a couple of Christmas' ago and knowing that a large collection of the work was not too far away, we headed for Kleinburg. It more than made up for missing out on the Tower, which Ol had said we could take in on our next visit – we hadn't blotted our copy book yet then!
What a welcome at Timber Drive – we felt at home as soon as we arrived and as though we had known everyone for ages!
written by  rickandsuejohnson on July 20, 2008 from London, Canada
from the travel blog: Two Thumbs up for the Canucks

Elora
Elora, Canada
Inscrutible Iggy
Another fairly early wake-up courtesy of Iggy who was keen to ensure that we understood how pleased he was to see us at 05:30. After a leisurely start we did some shopping for provisions and went to see where Ollie & Ang will be living from September. A lovely modern town House near a lake and the university.
Cedar tiled roof
In the afternoon we went to Elora, a pretty village on a gorge. The village had the air of a former industrial area which had declined before being restored to a certain gentility. The feature that gave rise to its original status was the river which cascades through a small gorge powering a mill. The mill is now a restaurant with superb views of the tumbling waters rushing past a tooth of rock in the middle of the flow, down a cascade into the throat of the gorge and along the gorge itself, before merging with another, gently flowing river some 400 metres later. We walked through the village to Victoria Park, which has views along the gorge along with the regulatory 'Lover's Leap' from which a distraught Indian maiden threw herself after her lover was killed in Battle.
Cooling our feet
We found some steps down to the tributary which while fast flowing was not too deep and took the opportunity to cool our overheated feet, paddling in the water.
We got back to Waterloo, popping in to Canadian Tire to collect a coolbag to take with us to the West coast. Ollie made pizza dough, collecting Ang while it rose and we had a wonderful home-made pizza for dinner. Afterwards we played a game of 'Leading Question' in which you have to match answers to a given question to the individual who gave the answer, this was great fun – and Sue won by a mile!! Shrewsbury College staff take note!
written by  rickandsuejohnson on July 26, 2010 from Elora, Canada
from the travel blog: Go west, then go west some more.

A Farmer's Market but not as you'd know it
Waterloo, Canada
Some stalls with the covered market in the background
Blue skies again and off to St Jacob's Food Market today. Think big, very big – huge market outside, large market indoors, countless stalls and all piled high with every vegetable or fruit imaginable. I've never seen such huge beef steak tomatoes, cauliflowers the size of small wheels and water melons in varying sizes, the largest needing to be transported in a buggy while the mother carried her small child. There were stalls, selling honey a few craft goods and, in the indoor section, a range of different meats and delicatessen items with Italian, French or German roots - who needs to go to Europe with this to choose from. A cattle auction was in progress as we wandered past and we caught sight of a few of the Mennonite community in their distinctive dress.
Shall we have one punnet or two?
It wasn't until the afternoon though ,when we visited the township, that we caught sight of some of the brethren driving their horse drawn wagons coming back from the market. The township was busy with some lovely shops selling pottery goods, glassware and quilts. We asked directions to the Maple Syrup Museum and spent a while looking at the exhibits and watching a video about syrup production before heading back to the flat via the local LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) to pick up some wine for the evening. Thank heavens for air conditioning!
written by  rickandsuejohnson on July 27, 2010 from Waterloo, Canada
from the travel blog: Go west, then go west some more.

Black squirrels and chipmunks
London, Canada
Hummingbird
A haven of wildlife in your own back garden. From the kitchen dining area we were treated to: chipmunks, rabbits and black squirrels; and a rainbow of birds – red cardinals, green and yellow finches and humming birds. Just literally through the woods across the road a Canadian botanical adventure – comparing names of plants and spotting the rhubarb plants growing wild that we are only used to seeing in parks and the gardens of stately homes.
An afternoon tour of London taking in the area and places associated with our Canadian family – we feel part of it already and what a beautiful place it is. What has really struck us is the space. The streets are wide, the housing plots large and generally you don't feel jostled. Even in Toronto it seemed relatively quiet for a city.
We are heading off for a wine tour in the Niagara region tomorrow and another chapter of the adventure.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on July 21, 2008 from London, Canada
from the travel blog: Two Thumbs up for the Canucks

Let's try some public transport
Budapest, Hungary
Dodge the guards at Fisherman's Bastion! When we arrived on Sunday, we trotted across the square to what we thought was the ramparts and were able to walk along a part which gave excellent views over Pest.
Fisherman's bastion
The following morning we thought it would be nice to see this in early morning light; oh no – there were a couple of burly individuals (one male the other probably not) in uniform ensuring that anyone who wanted a good view would pay for it. When we went back later that evening, they were busy counting their money and preparing for bed so we were able to have another look then. We had discovered that these ramparts are called Fisherman's Bastion. They were built between 1895 and 1902 and restored in 1947–48, after its near destruction during World War II. Its seven towers represent the seven Magyar tribes that settled in the Carpathian Basin in 896. The Bastion takes its name from the guild of fishermen that was responsible for defending this stretch of the city walls in the Middle Ages. Most fishermen I know are fairly peaceful folk, I don't know who thought it was a good idea to give them a section to defend but I confess they wouldn't have been my first choice. Anyway, to get the good view go at or after about 8pm.
The cogwheel train not going very far today
Today was a day for brave acts – using public transport! Sue liked the idea in the rough guide to get on a bus to the cog railway, walk a short way to what is known at the Children's railway, then take a trip along to the end and halfway back for a short walk up to a splendid viewing tower with a chair lift back down to civilisation. To enable this and other such activities, we would purchase a travel card which would give us free transport for the duration. We duly walked down to the place where the tickets are sold and using her best pigeon Hungarian with associated signing, Sue was able to extract the requisite items – I restricted myself to saying sagely in my best Hungarian 'kurssurnurm' which is supposed to be thankyou – it got a smile anyway.
Theory was fine but the practise had a small hiccough initially in working out from where the bus actually ran to get to the cog railway. No problem for Sue who deployed a stream of her best pigeon Hungarian and gesticulation at a couple of official looking blokes in uniform who duly delivered the required information. We managed to get on the bus but now had the problem of where to get off. The book said 2 stops but hadn't mentioned anything about request stops or whether we should counts stops where we didn't. Anyway when we disembarked Sue nailed a couple of old ladies who couldn't run and deployed her language skills to good effect. We were told we had missed our stop (surprise) and would have to walk back. About 200 metres back we found where we should have alighted and crossed the road to the cog railway. A word about Budapest bus drivers; I am not aware of a Hungarian F1 driver but I am quite certain that there are a huge number of potential candidates from the bus drivers we had today. As some readers may be aware I am not averse to being a bit heavy with my right foot occasionally but I have never before heard wheelspin from a bus; I am sure I did today, frequently. And I am quite sure that there is a competition to see who can turn the bus over first from the way they corner.
The train now departing................
Anyway as we waited on the tram, our ideas ran out of steam as a lovely couple deploying similar language skills to Sue indicated that the line was under repair from the third stop, so we wouldn't be able to go to the end and would need to get off and catch bus No. 22. While we had got the message, they were a little puzzled that we didn't alight. They would have been even more puzzled by the crazy English who went up to the third stop – and then just travelled back down again. Well we had promised ourselves a trip on the wretched train and we were jolly well going to have it. As it happens the bit we did was pretty uninspiring. Anyway, we managed to find bus No. 22 and a nice bloke who suggested that we don't try to get to the first station but aim for the second as the bus could drop us very close to that at Normafa. In fact we found the penultimate stop was right by the station.
the salute
The Children's Railway is a narrow gauge line and most of the station staff are filled by Scouts and Guides who have an interest in Railways – hence the name. I did find it a little other worldly watching a 10 year old saluting the train as he had been taught as it left the station. It was a pleasant trip on the railway climbing steadily through woodland and we left it at the second station, Janos-hegy. We had a steady uphill walk of just over 1km to get to Erzsbet look out tower. However, if our trip to lake Agnes last year rated a 9/10 for difficulty, this only managed about 3; it made us puff a bit but we didn't have to stop often.
Elizbet tower
We got some fabulous views over the city from (not quite) the top and were able to note the parliament building, the military museum, Mattyas Church and thereby our hotel. Childish but fun!
View from the top, Parliament in the middle
We had some more fun at the cafe by the chair lift. There were a small range of foodstuffs on offer but the main ones were hotdog, hamburger, which I vaguely recognised and melegszendvics. The last sounded like some kind of sandwich, confirmed by our phrase book as toasted sandwich. I duly (and worriedly) ordered these and the surprised looking lass taking the order confirmed one each; I was pleased that she correctly interpreted the single raised digit. The word meleg, it turned out may be better translated as 'hot' because it was not a toastie as we may expect but a huge torpedo which has a minced beef sauce on it and cheese melted over it. Sue confirmed between rather unnecessarily full mouthfuls that it was very good indeed.
On the chair lift back, there was a note not to rock the chair while in motion.
View from chairlift
Given the height above ground and the lack of a safety net I felt this admonishment was rather unnecessary. Arrival at the bottom terminus left us with a short walk to a waiting bus. Sue, feeling confident and fluent by now asked how we could get to one of the cave systems and was told very precisely that we should stay on the bus until a stop called Budegyozgye, then take a No 61 tram going in the opposite direction for 2 stops before finding a No 29 bus and getting off at Outilan; once Sue had elicited the information, I did my bit and smugly said 'kurssurnurm'. Sure that we had now got the complexities of Budapest travel understood, we never even blanched – perhaps we should. Getting off at the right place was no problem, nor was finding the tram going in the right direction or indeed, after some discussion, getting on the right bus going in the right direction. No our problem was the old one of knowing the right stop! We duly alighted several stops after we should have done near to the cave system that is in fact closed today. We had a 1.25 km walk to the other one, the first half km retracing our steps or rather wheels.
The Organ
The Palvolgi Stalactite caves were originally carved from the rock by rising thermal waters that subsequently powered the Budapest hot springs rather than the more common rain drainage. We only toured a small part of the huge complex but what we did was extensive and I'm tempted to say 'fantastic', Dad. In the course of a half hour tour we went up and down through some vivid underground landscapes at one point having to climb a 7 metre ladder.
Stalagmites - Snow White & the 7 Dwarfs (Snow white is 5ft 6 in tall)
The temperature in the caves is a steady 10 degrees which was a welcome relief from the 30 degrees outside, but we were glad to have brought some warm clothing.
When we got out we noticed there was a bus nearby and undaunted or perhaps enboldened by our earlier efforts jumped on the first going in roughly the right direction. This took us to a square we had never heard of so we jumped on another that was going somewhere we had. From here we felt we should have a go at a form of transport we hadn't tried before so jumped on a metro which took us to Moscow Square from where we were able to get a bus right back to the front door of the hotel. Public transport here is absolutely excellent; relatively cheap, incredibly frequent (usually today we had a maximum 10 minute wait even well out of the centre) very reliable and rather unnecessarily quick. It operates largely on a trust system so nobody checks you have a ticket as you board saving a huge amount of time over the course of a journey. UK take note.
For our evening meal tonight we thought we should try a little restaurant hidden away behind the main drag not far from the hotel. As we looked at the menu it looked pretty good and noticed a violinist playing (rather well to my untutored ear) some classical and classic music. We duly ordered and when the only other diner (!) vanished, we found ourselves treated to the undivided attentions of aforesaid violinist. Now I don't mind a bit of music as I eat but I found his attemps to get eye contact somewhat unnerving and the final straw came when he appeared with a 2000 forint bill stuck in the neck of his strad. This was taking unsubtlety to a new level but I was up to the job and looked him in the eye – not difficult as he was only a foot away at this point. I told him he played well and asked how long he had been playing. Misinterpreting my interest he told me that he was a gypsy violinist – my 'oh really?' was greeted with a virtuoso performance of recognisable and very nice hungarian folk music. I duly applauded and thanked him afterwards but he was confused but the lack of cash forthcoming so retreated to the interior of the restaurant. We paid our bill and left. You can't lever cash out of a Johnson by trying to embarrass them into it, we have too much experience of the state.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on May 31, 2011 from Budapest, Hungary
from the travel blog: Hungary anyone?

A quiet day
Anniversary dinner
Sue & I wished each other a Happy Anniversary and were astonished to see as we opened each other's cards that we had chosen identical cards. What does that mean? Spooky and perhaps worrying.
A relatively relaxed day, Ollie & I went to borrow Dave's car to pick up some chests of drawers he & Ang had bought from the other side of Waterloo. They were so large we had to make two trips but soon had them stashed downstairs.
After a nice lunch of fresh baguette, salami & cheese we went to Heidelberg where Sue had seen an inexpensive B&B on the net. I guess you get what you pay for!
O guage train
We called at a fascinating farm shop on the way back; all sorts of produce and an O gauge electric train set running around the roof.
Borealis Grill
In the evening we went to a restaurant for our anniversary meal; a former school House with an interesting decorated metal relief ceiling. I started with a delightful leek, potato & bacon soup while the others shared a huge tandoori Chicken flatbread. Sue followed with halibut and the rest of us had 'Brick Chicken' – a huge portion of Chicken cooked under a brick. It was very tasty and we finished off with a special coffee with Grand Marnier and maple syrup. A really lovely evening.
from the travel blog: Go West then go East

Battlefield Cemetery tour
Ieper, Belgium
Memorial plaque at Essex Farm, Col.John Macrea
Off to investigate Boescheppe near to the campsite before heading off towards Ypres (Ieper - pronounced Ee-per in Flemish) and the Essex Farm Cemetery. It was here that Canadian Lieutenant-Colonel Surgeon John McCrae from Guelph (well known to some of our family!) composed his famous poem ‘In Flanders Fields’ in 1915 as a dressing station doctor. His poem is written in full on a plaque adjacent to the bunkers that housed the wounded before their journey away from the front line which was about 100 yards from the Ypres canal.
Casualty clearing station, Essex Farm
The cemetery with its neat rows of white headstones surrounds a memorial to the 49th West Riding Division. What was especially poignant were little gifts in memoriam; a tiny Canadian flag, a cross with a note to a distant relative who had died – even a tiny Canadian lapel pin. There are a number of companies who operate tours of the battlefields and we were joined by a small group whilst we were there. They were getting a very detailed commentary - luckily Rick had printed off a tour from Chris Baker’s excellent and informative website www.1914-1918.net which we followed, with more detail provided from Rose Coombs’ book ‘Before Endeavours Fade’.
Langemark Cemetry entrance
On to Langemark military cemetery, one of the few German ones in the area. Just next to the car park is a tunnel with an audio visual presentation of the battles that were fought near here. By April 1915 when the war had reached a stalemate and despite the fact that it was against agreed convention not to use it, the Germans resorted to releasing chlorine gas along the lines running from the coast to south of Ypres. The casualties on both sides were tremendous. The presentation ends with scenes of burials and the words ‘Enemies in Life, Comrades in Death’. The layout of the cemetery is very different from the British and includes bunkers and linking memorial stones; part of the fortifications of the Langemark line.
Langemark Cemetry
There are around 35,000 buried here, huge numbers of them are students who were poorly trained before being thrown against battle hardened veterans of the British Army. They never stood a chance.
Heading in the direction of Zonnebeke the skies were getting darker and darker. We parked up at Vancouver corner, near the village of Sint-Juliaan, and as it was nearing 3pm and had started to drizzle, we decided to eat our picnic. It was here that Canadian troops bravely defended the village against those first gas attacks in 1915 and a beautiful statue of a soldier resting on his rifle commemorates their bravery in this and the subsequent battle of Passchendale.
Canadian Memorial, Vancouver Corner
The heavens opened and as we sat waiting for it to lighten enough to walk up to the monument we contemplated the terrible conditions that the soldiers endured in the trenches here – according to the guide book sometimes the mud was 2ft deep and the only way to move from one trench to another was with duck boards or risk drowning! Another tour bus arrived as the rain lightened and we joined them briefly before scooting back to the car.
A slight let up in the rain as we drove into Passchendale looking for the turn off to the cemetery. A sign pointing to the left in between modern houses on the outskirts of the village – surely the largest cemetery couldn’t be here. You turn a bend in the road and there it is, a huge high walled perimeter with cupola topped towers here and there. As we drove into the car park the heavens opened again and we just found a parking space amongst loads of other visiting Brits. We decided after 5 mins or so and no let up in the rain that we would come back another day and so headed back to the campsite.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 6, 2011 from Ieper, Belgium
from the travel blog: Paying our respects

The Hermitage no self-respecting hermit would contemplate
Saint Petersburg, Russia
Tuesday 27th October
Up and out fairly early to see the bronze horseman near to St Isaac's Cathedral, then on through Admiralty Gardens to be at the Hermitage shortly after opening.
After a short queue to get in, another to get our tickets and a final one to deposit our coats and bags (which is obligatory), we started on our journey – and what a journey. The initial impressions as you go up the Grand staircase are of opulence. Built as a museum rather than a palace, you might have expected rather more utilitarianism. But you would be underestimating the desire to make a statement. It seems that the creators of St Petersburg, Russia's new capital, wanted to at least match the ostentation of the best courts of Europe – which really meant France. There are shades of Versailles all over the Hermitage and we later discovered, Peterhof. The complex is huge and very disorientating and the maps supplied are less than very helpful in allowing you to get your bearings, particularly starting the tour at the top of the grand staircase with no view of the Neva. Most of the rooms have numbers over the doors, which helps considerably, once you have worked this out. But there are still occasions when a route you had planned is blocked at some point and you have to re-orientate and replan. With many rooms, you just have to keep a track of where you are because you have no external view that gives you a point of reference. Once you have the hang of it though, wandering the building is quite wonderful. However, it would be easy to spend several days here and not see everything, so you need to decide what is important to you before your go and then plan your route accordingly.
We had decided to see how time went but not to try to see any of the paintings, concentrating on the architecture and decoration of the main rooms. We paid 200 rubles to be allowed to photograph inside and it was refreshing to be able take as many as we wanted in most of the rooms. It was forbidden in a few and it was not always well signed that this was the case, which meant I had a tap on my shoulder at one point!
We took a break after a few hours to go down to the Cafe area to relieve ourselves and to have some refreshment. The water we had was quite pricey but what was described as pizza was very reasonable. Looking like a slim pasty with cheese on top, this was warmed through before being given you. It was delicious, filled with a meat mixture and a pastry outer somewhere between bread and pastry. Thus replenished we set about completing the tour we had planned. The space available can't do it justice but the highlights were the exquisite St George's Hall, the Peacock clock and Pavilion Hall, the Malachite Room, the Gold room (a masterpiece of OTT), the Raphael loggias, the small throne room, and of course, the sumptuous diamond room which was in a strongroom (by guided tour only) and contained fabulous ornaments and jewel encrusted items.
We were in there for about 6 hours and could have spent many more.
After getting back to the hotel and having a short rest, we decided to go to a restaurant listed as being nearby for dinner. It took us some time to discover that it is in the middle of a re-development! We then walked around for a little while, trying to find a suitable alternative. It took some time and we ended up at a place called Literary Cafe, from where Alexander Pushkin left for his fateful duel. The meal was both good and reasonable, so honour was satisfied, as far as I was concerned.
12 kilometres today! 4 looking for dinner!
written by  rickandsuejohnson on October 28, 2009 from Saint Petersburg, Russia
from the travel blog: Venice of the North - St Petersburg

Views over Bastia and west Cap Corse
Bastia, France
View over Bastia from the heights
Well yesterday's wind had dropped but today we have rain. Nothing daunted we set off on our planned trip across the spine of Cap Corse towards St Florent. The road climbed steeply out of town and despite the showers there were beautiful views of the whole of Bastia below us and south to the coastal nature reserve of Biguglia. We entered cloud for a while climbing ever higher before descending and then heading north along the west coast road to Nonza.
View over the bay at Nonza
From the promentory beneath the tower there were views across to the desert des agregates (south), north towards the finger of Cap Corse and east to the town itself nestling against the cliff face. We headed back to Bastia taking a detour just before the town to travel along the route touristique of La Corniche skirting high above Bastia and passing through the pretty villages of Ville de Pietrabungo, San Martino Di Lota and Santa Maria Di Lota each with their own church with large sometimes rather Moorish bell towers. From the road we could see far below us the village of Erbalunga which we'd visited the day before.
View along the Coast north of Bastia, Erbalunga in the distance
Even on a dismal day the island is enchanting.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on March 24, 2008 from Bastia, France
from the travel blog: The island of birth for 'Le petit caporal' and the roots of Bernard Nobili

Fur Seals off Doubtful Sound
Christchurch, New Zealand
Between boats to Doubtful Sound
An early start and on to a small coach that drove us to take the first boat across lake Manapouri on our way to Doubtful Sound. A quick stop at an information centre and then another coach ride up and around mountains with the sides of the tracks fringed in snow. A little strange as it was reasonably hot and tree ferns were growing by the roadside.
First View of Doubtful Sound from the top of the pass
We were eventually dropped off opposite a beautiful waterfall while our guide parked up and went to fetch the launch that was to take us down the Sound.
Waterfall on the sound
We passed huge mountain peaks as we cruised along, occasionally sighting a waterfall. Our guide told us that they were not in full spate as it hadn't rained much since yesterday but that yesterday's tour had not been able to see the mountain tops as they had been shrowded in mist! He said that if we made good time he might be able to take us out of the mouth of the sound to see if we could catch a glimpse of the fur seals.
Hello chaps - we've got visitors
We crossed our fingers and sure enough luck was on our side. Rick got some really wonderful shots of them as they lay on the rocks and the younger ones being inquisitive lomped over towards the boat to investigate. It really made our trip and the sand fly bites that we collected on our way back seemed a small price to pay!!!
Another early start the following day saw us on our way through Queenstown and on to the Fox and Franz Joseph Glaciers. The drive involved crossing the Alps - steep uphill and downhill sections with extremely sharp bends involving speeds or lack of them of around 25 Km.
It's getting darker but beautiful - Fox
We arrived at Fox at twilight and pulled off the road and on to the approach road leading to the base car park. Only one other vehicle in the park and a solitary Kea (South Island Mountain Parrot) who seemed unruffled by our invasion in fact he obviously expected a few tit bits - even though signs in the car park ask visitors not to feed them. We started out and I did wonder if I should have suggested we take a torch. Ol and Ang strode on ahead and met us on the way back from approaching the foot of the glacier as by this time it was getting rather dark.
Fox Glacier, almost dark but the camera can lie
We still managed to get an idea of the magnificence of it. So strange to think of a huge block of ice, which had been carving its way through the mountains for centuries still being there. We drove on to Franz Joseph and into our next Top 10 Campsite for the night.
We had planned to travel back via Arthur's Pass to Christchurch the following day but took time out before leaving Franz Joseph to see the Glacier there.
Franz Joseph Glacier
Again a majestic sight. We couldn't approach really near due to weather conditions on the lookout path but still got an amazing view.
Again wonderful scenery as we drove along with a lunch time stop in a mountain pass car park with another Kea. This one was very adventurous and proceeded to climb all over the car parked next to us. It perched on the wing mirror and then slid down the back windscreen.
Whose a pretty boy, then?
When it realised no-one was going to provide it with lunch it took off with a great squawk.
Our last night with Ol and Ang in Christchurch before saying goodbye at their camper van depot. They flew off to Sydney and we drove on up the coast to Picton. The last leg of the journey took us on a coastal road and we spotted more seals on the shore rocks and stopped to take a closer look.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 7, 2007 from Christchurch, New Zealand
from the travel blog: From the Shire to Middle Earth and back

Week 2 - Monts du Cantal and back to base camp
Argentat, France
Sunday 9th August
During the night, we had a storm and when we woke it was absolutely going stair rods. It was a late rise morning. We made it for breakfast at just before 10 and I enjoyed a hot chocolate with my croissant and bread. The jams were gorgeous and looked home-made. The family had been up when we went to bed; they still had a café full and they must have been up for some time this morning. They can't have had much sleep but they all looked remarkably fresh. It struck us again how hard they work.
By now the rain had stopped and we popped down to see Rose marie; apparently the lease had run out on their gift shop and it had been bought by Utile – a sort of Tesco express. She summoned Rene and we had a little chat. Apparently, because of so many teams entered and because as the Tournoi ran on, some of the teams took to the bar between matches, it didn't finish until 12:30! Rene and Rose marie then had to have something to eat before bed and then up for work on Sunday – I don't know how they manage it. We were invited to stay with them next time and I guess we shall but I don't suppose we shall get much sleep!
We were given a basket of goodies and a €15 token from the shop which we spent before leaving. We decided to go back via Vic Sur Cere, then do a circuit of the monts du Cantal, passing through Murat where there is a huge statue of Madonna and child overlooking the town on a puy then on to Salers before returning to Argentat. The weather all the way was pretty awful; the temperature dropped to 13°C on the way across the Auvergne plateau. But through the rain, the scenery was spectacular. We stopped at a rest area just north of Vic to go for a short walk to see the Cascade de la Roucolle.
Cascades
With the rain, it looked pretty spectacular. There was a sad note on the belvedere overlooking the cascade asking people to be very careful with young children as 4 year old Julian had fallen to his death there.
the cascades
Our next stop was the col de Peyrol which is apparently the highest pass in the massif central. I spotted a sign confirming that the pass was open, which was reassuring but I guess during the winter it would spend most of its time closed. Sue spotted a sign on the approach road saying that camper vans should not follow this route; needless to say we saw a number of either illiterate or simply careless people in their vans tackling the route. Fortunately, there was only one occasion when this caused a problem when two vans met one another on one of the many stretches of single carriageway (steep drop one side steep climb the other) necessitating some manoeuvring into a passing place complete with the inevitable queue of traffic behind each, which took time and some delicacy to avoid disaster.
cafe at the pass almost hidden in mist
When we arrived at the pass, the rain was only falling gently but banks of mist floated across the top giving an eerie feeling. The views were constantly changing as the banks of mist cloaked the scenery as though it was playing hide and seek. We saw enough to know that this was a pretty spectacular place; if it was as crowded as this on a poor day, what would it be like in good weather?
Mist at the pass
The route back through Salers was just as good; we decided not to bother stopping as it was pouring when we went through. We decided as we got back that it was amazing that we hadn't done it before and well worth the trip.
Monday 10th August
Got up quite late and went into town and got the blog started – ran out of battery before we could email everyone. Went shopping and had a late lunch. Generally had a relaxing day. The good weather has returned.
Tuesday 11th August
A very warm day, it started cooking quite early. Went into town again, added a bit more blog, uploaded some more photos, emailed family then went for a wonderful ice cream at Roger's new place on the quay.
Ice cream at Roger's glacerie
This is ice cream as an art form and tastes as good as it looks. We went shopping before heading back into town to collect some hasticots for fishing later and then parked up in place Delmas
Birthplace of Gen Delmas, old Argentat
for a walk through the old town along the riverbank. It was wonderfully peaceful.
Back on site the temperature mid afternoon was 28°C. We had merguez and chipolatas for tea with an oriental taboule and salad. After this I spent a couple of hours fishing from the harbour wall. There was plenty of fishy activity but I only managed to attract one small chub to the hook.
Wednesday 12th August
Another hot day in store, our neighbours left early at 8 and we waved them off. The night had been cold and the mists clung to the slopes around the site, drifting in spirals up through the trees but it was clear they would soon burn off. We put the boat together at the pitch, loaded it up on its trolley and then took it down to the launch point by the pool. The whole exercise was much less hassle than it used to be. We had a nice cruise up the river and back for an hour or so which was very refreshing with a bit of a breeze and the occasional splash. Since we have been here, we have been buzzed by a couple of Eurofighters flying at low level with a lot of noise, most days but while we were on the river, it was a Hercules flying just over the tops of the valley; at least it was a bit quieter than the jets! We have left the boat assembled outside the 'van ready for our next trip.
After lunch we sat out the hot (30°C again) part of the day reading (in my case) and sewing (in Sue's). Late afternoon we had a trip in the car to cool us down to survey the possibilities for tomorrow's lunch. We went up to Roche Canillac and back through St Martin la meanne. We have settled on Les Voyageurs once again.
Log cabin, St Martin La Meanne
We saw a lovely house on the outskirts of St Martin – a huge log cabin.
Quite a huge exodus of the Dutch contingent today; many of the pitches around us have been vacated; I suspect that most are trying to get past Paris by the weekend to avoid the congestion of the bank holiday weekend.
traditional dutch tent
Noticably absent this year are the traditional dutch triangular tents that we used to see in profusion around the site 10 years ago. Only 2 to be seen at the moment.
After a barbeque, we chilled again with a glass of wine as the heat of the day subsided to a lovely, quiet balmy evening with the cicadas in full song as dusk fell. This is why we keep coming back.
Thursday 13th August
After opening my cards and pressies, we got up and through the course of the day spoke to all the family. We managed to make it into the street market in Argentat and had a nice little wander around the stalls, finding something in a toy stall that may be of interest to a certain young member of the family in a few months time at Christmas. This market wasn't as big as last weeks – I noticed in particular that the 'choose your own trout' stall where a tank of fish was kept in the back of the van, one netted out for your decision – which in the event of a positive selection resulted in a swift dispatch by a wooden priest and hey presto – very fresh fish to order. Another stall that had caught my attention was the 'choose your own pig'. The stall had cartoons of very happy pigs going about their business and if I understood the blurb at the front of the stall, it was advertising that all the produce was free-range and organically grown. The pigs had very happy lives – in fact they were so confident you would agree they encouraged prospective customers to come and see for themselves and choose their own porker for dispatch. Now I know I'm an old city dwelling softie but the idea of looking a pig in the eye and sizing him up for slices of bacon etc before passing the death sentence on an individual whose only crime was of being born with 4 trotters goes rather against the grain. Of course I shall not be thinking about this next time I have a bit of pork and lets face it, if it were a matter of the pig or I in a 1:1 situation, I'd make sure that he was the one who ended up on my plate!
After leaving the market, we went straight up to the restaurant, having had a slight disagreement at the crossroads as I had encroached while unsighted. Anyway it gave a young French woman an opportunity to use her full range of vocal talents and accompanying hand gestures before screaming off up the road at considerably more than the 50kph normally permitted.
Les Voyageurs was very similar to the last time we ate there. As a Logis restaurant, it is immaculately presented and feels cosy. An old building with ceiling beams and a very ornate grandpere cloche, beautifully laid tables and older clientele. There were 3 others when we arrived and I guess the staff were pleased to see the numbers increase by 67%.
We chose the set menu at €16.50:
Birthday lunch
I had the most delicious rump steak in a pepper sauce with tomatoes and a white sauce with courgettes and leeks accompanied by a sort of yorkshire pudding or pancake. Anyway it was very good. Sue had pave of salmon in a langoustine sauce with pureed carrots, cabbage in white sauce and the pancake yorkshire. She enjoyed it but thought that the sauce was a bit delicately flavoured. I thought I ordered 2 glasses of wine; 1 of rose and one of red; what I got were 2 rose and 2 red – oh well!
For pudding I had a chef's selection of 4 puddings and they were all fabulous; I finished with a lovely lemon sorbet. Sue chose une assiette chocolat sweet and thoroughly enjoyed it.
We intended to go for a walk we have done before, maybe 10 years ago, but couldn't remember where the start point was. We moved off down the road then into some woods along a path but after ¾ of an hour decided it was not going anywhere and headed back. At least in the woods it was slightly cooler!
Chateau le Gib at night
Back on site we chilled off in the shade and at about 8 felt peckish again so went down to the chateau for a pizza. It was very busy so we had a kir at the bar while we waited. After our pizza, decided to walk down to the chateau again to take some pictures of the new wooden decking for the tables as well as the view of the chateau from the pool while all lit up.
Chateau Le Gib at night
This was rather difficult as I had forgotten my monopod which would have stabilised the camera for the longer exposure needed. They have made a feature bed in front of the chateau which is rather nice.
Friday 14th August
Up and into town quite early to do our shopping. Back on site we took the boat out for a run for just over an hour. While out we saw a lovely buzzard fly about 20 feet over our heads from one side of the river to the other to rest on some rocks. Sue tried to get her camera out in time to catch him but we are not sure she did. Once again, the breeze from our travel and the sounds of the water were very relaxing, although there are several bits of timber floating in the river and you need to be careful not to hit these; or indeed the many swimmers who take to the water.
Spent the middle part of the day trying to keep cool as the temperature reached 31°C in the shade in which we were sitting. As it started cooling at around 7ish, we went down to the pool area where I fished for a couple of hours off the quay. I caught 2 small roach and felt quite satisfied, especially as some people seem to have a strange idea of what constitutes acceptable behaviour and even when I had been there some time, people would come along and splash in the water feet from where I was fishing. Even less so when there was a nice clean swimming pool uncontaminated with mud, oil from boats and other detritus! There's none so queer as folk.
Back at the pitch we barbequed some sardines and very good they were indeed, washed down with a lovely rose.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 15, 2009 from Argentat, France
from the travel blog: Argentat de nouveau

Week 3
Argentat, France
Sat 15th August
Updated the blog in the square (where we had to sit on concrete as the seating was all occupied) then off shopping; we were pleased to note that despite it being a French Bank holiday, the supermarket was open. We stocked up with provisions for the next couple of days – it was quite a joy as the place was almost empty!
Back on site,we went for a cruise up the dordogne again before a late lunch. We sat out the hot part of the day (31°C) in the shade of the pitch, then late afternoon we played boules outside the emplacement. We had a nice supper of chicken in a lemon sauce. We finished off with a coffee and cognac then ambled down to the chateau for the fireworks which were pretty spectacular.
Sun 16th August
Most spaniels I have known have been potty. There was a springer we had in Cyprus that I will not have known well but has left a memory of being one sandwich short of a picnic. And Meg & Graham had a pair of cockers that would have been certifiable if they weren't so soft. Our near neighbours, a youngish Dutch couple have one who appears to defy the trend. He is well behaved, does what he is told, is suitably enthusiastic, demonstrative and playful. They appear to be a very well organised pair, taking turns to do everything. Last night he cooked supper, tonight it was her turn. Sharing doesn't appear to come into it as the other completely relaxes while the other does everything. Even if I could cope with doing the relaxing while Sue worked, I'm not sure she would find it possible, especially when the roles were reversed!
Another interesting near family is a young French family of Dad, Mum & 2 little boys. Dad is the patriarch, laying down the law. He spends most of his day in what Ollie would call his wife-beater T-shirt and there is no doubt as to who is boss. Except, that is for the 2 boys, who have two speeds for everything; flat out and stop. The youngest has discovered that if he shouts loud enough, Mum or Dad will usually respond and he is pretty adept at blackmail, with his hurt cry. However, Dad is rarely amused and it doesn't appear to work too well – raised voices are much in evidence; good for him I say. It doesn't pay to kowtow to kids, they're generally much too bright these days! Division of labour is along traditional lines; Mum organises the kids first thing while Dad checks on world affairs with a quiet examination of the paper. After breakfast they all go shopping; the driving being part of Dad's responsibilities – on return, Dad takes the packages in for Mum to deal with while he returns to the serious business of politics. Mum gets lunch while Dad entertains the boys. All go swimming a suitable interval after lunch then Dad entertains the boys while Mum does the washing up and washing. Quite what Mum does late afternoon is not clear – perhaps she enjoys herself. Anyway, later she gets tea while Dad occupies the boys and they both have fun getting through the meal without too much interruption from the youngest who thinks he has spotted a window of opportunity to create mayhem. Quite rightly they let him run out of steam, while trying to interest him and telling him to be quiet and he returns to the table in due course. It is quite entertaining watching other people's problems.
We have two young couples, French one side and German the other. They are both quite charming but interestingly, its the young Germans who are the less reserved and we are always acknowledged as we pass.
As for us, we went to Beaulieu for a picnic lunch and a wander round the lovely town in the sweltering heat – 32°C; when we arrived we managed to make contact with Tom to wish him a Happy Birthday at a time we thought he may just have risen. We used the back roads to get there and back, rather than the main road. It was quite beautiful and we found a spot just above a cascade where I could do some fishing. I had to use worm as maggots are not allowed on the rivers. After a really relaxing if ultimately frustrating 2 hours without a nibble I packed up and we returned to the site where we barbequed lamb steaks which we ate with a fennel and aubergine salad with a pernod sauce.
We have become quite friendly with a Dutch couple who are visiting the site for the first time with their 2 teenagers. They have spent the day packing up their traditional tent and getting organised for a departure tomorrow. We invited them over for a late night coffee and cognac after they have finished. Tim Hortons (Timmee Hor-tons to some) provided the coffee which was much enjoyed as we sat and chatted (quietly) until midnight when we all retired amid much bonhomie.
Monday 17th August
The young French couple departed this morning, apparently they are off to see the sea and shortly after wishing them bonne route, our Dutch friends were off too. Marco apparently didn't have too good a night as he had found sleeping in a small tent rather claustrophobic, so they were not going to go too far today. I hope they made it safely.
Another hot, sunny day (31°C when we got back to the site). We loaded the boat and trolley onto the car with the fishing kit and went up to Marcillac la Croisille for a last trip on the lake and a spot of fishing. We crossed the lake to our favourite little bay and had a lovely picnic lunch. While we had lunch, we noticed a buzzard circling the woods a couple of hundred yards away and shortly after heard him mewing out of sight. After a very restful couple of hours drinking in the solitude and peace, we loaded up and went back to the car where we re-loaded the boat before going round the lake a bit further to find a nice fishing spot. I spent a thoroughly enjoyable few hours and actually managed to catch a couple of small chub. Sue sat in the shade and read or possibly just rested her eyes.
We said a fond farewell to Marcillac; we have decided to pack up tomorrow and spend a couple of days at Chateauroux. So tomorrow will be our last day here; we'll strike the awning early afternoon and load up the car ready for a fairly early start on Wednesday, which is predicted to be the hottest day of the year so far. But we would rather spend it in an air conditioned car than an airless campsite.
We have had a fabulous couple of weeks and the weather has been amazing; as always it will be sad to leave. As I write this M.Hiboux is hooting his farewell and the cicadas are in full song. I look up at the sky which seems so clear here and it only seems a very short time ago that John Parvin was showing Ollie what he could see up there; we spent many nights afterwards looking for satellite trails – but I can't see any tonight.
Depending on when & if we can get internet access, blogging may be even more intermittent this week!
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 18, 2009 from Argentat, France

New Zealand North Island - Farewell to Minnie
Auckland, New Zealand
Christchurch City Centre Fountain at night
Before leaving Christchurch, we had one last thing to do – Ollie needed to have a dinner of Roast New Zealand lamb. After a brief discussion, we decided that if Ollie was going to finally have his NZ lamb, we would be best going out. Reception mentioned the Oxford on Avon pub which does a carvery and when I rang discovered that lamb was on the menu; decision made. It was a very generous meal and good too. After the meal we had a brief tour of the city centre, which was quite beautiful by night.
Captain Cook plus acolytes
The next day, having dropped Ollie and Ang, we made our way up to Picton; it seemed strange not having the Kiwi Campervan either behind or ahead and although it was nice to have time to ourselves, found ourselves missing Ollie and Ang's company.
The next day we crossed over to Wellington up Queen Charlotte Sound. It was raining and a low mist clung to the hills so the scenery was not as spectacular as it may have been. The crossing lasted 3 hours and once out of the sound, there was quite a swell. We made our way up to Taupo - our initial impressions of North Island were that it is significantly busier than the South. Also we were not as impressed with the scenery, However, as we progressed, this improved with lots of gently rolling hills. In Taupo, Ollie had recommended a cruise on Barbary and we were very glad we followed his lead. We only had to be down at the harbour for 10:10 for our trip on Barbary. So a relatively easy start to the day for a change.
Barbary at Taupo
The cruise was marvellous in a yacht once owned by Errol Flynn, apparently born in Tasmania! The rain we had had first thing had stopped and although breezy, it was fine. While we were cruising out, we were able to do a bit with sail but getting to the point round which we needed to go, the wind shifted and gave us quite a swell. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to cope with the pitch and roll and the motor pushed us into the rollers hard enough to get spray all over the deck. I was glad we had worn our thermals and overtrousers as it would have been cold and wet otherwise. We managed to get a good look at the carvings but with the swell, we couldn't just let the yacht wallow and had to have some speed to maintain control. After the carvings, we put up sail and after we got past the point were able to make pleasant headway going down wind. It was a marvellously relaxing and quiet experience. Once back on land, again following Ollie and Ang's
The Huka Falls
suggestion we went up to see Huka Falls, a wonderful cascade caused by the river being channelled though a short and narrow gorge, then dropping 10 metres into the watercourse below. After a spot of lunch, we hit the road again to Rotorua, arriving about an hour later. A very early finish to an unusually stressless day, really. We booked our Hangi and rainbow springs tour so that we could see a kiwi in action.
The war canoe
The Hangi was wonderful and the 'cultural experience' which preceded it was interesting, even if one wondered how much of it was really traditional and how much simply for the tourists. I suppose it is the perennial dichotomy of tourism whether it perpetuates a sanitised version of the way people lived so that an insight is available or allows the tourism to destroy the way of life that was of interest in the first place.
Address by the Chief
We finished off with a tour of the Rainbow Springs where a trust has been set up to preserve NZ's native bird population with the aim of restocking in the wild. Presumably to help in the funding, the have a rainbow trout hatchery. We saw all sorts of sizes from 'fingerlings' to huge beasts about to be discharged. On the way round our guide explained some of the Maori beliefs and bushcraft with herbal remedies. The highlight of the tour was to go through the Kiwi enclosure where there were allegedly 3 birds. However, only 1 was prepared to show himself at all and he was pretty shy and very quick (they may not have wings but they would make great rugby wingers!); still we did get a couple of glimpses as he ran past us.
The next day we had planned to see some of the local volcanic activity but got up to steady rain. We decided to stay pretty local in the morning and see how things went before deciding what to do later. We managed to walk round the lake front with sulphurous whiffs all around. We saw various pools of bubbling water and steam vents all over the place. We visited the very interesting Anglican Maori Church (one of very few that are warm to enter) I was a little disappointed that photography was not allowed inside.
Anglican Church
One of the interesting features was of a window that overlooks the lake which is a sandblasted and stained picture of Christ walking in Maori costume. It is cunningly meant to look as though he is walking on the lake. The extensive Maori carvings were delightful and there is some more traditional stained glass which was very attractive. Interestingly, the list of priests shows almost all have been Maori. Opposite the Church was a beautifully carved Maori meeting house. As we walked the rain grew worse and we were glad we had proper all weather gear, the walking shoes amazingly kept us warm and dry, even though we were aware that they were wet. We dried out a bit over a Chai latte (thanks Ang) in the old bath house, then moved on with very persistent rain. When we got back to the campsite, we found that although our gear had held up well and we were dry inside, there were some beginnings of damp in one or two places, my camera bag was soaking and the day bag had given up the unequal struggle with the weather and some of the contents had to be dried out; fortunately our passports were OK! So we spent that evening with the heater on full blast drying everything out! We decided, not for the first time this trip that a variation in plan was required and would get up early the next day and make a long day of it, paying a visit to Wai-O-Tapu, the thermal park before visiting Hobbiton and on to our final destination for this part of our trip - Auckland. By this time I was beginning to get quite attached to Minnie, having resolved most of the early problems she had been reliable and quite easy to drive.
Lady Knox Geyser, Wai O Tapu
We got to Wai-O-Tapu at 09:30 the next morning, got our tickets and after a brief look at the nearest parts made our way back to the van for a run down to where Lady Knox geyser was. We had an interesting chat from a bloke who described its discovery by inmates at an open prison nearby then popped a bar of soap down the chimney. A couple of minutes later, there were bubbles and a few minutes later, the geyser started and reached about 10 metres. It was quite interesting if not actually really spectacular.
Silica Terraces, Wai O Tapu
We then went round the park and this was truly wonderful and fascinating, with colours, smells, steam, vents and lots of bubbling. I hadn't associated volcanic activity with quite as much water as was evident. After our visit, we had a quick look at a mud pool just outside the park. Watching the mud plop was mesmerising!
Mud pool, Wai O Tapu
Back in to the van and up to Matamata; initially to a garden centre on the main road that has made the mistake of calling itself Hobbiton. We were directed to the info centre in the middle of town and bought our tickets for the 2:30 tour. It was a marvellous insight into the making of the films and the problems associated with the contract terms imposed upon everyone. Seeing the set and the background provided by the very informative guide, Caroline made it all come to life. Sue & I decided to watch the trilogy again when we got home!
Bag End - just don't ask which
Back on the road again, we arrived in Auckland at the campsite at 7pm. pretty tired but very happy. One of the most notable features on this trip has been the distances. There are no motorways to speak of , the van was governed to 100k and one just has to be prepared to take time to get from A to B. The trouble is that it is too easy to underestimate how far that actually is.
The next day we caught the bus into Auckland from outside the camp entrance. It took just under an hour to get in and then we walked to the skytower and caught the lifts up to the observation platform and the skydeck.
Auckland Harbour
The views were wonderful from both but we agreed it was worth the extra $3 to go up the extra level. After taking in the breathtaking panorama, we went down to the cafe for lunch and a leisurely observation of the harbour area. We then went down and saw someone launch themselves off the tower;
it looks spectacular but I feel that someone must be lacking something in life if they need to do something like that to generate some adrenaline! We got ourselves to Mount Eden, then climbed this (unlike some members of the family) for another fantastic panorama of the city.
While returning Minnie to Adventure, she had one more final surprise for us in snapping one of her wiper blades~ as it was raining, this was a bit of a problem. We were shuttled to the airport and checked in, in good time. Needless to say, we were 30 mines late leaving. However. this was a QANTAS flight and we were treated to a splendid 3 course meal, finished off with a magnum (chocolate ice cream). We landed in Brisbane and got held up through customs as a result of having been in UK in last 30 days (foot & mouth since we left). A very nice customs officer apologised that we would have to take our shoes for a scrub. Through this we went to the Hertz desk where a lovely girl sorted out our requirements and set us on our way with maps and directions to Ollie and Ang's apartment. We duly arrived and went out for supplies for our next day. Oliie and Ang had already prepared a lovely evening meal for us and we settled down for last minute planning for the next couple of days before crashing out - we had an early start to make if we were to get to Hervey Bay in time for the whale watching – but what's new????.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 7, 2007 from Auckland, New Zealand

