Sunday 12th -Sunday 19th January 2025.

After a very stressful,start to my travel day, Rebecca, Chris & I made our way up to Perth Airport. It was a an uneventful drive and we arrived in plenty of time for my flight! I was not flying until 00.25 but needed to be there early enough that the guys were not driving back in the dead of night! Also, me being me, I like to be at the airport in plenty of time. To be fair being over 5 hours early is a tab over the top! 😂

It was incredibly sad saying goodbye to my beautiful Rebecca, and to Chris especially as we don’t know when we’ll see each other again, probably not until sometime in 2026! Which is forever away. 

They have looked after me very well, and for me to stay with them for 3 months has been amazing. It’s not easy sharing your home for a long time and so I am extremely grateful. 🙏 

I will miss them & Curly the cat very much. 

Once they left and I stopped crying I made my way to the only bar in the airport and had a large JD & Coke and a portion of chips, very comforting. 😊

I was able to check in with 3 hours to go. My case was exactly 20kg, which is still heavier than I wanted. This is after sending a large 6kg parcel back to England (not cheap especially after DHL then charged me another £65 on top of the £60 I’d already paid! ) and sending clothes to the op shop! The lovely Tracey is going to take a few more bits back with her after Sri Lanka. 

I had booked a lounge, it’s not very expensive and offers somewhere quieter to sit, it’s also right next to my gate, Handy! 

I kept check the flight status and it started saying “Relax” (never seen this before) so I Relaxed and ordered another drink, checked again in just over 10 mins and suddenly it’s changed to “Final Call” WTF! 😳 

I grabbed my stuff and legged it downstairs to find a completely empty gate, and the staff asking if I was Miss Claire! Oh dear. The only people behind me were those needing assistance! 😂 luckily for me there was still a short queue to actually board, so I didn’t look to conspicuous.

It was a 5.5 hour flight to Kuala Lumpur with Air Asia, so no screens for films! I read for most of the flight and tried to rest my eyes, but couldn’t sleep. We arrived in KL in the morning and had a short 2 hour wait then another no screens for films 3.5 hour flight to Colombo, again no sleep. I arrived in Colombo again first thing in the morning, and sailed through customs, no visa issues, thank god. I also managed to get a SIM card sorted in the airport, grabbed my case and then met the lovely Buddhi when I came through customs. Buddhi is the guy who organised my tour last time I was in Sri Lanka in 2018, I stayed with him and his wife, Sriyani, then and again this time. 

They have a little B & B in Negombo. 

I was absolutely knackered, having missed a whole nights sleep but managed to go for a walk and have some dinner, delicious homemade Sri Lankan Curry before crashing in bed at 7.30pm. 😴😴

I had a great nights sleep and spend the following day having a massage, interesting, 🤔 not a bad massage but the oil they used smelt weird, vinegary and not that pleasant tbh. The spa organise a Tuk Tuk to pick up and drop off, so as soon as I’d been dropped off I tried to shower away the oil, but it’s oil, so it took a while to get rid of the smell.

Then I spent the rest of the afternoon by the beach, sitting in a fancy hotel, it’s great you get to use their facilities but not have the expense of staying there! 

Another early night then time to leave and head to Hikkaduwa.

Buddhi was driving me down to Hikkaduwa and asked if it was ok to take another guy, who was heading to Galle, I said that was fine. Puta was a great guy. He was currently hanging around in Negombo waiting to head out to his job as Chief Engineer in a massive Oil container ship! He had some pretty scary stories, one in particular about being in a huge oil tanker, which was empty, just holding ballast somewhere in the Ocean near South Africa and their rudder sheared off!! (Apparently very rare) This meant they had no control of the ship in extremely high seas, everyone was sick as dogs for over a week until they could be towed to safety!😳😱 He showed me pictures of the engines in these massive containers, they are beyond huge! Very interesting chap. 

Buddhi was also telling me about changes here in Sri Lanka with Palm Oil. 

When I was here last, in 2018, there were Palm Oil plantations everywhere. The government are now encouraging farmers to not grow them, and helping them financially to switch to other crops, mainly rubber trees. You can actually see the impact, with far fewer palm oil trees. The reason behind this change is that harvesting Palm Oil is very toxic, to both the people harvesting it and to the wildlife and surrounding flora and fauna. The toxicity comes from the pulp left after the oil is extracted. Together with the issues of deforestation due to Palm Oil Plantations, it’s really positive to see these changes. 

It was a very interesting and informative drive! Everyday’s a school day! 😂

Hikkaduwa. I was last here 6 years ago and during the low season, it was very quiet and relatively peaceful. I was looking forward to seeing it in high seas on and a little bit more lively. Mmmm, be careful what you wish for! 

My hotel is pretty nice, I’d booked a ‘budget’ room, no idea why I did that! 😳 The room itself is OK, tiny with no window, but doable, just, the issue I have is that it’s a “dead zone” so I can’t get wifi on either my phone or tablet, even though I have data on my phone. This is a tad frustrating. WiFi has been an ongoing issue for the last few months. (Anita! You know!) 

When I’m on my own, I need to plan things, book things, access news, social media etc etc. not being able to do this is frustrating and irritating. The lovely people at the hotel tried putting a router outside the room, this made no difference. Eventually they have agreed to move me to another room, which is much better and has some WiFi signal. 

So, Hikkaduwa, well it is very different to when I was here before. First of all it’s very busy, which is a positive, especially for the Sri Lankan people who have had a rough few years. 90% of the tourists are Russian. This means that pretty much everything is geared towards the Russian tourists. I tried at least 4 different places to book a group Mangrove Tour, all the tours they offer were in Russian with a Russian speaking guide. A group tour costs £10 I have now had to book a solo tour for £30! ☹️

There is a beautiful beach here called Turtle Beach. It’s shallow with reefs and good snorkelling. It gets pretty busy. I was having a little wander along the beach and was thrilled to see 2 beautiful giants Turtles 😍. They were both right near the shore line just mooching about. It was a wonderful site. The less wonderful site was all the stupid people touching them, trying to move the and generally not respecting their space. It was heartbreaking. When people touch them with lotions or creams on their hands this can cause the turtles problems. 

There was a Sri Lankan guy shouting from the beach to leave them alone, but one particular woman just totally ignored him, she was too busy stroking the poor turtles head whilst posing for a fucking photograph! Absolutely disgraceful behaviour and also very upsetting to see. 

It’s a difficult dilemma for then Sri Lankans, because the Turtles come to the beach if their own free will, so how do you police it? 

Personally I’d have armed guards and if you touch them you die!! 💀😆

On a lighter and much happier note I met up with some fabulous Newquay friends. Lovely Alex & Leah. I’ve know Alex since opening Coffee on the Corner, a lot of you will remember his amazing and delicious Biscoff Brownies!! 

We realised we were in Sri Lanka at the same time and organised a meet up in Galle, where they were staying. I got a Tuk Tuk from Hikkaduwa and we met at a beautiful restaurant in Galle called Church Street Social. 

It’s very surreal seeing people in a totally different place, but also felt really comfortable. We enjoyed a few beers some yummy food and lots of fun. A fantastic evening. Thank you so much guys. 😘❤️

I then made my way back with the Tuk Tuk driver, who had waited for me. I feel he might have waited in the nearest pub, because the drive back was a little scary, he was watching a program on his phone, trying to chat to me, slowing down for no reason and at times it looked like he was falling asleep!! 🫣 Hey Ho, we made it back! 

I have decided to cut short my stay in Hikkaduwa and spend a couple of days down in Galle Fort, which is a great place. So I’ll be here until Thursday. 

I have met some really wonderful Sri Lankan people here, who are very kind and helpful and I’m determined to enjoy my experience even if it’s a little different to what I was expecting. 

I’m loving the food, back to my favourite Veggie Rice! The Sri Lankan curry’s are yummy and I tried a local favourite, Kottu! OMG, so good. 

I’m also super excited about potentially meeting up with another friend this week and then Tracey arrives in 9 days!! 😍❤️😍

That’s all for now.

Love and miss you all. 

💙🩵💚🧡

I’m going to limit the number of pics, as I don’t think the WiFi can cope with lots! 

Books Read.

The Seven. Robyn Delvey. Interesting, a pretty good read.

Bricking it. Nick Spalding. Fun, light hearted and an easy read.

There’s something about Mira. Sonali Dev. An enjoyable read, something a little different. 

Friday December 27th – Sunday 12th January 2025! 

Apologies for the lackof posts! 

We’ve been out and about doing stuff, whilst Anita has been here.

After a lovely Christmas we had a few days just relaxing and enjoying the weather and the pool. 💙

Anita got to enjoy the fabulous Cinema in Busselton when her & Chris went to see the new Robbie Williams Film, good feedback.

Rebecca had organised a trip to a beautiful Winery, about an hours drive inland, near a place called Pemberton. 

The drive there was lovely, we took the scenic route which was beautiful. We got to see Emu’s wandering about and even one casually crossing the road in front of us! 

The Winery was called “Ampersands” and it was fantastic. We had booked a delicious picnic lunch which came with both sparkling wine and a yummy Chardonnay. The food and the winery, were gorgeous. It was such a lovely relaxing

Rebecca was only off work for the Christmas period, so,sadly went back on the Monday, Chris had a further week off and was busy trying to get jobs done. 

Anita and I did lots of relaxing, reading, pool dipping and going out for coffee! 

We even managed to get ourselves a Baileys Latte from a great little Café down by the beach 🏝️😍

Our New Year’s Eve was wonderful. 

We all went down to the beach and watched the last sunset of 2024 with some Champagne. 

As the sun was setting, exactly where the light was shining across the ocean a Dolphin jumped out of the water! Honestly, it was amazing! We were then joined by the cutest little dog, called Frank! 

Back home and a great few games of dice (6 dice and first to 10,000) it’s a really good game, that Rebecca & Chris taught myself, Georgia & Grantley. As usual Chris won!! 😂 Then we watched the totally insanely impressive Sydney Fireworks (although we watched online as we missed them live! 🤦‍♀️)

2024 had been an interesting year and for me definitely a year of change. Selling the fabulous Coffee on the Corner, selling my home and going off on an adventure has been exciting and also a tad scary! 