Pied d'Orezza
Porto-Vecchio, France
Pied d'Orrezza
Today we left Bastia; we settled up at Les Voyageurs and set off to find Bernard's roots. We had read in the local paper that the storms of the last few days have dropped a large amount of snow on the high mountains and snow was forecast for today down to 700m. Apparently some 500 motorists have been caught in the weather. We were therefore prepared not to be able to complete the trip, although Pied d'Orrezza was just under 700m. In the event, although it was quite bitingly cold, we managed to see the place Bernard spent much of his childhood holidays. A tiny village perched precipitously on the side of a mountain and looking as though it has had a bit of a facelift.
It is clearly in the same vein as Cockshutt a working village with no pretentions and quite delightful too. The trip up there was as exciting as any we have had so far, with narrow sections, steep hairpins and dramatic vistas opening up at every corner. It was amplified by sighting a kite as we started our ascent, followed by another shortly after and then a buzzard! The animal kingdom went on to be represented by several groups of pigs and cattle wandering aimlessly all over the road as we made our way up. We retraced our steps back to the main road and drove along the coast road for an hour or so until we found the turning that would take us up to the Aigulles de Bavelle.
La Solenzara, beautifully clear. Looks a stream in this but is a river.
We followed a lovely, very clear river up its valley which was characterised by a bed of warm honey-coloured stone. The road was typically difficult but Sue who was now driving managed to take it all in her stride. As we got higher, it started to rain, then it rained harder before starting to turn to sleet and then rapidly to snow. We carried on for a little while to see how it was going but when we reached the Bocca di Larone at around 700m, the snow was falling thickly and with the temperature at 0, it was obvious that we would have problems if we tried to continue to the Aigulles at 1100m.
Bocca di Larone
We decided, not for the first time that discretion is the better part of valour and hope to do this at the end of the holiday if the snow has receded. Back to the main road with me driving and watching the temperature rise to 5 with some relief. We drove on to Porto Vecchio, arriving mid-afternoon and in time to do a bit of sightseeing of the town itself. Some of the original Genoese fortifications are still standing and certainly the town has a late mediaeval feel to it.
Genoese Gate
Founded in around 1500, the initial Genoese were killed off by the malarial mosquitoes until the swamps were were made into salt marshes. The town is built above a natural harbour and the modern marina has a delightful backdrop.
Marina
The salt pans that used to be a feature of much commerce are no longer used but still clearly visible from the heights of the town looking down across the harbour below.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on March 25, 2008 from Porto-Vecchio, France

The City and beyond
Saint Petersburg, Russia
Wednesday 28th October
Peterhof Great Cascade going into mothballs for the winter
Today was the first of our out of town tours. Our lady guide seemed a little businesslike and in trying to make small talk, I discovered that there were some no-go and sensitive areas. I guess after many years of having to be careful about what you said and to whom, old habits die hard. However, after a while she was more informal and we discovered that she did have a sense of humour. Peterhof was left in ruins after the German siege of Leningrad and there was some debate about what, if anything should be done about it. In the end, restoration was decided upon and is still ongoing.
Peterhof
In fact only the outside gardens and fabric of the house, together with much of the ground floor has been completed. It was a cold and misty morning, giving an eeriness to everything. We were not allowed to take any photographs inside the building, which was a pity as we were given a lightening tour, with very little chance to absorb very much. We bought a book on the place before leaving so that we do have something to recall and despite some lovely photographs, was not unduly expensive On the way back we stopped at a souvenir shop where the guide had clearly got an arrangement. Despite being slightly upset about being railroaded, it was quite low key and we took advantage of the opportunity to get some bits and pieces to take home. Getting back at about 3pm allowed us to go back over the Trinity Bridge and visit Peter the Great's hut. I didn't take any pictures as it cost 200 rubles – the same as for the Hermitage where I could take many more. The hut is the original 3 roomed wood building in which Peter spent 6 years while his new city was being built. It has many of his personal belongings and is a wonderful set of artifacts to be able to see. It was preserved by the simple expedient of building a stone house around it so now you can wander around the inside of the stone house and see into the wooden one. You get a tremendous sense of the history of it all.
Realistic King Arthur. Camelot
We returned to the hotel via the Spilled Blood Cathedral, looking for a suitable place for our evening meal. We found a place called КАМЗЛОТ – Camelot. Inside it was decorated as you may expect from its name with mediaeval theme, including Arthur on his throne at the end of the restaurant. The menu had levels of meals with the more expensive being 'Royal' , less expensive 'Knight' and so on. The strangeness of a British folk tale in the middle of St Petersburg, having a place done out as a mediaeval banqueting hall in a city which was only started in 1703 made it stranger still. But the meal was excellent and very reasonable too.
10 kilometres today
written by  rickandsuejohnson on October 29, 2009 from Saint Petersburg, Russia

'Wipers'
Ieper, Belgium
Car park when we left the car
Wipers is the version of the town name used by many thousands of the Tommies who made their way through it to this sector of the front. We set Tom Tom for the centre of Ypres. When we got to the Grote Markt the square was largely taken up by a fun fair but being Sunday morning it was all shut up and a small parking area remained at the far end where other cars were parked and not a paying machine in sight. There were signs chalked up in Flemish with the word Markt and various times written alongside but surely a market wouldn’t start up after mid-day on a Sunday. So we decided to stop and headed for the ‘In Flanders Field Museum’ on the first floor of the Cloth Hall.
Restored Cloth Hall, with fairground in front
An amazing and thought provoking experience – audio visual presentations, interactive screens, detailed explanations of the 3 battles for Ypres and descriptions of the day to day existence of the population and soldiers in and around Ypres between 1914-1918. Prior to 1914, Germany was one of the co-signatories of the guarantee of Belgian neutrality. Despite several wars with Germany, it does not appear to have occurred to the French that fortifying their border with Germany on the Maginot Line would lead the German high command to contemplate circumventing it by ignoring their promises of respecting Belgian neutrality. The Ludendorf Plan did just that. It wasn’t to be the last time that Germany conveniently ignored a promise made in good faith. The exhibition really brought home the horrors that had taken place and the utter devastation of the areas we had visited the day before. We had spent at least 2 hours there but could have spent at least double that – we both agreed that the subject had been sensitively and imaginatively presented without bias. Amazing too that the ‘Cloth Hall’ housing the museum and Ypres itself had been lovingly raised from literally a flattened landscape back to its pre 1914 state. The Cloth Hall only finished reconstruction in the late 60's.
Emerging into the daylight we decided to look for somewhere for a snack. I suggested we pop back to the car to drop off our guide books. What car, where was it? No cars now, just a market!! A rather panicky enquiry on my part to a stall holder revealed that the car had been towed away – probably by the police. She spoke to other people who all agreed that must be what had happened but no-one was quite sure where the police station was or how we would get in contact with them. Rick and the lady came to the same conclusion – go to the tourist information centre and ask them to look up the number. Bless her, she took us there with a friend and made sure we were seen by a sweet young lady who rang the police and established who had the car. So it had been stolen by the local authorities and held to ransom! The police would arrive soon and take us to it. About 45 mins later we were re-united with the car as the towing company were about 15 kms outside Ypres. The policemen were very kind and there was no charge to take us there but we had to pay 120 Euros to the towing man who looked really apologetic and said he was sorry. Our fault entirely for not understanding the sign. Stupidly we hadn’t fully realised that we would be spending a lot of time in Flemish Belgium where there are linguistic tensions and it is a mistake to speak French to a local; we hadn’t brought our European dictionary!
Cathedral front
Once bitten – before we left the car in another area of Ypres we checked with Flemish speakers that there was no need for pay and display in this area on a Sunday and headed off in the direction of the Menin Gate via the Grote Markt. It was 4.30pm and we were a bit hungry by this time so we stopped at a bar just off the main square and had Croques Monsieur followed by Gauffres with chocolate sauce for me or Crepes with strawberry jam for Rick washed down with a Cherry Kreik for me and a Jupiter beer for Rick.
Rose window in the cathedral
A brief stop in St Martin's Cathedral to see the stained glass rose window given as a present from the British Army and RAF to King Albert when the church was rebuilt after WW1 and then through the main square. Turning a corner at the far end the monument suddenly becomes visible and is only about 50 yards away.
Rick and I were both struck by its size. Somehow it had never looked that large on the television. The white stone glows in the sunlight and the centre of the arched ceiling is pierced by three large circular openings to the sky. The walls outside and in, and on the stairways to the side wings, are covered with the names of those with no known grave missing in battle up to 15 August 1915 (over 54,000).
Menin Gate from outside
Those who were lost and whose bodies were never found after this date are commemorated at Tyne Cot. Climbing the stairs on the south side of the gate to the ramparts we walked along in the direction of the Lille Gate and to the Ramparts Cemetery, one of the smallest on the whole of the western front. The walk that approaches it is named after Rose Coombs the author of the book which has given us much of the information on the sites, who was a great friend of Ieper and whose ashes were sprinkled in the Ramparts Cemetery.
Ramparts Cemetry
The headstones in the cemetery all face out to overlook the rivers that converge here at its base. From here we made our way back to the car (yes it was still where we parked it!) and a route back to Mont Noir via the Monts des Cats. Mental note made to re-visit the latter at a later stage!
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 7, 2011 from Ieper, Belgium

A Distillery and a washout
Toronto, Canada
Miniature Railway
Another beautiful blue sky and an hour on the motorway network to Toronto and a cruise around to find parking near the Blue Jays stadium. We headed off in the direction of the CN Tower, skirting the Railway Museum with its miniature children's railway, towards the historic Distillery district, original the site of industrial units now used as a microbrewery, craft shops and restaurants. Ol hailed a taxi and 10 minutes later we were there.
Distillery district
First stop lunch at a micro brewery – 2 huge 'Starters' for us all to share. Ang and I left the men to another beer and headed off to look in a couple of the boutique galleries. The prices were also 'boutique'. A shop selling old household nik naks was asking $135 for a rusty old bird cage; $595 for a 1960s office stool! Mental note – if your shop is in a 'trendy' area you can ask silly prices. The jewellery, clothes, ceramics were lovely and were very unusual but, even taking into consideration the time taken to make them, they were hugely over priced (small filigree metal work earrings at $245).
Waterside
We headed off towards the lakeside from the Distillery district on our way back to the stadium. The whole area is being rejuvenated with high rise apartment blocks under construction on the edge of the lake. As we neared the centre some of the development had been completed and included a lovely water park and sandy beach area.
Blue Jays Stadium
An early meal at Wayne Gretsky's restaurant full of hockey memorabilia, before the game. We noticed that the roof had been closed – did this mean they expected rain? Well we didn't bring the Blue Jays luck. They lost 16-0 in a three hour game with Oakland Athletics. It was a great experience. The height some of those balls reached before hurtling into the crowd was impressive! Heavy rain greeted us as we reached the exit. What to do as none of us had coats or an umbrella? In the end Rick suggested we go back into the stadium and walk round to the Radisson Hotel and get a taxi. He wasn't the only one with this idea ,so Ol volunteered to get the car and meet us there. Within a quarter of an hour we were back on the motorway with sheet lightening illuminating the skyline as we left the city and buckets of rain making it a tricky drive for Ol. Home safely and in bed a little after 1am!
written by  rickandsuejohnson on July 26, 2012 from Toronto, Canada

A good day out
Danube with flood defences
We've been keeping a close eye on the weather forecast with the idea of saving the places we want to visit that will mean being inside for a rainy day. Day by day the prediction of rain and thunder storms has moved back towards Thursday, which will be our last full day, so we decided to take another day out of town, this time to Szentendre 20 kms North of Budapest on the banks of the Danube. It is mentioned as the most easy place to visit outside Budapest in the Rough Guide and 40 mins later we arrived via the HEV suburban railway at this pretty little town. The plan was to combine the trip with a visit to the Hungarian Open Air Museum 4 kms out of town. The buses don't run there between 10am and 1 pm so we spent a couple of hours wandering the back streets and walking down to the river.
High Street
There is major construction work going on in the village square and we felt sorry for one particular restaurant right in front of the fenced off area with diggers and drills working away – surprise, surprise they had no customers! Back to the bus station and thank goodness for our guide book which has place names also written in Hungarian so we are able to point out where we want to go and everyone, without fail, has tried to help us or called someone else over to see if they can understand what it is we want. Tickets purchased we boarded the bus and found that our stop was ¾ of the way round a circular route only operating in one direction.
Upper Tisza House
We arrived at the Museum just before 2 pm and downed 2 large beers (well one each!) and some lovely scone like bread before wandering round. The park is set out with buildings typical of the different regions that comprised old Hungary.
Before the Treaty of Trianon at the end of the First World War Hungary's territory included some of what is now within Bosnia, Serbia, Transylvania and Romania.
Middle room, Upper Tisza house
Most of the buildings that we decided to concentrate on dated from 1800s onwards. It was surprising to note that in the early 20th century many villages had typically thatched houses , with fairly spartan furnishing.
Temperatures around 30º again and not a black cloud in sight, we made our way back. All the transport is right on time and really reasonable – thumbs up to Hungary. Our 7 day pass cost 4,600 ft (£13 approx) and we only had to pay a slight supplement to make the journey beyond the city district today. The pass covers buses, trams, metro and HEV to the city limits; most of the little buses that operate in the city centre are not in the first flush of youth - indeed most of the transport has been well used and worked hard so has a rather care worn look about it. As we exited the metro station to catch the bus back to our hotel it started to rain and as I type the last rolls of thunder are fading away. It's certainly cleared the air.
Rick facing the meal for 2
After a glass of Tokay courtesy of the manager (we had had to change rooms – a faulty air conditioning unit) we headed out towards the Palace Buildings at the opposite end of Varhegy for our evening meal – possibly the best yet. A platter for 2 to share with assorted meats, rice, vegetables and french fries.
The Palace (now the National Museum) and the President's official residence are floodlit at night and we wandered into the inner courtyard, which has been set up for a Lipizzana Horse Show.
The Palace
With very few other people there it almost felt like stepping back in time to the grandeur of the 18th and 19th centuries. This is such a beautiful city!
Rain or not we are planning to visit the Parliament Building, St Stephen's Basilica and the State Opera House tomorrow!
written by  rickandsuejohnson on June 1, 2011 from Budapest, Hungary

The wine tour
Niagara Falls, Canada
Strewn Winery
We left reasonably early so that we would be in Niagara at our hotel for collection for our wine tour. A brief stop for Tim Hortons refreshment saw us checking in to the Ramada by midday then grabbing a quick sandwich while we waited for our minibus.
Male members of the wine tour
Our tour driver/guide David had come over from Glasgow in 1957 immediately after he got married but he still had a distinct Scottish if not exactly Glaswegian accent. He was a remarkable chap; we introduced ourselves to him just once and he remembered our names infallibly all afternoon even to the extent of associating the voice and the name when he couldn't see us. He was a mine of interesting information about the area.
Our first visit was to Jackson-Triggs winery. This is a huge concern and we had a tour of the winery led by a very interesting young man who gave instructions for tasting and appreciating wine. We sampled 3 wines, one was called Meritage and is based on a classic Bordeaux recipe, the next was a dry white reisling and finally we had a drop of icewine which was very good indeed.
Our next visit was to Strewn, a smaller concern, where we tasted 3 wines again; the one with the most impact for me was a delicious Reisling Gewurztraminer – I bought a couple of bottles for later consumption.
The third winery was Pallatine Hills; again 3 interesting wines and a palate that was beginning to have some difficulty in differentiating between them, and a brain that had difficulty in appreciating why you should bother analysing something so much fun.
Carolines Winery
Sampling at Carolines
Our final visit was to a winery called Caroline after its founder. A very simple building and a family run affair. They offered 4 wines to taste and while by this time, it was difficult to relate and compare with the earlier wines, they did have a unique product in the fruit wines. I was quite taken with a pinot and cherry wine and bought a couple of bottles.
The drive back from Niagara on the lake (which was a rather nice, tidy town) along Niagara Parkway was very pleasant.
Tour members with David
Back at the Ramada, we went up to our rooms and Kris & Dave swapped with us – theirs had a better view! The Ramada appeared to have been built as a bit of an afterthought; we wondered why when we got in the lift, the floors started numbering at 25! it was built as a tower with reception in the base and then at the top of the stick, the observation deck, then the restaurant and the bedrooms.
The Ramada Stick
Obviously, there would have been no views any lower down, so it was built with lower floors missing! After a freshen up we decided to go down to the observation deck for some fabulous views of the falls. After much debate we had dinner in the restaurant where we had a table overlooking both falls; the meal itself was marvellous if more than we could handle and with the view, the experience was truly exceptional. Grandpa Morris may even have used the word 'fantastic'.
View from the Dining Room over both sets of the falls
After our meal, a walk down to the falls and along the embankment to take in the view as dusk was falling. The numbers hanging around suggested that they may be lit, so we hung around ourselves and were delighted to see them lit up at 21:00.
Canadian Falls at night
written by  rickandsuejohnson on July 24, 2008 from Niagara Falls, Canada

Wet, wet wet
Stratford, Canada
Shakespeare Gardens
A leisurely start to the day before leaving for Stratford, arriving just after midday. After a nice picnic by the river, we made for the Green Room, a fashion shop with an eclectic mix of items that are intended to be surprising. Although I would not exactly describe myself as a fashionista, it made for an interesting few minutes. We then made for the tourist information office, getting the lowdown on what's around. We chose not to take the boat tour and although the 1hour guided walk around the lake sounded quite interesting decided not to wait and to do it ourselves, ending with a visit to the Japenese Gardens.
The first stop on this tour was the Shakespeare Gardens, which were a tiny but perfectly formed set of gardens on the banks of the Avon connected by a footbridge to a little island with big ants. It was very warm, sticky and close, so we decided to get a nice 'ice cap' at Tim Horton's and literally chill for a while.
Leaving Tim Horton's, we set off on our tour of the lake. The side away from the town centre had lovely looking houses backing down to the footpath running by the waterside and it was a nice and interesting walk. The lake is only about 1Km long and is really a widened part of the Avon between 2 bridges. We were approaching the half-way point when we felt the first spots of rain. There was no shelter so we quickened our pace; it was no good – within seconds the heavens decided to dump the huge excess of moisture they had built up and it was raining hard.
Avon by Shakespeare Gardens
Taking shelter under a tree, it rapidly became clear that this was not going to ease quickly and the tree was providing a reducing amount of protection, so Ollie took off for the car and brought it round to the aged and by now bedraggled parents. Of course by now, the rain was easing a bit. So I wrung about one reservoir's worth of water out of my shirt before getting into the car and Sue passed her dress out to be given the same treatment! In the circumstances we decided to leave the Japanese gardens to another visit.
Back at the flat, we did some washing and drying before enjoying one of Ollie's marvellous meals.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on July 28, 2010 from Stratford, Canada

An Increasingly Merry Crew
Niagara Falls, Canada
American Falls by Sheraton Hotel
Off bright and early to Niagara Falls to park up at the hotel and be picked up by Wine Tours International for our Wine Tasting Tour. Ol had managed to get us booked in to the Sheraton On the Falls opposite the American Falls and a stone's throw away from one of the border bridges. Two years ago we had stayed at the Ramada overlooking the Canadian Horse Shoe Falls so it made a nice contrast to be at the other end of the parkway which runs the length of the escarpment and from which you get wonderful views of both waterfalls.
The experience begins
We were due to be picked up at 10.15. After an exchange of calls to the tour operator we were picked up by Brian at around 11.00 am and taken to Niagara on the Lake. The drive took us through beautiful parkland peppered with neat, clean picnic areas and plenty of opportunity to stop off and admire views of the Niagara River and Lake Ontario. Apparently there is a 34 km cycle path that the more adventurous can take that borders the river and lake. Brian told us that the whole area is maintained by the Parks Commission who keep it immaculate and there are strict planning regulations for anyone who wants to build in the area.
Queen Street
As we entered Niagara – On -The- Lake we passed Fort George where they were busy preparing for a 'Battle Enactment' weekend, presumably re-enacting the failed US invasion attempt.
We had driven through Niagara-On-The-Lake on our Wine Tour two years ago so it was great to have the opportunity to explore it on foot whilst Brian took the remainder of our bus party (two couples) to their first Winery and then on to their lunch. We wandered down the main broad street and spied several interesting shops, which we decided we would return to at our leisure on Friday. We were due to be picked up again by Brian at the Tour Operator's unit in an hour's time and needed to get our lunch so stopped at a lovely little eatery, Fournos Restaurant, with a cool basement bar and dining area.
Lailey Estate
Back on the bus and off to our first Winery, Riverview. Then on to Lailey, Marynissen, Caroline and an added bonus, Rancourt. The most interesting in terms of being taken to the vineyard and the cellars was Lailey's. The Sommelier told us about the winery's ethos – small but quality wine produced, using traditional methods, with natural fertilisers and wine, aged in oak casks. The only winery that we had visited two years previously was Carolines and even there the range of wines seemed to have increased. Rick and I sampled 8 different ones all amazing – a shame our luggage allowance prohibits taking several back! We did buy some to drink with Ol and Ang and some to take with us to Kris and Dave's at the weekend!
Caroline Cellars, very happy by now
The two couples had visited Rancourt at the beginning of their tour whilst we were at Niagara-On-The-Lake and had much preferred their white wines to any they tasted in the afternoon so Brian took us back there. Rick got chatting to the owner's brother a Quebecois, who was down for the summer on holiday.
We got back to the hotel just before 6.00 pm and quickly changed before walking along the parkway to The Keg overlooking the Horse Shoe Falls.
American Falls at Night
A great meal and then views of both Falls lit with different coloured lights – amazing.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on July 29, 2010 from Niagara Falls, Canada

The Maid in the Mist (plus others)
Niagara Falls, Canada
The tour party, Maid of the Mist
Up reasonably early and a quick breakfast at the hotel then off to Maid of the Mist following a brief conference on what to do first. It was a good decision as it was one of the first boats out and far from crowded; we didn't have to queue at any stage and the boat left as soon as Sue got on board. There were enough people on board to cover the sides of the boat but not much more and we had no problem in moving around to get the best view.
Churning waters off the Maid of the Mist
The views were exceptional; we had prepared ourselves for getting wet, which we did and we had expected that the experience would be memorable but we hadn't expected the depth of either! The views were tremendous; recording it all was a bit difficult as avoiding getting the camera too wet was one issue and avoiding water on the lens was another! Having Kris, Dave and Ollie there to share it, as can be seen from the photos doubled the pleasure.
View from Table Rock
We dried out as we walked back along the front to Table Rock. Kris and Dave went back to collect the luggage and the car while Ollie Sue & I queued for the Rock and Tunnels behind the falls. And we did queue! However, I suppose we waited for only about 20-30 mins and the system is geared to very much longer waits than that! Table Rock, which juts out on a promontory just below the falls and only a few metres from the falls was very worthwhile and gave you a close up perspective of just how much tumbling white water is cascading over. The tunnels with two lookouts were a bit disappointing; all you can see is a white wall of sheeting water; I suppose what I had hoped for was an open gallery in which I could see some of the rock face with a curtain in front – but it wasn't like that. The falls apparently had been eroding at 1ft every 10 years until modern times; with hydroelectric power stations taking some water the rate has been reduced to something like one inch every 10 years.
Back out, Kris and Dave picked us up and Dave suggested we went back via the backroads and had a look at Port Dover. It proved to be one of many good ideas Dave had that day.
Paddling at Port Dover
Port Dover is on the north side of Lake Eyrie, a quiet (that day at least) lakeside town with a marvellous, clean sandy beach. By this time we were all getting quite hungry and so we went searching for a suitable eatery. In due course Dave found something looking promising and we found it delivered in spades. Another good decision, Dave! Back to the beach for a quick paddle and then off back to London.
The fields either side of the road were in places saturated and had surface water; it must have been raining hard for some time.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on July 25, 2008 from Niagara Falls, Canada

Waterfalls and a new game
We see on the news this morning that Toronto had a number of lightening strikes, some on the CN Tower and one setting fire to 5 townhouses. It is easy to underestimate the power of Nature.
Rang Ben when we woke to wish him a Happy Birthday. He was having lunch in a pub with Ellie, Freddie & Mary at the time.
Waterfall
On a day with lowering clouds threatening rain, a moderate 25 degrees and high humidity we went to Hamilton 'City of Waterfalls' according to the tourism website. Only they do not appear to be in Hamilton as much as Dundas, they do not appear to be signposted much if at all and the only local we spoke to was very vague about their whereabouts.
We managed after much searching with reference to the web courtesy of Ollie's Blackberry to find only two because the map on the website is insufficiently detailed. Nice as they were, it was a bit of an anti-climax having expected to have a 'fall fest' and as it kept threatening imminent rain, we had to have our waterproofs to hand! We consoled ourselves somewhat with a late lunch at Timmy Hor-tons.
Back in Kitchener, we popped in to Ollie's new workplace to be welcomed by owner Mike and dog Max. Apparently Max is a shrewd judge of character and chooses who he lets in – fortunately he seemed satisfied with us. Zoe would particularly like Max; he is just like a small polar bear cub and quite gorgeous. Mike made us very welcome and Ollie introduced us to the team who were there. They were all very welcoming to us and took time out of their work to have a chat; it seemed to me to be a really great environment in which to work. It turns out that Lisa, the editor-in-chief of Canadian Skies, one of the MHM magazines, has a next door neighbour who is on the organising committee for the Waterfalls of Hamilton and could have got us a map!! Just before leaving we chatted to Mike about our plans for NS. He knows it well and gave us a number of very useful pointers. I am not surprised that Ollie enjoys working there.
In the evening we went to watch Ollie & Ang play 'Ultimate Frisbee'. Never having seen a frisbee used in anger, I was expecting all sorts of arcane rules but mostly it made sense. Think netball meets association football (interperson passing) meets rugby football (running angles and scoring zone) and you get close. The frisbee is passed from a standing position to a runner who has to stop and pass it on to another attacker; defenders attempt to obstruct or interrupt the pass, success leading to a change of ownership. Frisbee not being caught results in a change. The objective being to get the frisbee from one end of the pitch to the other with the last catcher being in the end-zone (try scoring area). It was very interesting and frankly rather more exciting than the professional entertainment offered the previous night. Although very much a team game, it was nice that our team members contributed 3points to the winning 15-3 score.

Final Week
Tuesday 18th August
Over breakfast, reading the local paper, several articles on the back page grabbed us. This page is always a category of disasters and deaths and the reporting of this is usually done with a certain gusto, which is somewhat inappropriate to English eyes. One that didn't really fit into this category, must have been included because it was a slow news day. In Japan, a motorcyclist was in court for throwing his excreta at people he passed; his explanation to the judge was that he had too much stress at work.
Roger announcing the delivery of another pair of glaces
Went for a last blog and ice cream at Roger's – Les 4 Rivieres. We thoroughly enjoyed these as the heat of the day built up. Roger welcomed our custom as usual and on discovering we were off tomorrow, advised us to watch our speeds. We had noticed in the local press that the police were having a crackdown on the A86 and A20 but his advice was appreciated.
a modest little ice cream
We did our shopping and returned to the site at about 3, hoping that the heat would begin to reduce so that we could take down the awning a little more comfortably. It stubbornly remained at 32°C for the rest of the day, so we were absolutely streaming. However, we were all done by 6:30 when we went for a shower to cool off in preparation for our trip to The cafe at Rivieres on the road to Roche Canillac. On arrival, we noted it had a new name, so it is under new management. It no longer specialised in fish and when we asked if there was a table for 2 in the empty restaurant, the chef had to be summoned to see if he would cook for us. Fortunately he must have liked the way we looked as he said 'yes, of course'. It was explained that everything was cooked to order so it may take some time. We said we were in no hurry. The set menu offered a choice of starter – I had a huge tomato, sliced and in each slice was a piece of mozzarella; there were little pieces of tasty cheese around the edge of the plate and a drizzle of olive oil with basil. It was great. Sue had melon with parma ham and port that she made short work of, so I imagine it was good too. I then followed with a steak accompanied with stuffed fennel and potato, while Sue had Duck in an apple sauce and stuffed fennel. This course was very good too. The regulation cheese followed then the sweet of ice cream for Sue and crème brulee for me. It was excellent rustic and unpretentious cooking.
Back on site we were exhausted and tried to make an early night of it. There was no way – it was still very muggy and hot. Slept fitfully until it began to cool a bit in the wee small hours.
Wednesday 19th August
Up reasonably early to finish off disconnecting the van from services and readying it for the road. It was 22°C by 10 am so clearly going to be very hot. After a quick shower, we were ready to hit the road Monsieur opposite with the wife beater T shirt kindly offered to help manoevre the van. In the course of our brief conversation it transpired that he borrows his van from his parents who store it nearby. I mentioned that with 2 youngsters he must have quite a carful getting home afterwards. His brother is an engineer with Renault and it transpired that he will be able to replace his picasso with an Espace. That should solve his problems!!
On the road all went well until the car had to work up some of the hills on the A20, when it became apparent that the problem with heating is still there despite having had no problems since the run to Pierrefort. It was noticable particularly when going slowly in traffic or when toiling up the many hills around Limoges, when the coolant went from a steady 90°C and increased to up to 120°C at some points. I watched it like a hawk and took what action I could to contain it without letting it get out of hand. With the outside temperature climbing steadily to 38°C, it was quite worrying. By dint of nursing the car carefully to minimise the work the engine has to do, we were able to get the 145 miles to Chateauroux, where we were to spend a couple of days anyway. I rang RC motors to get a steer on which fuse may be at fault – checked the fuses, the fuse is not at fault. I had to ring NU rescue and explain the situation. They organised for a breakdown truck to pick the car up and take it to a local garage for repair. They would ring me the next day, after the garage has assessed the problem. One of the unlooked for benefits of the careful driving was the fuel consumption went from 19mpg on the way down to 21mpg on the way back, despite the conditions. And it has to be said that I was still travelling much of the way at 60mph!
Our pitch was a nice one with shade and there had been a little bit of wind to make the heat more bearable but it was 36°C on arrival and only began to cool marginally by 9:30p.m.!
Thursday 20th August
Another hot and stuffy night, although not as bad as last night and a lot better by morning. We managed quite a good night's sleep. After breakfast decided that we should plan on not having the car 'till friday, and thought we probably woudn't get any news on the car until between 10 and 11 so asked at reception where the nearest supermarket was. We were told no more than we absolutely needed; Carrefour was in the centre of the town. We thought we may have misheard as Carrefour was not marked in the centre on the map supplied by the campsite. Super U was and it was in the town centre next to a hotel. It was a 20 minute walk and appeared to have disappeared when we arrived there. Although there was a welcome breeze, the temperature had by now reached 28°C and it was quite warm though by this stage we must have got a bit acclimatised as we found it wasn't as impossible as it would have been a few days ago. We asked a lady who inevitably wasn't local, where the nearest supermarket was; she was looking for groceries and would like to know herself, she said. Our next contact was more successful and she said that the nearest was Carrefour, which was down by the station about 10 minutes walk away, access was by a passerelle. There was a tourist info centre next to the station and since we couldn't see any evidence of the Carrefour, popped in there. Yes the guy said, the other side of the station, if we were on foot there was a footbridge from the station car park. Sure enough, we found it where advertised; a huge Carrefour. By now it was about 11:30 and just as we were choosing our trolley, the 'phone rang. The car had been checked over, the fan was working and the thinking was that the main reason for the problem was the ambient temperature being so high. As it hadn't got into the critical stage, it was clearly within the working abilities of the car. We were told that the garage asked us to check the car but there would be no charges, according to the man from the RAC. (However, I was not surprised to find that the 48 minutes that the checking took, were indeed charged.) We decided that since the garage would probably close between 12 and 2, and it would take us an exhausting 30 minutes to walk, we would hire a taxi. An obliging customer service lady at Carrefour offered to order one for us, which we gladly accepted. We picked up the car took it to Leclerc (we didn't trust ourselves to find Carrefour again with the confusing one way system), filled up with groceries and fuel and went back for lunch at the site.
George Sands House
In the afternoon, we paid a visit to George Sand's house about 40 minutes south of Chateauroux. While it was quite interesting and we had the obligatory guided tour (understanding about one word in 10 of the enthusiastic verbal gushing of the guide) the heat and the time taken over each room meant that it was a bit of a trial. Apparently, Amantine Aurore Lucile Dupin, later Baroness Dudevant was an ardent feminist and as a female writer had to adopt the male nom-de-plume George Sands in order to get published – and this in egalitarian post-revolutionary France. (No mention of our own George Eliot). She was apparently the most productive and successful female writer in the world (no mention of our own Jane Eyre or Beatrix Potter, although it has to be said GS's output was staggering).
George Sands house from the garden
I am sure that I understood that she frequently had house guests and a lot of the presentation was a somewhat breathless account of how marvellous her dinner table must have been; with references to Chopin, who apparently visited several times, Flaubert and several other creative geniuses I can't now remember. (Subsequent research has revealed that Sand had several affairs, including one with Chopin who must have been a very regular visitor and a lesbian affair with an actress; she corresponded regularly with Flaubert, and she took to dressing as a man – but I am sure that there was no hint of her eccentricity in the presentation, just an emphasis on how the great and the good beat a path to her door. She must have been quite a woman leading a bohemian existence which could only have been possible because of her family background; this would have made her a natural attraction to creative people). The gardens which were supposed to be special were a particular let-down. However, it was an interesting trip.
One of the side effects of the trip was it gave me an opportunity to see how stable the engine coolant temperature was. Rock steady at 90°C! Although the ambient temperature was probably less testing at only about 31°C – and of course we didn't have a ton of wood and metal attached to the towball!
On our return I checked to see if the main fan was working and was relieved to see that it was turning. After allowing it to cool, I checked fluids for the next stage as usual and thought I would look in the handbook to see what it said. Essentially, it said that if there is a high ambient temperature and the engine is working hard, it is normal for the temperature to increase toward maximum as long as the coolant warning light doesn't come on – so perhaps the garage are right. (However, it was steady at 90°C when passing Paris at 40°C some 5 years ago, so I'm not convinced). Anyway, we have decided to carry on tomorrow and see if we can get to Guines without incident. As today has been much cooler and tomorrow may be cooler still, we shall see. It is a much longer trip and if there is any hint of trouble, we shall look out for a VW dealer in Rouen. We have also got an up to date Michelin camping guide at Leclerc, so if things start to go pear shaped, we shall be in a position to do something about it.
Supper tonight was lovely pork steaks, barbequed to perfection by yours truly with an excellent salad by herself, followed by cheese and then by yoghurt and grapes. Talk about living the high life!
Friday 21st August
Autoroute near Calais - see it snaking up the other side on the left?
Off reasonably early, though a number of units had moved out before us. TomTom wanted to take us round Paris, so I progammed in a route via Rouen, thinking it would take us the same way as we came. However, TomTom had other ideas and instead of a fair amount of N roads, we followed the autoroute almost to Versailles, then out to Rouen. It was probably a slightly quicker route but not as attractive. Most of the motorway service areas, apart from charging more for fuel, also only stock the E10 unleaded 95, which contains 10% ethanol. Apparently all cars produced since January 2000 can run on this and it didn't do the Bora any evident harm, I only put in a little and topped up with full fat 95 at the first opportunity. This was in Rouen and was serendipitous for a couple of reasons. One was the engine was beginning to get heated in the stop start traffic along the approach to the river crossing; the stop gave it an opportunity to cool a little. The other was a poor lady whose card didn't work in the reader, so she couldn't pay for her fuel; the guy behind the desk was not very helpful, producing the usual, eloquent gallic shrug by way of assistance. She was English and had been trying for some time to top up on her way to Calais; she had even spoken to her credit card company to see why it wasn't working but they had assured her it was fine. Anyway she was absolutely distraught, so we paid for her fuel and she wrote us a cheque for the rough amount; I suspect that the cheque will more than pay for it – we'll send her the balance once we see what that is.
As we drove north, the temperature dropped and when we arrived on site it was a chilly 18°C; some 10°C less than we have been used to of late!
After pitching up, we made ourselves supper then popped down to the bar to see about the internet access that they are supposed to have here. WeeFee is available in the bar area for those with their own laptop – FOR €5 PER HOUR!!! This translates to roughly £4.60 at current rates so final communications will have to wait until after our return.
Saturday 22nd August
We got speaking to the couple next door with a young son in a campervan who have spent 3 weeks doing Europe. They have been through France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, France again, Spain and France. While we were assured that they had had time to absorb some of the local culture, I couldn't help feeling that it was a little frenetic.
Town Hall
Tomtom guided us to a Calais Supermarket on east side used by locals and I should think completely unknown to most tourists which was excellent for last minute shopping. From here we made our way to Calais centre and had a look at the magnificent townhall and gardens with photo exhibition. There was much honking shortly after we arrived and we were not surprised to see a wedding party turn up in very good spirits.
Peacock roundabout by Town Hall - says a lot about the French
The photo exhibition is one touring the world and contains some fascinating images. Some must have been manipulated in some way as they had sharp edges where you wouldn't expect to find them or a degree of contrast that was unlikely. But they were all extraordinary images, many of them looked like abstract art until you got close enough to see them clearly. Very clever indeed.
View of the beach from the car park
On to Calais plage and a walk on the sand so that we knew we had been to the seaside. It was a beautiful day and the weather was just right to be able to see through the crystal clear atmosphere over the channel to the chalk cliffs of Dover. We were feeling a bit peckish so found a restaurant offering galettes and sat down to order only to be told that there were no galettes or guaffres at this restaurant or indeed at the beach hut we tried subsequently so we settled for an unusual frites and crepe sucre with Kronenbourg!
Ideal childrens playground item 100 metres from the ferry!!!!
We were stunned that the car park next to the beach was both huge and free – compare this with most places back home which wouldn't be able to resist the opportunity to relieve visitors of some of the weight in their pocket.
View from cap Blanc Nez - Dover in the distance
We drove along the coast to Caps Blanc Nez & Gris Nez and went for a walk up to the headland at Blanc Nez, finding a dead rat on the way. The views across the channel were once more staggering. At Gris Nez there was a huge, free car park with a boardwalk access to the promontory, with again, marvellous views.
View from Cap Gris Nez - Dover in distance
On the way back to the site, the map showed that there was a viewpoint and we duly stopped to take in the scene. We were a little surprised to find that it was of a quarry! We should have seen the hint given in the marker board being sponsored by an aggregate company. Gazing down on a gravel and stone quarry is not really what excites us so we left.
Back at the site we got ready for our meal at the Auberge Les 3 Pays in Guines. We had had an excellent meal here 3 years ago but it had obviously changed hands. We arrived shortly after 7 and were surprised to be their first customers. I have always thought that the best indicator of the quality of a French restaurant is being busy with locals and I should have taken the hint. Having arrived without expecting to need plan B and feeling hungry, we studied the menu once we could drag the waitress away from her computer screen. We settled on the prix fixe menu and placed our orders. After a little while, the waitress came back to apologise that one of the dishes we had ordered was not available! We reordered and chose our wine only to be told that the bottle that we wanted was not available either! We are used to not being rushed in French restaurants and had expected that with no other customers to serve, we would get attentive service but we had bargained without the change of emphasis. It became clear that it was now more of a bistro/ bar for locals with pool tables in the back. People arrived and went straight through the restaurant to the bar. Until, that is a large family group arrived and went through into the back to a great welcome from the resident family. It was clear that they were close friends and the chef came out of the kitchen to greet them. This wouldn't have been very significant if we had not at this stage been waiting for our main course for some time but it was clear where her priorities lay. After our main course, we waited for our dessert; by now the family group had taken up station in an adjoining partition, laid up for them, where the chef was regaling the family. After a while she was reminded by the waitress that we were waiting for our dessert and was somewhat peremptorily dismissed. Anyway, we patiently got through our meal by the end of which we were almost still as hungry as at the beginning due to the length of the waits. To add insult to injury, as a gastronomic experience it only fulfilled the second part of the phrase; if I am generous I would say that the meal was very very average. Being British, we settled up at the first opportunity and left without leaving a tip but many would have just left without paying – I'm not sure that we would have been noticed! We shall not be revisiting! Ever!
Sunday 23rd August
View from the ferry in Calais Harbour - you can see Dover
Up early and away from the site in good time for the ferry. An extraordinary good crossing, apart from one or two noisy and (in a literal sense), unwashed fellow countrymen holding forth. It is depressing to find you are a snob after all!
A good run home with a stop at Oxford services for lunch. No problems with cooling, although we did have a short time on the M25 when the traffic was moving slowly and the coolant started to go a little above 90. I shall ask RC Motors to look at the radiator in due course as I am sure this is where the problem lies in sludging up.
As I look at my diary, to reflect on the holiday, I notice my bare feet which are striped with suntan between the straps of my sandals – zebra feet as Sue calls them (what's she trying to say; zebras have hooves!) Anyway, I think a definition of a good holiday would have to include zebra feet and we have certainly had an excellent holiday.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on September 7, 2009 from Argentat, France

From the plushness of Puskin to the heights of St Isaac's and shopping at Gostinyy Dvor
Thursday 29th October
Catherine Palace, Pushkin
Up reasonably early again, to be breakfasted and ready for our trip to Pushkin by 10. We have discovered that by taking the 'dietary breakfast' option, we get a huge breakfast; a glass of orange juice, a coffee, yoghurt, a good portion of muesli, a large fresh fruit salad and a triple decker cheese sandwich, we can take the sandwich with us and have it for lunch!
A pretty cold, grey day with the wind whipping occasional tiny flurries of sleet against any exposed skin, rasping it with an icy touch. We had asked our guide yesterday if she had many other visits booked for the week and she was non-committal.
Grand Staircase, Catherine Palace, Pushkin
We were therefore slightly surprised to have her taking us to Pushkin (I am still not clear if the name has reverted to Tsarscoe Selo) and the Catherine Palace. We were anticipating another whirlwind tour but either the crowds were less stressful to her or she was more interested in the palace but Irena took more time to show us around and gave us more information about the palace than she had done with Peterhof. The town had been occupied by German forces during the siege of Leningrad and had totally destroyed the palace; the pictures of the place immediately after the war were incredibly sad and it was amazing at what had been done to restore the Palace.
Chevaliers Dining Room, Catherine Palace, Pushkin
It is still ongoing and the Alexander palace is still not open as it undergoes restoration. The German nation has a proud reputation of appreciation of the arts; it is incredibly sad that the local commander, even in a war situation saw fit to destroy rather than to retain. Mind you in a war situation, rape and pillage to the benefit of the winning combatant is always going to be attractive; only the parts that were not to be transported back to Germany were destroyed.
Blue Drawing Room, Catherine Palace, Pushkin
The Amber room was carefully dismantled and removed and despite extensive searches after the war, has never been found; presumably it now languishes in a Nazi vault in Geneva or in South America or possibly quietly in someone's private collection. The rest of the palace was stripped, shelled and set alight. I don't know what reparation was made by the German government after the war but somehow, I doubt if it was enough to meet the cost of the work carried out to repair the sheer vandalism. As we came out of the palace, we wandered over to the statue of Pushkin, a graduate of the academy set up by Catherine, next door to the palace.
Statue of Pushkin
By this time we were seeing the first flakes of snow and as they brushed exposed skin, borne on a brisk breeze, it was like being brushed by a chilled feather.
We wanted to get a souvenir guide book to the palace but Irena counselled against this and said she knew a bookshop where we could get something. We were slightly galled at being taken to another souvenir shop on our return to St Petersburg, plied with coffee and liquers again and then being tailed around the shop by an anxious salesgirl, describing why we should buy anything we were unwise enough to stop at.
We bought a nice book that contained some information on the Catherine Palace, together with some lovely pictures. We had hoped that our change would contain some 100 ruble notes, to help with our tipping but there was little between a 50 and 500 ruble notes. We asked if they would change the 500 note for smaller amounts but were told 'nyet'! We therefore had to give a higher amount of tip than we would have liked which left a slightly unpleasant taste after what had been an interesting visit.
After getting back to the hotel and having a quick bite of lunch, we were off again. This time to St Isaac's cathedral. We got tickets to go up to the dome as well as look around inside.
Sue climbs the last steps to the dome, St Isaacs
The 350 steps up to the dome go up a circular staircase in one corner of the cathedral, through a tiny doorway which was a little difficult to negotiate with a daybag, then up an exposed fire escape for the last 30 feet or so to the dome itself. By the time we had reached this point, we were pretty exhausted and needed to get our breath back, as well as get some feeling back into the muscles. Neither of us is good at heights and it was a little nerve wracking up the final climb – but what a view!!
View from St Isaacs
The city is built on what had been marshland and so is quite flat. Peter the great had ordered that no buildings were to be taller then the churches so as not to spoil his view of the city. As a result, from the dome of St Isaac's, the city is spread out before you without much obstruction. It was bitterly cold and very breezy on the exposed side of the dome and I had to hold on to my hat to avoid loosing it. Thoughtfully, the planners had arranged that there was one way up and the way down was on the diametrically opposite corner, so there were no problems with meeting on staircases. The planners had also thoughtfully made similar arrangements with the Cathedral entry and exit; however, they clearly hadn't thought that anyone may want to do both on the same day as both entries were on one side and both exits the other, meaning that you had to walk half way round the cathedral to complete the tour.
St Isaacs
Inside the cathedral was incredible; capable of holding 5000, it is a huge space and once again, very richly finished with the most exquisite artwork. The front doors are huge wooden doors covered with cast iron and weighing 2 tons. I have enough of a problem fitting doors at home that weigh very little, I couldn't contemplate the problems of fitting anything so vast and heavy. It was notable that yet again, the cathedral was nice and warm after the icy blasts we had endured on the dome.
St Isaacs, dome
Venturing out again, we made for St Nicholas's Cathedral and the Mariinski Theatre for a walk back up the Griboedova Canal to Gostinyy Dvor, a huge covered shopping complex with small boutiquey stores along its aisles.
Gostinyy Dvor
Sue had been looking for a suitable Martrushka and it duly revealed itself here. Crossing the road, we went into another covered arcade more along the lines of Burlington Arcade, where we got some sweets to take home.
By now we were feeling somewhat tired and as it was approaching 6, we decided to try and find somewhere for dinner on the way back to the hotel, walking down Nevskiy Prospekt.
Boozhareen?, restaurant
We found a super place rejoicing in the name 'Бухарин' pronounced, I think Boozhareen. This place is tucked away in a semi-basement and inside is decorated as a log cabin. Sue chose Borscht and I chose a green cabbage soup. Both were full of meat and a meal in themselves, we also had garlic bread which was the nicest bread we have had in our stay. Our main course was a pork loin steak shashlik cooked on a barbeque. This was an absolute delight although it was very highly salted and we found ourselves drinking a lot of water later. Refreshed and with batteries recharged, we managed to persuade our aching limbs to carry us back to the hotel.
8 kilometres today