I didn’t make any New Year’s Resolutions, I’ll just try to live my best life and not be a dick! 😂

On New Years Day we went on a trip to visit a place called Penguin Island. 

There are actual Penguins on the Island, sadly a lot fewer than there used to be. The population is fall is mainly down to the changes in Ocean temperature following an extreme marine heatwave in 2010. This forced the penguins food to migrate further east to cooler waters. 

The Island is just off the coast an hour away from  Perth in the Shoalwater Islands Marine Park. 

When we arrived in Shoalwater we were told that due to the temperature being above 35 degrees the Island was closed to visitors. Apparently the Penguins are shedding their feathers and they need to be undisturbed so they can go in and out of the water to cool down. 

We were disappointed until we were told that they had changed our booking to an hour long boat trip around the various islands and a free lunch! 😍👍 Result! 

The boat trip was brilliant, we got to see lots of different sea birds, and a particular Tern that migrates from Borneo, it flies non stop! It also has the ability to convert sea water into drinking water! Impressive.

There were also 2 pairs of nesting Ospreys on a couple of the small islands, which was exciting to see.

On one of the larger islands there was a biggish colony of massive Sea Lions and the even bigger Pelicans, in fact the Pelicans were so big they looked prehistoric! 😳

All in all it was a fabulous day, which I really enjoyed. 

The whole coastline along the WA coast is stunning and diverse. 

This was re enforced when we had another visit down to Busselton and a walk out along the nearly 2k long jetty! We then had a viewing in the underwater aquarium, so stunning! The colourful coral and sea life that grows on the pylons was absolutely gorgeous. 

The Busselton foreshore is so well maintained and offers so many family safe areas to swim and play, all free! It really is a beautiful spot. 

I’m pleased to say that following on from the disastrous end to our Esperance trip and the vehicle breakdown. The Ute is fixed and up and running! Thankfully the Head Gasket didn’t blow it was just the alternator and fan belt. This is a huge relief for Rebecca & Chris as they don’t have to worry about the cost of replacing the truck. 👍

Anita has her birthday on 3rd of January, which means we get to celebrate and do more nice things! 

In this case it was a lovely lunch down by the bay for Anita & I and then a few drinks and a meal out all together in the evening, which were lush. 

The. On Saturday 4th we visited the most amazing pizza place, called Ferguson Falls, I’ve been there every time I visit Bunbury and it never fails to deliver! The pizzas are delicious. They make their own pork & fennel sausage and that’s what I have on my pizza, it’s the best! 😋

Anita and I also planned a little trip to Perth, as Anita has never visited the city. We planned it to coincide with Anita’s flight home. 

We took the bus from Bunbury on Wednesday morning, arriving in Oerth at midday. Our hotel was a short walk from the bus station, handily through some indoor walkways. 

We didn’t have much planned just a mooch about and for Anita to see and experience the city. 

As Cities go, Perth CBD is quite small and it’s also beautifully calm. Very little traffic, not many people, nobody rushing around (possibly due to the heat) It is actually a very pleasant place to be. 

We spent our time walking around, doing a little bit of shopping, admiring the beautiful views, eating nice things, the nicest of which was a wonderful, comforting Risotto at the hotel. 

We visited the Art Gallery of WA and saw some fantastic exhibitions, a ceramics one by an artist called Sandra Black, which I loved. 

There were also some very thought provoking indigenous art, which offers a powerful visual representation of their stories, history & subjugation. 

It was a great trip and I feel that I get to experience and appreciate Perth more with each visit. 

Anita and I went to the airport together, after some convoluted shenanigans trying to download a bloody Uber App! The difficulty was the result of the bloody ridiculous WiFi situation in the hotel (a Hilton, so very bad form) and Australian WiFi in general and us not being teenage technology experts! But, once downloaded (by a 18 year old member of staff! ) we saved ourselves $40 so worth it 😂😂

It has been so lovely spending time with Anita over the last month, we’ve had some laughs and really enjoyed our time together. So it was sad to see her leave. Thank you for your company darling. It was fabulous.😘❤️

I got my bus back to Bunbury to spend my last weekend in Australia and with Rebecca & Chris oh and Curly of course! 😻

My time here in Australia has been fantastic, we have seen and done so many amazing things. It’s also been amazing just spending time with Rebecca & Chris in their home, seeing how their lives are. 

They have been wonderful but I’m sure after 3 months they will be pleased to get their home back and have some normality! 😍😘

Thank you my beautiful best big girl for looking after me. ❤️❤️

So my last day in Bunbury on Monday 13th Jan. the plan was to have a love,y chilled day with Rebecca, who,took the day off, get some lunch before driving to Perth. 

Unfortunately that’s not the way the day has gone!

I really needed to get my Indian e Visa application in before I left and today was the first chance I’ve had. I have tried numerous times before but it was too early. I assume you can only apply 1 month before arrival.

So, having gathered all the relevant information, including my parents names and dates of birth, Thank you, Kathleen, Ruth & Paul! As well as all the addresses of hotels, all the countries I have visited in the last 10 years!! 😳  I settled down to get it done at 9am. 

OMFG!! 🤬 It was an absolute nightmare. I had to upload a picture of myself against a white background, I’d done this a few weeks ago and saved them, but No! They were not the right size, or too big a file!! I tried everything I could think of and eventually Rebecca had to download an app to compress the picture!! So, that was 4 hours in! Then it needed my passport details, but they have to be in a pdf format, I have a pdf of my old passport (thank you Cory!) but unfortunately not my new one. Again Rebecca managed to download an app to convert and compress the picture to the right size and format. Then the session timed out and we had to go back in and try again. My first payment attempt failed! Then we had to wait 15 excruciating minutes to try again! 

Finally after 5 horrible hours my application was submitted!! I was so stressed, and very agitated and there is absolutely no way I could have done this on my own! 

Now I have to hope and pray that the visa is granted or I’m pretty F..ked! 🤞

I now feel very hot, bothered and anxious so lunch is a no go! 

I will now be limiting my travel plans to countries that don’t require a sodding visa!! 🙄🥰

So, that’s it for now. 

I will update you when I get to Sri Lanka (fingers crossed that visa is OK! )

Have a great week. Love & Miss you. 

💙🩵❤️💚🧡

Books Read.

Twisted. Steve Cavanagh. My brain is fried, but I think it was OK! 

From the Ashes. Damien Boyd. Did Nick Dixon series book 14. Good. 

Thursday 12th to Friday 27th December 2024. Part 2!

Part 2! 

The weather for our week away hadn’t been perfect, some cloud and rain, a fair amount of wind but Wednesday was supposed to be bright and sunny so this is the day we chose to go to Cape Le Grande National Park and explore the beaches there. Some of which have been voted the most beautiful beaches in the world! 🌎 

Well I can completely understand why! Totally gorgeous. 

We visited Hellfire Bay first, which I thought was very pretty, small but lovely.

Then onto Lucky Bay. Lucky Bay was much bigger and again vehicles can drive onto the beach. It is fantastic and so pretty. Quite often Kangaroos come on the beach! Cory & Charlotte, my friends saw them when they visited. You can see this on their travel blog: ‘CJ explores’. 

Sadly we didn’t see any, but it was a busy day, quite a few people and vehicles and it wasn’t dawn or dusk. 

We set up our little awning, chairs, Eski and preceded to have a fabulous beach day, we swam in the gorgeous water, saw fish. 🐠 No Sharks despite the signs! 

It was glorious. ❤️

I took lots of photos of all the beaches but I don’t think they do them justice. 

I would have to say that my favourite beach in Esperence was Wharton Beach. 

We had a lovely relaxed final day on Thursday despite the drizzle and wind! 

Then it was time to start packing up for our return home on Friday. 

You can simply run out of superlatives to describe the beaches in this part of the world. Suffice to say they are the cleanest most pristine beaches I have ever seen in my life. 🤍🩵💙🌎 simply breathtaking. 

Esperence will always have a special place in my heart. 

The drive home is always less fun than the drive to your holiday. 

I offered to do the first couple of hours, get it out of the way. 

Everything was going great guns, the roads were virtually empty, no road trains. We were about 15 mins away from our first stop when we drove past a large truck, we heard a bang, but we all assumed it was something to do with the lorry. I continued to drive, then the battery Light came on on the dashboard and just as we came into the little town the Ute started to lose power. I pulled into the first garage I came to in the small town of Ravensthorpe. 

Chris had a look and it looked like the coolant had all gone, so possibly a leak 🤔🤷‍♀️

Chris asked in the garage and they said there was a mechanics place just further up the road. We managed to drive the Ute there. The mechanics looked at it and declared it a little bit fucked! 😳 

It seems that the bang we heard was the alternator breaking, this then took out the fan, disconnecting stuff and causing overheating. The vehicle was no longer drivable. 

This was Friday @10am the last weekend before Christmas, the garage and mechanics were just about to close for their Christmas trip to Perth. 

Chris called to RAC, paid to have roadside assistance. They said they would try to organise a tow. 

They called back and said that as there were 4 people the earliest they could get a tow with a large enough cab would be Tuesday, 4 days away! WTAF! 😱 

As we were in the middle of nowhere we ended up having to organise a tow truck from Bunbury, a 6 hour drive away,  to come and get us. They couldn’t get to us till the following day and it wasn’t cheap! 

At this point we were all being pretty calm and philosophical about the whole thing. We managed to find rooms at the local Motel. We walked there then the very nice owner, Rama, drove us back to the vehicle to collect all of our stuff. 

Now to entertain ourselves in the tiny little town of Ravensthorpe. 

A few of the cafés were closed, or just a bit weird! 

But as luck would have it the local Tavern was open for business at Midday! Hooray 🎉 

So that’s where we settled for the afternoon, we had some food, played pool. Then we played darts, which I was absolutely shocking at! 😂😜 Although after a few hours I did actually win 1 game….more luck than anything else. 

Then in the evening as we were sitting outside of our motel rooms we spotted Kangaroos over the road! 🦘 Result. ❤️

The next morning reality hit a little, costs, the inconvenience of not having the Ute, a 7 hour drive home in the back of a tow truck!! Everyone was a little subdued. 

‘Wingers’ the tow truck driver arrived like a knight in Shining Armour at 10.30, which was a lot earlier than I’d anticipated. He was so helpful and friendly. He made the journey back much more pleasant than I thought it would be, bumpy in the back but again, he made great time and it took us under 7 hours to get back, helped by the lack of vehicles and road trains. 

The Ute is now in the garage, we are hoping it’s fixable and that the head gasket hasn’t gone 🙏🙏

it’s fair to say the Esperence Holiday was one we won’t forget for a while for lots of reasons!  

We made it back with enough time to organise for Christmas. 

It still feels very strange celebrating Christmas in the sun! Not getting wrapped up and drinking mulled wine. 

On Monday evening Chris asked if we wanted to go for a drive to look at the Christmas lights. Anita and I said, absolutely 💯. We had no idea what we were in for! 

There were some stunning displays around the streets nearby, but this was nothing compared to the spectacle that is Dunstan Street! A whole long curved street with every single house lit up in the most fabulous way. It was so mad! They even had traffic management in place. We walked the whole thing and it was incredible. Apparently if you buy a house on this street you have to agree to do Christmas lights! Bonkers, but amazing and really got us in the Christmas mood. 🎄🎉

On Christmas Eve friends of Rebecca & Chris, Mick & Debs, came over. Mick had very kindly looked after Curly while we were away. 

We had a lovely evening, BBQ, nice food, some Aperol Spritz, sitting outside and playing board games! 

Christmas Day was very Australian 🇦🇺. We started with breakfast on the beach 🏖️  Making use of the public BBQs by the bay, with some Mimosas, a little stroll, then back to the house for presents and relaxing by the pool! Bloody lush.

I will admit to feeling homesick and certainly missing seeing my beautiful Twinkles, Georgia & Grantley. We face timed which was wonderful, but not the same as seeing them in the flesh. But it is the first Christmas I’ve spent with my Rebecca in 11 years, so that is wonderful. 😍

We had a lovely walk around the inlet on Boxing Day and then Chris managed to find a way for us to watch Gavin & Stacy on the outside TV, so we sat outside eating cheese and watched the end of an era, a fantastic end to a great series. We cried. 😭😭❤️

One of the most exciting and amazing things that has happened since my last blog post is that I’m now going to have some company when I visit Sri Lanka. 

The bloody fabulous  and amazing Tracey Whelan is going to come over and we’ll get to spend 10 days together! I’m so thrilled and happy! ❤️😍🎉

Apologies in advance for the number of stunning beach pictures that will accompany this post! 💙🩵

Enjoy the weekend, it’s that strange time between Christmas & New year when nobody really knows what day of the week it is, everyone is living on leftovers, cheese and chocolate and wondering if not fitting into your clothes is a legitimate reason to call in sick to work! 😂😂😂

That’s all for now you fabulous bunch. 

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, it’s not always the easiest of times. I know it’s been a particularly difficult one for some of my wonderful friends. Please know that I’m thinking of you and sending all my love. ❤️❤️

Books Read.

The Echo of Old Books. Barbara Davis. 

Really enjoyable. 

Tall Oaks. Chris Whitaker. 

I loved this book, it managed to be thrilling, sad, poignant and very funny. The author is British and I shall be reading more of his stuff. 

Wild. Kristin Hannah.

Another sensational book by this author. I really loved this one. If you haven’t read any of her books, start now! 

36 Hours. Angela Marsons. Book 21 in the DI Stone Series. 

Very good. 

Thursday 12th to Friday 27th December 2024.

As I said in my last blog post we were heading to Esperance for a weeks holiday.

Esperence is nearly 700 kilometres away from Bunbury so we prepared for a long 8 hour drive.

So on Friday 13th, we got up early, loaded up the Ute, packed an Eski full of rolls and snacks and we were on the road by 6.15! Excellent.

The route to Esperence goes through the grain producing area known as the Wheatbelt or Goldbelt, its approx fifteen million hectares of arable land! 

There is one road, which is used by everyone, including the huge lorries transporting the grain, these can be up to 60 meters in length and for that reason they are called ‘Road Trains’ 

We were quite lucky that the grain harvest had already been completed so there weren’t many ‘Road Trains’ to try and overtake! 😳 I did some of the driving and had to negotiate overtaking 2 together, I opted to do them 1 at a time, it’s a a little scary! 😧 

There are a few large lakes on route but pretty much all of them were completely dry. 

The road trip there was actually really good, we stopped a few times in little towns and arrived in Esperence earlier than we thought, around 1.30pm. 

The town itself is quite small but very lovely. We were staying in town in a house, which was large and comfy and a short walk to the foreshore. 

We were a little early to check in so we had lunch at a lovely restaurant, The Quarters, down by the beach. Had a little mooch about, grabbed some essentials from the supermarket then chilled back at the house. 

Saturday morning our plan was to do a nice nature walk around one of the lakes nearby in a place called Monjingup. The weather was not ideal, a little grey and some drizzle. Unfortunately when we arrived at the lake it was closed for an event, some sort of light show. 

We decided to drive and check out the Pink Lake, sadly it wasn’t pink or anything at all as it was dried up! Apparently the lake has been dry for over 11 years.  It’s still very pretty as the lake bed is completely white. 

We then decided to do the Ocean Drive, which I have to say was nothing short of spectacular! 

Esperence is on the Southern Ocean.

Our first stop was 11 mile Beach, wild and gorgeous, it was quite windy and still cloudy but this didn’t detract from how stunning it was. 

There are lots of beaches, 10 mile, 9 mile, (I wanted a pic of me at 8 mile, sadly it was called something else! ) 

Most of the beaches are accessible, with boardwalks and some of them have toilets which are clean and well maintained! 😍

At Observatory Point (or 8 mile!) there was a lookout and a rocky outcrop, Rebecca & Chris climbed up to the lookout and Anita and I stayed down watching the view. The water was a beautiful turquoise colour and then I spotted something in the water, I wasn’t sure at first what I was seeing but then realised it was dolphins!! It ended being a pod of around 15 Dolphins in the shallows! It was so fabulous, I was very excited. I think that the most I’ve seen together. 🐬🐬💙🐬 

From here we drove to Twilight Beach, very accessible, a large sandy beach and amazing rocks in the bay. We went down onto the beach and had a paddle, Chris braved it and went in for a swim! 

Again, the colour of the ocean is beautiful. 

From here we headed back into town, the weather brightened up so we had some time on the beach. 

The beach area in town is fantastic, it has Shark netting, always good to see. It had jetty’s for jumping from, swimming lanes and also a shady area on the foreshore with toilets and showers, pretty impressive! 

After our beach time we went to visit the local Gin Distillery, did a very pleasant tasting for $5 

From there we headed to the pub for some much needed Holiday Cocktails!! The pub was great, nice views, great drinks, fab staff. It’s called 33 degrees, if you’re ever in Esperence and fancy a drink! 

We had a really lovely first full day.

Sunday saw us going to visit the local market. We had decided to go there earlyish and grab breakfast from some of the food stalls. 

The market was lovely, smallish but lots of locals selling their wares. 

It was held down amongst some little old buildings that had craft shops and galleries in. 

It was fairly busy, but I do need to clarify at this point, what I mean by Busy, I mean Busy by Western Australian standards, this bears no resemblance to Busy by UK standards! There were a few people around, and you may have to queue behind one other person to get a coffee! 😂

I opted for some Sri Lankan veggie roties! Yummy 😋 Rebecca, Chris & Anita got full breakfast wraps. We then found a little stall selling freshly made doughnuts in cinnamon sugar. I don’t really like doughnuts, but these were delicious.

Interestingly, a lady at the stall next door, who was from Devon heard me talking and said she recognised my accent as being either Devon or Cornwall! I didn’t think I had an accent at all! 😂

We had a lovely walk along the foreshore up to the Jetty, grabbed a coffee from a really cute little Coffee Caravan. Then Rebecca had a brilliant idea for us to drive out to a place called Wharton Beach, located in the Duke of Orleans Bay, around a 40 minute drive out of town. 

Well, I don’t know what to say, if I thought the beaches we had seen yesterday were beautiful, this was on another level. 

Absolutely stunning. It’s a beach that you can drive on, so lots of Australians take their 4 x 4 vehicles down onto the sand and set up camp. We opted to walk down.

I’m wasn’t far from the car to the beach with our stuff, chairs, awning, Eski. 

We were tucked away towards the end of the beach and it was simply glorious. 

White sandy beach, turquoise crystal clear water, sunshine and a breeze! 🏖️🤍🩵💙 although there were people on the beach it wasn’t crowded or noisy, not a scrap of littler in site. 

We all went into the Ocean, it was cold but gorgeous. 

We spent all afternoon chilling on the beach watching the dogs and kids playing in the water, reading and relaxing.

We had decided to stop in the nearby pub on the way home, called Condingup Tavern, Mmm, well we stopped, walked in, got weird vibes, a little bit odd, not many people, apart from a wall of locals propping up the bar, no one spoke to us, there was no staff around. We opted to find another pub!! 

We drove back to Esperence and went to the local Brewery, Lucky Bay Brewery, who just happened to be celebrating their 9th anniversary! So it was a big old party going on, Live Music, dancing, water slide, pizzas! It was a perfect way to end a beautiful day. 🎉❤️

On Monday, Rebecca & Chris went to do a coastal hike. Anita I I stayed in Esperence and went on a walk to find a cafe with WiFi. 

The reason we needed to do this is because WiFi is a little tricky to get in Australia. The house we were renting didn’t have internet, very strange. 😳 Very few cafes, restaurants or bars have WiFi and with Rebecca and Chris off on their walk we couldn’t Hot Spot, which isn’t always possible anyway. 

So with this in mind we went into town, had a little look around then drove to The Quarters for a coffee, it was closed. 

We walked to the pub, 33 degrees, they had  WiFi but no coffee. 

We went back into town, to a little Cafe near where the Market had been, that was closed. 

We asked someone, they said that a place called Cloud 11 was good. That was also closed. 🥺

We eventually found somewhere with coffee & WiFi on our 4th attempt!! 😂 

The positive outcome of this was we stumbled on a fantastic Deli, called Deli King, that does the most amazing sandwiches and coffee! 