Frazer Island
Brisbane, Australia
The 4 musketeers
Up at 5am!! Packed, loaded car and at the 4WD hire place for a briefing at 06:30. The briefing was quite terrifying in pointing out the hazards of
Lovely people in an exquisite location
speeding on the beach and the dangers of excessive speed on the inland tracks as well as pointing out the need for self-reliance. There were graphic images of overturned vehicles and bent bits. There was also much helpful info on how to deal with the differing terrain and what to do if you got stuck. Off to catch the barge at 08:15, the Toyota hilux was a different drive - for one thing, the brakes were unimpressive, although they worked well enough once you got used to them. Later we discovered that the handbrake had a mind of its own about whether to release or not and the gear ratio selector could be a bit awkward about co-operating with requests. Suitably concerned, we disembarked on Frazer Island. I suppose I had begun to suspect that this would not be the mildly testing dirt track encounter I had been expecting. I was not let down! The 12km drive across the island to our accommodation took just over 1 hour and was full of drama with soft sand, high clearance drops over roots and ruts. It was at times very bumpy and I was concerned for Sue's back. The whole trip would not have been so bad if we could just do it at our own speed but it was like the M1 on a Friday afternoon and 4WD tour coaches were haring across from the ferries and with tour parties and if you didn't pull over quickly, they were driving on your tail pipe. If you did pull over, you risked getting bogged, so you waited for an easier looking candidate. At one point, I saw oncoming traffic and an obviously difficult passage just after I passed a passing place, so I dutifully reversed in and let half a dozen vehicles past in the opposite direction. Once I got going again, I didn't get the momentum I needed and so got stuck. After a couple of attempts at unsticking we decided to dig out. Shifting sand from the front of the wheels was enough to give us the momentum we needed to extract and we managed to reach the resort without too much more drama. After booking into our very nice apartment, freshening up and having lunch, we were off again, this time with Ollie driving. He had blown up the cushion that Zoe gave him for his travels and Sue found it gave her back additional support. As we drove onto the beach, someone decided to use the same route off the beach as we were using to get on, despite us choosing the left hand side and being on before they started their exit. Ollie had to stop; the guy then decided to reverse out but we couldn't get going again. We started to dig out then some French students who were also digging out their bus came over and gave us a push so that we were away and onto firm sand. We went back to help the French contingent and a pilot got himself stranded; we started to dig him out and he tried to get going. It seemed strange that all the action was taking place at the rear wheels. I thought that as a pilot, he would have the technical knowledge to have the car in 4WD and suggested so to Ollie. But it took a French student to actually point it out to him! He got free soon after. Then the student bus managed to get free and we started our journey up the beach. The briefing had warned us of washouts and so we were looking for any evidence of these as we approached creeks running across the beach. Poor Olly who was driving got much additional warning from the back seat. But when we approached the wreck of the Maheno, we discovered that the real problem is really not expecting them. Ollie approached a creek with care thinking there would be a small drop into it but found it to be bigger than expected, though thankfully it wasn't too bad. The Maheno is an interesting wreck, decomposing at the tide line, you can see she was once a mighty ship and some of her timber planking is still in place.
After playng Pooh sticks with Ollie's flip flops, Eli Creek, (note the tour buses)
We drove back down to Eli Creek and parked up. Ollie and Ang decided to wade down the creek and played pooh sticks with Ollie's flip flops under a bridge. Apart from the odd noisy tourist, it was a pleasantly quiet and peaceful spot. The creek was beautifully clear. Getting back from here was a bit hairy with many people travelling very rapidly along the beach and with the rising tide leaving very little room on the left for me! We had one little and fairly uncomfortable detour when we turned off the beach too early for a rock detour but we were lucky enough to find a place to turn round and make it back out. Back at the apartment Sue had to have 5 pieces of chocolate before her nerves were quietened. We were all quite bushed by the day and by the time we had made supper and tidied away we were ready for bed. We made an early night of it.
Next morning we had a family conference and decided that we wouldn't attempt the Champagne pools at the northern end of the island but concentrate on the lakes. Sue was feeling much more positive and although the trip across the island through the lakes was extremely bumpy at times it was marked by maniacal laughter as she hung on to the strop above the door and bounced around on her seat. The great thing about this trip was the lack of tour buses along the way until we reached central station. The lakes were crystal clear with white sandy beaches.
Ollie enjoys the clear cool waters of Lake Birrabeen
Lake Birramin was absolutely delightful and Ollie and Angela had a nice swim there. Afterwards we had lunch at a picnic table in the forest. After lunch we went on to Lake Mackenzie and from central station on were competing with tour buses once more.
Lake McKenzie
The trip across had been quite testing with some very difficult passages but Ollie managed to cope very well (he later said that he had been told that the best way to cope was to drive fairly fast over bumps and thereby miss out on a few) and I found when I was driving that I had a better insight into reading the terrain and how to deal with it as well as having more confidence that both the vehicle and I could deal with it. Lake Mackenzie was spectacularly lovely if a little crowded. We were under a little bit of time pressure as we arrived at 2:30 and had to leave at 3:00 to be sure of being at the dock by 3:45 for the 4:00 sailing. We actually left at 3:10 and I was concerned not to misread the trail and get bogged while at the same time not being too cautious and slow.
Reversing on to the 'barge' at Wanggoolba creek
In the event, we made it to the dock with about 5 mins to spare and the barge nowhere in sight! There were some huge pelicans on the sand of the estuary. The barge arrived late and then had to wait for one of the tour buses to arrive and discharge its human cargo. We finally left about 3/4 hr late.
Pelicans enjoying the receding tide at Wanggoolba Creek
We filled up with fuel before returning the Toyota and were pleased when they did their check of the vehicle and found no need to charge us. Loaded up the car and went to our accommodation only to find Mrs Crazy had double-booked us despite our pre-payment – got this refunded. We made enquiries and found another studio apartment not far away; we made our way there and were delighted to find it was a delightful place, unfortunately only one room with a double and 2 singles that dropped down from apparent wardrobes Ollie found his feet wet in the middle of the night and we found that the air conditioning unit was the culprit. We went back to the Wheelhouse restaurant for dinner and had fish (Barramundi) and chips which was excellent but the service certainly wasn't.
Breakfast at our apartment (not Crazy Woman's)
The next day we made a reasonably early start and set out for the glass house mountains. As time went on it became clear that this was going to be a bigger ask than we had thought. We had to limit our excursion to the main route and while this was a lovely drive through the mountains, it was not as spectacular as we had been led to believe and there was no sign of the waterfalls and only a small amount of viewing of the mountains themselves. This route left us a bit short of time to visit the Koala sanctuary outside Brisbane and the town traffic didn't help. We decided to go for it and had a lightening tour of the sanctuary lasting 15 mins.
Koala Mum & Baby - Lonely Pine Sanctuary
Then off at a brisk pace to the airport; it must be said that if we had taken as long to reach the airport as it did the sanctuary, we would have missed our flight but fortunately Ollie navigated us through the town centre bypass which worked very well and we actually arrived with 5 mins to spare but only by not re-fuelling and had to pay a penalty for this. After checking in, a hurried re-distribution of load left an airport bin the beneficiary of some interesting food items. The Virgin Blue flight left on time and actually arrived early; the flight was most notable for the fact that the cabin crew were led by a bright spark who clearly really enjoyed her job hugely and made it enjoyable for everyone else too. We picked up the new hire car - I was lucky enough to get another Toyota Aurion – though not the Sportivo this time which then transported us to our apartment in Yorkey's Knob. Just as I was approaching the village, a Kangaroo hopped into the road necessitating an emergency stop to avoid a collision., Due to the lateness of the hour we went down to the Boat Club for supper of Pizza and arrived with 2 minutes to spare before they closed for meals. Fortunately, they agreed to serve us. The pizzas were first class.
The View from our apartment @ Villa Marine
The next day was a Sunday and Ollie and I were up fairly early to pop out to the supermarket for breakfast, not having had the time to do any shopping after we arrived. We were a bit concerned that it wouldn't be open. Not to fear – it opens at 6:15 7 days a week! I noticed a key scratch along the side of the car that I hadn't seen before and rang Hertz to say that I hadn't noticed it last night when picking it up. They seemed OK with this and said that it had now been noted on their records, so not to worry. After a nice breakfast which we ate in the apartment it being a little fresh to eat outside, despite being in the tropics, we spent a most relaxing day in Cairns. I was prepared for a rather seedy, touristy place but although undeniably set out for tourists, had a charm about it. We parked up on the seafront a little way out of the town and walked in to the centre. We had a nice lunch overlooking the bay and spent a bit of time in an internet cafe before heading back, doing some shopping and booking our tours to the Great Barrier Reef and Kuranda. Ollie was going to give some instructions on how to snorkel with a borrowed kit from the manager, in the pool outside the apartment but when we tried the water it was freezing and we decided not to bother. We then thought that it may be better on the beach, seeing as it was late afternoon and trotted down to the sea some 50m away. As we got to the beach, it was quite windy and chilly and at least for me made it a no-no. Ollie braved the cool and managed a paddle but even he didn't go for a swim.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 12, 2007 from Brisbane, Australia

A birthday to remember on The Great Barrier Reef
Cairns, Australia
The Birthday trip commences
What a fabulous way to have a birthday! We had to be down at the marina for 8:30 and were sailing at 09:00 with Reef Magic Cruises – a particularly apt name, out to Marine World pontoon, moored out on the outer reef which is apparently not as heavily visited as the inner (and therefore more pristine). Ollie and Ang had decided to hire a waterproof camera for the day so that we could get lots of nice pictures of our trip; you can see some of the results amongst the photos. It has certainly added a memorable extra level to the day. We signed up for an accompanied snorkel with a marine biologist as this would mean that we got best value from the trip according to Ollie (and he was very right) Ang insisted on paying for it for my birthday. The trip out to the bay was fine but when we got to open sea, the wind we had been warned about made its presence felt and we had some significant seas to cope with. Surprisingly, I found myself OK as long as I watched the horizon but after a while Sue felt a bit queasy and asked me to go to the rear deck with her. I thought she was perhaps trying to protect me from seasickness before it struck. As time went on, although I didn't feel too bad, I am sure that had I stayed in the main body of the boat, I would certainly have succumbed. Ollie joined us outside later and even Ang who apparently never gets seasick, found herself feeling uncomfortable. On reaching the reef, we transferred to a pontoon which was not bobbing about quite so much so was quite a relief even if it did move more than I would have liked!
The Authors
We were given our wetsuits and snorkel gear and told to report to the snorkelling platform in 15 minutes. We were given instructions on how to use the snorkel, in my case involving the use of Vaseline on my moustache to allow the mask to seal watertight on my top lip (I found this wasn't foolproof and I needed to let out water from time to time).
Looking underwater clearly
The initial dip into the water was not the lukewarm experience I had expected – actually it was bloody cold! After a little while the suits did their work and the water became tolerable! The transition from above water to looking into the depths while underwater was utterly amazing; I guess that it is not an unsimilar experience to getting a pair of glasses for the first time when you hadn't appreciated how poor your vision had become. Our guide had us hold on to a life ring while he explained what we could see below us; the different type of coral and the vast profusion of fish – I couldn't believe how many fish were in one place and in view.
Snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef with Sea Cucumber
We were presented with a sea cucumber and held it up for a photo opportunity. The sea cucumber apparently spends his life eating dirty sand and pooing clean sand – an unusual arrangement. After our all too short 45 minutes of instruction, we got back on the pontoon to dry off a bit and warm up. The wetsuits didn't help at this point and although we were in the tropics and it was a warm day, we needed to put on some dry tops to warm through. Poor Ang was shivering until she put a warm top on.
Marine World Pontoon
Sue and I went on the next semi-submersible trip and got to see a wonderland of coral, colour and fish – again I was struck by the profusion of colour, variety and quantity. We had a wonderful buffet lunch and after a brief rest, when we managed to see a huge Maori Wrasse being fed on the snorkelling platform, put on our wetsuits again for an unaccompanied tour of the area.
Wally comes on to the snorkeling platform to be fed
While I was pottering about on my own, Ollie came along and in an interesting role reversal took my hand and guided me round some of the fantastic sights around the reef that he had discovered. I found it quite touching that he should take so much trouble. I didn't like to get too far away from the platform as when my mask or snorkel leaked I had to clear them and was concerned that if I got overconfident, it would be too easy to get into trouble. I did wish, though that I was able to have the confidence that Ollie had – born of practice – in diving down towards the lower reaches of the reef. Many years ago I wouldn't have had the problem! We were able to get amazingly close to all the fish who were apparently quite blazé about our presence but having been warned of the danger of cuts inflicted by the coral, were loathe to get too close to the reef. Not that this appeared to worry many others who were charging around without too much consideration for others who were about them; despite being careful one of our party managed to get a nick and we made sure that we got some antiseptic on the cut as soon as possible. After spending a good time out on our own, Sue and I got back on the pontoon and showered and dried off. We thawed out with a cup of tea and then went to find Ollie and Ang who were finishing off their swim. We lost sight of Ang and there were some anxious moments while we searched the surface for any sign of her only to find that she had returned to the pontoon and was behind us! Gradually the stragglers were coaxed from the water as the tide fell revealing increasing portions of the reef. Back on board the boat, we had another cuppa and decided to get a cd with some pictures of us and some of the reef. The trip back was not as bad as the trip out but it was nonetheless uncomfortable and we were glad to get into the harbour and disembark. I was tempted to do as Pope John Paul used to do and kiss the ground but felt that it would betray my landlubbing side too much. We got back to our apartment got showered and changed and then went for a meal at the Knob's Boat Club. Unfortunately it was 2 for 1 night for members and so was packed. We decided to be prepared to wait rather than go anywhere else. We had to queue for a little while to order but the wait wasn't too excessive and the meal was very good.
Ang hides the evidence - Birthday meal, Yorkey's Knob Boat Club
Suitably exhausted, we retired fairly early – another early start tomorrow!
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 14, 2007 from Cairns, Australia

Pest
I was intrigued. How could it stay in place like that? It started from a single point just above and to the rear of the centre point of his left ear and radiated over the whole of his pate. There was a clear demarcation line between the slate grey covering and the white hair at the borders; the slate grey part was immaculately formed with not a hair out of place. This begged the question – is it an elaborate comb over or a poorly designed hairpiece? Whatever the answer led to a whole subsidiary set of questions that had occupied me over breakfast for the last couple of days. Like how did it stay in place, did he have to be careful about the direction of the wind and why didn't he colour all his hair the same colour, inter alia. There were a group of German guests at the hotel and this man was one of their number. I had noticed him (who wouldn't ) at breakfast a couple of days ago and was trying not to look too intrigued while searching for clues.
Changing the guard at Parliament
'So we'd better get to the parliament building quite early' Sue broke into my reveries, reminding me that we were due to spend the day in Pest and the questions never were answered. I'm sure that it was just a vicious and particularly poorly executed, desperate combover.
In the event, we discovered when we arrived at the parliament building that you can only buy tickets for that day and that by about 10, when we got there, they had all gone. It was not clear from the guide book that to stand any chance you had to be in the queue by 8am. Suddenly we had an extra hour to play with; it didn't take us long to re-think our day. The square outside parliament has a number of interesting memorials commemorating several events in the 20th C which are worth a tour before moving on.
Shoes Memorial
Next stop was at the touchingly eerie memorial to Jews murdered by the Arrow Cross as the Russians approached Budapest. Lined up by the Danube, they were told to take off their shoes and coats before they were shot and dumped in the river. The coats and shoes were distributed to German citizens. The memorial takes the form of apparently discarded shoes by the riverside, the shoes being made of iron. The memorial is just to the south of the parliament building and requires either a bit of a detour to cross a major road or taking your life in your hands. Perhaps unsurprisingly it didn't seem well visited when we were there.
The Gresham Palace
The next stop was the beautiful, refurbished Gresham Palace. This exquisite art deco place was originally built as an up market building of shops, offices and apartments by Gresham Life, an English life assurance company. Neglected and falling into disrepair from the 40's to the millennium, it has been tastefully and lovingly restored using wherever possible using the original methods and workshops and reopened in 2004 as a Four Seasons Hotel.
St Stefan's basilica
Just around the corner is St Stefan's Basilica. The external architecture is impressive with its huge dome. This is the second dome, the first one crashed in while being built because someone got his sums wrong. Apparently, when the King visited for the first time, he was seen to glance nervously at the ceiling. Inside it is highly decorated and quite beautiful if somewhat OTT. Yet again I found myself thinking that the cost of all the decoration could perhaps have been better spent in a truly civilised society. But this is equally true of the cost of our travelling, so who am I to judge?
Weeping Willow, Wallenberg Memorial Garden
We stopped for a nice lunch at a cafe outside the Great Synagogue behind which there is a memorial garden to Raoul Wallenberg. The only entrance to the garden is through the synagogue and you had to pay to go in, so we didn't visit the garden. However, from the street we managed to see the steel weeping willow in the garden, each leaf of which is inscribed with the name of a holocaust victim.
The Opera House
Our next stop was the Opera House, which is yet another beautiful piece of architecture. We took the guided tour (only way to get in other than go to a performance). Our tour was for a large party of people who wanted to do it in English. There were 3 Italian women who didn't stop yabbering at the top of their voices to each other all the way round; I don't know what they understood or why they bothered. Try as I might none of Harry Potter's best spells seemed to work on them. Even my best Paddington Bear stare didn't slow them down! The tour was none-the-less very interesting and the guide very informative.
The Royal Staircase, Opera House
At the top of the royal staircase, there is a huge mirror and the reason for it being there is apparently royal protocol meant that a royal personage could only look to their front; the mirror meant that they could observe the scene without turning their heads! The interior decoration is fabulous; apparently they used 3 kilos of gold leaf when restoring it. While it was being built, the Opera House in Vienna burned down killing 400. The lessons were incorporated into this building and it has a steel safety curtain, doors that open outwards and so on.
The Market Hall
The final stop in Pest was at the vast under cover Market Hall. The lower level has all the usual fresh produce you could want and upstairs there are lots of boutique outlets and masses of souvenir stalls, most of which are pretty tasteful. It's certainly a good place to go for a wide range of souvenirs in one place.
The lower level, Market Hall, with Ellesmere bag (the cotton one)
Competition from the many stallholders probably keeps the prices down.
After our shopping, it was a quick dash across Liberty Bridge on a tram to have a quick look at the Gellert Hotel & Baths – some more rather nice Art Deco architecture.
Gellert Hotel & Baths
The original plan had been to take in one of the baths at some point but we were running out of time. Road works meant that we had quite a walk to the next bus stop and make our way back to the hotel for a quick shower and change to get down to the theatre below Fishermen's Bastion where we had booked seats for an evening of Folk Dance & Song.
Theatre for Folk evening
It was a warm evening and we were sorry for the performers who must have sweated buckets as they stomped, stamped and twirled through an hour and a half of strenuous physical exercise. Think Riverdance meets barndance with a bit of clogdancing and lederhosen thigh slapping thrown in and you'll get the picture. I'm sure all the steps were authentic but I suspect the choreography was for dramatic effect rather than an expression of fun as originally intended; certainly the peasants from whom the culture evolved wouldn't have had the energy to deliver what these professionals managed.
Boat on the ceiling in the restaurant
When it finished there was a brief debate about where to go for dinner, it being 10pm. We decided to go to the nearest restaurant and were allowed in, although our waiter was not entirely happy about it. He certainly headed off a party of 6 that tried to get in shortly afterwards and sent them packing. The restaurant was called something like the Fisherman, surprisingly enough specialising in fish dishes which we thought would make a nice change. Our waiter was economically efficient and made no effort to make us feel welcome; our meal when it arrived was pleasant enough but not particularly memorable. If 10% service hadn't already been added to the bill, we wouldn't have added a tip. All that remained was for us to climb up the hill to the base of Fishermen's Bastion and then up the steps to the top. By the time we reached our room on the second floor we were certainly ready for bed.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on June 6, 2011 from Budapest, Hungary

The Somme
Albert, France
Cemetery entry
Up earlyish and off to do a tour of the more southerly parts of the British sector in the Somme. I have known for a couple of years that my Great Uncle Oswald Booth was killed in WW1 on the Somme but there was no family information on where, even though my Dad was a soldier himself. I suspect that we all thought he was one of the many who have no known resting place. Following a tip on Chris Baker's website I had recently visited the CWGC's website and it showed two Oswald Booths; one of these had the right mother's address, so is our man. We were determined to visit his grave.in Daours and built this into the day.
Oswald Booth's grave
Despite a lot of internet based research before the day, we hadn't really managed to work out where each of our grandparents were involved; the service records that would have shown this must have been part of the 60% destroyed by bombing in WW2. Knowing his regiment and where he died we thought may give us a clue as to where Oswald saw service. Daours was a casualty clearing station so he was unlikely to have been killed outright as most of these either were buried locally where they fell or collected later into nearby cemeteries. Cemeteries by clearing stations were usually for those who died of wounds.
13th Bn Royal Fusiliers were, according to the order of battle for the Somme, part of 111th Brigade. This was part of 37th Division on 1st July when the battle started and would have been attacking Gommecourt with the rest of III Corps under Allenby. However, 34th Division was particularly badly mauled on 1st July, and 111th Brigade was loaned to 34th Division in between 6th July 1916 and 22nd August 1916. As Oswald died on 19th July 1916, he would have been fighting with the 34th as part of II Corps under Jacobs. This time window gave us a fairly precise time frame as it seems that on the 13th July the British advance was facing the second German defensive complex. A night attack on the 14th took this line but ran into stiffening resistance. The 111th fought in the battle of Bazentin Ridge which took place between 15th and 20th July 1916 and it is our guess that this is where he was wounded. It must have been sufficiently serious to move him back for hospitalisation along the clearing stations of which Daours was one. As no antiseptics had been developed at this time, it is quite likely that gas gangrene developed quickly (nothing to do with gas). We have to acknowledge this is all postulation and we are unlikely to know.
Communal Cemetery
Suffice to say it was with mixed feelings that we saw his grave; sadness that Great Uncle Oswald had been lost to us for such a long time; left without a visit from the family and happiness that we are sort of re-united. We obviously never knew him but he was a big brother of my paternal Grandmother whom we did know and crazily, we were fighting the tears. The connection with this particular cemetery was suddenly palpable and personal. Looking round the cemetery reinforced once more the hardships endured by the boys doing the fighting, most of whom were younger than our youngest and by the families who had to contend with the results both of those who stayed in France and those who came back; nothing could ever be the same again.
Caterpiller Valley Cemetery
The day had started with an hour or so's drive to our first call, Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, near Combles; the site of the New Zealand Memorial to the missing listing 1,205 New Zealanders with no known grave. The site gives a great view of the 'Battle for the woods' battlefield of July -Sept 1916 including Bazentin Woods where we believe Oswald may have been wounded. We wanted to look at a few cemeteries in the area as if 13th RF had been involved, it is likely that there would be some concentration of their dead. There were none that I spotted in a quick tour of the cemetery, although I did spot a Mustoe in the Gloucesters who could easily be a relation from the branch in Evesham. Outside we met a lovely couple from Perth, Australia who have decided to visit, over time, all of the Aussie cemeteries. We knew that they are frighteningly common in Northern France but they had a map from CWGC which superimposes all the cemeteries on a map; frighteningly common doesn't begin to cover it! The lady herself was actually born in Reading and lived in Caversham – its a small world!
34th Division Memorial, La Boisselle
From here we went to the tiny cemetery at Bazentin Woods itself. Like all CWGC cemeteries, a lovely location and exquisitely maintained. A tiny cemetery it had no 13th RF either which was surprising and rather dents our theory. However, we have none better so will stick with it. There was a single headstone apart from the others to a soldier 'known to be buried in this cemetery'. Being a front line cemetery, it is probable that it would have been hit by shellfire after burials and all that would be left would be any record that the unit may have kept. Making our way towards Albert, we stopped briefly in La Boisselle to see the memorial to the 34th Div,; identical to the one at Mont Noir. On to the D929, leaving the village, there was a sign noting the position of the Front in 1916.
Town Hall
Next stop was Daours, a pretty little town and one which was more significant than either of us had expected. Back to Corbie and south to the magnificent if slightly chauvinistic Australian memorial with its depiction of a perfectly planned and executed battle plan by an Australian General with Australian troops to capture the high ground in a lesson to others as to how to do it.
Australian memorial
daresay it was exceptionally well done but as Alexander the Great once said – 'The most important quality in a General is being lucky'. Luck must have played its part no matter how meticulous the planning and experience of what had gone before must have informed the plan.
Back to La Boisselle to find the Lochnagar Crater, the largest on the Western Front, one of a group of 17 blown on 1st July 1916.
Lochnagar crater
It is huge, today being some 300ft across and 70 ft deep. The explosion was apparently heard for 100s of miles. I suspect only an aerial photo could give a sense of scale. These mines were under German positions, so huge numbers must have been killed.
On to Thiepval and Lutyens memorial to the Missing of the Somme battlefields. On the panels of stone are listed the names of 72,104 soldiers who were killed in 1916-1917 and have no known grave. Behind the memorial are 300 French and 300 British graves of unknown soldiers. The memorial is dedicated to both British and French. It stands on a labyrinth of trenches forming part of the impregnable fortress attacking which so many of the names were killed.
Memorial to the missing of the Somme
We visited in early evening and it seemed an appropriate end to the day to be visiting this huge, brooding monument as seen set against the sun which was streaming through its arch. Then going through the arch with all the names around, finally seeing the brightness beyond with the stone glowing in the early evening sunshine. It seemed a suitable metaphor somehow.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 9, 2011 from Albert, France

From the beach at Tamaricciu to the Lion at Roccapina
Ajaccio, France
Plage de Tamaricau
A little look at the fabled beaches just south of Porto-Vecchio (Palombaggia, Tamaricciu and Ascigghju), deserted now but apparently heaving in high season. Well worth the detour if you're going on down to Bonifacio. Lovely little coves with long stretches of white sand and turquoise shallow water.
The Citadel
A reasonably short and again spectacular drive down to Bonifacio, the nearest ferry port to Sardinia and what an impressive citadel. Its perched high up above the marina where you need to park and it's a steep climb but what magnificent views of the harbour and bay when you get there. The citadel was built on a large high spur of land that juts out to sea, so on the one side below you you have the marina and on the other breathtaking views of the bay and the waves pounding the rocks below.
Windeaten cliffs
It was beautifully sunny but the wind was so ferocious that we had to abandon our walk to the very end of the promontory and when we got back to the car both the windscreen and our glasses were covered in salt! You'll be pleased to hear that we cleaned both before setting off again for Ajaccio.
Bonifacio Harbour
The N198 passes high over the mountains again from Bonifaccio heading west before winding North. At the furthest point west you look down into the Cala di Roccapina and across to the rock formation of the Lion de Roccapina Rocher.
Lion Rock, Roccapina
It does look like a Lion doesn't it! We stopped off at Sartene north of here for a quick drink and then headed on up to Ajaccio. Unfortunately we arrived during the evening rush hour but managed to park up by the ferry terminal to call the hotel we'd spotted in both the Rough Guide and Lonely Planet.
Ajaccio
Luckily they had a room (the evening ferry had been cancelled due to rough seas and they were filling fast) and we parked up and headed out for what we think was our most authentic Corsican meal to date.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on March 26, 2008 from Ajaccio, France

Last day in Saint P, a sub zero sunny day and a hidden jewel
Friday 30th October
Bridge with Stieglitz in the background
A slightly more leisurely start to the day with nothing vital to do and the prospect of a long day ahead. As we opened the curtains we saw a truly glorious sunny day outside. After breakfast, we packed our bags and took them downstairs to be stored until our taxi at 3:30.
Stieglitz
One of the visits we had low on our list was the Stieglitz museum; taking its name from Baron Aleksandr Stieglitz, a wealthy industrialist who started an art collection to aid the education of local students in 1876, the museum contains an eclectic display of glassware, ceramics, masonry and metalwork, including locks and keys from the Middle Ages.
Little bird statue near the Stieglizt
According to the guidebook, this is one of St Petersburg's hidden treasures, off the usual tourist beat, so we had to visit it. As this was the first sunny day since our arrival, we wanted to be able to see the Hermitage in the sunshine, so we plotted a route that would take us past the palace, up to the Church on spilled blood and across a couple of lovely canal bridges (one of which has a little statue of a bird half way down the side) to the Stieglitz.
The guide book said it would be difficult to find. Well the building isn't – it is huge, but its primary function now is teaching art and design and after WWII, it became a training centre for craftsmen, providing the gilders, carvers, masons etc needed for the restoration of the churches, palaces and museums. Finding the entrance to the museum is rather different as it is not signposted and the directions in the guidebook were useless as it has obviously been changed. We went into no 13 to ask about the entrance and were guided to a locked gate which was unlocked just for us.
Ceiling in need of repair, Stieglitz
We were met by a lady who took us to the cash desk and given our tickets for entry and for photography. Our tour started on the ground floor; never mind the collection, the building itself was very richly decorated – stunningly so. Parts of it are in need of restoration and undoubtedly, this will be part of the training of the artisans to be. On the ground floor are the collections of ceramics, glass, metalwork, furniture and so on. On completion of this we were guided to the route to the first floor. The grand exhibition hall is a wonderful space under a glass roof.
The Grand Hall, Stieglitz
The great marble staircase is great although it too is in need of a little tlc. The hall is surrounded by monumental masonry, presumably from buildings all over Europe and is a reminder that even hard stone is not impervious to the effects of age. While we were wandering around the upper floor, it was clear that this was very much a part of the school, with young students going about their tasks and a professor with the obligatory long white locks swept back from his forehead holding forth to a student about the way in which some statuary emphasised the form and majesty of the gods. It was a fitting end to our visit to St Petersburg and as described, quite a treasure.
Leaving the museum, we went to have our sandwiches in the park by the church on spilled blood. Despite - or probably because - it was a sunny day with no cloud cover, it was bitterly cold. We were well wrapped up but 5 minutes without our gloves on while we ate our sandwiches was enough to freeze the fingertips uncomfortably. Refreshed we went around the open market that has stalls every day outside the church for some last-minute bargains. Then back to the hotel to wait for the taxi to the airport and to warm through again.
Sun on the Hermitage
At the airport, there is a strange security system in place, with an x-ray of all baggage and body scan at the entrance, before you even check in. Then the normal process of checking in and handbaggage x-rays and body scan before reaching the departure lounge. I managed to leave a case at the initial check and after frantic counting of the baggage managed to ask to be allowed to go back and collect it, put it through the system and pick it up at the other end. Going through the second machine after check in, I set off the alarm and it was only on the third attempt, after removing my watch, that I was cleared. This is the first time the watch has caused problems and the scanner didn't pick up Sue's, so obviously it has something against the Japanese. Anyway, once through, the security guard wanted to do a full body search and patted me all over before letting me go. Flying today is certainly not a stress-free experience. The trip back was largely uneventful and after a bit of a layover in Amsterdam, arrived back in Manchester on time. We got home at about 11:30 but our body clocks were telling us it was 2:30 in the morning and time for bed!
written by  rickandsuejohnson on November 5, 2009 from Saint Petersburg, Russia

A Day in London
London, Canada
Lunch with Nyhout family Windermere Manor
Off to London for a rendezvous with Kris, Dave, Jackie, Val and Ang's Nana and Papa at the Windermere, where Ol and Ang are to be married. We travelled the scenic route thinking that the journey would be smoother as the hotel is North of London but this is road repair season. Three stops (one for ten minutes) meant a bit of a delay in arriving so after a great leisurely lunch we went to see the banqueting hall, ceremony venue and grounds. We can see why Ang and Ol chose it – roll on next May!
The party Split and we girls headed off to a bridal shop in downtown London for Ang to try on some dresses. Back to join the boys in Timber Drive and the Nyhout's legendary welcome with Kris producing appetisers at a drop of a hat and drinks all round as we watched the Olympic opening ceremony. Dave set to with the barbecue, though as black clouds gathered, we ate inside before rounding off the evening with a couple of games of 'Telestrations' (rather like Pictionary).
Heavy rain overnight swept the humidity aside for the morning and we girls headed off to another bridal shop which Ang knew stocked a dress that she had seen on-line. Least said but tissues were used by all of us before we returned home for lunch. Back to Waterloo with a stop at the Bay for Ang to buy a gift for a friend's Wedding shower on Sunday. Steph joined us after supper and we watched a film while Ol booked us an airport hotel for our final night in Ontario.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on July 29, 2012 from London, Canada

An important date to remember
Our wedding anniversary did not start too auspiciously; despite knowing it was coming and despite having made a note to get a card in preparation for the event, in the fracas of the last week at home, I overlooked it – so no card for Sue 1st thing! Ollie took us to a shopping mall for the north American experience – just think a large scale Cribbs Causeway or Brierly Hill shopping centre. At a bookshop, they had some nice handmade cards and I took the opportunity to make partial redemption. We then shared a cinnamon roll that was other-worldly before going on a short-hunting expedition.
We finished off our experience with a visit to the food area – a central table area with every different kind of fast-food you can imagine on the periphery. Ollie & I had a steak burrito, which was huge and Sue had a taco shell filled with salad – it certainly looked very good.
Town Centre
Picnic @ Stratford
Back home to get ready for our trip to Stratford to see Hamlet. Ang drove us up to Stratford and we parked up near the centre while we had a quick look around the city centre. We found a nice spot by the river/lake where we enjoyed the picnic we had brought. It was a little hike out to the festival theatre from the centre of town and we weren’t sure exactly where it was, so after following the river for some time we began to wonder how much further it was. After a quick check with some locals, we were still some 400 metres from the theatre, so as it was getting close to 8pm start time, Ollie and Ang went ahead to make sure of collecting the tickets; we made it to our seats with about 2minutes to spare.
Theatre
A little close for comfort! This Hamlet was a modern interpretation set in the early 1900’s but using the original language. Normally I am less than keen on such efforts but this was an excellent production, the seats were excellent and the acoustics were very good, so it was possible to hear every word. It was a long time since I had seen Hamlet and I didn’t remember there being so much humour in the first part but it came across very well.
We thoroughly enjoyed the play and it was a marvellous anniversary present from Ollie and Ang.

From the ridiculous to the sublime
Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada
Ollie, Sue & I went for a walk through the slightly tacky part of Niagara Falls looking for a place to have breakfast while Ang went to meet up with a schoolfriend and her baby daughter. The place we found offered an excellent breakfast if with a rather slow service. After the extended breakfast we walked back along the strip between the falls, making the most of the photo opportunities along the way before being picked up by Ang.
Queen Street
We then took a trip back along the very attractive drive down Niagara Parkway to Niagara on the Lake to have a wander down to the lake and then round the very pretty town. Brian had yesterday recommended the Golf Club as a great place to have good value meals and drink but we were still too full from breakfast to try it out – it certainly looked nice.
We found a lovely old pub, The Angel Inn with half timbering and exposed oak joists, serving an excellent range of beers. I had a particularly good Sleemans Honey Brown which refreshed all essential parts very nicely.
After a little bit of souvenir shopping, we all piled into the car and went back to Ollie & Ang's flat where we took advantage of the communal 'Broil King' outside the apartments and enjoyed a lovely meal of barbequed huge burgers and sausages with salad.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on July 30, 2010 from Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada

Arrival at the west coast
Vancouver, Canada
Approach to Vancouver
On the road shortly before 8 am and a trouble free run to Terminal 3 at Toronto airport. A sad farewell to Ollie and Ang after our wonderful week with them. Thumbs up for West Jet and an arrival in Vancouver shortly after mid-day. We stopped for a bite to eat in the airport before buying or day passes for the Translink transport system for the three days of our stay in Vancouver and hopping on the Canada Line in the airport. Sixteen minutes later we emerged from the Waterfront station and a short walk to our hotel, The Victorian on Homer Street.
View from Canada Tower
We quickly unpacked, loaded our day bags and headed for the Harbour Tower just a couple of blocks away. From the observation platform we were able to identify the key sights with the help of information plaques and fully appreciate the wonder of the location that is Vancouver.
Lift outside Harbour Tower
The lift is on the exterior of the building, which is a little disconcerting if you're not very good with heights!
Off to catch the ferry (a super speedy catamaran) to the North Shore using our day passes. A quarter of an hour later we were on Lonsdale Quay. As it was a bank holiday Monday and by this time about 5.30 pm very few of the Mall shops were still open.
View from our table at Mario's
We took in the views of the city from the decking at the quayside and decided to have our evening meal overlooking the harbour at Marios (Italian Restaurant). We both decided to sample Sockeye Salmon and linguine. Someone was obviously slumming it in a little boat moored right next to the restaurant – how the other half live!
Back on the Catamaran to downtown and a wander round Canada Place Board Walk to take in a wonderful sunset and watch the float planes land.
Sunset over the Harbour
At this point it was around 9 pm (12 pm to our Ontario body clocks) so we headed back to the hotel for an early night.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 2, 2010 from Vancouver, Canada

Dinner at Michael's
We were up a bit late today and then went for a nice walk in Springbank Park – a lovely, huge green area in the centre of London and along the banks of the Thames. Ollie apparently did his training for the Toronto half marathon here. After a bite of lunch, we accompanied Kris and Dave to Val’s end of summer school ceremony. We met some of Val’s friends, as well as protégés of Ang and Jackie; all bubbling with enthusiasm for the time they had had together. We had a quick skype with Ben (to wish him a happy birthday), Ellie and Freddie.
The meal @ Michaels
After getting back home, we rested up for a while with a beer on the back porch before getting ready to go out for dinner. It was nice to go out with the whole family; all the girls looked stunning, everyone had dressed up except me but as this didn’t seem to worry them, it didn’t worry me. We arrived at the restaurant amid some confusion, the nature of which was unclear but appeared to involve parking. None-the-less as we went in, we were welcomed and shown to our table. We were presented with a card from the Nyhouts and had a superb meal accompanied by affectionate family banter; we had a really great time. I started with a lovely bowl of Jalepeno, cheese and broccoli soup which was nicely spiced. Ollie, Dave and Kris had French onion soup the quantity of which beat everyone. Ollie, Dave and I had a wonderfully tender rib roast steak, Ang & Jackie had pasta and Val chose mussels and had a huge bowl of mussels delivered that I had doubts she would manage but she did!
The presentation
At the end of the meal, the owner, Jack presented us with a plate on which there were two chocolate covered strawberries and an inscription in chocolate – ‘Congratulations from Michaels’. Accompanying this, Jack sang to us in honour of our 37 years together. It was a truly wonderful surprise and we were deeply touched.
The sign
The final surprise was on our exit finding out what had caused the consternation; Dave led us round to the left at the exit instead of the car park. On the restaurant sign, as bold as life was a message that had been forgotten earlier – Happy 37th Wedding anniversary Rick and Sue. A lovely thought and the evening will be a memory to treasure.

Lovely castle and a sad farewell
Casa Loma
Ang had to cook some champagne cup cakes for a friends wedding shower taking place at 1pm in Toronto, so we were up fairly early and on the road shortly after 11. Ang dropped us off at the York Shopping Mall and Ollie, Sue & I took the subway 6 stops south leaving a short walk to Casa Loma. I say short but it was all uphill and some of it was quite steep! Still it was easy going back.
Grand Hall Casa Loma
Casa Loma was built by a wealthy financier Henry Pellatt who introduced electricity to Toronto. It took 300 men 3 years to construct from a start in 1911. So it is not strictly historic but rather a realisation of a romantic dream and no less interesting for that. Most of the furnishings were sold off when it was put on the market to pay off Sir Henry Pellatt's debts following a period of bad calls. We only spent about 3 hours there following an audio guided tour but you could spend a lot more. The views from the top of the tower were spectacular and while not exactly an uninterrupted view of the lake, is possibly better than the slum area it apparently overlooked when built.
Fountain Casa Loma
There aren't many people who would solve the problem of two properties separated by a main road by building an 800 foot long tunnel and using it to provide a huge furnace to give central heating to both properties. Apparently the furnace consumed 800 tons of coal per year. Bearing in mind that summers in Toronto are hot, so minimal amounts would be needed for hot water then, this means around 120 tons per month or 4 tons per day during the winter months!!
The formal gardens are not grand but they are beautiful and the whole place very nice indeed.
A short walk back to the subway and another 6 stops and several blocks walk in high heat and humidity saw us to the edge of Chinatown. We had been looking for somewhere to slake our thirst even being tempted to go in to a dive that looked as though it may have been on the police watch list; once entered swiftly exited.
3/4 party
Ang had trouble with the traffic but managed to park up and meet up with us in a McDonalds. It was a refuge at least and easily identifiable. Ollie had wanted to visit BeerBistro since Ang had got him a book produced by its owners based on cooking with beer; we therefore headed in that direction for our evening meal. The beer list is extensive with tasting notes and the food has recommended pairings.
Happy diners
The meals were very good and the pairings worked well though Ollie and I each had another beer to finish off.
Marina
As we didn't have to book in to our hotel 'till late, we drove down to the lakeside by the city centre airport and walked along the front in the crepuscular light. It was absolutely lovely and a great way to end this section of our holiday.
Inukshuk
Ollie dropped us off at the hotel at about 10pm and we said our sad farewells. It had been a wonderful week, we had done a lot and spent a most enjoyable time with Ollie and Ang which suddenly and predictably seemed too short. It was hard to break away but poor Ollie & Ang had an hour and a half's drive back to Waterloo, we just had to get ourselves sorted for the morrow and a 6am call to catch the 7am shuttle to the airport, and crash.