Rebecca and Chris got back from their walk and we all chilled out for the day. 😎

On Tuesday morning Rebecca and Chris went back to Monjingup Lake for a walk, Anita and I walked into town to get some bits and bobs, books, gifts etc. we managed to get a coffee in Cloud 11, and admire their wonderful Christening tree made of succulents! 💚🎄

We grabbed delicious lunch sandwiches from Deli King and all of us spent the afternoon at Twighlight beach. It was beautiful but very windy, so we ended up doing that very British thing of sitting on the beach wrapped up in jumpers!! 😂

Despite the cold we still had an ice cream in the way home. 

We saw a very pretty sunset at West Beach. 

Due to the number of photos I want to post, I’m going to split this blog into 2! 

This is part 1. 

Tuesday 26th November – Wednesday December 11th 2024

I don’t have lots to report for the last few weeks as I have been trying to rest and heal my ribs.

I was attempting to not take too many painkillers as I didn’t want to get too reliant and they can upset your tummy, this meant that I was still in a fair amount of pain. However after some stern words from a medic friend I gave in and started taking them regularly and properly 🙂. This resulted in a lot less pain and a speedier recovery! 

They are not completely healed but are definitely feeling much better. 👍

Unfortunately I haven’t been back to the swimming pool, and am missing my swims. I think I’m going to try and go back next week, take it slow and get back into it. 

I can also use the spa which will be great. 

I really am enjoying seeing the seasons change here in Australia. I’ve only ever been here in the Australian winter before so spring and summer have been a revelation! So pretty. 

I might have mentioned this before but Australia smells amazing!! 😍😍 I think it’s the peppermint and eucalyptus trees. 🌳💚💙

Rebecca and I had a little jaunt down to Busselton & Dunsborough last weekend. We wanted to go to a lovely craft market in Busselton , called Origins Market. It isn’t huge but the various crafts and goods were fabulous. There is an art stall with beautiful work, Rebecca had bought a couple of prints from there before for Georgia, which I loved. When we arrived on Saturday the Artist was actually there, Dylan, was such a nice guy and his work is great, we had a nice chat and I took his picture, I did also buy a couple of prints! I’ll pop a link into here for his website if you want to check out his stuff! 

There were also some delicious smelling soap stalls which lured us in! All local, all handmade and such fabulous smells, very herbal and Australian.

Rebecca then dragged me around a shop called Red Spot which I guess is a bit like B & M or Home Bargains, but not quite as good 😀

After that we drove down to Dunsborough. The town centre isn’t big and it’s really nicely laid out. To be fair we didn’t go into all the shops (thank god, as shopping isn’t my favourite pastime!) We did find a few beautiful artisan shops, which all smelt fabulous! We managed to get a couple of items. Then stopped for a delicious Italian lunch of Bruschetta & pasta which we shared with a cheeky little cocktail! 🍸 

We then had a little drive around admiring all the gorgeous ocean front properties and wishing we could win the lottery and buy one!! 

Rebecca had bought a piece of German pottery online which we needed to collect from somewhere near Dunsborough, but inland. 

It wasn’t very far but felt like we were right in the bush! The area we went to was again full of the most amazing properties with lots of land right in the bush. We then managed to see a kangaroo family right by the road! The male was very large and the female had a joey in her pouch, they were also very close to the car! 😀 It was fantastic. They stared at us for a bit then hopped off. It made my day! 😍❤️ We were also lucky enough to see a big lizard and some pelicans! All in all a great day! 

I said I my last blog that I’d applied for my Sri Lankan visa. I did this online and it was a much simpler process than I had imagined. I received a confirmation email, saying that I’d hear back in 24 hours. I didn’t! I waited a few days, nothing, I checked and re checked my emails, my junk folder, still nothing. I went on to the site and found a link to check the status of your application, I did that and it popped up saying there was a problem and to check with the agent! The only information I was putting in was my passport number & nationality, both of which are correct, I checked numerous times 😳 I don’t have an agent, so after about 4 days of continuous checking, I found the number for the Sri Lankan embassy in Canberra and gave them a ring. 

It took a while to explain my problem, initially I was told to apply again, but I explained that I’d already paid, and if I applied again and there was already an application in place it might be a problem! The person I spoke to tried checking the status her end and also got the same message, I was getting a little agitated (Bloody Visas, I knew there was a reason I don’t like doing them!) We went back and forth, then they said they would try something else and magically I was informed that my visa had been approved!! 

The problem was that on the drop down menu for your nationality, there are no less than 6 options for the UK! (WTF! 😳) I had chosen “UK – British Citizen (Great Britain) GBR” when apparently I should have chosen “UK – British Subject (GBS)”  I find this very confusing! I don’t know if it’s because that’s what I chose on my application, or if that’s what I am now, a Subject not a Citizen? Either way I’m in, hopefully 🙏 

After all the drama of the Visa, I thought I’d do something nice and look to book and plan a few more things in Sri Lanka. Whilst doing this I was checking when I’d need to be back in Colombo for my flight to India, which was booked for 14.02.25. It was then I realised that I had slightly miscalculated my dates/days. My Sri Lankan Visa is for 30 days, I arrive on 14th January but if I leave on 14th February, as booked, that’s not 30 days, it’s actually 32 days! 😩🤦‍♀️ I’m not sure how easy it is extending a visa, or what the consequences of overstaying are but I’m not sure I want to find out! This meant more farting about changing my flight to bring it forward by 2 days, online faffing, then more phone calls. Eventually I did it, it cost me a few quid, but it was worth it for peace of mind! 

I have now booked more onward travels from India, I will be going to Thailand for some R & R! I’m going back to Hua Hin, it’s lovely and peaceful, and cheaper than Phuket. I would have loved to go to Chiang Mai again, as it’s my favourite place, but unfortunately March is Burning Season and the air quality is shocking. 😳 🔥 

I have been enjoying some quintessential Aussie activities, drinking beer at the beach, cooking on the BBQ and last weekend we had a great meet up with friends Lorraine, Jason and their girls, Tia & Holly. 

Lorraine is the daughter of my old childhood neighbours, Chris & Norman King. Lorraine and Jason moved to Bunbury a little while before Rebecca & Chris. I happened to bump into Norman in Stevenage town centre and as we chatted I said that Rebecca & Chris were emigrating to Australia, possibly to Busselton (1 hour from Bunbury) and he said Lorraine and her partner were in Bunbury! Norman gave me their contact details, Rebecca & Chris contacted them prior to moving out here and they have been friends ever since!! ❤️ Such a small world. 🌎 

Anyway! We met up with them for breakfast down at Koombana Bay, this meant bringing all the food and cooking it on the free, clean, well maintained public BBQs right by the ocean and the park! It was such a lovely morning. 🥓🍳🏖️

The only little inconvenience is the flies! Apparently the beginning of summer always brings with it lots of flies. 

Anita, Chris’s mum arrived on Saturday 7th December! Which is lovely, I haven’t seen her properly since our trip last year to Thailand. 

It appears that she has bought the sunshine with her and the weather is beautiful. We have had a fabulous few days, chilling by the pool and I have actually been in the pool for the first time 😍 It was a little chilly but so refreshing absolutely wonderful. I think with Anita here now it feels a bit more holiday like! ❤️ 🏖️

We had a trip down into town on Sunday for a Christmas parade and fair with lots of food trucks.  It certainly is odd celebrating Christmas with bright sunshine and everyone in summer clothes! 

We’ve now started to spend most evenings outside, there is often a lovely breeze, last night we also had a 3 hour power outage! Interesting but at least the night sky looks amazing! 

On Friday 13th we are all off on a week’s holiday down south to a place called Esperance. It looks absolutely stunning, white sands, turquoise waters! I think it will be fantastic. 🩵🤍💙

That’s all for now.

Have a great week everyone.

Books read

The One in a Million Boy. Monica Wood. A lovely book. Really enjoyed it. 

1st Case. James Patterson. Ok, a quick read. 

Monday 11th November – Tuesday 26th November 2024

Another couple of weeks chilling here in Australia.

As I said in my last blog the flowers and blossoms here are really beautiful. My favourite at the moment are the Jacaranda Trees. 

The first time I saw a Jacaranda Tree was in Harare with Clint, back in the late 1990s! 😳 It was mine & Rebeccas first visit to Africa.

They are stunning, and Bunbury has lots of them, every now and then you catch a flash of purple and they’ll be another one. 💜💜

Rebecca, Chris & I and a couple of their friends, Mick & Debs, all headed down to Busselton a couple of weekends ago to see the new Gladiator Movie. There is a Cinema in Bunbury but I now understand why they make the 40 minute drive to Busselton. The Cinema is fantastic, big screens and the most comfortable, big, reclining chairs!! How very fancy! I haven’t been to the movies for ages and so it was such a pleasure to watch this big, epic film on the big screen, whilst reclining in my chair with my shoes off! 😍 Bliss. 

The weather here has been a little inconsistent tbh. Rebecca had said that once summer starts there may not be any more rain for months. This hasn’t been the case, it’s been pretty dry but with a few days of rain and wind. The temperature has also been up & down. Going from highs of 30 to like today which is only 22. ( I know, I know, it’s better than freezing cold England!! 🥶😂) it does mean that the nights are still not uncomfortable. I miss the winter, the storms, the snow ❄️ I’m not nicknamed Cryogenic Claire for nothing! 😀

Chris has almost finished the outside TV cabinet, it has a TV in that works, the seedlings are sprouting and Rebecca and I have been getting some Christmas decorations on the go!  Feels weird doing Christmas stuff in the sunshine and not having a glass of Mulled Wine! 🎄🍷

I have applied for my Sri Lankan Visa (go me!) Fingers crossed it comes through, I,should hear later today. 

I also started to do my Indian Visa application, but it would seem I’m a little too early and might have to put it off until End of December. I have booked myself onto a 2 night Tiger Safari! 🐅🐅 (Kathleen, don’t hate me! ) Having done some research I have opted to go to Jim Corbett National Park rather than than Ranthambore, as it has lots more Tigers as well as Bengal Tigers 🐯 I really struggled finding a good tour for a single person. On most of the tours the price per person would be say £300 then when you tried to book as a single person it went up to £700! So unfair. I ended up booking through Tour Rader, who I have used before in New Zealand. The price stayed the same regardless! I will probably be sharing a room, but for 2 nights I don’t mind. The tour starts and finishes in Delhi. I was hoping to then go down to Goa for a week or so but I’ll only have 5 days left on my visa so I’m going to leave that. What I’ll probably do is head back to Thailand for a few weeks, flights there from Delhi are short and cheap, accommodation and living expenses are cheap and I’ll be able to have some chill time before my next bit, which will probably be to go to Istanbul. Istanbul is  a city I’ve always wanted to visit from reading about it in one of my favourite books “The Journeyer” back when it was called Constantinople and I was still a youngster! 

From Istanbul I’ll go to Bodrum and then make my way towards Tracey & Jaques and their boat in Greece. After which I might go to Spain then back to good ole Blighty! 

Sri Lanka & India are booked the rest is a loose plan for the moment, but things can change! 

Last Thursday as I was on my way into the Sports Centre for a swim I managed to trip on a loose slap then did that ridiculous looking running, stumble forwards thing, before crashing onto the pavement. I felt an immediate pain under my left boob, but not really anything else, my hand and knee were a little sore but not much. Luckily nobody saw me! 

I continued into the sports centre, thinking I’d be ok, but feeling a little shaky and tearful. I decided swimming might not be a great idea, but perhaps sitting in the spa might help. I did this for a short while but was feeling not great, and still tearful, so I left and came home. Chris was home with a nasty cold and as soon as I got in I burst into tears. The pain under my boob was getting worse now the adrenaline had started to dissipate. 

After a couple of visits to the doctor and radiology, all organised and completed within a couple of hours it would appear that I have cracked a rib!  FML! 🤦‍♀️ 

It is painful to breathe deeply (which I have to do regularly to prevent a lung infection) and certain movements are very painful. I have been given some very strong pain meds, which I’m only taking 1/2 a tablet at night, which knocks me out then normal pain tablets during the day. All I can do is rest and wait for things to heal! It’s very annoying, I don’t like not doing stuff. However when I think I feel OK and start to move about too much then the pain kicks in! 

Some enforced rest won’t do me any harm, I might even manage to read a few more books! 

A big Thank You to Jane & Alice for all the really useful information on Sri Lanka & India, it was very much appreciated. 👍😘

That’s all for now people. Stay safe, stay warm. Have a great week.

❤️❄️💚📚💙🎄💛

Books read.

The Starless Sea. Erin Morgenstern. OMG! Absolutely stunning book, beautiful, magical. Such a wonderful book. She also wrote The Night Circus which is another gorgeous book. Thank you my gorgeous Georgia for the recommendation. ❤️❤️

Graves on the Fens. Joy Ellis. Another in the DI Galena series. Good. 

I’ve also been watching Top Boy. Loving it. 

Wednesday 23rd October  – Monday 11th November

Firstly, I apologise for being so slack in my blog writing! 

The last few weeks I have been resting, chilling and getting my head around my next journey/adventure.

It’s been great being here and watching the season change from spring towards summer. So many beautiful flowers everywhere and I have to say that Australia smells lush, I think it’s the eucalyptus trees and other fabulous herbal smelling plants and shrubs. 

Rebecca and Chris have been busy getting the garden ready for the summer, when they spend most of their time outside. Rebecca has been planting and germinating seeds, all of the plants, shrubs are native to Australia which means they not only look fab they also smell great! Chris is building a large TV cabinet outside, which is looking fabulous, the pool looks fab but is still a little too chilly for me, Chris goes in after his workout, brave man! 💙

Last week it was very warm around 29 degrees then it’s dropped back down to around 22-24, and still cool at night, which is lovely! It will steadily climb back upwards over the next month😍

I’ve been back to the pool and that’s going well. The pool temperature has been lowered, which I’m sure will be fabulous in the full summer heat but is a little nippy at the moment 🥶 It’s OK once you get going just the initial shock when you get in! (Still not as cold as Rebecca & Chris’s pool!) 

The pain I had in my glute, leg area seems to have gone away, although this might be due to less walking, however it’s nice to be free of it. 

Rebecca and I had a short little trip down to Margaret River at the beginning of November. It was lush!

We left early on Sunday morning to drive down to a small place on the coast called Dunsborough. I have been past it before but never stopped. We had booked a table at a little Café by the beach for breakfast/Brunch. Sora Café was lovely, very trendy, Instagramable & popular! 

The food was yummy, a slight Japanese vibe. 

Dunsborough beach was fabulous, pretty busy, but it was a Sunday morning. The beach wasn’t huge but had lots of sandbanks and shallow water for paddling. I thought it was very pretty, definitely somewhere to come back to in the summer. 

What’s really fabulous here is that the beach areas are so well maintained, and also very well protected. There are no beach bars or homes with direct beach access. The beaches are clean and looked after by everyone. There are clean, free toilets and showers just off the beach. 

This is a theme throughout Australia on the coast and at all of their national parks and places of interest. 

Rebecca and I had a walk along the beach then a drive through the town looking and admiring all the beautiful houses. I love that every house is different, old, new, big, small, modern, retro. 

From here we drove towards Margaret River and stopped at a Winery we have visited before which is beautiful and makes great wine! 

Vasse Felix was established in 1967 after studies revealed that the area around Margaret River had very similar climate to Bordeaux. Vasse Felix is the founding winery in the area. 

We enjoyed a glass of wine, Rosé for me and a Chardonnay for Rebecca. We had a look around the beautiful grounds and also at the exhibition in the gallery. 

The current exhibition was called IQTA24 Tjukurrpa on Fabrics. It showcases 12 artists from Ikuntji Artists. 

The artists have reimagined Dreaming Stories into fabric designs, as the designs are repeated down the length of the fabric, so too are the stories being repeated, strengthened and continued into the future. 

The designs and stories were amazing. 

After our lovely stop in Vasse Felix and a purchase of 2 bottles of delicious Rosé we drove into Margaret River and to our accommodation for the night. 

The accommodation was right in town and was a great little place on the ground floor with an outside seating area. Perfect for our 1 night. We dropped off our bags and then wandered into town. To be fair we only wandered about briefly before getting sidetracked by a sign offering free food with your drink purchase! An offer we simply couldn’t refuse.

The bar was a cute little Tapas place and you got a sample of Tapas with your drinks! 

We opted for a delicious coconut margarita to start…OMG 😍😋 So good! The little tapas dishes were yummy as well. We sat on the terrace watching the world go by chatting and chilling, we ordered a second drink, a Lemoncello Spritz, nice but not as good as the Coconut Margaritas! 

Opposite the bar was another bar, a more traditional pub, playing live music so we popped across to have a listen. Great music, covers of some classics, Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, some other cool tunes, all great fun. We stayed for a while then realised we were hungry, the little tapas dishes weren’t quite enough! The pub wasn’t serving food for another couple of hours, so we opted for a table picnic back at the hotel with some rosé. This turned out to be a brilliant idea as we were joined by a couple of Kookaburras! They were so cute and came quite close. My first close up since I’ve been here. I love Kookaburras and get very excited when I see them. 🥰😀 

We had a lovely afternoon and later that evening we wandered over the road and had a delicious Pizza! Altogether a fabulous day. 

We were up earlyish again on Monday morning as we had to leave the hotel by 10am and we were booked for lunch at another gorgeous winery called, Leeuwin Estate. 

We packed up and drove down to Prevelly and Surfers beach. I had visited this beach when I came down on my last trip to Margaret River.

It’s a stunning spot, the colours of the ocean are amazing. It’s in this area that they hold all the surfing competitions. 

There were a few surfers out and we also spotted a lone black dog waiting patiently on the beach for his human to come back in. It was so cute to watch him get so excited when that happened! 😍❤️ 

We also got a flash of a surfers bum whilst he was getting changed! 👍

We arrived at the beautiful Leeuwin Estate and were greeted by another Kookaburra! 

The Winery and its grounds are stunning. It’s one of the top wineries in the area and their set lunch was the reason Rebecca and I had come down.

I opted to do the wine pairing, which was $50/£25 which I thought was pretty good value. Rebecca wanted to try their signature, award winning Chardonnay, which was £22 a glass! The value of my wine pairing became apparent when the waitress explained that this Chardonnay was part of my wine pairing. 😍😀

The food was absolutely stunning, it looked and tasted amazing. The wines were delicious. The setting was beautiful, we even got a little bit of misty rain. The service was excellent. 

A truly wonderful experience to share with Rebecca. It was fabulous. 

I have been thinking about my next trip, having realised that Japan is not viable financially at the moment, I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go. I had a conversation with Tracey and she mentioned a couple of places that her and Jaques might be interested in visiting and that got me thinking. 🤔 

The result of this thinking, and of looking through the brochure that had the Japan tour in, amongst others I have decided to go to India! 🇮🇳 

I have always thought about India but I have been reluctant to go there as a solo female traveler, so the possibility of doing an organised tour solves that issue. I looked up lots of tours online and some of the tours in the brochure also looked great. I eventually found one online that was on offer and was 1/2 price! It looked fantastic. It was also through the travel agents here in Bunbury, Flight Centre. I made an appointment with the chap I’d spoken with before, Mathew and went over to book the tour. Mathew looked it up online and said, yes it was indeed 1/2 price but unfortunately I couldn’t go as the tour I’d found was for 18 – 35 year olds!! 😳 Bloody Gutted. How I missed that crucial piece of info (which was clearly stated on the details) I don’t know. Mathew then went through some other option’s and one of the tours in the brochure was on offer with 30% off. It covered pretty much the same itinerary so I went for it. It is a 15 day tour starting and finishing in Delhi. I also opted to pay the extra for my own room (it wasn’t too much) I have since spoken to a few people who have been to India and loved it, albeit with some horror stories (thanks Stretch! 😂) My current plan is to do the tour then stay in India for a few more weeks, possibly organise a Tiger Safari and then go down to Goa. 

The tour is booked for February and before that I am going to go back to Sri Lanka. I was last there in 2018 and I loved it. This time I hope to visit some of the places I didn’t get to and do some things I didn’t do before. It will also be a different season, so I should be able to go into the ocean this time.