Keeping local
Bailleul, France
34th Div memorial outside the top of the campsite
After the excitement of yesterday, we decided to have a day local so that we were really fresh for what could be a long day tomorrow. First stop was at the top of the campsite, just outside which and laid back 10 metres or so is a monument to the 34th Division with its winged angel of victory. On then into the park donated to the village by Marguerite Yourcenar.
Who is Marguerite Yourcenar?
Born in Brussels she spent much of her childhood here in the family chateau before WW1 when it was reduced to a shell. An apparently celebrated writer in her later life, she travelled with her father until his death in 1929 then lived a bohemian existence in Paris until the money ran out in 1939 when she went to the US following a girlfriend. She lived the rest of her life in Maine with occasional trips back here and is significant for being the first woman nominated as a member of the Academie Francaise. She built a house on the site of the old chateau and this is still used by writers for periods of contemplation and writing. Given the noise made by a happy band of children playing in the park when we were there, the contemplation will not be quiet!
Mont Noir Cemetery at the foot of the campsite
One of the walks through the park was to the military cemetery at the foot of the campsite, so we followed the path through the woods and duly arrived at a beautiful and quiet little corner. Not for the first – or I doubt the last time we were struck by the fact that so many small communities housed a small cemetery of WW1 graves; yet another indicator of the human cost of the conflict. Small wonder that so many people (especially former participants) on all sides were determined that this should never be allowed to happen again.
A quiet walk back up half the hill and a right turn to cross the border into Belgium to buy some bread at the huge boulangerie. Once inside we noticed a huge counter about a metre deep and about 4 metres long covered in a bread for which locals seemed to go mad, buying several loaves and getting them sliced at the counter. The loaves concerned looked similar to brioche, a golden colour but an elongated, flat shape and apparently glazed with sugar. We didn't fancy one at the time but I feel we should try the local delicacy before we leave.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 8, 2011 from Bailleul, France

All good things come to an end
The Labyrynth
Our final day. Some last minute gifts to buy, having stowed our luggage behind reception, and then off to visit the Labyrinth and the Hospital in the Rock. The Labyrinth is a maze of underground caves, part of a 10km system which was carved out aeons ago by the action of the thermal waters in the limestone escarpment on which Old Buda is built. Currently it has been converted into a tourist circuit of sections of interconnecting chambers reflecting the various uses to which the caves have been put. Strange to think that when we were traipsing round the streets these caves were right beneath us.
Oh Yeah?
I guess we had been spoilt by our trip to the Palvolgi caves earlier in the week but a few statues placed here and there to convey the era of the caves and a particularly quirky section with reflections on how we were now homo consumerens didn't really seem worth the trip.
Footprint of pre- homo sapiens??
However another section of the caves was fascinating – the Hospital in the Rock. It was converted into a hospital during WWII, used again in the Hungarian Uprising (1956-57) and finally kitted out as a nuclear bunker in the early 60s.
The Hospital In the Rock
Our young guide spoke fluent, faultless English and over a 45 minute tour gave a comprehensive account of what conditions would have been like for the patients and the elaborate and secretive plans for sustaining life beneath this part of the city in the event of a nuclear attack. The generators controlling the filtration system use petrol and this was secretly delivered by people posing as gardeners pretending to water flower beds when they were in fact connecting one pipe to the underground fuel reservoir whilst watering with another.
It was about 1.30 pm when we reached the restaurant just round the corner from the hotel where we had been on our second evening meal.
Waiting outside Rustwurm
It had obviously been a busy shift and our waiter was decidedly grumpy, so we just ate our salads and made our way to the coffee shop and patisserie, Ruzworm, two doors further up the street for our first pudding (we had been so full in the evenings after our main course each evening). We were able to sit outside but I managed to catch a glimpse of the interior when I went in to pay. It apparently is the oldest patisserie in Budapest and has some fine period furniture from the late nineteenth century to match.
Rustwurm chocolate buiscuit
We both had a chocolate and marzipan shortcake like pastry – yummy! A quick last look at the Fisherman's Bastion and the promenade facing the Buda hills before returning to the hotel for our taxi. Istvan arrived promptly and we were at the airport within half an hour.
How did the 5 days go so quickly? We have seen so much but only really scratched the surface. We both think it is one of the most beautiful capitals we have visited so far. We wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. One thing I don't think we've mentioned, Health and Safety. We found it refreshing to see cobbled streets with uneven cobbles, even some missing and the odd hole in the pavement. There were some sections of the caves at Palvolgi that would definitely have been out of bounds in Western Europe. We wondered how long it would be before the Hungarians got caught up in the consumerism that inevitably led to people expecting compensation for lack of intelligence or judgement on their part. So don't delay your visit to enjoy this beautiful city.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on June 7, 2011 from Budapest, Hungary

Whales in the bay
Brisbane, Australia
What do you think of my backstroke???
We had planned to travel through the Glass House Mountains on our way to Hervey Bay but decided, as we needed to catch an afternoon Whale Watching boat, to travel without this detour and try to see them on our way back to Brisbane. This proved to be a good decision as we reached the harbour and the booking office with only half an hour to spare before the sailing. Grabbing our wraps and sandwiches (very kindly prepared to take away by one of the quay side restaurants) we boarded to start what turned out to be a truly amazing afternoon. We had brought binoculars to view, if we were lucky we thought, anything in the way of whale activity. We didn’t need them. 45 minutes in to our journey a small pod (group) of whales was sighted and our boat headed over towards them.
Peep-po
Engines were cut and we were encouraged to go on deck and wave and call out (no, not an episode of ‘Are You Being Framed’) The whales are apparently inquisitive creatures who enjoy interaction with human beings – well as long as they aren’t brought by factory ships armed with harpoons!). The noise and activity seemed to do the trick as the pod swam over to investigate at close quarters and then proceeded to swim around and under the boat, occasionally diving, blowing through their air holes or splashing the water with their flippers.
Whale spume
The captain told us that these were only babies of about 2 years old weighing in at around 2 tons apiece. They must have spent at least an hour with us before the boat moved on when we then saw a couple of adults who treated us to more antics, including breaches (where they hurl their whole bodies at great speed out of the water). It is difficult to explain why all this was so moving – I guess it is the fact that they are huge creatures and yet so gentle, friendly and trusting. Sadly it was time to head back to the harbour.
All good things come to an end; sunset on the way back from whale watching
We got back to the car and drove to the accommodation that Ang and Oli had booked for the night to be greeted by the owner, with the inspiring and welcoming words - “well, you're lucky I didn't let your room, you're very late”. It was just 6 pm! Anyway we unpacked and after a hasty trip to the supermarket got started on tea while Rick went to settle with our friendly landlady. We were due to make a very early start the next morning for our adventure to Frazer Island and also wanted to book ourselves in for the night of our return from there.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 10, 2007 from Brisbane, Australia

Who needs a roller coaster for adrenaline?
Corte, France
The Citadel
Back along the same road through the Desert des Agriates to the the N197 first thing and on down to Corte. We arrived soon after 10.30, parked up and had a quick look at the couple of hotels we thought would be a good bet. Booked in to the Hotel Du Nord right in the centre and then took a packed lunch up to the 'High Town'.
Place below the Citadel
Sat just below the Citadel walls in a deserted and sheltered spot (temperatures had reached 16 degrees!) before climbing to the Belvidere and spectacular views of the valleys radiating from Corte.
Parked up in Restonica Valley
We wandered back down to the hotel and set off in the car to the Restonica valley. Its a 15 km drive to the end of the road at the base of the mountains. The road doesn't have room for 2 cars for most of the drive and at times there is literally nothing between the road and sheer drops to the base of the gorge. My nerve gave way about 5 kms from the end so we parked in one of the few pull offs and walked on up the road for about an hour. Needless to say the scenery is breathtaking.
Snow more than a week after it arrived!
Towards the end of our walk we came across evidence of the snow that the region had had about a week ago. Hopefully the it will have disappeared from our route tomorrow down to Vizzavona and for Monday's drive back up to Aleria. From there we are going to try and head down the see the Aiguilles de Bavella before retracing our steps towards Bastia.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on March 30, 2008 from Corte, France

Off to the Cottage & Tobermory
Tobermory, Canada
Up at a reasonable hour to be ready for Dave & Kris to pack the cars. Away for the cottage at around 10:00 with a 5 hour trip, stopping only for a quick lunch at Tim Hortons. We arrived late pm and unpacked the car.
Ollie & Ang at the cottage
The cottage is delightfully situated on the shore of the lake with an approach from the road through mature trees. The plot has its own lake access with timber decking for soaking up the sun and a shady area in front of the house for people wanting the atmosphere and view but not the UV.
Kris had semi-prepared an evening meal of chicken enchiladas which were great, washed down with a glass of Dave’s wine.
Sun - Tobermory
The Harbour
Off to Tobermory to have a look around the town, check out the glass bottomed boat tours, do some shopping and look in a couple of the arty crafty shops.
After lunch we went to ‘Singing sands’ where the beach slopes very gently into the lake. You can walk some distance before the water even gets to your knees and as a result of being so shallow, it is quite warm. Back on the beach, we set about building a sand castle – it has been some time since we did anything like this and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The castle we built had a real moat! The sand was very nice to work with and lent itself to the task.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on July 28, 2008 from Tobermory, Canada

Skyscrapers and mountains
Vancouver, Canada
Strange arrangement for breakfast. Only three or so table in the buffet area so you collect what you want and sit in the reception area or pop back to your room.
Market
Off on the first leg of a hectic day taking in the architectural heritage of the area on our way to Granville Island and its famous market. We caught the number 50 bus to the area, got somewhat disorientated but got there after twenty minutes or so. Great market. Almost as good as St Jacobs! Bought Burritos at one of the stalls and ate them overlooking the water. Back to Downtown and a change of bus (No 19) to Stanley Park. Hired bikes and set off on the seawall circuit.
View from Stanley Park
Wonderful views of the harbour in our two and a quarter hour circuit. Passed a couple of lovely beaches and at the second one took a brief detour to the Interior to see some 'big' trees. There is so much to see we only scratched the surface but we had come to see the scenery and what scenery. Back on the bus to the hotel and a quick call to Ol before heading out to nearby Chambar (Belgium restaurant). We both had Mechui a dish which we have when we go to Argentat, washed down with some unusual Belgian lambic Beers. The lamb was beautiful. And the beers were excellent too! Blog writing to catch up with and we are planning to stop up to 11 ish to ring Zoe and wish her happy birthday. We are hoping that 7 am in Bristol won't be too early!!
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 3, 2010 from Vancouver, Canada

Arrival in Halifax
Halifax, Canada
Up at 6am and in the lobby to catch the shuttle bus. Some consternation when someone shouted as the driver accelerated out from the hotel – the rear door had swung open and one of the cases had dropped out. Quickly checked in and through security - this time I had my palms swept by a magic wand , I guess to check for traces of something non kosher. A quick Ice Cap and bagel and forty minutes later we were boarding.
The bright red Dodge
Even though we were 30 minutes late in taking off (waiting for a dog's paperwork to accompany him) we arrived on time. Having picked up our lovely bright red Dodge, Rick took to the highway and we headed for Downtown Halifax. He had noticed that, unlike Ontario, drivers weren't turning right on a red light. Was Nova Scotia different to Ontario? He chanced it and a quick text to Ol and a referral to the guide book seemed to indicate we were ok. Maybe we'd just seen cautious drivers!
Citadel
Tom tom got us safely across the $1 dollar MacDonald toll bridge and up to the Citadel Hill National Historic Site. At the end of the Napoleonic wars we Brits decided that the old wooden forts defending our strategic points against the French in North America should be replaced by more permanent and sturdy structures. The present star shaped fortress to defend the deep harbour of Halifax against possible attack from the French stronghold in Louisbourg on Cape Breton was begun in 1828. We arrived at the start of a guided tour. Our guide was dressed in the uniform of a garrison soldier of the period. The fort is run as it would have been at the time with students playing various parts. The enactment included a firearms drill and a cannon was fired.
Marker, Hydrostone district
The views from the walls over the harbour are well worth a visit even if you're not interested in history. It was 5.30pm and check in at our B & B being up to 6.00pm. After a quick break we headed on foot to Hydrostone market and supper at the Little Europe Bistro a great end to our first day in Nova Scotia. This area was completely flattened in the explosion of 1917 and there is a memorial to those who died in the little square in front of the restaurant.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on July 31, 2012 from Halifax, Canada

Halifax explored
Halifax, Canada
Clocktower
A lovely warm and sunny day, so a 20 or so minute walk into Halifax to see the oldest church in North America with a piece of debris from the Halifax explosion embedded in a wall. The Halifax explosion was in 1917 when a French vessel loaded with TNT and a Norwegian vessel with relief supplies were manoeuvring in the port and collided creating sparks which ignited flammable liquids on the French deck.
St Peter's Church
The flames quickly got out of control and when they got to the TNT set off the largest pre-atomic bomb explosion. 2000 people were killed instantly and over 300 acres of Halifax were flattened.
Province House
On to Province House, the seat of Provincial legislature. A lovely Georgian sandstone building where we enjoyed a free half hour guided tour filling us in on all the elements we might have otherwise missed.
By now it was midday and feeling thirsty, we headed down to Alexander Keith's Brewery. We went for the double tour; a guided tour of the brewery together with a harbour trip on the sailing boat 'Silva'.
Alexander Keith's brewery tour
The brewery tour was rather quirky with costumed guides taking us 'back in time' to Mr Keith's time. With over-enthusiastic overacting for my taste, I found it interesting but OTT and light on detail. The tasting was for two of the brews and although for good volumes, it would have been nice to try a small amount of all 4 brews prior to choosing which to sample in quantity. I tried the ruby and IPA and found both a bit light, thin, acid and flavourless. It tasted to me like sparkling water that had had any life chilled out of it; a huge disappointment after the wonderful craft beers I had sampled the last week. As we exited we were surprised to note that we had been inside for 1.5 hours.
Abord Silva in Halifax harbour
A quick bite of a wonderful seafood chowder from a harbourside eatery and we were due on 'Silva'. Once out of her berth, we hoisted sails and sailed gently round the island in the harbour and under the suspension bridge for 1.5 hours. It was very pleasant but didn't compare with our trip on Barnaby in NZ, although it was a great way to see the harbour.
HMS Sackville
A couple of berths along was a corvette similar to the one in which a certain Cockshutt matelot spent many enjoyable hours bobbing along in the Atlantic between 1942 and 1945. I knew it was small but until you see it in the flesh, you don't realise how small. I would hesitate to cross the solent in one, never mind the Atlantic. We had hoped to see the WT office in which he had spent his time but sadly it wasn't possible.
Not far from here is the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. No admission fee after 5 on Tueday – open to 8. There is a marvellous exhibition on the 'Titanic'. Not simply the tragedy itself but the aftermath which is often overlooked. Apparently, even in death class was respected with first class passengers meriting a wooden coffin while second and third class passengers got a canvass sheet!
Lower Deck
We aimed to have a beer and meal at the 'Lower Deck' , a pub recommended by Mike, Ollie's boss. Our guide book misplaced it but determination allowed us to find it in the historic buildings area.
We had a lovely meal but being owned by the same group as Alexander Keith's Brewery, it stocked the same beer and I was sad to find that even with food, it still left me disappointed.
Back uphill to our B&B via the No7 bus – we had had quite a long day and some walking!!
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 1, 2012 from Halifax, Canada

Walking on air
Vancouver, Canada
Breakfast with the irritating bloke who wants to talk about global warming in attendance. He is miffed that I neither wholeheartedly support the contention that it is all man's fault nor debate why it isn't. I dodge the 'so you don't believe in climate change' with 'I don't believe the science is agreed'; I dodge the 'look at the flooding in Pastistan' with 'there have been floods since time immemorial but with modern communications we are more aware of them'; he thinks he nails me with 'you don't think that a disaster would have been recorded 500 years ago' and I sidestep with 'not all cultures have a written tradition.' I would love to ask why he thinks had a mini ice age for 300 years in the middle of the last millennia and whether he has considered that the vast herds of buffalo covering the North American plains may have produced more methane that current population of cows – or on what assumptions he calculates the methane output of the herds of herbivorous dinosaurs. But I would have ended up entertaining him rather than getting on and enjoying what the planet has to offer now!!
Steam clock sounding off
We checked out of our rooms and stored our bags in the basement. First stop today was gastown, apparently named after an early publican in the area who enjoyed 'gassing' - I would have been happy to introduce him to climate change man. Gastown is an area for domestic shops, furniture etc. and quite old. It has not yet suffered from an explosion of high rise buildings and seems familiar to provincial eyes such as mine. It looks rather attractive, I think. While there we saw a steam clock, originally powered by waste steam from the local businesses. Every ¼ hour, it toots; we were lucky enough o be there for the 09:15 tooting.
Chinatown gate
Moving on to Chinatown with its rather magnificent millennium gate, near which is supposedly the narrowest building in the world at 6 feet. It is undoubtedly narrow but it is tacked on to the front of a building a lot wider, so I think it is a bit disingenuous. Dr Sun Yat Sen has had a small park and garden dedicated to him with some funds towards it provided by the Chinese government. The park was small but beautifully formed and the garden was closed all day to accommodate a ruddy film crew, so we didn't get an opportunity to see it.
We wanted to get some maternity wear as part of Zoe's birthday present, but hard as it is to believe, there are no maternity shops in downtown Vancouver – or possibly none of the locals we asked wanted to share it with us.
Traditional patterns at Hudon's Bay Company
Even the Hudson Bay Company couldn't oblige.
We collected our bags, made our way to the Canada Line and Airport and picked up our rental car, a nice Toyota Corolla. Looking at the map, our next port of call, Lynn Canyon involved a long drive round Vancouver or a shorter drive though the middle. Rather to Sue's horror, I elected to go through the middle, hoping Ollie's tuition last week would be remembered. I found that having driven in Corsica last year, it didn't take very long for me to adapt to left hand drive.
Terrifying suspension bridge, Lynn Valley gorge
Tomtom navigated us beautifully through town but was less sure where Lynn Canyon was. Not altogether surprising as there are no signs to guide you. After stopping for directions a couple of times, we were able to find the path and take the ¾ hour walk up one side, over a terrifying suspension bridge and back up the other side. The walk through pine forest with huge trees along board walks and up and down steps was a wonderful experience. The guide book said that this was better than the Capilano which is much better known, busy and expensive. We can't compare but it was not too busy, it was free and our landlady at the B&B told us that in her view it was a much nicer walk.
We found a nice pub for our dinner of meatballs with linguini – excellent.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 4, 2010 from Vancouver, Canada

Dyers Bay
Tobermory, Canada
Ron & friend
Ollie and Ang took us over to Georgian Bay to spend a few hours with John & Janet’s friends, Ron & Rita Baker. They have a lovely beachfront cottage with a garden leading down to the shore with a beach hut at the bottom. We spent a lovely couple of hours chatting over a snack lunch and finished up at the top of the beach where R&R had a table and chairs under an umbrella.
The restored Lighthouse
Ollie and Ang picked us up at about 15:30 and we had a drive down to the lighthouse that Ron had helped to restore. It was a little further than we expected but it was worth the trip. The lighthouse has been restored to reflect the sort of life of a keeper around 1880.
Back at the cottage, we had supper then went outside and watched the sun set as we made a fire around which we played games. It was a lovely evening.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on July 29, 2008 from Tobermory, Canada

Reflections
Before going anywhere it is a good principle to research the area and what to see. Guide books are good for this of course but we found in addition an excellent website with lots of good ideas, pictures, a virtual tour and information – www.saint-petersburg.com
Getting to Saint-Petersburg in the first place required a leap of faith;you had to book your accommodation first (checking that they have 'visa support', which effectively means that they provide documentation to confirm that you are invited to Russia and have a place to stay). Once you have the two items of confirmation that are required you apply for a visa. The form that you fill out is very bureaucratic and complex to complete; we found that the Russian Embassy website less helpful than a couple of others in giving guidance as to how to complete the form. It is worth spending some time researching other websites to give you additional information on how to complete various parts of the form.
While on the flight to St P, migration forms are handed out and declaration forms too, if needed. It is worth researching these for guidance on how to to complete them; we took copy examples to help us complete the forms on the flight. The site above is a good source. We read that if you didn't declare something on the way in, it could be confiscated on the way out, so we declared laptop, mobile phones etc and went through the red channel (appropriate really). However, the customs officer said we didn't need to declare these and should proceed through the green channel!
When I was first out on the road in sales, my first lesson from an old hand was – the most important thing is to find out where the toilets are on the patch and then the telephones. It was good advice then and although the mobile phone has arrived recently, the first part remains invaluable in any new environment. Saint-Petersburg does not have large numbers of public conveniences and cafes and hotels may be a bit sniffy about you walking in from the street just for the loo. It is worthwhile learning to recognise ТУАЛЕТ – 'too-alyet' – to be able to recognise when there are any, though usually there is also a 'WC' sign if less prominent. All the public toilets we discovered charged for entry; usually about 20 rubles (80p). We discovered toilets at:
South of gardens of Saint Nicholas Cathedral
At the end of the square opposite the Mariinski Theatre
On main road west of Church on Spilled Blood (movable)
In Gardens North of St Isaac's Cathedral
Outside Hermitage (moveable) and several inside
Ladies in particular (though it would also apply to men) might like to note that toilet paper is required to be placed in a bin beside the toilet rather than in the pan in public toilets.
We gathered that tipping taxis and restaurants is common and when we asked the concierge if the private tours that we had arranged through and paid the hotel for whether a tip would be expected as well we were told that if we liked the service we could pay a tip but if not, we were not obliged. In other words – yes a tip is expected. We never did work out what exactly was expected though at one restaurant, it showed a 10% gratuity would be expected, so roughly what you may pay on the continent.
Food in the Hermitage Cafe is good value but you must have cash to pay for it – cards are not accepted.
Supermarkets or grocery shops in the city centre we found hard to spot. It was easier once we worked out that they are often in basement or semi-basement positions like the one underneath the building next door to our hotel. It was a useful and cheap place to get water and supplies for the day and was open from about 8 in the morning till late at night.
We don't often stay in hotels and rarely in 4 star when we do, so it may be commonplace anyway but the hotels we saw near ours all appeared to have a very active conciergerie who will make any arrangements that you require, booking restaurants, shows, taxis or tours, which certainly makes life a lot easier when you can't speak much of the language. Their rates, at least at our hotel appeared to be competitive, although it has to be acknowledged that we didn't do any more than a quick comparison and concluded that they weren't far off the mark. It should be borne in mind that there appear to be different rates for Russians and foreigners for a number of things like theatre and palace visits. In the case of Peterhof, you apparently can't get in as an unaccompanied non-Russian until 4pm, with closing at 5pm.
In a number of the palaces, overcoats and large bags have to be left in a cloakroom by the entrance and while most will allow photography in most places, you need pay for a photography ticket (often 200 rubles (ca £4)) and pay attention to any signs as sometimes, despite the photography ticket a single room will be forbidden to any photography.
Saint-Petersburg apparently used to be one of the crime centres of Russia in the 1990's. While this has apparently largely evaporated and there was no obvious evidence of any to us, it was notable that there are significant numbers of security guards at hotels and public buildings. There were also higher levels of obvious policing than we would normally expect in a city centre.
Being a relatively young city I guess that it grew as a planned development rather than the more haphazard way many older places grew. Being intended from the outset as the Capital would also account for wider main streets. Nevsky Prospekt, the Oxford Street equivalent has 3 lanes in each direction and traffic flows very quickly most of the time; I reckon it was not uncommon for vehicles to be doing 50 or 60 mph. However, we noticed that it seemed a very pedestrian friendly place with pedestrian crossings respected, unlike Paris, where you become a target. We mentioned this to Irena and she chucked and said that this is a very recent innovation as the law was only passed 2 weeks before! Irena also said that traffic was unpredictable and the city was prone to gridlock for no obvious reason at all; we experienced this first hand on our return from Peterhof at 2pm on a Wednesday.
It was interesting to note that cars constructed up to about 2000 are fairly modest affairs. Most of the newer vehicles are big cars usually with big engines. The current fashion appears to be the Chelsea tractor; a large engined (often pseudo) 4x4 with huge numbers of these pounding the streets. I suppose these are necessary items to get to their dacha at weekends. I wonder how they managed before?
We also noticed that Russian bureaucracy doesn't run to leaving signs in roadworks to warn motorists of raised ironwork – it is pretty self-evident or to pedestrians to warn them not to trip over the uneven surface. There were no signs warning of an uneven paving slabs on footpaths or even cordoned off areas awaiting treatment. Pretty refreshing really being required to use intelligence instead of being nannied all the time. Either the average Russian is more intelligent than us or the state thinks that people should use their common sense and faculties to keep themselves safe – a very dangerous concept that could seriously reduce bureaucratic jobs if it caught on here.
Roofs to deal with snow outside our hotel room
Huge downpipe
Talking of health and safety, the huge downpipes from all buildings are needed to cope with the huge amount of water, snow and ice that comes down during the melt. Most roofs had a V-shaped strip to channel melt as it slipped down the roof and very many appeared to have a fence along the roof too, to prevent a ton of snow falling on passers by. The benefit of the V strip is that it kept water well away from the edge of the roof and so reduced the amount of icicles that form there. We were told that sadly, there are a couple of fatal accidents each year as a result of falling icicles, usually children.
Venice of the North? Venice was founded around 800 AD, although some of the other islands in the lagoon were colonised from around 600 AD. It became a republic in around 1200 and grew rich in the next 500 years, based on successful merchants monopolising the eastern Mediterranean trade routes and becoming a city state and independent nation. It had become somewhat overblown by the time Napoleon marched in, determined to cut the decadent fat cat down to size. Venice capitulated rather than fight for its continued independence. Napoleon started the city's 150 year decline into oblivion. The faded former elegance was what appealed to the romantics and they in turn probably unwittingly kick started its slow renaissance. The ongoing work to turn back the clock is at once worthy and probably Canutish. To walk through the city is to sense the layers of history permeating its core. The canals have carried all the trade on which the city was based for over a millennium and still do. Venice without its canals would not be Venice.
Saint Petersburg was founded in 1703 by an absolute monarch initially to provide a defence against Sweden and by 1712, it was made the capital of Russia by which time the threat had largely dissipated. The city was built by conscripted serfs from all over Russia and by Swedish prisoners of war, who all died in vast numbers, many of them from falling masonry apparently. This being where the court was, all the noble families built residences to reflect their status and wealth. The royal family itself appears to have had some problems with staying put and each built their own particular palace to reflect their own style, so there are no fewer than 6 in the area. When under threat by a warring army, the city did not capitulate and paid a huge penalty for it. The courage and determination of the residents is a lesson to all. There is an energy and dynamism in the city now that promises well for the future. The canals appear largely tranquil except for the huge number of tourist trips and provide a pleasant scenery and a convenient way to drain the land. The canals serve to divide up the city into areas but have little or no effect on traffic which flows considerably faster. Like the Italians, Russian drivers have a foot down mentality, even in built up areas, but in Saint Petersburg, they have free rein. Saint Petersburg would be diminished without its canals but it would still be Saint Petersburg.
So, Venice was built over a millennium on trade by a republic. Saint Petersburg was built over 200 years at the whim of an autocratic, if far sighted monarch and by his wealthy court. Both are sites of extraordinary architectural and cultural significance and both have problems with flooding. I think Venice is unique, so is Saint Petersburg. There is little they have in common other than a lot of water and a lot of glorious architecture. If I had to vote for a Venice of the North, it would be Bruges, with which it has more in common.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on November 14, 2009 from Saint Petersburg, Russia

The snow road to cascade
Vizzavone, France
Thumbs up for Les Cascades
The clocks springing forwards this morning meant that we weren't away until just after 10:00 for our much looked forward to trip to Les Cascades des Anglais. It acquired this soubriquet when it became a required picnic spot for wealthy English on their Grand Tour of Europe.
Parking up by the Auberge at the start of the walk to Les Cascades Des Anglais
The N193 from Corte is a main road but even this had been closed by snow last week; we hoped with the good weather of the last few days, this wouldn't be a problem. Sure enough, the road was clear and with temperatures in the teens, we were able to make good time as the road made its circuitous route around the mountains. The guide book had suggested using a car park opposite an Auberge. Well the Auberge was closed and the car park had over a foot of snow on it, so we couldn't use that! I daresay that our Canadian family would think little of this but I haven't seen so much snow in a long time. I am sure that it was of a type with which I am not familiar, as well – it did not behave as British snow. We found somewhere to leave the car and braced ourselves for the walk. Getting to the path was the first challenge! Over the bank of snow that had been ploughed off the road. You created a base for your foot by carefully pressing the snow down about 4 inches and if it packed tight, put your weight on it. This was OK except very occasionally, once your whole weight was on it, it would suddenly give and your foot sank down a couple of feet, collecting snow in the tops of your socks as you pulled out. Ideally we would have worn snow shoes but we didn't bring any and couldn't be bothered trying to find some.
The snowy track to the Cascades
With waterproof footwear, we reckoned we would be OK anyway. The walk is supposed to take about 30 minutes each way but having to cope with the snow and the terrain – not knowing what would happen when you put your weight on each foot, it made the walk a lot longer and harder. It took us an hour to reach the cascades and a bit more to get back. But it was worth the effort; stunning is a word we have probably overused on the blog; even Grandpa M would probably have agreed that it was fantastic.
Cascades des Anglais
The scenery, the stillness beyond the constant thrum of the water cascading down the river bed, the glorious sunshine, the colours with light dappling the scene through the trees, the clear air and water and the scrunch of snow underfoot all assailed the senses. In over two hours of walking, we met three people; I'm sure that it is very different in summer and we felt really privileged to have it to ourselves. We got back to the car thoroughly exhausted, exhilarated and a little damp of foot.
Views from the walk to Les Cascades Des Anglais
After a bit of rehydration we drove on to Bocognano to give some thought seeing the Bridal Veil Falls – a quick recce suggested that though there was no snow, it would be a bit of a scramble, so we popped into the convenient village bakery for a late snack before returning to Corte.
Views of Mountain Peaks including Monte D'Oro
We decided to go to the same eatery as last night; it is not the most promising exterior and it means going underground. The restaurant is a simple, basic no frills sort of a place but it has an excellent traditional Corsican menu, beautifully cooked and with very cheerful and good service. Above all it is very good value. Look out for Orenga de Gaffroy on the left heading towards the citadel from the Hotel du Nord about 100 metres up.
More Peaks near Vizzavona
written by  rickandsuejohnson on March 31, 2008 from Vizzavone, France

Its windy - lets go and see a windmill!
Cassel, France
Windmill
Off to Steenmeulen windmill at nearby Terdeghem, We arrived just in time for a guided tour of the museum and windmill by the miller's wife. It is the only working brick windmill in the area and it was an experience to see it in action.
Windmill interior
The tour of the museum revealed some fascinating facts about life on the border before the 20th Century (Terdeghem is only a few hundred yards from the Belgian border). The women of the house would cross the border from France with a specially constructed apron like garment with two very large pockets concealed beneath their skirts and would return laden with tobacco, meat, chocolate and basically anything else that would fit. As our guide explained, even in those days things were cheaper in Belgium! They apparently got away with the smuggling as the Customs Officers weren't allowed to touch women.
This area is famous for its beer and we were shown how in days gone by in September the wires supporting the plants were cut and the hop flowers would be picked by hand by workers sitting on chairs in between the rows beneath the wires. The school year did not start until mid September as the children were expected to take part. The hops would then be taken to the mill and placed between the stones to release the flavours before fermentation. Mills in this area served a dual purpose for the Brasseries and to produce flour for the Boulangeries and coarser grain for use as animal fodder. Different stones would be used according to the task in hand.
The museum was full of old farm machinery including those to extract fibres from flax to make into rope.
The wind was strong and having adjusted the angle of the sails to his satisfaction the miller climbed down one of the sails and set them in motion. No canvas on these sails and yet they turned with such force. We were taken inside and on each floor Mrs Miller gave us a detailed commentary on the functions of the mechanisms, how they were constructed etc.
Town centre
On to Cassel, its hill the highest point of the region in the Flemish range. The town dates back to Roman times. It has seen many sieges in its time. During the 1793-94 campaign in Flanders against the French revolutionary army the Duke of York was soundly beaten here and the old British nursery rhyme – The Grand Old Duke of York – recalls the march up and down the hill at Cassel. Our guide book said that the town has a huge cobbled square. It is also approached from Steenvorde by a long cobbled road! We drove, well rattled, through the main square, very pretty – lots of parking but a large notice to the effect that it was a blue parking zone – I'd read somewhere that if you visited the Musee de Flandre they would give you a parking permit. We weren't visiting the museum and so headed on to find a large free parking area only about 200 yards further on and right below the Public gardens . There is a fantastic view over the plain from here and apparently on a really clear day you can see as far as the belfry in Bruges!
Mill
Not surprisingly for its location, the gardens surround an 18C wooden windmill (the hill used to be dotted with numerous mills but this is the only one remaining). Again, being open for tourists, the sails were in motion – this one's canvases were unfurled. You'll also find an impressive statue of General Foch on horseback in the gardens. He had his headquarters at Cassel between October 1914 to June 1915 to follow the progress of the battle of Flanders on the banks of the Yser.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 10, 2011 from Cassel, France

High up in the Canopy
Cairns, Australia
Colourful loco
We reached the railway station and picked up the pre-booked tickets for our Rainforest experience – a trip to Kuranda by train and return by Skyrail gondola. We waited on the platform in anticipation for the tell tale sounds of an approaching steam engine. A large light appeared in the distance. As it grew nearer I could see the brightly painted coachwork of a modern engine pulling a long string of old fashioned carriages. We chugged off at a sedate pace gradually climbing higher into the mountains and through the rainforest. The track passes through a series of tunnels as it winds its way upwards and there are beautiful views of Cairns and the coastline. From time to time you catch glimpses of waterfalls to the side of the track. The train briefly stops at Baron Gorge for a photo opportunity of the waterfall there which,
Baron River Falls
judging from photos, can be spectacular but due to the shortage of rainfall when we visited was just a trickle.
A finch??
Kuranda itself is very touristy but still rather charming and we stopped on our way to Birdworld for a cream tea. I confused the lady behind the counter by asking for just that. She looked puzzled and said “what's that”. “Um, what you've got on the board ......... Devon Cream Teas”. “Oh right. Well I've never heard them called Cream Teas before”. That sorted we sat down for our teas (at lunchtime)! Refuelled we made our way to Birdworld. Amazing. It was really wonderful – a huge open area of forest and ponds with tropical birds everywhere. When you looked up you could see a very fine mesh of netting enclosing the whole area but it was so lovely to see the birds, to all intents and purposes, flying freely.
Two Sun Conures? feeed off Ang's hand
Some of them were really tame and would take seed from your hand. Reluctantly we made our way back to catch Skyrail. Our return combination ticket meant that we needed to be at the Skyrail base terminal by 3 pm to take the last bus back to the railway station where we had parked.
The three degrees
The gondolas whisked us high above the treetops with 3 stops en route to our destination. We spotted the train in the distance below us as we gradually and silently glided through the sky back down to the coast. We finished the day by heading into Cairns to pick up the disk of photos Ol and Ang had taken with the underwater camera they had hired for our Barrier Reef trip. They were wonderful shots and well worth the effort they took in taking them.
We still hadn't used the complex pool but dipping our toes in on our return it seemed bitterly cold so Ol suggested we walk to the beach only a few hundred yards away. He bravely strode into the water which was also very cold so with just a brief paddle we gave up and popped back to start tea.
The following day we decided to return to Kuranda, this time by car. We headed for one of the wildlife parks. The object of the exercise being to have a cuddle with a Koala.
Mum & Joey
It turned out to be quite a small park and unfortunately we arrived at the same time as a large group of Japanese tourists. The kangaroos and wallabies all ran for cover to escape the barrage of cameras but we enjoyed seeing the Koalas and Ang and I proceeded to the 'Cuddle a Koala and have your picture taken' area. We were pleased to read, as we waited for the shots, that the Koalas are protected by law from being used more than a certain number of minutes in one day for photos.!
Sleeping off the Eucalyptus
Rick and I left Cairns for the start of our journey back home and a day in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, before our long flight to Heathrow the next day. We packed up and left Yorkeys Knob but not before a daylight trip down the Marina. On the two occasions that we had been there before it had been to eat at the Yacht Club there and I thought it would be nice to see what it all looked like in daylight. We parked up and strode down to the harbour wall. Two huge signs warning 'Danger Salt Water Crocodiles' were clearly visible as we approached the beach to the side of the harbour wall. It suddenly became clear why there had been no-one on the beach when we went for our short paddle a couple of days previously!! We hadn't seen any signs in the section that we had gone on. With a nervous laugh we drove past our beach and on to Cairns, dropped Ol and Ang off at their hostel and said our sad farewells. Our flight was on time and we arrived in Sydney in good time to pick up our hire car and drive back to the Russell. Our short time there at the beginning of the holiday meant that we managed to find our way there with only one wrong turning!
written by  rickandsuejohnson on October 29, 2007 from Cairns, Australia

A Blue Haze and a Swiss Chalet
Katoomba, Australia
Why the Blue Mountains are so-called.
A two hour drive from Sydney saw us to Katoomba. It was a glorious bright sunshiny day though the air was icy cold. We arrived soon after lunch, checked into our hotel and armed with our guide book headed off in the direction of Echo Point and what proved to be a really wonderful afternoon. The views from here are out of this world and the haze above the forest does really look blue. We walked the circuit to Skyway, descending the Giant Stairway alongside the Three Sisters
The Three Sisters
and then crossing the Jamison Valley, passing Katoomba Falls to the Scenic Railway. The Railway takes you back up to the top of the cliffs from where you can take Skyway back to reach Echo Point.
Skyway
We'd worked up quite an appetite by the time we returned and it was beginning to get dark. Having had a little look at the local guides and thumbed through the Rough Guide we plumped for a place called the Swiss Chalet just a very short walk from where we were staying. Suitably wrapped up against the cold we headed out. What a wonderful find. The restaurant was, surprise, surprise furnished and set out like an old fashioned Swiss Chalet (picture Heidi and you've got it) complete with cow bells of assorted sizes. It was packed but, luckily for us, they were able to squeeze us in. One rather large fondu later saw us back out into the cold and a brisk walk back to the hotel where the wood burning stove was glowing healthily. Having checked in for our return flights the next evening we settled down for the night. The next day we decided to take another shorter walk this time to see Leura Cascades and view Briday Veil Falls. Although lovely it was obvious that, like the waterfalls in Kuranda, they would be really spectacular if there had been any recent rain to speak of.
The story of the three sisters
Our final check in and then the long journey home. What an adventure – truly a holiday of a lifetime even if it had got off to a wobbly start. Planning it and reading other people's blogs was nearly as much fun as living it and writing it up and reading Rick's accounts has made me feel perhaps another journey might be round the corner!
written by  rickandsuejohnson on October 29, 2007 from Katoomba, Australia

Craters and trenches
Zillebeke, Belgium
In to the tourist office in Bailleul to find out about the Carillon concert in the evening, book our tour of the Brasserie Beck and meal for Saturday evening and to find out about the train to Lille. We also asked about the Blue Zone Parking – apparently its a type of season ticket you can purchase. Worth it if you are local and nipping into town quickly to do some shopping. Best to use the free car park behind the town hall when we go to the concert, we were told. We quickly hopped back to the car (we'd parked in the blue zone!) to navigate to the free parking and take a look at the town's war memorial which was built attached to the ruins of St Amand church.
Vancouver Corner Canadian memorial
Back into Belgium to take a proper look at the memorial gardens and Canadian monument outside Sint Juliaan this time in bright blustery weather. On to Tyne Cot with its 11,953 graves (over 8,000) unidentified. As you approach the small museum outside the cemetery walls, the voice of a young British woman reads out the names and ages of those known to lie here. Inside as the names are read their photos are displayed on a screen.
Tyne Cot entrance
There are maps explaining the battles here and cases displaying personal artefacts – letters, photos, telegrams etc. On walking down to the cemetery entrance we were passed by a group of young teenagers each wheeling an OAP. The cemetery has over 200,000 visitors a year and this is the first one where we have seen gardeners busy mowing the lawns and plants in a holding area ready to put out. Some areas were cordoned off where new grass had been laid over matting to try and protect it from the heavy wear. The car park here was full and not just with British cars – teenagers, couples with young families , middle aged and old. These boys and men are not forgotten.
Hooge crater museum & cafe
We had a drink and sandwich at the cafe attached to the Hooge Crater Museum where there are life size displays of soldiers of many nationalities, old photos and maps of what Hooge looked like before and after 1914. When you drive through the countryside now surrounded by trees, green fields, cows, sheep and people going about their everyday lives it is impossible to appreciate what it was like there from 1914. It's only when you see pictures of the landscape – mud, stumps of trees, piles of rubble and dead bodies that the true horror is brought into perspective.
Pond filling Hooge crater with bunker beyond
About 100 yards back from the museum you can visit the Hooge craters now forming a pretty lake and a small section of trenches now in the grounds of a hotel.
Moonscape on Hill 60
A little further west and Hill 60 where the Australians tunnelled under the German lines and detonated mines as part of the battle of Messines. Over 600 Germans were killed here when the mine exploded and the hill has been left as it was after the battle. Now sheep graze amongst the hillocks, old bunkers and craters..
Back slightly later to Bailleul than planned to listen in the comfort of the car to the final 10 minutes of the bell concert - a mix of modern and classic tunes (oh Champs Elysees and Strangers in the Night!).
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 11, 2011 from Zillebeke, Belgium

Polyphonics but no fuzz in the furse
The Citadel
At breakfast we had a bit of a show from the French Paras based in the Citadel as they practised abseiling down the walls of the Citadel. After picking up provisions and a copy of the CD referred to last night we headed off towards l'Isle Rousse with the strains of I Murivani coming from the CD player.
Harbour
L'Isle Rousse is named after the red coloured rock just offshore from the town and which forms part of the harbour. A relatively new town and pretty unremarkable; I imagine that when busy in the summer months, like Calvi it would be pretty unbearable – for me anyway. We then made for the hills behind, where we gathered are some very pretty villages. We were not disappointed; the road made for the familiar exciting drive higher and higher until we reached the lovely hilltop village of Saint Antonio, where we had our picnic lunch.
Church at Aregno
On the way up we stopped at Aregno to see an unusually constructed church with a chequered pattern of brickwork. We also saw some sheep standing rather pointlessly on a roof – perhaps it felt more like a mountain? Saint Antonio is a delightful village that has managed to retain its authenticity and eccentricity, while making only necessary concessions to make it somewhere people want to live.
St Antonino in the Balagne
It is genuinely on a mountain top; many of the houses have parts of the rock forming walls, steps and paths, morphing the natural with man-made materials. From the top, you get a fabulous view of the area in a 360º sweep. When we arrived in the car park at the bottom of the village (the one road ends here), there were a lot of vehicles around the church with some generators and tents hidden behind and after some analysis concluded that some filming was taking place but it being France, lunch is god and everyone was taking their allotted time. In due course the luvvies emerged and started fussing around the next location shot by a gate about 200metres away.
The Film Set with Citroen at St Antonino in front of the Church
On the way back down, I managed to stop, get out my camera, change lens and capture a kite before it disappeared over the hill. It was a wonderful moment, even if the shot wasn't. We drove on to Monticello, which was a pleasant enough village with the usual bog-standard lovely vistas but fairly unremarkable apart from the fact that Frank Muir had a place here.
We came down from the mountains a bit like Moses but without the tablets of stone, although with the way the local drivers hog the road, we could well have collected some embedded in the car (stone tablets that is).
Our tour then took us along the coast road before turning off to cross the Desert des Agriates before almost completing our circuit of the island at St Florent. The compulsory tortuous road through this contained its usual level of attention demand but the scenery was quite remarkable. It was like a lunar landscape with bushes. Although on our trips around the island, there have been relatively few occasions when the speed limits could be safely exceeded, I have never been temped – it struck me on one or two of the straight stretches on the Desert that I could exceed 90kph, I was reminded of Ollie's experience and was sure that a gendarme would triumphantly appear from behind a bush having waited a week for a passing car. (He would have filled his book in under an hour on the main road).
St Florent
We arrived at St Florent and having found a hotel, set out for a quick assessment of the place. Again, without tourists, it is quite delightful, especially as by now the weather was absolutely glorious with temperatures in the sun a balmy 15ºC and the wind having dropped. The view from the citadel over the harbour with the sun low in the sky over an azure bay and sparkling off the water was wonderful. The only consequence of there being no tourists is, in common with so many of the places we have visited that so much of the place is closed, which gives it a slightly surreal atmosphere.
By mid-afternoon, the clouds that have constantly shrouded the mountain tops over the last week had dissipated. So hopefully the change in the weather will mean that we should be able to complete the things we want to do in the centre of the island over the next few days.