I’ve booked my flights, booked some accommodation, I have managed to book the same homestay that I had last time in Negombo, Sri Lanka with the wonderful Family who looked after me so well and Buddi who organised a fabulous tour for me. It will be so lovely to see them again. All I need to do now is organise visas for both countries, which is something I hate doing, Cory, you can confirm that! 😊 But I don’t have Cory on hand to help this time, so I’ll have to be a big girl and just get on with it. 

So, that’s a plan in place, I feel a little better now I know what I’m doing. 

The beginning of November is always a tricky time for me, and I was feeling a little low and very homesick, missing everyone. But I am feeling more positive and focused now. 

If anyone has been to India before and has any tips or advice it would be gratefully received. The same for Sri Lanka. 

A few little quirky things to note about Australia. 

Rebecca & Chris’s home is just near a couple of schools, a Junior and a senior school. I drive past them every morning to take Rebecca to work. There is never a hold up due to large numbers of cars. Children are bused in or they walk, cycle. The other very striking thing to note is that the school fields, where the children do sports and play out, is not fenced. This is in stark contrast to British and American schools which are like secure compounds! 

Twice a year the local council organise a rubbish collection. What happens is you are given a time 2-3rd week of November, this is when the council will come and collect anything that you don’t want or need. Like, beds, sofas, BBQs, doors, fridges, clothes, bits of wood literally anything!  You simply place the items outside on the grass verge. People can come and peruse what you’ve put out and take it away if they want it, what’s left will be collected by the council! What a bloody great idea!! 

To be fair it looks a little messy for a week or so, but so what. 

Remember to let me know any ideas etc re India & Sri Lanka also any book recommendations.

Books read. 

The Controller. Matt Brolly. OK. 

The One Plus One. Jojo Moyes.  I enjoyed it. I was funny and a good read. 

Fear in the Fens. Joy Ellis. No 13 in the Detective Galena Series. An enjoyable series, and this one was a good read. 

I’m getting a bit slack on my reading! 

That’s it for now folks.

Have a great week.

Sending all my love to everyone especially Karen & Brenda. ❤️❤️

❤️🩷💛💙💚🤎🧡

Monday 14th – Wednesday 23rd October.

Leaving Hanoi and Vietnam was a little sad, it also ended up being a little hair raising as I appear to have had Lewis Hamilton driving my taxi!! 

Lewis Hamilton mixed with a bit of Del Boy, as he was also trying to get me to buy his dodgy looking US dollars from him, I politely declined. 

The road to the airport is a 4 lane highway and my driver was driving pretty fast whilst looking at both a music video on the dashboard, what looked and sounded like a Vietnamese soap opera on one phone and then chatting on another phone! There are people crossing the highway, cows grazing on the central reservation, trucks, cars, mopeds, buses, not really the time to be catching up on the latest episode of Corrie! 😱

Luckily I arrived in one piece at the airport and opted not to give the driver a tip!! 

I’m so glad I arrived just over 2hrs early for my flight as the queues were mad, I finally got checked in, my fault for forgetting to check in on line, the ‘bag drop’ queue was tiny! 

Once checked in and after a a bit of a discussion with the Vietnam Airways personnel re my seat allocation, which did not match what I’d been told when I booked the seats at Da Nang, I decided I would sort it out during my wait at Ho Chi MinhCity, I barely had time to have a wee before we boarded. 

The flight from Hanoi to HCMC takes approximately 90mins and during that time we were given a bottle of water and a meal of chicken noodles, which were very tasty, I was impressed. 👍

We were delayed on landing due to a huge storm over the airport which was still going when we landed after circling for 15mins. 

Upon landing I had to go from the domestic to the International Terminal, luckily they are close enough and there was a covered walkway as it was chucking it down! 

I was looking forward to a little break before the next flight as I wanted to video call the lovely Jenna for her Birthday 🎈and possibly have a drink and a chill before the next flight. 

This was not to be the case. The various delays had eaten into the stopover time and even though I was just transiting through HCMC myself and a few others needed to go through passport control and security again. This would have been ok, except the queues were horrendous! Even our attractive ‘Transit’ sticky badges didn’t seem to grant us any sort of fast track. Eventually we got through with again just enough time for a wee, no time to call Jenna and no time to sort out my seating issues, but Hey Ho, I’d just have to suck it up in a window seat (😩) it was only a 6 hour flight! 🤦‍♀️

I boarded last and found my seat, then a fabulous thing happened, the captain did his ‘crew close doors for takeoff’ speech and I had 2 empty seats next to me….😀😀 Bloody marvellous. 

The flight was fine, I was able to lie down a bit, unfortunately all three of the screens didn’t work, so no movies, the food was a bit pants but all in all not a terrible flight. 

I arrived back in Perth at 11.40pm passport control was a breeze. 

I then made the mistake of declaring some goods on my immigration card. I had bought some lovely peppercorns in Kampot, Cambodia, as well as some pickled peppercorns. I had put these on my declaration, I think because I have watched to many episodes of ‘Border Force’! 😂 

Stupidly I hadn’t put them in my backpack. The immigration staff in the main, were friendly and pleasant except the sour faced, miserable, rude old bag that I got! She was seriously unimpressed by my futile attempts to locate the small package of peppercorns in my case. After rummaging for what felt like hours I finally found them, hoicked them out triumphantly, presented them to her, she looked, pulled a face, waved dismissively and stomped off! 

Welcome to Australia! 😂 

I managed to contact my hotel and arrange for the shuttle to collect me. (This was more complicated than one would think!)

I arrived at the hotel just before 1am, I was a little tired and hungry. The hotel was clean, functional and pretty basic but it did have a welcome pack which consisted of a 1/2 bottle of good Red Wine, crisps, water and 2 Kit Kats!! How bloody marvellous 🤩 A much nicer Welcome! 

After a small glass of wine, a packet of crisps and a shower I was ready for my bed! 

My lovely Rebecca came and collected me the next morning, after a few detours due to dodgy phone charging and no internet, she was eventually shown where the hotel was by an old Italian Gentleman who got in the truck and directed her then said he’d walk back. How sweet. 

It was fabulous to see my girl again. 😍❤️

We headed into Perth for some Brunch and to collect my watch which I had left behind to have a new battery fitted. 

My watch is from Tiffany and I’ve had it for just over 20 years. When I’ve had the battery changed before or had anything done to it, it always gets cleaned and comes back looking like new. 

When we went to the store to collect it, the young girl retrieved it from the safe, it was in a little plastic bag, not in a beautiful blue box as it should have been! It also looked very dull, not shiny & new at all. 

I was a little disappointed but wasn’t sure if I should say anything for fear of seeming like a Karen (sorry Karen Clynes!) but in the end I did point out that this was well below their usual standard, she said that on the note it states that they couldn’t polish it due to the sort of watch it was. I explained that this was not correct. She was very sweet and then she called her manager, Russell, who I had dealt with before. He was very put out that the watch hadn’t been cleaned and polished so he said he would send it back and wouldn’t charge me for the cleaning or the battery! 😂😍 Happy Days. 

I have spent the last week or so just resting my legs, glutes, whatever it was that was hurting! And spending time with Rebecca, Chris & Curly the Cat, who did remember me! 😍

I have rejoined the Sports Centre and started swimming again. I didn’t really get as much swimming in on this trip, due in most part to the weather or not having access to a pool. I also get to use the spa which I’m hoping will help with my aches! 

I need to start thinking about and planning my next trip. 

I have said before that the plan had been to go to Japan & South Korea after Vietnam. I have looked into this in more detail while I’ve been here and I spoke to a lovely guy at the travel agents. It is looking likely that this trip will not happen at the moment. The costs are prohibitive, getting there isn’t too bad but the costs while there are very high. It would end up costing me for 3 weeks almost 1/2 of what I’ve just spent for 3 months! 😳 At this stage of my travels I can’t justify that expense. I’m a little disappointed, but also trying to be pragmatic. 

So I’m now looking at what and where to go next. 

I’m also looking forward to spending time here in Australia and our little trip away to Esperence in December with the fabulous Anita!! Then Christmas 🎄 Which will be weird to be in the heat and on the beach on Christmas Day and not in a Kitchin drinking champagne whilst cooking a roast! 

Rebecca and I are also heading down to Margaret River next week for a a night and a winery trip! 🍷🥰❤️😍

The weather here in Bunbury is really lovely, it’s Spring, so it’s getting warmer, but still not boiling. All the flowers and trees are blooming and it smells lush! 

I had a bit of a wobble at the end of last week, on Friday 18th when the Beautiful Laura married her fabulous Mark. 🎊❤️ 

Laura had sent a link for me to watch but unfortunately it stopped working just as they started to say their vows!  

I was absolutely gutted to have not been home for this wonderful wedding and to share in the love & excitement. I’ve seen lots of the photos and it looked like it was, as I knew it would be, a fantastic and amazing day. Everyone looked Gorgeous, especially Laura! Dress of Dreams! 🩷🎊🍾🩷🎊🍾

It made me feel very homesick and I realised how much I miss everyone. 

I’ve been away from home for 5 months and haven’t seen my Grantley for 6 months. I’m not expecting any sympathy, it’s my choice, but it can be difficult at times. 

That’s it for now people. 

Any suggestions for places to visit or books to read let me know!

Have a great week, enjoy Half Term. 

Love and hugs. 

🩷🩵💚❤️🤎🧡🤍❤️

Books Read.

The Book of Beginnings. Sally Page. Really good, I love this author. I feel like theses are proper ‘Stories’ (not sure if I’ve already put this one) 

Not a Happy Family. Shari Lapena. OK. Did its job. Not great, not bad. 

Never Lie. Frieda McFadden. OK, a little convoluted and improbable. 

The Dream Home. T.M Logan. Quite Good. 

Day One. Abigail Dean. Good. 

Thursday 10th – Monday 14th October 2024.

My flight to Hanoi was pretty straightforward & uneventful. I did my usual thing of arriving very early, this wouldn’t be an issue accept that the airport is very small and pretty basics so not really anywhere to go and sit while a wait for check in to open! 

After check in a find a little cafe and chill, with a coffee. The flight only takes an hour, and I know I’ve tried to avoid flights where possible but the thought of doing a 12 – who knows! Long bus journey was too much! 😳

I’ve arranged with the hotel to pick me up, it’s around the same price as a cab or Grab and it’s just lots simpler. 

I arrive at my hotel around 5pm. I’m greeted by the amazing William, who is just so attentive, helpful and kind. He explains all the attractions to me, goes through the map, then he also gives me a link to a website he is designing for tourists in Hanoi. I have to say it is fabulous! Not quite finished but so good..  www.hanoimystery.com 

I book a city tour for Saturday, check out my room, large, comfy but no windows, TBF in this instance I don’t mind at all. I am staying right in the heart of the Old Quarter and it’s so built up, my room is at the back and probably overlooks other peoples homes. 

I venture out, being mindful of the traffic. I’ve had lots of warnings about how mad it is! I think it’s busy but no worse than HCM or Phnom Penh. The key is to just slowly walk out into the traffic and the mopeds and cars go around you, you can’t go fast as that’s when they’ll hit you. So far I’m handling it like a local! 😂🤞🤞 

It’s so busy and vibrant! I love it. I have a walk around by the hotel, then find a nice rooftop Bar to have a drink, it’s a lovely bar, Cloud Sky Bar, but it’s a little expensive but then it is on top of a posh hotel! 

I have a couple of Margarita’s and then order some veg fried rice. Lovely William had recommended a place to eat but it’s a bit of a trek, perhaps tomorrow.

On the walk back to the hotel I stop at a sidewalk bar/cafe, there are loads. I sit next to a nice couple from Bristol and we have a great chat and sip our beer watching the world speed past! All these little pavement places have very low stools and tables, I’m pleased to say that I managed to both sit down and more impressively get back up without incident! 😳😂😂

Thankfully the weather in Hanoi is warm and sunny, it is Autum and a busy time here in part because the weather is milder than during the summer when it gets up into the 40s! 🥵

I’m going to go for a wander and make my way to the large lake nearby, Hoàn Kiém Lake. 

Just as I arrive in the lobby a procession is going past, lots of drumming, costumes, flowers and celebrations! It’s fabulous. It’s a celebration for the local temple which is just around the corner. The people in the procession look a little serious until I notice that the locals are waving and smiling at them, I try this and am rewarded with lots of enthusiastic waving and huge smiles! 😍💛❤️ It is a wonderful start to my day. ❤️

William has given me a map, which I’m trying to follow, but it isn’t very detailed and the scale is way off, so everything looks like it’s far away. I give up and just go with my instincts and magically make it to the Lake.

There is a beautiful Temple on the lake, Ngoc Son Temple which I wanted to see. 

The lake is a very popular place for Hanoians and especially for ladies wearing their ‘Ao Dai’ the modernised Vietnamese National Dress and taking part in the custom of dressing up and taking pictures at important, historic or beautiful places. The whole area around the lake is a sea of colour and beauty. The Ao Dais are stunning, and everyone looks gorgeous, it’s quite a spectacle. 

I’ve seen this in other places in Vietnam, but this is on a different level! 😍 Several ladies drag me into their photos, which is fun, I’m also surrounded by a bevy of beauties whilst sitting in a bench! I think they liked my colourful glasses and my mad hair!!  It was so much fun. 🤩 

I then went in to the Temple, which was beautiful. Inside there was an older Vietnamese man doing calligraphy on scrolls. I stood and watched for a while, it’s amazing. Eventually I decide that I’m going to have one done. I chose my words and the scroll and watch as he writes it. It’s really gorgeous. I chose the Words Brave & Strong. 🩵

I end up spending quite a bit of time by the lake. Then I see they have hop on hop off buses and as it’s now quite hot, I decide to do this. I want to go to one particular place, The Women’s Museum, which the bus stops at. The lady at the kiosk says it’s too far to walk.

I get on the bus and opt not to sit upstairs in the bright sunshine. Then a woman sits next to me and proceeds to have a full on argument with someone on her phone which is on speaker 🔈! FFS 🤦‍♀️. It’s so loud! Even the staff on the bus look shocked and smile at me sympathetically! Eventually, after about 10 mins she shuts up, I wouldn’t mind but I can’t understand what the arguments about, so I can’t even be nosy! 😂

The rest of the bus ride is good, a great commentary. 

A lot of the places we go past I’m going back to tomorrow on my tour. 

The museum is fascinating. So inspiring to have a museum celebrating Women and their contribution to the country, its culture and its freedom. I’m really glad I visited. 

Once I’m here I realise that it’s actually not that far to walk from the lake, so I walk back. 

Down by the lake and in fact all over Hanoi there are Vietnamese flags everywhere. This is because on the 10th October, the day I arrived, they celebrated 70 years of the liberation of Hanoi from the French. 

You can really feel the sense of celebration in the city, lots of the women’s Ao Dais are red, the flags, the flowers. They are rightfully proud of their independence. 🇻🇳 

On the way back I have another place I want to visit, Giang Cafè. This is where in 1946 they first made Egg Coffee, due to the shortage of milk someone had the idea to use egg yolk, whisked to form a creamy accompaniment to the coffee. 

Tracey had tried it and said it was yummy. I have held out until I got to Hanoi. 

I eventually find the Café, which is small and not that easy to spot. It is packed, I find a small stool and order my Egg Coffee with Rum! (I feel I’ve earned it!) I’m really a not sure what to expect. 

It arrives and it looks delicious, smells delicious, and wow, it tastes delicious as well! Kind of like butterscotch, honeycomb, caramel, sweet and fluffy. It is honestly so good!! 😋😋😋 I will be having this again! 

By the time I get back to the hotel it’s only 2.30pm, but I’m going to have a rest and cool off. Before going back out later. 

I seem to have done something to a muscle or tendon on my hip/glute area on the left side, after walking for a while it starts Twinging, and feels like my leg is going to give out! Not ideal. 🙁 After a rest it’s usually ok.

After a nice rest and a shower I head back out. There is another Rooftop bar I’d like to visit, mainly because they offer such great views! 

This one, Midnight Sky Bar proves to be a little elusive, I eventually spot the small sign with the help of a backpacker from the hostel across the road! 😂

The bar is sweet, but completely empty, the guy comes up in the lift with me to open up and make the drinks. 

I don’t mind it being empty, I have a great catch up with Rebecca whilst watching the sun go down, sipping a Long Island Iced Tea! ❤️

I wander back towards the hotel and find a place next door to eat. It does a nice vegetarian menu, it’s also right next door to the hotel, which my legs are grateful for! I’ve done over 20,000 steps today. 

My city tour starts OK, the bus arrives pretty much when they said 8.10, I’m ready and waiting in the lobby. 

However I then spend another 65 mins sat on the bus while it picks other people up, I don’t mind the pick ups what I do have a huge problem with is people not being ready! The pick ups should have taken around 15 mins the rest of the time we are just waiting for people to appear! So bloody annoying! Then they get on the bus brazen as you like! 

There are a couple of guys who are very arrogant and entitled. One of them is the designated leader of his little posse, they are only doing a half day tour and he wants the bus to drop them all of at his chosen Restaurant for lunch, even though this is completely out of the way! Luckily the guide says no. They are late returning to the bus after each activity and he pushes in front of me in line twice! What an absolute knobhead! 

There are new people joining the tour in the afternoon, which means another hour wasted waiting for people to turn up! 😠 Altogether nearly 2 hours of the day are wasted just waiting. For someone who is always on time, if not early this is really fucking annoying! 

Anyway, rant over! 😠😂 

The Tour. We start with a visit to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. What I hadn’t realised when booking the tour is that the Mausoleum is only open for viewing inside on Saturday & Sunday, luckily for me I booked a Saturday! 

The queues to get in are mad! As is the level of security. Almost stricter than airport security! There are lots of military personnel about, some armed and also lots of police. 

There is no photography allowed near or inside the tomb. The whole viewing was very intense. 

Ho Chi Minh or Uncle Ho is a most beloved and revered person in Vietnam especially in the north. 

He died in 1969 aged 79. Russia sent specialists to Vietnam to show them how to preserve his body and build the Mausoleum. 

I’m glad I got to experience the Mausoleum even though it’s a weird feeling seeing a preserved body.

After the Mausoleum our next stop was the Museum of Ethnology, which was very interesting looking at the 54 officially recognised ethnic groups within Vietnam. 

Once all the people bothered to return to the bus we headed to a place showing you how Lacquer work is made and giving you the opportunity to purchase some work. 

Then the painful process of picking up and dropping people off before we could go for a much needed lunch. 

I think I really needed my lunch as I was feeling a little cranky! 😂

After lunch we visited the Tran Quoc Pagoda on West Lake, the largest lake in Hanoi. 

Next stop was The Temple of literature, Văn Miêu. 

This was the first university in Vietnam. It was founded in 1070 under the Ly Thanh Tong’s dynasty to honour Confucius. 

It’s a beautiful temple with lovely grounds and students still come here to pray for luck in their exams and their studies. 

I really enjoyed this part of the trip, the area felt calm and peaceful. 

Our last stop was Hoa Lo Prison or as it was called by the US POWs, The Hanoi Hilton. 

This prison complex was built by the French in 1896 and housed Vietnamese political prisoners until the mid 1950s they used a guillotine to behead prisoners and placed the heads outside to instil fear and intimidation. 

American POWs were also held here during the Vietnam war, including Senator John McCain who was shot down over Hanoi. 

Another interesting place to visit, albeit a little gruesome.

All in all a good day seeing some key sites in and around Hanoi. 

I then get dropped off first! Hallelujah! 🙌 although it’s been a fair amount of sitting on the bus I’ve still managed 15,000 steps! 

I’m hungry, thirsty and a little tired. I spotted a great little local place up the road doing Pho! So I go there for my dinner, it’s a little early and I’m the only person there, but  hey Ho! My Pho is bloody delicious 🤤 pho Pho is essentially a variation of chicken noddle soup. If you don’t like coriander, then it’s not for you! 

Home, via the little ice cream place next door. Where an ice cream cone is 10,000 dong, about 60p! Sadly I only have 9,000 or a 100,000 note, so he lets me off the 1,000! 😍😍 

My last full day in Hanoi! It’s seems to have gone by quite quickly. 

I’m going to try and not go mad with the walking as my glute is still not right. 

I start with a nice slow breakfast, aided by the ever present and helpful William. 