The Grotto
Tobermory, Canada
Georgian Bay, near The Grotto
We went to the grotto after breakfast. We had a 40 minute walk through pine forest and emerged to a small cove which contained the grotto accessed by a short swim across the cove. There was no beach, it was an amazingly bleached white shingle but mainly rock. The water was crystal clear and a lovely shade of blue; where the rock showed under the water it was a clear white, shading to a
deep azure blue as the water gets deeper; which it does quite suddenly rather than shelving gradually. Sue was the first in; she was joined by the Nyhout family and I got in as far as my waist before deciding it was just too cold to get in any further. Over time we all got out of the water and warmed up again on the rocks for an hour or so.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on July 29, 2008 from Tobermory, Canada

Haze over Vancouver
Port Alberni, Canada
Cable car to Grouse Mountain
Mountain B&B
Mountain B & B on East Balmoral Road was a good find. Our hosts provided us with a mammoth breakfast – fresh fruit salad, home baked Blueberry Pie, Ham and Eggs and tasty black bread. Ivan explained that what appeared to be mist was in fact the smoke from the forest fires and as it was hot and there were no winds it was lying like a blanket overhead. From their lounge you could just about see Canada Place and make out Burrard Sound. We knew it wasn't an ideal day to go up Grouse Mountain for the views but it would be our only opportunity so we went for it. We parked up just before 9 am and were one of the first up on the Cable Car. Apparently each one can take up to 100 people - ours carried 6! The ride was smooth and although there wasn't the amazing view of the city below us, due to the smoke, it was a thrilling ride to the 1128 m summit.
Grouse Mountain
I'd read the previous evening that if you walk the Grouse Grind be sure to use plenty of insect repellent. As I've a history of being a very tasty bite to flying insects, I liberally applied Jungle Strength lotion and was I glad that I did. No sooner had we emerged from the lift terminal building than they descended on us – well it was 9 am and we were the first potential meals of the day. They were annoying but didn't actually bite.
Coola & Grinder
The top of the mountain has been set out with various trails bordered by lovely wood carvings. There is a short lake walk which we did once we had spent some time watching the two resident juvenile bears, Grinder and Coola in their enclosure. They were found as tiny cubs on the mountain (they think the mother was probably shot) and instead of being placed in zoos the park commission decided to keep them (they wouldn't have been able to survive in the wild). One of the guides gave a very interesting commentary about them and Grizzlies in general. Apparently the whole mountain is home to Black and Grizzly bears and there have been recent sightings on the adjacent trails. We took the chair lift to the mountain summit (1250 m) and walked up to the wind turbine.
Pod under the wind turbine on top of Grouse mountain
We didn't think it was worth paying another 28 dollars to the viewing pod because of the smoke haze. On our way back to the lift terminal we stopped to watch a Lumberjack show – great fun!
Log rolling
Off to Horseshoe Bay to catch the ferry to Nanaimo. Only a short drive and we managed to catch an earlier one to our original booking. Shame about the smoke, which didn't allow us to see as much of the scenery as we would have liked , but we realised that was rather selfish to put it mildly as news reports showed people loosing their homes and firefighters risking their lives to bring the fires under control. Arrived at Port Alberni around 6.30 pm. Brief glimpses of Cathedral Grove as we neared our hotel and we plan to go there first thing tomorrow to view the giant cedars.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 5, 2010 from Port Alberni, Canada

Peggy's Cove and onwards
Shelburne, Canada
Peggy's Cove
A leisurely start and off again, this time though in the pouring rain which had suddenly swept in. We quickly visited the Fairview Lawn Cemetery where 121 Titanic victims are buried and headed off to Peggy's Cove. By the time we arrived the rain had stopped and, despite the guide book's warning to be prepared for the world and his wife to be there it was relatively deserted. We were glad that we had taken Mike's advice. With a stiff breeze, the sea was pounding against the rocks so we gingerly walked around to take in the lovely views of this pretty little fishing village and the seascape.
Swissair 111 memorial
We bought a couple of pasties to eat en route and headed out towards highway 103 stopping briefly at the Swissair Flight 111 memorial just outside the village. The countryside is so pretty here. It is densely wooded with fir and birch trees and dotted with lakes both large and small. Now and again the highway hugs the shore line itself. There are so many little sheltered inlets that the only way you know it is the sea and not a lake is the presence of seaweed on the shore line. Strangely there aren't any pull offs to speak of. In the end we stopped in a mail box layby to eat our pasties – not very PC but necessary.
Ship on quay at museum
We got to the Lunenburg County Winery around 3pm Rick tasted and I, having volunteered to be the driver, sniffed. We bought a blackberry wine and headed into Lunenburg itself. We caught sight of Blue Nose II. It is being lovingly restored and will, according to the website, be offering harbour cruises (Lunenburg and Halifax) for Summer 2013. The original Blue Nose, a racing schooner built in Lunenburg, won the Fisherman's Trophy five times between 1921 and 1938. She became an icon - not only Nova Scotians as her image is on the Canadian 10 cents piece.
Knaut Rhuland House
A quick visit to a late 18th century house, now a museum and again with costumed guides where we learned about the original settlement and how it prospered before the final two hour drive to the lovely Cooper's Inn in Shelburne.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 2, 2012 from Shelburne, Canada

History lessons
Weymouth, Canada
Cooper's Inn
Woke at 6am to hear movement in the room above and muffled but not muted conversation. After a little while a shower started, then more movement that continued until 7. I don't know what they were doing but it wasn't playing dominoes. About 6:30 the shower started again and was still going at 7 when we got up. A peek out of the curtains told us the shower was external and actually heavy rain!
After a good breakfast, we were pleased to note that the rain had pretty well stopped, so started to pack the car in preparation for leaving after a visit to a couple of nearby museums. Between loading the suitcases and loading the hand baggage, the heavens opened and it tipped down. We waited for 20 minutes but it didn't ease so decided to cut our losses, made a dash for the car and hit the road.
Wool mill
We headed for West Pubnico but saw a restored woollen mill as we went through Barrington; as it was only light rain by now, we stopped and went in. A fascinating working re-creation of taking wool from the raw fleece, through carding spinning and dying to fabrication. The mill was in use until 1965 and at its height employed about a dozen people with power provided largely by water turbine. It has been restored though much of the original equipment had long gone. Apparently a power loom was found in the attic room in pieces as originally provided but without assembly instructions.
Acadian Village
The recreation of a typical acadian village of the start of the 20th C at West Pubnico was quite fascinating. Unsurprisingly the majority of the visitors were francophone and as most of the presenters were fluently bilingual, we stayed anglophone. But it was interesting to pick up bits of conversation. Each house in the village had a history and a particular function and the presenters in each house were living the life.
Smith, Acadian Village
The blacksmith was smithing, the boatbuilder was building boats and the fisherman was making lobsterpots and mending nets. There was no electricity or running water, the beds had chamber pots and there was no bathroom.
Dory Maker, Acadian Village
There were no tarmac'd roads and transport was by pony and trap or boat. It was sobering to think that only 100 years ago in my grandfather's childhood, this way of life was common outside towns. We have come a long way in that time. It is easy to think that it was a simpler way of life but the romance dies when you think that by-and-large there were only 2 states – working and sleeping.
'Pumpkin' in the Acadian Village
Working was largely unassisted by machine and sleeping was often on straw mattresses, although most adults had the luxury of feather.
By now the rain had stopped altogether and with the temperature rapidly rising, we set off for Eglise St Marie at Church Point. An extraordinary building it is the largest wooden church in North America.
St Mary's Church
Built between between 1903 and 1905 by local volunteers entirely of wood and is huge. Made to plans by a French (naturally) architect who designed it in stone but built by a local artisan.in wood which was relatively plentiful.
St Mary's Church interior
It doesn't look as though it is made all of wood until very close inspection but it copes with the storms hereabouts well enough, although in a good storm, the chandeliers swing about a foot apparently. It is a very attractive building, not too fussy, busy or pretentious. Painting the exterior in 2 coats of paint requires 1500 litres and the inside 1800. With the price of paint today, I don't fancy that bill!!
The Goodwin Hotel
Finally on to our rest for the night at Weymouth and the Goodwin Hotel. A lovely old place run by a family for the last 42 years. Mum does everything but the cooking while her 2 sons do that. We decided to eat in and were glad we did. On the menu was a surf and turf with scallops. It was one of the best meals we have had washed down with a lovely tasty Joost Cabernet Sauvignon.
Twilight
Before retiring we were able to catch up on our blogging, not having been able to do any last night at Shelburne – although advertised as WiFi, the signal wasn't strong enough.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 2, 2012 from Weymouth, Canada

Chillin in Victoria
Victoria, Canada
You have been warned
A more casual start to the day today, leaving Howard Johnson, a sort of Travelodge franchise chain. A well organised place and a good nights sleep. Off to Cathedral Grove and arrived before 10; the guide book suggested an early arrival to find parking. Sure enough by the time we left at almost 11, the car park was double parked in places and we were glad to be able to navigate out before being completely blocked.
Under the old man
The grove itself was stunning; words really can't describe seeing an 800 year old tree with huge girth and height, festooned with mosses and lichens, surrounded by fallen comrades returning to the earth the nutrients they have stored, together with other younger comrades of perhaps 600 years old. They bring a sense of one's own tiny contribution in the timeline of evolution. The 800 year old tree was already 300 years old when Christopher Columbus discovered N.America.
Bridge damage
On arrival, we were warned that one of the trees had fallen yesterday afternoon and taken out a bridge and footpath, so while we could see the damage, that circuit was closed. I'm quite glad we didn't stop there yesterday as a tree on the head is quite likely to spoil your day; there is a notice outside the entrance spelling out the risks...............
The beach
Quitting the Grove, we drove on to Qualicum Beach, where we had a lovely brunch of crabcakes, salad and fries in a pub on the sea front. The beach here is extraordinary – huge only just begins to define it! And it was busy but looked empty.
Upper English River Falls
Driving on south to see the English River Falls at Errington, we pulled in to the car park which was huge and quite empty. There are two sets of falls with bridges across just downstream to admire the view. These were quite spectacular. Despite the bridge being very substantial, I still felt uncomfortable looking down into the void at the upper falls, where the river tumbles over a ledge into a deep narrow channel at right angles to the flow. The lower falls are rather gentler by comparison but the clamber back up to the car park is quite strenuous, especially in the warm conditions. We were glad of the air conditioning to cool us off back at the car.
Arriving at Victoria late afternoon, it was obvious it is a Friday, with the long queues getting out for the weekend going the opposite way. It is a lot cooler here than it has been, with a temperature of 20°C and a fresh breeze. We checked in to Ocean Island Backpackers and were given our keys, directions and essential information before driving off to the flat.
The house at the back of which we had our flat
It is a lovely place with its own bathroom and fully equipped kitchen. It was nice to be able to choose and cook our own meal again. The shops are within a 10 minute walk, so we put our coats on and spent a happy hour there before getting back and cooking supper.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 6, 2010 from Victoria, Canada

Flowerpot Island
The Lighthouse
We went to Flowerpot island today. We got the midday boat and elected to stay until the next boat, giving us about and 1 ¾ hours to look around. On the way out we went down the next inlet, Big Tub Harbour at the bottom of which are two wrecks; one is of a sailing vessel and the other is a steamship. Both are fascinatingly clearly visible below the water and surprisingly close to the bottom of the glass bottomed boat. We passed the Big Tub lighthouse that we had seen on Sunday immediately after our initial visit to Tobermory.
We were ferried to the island by launch from the boat after about a 40 minute crossing. On arrival were given a little talk by the ranger before being let loose to explore. We found a picnic table about 5 minutes walk down the beach along a boardwalk.
Cave on Flowerpot Island
We had a walk along the wooded edge to the island as far as a cave which was interesting although there were no stalactites or stalagmites. The scenery along the route was lovely and we were able to see Big Flowerpot and Little Flowerpot, two stacks that looked perilously unstable.
It was very warm and there was some debate as to whether we should take a dip to cool off. We decided to wait until we got back to the dock before doing this as we didn’t want to miss the boat. In the event it was a good decision as we didn’t have a lot of time to spare when we reached the dock. The trip back was quite choppy but fortunately didn’t appear to trouble me as much as once it would. In retrospect it would have been better to have taken the zodiac ride out to the island and spent a little more time there.
Back on dry land, we stopped in ‘The Sweet Shop’ for various ice creams. I elected to have a black cherry, mango and apple juice smoothie and very good it was too.
Back at the cottage we chilled in the warmth of the end of the day. We sat around another fire as the darkness gathered around us, playing 20 questions and watching the spectacular sunset as the sky rotated a kaleidoscope of colours before descending into darkness via deeper and deeper shades of gold.
Sunset in Warner Bay
Then the magic cloak of night with silvery dots clear and bright uncorrupted by light of civilisation.

Calanques
Calvi, France
Spring flowers
Off via Piana for a walk from the Tete de Chien to reach a broad outcrop high above the Golfe De Porto with amazing views both of the bay and the deep rocky inlets from the rock formation known as Les Calanques. The path isn't very well signed but we eventually found it and made our way along the tortuous narrow path, passing scatterings of wild crocus and cyclamen along the way.
Rick on our walk in Les Calanques
At one point Rick spotted a buzzard! It was about 15 degrees and we were even hotter when we got back to the car.
From the Tete de Chien the road winds its way down to the village of Porto and from there we made our way inland into the mountains to see the Genoese bridge at Ota before heading up past Evisa towards the Col de Verghio.
Genoese Bridge between Ota and Evisa
The Col is the highest point accessible by road on the island (1477m). As we wound our way round the edge of spectacular passes we came across herds of goats, wild pigs and cows and the odd large Boulder in the middle of the road! As we climbed higher the clouds drifted in and it started to rain. We headed on up watching the temperature gradually drop. As we left Evisa we spotted snow by the road. The temperature headed on down as we headed on up and the snow had reached about 2 foot deep at the sides of the road about 4 Kilometres further on. We had intended to stop for a picnic lunch in the woods of St Antoine and take a short walk to a waterfall – clearly not on the cards.
View from the D81 near Porto
Rick did a 3 point turn and we headed back on down to Porto before the drive on up to Calvi, arriving just as all the mums were collecting their children, en voiture bien sur, from the school along from our hotel (5.15 pm).
The bar in which we had dinner had some very nice music on and we asked for a note of the band and album as it appeared to contain some polyphonic singing for which Corsica is famous.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on March 28, 2008 from Calvi, France

Afterthoughts - questions I have been asked
Shrewsbury, United Kingdom
Would I use BA again?
Not if there were alternatives and a no huge difference in price. In fact, not unless I was desperate.
Which did you prefer; Australia or New Zealand?
I have been struck by the number of people whose first question this has been. Of course the answer is that they are different but it is true that I have more affectionate memories of New Zealand, South Island in particular and this may well be due to its lack of pretension, its stunning scenery, its emptiness and friendly folk. North Island was still pretty empty but definitely more busy and Auckland was just another large metropolis – even if quite an attractive one from a high level. Flying in to Christchurch, I was struck with the huge number of corrugated roofs and this was reflected in what I saw on the ground. Not the uninteresting grey shed roof we see here in the UK but all sorts of different profiles and colours. It has clealy been found to provide a popular, economical and colourful roofing material to compete with the concrete tiles and slate roofs we have here (I wondered if it had anything to do with local materials). Australia on the other hand I can't assess largely because I have only seen a very small part of it, albeit that it was hugely interesting. Both Nations are very friendly and welcoming. Away from the area, to distinuish between them – ask an individual to count from 5 to 8. A New Zealander will say five, sex, sivin, eight. White Australia appears to largely ignore any problems with its Aboriginal population while New Zealand recognises and celebrates Maori culture and language; though again, my perception is that whether or not you think that there is an injustice or inequality may have more to do with the colour of your skin than any absolute reality. On a philosophical if not very PC note, throughout history conquered peoples have either been exterminated or subsumed into the conqueror's society. Until European arrival, many of the Maori were tribes constantly engaged in wars; while the conquered men were often invited to the victory banquet, it was as the main course and the women were used as slaves. So extermination of enemies was common. Under European rule, while it was frequently brutal; in New Zealand's case, the legacy is such that the Maori traditions and language have survived. Even to the extent of the pride in performing the Hakka as an accepted national ritual. Ask a Maori today where his loyalties lie and it is tribe first, Maori second and New Zealand third.
What is it like to drive there?
South Island New Zealand is a delight with lots of empty roads. While Sue was driving I took a few photos from the camper and reviewing these has reinforced my impression; there is rarely a vehicle in sight. Admittedly this was winter, but there seemed to be plenty of traffic in the main towns. Driving through the Southern Alps was hairy and this was exacerbated by the practise of building road bridges over the many streams and rivers with a single carriageway, operating a preference system. Albeit that they are reasonably well signposted, it is something that you need to bear in mind as you round a bend. North Island was busier than South but still pretty traffic free by UK standards and Queensland had traffic levels roughly comparable with rural France but without the poor driving habits. Fuel is very cheap in both countries at about 50% of UK prices. As a result it seems that they are keen to have large engines in all their vehicles. Australia has not taken to diesel and seems to be a land of petrolheads. The 'Ute' is often as much a fashion accessory as a statement and takes the place of the 2 seater sports car in the UK. Often owned by by young men to whom a macho image is best enhanced with huge (preferably twin) exhausts and a large engine of several litres. The Ute will be in immaculate condition with ultra low-profile tyres mounted on gleaming alloy wheels. The truck section at the back will be covered by an impossibly tidy cover that looks as though it is never used. In fact it struck me that most of them were never used to carry any loads at all – which is probably as well as most appeared to have a lowered suspension. However, in Australia at least, the majority of cars appear to be automatic, which is a bit of a contradiction in a muscle car as not making the most of the power available. (Similar it always seems to me to a bodybuilder wearing an ill fitting suit.) Neither country has the opportunity to make much use of the power. Most roads are at best 'A' roads, sometimes with a bit of dual carriageway (which is fine with the relatively low levels of traffic). The speed limits are 80kph on most roads with 100kph on dual carriageways, occasionally increased to 110kph. Unlike the UK most people stick within the limits – I'd guess that as much as 90-95%. So these huge, powerful beasts are never given their heads and like the Chelsea tractors in London are really just fashion accessories that drink loads more fuel than necessary and pump out disproportionate amounts of CO2. Admittedly, the power can be used briefly when accelerating but the beast has to be throttled back before it gets its wind. The cars we hired were great fun, especialy the Aurion Sportivo – very responsive and handled well. Even the standard Aurion was quite pokey; Ollie reprimanded me on one occasion when I managed to induce wheelspin by flooring the accelerator to get past slow traffic. Ididn't think automatics behaved like that! I was glad we had the Aurions rather than Falcons while we were a family of 4 with luggage; it seemed to me that the Aurions had more boot space – certainly it seemed more useable. What struck me on our return is that both the hire cars appear to reflect the local view on life; here in the UK the equivalent vehicles (Avensis and Mondeo) are equipped with 2 litre engines; you may be able to get up to 2.8 litres, but in Oz, both are equipped with huge 3.5 and 4.0 litre lumps as standard fare.
Language?
The many unique words to the area are well known but there was one piece of language that particularly intrigued me as it clearly has slightly different meaning to here. You will often see a sign showing a swerving car with a subscript 'When Frosty' – we have the same sign but with the subscript 'When Icy'. The two words mean essentially the same thing but to English ears, the word 'frosty' has a more romantic, perhaps childish nuance while 'icy' is harder and more dangerous.
What are the campsites like?
Well, we used 'Top 10 ' franchised sites pretty well exclusively in South Island and they were all very well equipped, some extremely well. A campervan is a good way to get around but it would be possible to use a hire car and use the camp sites chalets; most of them appeared to cater for this. Pitches worked out at around £10-£15 per night, while the chalet we had was only about £25 for the night. Bearing in mind we went during their winter, it was not surprising that it was rarely necessary to book ahead. But it was surprising to find all of them open and still quite busy. We used a couple of other site operators in North Island and found them to be to a good standard too.
Would I do anything differently?
Sue had repeatedly suggested we get some insect repellant before we left and I had poo-poohed it but I wish we had got some before our Doubtful sound cruise and we certainly needed if after nightfall in Cairns on any exposed skin. We got some spray on stuff with deet in the end and it worked well.
What about the actual distances involved?
We found that it was easy to underestimate this. We used the excellent New Zealand Tourism site for ideas about distances and times and they weren't far out but found ourselves slightly surprised at the effort of spending so much time behind the wheel. While I think we managed a lot in a short time and we spent quite a lot of time travelling, albeit through beautiful scenery and at a speed that allowed us to see it; none-the-less we had many quite early starts and late finishes, so I am not sure that we absorbed as much as we might. The six or so days we spent in each of South Island, North Island and Queensland certainly allowed us to get a flavour of the areas but we could could easily have spent twice as much time covering what we did in more leisurely fashion and probably have got a lot more out of it. Ollie and Ang spent the best part of 3 weeks in North Island and didn't get to see it all. Clearly a lifetime would be needed to see and understand any country, but I think you could get a reasonable snapshot with a month in each Island of New Zealand. This would allow progress at a rate that would not simply leave you exhausted. The only places we spent more than 15 hours were Te Anau in South Island (and we spent about 8 hours sleeping that night and 4 hours that day driving to Queenstown and back) and Rotorua in North Island. But given the constraints within which we were working, I wouldn't change a thing! We almost got caught on the time it would take us to complete the scenic route from Hervey Bay to Brisbane and at least in part was due to underestimating the amount of time it takes to get through a metropolitan area, due to the amount of time we had spent away from them. Then again, I was struck by the 2hour flight time between Brisbane and Cairns and 3 hours from Cairns to Sydney. These are huge distances. At least internal flights are relatively cheap!
What was the weather like? We had expected to have all 4 seasons on the trip and had prepared accordingly. New Zealand was unexpectedly warm on the east coast but we gathered that this is unusual. Sydney and Brisbane were pretty typical nice Spring days when we were there but it was cooler away from the coast in the mountains. Cairns was pleasantly warm but not as warm as I had expected. We needed air-conditioning for a couple of nights but not for all of them. It was frequently quite cool after the sun went down.
Are there many others there?
I was certainly struck by the volume of northern hemisphere people. As a broadly fracophilic roughly francophonic anglophone, I am used to hearing a number of european languages while on holiday. I was quite unprepared for this down under where I had doubted large numbers of europeans would travel such a distance (particularly when, as I found out, most had to travel via Heathrow). I was wrong – all european countries appeared to be represented in most of the places we went. We even met a Belgian sailing on Lake Taupo and found ourselves in the same lift going up the Skytower in Auckland some days later!! Most of the Dutch appeared to be holidaying in France as usual, as I don't remember meeting many. I was not surprised to see a number of Japanese but was surprised at the number of numbers! They appear to like travelling in tour parties (which I guess helps to avoid language difficulties) and struck me rather like starlings at the end of summer, appearing in large flocks of chattering individuals, swooping, diving and climbing together in unison, then moving off again all together.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on October 29, 2007 from Shrewsbury, United Kingdom

Hommelpap Microbrewery
Spent most of the day alternately irritating and amusing Sue with passages from Stephen Clark's '1000 years of annoying the French'.
Military Cemetery
Went a little early to Bailleul for the Brasserie Tour & meal that we had booked for 7pm and took the opportunity to visit the quite large cemetery in Bailleul itself. The military cemetery is an extension of the old town cemetery and contains the graves of German, French and BEF soldiers along with several Chinese Labour Corps. As Bailleul Hospital was a major casualty clearing station and hospital, I would guess that many of those interred here died of wounds. Our way to the brasserie from here was probably across an RFC aerodrome, as there was one near the town.
Bar at Hommelpap brauerie
The brasserie was a fairly typical microbrewery and we were taken to a field about 50 metres up the road to be shown hops growing, with an explanation of how much was under cultivation and tonnage produced which was converted into the amount of beer produced. As the animateur spoke softly and rapidly, I didn't catch any of the details and we had the same story as we had heard at the windmill about children starting school late in September so that they could help with the harvest. Back 50 metres down the road to the brewery for an explanation of the constituents of beer and how the hops were dried and why they were used in beer; again I didn't catch most of the detail and I probably only gathered what I did by being reasonably familiar with the process. The explanation took place in a small hallway about 5 metres by 4 with the brewery itself in a room about the same size next door through a glass partition. High tech it was not. To be honest it was a bit of an anti-climax.
Restaurant at Hommelpap brauerie
Once the tour was done, we went upstairs into a galleried area with tables and shown to our reserved table (pour deux Anglais). It was a lovely bucolic environment with open space above our heads provided by the roof timbers and with agricultural impedimenta supended from the beams and on the walls. The family all took part in the business; we suspect Grandpa and Grandma providing beer and direction respectively, grandchildren waiting on tables and Mum & Dad in the kitchen. We ate boeuf carbonnade au biere du maison avec des frites and it was truly magnificent. The beef was tender and tasty and the fries were really good. I had a barley wine aperitif with a distinct and very pleasant base of honey and Sue had one based on a rhubarb cordial with sparkling wine. The meal was washed down in my case with the brewery's own Hommelpap, while Sue had a pear juice She was driving back! We finished with coffee and had an altogether delightful evening. All for a very reasonable amount that should shame many more prestigious establishments; I have had many 'better' meals that have been exorbitant and I have not enjoyed as much.
On our way back we had a couple of surprised stares at our right hand drive and I felt the urge at the next car to throw my hands in the air in a 'look no hands gesture' as we approached, which caused some consternation to the oncoming car and amusement on mine; juvenile I know, but being looked at by people as though you have two heads can sometimes affect one that way.

Four Cities in six days
With the weather forecast not being too bright, we decided to leave the cottage a day early and use the extra time in London to prepare for our lightening tour of East Canada. We set off after a splendid meal of fish and chips from The Fish & Chip Place in Tobermory. On Sunday we packed the hire car (7 seater) with our luggage (it was amazing how much it swallowed, complete as it was with a with huge stowage area under the floor). It was 6 hours to Ottawa. After we had checked in to the Marriott that Ollie had managed to book through Priceline, we went for a little walk around town, found a nice bistro where we had our evening meal, then had another wander with Sue taking a lot of pictures of the interesting architecture in the gathering dusk before heading back for bed.
Val imitates the guard outside the Governor General's residence
The next day we were up at the Parliament Buildings to see the colourful changing of the guard ceremony at 10:00. There were some unique movements that I have never seen on a parade ground before. After getting our fill of the pomp and ceremony, we headed off to fill the inner us and surprisingly enough ended up at Tim Hortons where Sue and I enjoyed a splendid breakfast roll with bacon. We were lucky enough to discover that the Governor General's house had an open house that morning so were able to have a look round. It was interesting to see the rooms used by the Queens representative for formal occasions and we enjoyed wandering through the gardens, where I took a photo of a totem pole.
We had a look through the fencing at the Prime Ministers rather impressive place; Dave pretended to have a chat with him on his mobile until a guard with a sense of humour bypass came out to ask him if there was a problem. We walked just down the road from here to see the Rideau Falls, where the River Rideau tumbles into the Ottawa River. In the the afternoon Sue and I went up the Peace Tower of the House of Commons and very interesting it was too. The views from the top were well worth the wait (about an hour in total) to get there. Inside the building the architecture was quite fascinating too. There is a room in the tower dedicated to all those Canadians killed in the various conflicts of the last 100 years or so. The room contains books of the fallen; it is very moving.
Rideau locks
From there we went round the back of the building and down the Rideau lock system. This was built to allow transport between the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. In the winter, it freezes over and for a couple of months is used as the longest skating rink in the world. Apparently some people use it to commute to work.
We were absolutely parched and so on the way back stopped for a quick pint of Honey Brown, which was just what the Doctor ordered! In the evening we had a glorious meal at a restaurant that Ollie and Ang had selected, in a quaint square off the main road. Following this, we went up to parliament hill (seeing a groundhog in the gardens)
to see the son et lumiere played on the parliament building about the growth of Canada. It was very good and if you were Canadian, I should imagine it would make you feel good about yourself.
Son et lumiere
On Tuesday morning we were up fairly early and on the road just before 10:00. Our initial idea of grabbing a Tim Hortons breakfast roll were scuppered by a long queue (I found that this was common to Tim Hortons everywhere although usually the queues move quite quickly), so we got in the car again and drove to the first likely place on the outskirts of Ottawa. Sue & I fancied a MacDonalds breakfast roll for a change, especially as it was on the same side of the road as a Canadian Tire warehouse where we thought we may be able to get a spare fuse for our adapters. We arrived in Quebec about 3pm and made for a tourist information office to get some advice on booking a room or three, as we hadn't been able to book any accommodation (the 400th Anniversary celebrations may have accounted for full bookings). After following the advice and trying to book by calling on the phone and personal visits, we found there were no rooms to be had. Back at the Tourist info centre, we tried to phone a few without success until sonic Dave overheard a conversation which suggested somewhere with rooms; we were on it like a flash and ended up with a motel just out of the city centre at the end of a bus route by a park & ride. We would never have found the motel without satnav! Having settled ourselves in, we got on the bus to the city centre; it was hot and crowded and as we got close to the centre, we had major traffic problems. Ultimately, we got where we were going and walked through the old town, looking for somewhere to eat – everywhere was packed and there were queues for all the eateries we found. Ultimately we settled on a place and resigned ourselves to waiting. We were told it would be 30 minutes but I would think we were seated in about 25. Sue & I had very good salads washed down with white beer which was very good and followed it with a 9% abv beer which was a bit like plain chocolate. Perhaps surprisingly very good indeed.
We all made our way up towards the citadel and high town but found it crowded; there was a carnival procession winding its way through the streets. We decided to return early the next day.
On Wednesday morning we took the car into town and parked near the harbour. We walked up through the old town to the funicular and disembarked outside the Chateau Frontenac Hotel, walking through the lower level of the hotel which had a shopping arcade, to the old fort and round this to battlefield park with the heights of Abraham. We had a good view over the city and river from here. Back to the town, via the parliament buildings near which there was a large size Inuksuk as well as statues of former luminaries, the French influence in the architecture was unsurprisingly very strong. You could be in any old French town. We wandered the quaint centre for a while taking in the sights – one alleyway could easily have been on the right bank in Paris. Then re-embarking for our trip to Montreal.
Our hotel was in a good, pretty central location. It took us a little while to find it, located above a nice Indian restaurant, the owners of which ran the hotel. The rooms were nicely furnished and comfortable, although rather on the small side. After settling in with a quick drink, we went for a walk into the restaurant area to find somewhere to eat. After some debate we settled on a nice place called the Three Brewers, which had some nice brews of their own. There was a good menu with something for everyone and we all had a good meal.
We were woken at about 3am by much banging in the hall. Some lads had obviously been out on the town and had too much to drink, coming back and shouting at one another and banging their doors. It went on for too long to be funny, then as I was finally dropping off to sleep, there was a knock on our door. In my befuddled state I thought it may be Ollie, so I got up and answered it. A young man in a state of some intoxication asked for his shoes back. I thought I had misheard, so asked him to repeat it. He wanted his shoes; I told him I didn't have his shoes which caused him to explode with 'You're xxxxing lying!'. Briefly, I thought of discussing the matter with him, then realised I didn't need to and cut him off in mid flow by slamming the door in his face.
Day 2 in Montreal started with a split of forces, with one group going shopping and the other going to the tourist office to find out about caleche tours. We were waylaid by a stern woman on entry, having a ticket thrust upon us with instructions to wait until called. We explained that we just wanted some information about caleche tours (like where they start) but she instructed us that her colleague would give us the information we needed then resumed her stance behind the desk waiting for the next victim. After a wait of about 15 mins we were called and told that the tours started in the old town, the rates were set by the city and were published for all to see at the head of the queues. There were 3 tours; 30 mins 45 mins and bespoke.
While waiting for the shopping party to rejoin us, we walked around the green space in front of the office. There was a memorial for the boer war and a replica of the Lion of Belfort, commissioned by Sun Life whose offices also face the square. The Sun Life building was apparently where the crown jewels were held during WWII; it was also apparently the largest building in the city for many years. Whether one of these facts is significant in the relation to the other is unknown.
Once together again, moved on to the old quarter and stopped to have a look at Notre Dame. From the outside it looked much like any other cathedral but inside it was astonishing. I found myself with the familiar dual pull of admiration for the craftsmanship, imagination, history, the deep richness of the scene and the puritanical; was this really done for the glory of god or was it done for the glory and comfort of the incumbent – wouldn't the money have been better spent and god be more glorified by the church alleviating the suffering of the poor of the parish? Having said that, if the money had been spent on the poor, the edifice would not be still stunning people some 200 years later while many generations of poor would have come and gone, the benefit to them largely invisible. Just as wealthy people over generations have used their wealth to self-advertise by supporting artists – but if they hadn't, we wouldn't have had the great wealth of art to enjoy today; an interesting paradox.
After grabbing a quick bite of lunch, we found a caleche and took a tour with Kris, Dave and Val. Whenever we went over some cobbles, the caleche rattled like a snare drum and I jiggled around much to the amusement of Val. It was interesting though Montreal doesn't have quite the same wealth of history or atmosphere about its old town as Quebec. The French influence is noticable but much less marked here than in Quebec; it is its own city. My impression is that the real heart of Montreal is in the newer parts, where its vibrancy, energy and optimism appeal strongly to the young. Certainly around the university area, where Sue & I stopped for a coffee after viewing the statue of the crowd it is palpable.
Taking our leave from Kris, Dave & Val at the end of the tour, Ollie, Ang Sue & I went on a hunt for somewhere suitable for our end of holiday meal/Canadian 60th Birthday celebration. We saw several possibles, but then found Gilly's and the choice was made.
Ollie and Ang then left us to get ready for her meeting at the university and Sue & I wandered off to do a little retail therapy go to look at the aforementioned 'crowd' statue. This fascinating piece is quite provocative and it struck me forcibly that at one end the people are portrayed optimistically, while as you move further down, man descends into violence, anarchy and despair. An interesting and insightful perspective on the nature of the masters of this planet.
I booked a table at Gilly's and we had an absolutely fabulous evening there; the quality of the meals were superb – and everyone was defeated by the generosity of the portions. Dave had organised a birthday cake, which was presented at the end of the meal. But we were too full to enjoy it, so had it packed up to enjoy the next day. Poor Dave had to be careful of his alcoholic intake as he was driving us back to the hotel. There were no such constraints for me.
On Friday, feeling a little fragile, personally, we packed up and hit the road for the long trip back to London with Dave and Ollie sharing the driving. While we unpacked and then re-packed ready for our trip tomorrow, Kris got us a lovely meal and afterwards we toasted the holiday and friendship with a glass of champagne. Then bed for our last night in Canada, after a wonderfully exciting and full holiday, courtesy of the Nyhout family, to whom we are deeply grateful.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 8, 2008 from London, Canada

Rainy day in Victoria
Victoria, Canada
Provincial Government building
Our first experience of a full day's rain. (Memories of Rotorua 3 years ago but not as hard). Nothing daunted set off for a walking tour of Victoria – Old Town. Ocean Island Suites is only a 10 minute walk from the inner harbour and we started our tour at the Parliament Buildings. A very interesting tour of the interior by timed ticket and then on to view the Helmcken House, reputedly the oldest home on Vancouver Island built on land given to his bride upon their marriage by the bride's father Governor James Douglas.
Dr Helmcklen's house
The house was donated to the Province by Dr Helmcken's daughter on her death a few years after her father early in the 20th the century.
Across Government Street to the Empress Hotel and the Crystal Garden. Managed to sneak in via the Crystal Garden to catch a glimpse of old world opulence and use the facilities!
The Empress (on the left)
On to Market Square and then to China Town and 'the world's narrowest street' Fan Tan Alley then back to Government Street and our walk back to the flat for lunch and a dry out!
Narrowest street
Still raining at 5.30 pm so we decided to abandon our plan to go to Butchart Gardens and view the fireworks in the evening and go instead to the park just two blocks away – Beacon Hill. Not much of a view to the Juan de Fuca Strait to the Olympic Mountains in Washington State. Maybe the rain will clear tomorrow morning before we travel back to Nanaimo.
Mile zero marker
Terry Fox memorial
We found the Mile Zero marker of the Trans-Canada Highway and the touching statue commemorating Terry Fox's sad, mammoth attempt to cross Canada from Labrador which he was forced to abandon at Thunder Bay and plaque commemorating Stephen Fonyo's successful one. A walk through the formal gardens with colourful flower beds and. beautifully manicured lawns. We saw a terrapin the size of a small dinner plate in one of the small lakes, peacocks, and loads of squirrels.
World's tallest totem pole
Then on to 'the tallest Totem Pole in the world'. (We have noted a number of extremes on this trip – 'world's narrowest building', 'formerly highest building in the British Empire', 'Oldest building in ….' etc.) Back to the flat for tea with a bottle of Canoe - a lovely rose from the Okanagan Valley, a rest and blog writing!
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 7, 2010 from Victoria, Canada

A hooker initiate and ghosts
Annapolis Royal, Canada
Dawn at Goodwin Hotel
A bright sunny start and breakfast over, Pat (our hostess) showed us how rugs were 'hooked'. 'The Goodwin' has any number of them – wall hangings, seat covers, rugs and mats. Pat is a self confessed addict. She recommended a workshop on our way to Annapolis Royal where you could try it out and buy the canvas and wools.
Houses on stilts
First stop Bear River. The winery tour turned out to be at noon so we retraced our steps to the village and downed a cool drink before heading for a First Nations Workshop Centre. Lonely Planet doesn't mention that it closes on a Friday – oh well! Back to the winery which uses solar energy and a gravity feed to produce its wines (some award winning). After our tasting Rick bought a Baco Noir red. We were there for about 40 mins before leaving for Annapolis Royal.
Delaps Fall
A beautiful coastal drive on Highway 1 having had a go at rug hooking in Clementsport. Even on a sunny day the sea mists swirl around the coastal waters. A bite to eat at Annapolis Royal and we headed for Delaps Cove trailhead (2 kms on a dirt track off the highway towards Port Royal). We took the Bohaker Trail. The car park has free really accurate maps and the 2km pathway took us out to the coast and back via Delaps Cove falls. The falls weren't particularly spectacular at the moment as our hostess at 'At the Turrett' explained; there hasn't been much rain for them this summer. Posy and Simon her two Border Terriers, made us really welcome and were ready to take any amount of fuss we cared to give them!
Ghost tour
After a great evening meal at a pub by the market square we headed across the road from our B&B to Fort Anne and a highly recommended Ghost Tour of the adjoining cemetry. More of the fort tomorrow but if you get the chance and you're in Annapolis Royal be sure to take this tour. Our guide told us stories related to the history of the town from its foundation in the 1600s by French Settlers to the present day by means of the incumbents of the graveyard. The tour starts at 9.30pm sharp and by this time the sea mists had rolled on to the shore which added to the atmosphere of this fascinating lantern lit tour.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 3, 2012 from Annapolis Royal, Canada

Along the Bay of Fundy
Wolfville, Canada
Boat repair yard
A poor wifi signal so we texted Zoe a happy birthday. The mist was still present when we went down for breakfast and met our fellow guests at the table. The couple we met on the ghost tour last night from Halifax, a couple from Toronto visiting family and a French couple from Angers. We had an interesting chat with them all. We were assured that the mist would burn off late morning and so it proved. Having checked out and loaded the car, we walked into town again to get some supplies, get cash from an ATM and visit the open air market. ScotiaBank whom we tried first didn't work – we got all the way through the menu but no cash! Our second try at Royal Bank of Canada succeeded in delivering the goods.
Ghost tour
The market was wonderful and very busy. There was one stall just selling blueberries. Perhaps no surprise as the Annapolis Valley is alleged here to be the Canadian capital of blueberries. I don't know if the rest of Canada is aware of this.
Annapolis Royal is one of the oldest settlements in Canada, being settled by Scots in 1629, although they were forced to leave as part of an Anglo French treaty 3 years later. A fact conveniently forgotten by the Acadian francophone community who believe they were first in 1632 as Port Royal. It was taken by the British in 1710 and renamed Annapolis Royal after the then Queen. It was the capital of Nova Scotia until 1749 when Halifax took over. Looking at it now and comparing it with what has become of Halifax, I think the good citizens have had a narrow escape. From 1710 to 1755 all went well with francophones co-existing with anglophones but with the French building forces at Louisburg and the ongoing struggle against the French, the Governor was concerned about the loyalties of the local community. He demanded that the acadians sign an oath of allegiance to the King and when they refused they were surprised that they were all deported. They seem to be still surprised today and much is made of the expulsion of Acadians in 1755. It is true that it was immediate and they had to leave homes and possessions overnight and they were packed off in dreadful conditions to the southerly states of the mainland and to France but I can think of worse treatment of foreign nationals in recent times. And after the 7 years' was ended, they were allowed to return to the area, if not the actual homestead(because someone else was now living there). According to the French perspective, Britain hijacked their colonies (which is not entirely accurate anyway) and this has resulted in a large anglophonic section of Canada strangling their beautiful language. I can't help wondering that if the boot had been on the other foot and France had held sway over an anglophonic minority, would their constitution have accepted two official languages as Canada has? I suspect – NON. Canada may well have remained a departement outre mer for some considerable while with any ideas of self determination being suppressed until well into 20th C and French would have been the only official language. Britain may not have been an ideal coloniser from a colonist perspective but it seems to me that we were considerably more tolerant than many contemporary powers.
Encampment, The Fort
Annapolis Royal is rightly proud of its place in history and its historic assets but seems to be managing to keep a perspective that allows it to be part of the modern world. Certainly it has not allowed the kind of vandalism that took place in Shrewsbury town centre in the 60s. There is a wealth of old timber buildings that are still being used today rather than being museum pieces.
We wandered back via the fort where there is a re-enactment group in period clothes under canvas for the weekend.
Entrance to the Habitation, Port Royal
We drove across to the spit that protects AR to see the re-creation of the original habitation for the area at Port Royal. This was a commercial venture for trading with the local Mi'kmaq and de Champlain designed a fortified habitation in 1605 with a view to spending winter there. De Champlain left in 1607 to found Quebec and the outpost was raided by a party from Virginia in 1613.
The Common Roon, The Habitation
Apparently a bloodless affair, they took everything, burned the habitation and left the French there to face a winter without shelter. Fortunately the local Mi'kmaq took them in. The reconstruction in 1940 followed the original foundations and is kitted out as it would have looked at the time.
View from the Look Off
On to Wolfville with a short detour to Scots bay. On the approach, there is a fabulous 'look off' with parking on the right and a wonderful view over the Minas Basin and the Annapolis Valley. Opposite the look off is a cafe selling the most wonderful ice-cream. Sue had a Chocolate one and I had a vanilla, toffee and caramel with large chips of milk chocolate. They were just what the doctor ordered on what was by now a very warm afternoon.
The beach at Scotts Bay
Driving on to Scots Bay, we found a turning on the left just after the church, called Wharf road leading down to a shingle beach with a good parking area and picnic tables. The view here was into the Minas Channel and thence the Bay of Fundy down which the mist was beginning to creep again.
Finally into Wolfville and our stop for the night at the Gingerbread house. A lovely room at the back of the motel-style extension.
In to town for a lovely meal in nice surroundings at the Library Pub washed down with a delightful St Ambroise IPA for me and tasty apricot ale for Sue.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 4, 2012 from Wolfville, Canada

Cider, a seal and jumping fish
Nanaimo, Canada
Merridale
An early wake up to ring Neil and wish him a happy birthday. Then breakfast, a quick clean up of the flat, pack and on the road. We rang Ocean Island Suites to let them know we were off and spoke to a lovely lass who said that she was from Church Stretton (who said Shropshire folk don't venture far?). After a quick stop to see the Juan De Fuca Strait when it is not raining, start at Trans Canada Highway 1 mile 0 and off to our first point of call, the Merridale Cidery, where I had a tasting after a tour of the Cidery itself. They make some lovely brews both traditional and novel, one of which tastes very similar to icewine. We came away with a lovely 10% 'Cyser', which is slightly sweetened by honey and makes for a delightful appetiser. The girl who did our tasting was from Kidderminster - yet more Brits abroad!
Village
Sue took the wheel for the next stage and drove us to Cowichan Bay Village where we enjoyed our packed lunch while watching the world go by in the little port. While we were sitting there, Sue spotted one of the buoys popping up and down and after a few seconds recognised that she was watching a seal.
I'm watching you!
We sat entranced for several minutes as it cruised the area.
Widest girth in the world
Next stop was at Duncan, advertised as the town of Totem poles. They were not exaggerating and we went on a circuit to see the major poles. I stopped counting at 20 – apparently there are over 80! It is not explained why there are so many, although as almost all of them are relatively modern, I guess it is for tourism. But they are quite entertaining on a Sunday afternoon. Needless to say, we had yet another record – the world's biggest girth for a totem pole! The girl who directed us from the Tourist Information Office was from Chelsea/Windsor - 3 Brits in one day!! You can't get away from them.
Back in the car again for the final leg to Nanaimo. We only drove briefly through it on the way onto the island and so when we checked in to the super flat in the Buccaneer Inn and had a quick skype with Ollie and Ang, we went out and had a walk down by the harbour. From the little that we saw, it really is quite an enchanting place with crystal clear waters despite the traffic.
Jumping fish
As we walked along the sea wall, quite suddenly huge fish of 15 to 24 inches started jumping out of the water within a range of 6 to 20 feet of the sea wall. I imagine they were being chased by some predator but despite the water being quite clear and the fish being so close, wasn't able to see anything.
As I write this, someone with 7-league boots is walking very heavily on the floor above, so if I have made any mistakes you know why!
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 8, 2010 from Nanaimo, Canada

Toronto to Cockshutt
Shrewsbury, United Kingdom
The idea had been to get to Toronto and go up the CN Tower. However, as we approached the centre the traffic slowed to a crawl; the Blue Jays were playing in the sports centre next to the tower. The car parks were full, but TomTom managed to find us one close by. It started to rain as we got close to the car park, so we got quite damp just getting to the tower. It was going to take too long to go up to the pod and we only had time to go up to the observation deck,so we started to queue. It was worth the wait, the views were spectacular and we managed to get up before the weather set in; we could see it rolling in over the city.
At the airport we had to say goodbye to Ollie; it was as tough as always despite knowing we would be seeing him again in a matter of weeks. We had had a marvellous time and it was coming to an end.
It didn't take long to clear through security, though my checks took a little longer than Sue's for some reason. Once in the departure lounge, we thought we had better eat though neither of us felt like it much.
Transat boarded us a bit early; it was still raining hard and as we all settled down the Captain announced that because of lightening strikes near the airport, the baggage handlers had had to be stood down in the interests of safety, so as our hold was still open, we could not take off until they returned. It only took about 15 minutes but it seemed quite a while. Watching the aircraft take off in these conditions was interesting; the spray coming from the undercarriage would put several juggernauts to shame – with take-off speeds of over 100mph you have to admire the technical qualities of the tyres that allow this not to mention the skill of the pilots in dealing with the difficulties inherent in the situation.
We had good seats immediately aft of the business section and had plenty of legroom, although it was still a little difficult to get sufficiently comfortable for sleep because of the narrowness of the seats.
After a trouble free and pleasant flight with a lovely lady who had emigrated 40 years ago sitting next to us, we landed about 6 hours later at Manchester. It was a bit strange taking off mid afternoon, flying through the night and landing in daylight, all within 7 hours. It took some time for our bags to come through but the concourse was relatively empty at 06:30 and it didn't take us too long to go through controls and out. They were trialling a new passport recognition system for chipped passports like mine, presumably to speed up passenger throughput. Needless to say it didn't work well for me and Sue was waiting for me on the other side, the human intervention process being quicker!
It didn't take too long to get to the car and waiting for the bus in relatively warm and sunny conditions was a bit of a novelty. We had a good trip home, collected Dad and then went to bed for 2 hours (as recommended by the lady we had met on the flight to combat jet lag) before getting up and cooking Sunday dinner.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 11, 2008 from Shrewsbury, United Kingdom

Messines area and street fairs
Messines, Belgium
Street market
The day started with a visit to Boescheppe to see a show of draught horses doing their thing pulling logs, carts and ploughing etc. We decided to be clever and use the back roads to get there, which was a mistake as all the approaches from our direction were 'deviation'! We managed to find somewhere on the far side of the small town to park and walked in. There we discovered the problem. They were having a combined street market and car boot sale and the whole of Flanders was invited; most of them accepting the invitation. The masses of stalls had everything catered for and there were some tempting articles. There was no sign of the promised horses so we went back to the car and decided to go on to the Messines ridge that was our next objective.
Working horse
Reasoning that if the horses were somewhere in the vicinity, they were likely to be on the outskirts, we motored around the remainder of the place just in case. Sure enough at the furthest point, there they were, large as life – well actually roughly twice life sized. We were directed to a large and rather muddy field whose corn had been cut very recently indeed and I was duly grateful for traction control which gave me the confidence to have our underside thoroughly scrubbed by the stubble while clogging up the wheel arches with mud. Walking from the car to the show itself across same field was another experience; every time you trod on a bit of stubble, it released the rainwater it had stored from the heavy rain of the previous night straight up your leg as soon as you lifted your foot.
Draught horse display
It was a joy, however to see the draught horses in action, although less so to see one trainer with his beautiful greys making them walk over a stairway made of hay bales just to show that he could. It seemed rather pointless to me and unnatural. In the field, there were horse doing what they should, pulling carts, logs and ploughs demonstrating great skills from both horse and driver.
Island of Ireland Memorial
Off then to Messines ridge and our first stop at the Island of Ireland Memorial commemorating protestant and roman catholic soldiers who fought as one against a common enemy.
On to Ploegsteert where we saw the memorial to Winston Churchill's service near there in WW1 and thence to Hyde Park Corner and H Charlton-Bradshaw's Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing on opposite sides of the road.
British memorial to the missing of Messines ridge
The Missing in this case are from the battles of Armentieres, Aubers Ridge, Loos, Fromelles, Estaires, Hazebrouck, Scherpenberg and Outtersteene Ridge; some 11,367 men.
Memorial to unofficial Xmas truce 1914, Messines church in background
Near here is the simple wooden cross erected in 1999 to mark one of the spots where the unofficial Christmas 1914 truce took place. In to Messines (Mesen) and the New Zealand Memorial to the Missing and British Cemetery on the ridge itself with a commanding view of the countryside beyond. From here we made our way to Mount Kemmel, a steep hill with an understandably desirable outlook. On the slopes of this is the French Ossuary – a mass grave of 5,294 soldiers, only 57 of whom are known by name.
Ossuary of French unknown on Mount Kemmel
At the top is the French monument to those who died in Belgium.
Our next stop was at the site of the Lone Tree Crater, one of the craters left by the mines of 1917; now transformed into the Pool of Peace. I can't help feeling that it is wishful thinking that dedicating something that was so hugely destructive into a sentiment such as this will make anyone think twice about war. Quite apart from anything else, we are still quite primal and once threatened will strike to try to remove that threat rather than rationalise it.
Pool of Peace in Lone Tree crater
Once struck the other party will retaliate to show that it cannot be dominated in that way and before long a war has started. Plenty of people understand this and work on it to achieve their own ends. What we as human beings would do well to master is the art of communication without agenda.
Our way back to the campsite was through Roteberg and Mont Noir villages. We came to a grinding halt at the edge of Mont Noir Village as the party had relocated itself from Boescheppe to Mont Noir. Swollen with the mass of the great unwashed that gatecrashed the party from the whole area between Paris and Brussels, the street was running with people – certainly not cars. Pedestrians did their best impression of invulnerability with gallic insouciance and cars somehow managed to avoid them but it took 12 minutes to cover ground that normally takes about 90 seconds.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 14, 2011 from Messines, Belgium

On little villages, donkeys and coy mountains
Aleria, France
Santa Lucia Di Mercurio
Leaving Corte we decided to follow one of the routes highlighted in the Lonely Planet “Exploring the Boziu”. A little north of the town we took the D41 heading east and winding and climbing high into the mountains. From Santa Lucia Di Mercurio the view of the valley and Corte in the distance is wonderful. The route leads you through several isolated villages before dropping down to the main road, the N200.
First Corsican Donkey
We spotted our first Corsican donkey in Bastanico.
Half way between Corte and Aleria we stopped to look at a lovely Genoese bridge.
Genoese Bridge
Wild Flowers on the Beach
From Aleria we headed south on the N198 picnicing at another deserted beach to the east of Ghisonaccia with the most amazing wild flowers growing in the sand. It was hot and sunny but large amounts of cloud were swirling around the mountains where we were headed. We turned off the main road at Solenzara and started the ascent. It was a balmy 8º where we had been forced to turn around the previous week, so we were hopeful that we would be able to make the Col de Bavella (1218m). We did make it but so did the clouds!!! Rick managed to catch a few glimpses before the weather really closed in and we descended in rain to retrace our steps for a night in Aleria.
Glimpses 0f Col de Bavella
written by  rickandsuejohnson on April 1, 2008 from Aleria, France

Vimy Ridge and a search for an ace
Vimy, France
Memorial on the ridge
Being a public holiday we decided not to go the quickest way via the autoroute to Vimy but took the back roads passing several monuments on the D947 from Estaires to the Lens by pass – the Indian Memorial at La Bombe followed quickly by the Portuguese Military Cemetery. Heading south as the A21 then A211 become the N17 you pass Avoin and as the road curves round to the right you get your first sight of the two gleaming white pillars on the ridge from the road. At Vimy-Givenchy-en-Gohelle you start your climb to the summit and the huge memorial park, gifted by the people of France in perpetuity to Canada.
Canadian memorial
The monument itself has, in the last few years, been completely renovated. The statues were removed (they are in sections) and cleaned and many of the stones that form the base and rise by a steps to the pillars were replaced by the nearest that could be found that matched the original and were of suitable quality from Croatia. The base is carved with the names of the 11,285 officers and men who died in France and have no known graves.
Bronze map of lines
To the right and back from the monument is a bronze plaque showing the Canadian and German lines prior to the battle at Vimy Ridge on 19 April 1917. Driving a half a mile or so to the east of the monument on a road through the park with the pine woods either side, cordoned off with warnings of danger (unexploded mines), you reach another car park with access to the Welcome Centre and sections of the trenches and tunnels which can be visited.
Preserved trenches
The Centre is staffed by young Canadians and our guide a young student from Winnepeg, Manitoba took us through the Canadian and German trenches. The Grange Tunnel wasn't open due to flooding from the recent heavy rains. At this point the German and Canadian trenches were only a few 100 metres apart. A labyrinth of tunnels leading up to the ridge (most about a mile long) allowed soldiers to rally in relative safety prior to action. Mines were blown in the middle of no man's land and then the Canadians surged forward to dig in near the German front lines. From here they launched their attack and eventually pushed forward to take the ridge an important strategic point commanding the Douia plain. We were able to go in the trenches and view a step off point.
French National Memorial & Cemetery
Retracing our steps to Givenchy we took the road to Notre Dame de Lorette, the French National Memorial and Cemetery. The cemetery covers 62 acres and holds nearly 40,000 graves. As well as a basilica the cemetery has a lighthouse tower. At night apparently a searchlight at its top constantly rotates and shines. The basilica, roman in style, stands on the spot where a church once stood.
tower, French National Memorial
There is a very ornate and beautiful mosaic of Christ with outstretched arms behind the altar and stained glass windows either side of the nave. Between the basilica and the tower there is the base for a perpetual flame which wasn't lit on the day that we visited. Unlike the British cemeteries the graves are marked with crosses not tablets of stone. I wondered what would happen if you were Jewish and then I saw a single tablet in a row of crosses marked with the star of David and I had my answer.
We crossed the road to the orientation tablet and from there we confirmed what Rick had already guessed, the relative position of Vimy. This ridge also held a commanding view of the Douai plain.
Captain Ball's grave
I'd noticed when we were planning the day that Rose Coombs' book had suggested a detour to visit the grave and crash site of Captain Alan Ball, a young man from Lenton, Nottingham. Britain's highest scoring fighter ace who achieved 44 victories before Lothar Von Richthofen (Manfred's brother) claimed to have shot him down (despite apparently actually being forced to the ground himself seconds before with a punctured fuel tank having been chased by Ball into a cloud) near Anoeullin, north west of Lens. He was only 20 when he died and there was apparently no evidence of battle wounds.
Captain Ball crash site
The current theory is that he got disorientated in the cloud and emerged upside down at 200 feet with no room for manoeuver. Since we had taken the trouble to visit Manfred's crash site it seemed only right that we should do so for Alan. We found his grave easily enough from the directions in the book but spent 45 mins or so trying to locate the crash site. Just as we found it we were about to pull in when the car in front of us pulled to a halt. The lady driver got out and asked us if we were looking for Alan's grave. Bless her, she had seen the GB number plate and guessed that we were looking for him. The village or, I should say, small town of Annouellin hasn't forgotten him. They named their College after him in 1999 and I understand that to this day his grave is still tended by relatives of Mme Cecille Deloffre, a young Frenchwoman who ran to Ball's aid in his final moments.
Marker stone with Cemetery in distance to left of the large building
The crash site itself is not marked at the roadside and is in a field of potatoes some way in near a small copse; although marked by a stone, the crops are planted right up to the stone so it is difficult to see but from here you can see the cemetery only a few hundred yards away. He is not forgotten in Nottingham either apparently as he has a statue in Nottingham Castle and a display in the museum there.
Nearing 7 pm so we decided to chance the shorter motorway route back to the campsite. Lucky we weren't going in the opposite direction back to Lille from Dunkerque as the traffic for a large section from junction 6 to 9 was at a virtual standstill!
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 16, 2011 from Vimy, France

Reflections
Initial impressions of Canada were how big everything was – the roads, the cars, the buildings and how inexpensive; about £ for $ but with roughly $2 to the £, it made everything half price.
We found Canadians are incredibly generous and hospitable; with the exception of the security guard at the Prime Minister's residence and the Customs Officer at Toronto, we were made to feel welcome everywhere.
There is a perhaps surprising definite language difference. Last year down under, we noticed a few idiosyncrasies and some unique local vocabulary but broadly, we seemed to be speaking the same language. Canada has followed the same route as its neighbour, the US in using a number of different words to those we would normally use. Highway and sidewalk are two well known examples, but others would include GPS instead of satnav, purse instead of handbag and bathroom or washroom instead of ladies, gents, toilet or loo. While the differences are small, usually self-resolving and amusing, it meant that conversation did require more energy than usual. (Though it was useful to have an expert at translating from one to the other in Val, to hand.) It is also well known that ordering food or drink at a fast food outlet is a far more complex than in the UK because of the range of options that are invariably available and the sms type language employed to get through the menu without keeping the next customer waiting too long. We got caught on this early on when ordering a tea being asked 'baggin?'. Not being familiar with the expression we asked the girl to repeat the question – 'baggin?'. We had heard right then but were no nearer being able to answer until Ollie translated - 'Do you want the tea bag left in the cup?'. Those early orders were certainly possible only because we had guides!
In addition to brewing a number of lagers, Canada also brews their own ales which are very good; although for my taste, there is too much emphasis on freezing the living daylights out of some of them. I found that Rickards Red was very refreshing, especially as the glass warmed a little and allowed the flavours to develop. The Honey Brown was exactly what it claimed to be with a lovely rounded and full body. The Unibroue Trois Pistoles that we had in Quebec was an exquisite Barley wine with an extraordinary chocolately flavour that worked – and carried on working for some time afterwards! In Ontario, the LCBO (liquor control board of Ontario) operates its own stores and controls locations that sell alcoholic drink; I'm sure that this works well to control alcohol but less sure how any state monopoly benefits the consumer. Having said this, prices didn't seem exorbitant.
Although Canada hasn't escaped the fuel price rises, petrol is about half the cost in the UK, diesel is not as common as here and as we found down under last year, engine sizes tend to be larger and gearboxes automatic.
At a national level Canada has decided to publish everything in both English and French, to which the anglophonic part adheres in stereotypical style. Of course with typical gallic panache, the provincial government of Quebec has decided that they will ignore national government and issue everything in only French, officially – although pragmatically, many businesses are making provision for anglophones. Clearly the Francophones are worried that their language is under threat – and not without some justification. However, I think it sad as a broadly francophilic person that the typical french stick is used instead of the typical gallic charm. It seems to me that there are other better means of achieving the preservation of the french language and traditions (leading to cultural richness) within the greater Canada with a sympathetic anglophone community than by separation and alienation.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 31, 2008 from Shrewsbury, United Kingdom

Journey from sea to sky
Pemberton, Canada
Leaving the Island
Breakfast on board the Queen of Oak Bay at 8.30 am. Great views of the island as we steamed out of Nanaimo on our way back to the mainland. The smoke haze had cleared but as we took Highway 99 out of Horseshoe Bay towards Squamish it started to rain.
Shannon Falls
Brandywine Falls
Stopped off at Shannon Falls Provincial Park just past Britannia Beach to view the 335 metre waterfall just a short walk from the car park and then on through Squamish stopping again at Brandywine Falls just before Whistler. As we parked up we spotted picnic tables and decided that it would be a good spot to stop for lunch once we had the seen the falls. The rain had stopped and we headed out for a 15 minute walk to the viewing platform accessed across a railway track. Views of the waterfall feeding in to Daisy Lake a mile or two away. Useful tip - both stop offs have loo facilities and even the Pit toilets at Brandywine falls had a hand sanitiser unit and they weren't smelly!
squirrel with bedding
A tiny squirrel was gathering moss just a few yards from the table – we guessed he was changing the bedding in his little den. We weren't sure whether he was a juvenile or a ground squirrel, if they exist as he never left the ground. Well that was our fix of nature for a while as our next stop was Whistler.
Biking in Whistler
Nice to have seen it and get a flavour of what it's like but predictably commercialised with the main focus currently seeming to be on Mountain Biking.
As we left for Pemberton it started to rain again. It got steadily worse but by the time we arrived at Pemberton Valley Vineyard it was just a light drizzle and as the clouds drifted away we caught sight of the most beautiful mountains, their peaks dusted with patches of snow.
View from our bedroom
Our room was on the first floor with amazing panoramic views of mountains all around us. We have booked dinner here, which in hindsight was a good decision as there appeared to be very little in Pemberton itself.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 9, 2010 from Pemberton, Canada

Mud and Tides
Parrsboro, Canada
The Chimney
First stop the chimney next to the Wolfville town library – strange but true! The chimney is all that remains of the local dairy, long since demolished. As it has for many years been an overnight roost for the aptly named 'Chimney Swifts', it was saved from demolition by the local community. The swifts spend the day entirely on the wing, catching insects and only land at night to roost. They have retractable hooked claws and barbed tail feathers which enable them to cling to chimney brickwork and roost vertically. They migrate from Peru to the cooler Nova Scotia climate to breed and feed on the plentiful summer insects. When it starts to get cold and the insects die off they head on back to sunny Peru. Either they were having a lie in today or they had chosen a different roost for the night - there was no sign of them.
Mud Creek
A short way on from the chimney we reached the waterfront where the low tide had revealed vast mud flats and salt marshes. Interpretive boards explain the movement of the tides, why the Minas Basin is so unique and how the land has consequently been shaped. The movement of the tides, strong currents and (in winter) icebergs have all helped to carve the land and estuaries here. There is also a Tidal Bore here – River Severn eat your heart out!
'Evangeline' Longfellows heroine v the dastardly Brits
Half an hours drive brought us to Grand Pré and the site which commemorates the deportation of the Arcadian men who refused to swear allegiance to the British crown during the struggle between the British and the French for territory in North America. Evangeline is the heroine of the poem by Longfellow whose lover Gabriel is deported and she has become the symbol of remembrance of this act in Acadia.
WW2 Observation Tower
We kept to the more circuitous coast road and stopped for a sandwich and much needed drink at a roadside take-out doing a roaring trade before skirting Truro and hugging the coastline again, this time the north shore of the Minas Basin. More spectacular views, particularly from the WWII observation tower at Cobequid Interpretation Centre. We passed Five Islands which, according to Mi'kmak legend, were created when their deity, Glooscap, hurled rocks into the basin as he was annoyed when the giant beaver dammed it.
View over Estuary from restaurant
Arriving at Parrsboro we freshened up in , yes, the Gabriel room, at Evangeline's Tower B&B. Afterwards we walked down to 'Bare Bones' where we had seared scallop linguine with roasted vegetables in a pernod cream sauce washed down with a Corona for me and Propeller Porter for Rick. The end to another wonderful day.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 5, 2012 from Parrsboro, Canada

A story of two parts
Kamloops, Canada
View from our bedroom
As the rain stopped and the clouds lifted last night, the view was quite breathtaking. We were one of two couples who were eating dinner last night, which was a shame; the chef, Neil, who did everything, cooked us a superb beetroot soup followed by a huge and delicious steak with a cumin seasoning, all made from locally sourced produce and the vegetables from their own garden. We agreed that it was the best meal out we have had, marred only by the uncertainty of what it would cost as no prices were mentioned. It was pricey but not extortionate. The accommodation was quite palatial with the aforementioned views but strangely no tea or coffee making facilities. In the morning, we were treated to a breakfast of what Pat called 'frittata' but we would recognise as 'Omelette Paysanne', with fruit and then toast. It certainly set us up for the day.
Understated horsebox and caravan unit
In Pemberton itself, we managed to get Zoe's birthday present off to her and get some provisions before filling up with fuel for our long drive ahead.
4 hours of driving through some of the most stunning scenery with beautiful lakes, peaks with snow clinging to the tops, rivers chattering and gurgling as they swirled down the mountainside. In places the road seemed perched rather precariously on the side of the mountain and I was surprised that Sue elected to take the wheel but she explained that she wanted me to take some pictures!
Lower Lake Joffre
At Pat's recommendation we stopped at Joffre Lake, where a 10 minute walk took us to the lower lake. Fed by the melt waters of the glacier above, it was a particularly serene spot, troubled only by insects. We had put on insect repellent, so were relatively untroubled but the fish in the lake seemed to enjoy the insect feast – good for them. The lake is not listed in the guide books we have so was a particularly good bit of local knowledge.
At one point we were held up as a girder was being placed in a replacement bridge. We went over the temporary bridge with some trepidation but it was fine. We stopped at 2 for a bite of lunch in a layby before swapping drivers. We were probably passed by a car every few minutes but it made us aware of quite how remote the location was.
River by route 99
We had two particularly long sections with very little on them apart from the occasional homestead. The first was through the mountains after the first ½ hour of the drive until about ½ an hour after lunch, the second was for about 80 km before Cache Creek, where there were no petrol stations or cafés. It was as well that we refuelled before we left Pemberton. The second long stretch started at Lilloet and proved less interesting, with mountains giving way to an arid, hilly scrubland. It was interesting to note that, from Cache Creek we were back on Transcanada Highway 1, where we started out two days ago at mile zero! We reached the beginning of the end as we reached Kamloops Lake and pulled into a rest area where we could get a fabulous view of the lake itself.
Kamloops Lake
We pulled into MacQueens Manor just after 5pm and were given a warm welcome by Pat MacQueen. A lovely room with all the amenities we could want.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 10, 2010 from Kamloops, Canada

Menin Gate and The Last Post but perhaps not ours
Ieper, Belgium
Cloth hall without fair
After another exciting and full day yesterday, we had a day of relative peace today. Shopping at midday and then early evening off to Ieper to see the last post, which is sounded every night at the Menin Gate at 8pm. We aimed for a car park near the Groot markt making sure that this was a recognised place to park. Yet again, we found that the meters were explained in Flemish only and not speaking the language, deciphering the terms was impossible. This is rather surprising as Belgium has 3 official languages, you would have thought that the sign might be in each. Bearing in mind that Ieper is heavily frequented by Brits, you may have expected some concession to this too. All the locals seem to speak English and they are unfailingly helpful and generous and if addressed in English will translate for you. In the event, we discovered that the parking meters finished collecting at 6:30 in the evening, after which it was free until the following morning! Since it was 7 by then we had a free session. And the car was still there when we got back!
House in Grotte Markt
We walked the short distance to the Menin gate where numbers were already beginning to gather. Shortly after, a contingent of (British) cadets arrived and mustered on the pavement outside the gate.
Buglers, Menin Gate
Just before 8, the police arrived and closed off the road on either side and allowed the crowd to go into the road on the town side. The cadets marched to the outside across the road and four buglers, presumably former Belgian Army soldiers marched to the centre of the outer part of the gate facing the town and played the last post. Some wreathes were laid and then the buglers sounded reveille. It was quite a moving experience and as Sue commented was a suitable finale to the battlefields part of our trip.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 16, 2011 from Ieper, Belgium

Ruined City, Impossible Villages and no ices
Aleria, France
Still suffering from a bit of time change malady and a warm night, we were slow getting underway this morning. However, after a trip across the road to Super U, we had the basics for a snack lunch and hit the road.
Plan of Roman City
First we went up the hill outside Aleria to the old Roman settlement, arriving at about 11, noting that the site of the city closed at 11.30 and the museum closed at 12.00, thought that we should see the city first. However, the museum curators from whom we got a ticket suggested that we saw the museum first; I don't suppose that this had anything to do with them being able to get off to lunch first! The museum had all sorts of artefacts from digs, going back through Roman, Etruscan, Phoenician and Greek periods to the Iron and Bronze ages, with some impressive pieces. The Roman ruins were interesting, but as we were late and as they had just locked up, allowed us 10 minutes which at least gave us a bit of a flavour; although supposedly representing the major city on the island, they were not of the scale of Viriconium, although they were possibly slightly more intact.
We made our way to the beach just north of Aleria and had our picnic lunch, closely observed by two local mutts, who finally got bored with the two bloody tourists who didn't get the message and made a pointed exit.
We then made for the hills for one last time, going through the quite pretty villages above Aleria; visiting Cervione, Cascades de Lacelluline and St Nicolao, finishing up at Moriani plage. It was a wonderful drive, with some suitably exciting bits of scenery and incredibly narrow roads (I have concluded that the white line down the middle is simply to show where the middle is, so that if you don't stray from this, you won't fall off the edge)! The main road through Cervione is remarkable for the fact that it is built onto the rock face on supports.
Wonderful parking
It was also remarkable at the time for the demonstration of the Corsican approach to parking (leave the car where you want, even if there is no space for it); the cars were left for at least the whole for the whole of our visit (¾ hr).
The road from there to St Nicolao runs past the cascades de Lacelluline, which are really spectacular, falling down past the road which runs over a bridge and between two tunnels constructed in around the beginning of the 20th C for the pack mule tracks.
We ended up at Moriani Plage, from where a Corsican Nationalist was deported in 1926. We had hoped to have an ice cream here as the temperatures all day had been in the high teens and were by now 20ºC. Unfortunately, as we were informed, the weather was still too cool for ice creams and we would have to wait for a week or two for it to warm up, so we had a cup of tea instead.
We got back to the hotel and a had a quiet beer on the terrace outside watching the sun slide into the horizon and remarked that we had hardly hoped that we would be able to have done such a thing a week ago. We reflected on what we might have done and what we haven't done and concluded that we have filled our time quite well – my one regret is that I have not recorded what appears to be a favourite Corsican passtime; shooting at roadsigns (I suppose it is a bit like taking them down at the end of a night's drinking and keeping them in your room). I don't know whether it is anti-establishment for Corsican seperatists, demonstrating their skills or simply taking the opportunity to loose off a couple of rounds but a well peppered sign is commonplace off the main roads. Our favourite was one of a warning sign of a cow with hole through the middle of the cow; either the shooter couldn't tell the difference between the real thing and a non-moving object or it was an excellent shot on a dark night from close range. Unfortunately, most of the signs with such battle wounds were spotted quite late on and without somewhere to stop – not that this would have worried the average Corsican!
written by  rickandsuejohnson on April 1, 2008 from Aleria, France

Final images
Up early so that we could be at the Airport in good time to hand the car back and deal with any suggestions that unaccounted dings had been added. In the event, we had a smooth run to the airport and the handin was uneventful – the recipient for Europcar had a look round, did his quick checks and said – impeccable. This is not quite how I would have described the car but it was good enough for me and I suppose in Corsican terms probably no more than accurate.
Leaving the Hotel Empereur was easy too – Monsieur le Patron was a delightful individual and had always made us feel welcome. Madame la Patronne was a slightly different animal – a female, gallic, Basil Fawlty. She appeared to rule the hotel with a rod of iron – everywhere was spotless, clinically so; there were notices in the room setting out the rules – food in the room is forbidden, 'absolument' and transgression meant immediate ejection! On the other hand, there were nice touches like a pack of notes on local things to do and sights to see. At the evening meal, she strutted amongst diners, taking and delivering orders with a brusque efficiency and economy that minimised the efficiency and maximised the economy – I had the temerity of asking for a couple of glasses for our wine that she had forgotten to give us; no apology, just a tutted delivery. On the morning of our first breakfast, we were a bit late down at 9:30 but well before the 10:00 deadline but she was clearly not amused. It was one of the hotels that actually offered cereal for breakfast but they clearly didn't expect anyone to eat it; there were no bowls. Asking her for a couple of bowls for the cereal was not a good idea, her initial clear displeasure with the approach was quickly followed by a huge Gallic shrug of indifference. (Perhaps she is descended from Marie Antoinette?) But she did bring cold milk, perhaps in an attempt to rub in that we should have been there earlier to get bowls so we resorted to eating out of cups! Her demeanour always suggested that keeping her Hotel nice for guests would be easy were it not for the idiots that kept checking in.
When we got back for our last evening, the parking area outside the hotel had one car already in place, next to the hotel, so we parked next to it. We got a call from reception a little later to move it to the side opposite the hotel. There was no explanation but we assumed it was to do with access. The next morning we discovered why there had been a bit of a panic; Madame parked her car along the wall next to the hotel!!
We had an almost brand new and very comfortable A321 for our flight out of Bastia, giving us lovely views over the city, the hills behind across Cap Corse to the sea on the other side and St Florent. The flight was possibly only 1/3rd full but with empty rows 2 rows in front and behind, we had a full row of 3 people! Having crossed the mountains over the Cap Corse, the starboard wing dipped and we just caught our last glimpse of the mountains of Corsica before heading out over the sea to France, cloud cover increasing all the way. Our trip across Paris was uneventful and our flight to Birmingham on a Bae 146 was a tight squeeze, being absolutely packed to the gunwales; still at least we didn't rattle!
We had a wonderful holiday in a beautiful country with very hospitable folk; thank you Bernard – without you, we would be unlikely to have discovered this little gem and thank you Daniele for your very useful itinerary.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on April 3, 2008 from Bastia, France

A walk around Lille
Lille, France
The trains
Today we went to Lille. We caught the train at Bailleul station; BR take note – parking was free for the day, the train was on time at Bailleul and at Lille, although not exactly cheap, comfortable and clean. A double decker, it was a good vantage point on the upper deck for seeing the countryside. We were issued with our 'Billet a composter' – but this is not some cunning recycling scheme; it just means you have to have the ticket punch validated before you get on the train. On arrival at Lille, we made for the Metro and bought a day ticket as this is what the guide book suggests.
The metro is excellent, along the lines of the Docklands light Railway but Lille is quite a compact city and unless you are going beyond the centre, I don't think it is needed at all. Having got off the metro outside the tourist office we discovered that we had only travelled a couple of hundred metres! The tourist office had a useful booklet in English with suggested walking tours round the centre.
Place de General de Gaulle
We booked the city bus tour to get an overview but our trip would not be 'till mid-afternoon so we started on one of the walking tours, taking us through the old and historic centre. Lille has had an eventful 1000 years since foundation in 1066, presumably in celebration of the leaving from Normandy of a certain Duke. It developed as a centre of business between Flanders and the fairs in Champagne. Originally owned by the Dukes of Flanders, economically it was linked with England and the Holy Roman Empire and French kings took a fancy to it.
Some carefully arranged political marriages didn't prevent King Philippe August of France engineering control early in the 13th C. However, a marriage of a daughter of Flanders to a Burgundian meant that Lille, along with Brussels and Dijon became part of the Burgundian state in 1363. Another marriage took Burgundy under Habsburg control and subsequently, Spanish in the 1600's. However, a marriage into the Spanish family by Louis XIV in 1663, gave him the opportunity to lay claim to the low countries; he reinforced the claim by laying seige to Lille which resisted for all of 9 days.
Now French, Austria had a crack at it in 1792 but gave up after leaving a few cannonballs embedded in the stonework. During both 1st and 2nd Wws, Lille was overrun by the German Army.
Our walk round the town started appropriately enough at the tourist office which is in what is left of the Palais Rihour built in the 15th C for the Duke of Burgundy, much of this burned down in 1916.
Old Bourse
The Place du General de Gaulle (born in Lille in 1890) is a huge square ringed with elegant buildings, the eye being drawn quickly to the Vieille Bourse as a particularly ornamented building. The building was only restored to its former splendour in 1995 and does look good. Walking though the building, the interior courtyard is filled with 2nd hand booksellers and such but you can see where the marketers would have had their stalls as the walls are labelled – chemicals, mechnical engineering etc..
Opera
On through the old bourse and you come to the place du Theatre with the Theatre itself very in-your-face and surmounted with a huge bas-relief of Apollo and muses. The nearby Chambre de Commerce has a 76 metre high belfry. At the end of the 17th C, Lille managed to acquire a set of town planners who insisted on some homogeneity and required that any facade proposed to be submitted to them for approval.
Chamber of Commerce
This has had the effect of suppressing individuality and led to unusual uniformity of the buildings from this time around the square. Some of the houses here still have the cannonballs embedded in the walls from the battle of 1792. Shame they didn't present the town planners for target practice.
Rue de la Bourse, with cannon balls
I noticed a number of roofs with rooflights and with dormer windows both of which spoiled the line of the roof but undoubtedly enhanced both the accommodation and interest of the building. Just as well there weren't any British planners then! From here we made our way down Rue de la Grande Chaussee with elegant buildings to the strangely named Rue des Chats Bossus. Apparently this is named after an old tanner's sign but this does not really explain why the cats are humpbacked. Perhaps some things are best left unsaid.
L'Huitiere, Rue des chats bossus
In said street, there is an unusual restaurant called l'Huitiere. Heavily decorated in mosaic tiles in an art deco style, it looked splendid. It was closed during the holiday season, so presumably doesn't much care for tourists. Proceeding up the Rue de monnaie, where there used to be a mint, we saw the impressive building originally a Hospital (1692) and now a museum.
Vieux Murs Peterink
Further up the road we went down Rue au Peterinck which has a real feel of taking you back in time, it is lined by small houses once used by weavers. They had workshops on the 1st floor and traded from the ground floor. Near the end of this is the cathedral of Notre Dame de la Treille.
Cathedrale de Notre dame de la Treille
The guide book describes its 'fine harmonious facade dating to 1999' – I can only say that there must be times when town planners go to sleep on the job. About the only word I can agree apart from the date is 'facade'.
Having worked up an appetite, we decided to take a beak from cultural activities and feed the inner person. We found a nice restaurant offering moules frites and placed our order.
Moules frites
Shortly after we were presented with the most enormous bowls of mussels and a lovely bowl of chips. With our upbringing we scoffed the lot and felt very full for some time after. Back to the tourist office for our 3pm bus tour. Well, it was interesting and we did see some things we hadn't seen on our walk but I'm afraid that there wasn't much that we couldn't have covered if we had continued walking for another 40 minutes.
Porte de Paris ca 1690
We wanted to get some tourist mementos but in all the touring we did, hadn't seen anything other than the small shop in the tourist Info Office. We had a little and abortive search before going back to the station for our trip back to Bailleul. The train came in and we climbed aboard. It was incredibly hot inside and it didn't get any better when we left (on time) or at any point on the trip. We were relieved to get off and cool down in the car on the way back to the site.
Deegeur encore
Deegeur
While we were in Lille we managed to see something that would be of particular interest to Freddie and Alfie, so we were pleased to be able to record them. We also saw several Fireman Sam wagons but by the time we were able to record it, they had gone. Sorry about that!
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 17, 2011 from Lille, France

A fruit picker's paradise
Vernon, Canada
Approaching our target
A relatively relaxed start to the day with a breakfast at 8.30 am with our hosts. It really was a home from home experience – except that Pat McQueen's breakfast far outshone anything I could ever provide. Off to Chapters on our way out of Kamloops to see if we could buy the latest issue of Canadian Homes and Cottages but it hasn't reached BC yet, they only had the last issue on the shelves!
The temperature gradually crept up as we neared Okenagen lake passing through the town of Merrit with its own Holywood style path of stars (Johnny Cash, The Dixie Chicks etc). The highway twisted and turned and climbed and fell until eventually we caught sight of Okenagen Lake in the distance. As we reached the town of Peachland the first lake side town on Highway 97 it was 31 degrees.
Picnic spot
We parked up just before Penticton for lunch in the picnic area beside the lake before motoring on to the first Winery Rick had chosen – Red Rooster. I had volunteered to be driver from then on in whilst Rick did the sampling. My experience was limited to put it crudely 'sniffing' the wine, which in actual effect gave a good impression of what Rick was tasting! Red Rooster seemed to be a middle of the road place. Neat, ordered and not pretentious and we both particularly liked the Reisling. Bought a bottle to sample at the weekend when we have our two night self catering unit.
Mission Hills Winery
Back through Penticton and the vineyards and fruit orchards to Mission Hill Family Estate Winery just north of a town called Westbank, not far from Peachland. Think of the Ritz and Hotels and you will get the impression of this place. It cost twice as much to taste the wines and although all were at least 15C$ more expensive per bottle than Red Rooster they really weren't that much to write home about. As Rick said spend less on the grounds and the shop and charge less per bottle!! Crossing over to the east side of the lake we made our way to Gray Monk Estate Winery.
Gray Monk Winery
They were the only one to offer free tasting and a glass of non alcoholic juice to me. They had a range of very unusual wines and we succumbed to buying a bottle of their 'Port' wine plus bubble wrap packaging to transport back for Christmas! Now what shall I throw out of my case to accommodate it?
We arrived at Richmond House, our B&B in Vernon at around 6.45 pm and asked if the hostess knew of a good restaurant for pasta not too far away. With a little difficulty due to the road having changed a bit since Tom Tom was last updated we found Tita's a small, family run restaurant in Vernon tucked away just by a level crossing. We both chose the house special, pasta shells with lamb following a salad with home made bread and olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Rick had an Okanagen light ale and I had a peach cider. Rick treated me to a Lemoncello with my coffee to make up for missing the tasting. Feeling quite mellow now!
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 11, 2010 from Vernon, Canada

Rocks, Fossils and more tides
Hillsborough, Canada
Woke to the predicted rainy start to the day. An excellent breakfast with a lovely family from New York. They loved that the house was Victorian and said that they were very into historic houses; they currently have a house from the 1920's that they are renovating and this is their second old house. They suggested our place may be older, so I said – a bit. We were discussing renovation problems when they asked about the age of our place and were amazed that it was over 300 years old and fascinated when I explained about the timber frame and brick infill.
Ottawa House
Having dragged ourselves away from the table and loaded our car we drove to Ottawa House, formerly the residence of Sir Charles Tupper a former member of the legislative assembly of Nova Scotia and one of the fathers of the confederation, ultimately becoming Prime Minister of Canada briefly. The house has had a chequered history since then, serving as an hotel for a while before falling into disrepair before being saved by the community as a museum. It is interesting in its own right as a house with e.g. the original electric wiring. It has also been used to house items from various eras and exhibits on Shipbuilding and rum running which took place here.
From here it was a difficult decision about which route to take to Joggins. As it was raining with quite a mist we decided against the coastal route which would take us past Cap d'Or (apparently a very pretty route with some fabulous views over the swirls and eddies of the fundy tides). We needed to be at Hopewell Rocks for the high tide at 4: to do this we needed to be at our B&B to collect the entry coupons at 3. This meant leaving Joggins by 1 according to our calculations.
Fossil on beach
We were looking to do a tour of the rocks there and they run every hour on the hour so needed to be there for 12. The coastal route would have thrown everything out of kilter so we chose to do the quickest route. To our surprise, TomTom came up with a quicker route than using the motorway. What we didn't know until we hit it was that 13 miles of the route were over a gravel road, some of which was not in prime condition so caution had to be exercised. We only met one car on this route. At one point we had to cross a rickety rackety single track bridge with a wooden plank base that had seen better days. I half expected to see a troll emerge and challenge us but was rather busy concentrating on the couple of planks that looked decidedly dubious; I was glad of the large wheels on the Dodge. We arrived at Joggins in good time, as promised by TomTom but with the car looking as though it had been travelling on the Dakar rally in a monsoon.
Tree trunk fossil
Our tour was an interesting, if very short introduction to fossils on the cliff faces of the area, now designated a UNESCO World Heritage Centre as the best place in the world to see carboniferous period fossils. The Centre on top of the cliffs built in 2008 houses excellent displays to allow you to make the most of your time there.
With the clock ticking we grabbed a quick lunch in the cafe and then hit the road. We rolled in to Innisfree the B&B just after 3 and were shown to our room then given a quick briefing by Elaine on how to make the best of the time we had at the Rocks. The tickets she gave us gave us a discounted entry to the Hopewell Rocks Centre with a 2 day entry so that we could go back and see everything at low tide.
View from Lookout at high tide cf C
We followed Elaine's suggestion of going to the main lookout and taking a photo of a high tide for reference. All we could see was sea up to the base of the cliffs. A little further down we were able to see the sea swirling around some tall rocks just away from the main cliff. These rocks with flat tops and trees growing there are the 'Flower pots'.
View from look out high tide
The average tidal range at this point of the bay is about 12 metres (!) so when we go back for low tide, there will be a lot more visible. At the lowest point of the centre, you are on a level with the beach itself and apparently when the tide is out, it can be 3.5km out – rather like Weston s mare and when it comes in it comes very quickly.
Shoreline lower beach high tide cf B
We were lucky enough to be able to see a small group of semipalmated sandpipers flock and swirl each time they thought they detected a threat. It looked a bit like starlings as they prepare to roost for the night. Just as we were about to leave, a ranger pointed out to us a bald eagle flying over some trees in the middle distance – a lovely moment.
Back to the interpretive centre, there were some excellent displays on how the rocks all came about; when you look at the vast timescale over which that is, the emergence of humans is incredibly recent.
Off to Broadleaf Guest Ranch about 12 km down the road from Innisfree at the recommendation of Elaine. Not easy to find - we had a couple of goes at it. There was a sign saying the place was just ahead – several hundred yards further on there was no sign of it so we turned round, convinced it must be just after the sign and when we got to the place turned in only to find it was the cemetery! No probability of food there then. Back again to the amusement of a couple of locals standing on their porch watching the world go by. Finally some way later, just when we were beginning to give up hope, there was a sign to Broadleaf Ranch and we turned in. No sign of much other than ranch hands so carried on up the drive past a large barn to discover a low building behind with the word RESTAURANT on its roof. It was not very prepossessing and had we not been recommended probably wouldn't have taken it further. Inside though it was very nicely laid out and we were made very welcome. The menu looked good; Sue opted for Atlantic Salmon with maple and chef's spice recipe and a green salad washed down with a blueberry ale. I went for a lobster and breadcrumb crusted haddock with fries and green vegetables washed down with a Moosehead Red. The meals were both absolutely fabulous. Which goes to prove you can't always judge by external appearances.
Back to Innisfree and a very welcome bed!
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 6, 2012 from Hillsborough, Canada

Round the Rocks and Over the Bridge
Kensington, Canada
lower beach shoreline , low tide cf B
We were back at Hopewell Rocks just after 9am and headed for the beach access just short of the shore area where we saw the Sandpipers the previous evening. Only a few people around at this point and we wandered along what had been the ocean floor a few hours before in amongst the wonderous rock formations.
Flowerpots, low tide
It reminded us of our visit to Flower Pot Island on the Bruce Peninsula with our Canadian family four years ago. These structures were sandstone though and flanked by large expanses of mud as the tide continued to recede.
View from Lookout, Hopewell Rocks cf C
As we headed back to the cliff view points a couple of hours later it was just past low tide and more and more people were arriving. A good idea that we had come so early!
Confederation Bridge from NB
Just before Prince Edward Island we stopped off at the information point before the bridge on the New Brunswick side. This had been on the advice of Elaine at Innisfree. Apparently the views of the bridge are more spectacular. We stopped for a sandwich and watched the hummingbirds swoop to the syrup feeders then climbed the viewing tower to look across the Northumberland Strait to PEI and marvel at this 7 mile bridge connecting it to New Brunswick.. It was difficult to see much as we crossed the bridge due to the metre high concrete barriers on either side.
Waterside development
First stop Summerside on our way to Kensington for our over night stay. A bit of a disappointment. To my mind the outskirts of the town were typical anodyne but characterless outer town shopping centres without even a nod to its history. Apparently very few of the old properties remain after a devastating fire in, I think the tourist office said, 1906. I suggested walking it, thinking that the streets would be narrow. They were the exact opposite with very little shade apart from in a small but pretty park. The houses that are left fall into two categories – well looked after or not looked after at all.
In need of tlc
I say a disappointment as I was expecting something a bit prettier. By now it was nearing 3.30pm and very hot so we headed for The Home Place Inn. After a shower to cool off we went down to the bar to order supper. We shared Oysters Benedict and then both chose Maple glazed Pork. We finished with coconut pie (again shared) and Rick had and Irish coffee while I had Blueberry Tea (Tea with Amaretto and Grand Marnier). The Tea was amazing!
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 7, 2012 from Kensington, Canada

To go or not to go; that was the question....
Clearwater, Canada
Huge rolling hills with exposed flanks outside Kamloops
Another wonderful breakfast courtesy of Kathy, with local fresh apple juice, a plate of fresh fruit and then a wonderful croissant filled with herbie scrambled egg. This set us up well for the day again. Today we were off to Wells Gray Provincial Park and our route took us back to Kamloops by a different way. The lush tropicality of the Okenagan gave way after passing Mount Tuktakamin to a more austere landscape with huge hills and scrubland. We travelled for some distance on highway 97 along the South Thompson River. The landscape here is impossible to accurately reflect in photos, it is so vast that it is like being in a Brobdingnagian landscape.
Just outside Kamloops we passed a stationary goods train; it must have been the best part of a mile long and had three locos, one at each end and one in the middle!
The black dot by the water half way up and about 2/3rds to right is a bear
Shortly after leaving Kamloops on highway 5 we had our first wildlife encounter with 3 huge birds with broad wings circling about 50 feet from the car. I'm tempted to say they were eagles but I couldn't be sure; needless to say I couldn't take any meaningful photo with the lens I had on in the time before they disappeared. We changed drivers again at Barriere where we stopped for provisions for lunch. Some time later, as we were driving along the North Thompson river near Little Fort, I spotted a large black animal that at first I thought was a cat on the other side of the river. It was a black bear, roaming free and wild and very happy in his environment. Sue just managed to capture the magical moment; being in a stream of traffic I couldn't stop.
Muddy North Frazer on the far side, Clearwater nearside
Shortly afterwards we stopped for lunch at the North Thompson River RV campground and picnic site, about 1½ Km off the road. It is just just downstream from the confluence of the Clearwater and Thompson Rivers and you could see the muddy Thompson on the far side had not yet integrated with the clear, Clearwater on the nearside. Lovely sturdy, clean tables and benches and unsmelly pit loos back up the track for relief afterwards.
Refuelled, we started out for Wells Gray Park, turning off the highway at Clearwater. We wanted to see three falls here and decided to go to the furthest one first and work our way down. The park is a true wilderness park and apparently relatively unvisited; when we were there there were quite a few people visiting but it could not be said to be busy, certainly no crowds. From highway 5 it is 36Km to the park's actual entrance with nothing other than the occasional homestead or farm and then another 12Km to the Helmcklen Falls, the furthest we wanted to visit.
Tree down, Wells Gray Provincial Park
As we drove towards the Main entrance, the sky became very black and while it started to rain, the wind got up and with tall trees either side of the road, we were conscious of the advice at Cathedral Grove. About 8Km short of our objective we had to stop, a tree had just blown down across the road, 2 cars in front of us turned around and were gone. We stayed with another couple of cars to clear the road of debris while a 4x4 from the other side pulled the tree off the road. While I was clearing the road, several more branches were blown down and another tree looked threatening so we turned tail too while the cars in front decided to brave it. We went back to the relative safety of the camp entrance and parked up while we thought about it.
Helmcklen Falls, Wells Gray
After about 10 minutes, the wind started to drop and the rain eased considerably. We decided that as we had come this far, we would carry on, so quivering like a couple of jellies, we gingerly drove back to find another tree had blown down just before the other but that a track had been made around it. The next 6 Km to the Helmcklen Falls were nerve wracking – a total of about 8 trees (I didn't count carefully) had been blown down across the road. Competent unfazed Canadians had just either moved them enough to get past or made a path around them. The falls were worth the effort; we have given a lot of superlatives on this trip, so I shall use a Morris favourite – they were fantastic! A fall of 141m into the gorge below thunderously reverberating in the amphitheatre the water had created and pillowing up a huge mist cloud.
Dawson Falls, Wells Gray
We didn't foreshorten our stay but we were keen to get back to more security, so we didn't hang about for long and drove back along the trail across a perilously rickety single track bridge to the next set of falls at Dawson Falls. Here, the river tumbles across a 100m wide ledge of rock with a relatively modest fall but with great force and huge sound, again creating a mist over the falls. Again, we didn't spend too long and a newly downed tree along the path to the falls created a sense of some urgency, although the weather that had caused it had now abated.
Back in the car, we drove out of the park towards the highway and 10km short of this, stopped to see the Spahats Falls. Another stunning, mind boggling view.
Spahats Falls, Wells Gray
The river falls from about 2/3rd up a vertical cliff face 61m into the bottom of a narrow gorge. Photographs just can't do the scene justice and the mind can't absorb the scale. The mountains here are created by volcanic activity, each eruption providing a different strata. Glaciers carved out the start of the valley and the rivers have done the rest. Ain't nature wonderful?
We got to our B&B in good time but were disappointed that this is the first place without wifi, so will not be able to do our blog tonight, although I have managed to pinch an illicit bit of bandwidth. We found a super place for dinner – a Chinese restaurant that offered a buffet for all you can eat at C$13.49! And very good it was too.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 12, 2010 from Clearwater, Canada

Blood red rocks and a nice pair of churches
Ajaccio, France
Bonaparte's Birthplace
Before hitting the road, we took a tour around Ajaccio. Our first stop was the museum where books that had been confiscated from the aristocracy in the revolution had been sent. Apparently, many of these beautiful leather bound volumes can be observed on rows; this would have been interesting if repair work wasn't about to be started and the books removed! We saw instead an exhibition of Corsican scenes over the last 150 years or so, which was actually more interesting than it sounds.
It had come as a surprise to us that Napoleon was actually from the aristocracy; we saw the house in which he was born, the font in the Cathedral where he was christened and the very exotic house of his childhood friend, Pozzo di Borgo just round the corner. Pozzo ended up opposing Napoleon, fighting with (on the same side) Wellington at Waterloo. Apparently Napoleon was not very keen on Corsica but it appears that although he was unfriendy to them, the Corsicans enjoy his fame – or should that be notoriety?
A Windy Day, Les Sanguinaires
We then motored down to the Isles de Sanguinaires (named after the red colour of the rock). A lovely drive along the seafront to the end of the promontory with a tower on the headland at the end and a lighthouse on the rock just offshore. On the windward side, the sea was whipped up by the wind and pounding the rocks with some venom. The cafe above was quite delightful, though I suspect that at the height of summer would just be another tourist trap!
A quiet drink at Les Sanguinaires
The shop underneath was by tourist standards very tasteful and we got most of our holiday presents here. Back along the seafront to a picnic on the beach – very British, in our jumpers, braving the chilly breeze.
Driving out of Ajaccio to Cortège, we saw many beautiful sea and landscapes; at this time of the year and in the sunshine, it is absolutely captivating. Amplified, it has to be said by the icing sugar coating that many of the high peaks have recently acquired and which were disappearing under the sun. It is not stretching the imagination too far to see how in peak season, others (in huge numbers) would be attracted too. Though for my taste the numbers would destroy the very reason for going in the first place.
Arriving in Cortège, just before 4pm, we successfully booked in to the St Jean Hotel, then went walkabout in the (little) town. We first went to see the two churches, one Roman, the other Orthodox, facing each other on opposite sides of a little valley. Conundrums that have often struck me is that one of the commandments is that images shouldn't be worshipped yet both churches had many – and both churches had extensive and very good trompe l'oeil; in one sense one has to admire the artisanal artistry to achieve this; in another sense, the image is pretending to be something it isn't.
A Tale of two Churches; Greek on the left, Roman on the right
We walked down to the quite delightful and unspoiled harbour (even if there were a couple of pizza emporia) and marvelled once again at the perfect clarity of the water. The walk back up the hill proved to be rather more effort and gave us an appetite. The restaurant below the hotel provided us with a thoroughly enjoyable meal.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on March 27, 2008 from Ajaccio, France

Wireless free and twitching
Valemount, Canada
Shouldn't I have a glove for this?
It wasn't until I tried to send a text message to make arrangements for birthday phone calls for Rick at bedtime that we realised there was no mobile signal. So after an interesting chat with our hostess Abi at breakfast we motored to the highway and used the internet facility at the Shell gas station. Received and sent a couple of emails in case anyone was worried and then headed off for Cranberry Marsh. The previous evening I had read that it was a good place for spotting birds and or Moose. The interpretive board said we might even see Beaver. Would our luck with wildlife spotting continue? Sorry to say - no. We headed north down the road to the information centre to pick up any leaflets that might give us directions to Rearguard Falls where I had read you had a chance of seeing Salmon leaping the falls from mid August.
Chinook Salmon, Swift Creek
While we were there we decided to use the picnic tables (it was 1.50 pm by then) which were right by Spring Creek. People were congregating on the bridge and peering into the water and an interpretive board told the story of migrating salmon. We joined the crowd and peered but saw nothing and started to walk back up the hill when Rick spotted a hand made sign saying 'Salmon Spawning Now'. Was it worth a walk back and further up the bank? Well yes it was. We say several huge fish about 2 feet in length on the river bed. Rick saw a female laying eggs and she was shortly joined by another female and then a darker coloured male. What a sight. We must have stayed there for over an hour.
Rearguard Falls
Hopped back in the car for the drive to Rearguard Falls just north of Tete Jaune Cache on highway 16 towards Jasper. It was a short 15 minute walk down to the falls and just as we caught our first glimpse of them lo and behold a salmon jumped out of the water. We made our way down to the viewing platform where several people were lined up with serious camera equipment waiting for that moment of the leap. Despite staying there for a good half hour with cameras poised and seeing about 5 jump we weren't able to capture the moment. I don't think the guys with the huge lenses did either so I guess it was asking a bit much to expect to get a shot ourselves. We did however capture some white water rafters. I wouldn't have the bottle these days and it really didn't look as though there was anything attaching them to the dingy should they tip out – but there I always have been a bit of a scaredy cat!
Mount Terry Fox
On our route back to Valemount we stopped to view Mount Terry Fox named very shortly after his death in 1981. A couple of miles later and Tom Tom directed us off the main road to Summer Solstice our next B & B. What an amazing spot. We were greeted by the owners Lenerya and Giriish Bromley with their new baby daughter, six days old. They started the B & B just over a year ago having completely refitted the original building. It is a log cabin beautifully finished inside with modern furnishings and a huge front deck with panoramic views of the mountains.
We thought a lot about Papa today, especially when watching the Salmon!
We finished the day with a super meal at Cariboo Lodge, watching the sun sink over the mountains - what a day!
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 13, 2010 from Valemount, Canada

Green Gables
Murray Harbour, Canada
A quick call to wish Neil a Happy Birthday but he was working, so we left a message. Then down to a lovely breakfast of scone followed by sautéed diced potato with omelette made with lardons and mushrooms which set us up well for the day.
LM Montgomery was married in this room
First call of the day was to New Park Corner to visit the house of Lucy Maud Montgomery's aunt Annie Campbell. Sue has been reading a biography about Maud and the first few Anne books lately so wanted to see a few of the places she had read about. Maud spent much of her childhood with her cousins here and was married in the house in 1911. You can see the lake which inspired 'the Lake of Shining Waters' of Green Gables and the rooms are full of memorabilia associated with the author's life. A quick look at LM's place of birth in New London and then on to the Green Gables Heritage Place.
'Green Gables' reconstruction
You can walk in the grounds where the Macneill homestead (now demolished) was sited go through the 'Haunted Wood' and up to a reconstruction of the 'House of Green Gables' as described in the first novel. In between the two locations is the cemetery where Lucy Maud is buried.
LM Montgomery's grave
Sue enjoyed seeing the places that she had read about but said that the Green Gables reconstruction wasn't very much like she had imagined it to be.
We had thought of driving along the coast road from Cavendish through North Rustico and the front at Covehead Bay but this is now National Parkland and a park entry fee is charged from June to September. As we weren't planning to stop, we decided to take the more inland route along highway 6, to Mount Stewart and across to Georgetown. A small town with some tasteful suburban commercial development.
Waterfront working properties, Georgetown
The centre appears to be still a working fishing port, although still apparently small scale. There doesn't appear to be much commerce in the centre itself, containing many pretty clapper-board houses painted in many differing colours but all contributing to a lovely scene. Obviously the local area hasn't escaped the general economic situation and there were a number of houses that could do with a bit of tlc, which is a bit sad. After an unlikely approach, we came upon a former railway station that had been moved to a position by the harbour and spruced up a bit.
The Clamdiggers, Georgetown
With a deck set out with tables by the harbour edge it was a fabulous position to site a restaurant called the Clam Diggers. We couldn't resist and went in and chose a table on the outside deck – nearly choked when we saw the price list but ordered the pasta of the day; linguini with mussels, haddock, lobster, and clams in a tomato and cream sauce. It was absolutely superb and in a lovely setting.
Back Garden, Country Charm
By this time we were due at our B&B so we made for Murray River. A lovely evening was spent chatting with Glenn & Joan at the Country Charm Inn.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 8, 2012 from Murray Harbour, Canada

On a clear day you can see for miles and miles............
Jasper, Canada
Summer Solstice B&B
A lovely day again with the sun shining and temperatures rising rapidly after a cool start. Giriish had prepared us a full cooked breakfast and we sat down with our co-residents, a young couple from Barcelona who were having their honeymoon before the wedding! They had been to Jasper the previous day and seen elk, wolf and bear in the morning! The thing they said to us that they had had difficulty in getting their heads around was the scale of everything here – from mountains and rivers to roads, vehicles and trains. Something we echoed.
Mount Robson & Visitor Centre
Well set up for the rigours ahead, we made for Mount Robson info centre. A few kilometres before we got there, we pulled into a rest area because we had just had our first, unmistakeable view of the white-tipped giant. The rest area was not too busy and we were able to enjoy the views without disruption. On to the official information centre; it was predictably commercialised and packed with coaches, Rvs, cars and people. Despite this we managed to get some magical views of Mount Robson itself and some of the less lofty, craggy peaks around it. We also got instructions as to how to get to Overlander Falls, on the Frazer River, a few kilometres further on.
Overlander Falls
This involved a 10 minute walk to the falls from the car park and what seemed like a vertical ascent back up the path. The falls were another spectacular sight; the energy being generated by the force of the water is quite thrilling. It was mesmerising to see the thundering waters pouring over the rocks and ledges to emerge downstream apparently tamed, betrayed only by vicious eddies and swirls.
Squirrel
We found a place to have our picnic lunch and the rustle of the crisp bag was enough to allow us our wildlife encounter of the day as an inquisitive squirrel came down to peer at us and check out if we had anything that might be of interest. After finding we were miserable Britons who wouldn't share anything he disappeared back up a tree.
We hit Alberta and were immediately faced with a toll booth; we hadn't appreciated that travelling through the National Park on a highway was sufficient to generate a need for a permit to be issued for each day of our stay. Five days cost us just under $100; when you think that it is used to maintain the park itself, it is not too bad but it was a surprise. Imagine a toll booth at Tebay on the M6 for travelling through the Lake District! Now being in the Mountains officially, we are on Mountain time and have had to put our watches forward an hour.
Another thing that happened as we reached Alberta was that we received a signal for the 'phone again and it immediately started to receive the messages people had sent yesterday – well better late than never!
Trolley from the top
We made for Whistler Mountain; so named, apparently for the Hoary Marmot whose claim to fame is sleeping for 8 months of the year and spending the remaining 4 feeding, resting, sunbathing and whistling!
We caught one of the trolleys up to the top station, noticing a 10°C drop in temperature with the height being almost 1 mile up. We chose not to make the 1.5 kilometre hike to the summit itself but pottered around just above the station. The views here were stupendous and truly mind boggling.
Mount Robson from The Whistlers
Mount Robson, which must be about 50 miles away, could be seen very clearly; we were very lucky, the guide told us that this was the first day in a couple of weeks that the mountain was free of cloud and we overheard one guy say that he has visited many times and this was the first time he has been able to see Mount Robson. It makes up for the poor luck at Grouse Mountain. The vast majority of the lift personnel were Australian – perhaps it is a job requirement. The equipment itself was installed in 1964 by a German firm and the cars being used were the originals. The laconic Aussie guide's assurance that they had an excellent maintenance team left one wondering....
View from The Whistlers
We looked around and under stones, searched out sunbathing stations but couldn't find any of the eponymous marmots, so we had to come back down disappointed.
Once back at the car, we set TomTom for our B&B but once in town, she seemed to get lost, requiring a U-turn, which didn't seem right. As we reached the town limits, we rang the place and found that TomTom had been right and the U-turn was necessary to get across a central divide. We are in the basement self-contained flat for a girl who is an event organiser and her husband who is a photographer – and yes, they do do weddings too. Fronc eat your heart out!
We have internet again, so have booked our trip on Lake Maligne and on the Columbia Iceway tomorrow and the next day. Tomorrow morning we plan to spend some time downloading some photos and inserting some in the text again so we are back up to date.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 14, 2010 from Jasper, Canada

Oh - wow!! Up the Cap Corse.
Erbalunga Harbour
It was a beautifully sunny day although the wind was strong and keeping it cool. We travelled north up the eastern side of the Cap Corse along an exciting roller coaster of a road. Sue warning me whenever she thought I was in danger of misjudging the width of the car. The closeness to the nearside had more to do with the width of the road and the habit of the locals in using more than their half than any desire on my part. We went through many little picturesque hamlets and villages on our way to our first stop in the rather quaintly named Erbalunga, which sounds neither Italian nor French.
Most of the village is pedestrianised and we parked up and walked down to the harbour where there is a Genoese Tower. The wind here was very fierce at times so we didn't linger too long but took some nice photos of the tower and the little harbour.
Genoese Tower, Erbalunga
We could clearly see the Islands of Elba and Monte Cristo some distance out to sea. From here we made our way up to Macinaggio; we had originally thought we might take a walk along a small part of the sentier douanier but the wind was so strong that we thought we could have been blown over at an inconvenient spot; discretion took the better part of valour.
Strong winds at Macinaggio harbour
We had our picnic lunch in a relatively quiet spot near the start point of the sentier. This footpath is the only way to get to the north east coast of the cap and is supposed to be quite spectacular but takes about 4 hours to get to the next village. In summer it is recommended that you take 3 litres of water per person! I guess that at least your pack is getting lighter all the time! From Macinaggio, we carried on the so-called main road across the top of the island. The outside verge was well weathered and unpredictable in places; it certainly bore more of a relation to a small country lane in deepest rural France than a highway. This made driving particularly interesting. On the way up the east coast we had several 'Oh wow' moments most of which were to do with a vista opening up. Going across the top, with amazing views back over to the villages and sea beyond was full of more.
Windmill Mattei
At the western end of the road, there is an old windmill that has been restored by the manufacturers of the local aperitif – Cap Corse (which tastes very like red vermouth). We thought we would leave the car in the park and take a short walk up to the mill but when I stopped, Sue couldn't open her door against the wind. I found a more sheltered corner of the car park where we were able to actually get out but again decided that the strength of the wind made a walk up to the top inadvisable. We contented ourselves by photographing the mill and a flock of goats that had strayed onto the road.
The route down the west coast proved no easier but we were more than compensated by the increase in the number of 'Oh wow' moments, with the sun bouncing off the turquoise blue water and the roofs of the little villages, it was stunning.
At Pino we took a sharp left hand turn off the main road to cross back over the top of the island. This road was in even worse condition for the first few kilometres, then magically it became a real road of good width with an excellent tarmac surface. We stopped at col de Santa Lucia and parked up. The wind here seemed less fierce, so we decided to go for a walk up to the tour de Seneca.
Half way up to the Tour de Seneca
Apparently, the old man was banished here for seducing the Emperor Claudius' niece although this didn't prevent him trying it on with the local women. As it took Sue & me about an hour and a half to complete the round trip and at least today, there are no near neighbours, I can't help feeling he must have been an extremely fit fellow. What's more we didn't venture the last 60 feet or so to the tower itself; there is no path and it is just a scramble. Even without the wind to contend with, we didn't fancy it without ropes and pitons.
However, from the ledge below the tower, we were able to see both sides of the cape with some wonderful views. While we came down we could hear what the local youth were making of this nice quality bit of road; clearly a challenge not to be missed, several cars roared up the road, tyres screeching as they fought for grip against centripetal force around each of the many corners. I have always thought French driving was at the poor end of the spectrum but I found myself wondering what percentage of the Corsican reach their middle ages. Certainly, they make the average French driver look like an angel. In case there should be any debate about this, I have already mentioned that our hire car had a couple of dings; as we walked aound town, I had noted that most cars have a collection of dings – perhaps it is a mark of passage? (Daniele if you are reading this, I realise what you will be thinking but in my defence will point out that I have no dings on my car!!) And so back to the coast road at Santa Severa, heading south back to Bastia with a big decision about what to do about dinner.
View of western Cap Corse

Maligne ('Maleen') Lake & more wildlife but no bears
Jasper, Canada
Maligne Canyon
A more relaxed start to our day from Cedar Gate B&B in Jasper's Connaught Drive, which is a short drive away from Highway 93 and the Junction for the Maligne Lake Road. Rick had booked our tickets for the lake trip on-line on Saturday evening and the only available slot was the 5 pm sailing so we took our time covering the 43 kms. As we joined the highway leading out of town Rick spotted a lone Coyote or possibly a wolf trotting along just below the tree line bordering the road and he was the one driving! I was busy getting my camera out of my backpack so was a bit miffed to have missed it.
Our first stop was at Maligne Canyon. The Maligne river has carved its way tortuously through the layers of rock here. The river is fast and very narrow only a few feet across and has sculpted strange and beautiful curves in the rock walls. At its deepest the canyon walls are 30 metres to the river bed with several spectacular waterfalls tumbling down. The footpath winds its way down the gorge. Great going down but harder work going back up!
Bighorn Sheep by Medicine Lake
Back in the car and past Medicine Lake, which apparently is peppered with lakebed sink holes. The guide book says that there is no natural outlet to the lake and that it fills and drains through the holes, which form part of a huge underground complex of springs and channels. Sometimes it can be completely empty. Not so today. A few miles from the lake there had been a large flashing sign warning of animals by the roadside and half way along the shore road we spotted cars slowing. A small flock of Big Horn sheep were wandering slowly across the road.
Far end of Lake Maligne
The maximum speed limit on Maligne Road is 60km (because of the animals) so it took a good further half hour to reach the Maligne Lake car park. We made our way to the ticket office to see if we needed to pick up tickets. We were checked in and offered an earlier sailing at 4 pm so we quickly ate our picnic and were joined by a Grey Jay (yes, you've guessed it, we've bought a small laminated pamphlet – 'Rocky Mountain Wildlife') who was flitting about in the pines above us impatient to get down and search for crumbs.
Spirit Island Lake Maligne
As 4 pm approached we assembled on the quayside and off we went for our 1.5 hour trip down the lake to view the box canyon at its other end. Our guide gave us lots of interesting info on the lake and surrounding mountains with the occasional amusing anecdote thrown in. Plenty of opportunity to snap away as the boat slowed and gently turned full circle a couple of times. Just as well as we had three Korean gentleman immediately in front of us armed with cameras who insisted on bobbing up and down and leaning out of the windows every few seconds during the first half hour.
We passed three mountains with glaciers – another breathtaking sight.
Once back on dry land a couple of Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels were waiting under the first set of benches busily nibbling something tasty. Another photo opportunity and one I said to Rick the boys would love (Freddie and Alfie too, of course).
I insisted on driving again in case Rick had the chance of more wildlife photos. Only the sheep though, not far from where we had seen them a couple of hours earlier.
Back to the flat for a cup of tea before buying our evening meal at the supermarket – very conveniently five minutes walk away and quite large. It certainly has been a very convenient place to stay and it is beautifully kitted out.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 15, 2010 from Jasper, Canada

Lighthouses and a Lobster Supper
Charlottetown, Canada
Cape Bear Lighthouse
From Murray Harbour we took the coast road to Cape Bear to see the lighthouse and take in the view towards Cape Breton Island. Apparently this lighthouse was the first to pick up the distress signal from Titanic. A little further south on the coast road which meanders along the shore with pretty views of harbours and inlets to the Wood Island Ferry Terminal.
Wood Island Ferry
A service operates between here and Pictou on the Northumberland shore of Nova Scotia and we arrived just as a ferry was loading. We parked at the bottom of the lighthouse and watched her sail before heading for Point Prim and PEI's oldest lighthouse. A stroll along the beach with its brick red sand before a short 20 minute drive along another section of Trans Canada H/W 1 to Charlottetown. We parked at the Confederation Landing Park by the harbour ($1.75 per hour – up to $9) on the waterfront and looked for somewhere to have a drink and a bite to eat.
Where to start??
We settled on the Gahan House, the only micro brewery in PEI, and shared a plate of Nachos with pulled pork and dips washed down with a sample tasting of their range of beers. These were served in cute little tankards – a great idea and more than welcome in the searing heat of the afternoon.
Province House
Next stop Province House where, to quote the guide, 'in September 1864, 23 leaders from the British Colonies of Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Canada (now Ontario and Quebec) began the discussions that led in 1867 to the creation of the Dominion of Canada'. We were shown a short film about this in relation to the characters and the progress of the discussions before wandering through the rooms on the first floor, including the Legislative Chamber.
Peakes Quay Restaurant, Delivery
A quick look at the shops on our way to the Aloha Tourist Home just a stone throws away from historic Great George Street. The houses on Sydney Street are all older properties too with plenty of on street parking. After a short rest and change we walked back to the harbour and ended our day with a wonderful lobster supper on a deck overlooking the water.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 9, 2012 from Charlottetown, Canada

Canadian Tyre at last
Wallace, Canada
Victoria Street
Last few hours on PEI. Specifically Charlottetown with a compact, historic centre that has been largely well cared for and unspoiled with modern shopping centres in the suburbs. Strangely, there appeared to be no conflict unlike Summerside. A small city currently of about 60,000 – similar to Shrewsbury. I have no idea what the population was in 1864 but my favourite story about the Charlottetown Conference is that the circus was in town that week and as the Canadian delegates had invited themselves, there was insufficient lodging in town because the Maritime delegates and the circus had already booked it all so they had to stay each night on the ship that brought them. It seems that play was just as important as work because after each days hot air, there was a banquet & dancing to the small hours! Politicians seem to have changed little.
One of the major concerns I had for the wellbeing of the Maritimes community was the absence of a Canadian Tyre – how can any society flourish without one in reasonable proximity? I had not seen one on arrival in Halifax or since. I am delighted to report that there is one in Charlottetown, at least.
Lt Gov House
We paid a visit to the Lieutenant Governor's residence, a pleasant house in a nice spot overlooking the bay. It is still lived in but free guided tours were available by waiting outside for the next tour on the hour and half hour and the young lass who showed us around spent rather more than the allocated 30 minutes so had a large group waiting after us. Apparently Prince William & Catherine stayed there last year; a slight difference to our B&B and I expect a slightly different price.
In the grand Hall, Lt Gov House
Speaking of which, we met our fellow guests for breakfast, a girl from Quebec Province who had cycled from there and was planning to cross on the ferry from Wood Island before cycling round the Cabot trail in Nova Scotia. I asked what colour her helmet was so we could look out for it (it's white & purple); we'll hoot as we pass her. There was a lovely family from Toronto with a 14 year old son with his arm in plaster following a soccer accident – it is a vicious game. Apparently they love the BBC output and are particularly fond of Top Gear.
With Charlottetown having about half the island's population, it is perhaps not surprising that the main attractions of PEI can be summed up as Historic Charlottetown, fictional Anne of Green Gables, wonderful scenery and spectacular and apparently very warm beaches. If you are not into beach holidays and there is probably a limit to how much lovely scenery you may want to take in; it is not an island in which to spend a lot of time. Although outdoorsy types looking for a new place to play will undoubtedly enjoy spending time here.
Landmark Cafe
Before leaving the island we went into Victoria and had lunch at the Landmark Café; apparently it is famous according to our guidebook and difficult to get in. This is understandable, an unassuming place serving wonderful food; we had a most excellent tuna salad washed down with pink lemonade. And it was not too pricey!
Back to the Confederation Bridge and the rather hefty $44.25 toll, albeit for both trips; I suppose an 8 mile bridge costs a lot to build & maintain.
And so to our overnight stay in Wallace at the Jubilee Inn. A large house overlooking Wallace Bay conveniently close to Jost vineyard that we hope to visit tomorrow. Our room is quite a pleasant one with an en-suite, rather quirkily having a spa bath in the bedroom itself. Let's just say that the décor suggests that there have been no recent trips to Canadian Tyre!
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 10, 2012 from Wallace, Canada

Mountains high, falls, frozen rivers and the gene pool
Lake Louise, Canada
Athabasca Falls
An early rise to get ourselves showered breakfasted and packed prior to a quick call to Tom to wish him a happy birthday, then a call to Zoe to complete our brief chat on Friday. After saying goodbye to our hostess, Debbie, we were on the road again, this time to our first port of call at Athabasca Falls. We chose not to use the new Icefields Parkway but the old one which is a bit more windy and more picturesque as well as more switchback, speed limited and more peaceful. We stopped at Lake Leach, beautifully clear and still and very peaceful. Small fry were swimming in huge numbers in the shallows. The last 8 km were on a quite poor surface but took us directly to Athabasca Falls. (Engage superlative vocabulary mode – will not engage, already exhausted).
Sunwapta Falls
Once again the huge power of the water as it tumbled over ledges and rocks, carving a channel through rock that doesn't want to give way, allowing only the narrowest of passages and pouring foaming into the basin beneath was absolutely breathtaking. Neither words nor photos can do it justice, thank goodness for Sue's movie facility which at least manages to make a credible effort.
Sunwapta falls
Back on the road and off to Sunwapta Falls just off the main Icefields Parkway; I did not find this part of the much trumpeted parkway delivered as much as we had experienced on our alternative route. The falls are again spectacular; we were able to follow the course of the falls for some way down with the inevitable climb back up again! We found a lovely picnic table here at the top of the falls and had our lunch with the falls roaring in the background.
Off again down the Icefields Parkway and the scenery started to become dramatic again, making you realise what an insignificant item you are in the huge landscape. As we neared the Columbia Icefields Centre, it became really spectacular.
On the Athabasca Glacier
Our trip onto the Athabasca glacier was mind numbing – quite literally as there was an icy wind created by the cold air rushing down from the icefields above to the valley below. There is a bus that takes you about a mile to a transfer station where the huge six wheeled icecoaches wait to take you down a steep gradient to the surface of the glacier. They then trundle along the glacier for about a mile before unloading you on to the surface itself.
The tour bus, Athabasca glacier
15 minutes of gingerly walking on the icy surface seeing at first hand just how grubby ice can be when it has picked up bits of rock, tasted the pure water of the melting ice in the little rivulets running off the surface and taking photographs in an attempt to retain the scene left me feeling both elated and exhausted.
The guide gave us a fascinating commentary both on the way up and on the way back, so much so that I can remember very little of the detail.
Ice tour bus, Athabasca Glacier
Apparently, the ice is 300 feet thick at the point at which we stopped and there is something like 30 feet of snow each winter. The ice roadway on which the coaches travel has to be recreated each year by snow blowers, bulldozers and so on and has to be renewed twice a day. At the lower end of the approach to the glacier, there are 2 streams; one clear, the other cloudy but both from the Athabasca. The clear stream is the product of snow melt from the previous winter and the cloudy is ice melt from the glacier carrying 'rock flour' – fine particle rock debris. The glacier is of course retreating like all others where there is less snowfall than snowmelt and there are little markers to show where it was at at particular time. It has retreated 1.5 km in the last 150 years, which means 10 metres a year by my calculations.
Ice road back to the transfer station
After getting back to the car we took a trip to the car park about ½ mile from the foot of the glacier and walked to the foot. It was a steep climb but worth the effort. Apparently every year, there are people killed by walking on the glacier; the foot is a particularly unstable area and people fall through crevasses and ice bridges, either being severely injured or killed, either immediately by the fall or later by hypothermia. At the foot there are rivers of melt water and people trying to get onto to the foot can find the instability will cause then to loose footing and slip into the water. They are unlikely to survive the effect of hypothermia. All this is spelled out in notices at the foot with clearly marked boundaries. This didn't stop a lot of people chancing their luck!
Crevasses being braved by brainless people at the foot of the glacier
If I were the park authorities, I would make it clear that NO rescue attempt would be made if people chose to ignore the warnings; such genes are frankly better out of the pool! The message was rammed home by a note that in the last 3 attempts to rescue people the individual had died. Needless to say, we didn't attempt it!
Back in the car again, we enjoyed the spectacular drive to Saskatchewan River Crossing and our motel room for the night. We had intended to visit another falls on the way but missed the turning – oh well – there's always next time!!!!
Slight frustration at the motel – wifi only available at reception and at $7 for 40 minutes!! We declined the offer.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 17, 2010 from Lake Louise, Canada

A lake with an unfortunate name and two with very good ones
Banff, Canada
Motel Rooms, Saskatchewen River Crossing resort, Mountains behind
After our supper of Buffalo Burger and Salad at 'The Crossing Pub' we popped into the on-site shop to check whether we would be able to buy milk for breakfast. Rick wants me to mention that he cooked the burgers to perfection on an indoor barbecue – a novel way of doing things there, you cook your own food.
Mistaya Canyon
Predictably, as we discovered when doing the research for the night's stopover, this is literally the only place to stay on the Parkway en route between Jasper and Lake Louise so the prices for everything reflect this. The accommodation here was the most expensive for our holiday and the most basic. Nevertheless we both slept like logs.
Up at 7.30 am and whilst Rick was showering I popped down to the shop, bought the milk and got the coolbag from the car ready for our alfresco breakfast. I obviously wasn't as rested as I thought as I sat for 15 minutes outside someone else's cabin thinking I had locked myself out, only to discover my error when Rick poked his head round the door two cabins up to see where I had got to – Better not be the one to drive this morning then!!
Sculpted rock at Mistaya Canyon
Our first stop was a Mistaya Canyon, another place where a river, this time the one fed by Peyto Lake, sculpts its way through the rock. At 9.30 am in the morning there was only one other car parked and the sun was trying to burn its way through a veil of mist draped over the surrounding mountains as we made our way down to the valley floor. Four young people were perched on the edge of the canyon as we approached, despite the numerous warning signs to keep to the paths. As we were about to make our way back, a Park Warden suddenly appeared. He had been surveying trees in the area and commented on the stupidity of the young people. They get 3-4 deaths here every year from people slipping in and he says you can go up and warn them but they just ignore the advice.
Mistaya Canyon - impossibly small gap for river seen between planks
He thinks a time will come when the government close trails like this as, believe it or not, people themselves or their relatives try and sue the Park following an accident, even if it is they who have ignored the warnings! He showed us an example of a tree infected with pine beetle and chatted about the natural cycle of the forest. I asked him if he knew anywhere in the area where we might see Moose. He recommended trying Waterfowl Lakes, where there is a large area of marshland that they graze early in the morning or at sunset. We hoped, it being rather gloomy, that the Moose might be fooled by the actual time of day – no such luck.
Not so peaceful river flowing from Wildfowl lake
The first stop off took us through woodland to a bridge crossing a swift flowing river; the second led to the marshy area – predictably a favourite spot for mossies! Took several photos of wild flowers while we were there.
Glacier toe, Lake Peyto
On to Bow Summit and Peyto Lake. The car park was just under a kilometre to the lake with two access trails – well one was a paved road up to the disabled car park. By accident we took this route. On the way down, via the scenic route, we realised that the paved route up hadn't been a bad option – it was much less steep. The lake was a beautiful blue, fed from the Peyto Glacier.
Lake Moraine
On past Bow Lake to Lake Louise. As we needed to be at Banff between 4.00 pm and 5.00 pm to check in to our B&B, we decided to check out nearby Morraine Lake in the hope that the haze would would clear for a day around Lake Louise itself tomorrow with a ride on the Gondola there. The Morraine Lake road is 14 kms from Lake Louise with a steady climb all the way there. What a beautiful place and once we left the area immediately beside the car park and made our way along the shore line footpath there were very few other people. Yet more glaciers feeding the lake with glacier flour and turning the water a deep blue.
Time being short to make the 5.00 pm deadline to our B&B we took Highway 1 to Banff, checked in and, upon our hostess's recommendation went to Bumpers Grill. It being Banff most of the menu was rather expensive and rather more in quantity than we wanted so we both went for a middle of the road, 'Canadian Stew'. Only our Canadian family will be able to tell us whether or not it was authentic! Beef in a spicy sauce with carrots, peas and potatoes – very tasty.
Bear behind in the bushes
Our hostess had also recommended a drive on the Lake Minnewanka loop for a chance of spotting wildlife at dusk. We set off and not too far down the road two cars were parked up. Could it be something? Well yes it was. Our first and only sighting of a Grizzly Bear on the opposite side of the road in the undergrowth about 50 yards from the road!!! Unfortunately a car arrived on the bear's side of the road. The driver jumped out, swiftly followed by two children and obscured Rick's line for a photo. As the children were excited and making a lot of noise the bear understandably took off. Rick was only able to snap his rear end as he disappeared. As the bear clambered over a fallen tree to escape, you got an idea of this size – far bigger than the Black Bear we had seen a few days previously. We were so lucky to see it.
Lake Johnson
Lake Minnewanka was another impressive sight. We took a quick walk by the shore, motored back to see if Mr Grizzly had returned and then completed the loop, stopping at Two Jacks Lake. As we drove down to park, Rick spotted two Big Horn Sheep and, on the lake a Common Loon dipping for its supper. Last stop Lake Johnson, for obvious reasons and then back to Squirrel's Nest B&B to catch up on blogging.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 17, 2010 from Banff, Canada

Wine and Whisky
Mabou, Canada
Jubilee Inn
Well it's true to say that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. I'd noticed that there was a plaque from the Nova Scotian tourist board in the hall when we arrived for culinary services to the island and when we looked through the room folder we found that they operated a restaurant, though it wasn't clear whether this was just for guests. We were tired and thought we would give it a whirl. Our hostess, who wasn't around when we registered, asked us if we had booked. As we hadn't, she wondered if we would be ok without the four course menu and did we eat pork? She could prepare more vegetables and do us a stir fry in 45 minutes time. This was fine by us as even two courses can be challenging with the generous portions that are offered over here. The dining room was immaculate with white linen table cloths and pretty tea lights flickering on each table. Would we like to pop out to the local off licence or,if we had brought some wine with us we were welcome to use it. Rick hopped upstairs to collect the blackberry wine we had bought in Lunenburg. It was surprisingly a great accompaniment to the amazing food. We were brought a large serving platter with a bowl of rice flanked with tender pork, stir fry vegetables and king prawns in a light but flavoursome sauce. Would we like a dessert. There was Tiramasu or Pavlova – again wonderful.
What would breakfast bring? A huge platter of eggs, bacon, toast, fruit, muffins and fruit bread washed down with as much tea or coffee as we could drink. An interesting chat with our host and hostess a lovely couple. He was Nova Scotian by birth. They had met in Toronto while she was studying and had gone to Australia to join several members of her Chinese family who had already settled there. They were in Brisbane for some time returning eight years ago to be with his side of the family once her mum and dad were no longer alive.
Farmer's Market
On the road to Jost winery a short drive away. Purchase made and another brief drive to Tatamagouche Farmers Market, recommended by our hosts last night. By the time we got back to the car it was beginning to rain. As we drove on the Trans Canada Highway past Pictou along the coast towards Canso Causeway the rain steadily increased. We stopped off at the Tourist Office to pick up a detailed map having crossed to Cape Breton and headed on for another half hour to the Celtic Interpretive Centre at Judique, which we had been told was the first eatery on our route. Well heaven help them if they ever have a full house as they found it difficult to cope with ten of us in there. A half an hour after arrival we were presented with our snack. The first place this holiday where the waitress only got a 10% tip! The rain had stopped and the mists disappeared and we began to fully appreciate the beauty of this place.
Glenora Distillery
We reached the Distillery at Glenora at 3.55pm just in time for the last tour of the day! The 1st single malt distillery in N America and only one in Canada. In operation from 1990 the location was specially chosen, using the sweet, clear and untainted waters of the stream which flows through its heart.
Distillation flasks, Glenora Distillery
A walk through the fermenting and processing rooms ended with 2 samples for Rick (yours truly being the driver). Not much of a hardship as I'm not a whisky fan. If it had been cognac we might have had to toss for it!
A short drive to the Inn at Glendyer. A note pinned on the door – 'come on in. I've gone for supper at the Red Shoe Pub. You're in room 1. Make yourselves at home.
Red Shoe Pub
Well what more of a recommendation could you have. We had passed the pub on our way to the distillery and had, in fact, been recommended it by our host at Murray Harbour on PEI. Great place. Good food and, according to Rick, a good beer too! The music, to be performed by one of the Rankin family (the sisters own the pub), wasn't due to start until 10pm. With a long drive on the Cabot trail in the morning we decided to call it a day and sample the Rankins on Google. The CD might be waiting for us when we get home courtesy of Amazon!
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 11, 2012 from Mabou, Canada

Up Hills and down Dales
Baddeck, Canada
We had three other couples around the table for breakfast this morning. All in 50's or older; a woman from Toronto – a lot have been, so it must be empty – a couple from Saskatoon, a couple from Niagara on the lake (presumably escaping tourists) and a bloke from Denmark who was in some way that we were unable to grasp, attached to the woman from Toronto. A pretty affable lot who came up with the original idea that we were escaping the congestion caused by the olympics. No one has yet worked out that in the 3 weeks we have been here, some one else may have suggested that before but we tried to answer it as though it was the first time!
Igonish to Baddeck
A grey, dank start to the day but still quite warm, we settled up with Gill who had moved here from California with her two donkeys, after falling in love with it while on holiday. On the road back to Mabou and then North towards the start of the Cabot Trail at Chéticamp. It soon started raining, not heavily just a steady drizzle which limited the visibility somewhat. We reached the coast at Inverness and then ran just inland until we reached the coast again at Chimney Corner. There were glimpses of a lovely coastline and a road stretching out ahead largely deserted thankfully, probably due to the weather. The rain had by now largely disappeared and the sun was making a watery appearance but just didn't manage to quite burn off the mist.
Rug Hooking
Just before Chéticamp, we stopped at Flora's gift shop – a real Aladdin's cave of a place where Sue watched someone hooking a mat. She must have enjoyed the work – she said they took her about 4 hours each and we noted that they sold for $10. Chéticamp itself is an interesting mix of new tourism based building and old fishing based building. Apparently, still a bastion of Acadian culture which is not surprising, given that there was no road link until 1949.
Back on the road again we stopped briefly at the information centre waiting interminably behind an indecisive couple booking accommodation with a park ranger before baling out on discovery that we could buy our park permits from a roadside booth just up the road.
From Chéticamp, the road dives inland briefly to cross the river before hugging the coast giving some spectacular sights. We had had some conflicting advice about whether to drive the route clockwise or anti-clockwise. Most of the pull-offs (and they are plentiful) are on the seaward side of the road, so in busy times it could be a problem accessing them but today this was not a problem with our clockwise transit.
Cabot Trail
Much of the route is carved through pine forest, sometimes broken with interesting rock formations. On the higher parts you can see over an unbroken wilderness of trees and on the parts running along the coast itself, you get to see bays and inlets, coves and beaches hills and cliffs in an undulating and continuous procession of pristine wilderness. The road misses out the apex of the island and runs pretty well straight across to the opposite coast.
Here we met a low cloud base at times on the undulating route through the forests, limiting visibility at to 10's of yards. From this point on we had drizzle for the rest of the route. On hitting the east side of the island, we turned north and drove up a gravel track to a fishing village neatly tucked away in a natural harbour with a tiny entrance from the sea. I would not like to try taking a boat through that when there is a heavy swell!
About
Cabot Memorial
half-way back down the track, we stopped off at a place where Cabot is purported to have made his first landfall and established Britain's claim to the Americas. There is a monument to him and his son Sebastian, apparently born in Bristol.
The weather didn't allow much viewing of the scenery on the eastern coast, although we did get some marvellous sights. At one of these a young ranger was braving the elements in her weatherproofs and explaining to passers by about the creatures to be seen near there. Couldn't help but think that Parks Canada might have come up with a gazebo or something as a little shelter for her. We had a nice chat with her about natural history as well as discovering that she would like to visit UK to see lots of castles.
Finally in to Baddeck at around 5 feeling ravenous not having stopped for lunch. We found a nice looking restaurant by the waterfront. The table we were first directed to had an air conditioning fan blasting away at foot level, so we moved further away from the window. For the first time since leaving the UK we felt cold so put on our fleeces and I tucked in to a nice French onion soup, followed by chicken in cajun sauce; Sue had garlic bread followed by chicken in a mango sauce. They were nice meals and just what the doctor ordered. I washed mine down with a nice Rickards Red while Sue thanked Dave for introducing her to Corona.
Our stop for the night was at the Auld Farm Inn, run by a Scottish husband and wife team who bought it in 2009. A lovely place but our room a bit on the small side.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 13, 2012 from Baddeck, Canada

Adventures with wildlife and a steep climb
Banff, Canada
Going Up
So here's the deal..............we pop over to Lake Louise to go up in the gondola for some marvellous views, go back to Lake Louise and have a picnic en-route then have a nice walk along the lake. We should be coming back late afternoon, so we'll take the old parkway road which is apparently more scenic and we may see some moose or elk in the meadows there. OK – but of course it didn't quite pan out like that Wild animals have the irritating habit, I have discovered, of hiding until they are sure that you are totally unprepared then popping out, winking at you and then disappearing, leaving you with a shot of their rear end – if you're lucky. Except, that is the little charmers that are ground squirrels and chipmunks, who pose with style to shame Kate Moss but with less attitude.
Mummy Grizzly, cub nearby
Our day was bright and sunny and relatively clear. So off we went. Our gondola was not so much a traditional cabin, more of a bench attached to some poles hanging off a bit of wire. (All run by Aussies it seemed – perhaps it is a job requirement?) This of course was much better for photo opportunities should they occur down below – and occur they did. A grizzly bear mum and her cub were enjoying the late morning sunshine snacking on some buffalo berry bushes about ¼ of the way up the run almost immediately underneath the chair. Fortunately someone going the other way told us and this time we were prepared! We got some good shots between us.
Eagle (?) over mountain
At the top we wandered down to the wildlife initiation centre where there was a very good exhibition about Canadian wildlife; it was shocking to discover that most bear deaths are not natural in Banff NP; most are caused by the rail as bears discover that scavenging along the railway line is quite lucrative and either ignore or try to argue with the train. A few are killed by cars, though these are likely to be smaller, younger bears. The message was a simple one – if you want to be able to continue to see bears or any other wildlife, they must retain a fear of contact with man. So don't try to feed them or get close to them.
Hoary Marmot at top
On the way back to the gondola we took some shots of a lovely pair of yellow bellied marmots doing their thing while we stood unobtrusively watching them. By the time we got down, Mrs Grizzly and cub had gone, but we got some more good shots of the same marmots prancing around the lawns in front of the main buildings. From the bottom, it was obvious where all the ski runs are in the winter, but as they run through grizzly territory, it is probably as well that the bears sleep during the winter.
Lake Louise
On the way to Lake Louise itself, we stopped for a picnic lunch to fortify ourselves for the afternoon excursion. I knew Sue really fell for the guide book talk of Lake Agnes being beautiful, unspoiled and less visited than Lake Louise (this would not be difficult as I am sure that I read 10,000 visitors a day is not unheard of), but I thought that a 3½ km hike with a 400m elevation gain sounded rather heavy going, so rather hoped she would cool on the idea. I pointed out that 3.5Km was about 2 miles; a fast walk on level ground would take 1hr; climbing would probably take twice as long. Not a bit of it and off we went, there were several times on the climb when we both felt like calling it a day but plodded on, taking rests to get our puff back before plodding on again.
Lake Agnes
Some parts were particularly demanding but OK taken sensibly. I don't think 10,000 people were going up the trail but there were quite a number. At last after 1¾ hours we got to the top. The lake was indeed lovely, the view spectacular, the drink of pink lemonade at the teashop tasted of (slightly warm) nectar (it is remote and only solar powered). The sense of achievement, priceless. After a recovery period, we started our treck down, stopping at mirror lake which frankly looked more like a muddy puddle to me. We finally got down quite exhausted in about an hour. After a warming down walk back to the car, we returned to Banff along the old parkway in the hope of seeing some wildlife. No chance!! We passed 'Moose Meadows' with no sign of the eponymous animal and while the road was certainly more interesting than the highway, we didn't spot any spectacular viewpoints.
Back in Banff, we decided to walk(!!) the couple of blocks to the high street and find a restaurant for dinner. While we were waiting for our first course to arrive, there was a lot of commotion in the street outside. Looking to see what it was, with crazy tourists running toward some attraction with camera shutters blazing, there was a young elk looking thoroughly startled by the attention.
Elk in the high street (to left of centre just above man with blue top
We didn't have any cameras other than my phone and I took a quick snap from my table heeding the advice that morning but was astounded to see people running towards the poor beast who very wisely hightailed it out of the vicinity. According to the guidebook seeing elk in the high street is not that uncommon and people are killed each year by getting so close the animal feels cornered and threatened, dealing with it in the only way it knows how.
I was prepared by the guidebooks to hate Banff as a tourist trap, but rather like Queenstown in New Zealand, I think it has more to it than meets the tourist eye. True most of the activity is centred on an extremely commercial high street but it does its job with a modicum of charm and manages not to look seedy; despite the activity it is clean and tidy. Our B&B was only 2 blocks from the high street but in a quiet residential neighbourhood; that's clever.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 18, 2010 from Banff, Canada

Journey's end
Calgary, Canada
Smelly Banff Springs
We left our B&B and parked up in town to do our final bits and pieces there before heading off to see the cave where the hot sulphur springs emerge from the rocks into a bubbling pool . The complex there is being renovated so we couldn't actually see the baths that triggered tourism for the CPR railway and were the start of the National Parks at the turn of the last century.
Banff Falls
There are board walk paths for you to view the Bow River and a marshland area but we decided to give them a miss and go straight to Bow Falls, which are just below the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel. The area was quite busy so we only stopped for a short while before heading up Mount Norquay, a short 10 minute drive to view the town from above.
Changing terrain in the smoke from BC
Off on Highway 1 again towards Calgary. From the map there didn't appear to be any service or picnic areas so I suggested we turn off the motorway for a short while to a lake area just south of Cranmore, Lac des Arcs. Cranmore looked a lovely place with large Chalet type Condos at the base of the mountain. We guessed it wouldn't be as pricey as Banff but wouldn't be far, about 20 minutes drive, as a base to visit the town and the ski areas there.
Unfortunately Tom Tom (GPS) hadn't taken on board instructions to go via the Lakes and we found ourselves heading nearer to Calgary. We tried a couple of turn offs, which according to signs on the motorway, should have led us to a picnic area but either we misinterpreted the sign or the areas were some distance away as we couldn't find them. We eventually found a lay-by very near to the city and cobbled together a picnic from the boot. There was an interpretive sign telling about the birth of the cheese industry in the area. It was founded by an immigrant who had moved twice from one part of Canada further west to another. He had tried his hand at arable farming but, due to crop failure, had then decided on livestock. Calgary was already established in milk production, so he approached neighbours to form a co-operative for cheese production and his operation then grew from strength to strength.
Only a further 15 minutes and we were at Cozy Nest B&B. It was only 2 pm but we were lucky and Verna was at home and welcomed us in with a cup of tea. It was very hazy out and Verna confirmed that it was due to the smoke from the forest fires, so we decided not to go into Calgary for a view from the tower there. Instead we drove to a nearby shopping Mall to post a parcel, find a cash dispenser and locate a garage for refuelling and washing the car before returning it to Hertz before our flight tomorrow.
In the evening, on Verna's recommendation we headed for Mitillin's, run by a Lebanese, serving mainly Italian with middle eastern flavours. We reckon it was our best meal yet. Back at Verna's we invited her to join us in polishing off a bottle of red wine, which we had bought in Victoria and hadn't had a chance to drink. Just as we were sitting down, her other regular guest, Andrew from Quebec, arrived and the four of us spent a pleasant hour chatting about everything and anything – a lovely conclusion to our holiday.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 20, 2010 from Calgary, Canada

Happy Birthday
Louisbourg, Canada
Blue jays
Rick has a cunning plan. We go to bed at 10pm and make sure we are awake at 6am for the next few days. This way he is wondering if we will feel less jet lagged when we get home on Friday.
I eventually staggered into consciousness about 6.15 am. Rick started writing the blog and I studied the map- so many different ways to go round the Bras D'Or Lakes to get to Louisbourg on the North East coast just south of Sydney.
We heard quite a racket on the deck just below our room and Rick reported several Blue Jays in dispute. It was impossible to move around the room without all the floor boards creaking (yes, they were ten times worse than at home) so I took his word for it.
Hummingbirds
As we prepared to leave 'The Auld Farm' a large number of hummingbirds swooped down to the nectar feeders just outside the lounge windows. It was fascinating to watch them. We were so close we could even see their tongues lapping up the syrup as they hovered, their little wings beating so fast and their tail feathers pulled in acting as brakes. They weren't as colourful as the ones we had seen at Kris and Dave's in Ontario but amazing to see.
More rain this morning and forecast to be on and off all day, so we decided to spend some time at the Alexander Graham Bell Museum run by Parks Canada before taking the most direct route to Louisbourg.. We could have spent more than two hours here. What an amazing man. So much more achieved than the invention of the telephone. Many of the theories of his inventions were tried, tested and developed at Baddeck, where he and his family had a summer home near the lake's edge. Quite where the house is we couldn't work out for the centre and grounds are modern.
Entry to Louisbourg
An hour and a half on the road brought us to Louisbourg and the entrance to the reconstructed fortress which is about two miles from the town. You are transported from the entrance with its small museum by bus. They run every fifteen minutes (you're not permitted to walk the mile long road to the fortress).
A prosperous fisherman & his wife
We had three hours to explore this amazing reconstruction of this former stronghold before closing time but could have spent more. The whole area has been rebuilt as it would have been in 1744 before we dastardly Brits got fed up with repeatedly deporting the inhabitants who kept insisting on coming back and razed it to the ground in 1768! The rooms in the houses that are completely finished are furnished and arranged as they would have been at that time and there are costumed actors to tell you about their life there. At 5pm, having watched the ceremonial firing of the cannon from the ramparts out to sea, we were bussed back to the park entrance.
A short drive back to the town and we checked in to the Stacey House B&B before heading for the nearby 'Grubstake' restaurant. Unfortunately we arrived just after the world and his wife so it was a long wait for service, much apologised for by our waitress. It was well worth it though.
Birthday meal
I raised my glass to the birthday boy who was tucking in to crab cakes with cajun mayonnaise, followed by sirloin steak. I had smoked salmon on brochetta with cream cheese and fillet steak. Replete and tired we headed back to our lovely B&B for day two of the experiment to counter jet lag.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 13, 2012 from Louisbourg, Canada

Bouncing along the east coast
Sherbrooke, Canada
Up at 6 and quietly finished the blog and read until 7. Down to breakfast at 8 with a lovely couple who emigrated from Germany 6 years ago to get a better quality of life. They are thoroughly settled and enjoying the move; Martine spoke some English before they left with a sister and cousin settled in England but Carl has had to learn from scratch. It seemed he had done a pretty good job; I'm not sure that I could have done that. Also at the table were a mother from Seattle and daughter from LA.
Fortress Louisbourg from other shore
We first drove down to the quay to see the harbour and fortress in the distance across the harbour, then down to the site of the oldest lighthouse in N America, now replaced with a modern beast. It gives an idea of how difficult it is to approach from the sea. The other side of that is it was easy to blockade by the British Navy with control of the seas. Wolfe landed further down the coast and cut off the garrison so they surrendered after 7 weeks.
After some debate as to the best route to take to Sherbrooke, we decided to go up to Sydney then along the Bras d'Or lakes to St Peter's canal then cross over the Canso causeway back into NS proper before heading south to Guysborough and along the South Coast itself.
Bras d'or lake
The trip along the huge expanse of the Bras d'Or lakes gave us many photo opportunities with some lovely lakeside communities and properties with stunning views. There were a number of stop offs from which to get a good perspective of the scene but no camera can capture adequately the majesty of the outlook.
Fishing boat off to work
Our first stop at St Peter's canal was very rewarding. The 800 metre long canal was dug to provide a sea access at both ends of the Bras d'Or lakes. There is a swing bridge at the northern end and a lock at the Southern end. The lock is unusual in that it has double facing lock gates so that it can cope with operating in 2 directions, whichever direction has the higher water level.
Apparently, the tidal range here is not too high at around a few feet. We saw a few boats go through and a yacht which meant the swing bridge had to be operated. There is no charge for the boats during normal operating hours so Parks Canada obviously picks up the bill for operation and maintenance. One of the boats was a fishing boat with long booms for his nets, presumably off for the cod and haddock.
Poor road on east coastal drive
After a quick lunch in St Peter's we were off and across the causeway to mainland NS. The trip along the south coast here was not only scenic but it is relatively untravelled and the roads are not as well maintained as others. Just after Guysborough, TomTom suggested we take a right turn down a gravel track but having fallen for that before we drove on – somewhat uncertainly – in the hope that the relatively poor map we had would take us in the direction we wanted. We were right and ultimately TomTom relented and gave us the route we wanted but not before an extended period of self-doubt. It was worth the effort; the views of the area uncluttered by the paraphernalia of tourism were wonderful.
Memorial to original discoverer of N America
At one pull off, we discovered a monument to Prince Henry of Orkney who may have discovered America at this point in Chedabucto Bay in 1398, some 100 years before Cabot. As we went past the driveway of a house, I had to do a double take – it couldn't be – but it was – a bald eagle getting stuck in to a meal.
Bald eagle at lunch
An about turn and some minutes later we were sitting in the car not 15 feet from this huge bird who was totally unconcerned as long as we left him alone with his meal. We watched for a few minutes and videoed him/her I wouldn't know how to start sexing a bald eagle, even if it would be a good idea to try.
Canadians learn roadworks from UK team
After about an hour and a half or so of being tossed about on the road in a manner worthy of a rodeo rider on a bronco, we got to calmer surfaces on our approach to Sherbrooke. On arrival, a rather stern matron enquired – 'Name?'. As this was about 6 and we must have been the last of the guests she was expecting tonight this seemed a bit odd but she seemed satisfied with my answer. 'Fill in this card with your name and address' – well she had those details when we booked but I didn't think she would appreciate me mentioning that. 'I think you have booked the chalet' – well I thought so too, so we were on a roll now.
Chalet
'The chalet is over there, you can park by it' pointing to a small house about 50 metres back down the road. We were dismissed – Sue asked about breakfast; 'Oh, the chalet is self-catering – if you want breakfast, you can get it in the cafe in town, over the bridge.' All the charisma of a porcupine on steroids; thank goodness we weren't staying in the house on a B&B basis. We got directions to a local inn for an evening meal only 5 minutes walk away and it was very pleasant and unpretentious with good service from a friendly waitress.
When we got back, the porcupine was mowing her lawn with her tractor. I switched on the laptop and tried to connect to the internet – only 2 in range and neither of them worked with the code that had been given on a card by the TV. I noticed she was emptying her grassbox near the chalet so tentatively went over and said 'excuse me' no response – again, louder. She looked up and removed an earplug, though it may have just been earwax. 'Which of Mabel or Sherbrooke 2 is the wifi to connect to?' I asked. Puzzled or slightly irritated or possibly both, she said 'neither – it is 'days ago'' – then helpfully offered 'the signal may be a bit weak in the chalet – by all means use the sun porch in the house.' Weak, WEAK it was non-existent and never would be anything else if it is based on a house 50 metres away; I don't think anyone should be allowed to advertise wifi unless there is 60% signal strength at the location stated!
The chalet itself is very nicely finished with the bedroom upstairs on a gallery. I don't think we shall have much problem waking early tomorrow as the window in the upper wall opposite the gallery looking towards the river has no curtain.
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 14, 2012 from Sherbrooke, Canada

Stepping Back in Time
Musquodoboit Harbour, Canada
Sherbrook heritage village
Up and off for a great breakfast of French Toast and Sausages with Maple Syrup and coffee in the café on the opposite side of the river bank from the B&B, a stones throw away from Sherbrooke Village Museum. Yes, part of the village is now a museum. For those who know Shropshire, think Blists Hill Museum only several of the houses here are still privately owned and two still permanently occupied! Apparently when it was decided to preserve all these old buildings the government decided to turn it into a living museum and employ people to carry on ancient crafts such as smithing, printing and wood turning. Villagers in this part of town were permitted to remain in their houses, which would be maintained by the government until they either died or moved away. At this point the building and the land would no longer belong to them or their heirs. There are twenty five houses and shops which are furnished as they would have been around the 1860s.
Blacksmith
We spent a good chunk of time from our three hours on the site in the Blacksmiths watching him make intricate hooks. He makes and repairs all the metal fixtures and fittings within the village, supplies items to sell in the gift shop and runs workshops for school children to get 'hands on' experience of this craft.
Village street prior to tarmac
We worked our way around the Post Office, Print Shop, General Store, Wood Turners, Telephone Exchange and School Room. As we knew we needed to leave around lunch time and that the villages en route were few and far between, we headed for the Tea Rooms. Oops – big sign outside saying 'Sorry Folks, we're full. A large pre-booked coach party has booked from noon. Please come back at 1.00pm.' Oh well, there's bound to be something on our way to Jeddore Oyster Pound. An hour and a half later we arrived at Sheet Harbour. Hurray, a Pub/Restaurant!!!
So lunch was late. Not too far from Jeddore now. We pulled in to the Fisherman's Museum – sign said 'closed'. Not according to the advert in the 2012 tourist guide. Well at least it was on our route and we hadn't driven for miles to get there! Closed seemed a bit of a pattern on the East shore from Guysborough. We had passed several restaurants/cafés which were no longer open and becoming derelict. Houses too with many up for sale. About 40kms from Halifax there were suddenly other cars on the roads and shops and filling stations.
Bottom of the garden, Elephant's nest
Our B&B is lovely, right on the waterfront with its own little beach and deck jutting into the harbour. However, rearranging our luggage to meet weight restrictions for our flight was top on the agenda.
According to our hosts at 'The Elephant's Nest' in Musquodobit Harbour, the pub/restaurant where we stopped is the nearest east of here. There are a few local eateries not more than a few kilometres west, or the next best place would be in Dartmouth. As we plan to go there tomorrow we went to a nice little 'pub' a few kms west.
What can I say?
Rick had scallops and chip and I had clams and chips. I thought I should give them a try. They reminded me of experiences eating snails- rubbery texture just salty! We had tasted them in our Chowder at Halifax obviously the other fish ingredients pepped the clams up..
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 15, 2012 from Musquodoboit Harbour, Canada

The End
Dartmouth, Canada
Long beach near Dartmouth
Well all good things come to an end and we were coming to the end of our sojourn. Our last day started early again at 6am before a lovely breakfast to set us up for the day. We were joined at the table by a pleasant couple (and ultimately their 14 year old son); wife born locally, husband originally British they were currently living in Toronto and on a househunting trip looking to live in NS. They may have some problems as their son didn't share their dream of a less cosmopolitan lifestyle.
the Quaker House
We had some time before our flight so took a leisurely drive along the coast to Dartmouth. We wanted to visit the Quaker house - a fine example of how people lived in early Dartmouth. And we thought we may be able to pick up some last minute souvenirs. The Quaker house was staffed by 'interpreters' in period dress and a tour of the house was given by an interpreter who explained the history of the place as we travelled through its rooms. Once again, you couldn't help but admire the stoicism of those early folk though it struck me again that we look at their conditions through modern eyes and we are generally much more pampered and less tough than they were, so trying to understand and look at their world is rather like looking through the wrong end of a telescope. The whaler's wives would frequently wave goodbye to their husband and if they came back it would not be less than 3 month's later and was often 3 years. Whale oil was the wonder fuel of the age, very valuable but dangerous to harvest, as any reader of Moby Dick will understand.
The ferry
Leaving the Quaker House, we trawled a few streets to see if we could find where the shops were. There didn't appear to be much at all in the way of a commercial centre such as we know it and we came to the conclusion that anyone who wanted to shop took the ferry to Halifax.
We discovered Dartmouth's secret on the way out - a huge new shopping centre built at Dartmouth crossing. I am sure locals have no problem negotiating the intracacies of the motorways intersecting here but it seemed to me a bit like a Telford town centre constructed between and around Gravelly Hill superimposed on the M5/M6 link at Jn 8. Thank goodness for TomTom. The shopping centre was a disappointment for us, being intended for serious shopping with boutique stores, clothes and shoe shops and all the other appurtenences of a town centre apart from a souvenir shop. But we did find a nice place for lunch so it wasn't a total waste of time.
And so to the airport. Car checked in and accepted, luggage checked in and accepted, then the queue for security clearance. Just for once, I happened to have the passports and boarding passes with Sue immediately in front of me. There was a female guard directing traffic to the desks processing x-ray & metal detectors etc. To say that this creature had had a charisma bypass would be rather like saying that Ghenghis Khan was a bit grumpy. Her communication skills had been honed to a point as sharp as the front of a London Transport double decker. She successfully seperated us by directing Sue to 'step on the mat' in front of her while her highly trained sensors located an appropriate place to send her. She mumbled to Sue 'go down there' and pointed somewhere vauguely in the direction of several desks. Despite not hearing because of her hearing loss, Sue gathered what was required and pointed out that she needed her boarding pass and I had it. The exasperated harridan muttered something that neither of us could catch; I thought she now wanted me to step onto the mat and moved forward to be told - 'NO', so I moved back obediently. (Never tangle with a Border Guard). She had successfully managed to confuse both Sue and me, which may well mark completion of page 5 of the border guards operation manual. 'Both of you go down there' she finally clarified at raised volume and slowed speech so that we imbeciles might finally grasp what was required of us. Still somewhat confused we got to a desk where we were duly welcomed.
The Islands
After a good flight, we approached Toronto over the islands. On landing we collected our bags and started the whole process all over again but compared with Halifax, it was a doddle. We just had time to grab a snack of nachos with beef and jalapenos with a pint before the cafe closed then settled down with our kindles for a couple of hours before our flight to Manchester.
We managed to grab some fitful sleep on the flight then stayed up 'till about 10 before going to bed. Jet lag was quite bearable this time so perhaps the plan worked!
written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 17, 2012 from Dartmouth, Canada

What can I say?

Halifax from Dartmouth

The Islands

The ferry

Long beach near Dartmouth

Bottom of the garden, Elephant's nest

Village street prior to tarmac

Sherbrook heritage village

Chalet

Nice Island, East coast drive

Poor road on east coastal drive

Canadians learn roadworks from UK team

Bald eagle at lunch

Memorial to original discoverer of N America

Canso Causeway, Canal on left

Double lock gates

Fishing boat off to work

St Peter's canal

Drive down Bras d'or lakes

Route along Bras d'or lakes

Bras d'or lake

Fortress Louisbourg from other shore

The Quay

Grubstake

Birthday meal

Hummingbirds

Blue jays

Governor's private bed

Governors Ceremonial bed

Soldiers bed, shared by 3

Louisbourg scene

Map of Louisbourg

Governor's quarters

Officer's room

Entry to Louisbourg

A prosperous fisherman & his wife

Bridge over the Bras d'or lakes

Along the Bras d'or lakes

The harbour

Igonish to Baddeck

Cabot Memorial

Cabot Memorial site

Harbour at Bay St Lawrence

Meal at Red Shoe Pub

Red Shoe Pub

Distillation flasks, Glenora Distillery

Stream at Glenora

Glenora Distillery

Farmer's Market

Jubilee Inn

Landmark Cafe

Lt Gov House

Peakes Quay Restaurant, Delivery

Peakes Quay

Leyland Bus

Province House

Where to start??

Victoria Street

St Dunstan's Basilica

Can't remember!

On the beach, Point Prim

Play Village, Wood Island Ferry

Wood Island Ferry

Cape Bear Lighthouse notice

Cape Bear Lighthouse

Back Garden, Country Charm

View from the Clamdiggers, Georgetown

The Clamdiggers, Georgetown

Waterfront working properties, Georgetown

LM Montgomery's grave

'Green Gables' reconstruction

LM Montgomery was married in this room

LM Montgomery married in this room

Pretty harbour - North Rustico?

3/4 across Confederation Bridge

In need of tlc

Waterside development

Confederation Bridge from NB

Hopewell rocks Lookout, Low tide

View from Lookout, Hopewell Rocks cf C

Flowerpots, low tide

Hopewell rocks, low tide

Flowerpots, Hopewell, low tide

Flowerpots low tide

Flowerpots at low tide cf A

Flower pot, low tide

Really?

lower beach shoreline , low tide cf B

Shoreline lower beach high tide cf B

Flowerpots at high tide

squirrel

Flowerpots high tide

View from look out high tide

View from Lookout at high tide cf C

Re created trees that became fossils

Fossil on beach

Fossil beach

The beach

Fossil of tree trunk

Tree trunk fossil

low tide

Ottawa House

Glooscap

View over estuary 1 hour later

View over Estuary from restaurant

WW2 Observation Tower

'Evangeline' Longfellows heroine v the dastardly Brits

Mud Creek

The Chimney

Gingerbread man on a key and a board

The Gingerbread Inn

Gingerbread keyring

Behind the dunes, Scotts Bay

Parked up, Scotts Bay

The beach at Scotts Bay

View from the Look Off

Courtyard, The Habitation

Store room, The Habitation

De Champlain's quarters, The Habitation

The sleeping quarters, The Habitation

The Common Roon, The Habitation

Entrance to the Habitation, Port Royal

Encampment, The Fort

Map

Boat repair yard

Market

Ghost tour

The waterfall, Delaps Fall

Delaps Fall

Walk to Delaps Falls

Refreshment

Shoreline walk to Delaps Falls

Houses on stilts

Dawn at Goodwin Hotel

Twilight

The Goodwin Hotel

St Mary's Church

St Mary's Church interior

Acadian Village

'Pumpkin' in the Acadian Village

Dory Maker, Acadian Village

Smith, Acadian Village

Wool mill

Cooper's Inn

Knaut Rhuland House

Lunenberg

Ship on quay at museum

Swissair 111 memorial

Church Peggy's Cove

Lighthouse, Peggy's Cove

Peggy's Cove

FFishermen memorial, Peggy's Cove

Boot of the Dodge - only just room for our bags!

The bright red Dodge

Lower Deck

HMS Sackville

HMS Sackville, depth charges

Abord Silva in Halifax harbour

Alexander Keith's brewery tour

London Routemaster gets everywhere

St Peter's Church

Clocktower

Marker, Hydrostone district

Citadel

Exhibition Arch

Inukshuk

Inukshuk & CN Tower

Marina

Skyscrapers in the evening

Happy diners

3/4 party

Fountain Casa Loma

Turret view

Grand Hall Casa Loma

Casa Loma

I am not a poodle

I am Merlin

Waterfall

Blue Jays on their way to a whitewash

Blue Jays Stadium

Sugar Sands

Waterside

Distillery District

Distillery district

Lunch with Nyhout family Windermere Manor

Ollie & Ang, Distillery district

Wall mural at Steam Whistle

Miniature Railway

CN Tower

Anniversary dinner

Borealis Grill

O guage train

Victoria Park - what else?

Covered Bridge info

John MaCrea Birthplace

City Centre

Bill Tutte grave

Covered bridge

Covered Bridge

Sunset in Waterloo

Victoria Park

Victoria Lake

Craft beer appreciation society

Craft Beer & Ribfest (craft beer section)

Craft Beer & Ribfest (ribfest section)

Downtown approach from the air (CN Tower in background)

Rue du Molinel

English Pub

Monument au fusille, 1915 memorial to executed citizens

Porte de Paris ca 1690

Moules frites

Pasteur

Deegeur

Deegeur encore

Roof Theatre du Nord , Place General de Gaulle

Vieux Murs Peterink

Cathedrale de Notre dame de la Treille

Rue de la Monnaie

Place de Lion d'Or

L'Huitiere, Rue des chats bossus

Place de Theatre

Chamber of Commerce

Place de Theatre entrance to old Bourse

Old Bourse

Place de General de Gaulle

The trains

Buglers, Menin Gate

House in Grotte Markt

Cloth hall without fair

Marker stone with Cemetery in distance to left of the large building

View across the field to Captain Ball's crash site, stone marker

Captain Ball crash site

Captain Ball's grave

German Military Cemetery

tower, French National Memorial

Huge cemetery of the French National Memorial

French National Memorial & Cemetery

Top of columns, Canadian Memorial

Preserved trenches

trenches

German Trench

Canadian memorial

Bronze map of lines

Ossuary of French unknown on Mount Kemmel

View of Lille in the distance from Lone Tree crater

Pool of Peace in Lone Tree crater

View of Messines Church from Lone Tree Crater

French Memorial Mt Kemmel

View from British Cemetery & New Zealand memorial

British Cemetery & New Zealand memorial to the missing at Messines

Memorial to unofficial Xmas truce 1914, Messines church in background

Map of location, drawn by creator of cartoon character 'Old Bill'

British memorial to the missing of Messines ridge

Hyde Park Corner Cemetry

View from Island of Ireland memorial

Island of Ireland Memorial

Draught horse display

Mother & foal

Draught horse at rest

Working horse

Street market

Bar at Hommelpap brauerie

Restaurant at Hommelpap brauerie

Military Cemetery

Moonscape on Hill 60

Pond filling Hooge crater with bunker beyond

Hooge crater museum & cafe

Hooge Crater cemetery

Long rows at Tyne Cot

Aerial view AFTER the battle

Aerial View BEFORE the battle

Vancouver Corner Canadian memorial

St Vast Church

war memorial on ruined church

Marechal Foch & Windmill

Town centre

Roman? ruins

Mill

Windmill

Windmill interior

Memorial to the missing of the Somme

View from the arch, Memorial to the missing of the Somme

Approach to the Memorial to the missing of the Somme

Australian memorial

Lochnagar crater

Site The Red Baron's Crash

Town Hall

Communal Cemetery

Oswald Booth's grave

Cemetery entry

34th Division Memorial, La Boisselle

Caterpiller Valley Cemetery

Map of WW1 Front lines @ Mont Noir Cemetery

Mont Noir Cemetery at the foot of the campsite

Who is Marguerite Yourcenar?

Marguerite's house

34th Div memorial outside the top of the campsite

Ramparts Cemetry

Lille gate

Exquisite model of Menin Gate

Sunlight through a hole in the roof of the Menin Gate

Menin Gate from outside

Rose window in the cathedral

Cathedral front

Restored Cloth Hall, with fairground in front

Car park when we left the car

Canadian Memorial, Vancouver Corner

Langemark Cemetry

Langemark Cemetry entrance

Casualty clearing station, Essex Farm

Down the hill 150m from the campsite, looking back; site at the top just out of sight

Journey's end, back to terra firma

View from the chair, going over the road

Telesiege; note safety straps

La Chocolaterie

Un Estaminet

Church

Bailleul town centre

On site at Camping Du Mont Noir, Domaine des Sabliers

The fossil that's a big clue to a legpull in the Labyrynth

Rustwurm chocolate buiscuit

Waiting outside Rustwurm

Rustwurm

The Hospital In the Rock

Oh Yeah?

Footprint of pre- homo sapiens??

Wine Fountain

Natural water pool

Lascaux copy

The Labyrynth

Boat on the ceiling in the restaurant

Theatre for Folk evening

Statue on citadel

Church in the Rock

Gellert Hotel & Baths

Gellert Hotel

Market Hall

The Market Hall

The lower level, Market Hall, with Ellesmere bag (the cotton one)

The Royal Staircase, Opera House

Nice bit of Oak, Opera House

Ceiling in receprtion room, Opera house

The stage, Opera house

Auditorium Dome, Opera House

The Royal Box, Opera house

Ceiling in Foyer, Opera House

The Grand Staircase, Opera House

Great Synagogue

Arch detail, St Stefan's basilica

Stained glass window, St Stefan's basilica

The dome, St Stefan's basilica

View to the Altar, St Stefan's basilica

St Stefan's basilica

Rick & friend

Interior of Gresham Palace

The Gresham Palace

Buda from Pest

Shoes Memorial

Changing the guard at Parliament

The Eternal flame in memory of those who died in the uprising

Kossuth Memorial, modified by the Russians

The Palace

Magyar Post box

Rick facing the meal for 2

Upland market Town

Western transdanubia house

Western transdanubia interior

Middle room, Upper Tisza house

High Street

Orthodox Church

In business I have always said that some things are one way traffic

Cruise from Budapest; note the well cared for hull!

Danube with flood defences

View over Szentendre

And why did Hungary decide to join Europe? - Call me cynical!

Cattlewagon used by Nazis to transport Jews. Nobody appears to have noticed the irony of its placement.

Top of a bus seen from our window - notice the careworn roof!

Stereotypical 60's grey apartment blocks outskirts of Buda

multicolour accretion

Stalagmites - Snow White & the 7 Dwarfs (Snow white is 5ft 6 in tall)

Crystals

accretions

Disappearing down a crack

It's a long way down

The Organ

Tidy Entrance

Cafe by the cave

Oik on lookout

View from chairlift

Elizbet tower

The train now departing................

the salute

The cogwheel train not going very far today

Rick in front of Parliament

Watch out Canada - huge maples on Margit Island

Sue takes the long path up Margit Island

Millenium fountain, Margit Island

Mummy & Baby turtles, Margit Island

Castle in a city park

A bit more Castle

Palace

3 busy policemen for our grandchildren

A Jedi resident in Pest models the latest miniature lightsabre

Some confusion at the crossroads by the lake

Building in need of tlc

The citadel with the liberation monument

The military museum - in need of some repair to the left end

Vienna Gate

View of the buda hills from the terrace of the military museum

Traditional Hungarian styling

Fisherman's bastion

Apparently a marvellous likeness of Matyas - but who would know?

King Stefan outside Matyas Church with Fishermans bastion beyond

Parliament building in the evening sun

View of Matthias Church from our room

Evening Meal

Matthias Church at night

Evening view from the ramparts over Pest

Overtaken

Almost home - Llandudno & The Great Orme

Interesting clouds

Leaving Banff

Banff from on high

Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel

Banff Falls

Smelly Banff Springs

Elk in the high street (to left of centre just above man with blue top

Mountains outside Banff

Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise

On the way back down

Beehive Mountain

The Tea House, Lake Agnes

The tea house, Lake Agnes

Lake Agnes

Golden Mantled Ground Squirrel

Lake Louise in distance from Lake Agnes

The Tea House from above Mirror Lake

Lake Louise

Lancaster (?) over Lake Louise

Hoary Marmot at the lodge

Going down

Hoary Marmot at top

Hoary Marmot

View of Lake Louise, Chateau & Lake, from Mountain

Eagle (?) over mountain

Mummy Grizzly, cub nearby

Grizzly Mum on Lake Louise mountain

Going Up

Lake Johnson

Lake two Jacks

Oh yes!!

I wonder why this was of interest

Big Horned sheep

Lake Minnewanka

Yes really

Bear behind in the bushes

Take care

Lake Moraine

The 'moraine' - a landslip

Bow Summit

Forecast, Bow Summit

Peyto Lake

Glacier toe, Lake Peyto

Peyto Glacier

Trees in the smoke, Wildfowl Lake

Not so peaceful river flowing from Wildfowl lake

Wildfowl Lake, serene and calm

The sheer majesty - even in smoke

Mistaya Canyon - impossibly small gap for river seen between planks

Bridge at Mistaya Canyon

Sculpted rock at Mistaya Canyon

River Mistaya entering the canyon

Vast expanses

More majesty

Mistaya Canyon

Motel Rooms, Saskatchewen River Crossing resort, Mountains behind

Scratches made by glacier now some 200 metres from its foot

Ice road back to the transfer station

Crevasses being braved by brainless people at the foot of the glacier

Bus going over the top down to the ice road, transfer station

Ice tour bus, Athabasca Glacier

The tour bus, Athabasca glacier

On the Athabasca Glacier

Approaching Athabasca

On the way to Athabasca

Top of Sunwapta Falls

Sunwapta falls

Sunwapta Gorge

This speaks volumes of the landscape through the Rockies

Sunwapta Falls

Athabasca Falls

Lake Maligne - rmind you of anywhere Ollie & Ang?

Far end of Lake Maligne

Medicine Lake

Lake Maligne

Bighorn Sheep by Medicine Lake

Maligne Canyon

View from above the Tram station, The Whistlers

This is a goods train of 165 carriages approaching Jasper

View from The Whistlers

Mount Robson from The Whistlers

Trolley from the top

Trolley from the bottom

Squirrel

That dot on the road is a car - gives an idea of the scale of things

Overlander Falls

Mount Robson

Mount Robson & Visitor Centre

Full tum after birthday meal, Summer Solstice

Caribou Grill

Summer Solstice B&B

Mount Terry Fox

Mountains near Valemount

Rearguard Falls

Whitewater Rafting, Rearguard Falls

Chinook Salmon, Swift Creek

An idea of scale - it's a long way between fuel stops

Evidence of the pine tree beetle causing so much damage

Closing in on the giants

Ants in the massive scale of landscape

Shouldn't I have a glove for this?

Into the Abyss, Wells Gray, Spahats Falls canyon

Spahats Falls, Wells Gray

Dawson Falls, Wells Gray

Rather rickety single carriageway bridge over Clearwater, Wells Gray

Helmcklen Falls, Wells Gray

Tree down, Wells Gray Provincial Park

Nice picnic spot

Muddy North Frazer on the far side, Clearwater nearside

The black dot by the water half way up and about 2/3rds to right is a bear

The lasting, blackened stumps of a wild fire in 2003

Huge rolling hills with exposed flanks outside Kamloops

B&B

Gray Monk Winery

Near Gray Monk

From Mission Hills to Gray Monk

Mission Hills

Mission Hills Winery

West side of Lake Okanagan

Penticton

Red Rooster Winery

View from our picnic spot - wineries opposite

Ducklings - our wildlife shot

Picnic spot

Approaching our target

Over the top - Kamloops to Okanagan

MacQueen Manor

Kamloops Lake

Bear-proof bins, Seton Lake

Seton Lake

River by route 99

Evidence of tree blight amongst the forest

Pemberton - Lilloet

Chipmunk at Joffre Lake

Tame chipmunk, Lake Joffre car park

Glacier feeding Lakes at Joffre

Lower Lake Joffre

Understated horsebox and caravan unit

The view from our Bedroom in the morning

View from our bedroom

The Inn

Useful little understated rental, Whistler

Biking in Whistler

Cafe society, Whistler

Olympic Rings, Whistler

Still dangerous in Whistler

squirrel with bedding

Brandywine Falls

Above Brandywine Falls

Promise of what's to come

Shannon Falls

The coast road

Vancouver in sight

Leaving the Island

Harbour

Dragon boat

Floatplane touchdown

Floatplane coming in

Jumping fish

jumping fish

Boat garages!

Totem poles

Widest girth in the world

I'm watching you!

Village

Cowichan Bay

Merridale

Lake in Beacon Hill Park

World's tallest totem pole

Beautiful peacock & tree

Formal Gardens, Beacon Hill Park

Children's watering can

We saw a lot of these but nowhere to put the post??

Terry Fox memorial

Mile zero marker

Float plane quay

swing bridge

Narrowest street

Chinatown gate

Crystal Garden

Dr Helmcklen's house

Celebrating Elizabeth 50th Jubilee

Celebrating Victoria 75th Jubilee

Main Hall, Provincial Government building

Oriel dome, Provincial government building

Provincial Government building

Bathtub Ferries

The Empress (on the left)

The house at the back of which we had our flat

There's snow on them thar hills

Port Alberni Harbour

Lower English River Falls

Upper English River Falls

View from the Pub

Cathedral Grove

Under the old man

The old man

Bridge damage

The intrepid explorers

You have been warned

Headstand at 60 ft

Ollie, don't do this at home!

Topping out @ 60 ft

Freeclimbing

Log rolling

Chainsaw wood carving

log cutting with two (female) volunteers

Limited view from the top of other peaks (or anything else)

Paraglider over Grouse Mountain Cable station

Grouse mountain cable station approaching the top

You don't often see this at home

Pod under the wind turbine on top of Grouse mountain

Grouse Mountain

Paraglider about to take off from the top of Grouse Mountain

Playtime!

Coola or Grinder

Coola & Grinder

What a big chainsaw he's got

Carvings

Cable car to Grouse Mountain

Mountain B&B

Sue on uspension bridge, Lynn Valley gorge

Terrifying suspension bridge, Lynn Valley gorge

Steps on final descent to the gorge

Lion Gate bridge

Traditional patterns at Hudon's Bay Company

Dr Sun Yat Sen Park

Steam clock sounding off

Fountain in The Lost Lagoon, Stanley Park

Stanley Park

Girl in a wetsuit, Stanley Park

View of Lion Gate Bridge, Stanley Park

Totem poles, Stanley Park

View from Stanley Park

'Bathtub' Ferry

Library

Marine building

Reflection of Marine Building

Lift outside Harbour Tower

Harbour Tower

Floatplane taxiing

Sunset over the Harbour

Canada Place

Fountain near Canada Place

Burrard Inlet

Slumming it

View from our table at Mario's

View from Canada Tower

A V of our hotel next to a small tower block

Canada Line, YVR

Approach to Vancouver

American Falls at Night

Canadian Falls at full steam on the way to dinner

The Keg

Off to dinner, American Falls

Lunch

Caroline Cellars, very happy by now

Lailey Estate

Queen Street

The experience begins

American Falls by Sheraton Hotel

Shakespeare Gardens

Avon by Shakespeare Gardens

Outside Tourist Info Ofice

Gardens

Shall we have one punnet or two?

Museum of Maple Syrup

Some stalls with the covered market in the background

Minnows on Ollie's feet

Cooling our feet

The gorge

Cedar tiled roof

Floral street

The tooth

Sue & Ollie

Inscrutible Iggy

Mooses (Mice?) wearing Toronto's baseball & Footbal kit

Provincial Government Building

ROM

Home of the Blue Jays

Steam loco

Statuary outside the Rogers Centre

View from our room

Strong winds at Macinaggio harbour

Plan of Roman City

Glimpses 0f Col de Bavella

Cascades des Anglais

Thumbs up for Les Cascades

Parked up in Restonica Valley

Roller Coaster in the mountains

St Florent

Spring flowers

A Tale of two Churches; Greek on the left, Roman on the right

Beautifully decorated Greek Orthodox Church

A quiet drink at Les Sanguinaires

A Windy Day, Les Sanguinaires

Sartene

Ajaccio

Bonifacio Harbour

Pied d'Orrezza

Just what the doctor ordered

PM Residence

The Lighthouse

Ron & friend

Huge downpipe

Roofs to deal with snow outside our hotel room

Little bird statue near the Stieglizt

The Grand Hall, Stieglitz

Vase, Stieglitz

Ceiling in need of repair, Stieglitz

Bridge with Stieglitz in the background

Sun on the Hermitage

Main shopping street, Nevski Prospekt

Boozhareen?, restaurant

Arcade

Gostinyy Dvor

Banks Bridge

Rimsky Korsakof

Mariinski Theatre

Mikhail Glinka

St Nicholas

St Isaacs, dome

St Isaacs

View from St Isaacs

St Isaacs Square

Carriage outside Hermitage

Realistic King Arthur. Camelot

View of the stage from our box

Sue in our box, Royal Box in the background

Statue of Pushkin

Grand Staircase, Catherine Palace, Pushkin

Catherine Palace, Pushkin

The Great Hall, Catherine Palace, Pushkin

Church on the way to Pushkin

The memorial to the siege of Leningrad

Sue's pancakes, Camelot

Rick's Dumplings, Camelot

Trinity Bridge

Winter Canal under the Hermitage, Neva beyond

Winter Canal, back to Hermitage

Peterhof Great Cascade going into mothballs for the winter

Hermitage inner courtyard

The gold room, The Hermitage

wine cooler, Hermitage

Hermitage

Raffael Loggias, Hermitage

Peacock clock, Hermitage

Romanoff double headed eagle on ceiling, Hermitage

Hermitage gates

Lion Bridge, Griboedeva Canal

Freed white doves

View of St Isaac's across the neva from Peter & Paul fortress

Releasing the doves

The wedding party, scruffy photographer with regulation black leather jacket

Sts Peter and Paul church, Peter and Paul Fortress

Rostral Columns

Church of Sts Peter & Paul, Peter & Paul Fortress

Chandelier, Church on spilled blood

Tranquil canal returning from Mariinski

Church on spilled blood

Model within and of, Church on spilled blood

Outside the Mariinski

The stage, Mariinski

Final Curtain, Swan Lake

Mariinski Theatre boxes

Our Lady of Kazan

Pretty bridge

Bank's Bridge, Gribodoeva Canal

General Staff Building Arch framing the Hermitage

View from the ferry in Calais Harbour - you can see Dover

View from Cap Gris Nez - Dover in distance

View of Cap blanc Nez from Gris Nez

View from cap Blanc Nez - Dover in the distance

Ideal childrens playground item 100 metres from the ferry!!!!

Fishing

The port from the beach

View of the beach from the car park

Venice - image from the exhibition

Burgers of Calais - offered themselves in sacrifice

Cap Gris Nez in the distance

Boulogne from the autoroute

Peacock roundabout by Town Hall - says a lot about the French

George Sands House

a modest little ice cream

Autoroute near Calais - see it snaking up the other side on the left?

Roger announcing the delivery of another pair of glaces

George Sands house from the garden

Roots awaits the ice

Our favourite, unspoiled and peaceful picnic site

The only wildlife I caught on this occasion

Cascade between Argentat and Beaulieu

The beach, Marcillac La croisille

The town

Motor gabare on the dordogne

a working water mill

Canoe shute

fireworks at the chateau

Beaulieu

Dordogne

Birthday lunch

Sunset on the dordogne, Le Gibanel

Log cabin, St Martin La Meanne

Ice cream at Roger's glacerie

View from Roger's

View across the river at Roger's

Madonna & Child

Chateau Le Gib at night

Chateau le Gib at night

birthday walk

traditional dutch tent

Back street old Argentat

Birthplace of Gen Delmas, old Argentat

Mist at the pass

cafe at the pass almost hidden in mist

the cascades

Mist in the Massif

Cascades

View from the hotel

Mist in the high auvergne

The town on the hill

Winners of the Shrewsbury Cup, Ladies winners

Our 2nd round opponents

location of the final

Our 1st opponents

Our 2nd opponents

our 3rd opponents

madness - pure madness

Le Gibanel looking familiar on the final approach

Gabare on the Dordogne

Lovely view over the Dordogne

Mist in the morning, le Gibanel

The Market

Lake at Marcillac La Criosille

Argentat Quay

The Cottage

Jackson Triggs - the tasting

Dinner

Water over the last lock, Rideau Canal

Rideau locks

Chateau

After the show

Son et lumiere

Groundhog

Thirsty work, this sightseeing

War Memorial

Very tame squirrel being fed

Above the clock tower, parliament buildings

View from the top of Parliament buildings

The library and Ottawa River

View of Ottawa River from the top of the Parliament buildings

Inside Parliament Buldings

Inside Parliament buildings

More reflections

Parliament buildings

Reflection of Parliament buildings in an office block

Rideau Falls

Plan near Rideau Falls

Prime Minister's front gates

Changing the Guard, Governor General's residence,

Outside the Governor General's residence

Ollie & Ang outside the Governor General's residence

Val imitates the guard outside the Governor General's residence

Totem Pole, Governor General's park

The Governor General's driveway

Sunset in Warner Bay

The trip back from Flowerpot, Nyhout family

A flowerpot defying physics

Sue climbs the last steps to the dome, St Isaacs

A Flowerpot

Cave on Flowerpot Island

Cave on Flowerpot island

Information board

Big Tub lighthouse

Georgian Bay, near The Grotto

Campfire at Sundown

Sunset in Warners Bay

The restored Lighthouse

Dyers Bay looking North

Peterhof

Ron & Rita's foreshore

The castle at singing sands

DSLA Summer School

Theatre

Town Centre

Big Tub bay

Ollie @ Big Tub Lighthouse

The Harbour

Ollie & Ang at the cottage

37th Wedding Anniversary

The sign

The meal @ Michaels

The presentation

The theatre

Picnic @ Stratford

Behind the falls

View from Table rock

View from Table Rock

Churning waters off the Maid of the Mist

The tour party, Maid of the Mist

It was a bit wet

The American Falls, Canadian falls in the background

View from the hotel room, American falls in the background

The Ramada stick

View of the American falls from the dining room

On to the Canadian falls, American in the background

Damp

Maid of the mist

Canadian Falls

Spot the plonker, determined to be in shot

The Ramada Stick

Sampling at Carolines

Canadian Falls at night

American Falls

Stieglitz

Wonderful parking

Lion Bridge near Mariinski Theatre

Notre Dame Des Neiges

St Isaacs altar screen doors

Wild Flowers on the Beach

Genoese Bridge

First Corsican Donkey

Santa Lucia Di Mercurio

Peak Sandwich from Santa Lucia Di Mercurio

More Peaks near Vizzavona

Views of Mountain Peaks including Monte D'Oro

Views from the walk to Les Cascades Des Anglais

Chinese Blue Drawing Room, Catherine Palace, Pushkin

Blue Drawing Room, Catherine Palace, Pushkin

The snowy track to the Cascades

Parking up by the Auberge at the start of the walk to Les Cascades Des Anglais

View of Vizzavone

The Restonica Valley

Snow more than a week after it arrived!

Chevaliers Dining Room, Catherine Palace, Pushkin

Cascades in the Restonica Valley

Bullet holes from 1750 behind the statue in Place Gaffori

At the base of the Belvidere in Vizzavone

The road to the Restonica Valley

Georgian Bay

Place below the Citadel

Views as we cross the Desert Des Agriates

Manchurian Lions

The Marina at St Florent

Roasting mallows

Walking up to the Citadel at St Florent

Dyers Bay

Views of the Balagne from St Antonino

The Hermitage

The Film Set with Citroen at St Antonino in front of the Church

Church at Aregno

Sheep on the Roof at Aregno

The Village of Corbara in the Balagne

St Antonino in the Balagne

The boudoir, Hermitage

Paddling

View from our bedroom at Calvi

View before descent to Calvi

View from the D81 near Porto

Genoese Bridge between Ota and Evisa

Rick on our walk in Les Calanques

Pavillion Hall, Hermitage

Picnic on the beach off the route de Sanguinaires

St George Hall, Hermitage

St Georges hall ceiling, Hermitage

Inside the Orthodox Church

The Orthodox Church Again

View from our room at Cargese

Cargese in the distance

Saint George's Hall floor, Hermitage

Bonaparte's Birthplace

Entrance to the Old Port

Grand Staircase, Hermitage

View over the Neva

Church Tower, Town Centre

Genoese Gate

La Solenzara - looks more of a river here

La Solenzara, beautifully clear. Looks a stream in this but is a river.

View from the Dining Room over both sets of the falls

Bocca di Larone

Peter The Great, Peter & Paul Fortress

Catherine chapel, Church of Sts Peter & Paul

Ceiling of church of Sts Peter & Paul

Wine tour party

View along the Coast north of Bastia, Erbalunga in the distance

View over Bastia from the heights

The Village of Nonza from the tower

The Aurora

View over the bay at Nonza

Fortification below the tower at Nonza

View of western Cap Corse

Church on Spilled Blood

Half way up to the Tour de Seneca

Windmill Mattei

View out over the eastern approaches from Erbalunga

Genoese Tower, Erbalunga

Le Pirat restaurant, Erbalunga

Tour de Seneca, getting close

Corsican flag and a poor imitation at Macinaggio

Goat near the windmill

Erbalunga Harbour

Tchaiskovski lived here

Oratory of the Immaculate Conception, Good Friday

Ste Marie cathedral

La Citadel, Vieux port

The Front, Quai des martyrs de la Liberation

Vieux Port, now a marina

The authors, Cafe at end of Route des Sanguinaires

Skyway

Despite the wintry sun, it was cool

The story of the three sisters

The Three Sisters

Why the Blue Mountains are so-called.

Sleeping off the Eucalyptus

Mum & Joey

Close to the boat

Peep-po

Whale spume

Scarlet Macaw with a grape

A pair but of what?

Scarlet Macaw

Delightful but unknown

Aha, Jim lad!

Blue and Gold Macaw & Scarlet Macaw

The three degrees

Galah

Two Sun Conures? feeed off Ang's hand

Mandarin Duck

A very cold, shivering Bearded Heron

Varied lorikeet

Rainbow lorikeet

Alexandrine Parrot

A finch??

Baron River Falls

Colourful loco

Ang hides the evidence - Birthday meal, Yorkey's Knob Boat Club

Sunset outside Yorkey's Knob

Snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef with Sea Cucumber

The Birthday trip commences

The Beach and Boardwalk

In The Glass Mountains

At last a Kookaburra

Koala Mum & Baby - Lonely Pine Sanctuary

A regular visitor to Barbary

The Anniversary Meal

Arrival at Lake Taupo, sunset

Mount Eden

The viewing deck, Skytour

The Skytour

Auckland Harbour

Mud pool, Wai O Tapu

Silica Terraces, Wai O Tapu

Lady Knox Geyser, Wai O Tapu

Anglican Church

Address by the Chief

The war canoe

The Huka Falls

Barbary at Taupo

Captain Cook plus acolytes

Christchurch City Centre Fountain at night

Whose a pretty boy, then?

Kea in the Car-park

The lake

Let's see how close we can get to the waterfall......

More Seals Doubtful Sound

More water - Doubtful Sound

Hello chaps - we've got visitors

Southern Fur seal, Doubtful Sound

Waterfall on the sound

First View of Doubtful Sound from the top of the pass

Between boats to Doubtful Sound

Rick and Sue go snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef

Sydney Harbour from the ferry

The famous Bridge

Opera house from The Old Passenger terminal

View outside our hotel

Novotel Bangkok Airport lobby

The pool outside the room