It’s another sunny day so I’m going to take a slow walk down towards the Lake and visit St Joseph’s Cathedral, it’s in an area that looks busy and bustling. 

It is very busy! Loads of local people about on foot and on the ever present mopeds! 

The road around the lake is closed too traffic on weekends making it a pleasant place to stroll around. Lots of families having a day out, eating ice creams and dressed in their best clothes! 

I make sure today that I’m taking breaks, I have one by the lake over a refreshing Peach Iced Tea, then another wander and another stop for a beer! More wandering and a stop for a coffee! 

I grab a Banh Mai for lunch which I have back at the hotel and have a good chat to Tracey. ❤️

I go out pretty early evening to grab a beer and sit and watch Hanoi go by. I end up getting chatting to a very funny & entertaining English guy called Simon. He lives in Kuala Lumpur with his very beautiful wife, who is off getting a foot massage. He was great fun to chat with and we had a proper laugh! I then had my last meal, vegetable fried rice, obviously! 

A lovely last evening in Vietnam. 

I’ve absolutely loved my time here in Vietnam, it’s been so interesting and diverse and Hanoi has been a highlight! 

So I’ve traveled across 4 countries and now I need a little bit of R & R! 

Heading back to Australia today, fingers crossed the flights all time out ok, my first leg has already been delayed for an hour, but that’s good as it cuts my waiting time in Ho Chi Minh City. 

Have a great week everyone.

Happy Birthday to my beautiful friend Jenna. Have the best day. 🎉❤️🎉❤️

Books read.

Grave Talk by Nick Spalding. I enjoyed this, a bit of easy reading. 

The House of Mirrors. Erin Kelly. I started it, but was struggling to be interested. So gave it up! Might try again at some point. 

Sunday 6th – Thursday 10th October 2024

After some confusion about which hotel I was staying at, my bus eventually picked me up at 10am. Again, a really spacious and comfortable ride, the driver pointed out we even had massage chairs!! 😂 I didn’t get this ride all to myself, in fact it was full of a mixture of tourists and locals, some of whom I think had a deal with the driver independently as he picked them up and dropped then off at random places. The journey took around 3.5 hours and was overall pretty good. 

Hue, seems nice, wide streets, nice old buildings, not mad busy. 

My hotel is pretty central, and nice, quite big and seems to have a fair number of Australian tour guests. Once I’m checked in and booked a couple of tours with the hotel I head out to explore. Taking my trusty knackered umbrella as it’s drizzling! 

I walk down towards the river, The Perfume River, apparently it used to smell very lovely, sadly not anymore. There are some nice gardens alongside the river and I spot an art gallery, which I’ll go back to. 

I end up down in the centre where all the bars and restaurants are. Tracey had told me to check out a bar called “The DMZ” which I came across almost straight away. It looked busy and lively, so I thought I’d pop in for a beer. 

It was ‘very’ lively, full of Aussies all here to watch the National Final of the Australian Rugby League, NRL. I arrived just as the match started. 😂🏈🏈

I settled in to watch! It was a good game, with the Penrith Panthers beating the Melbourne Storm. The Panthers were wearing pink kits which I liked! 🩷 I ended up staying for a couple of beers, then a couple of margaritas, having a dance to ‘Country Roads’ with a very happy Penrith supporter! 😂 all in all an unexpectedly fun afternoon/evening😍

I have booked a half day tour to visit the Imperial Palace, the Pagoda and a short boat trip. The trip was a full day but the afternoon activities didn’t appeal, so I opted to finish just before they do lunch. 

The weather is less than ideal! Absolutely torrential rain, I feel my little brolly isn’t up to the task, so borrow a larger more sturdy one from the hotel. 

Our first stop is the Thien Mu Pagoda. This Pagoda was built in 1601 and it is beautiful, as are the gardens surrounding it. Lots of amazing Bonsai. Unfortunately on the short walk from the Minibus to the Pagoda I get completely soaked! Huge puddles everywhere, soak my shoes, the rain soaks the bottom of my trousers, trying to protect my bag, which has my phone (my camera) in means that my back gets soaked. I am literally soaked through! Luckily it is warm rain, but it is a little uncomfortable 😳 

But, it is what it is, nothing I can do about it, my clothes will dry, eventually! 

After the Pagoda it’s a boat journey down the Perfume River. I will admit to being a little nervous about getting on & off the boat, my track record on this isn’t great, especially in the rain. But, I bossed it! 😎 

The journey was pretty uneventful. The river isn’t used for trade, or even fishing, so there’s not a lot going on. 

From the river we make our way to the Imperial Palace and Citadel. 

Hue used to be the Imperial Capital of Vietnam. The Citadel contains the palaces that housed the imperial family as well as offices of state, gardens and buildings used for other important functions. 

After the end of the monarchy in 1945 the buildings suffered heavy damage and neglect during the Indochina wars from between 1945 – 1980. The grounds are undergoing restoration, the Kings Palace has been fully restored. 

It was a very Imposing site and I absolutely loved the grounds, especially the beautiful gardens. As impressive as the restored Palace was, it wasn’t my favourite bit, a little too shiny. 

I had started to dry out a little, which was nice! It was still raining but not heavily. After the Imperial Palace the next stop was the large central market. To be honest this was a bit of a waste of time, I’ve been to so many markets that this held nothing new. I left the tour at this point and had a nice stroll back across the river, during a dry spell. I stopped for a coffee and just as I sat down inside the heavens opened again!  

When the rain is heavy here, it’s next level heavy!! 

I simply sat, enjoying my coffee and reading my book! 📕💦🌧️💧

By late afternoon the rain has finally stopped so I head out into town for some early dinner. The area with all the bars and restaurants is an easy walk from the hotel and I’m sure it gets busy later, when I’m tucked up in bed! I’m back in my room by 6.30pm! I have a lovely catch up with Nikki and finish my book, which I’m loving. I have a big tour the next day so try and get an early night, but it just isn’t happening! I’m still awake thinking/over thinking 🤨 at 1.30am!  I must eventually go off as I’m in a lovely deep sleep when my alarm goes off at 6am!! 😫

Today’s tour is to the DMZ or Demilitarised Zone. This is the area that divided Vietnam into North & South and also the area that saw some of the worst fighting during the Vietnam War. 

There is a lovely couple from my hotel going on the trip as well, Jody & Dilesh who are from the Netherlands. There are also a few more Dutch people on the trip, as well as an Aussie guy, a Kiwi and his Vietnamese friend. It’s a really nice group. Our guide is called Hoa (pronounced qua) She is absolutely fantastic, so incredibly knowledgeable about everything. It’s quite a long drive to and between sites, but Hoa uses this time to explain the history behind the Indochina Wars, all 3. She also explains everything from a neutral perspective, but this is somewhat different to the perspective we usually get which is definitely biased towards the West, USA and non communist sensitivities. 

She also plays some interesting songs that are about Vietnam or anti war songs. Universal Solider, Born in the USA, Have you ever seen the Rain, Ken Sanh Song. This all adds to the mood. 

Our first stop is Quang Tri Citadel. This is the site of the a battle called Lam Som 72 the goal was for the Americans to capture or retake the Citadel, an area of only 2,000 square meters fighting went on for 81 days and the USA dropped 328,000 tons of bombs on the area. The site is now a memorial to the thousands of Vietnamese soldiers that died defending the site and whose remains were destroyed with the buildings. 

From here we drive alongside the Cam Lo river on Road 9, an important route that goes to Loas. This is also where large parts of the Hoh Chi Minh Trail are. 

Our next stop is at Khe Sanh Combat Base. This was a US Marine Corps outpost. It was built in 1962 and used until 1975. It’s not far from the border between Vietnam & Laos. 

Khe Sanh and whole area around here saw some of the most brutal combat of the War claiming lots of casualties on both sides. They still have old helicopters, Hueys, Chinooks and cargo planes & tanks at the base. 

It’s interesting to hear about the Vietnamese soldiers, the Viet Cong, NFL or LA from a different perspective. America poured huge amounts of $ into the war and used massive amounts of bombs and arms. The Vietnamese had less money so they fought back in a much more low tech way, making use of the terrain, collecting and repairing abandoned US equipment. When you see the area on a rainy day with the rivers flowing fast and thick mud everywhere I can’t begin to imagine how it felt for a young American boy to arrive and be expected to fight an unknown enemy in a completely alien environment for some vague political reasons! 

The more I see, hear & understand about the Vietnam War the more tragic and hideous it becomes for all of those involved. 

The weather on the trip was very changeable! We were so lucky that every time we arrived at a destination, the weather cleared!

When we arrived at Khe Sanh you could barely see anything, there was mist and cloud covering the whole site, this miraculously cleared and you got to see the mountains surrounding the site. 

From Khe Sanh we travelled up into the DMZ and the bridge that crosses the Ben Hai River. Half of which was in North Vietnam, painted blue and half in South Vietnam, painted yellow. 

The flag pole on the north side still remains but the one on the south side has been taken down! The flag is huge! During the conflict the flag poles were used to make a point, getting higher and higher, until the one of the North side reached 38 metres. 

It’s an interesting place to visit, It just didn’t feel very well looked after. 

From here it was a short drive to the Vinh Moc Tunnels. 

These tunnels were made by the villagers, to protect them from the ariel bombing. There are 100s of these tunnels all over the region. 

They are on 3 levels, 8 – 10 meters, then 12 – 15 meters the third level is 20 – 23 meters. Inside the tunnels they had a meeting rooms, a surgery room, a nursery, kitchens and toilets. 

In total 17 babies were born in the tunnels, 15 of whom are still alive today. The tunnels were used between 1966 – 1971 the villagers would go into the tunnels during bombing, in total 9,000 tons of bombs were dropped in the Vinh Moc tunnel area. 

The height and width have been expanded since then to accommodate us larger tourists! But it’s still pretty poky and very hot 🥵 I can’t imagine being down there for days on end, but people were, it’s what saved their lives. 

The excavated earth was transported during the night to be dumped into the sea, or placed into bomb craters to hide any evidence of the tunnels construction. 

It was fascinating to visit, I can’t say I enjoyed being in the tunnels, but glad that I did it. The photos from inside aren’t great, as I was holding an umbrella, using my phone as a light and trying not to slip or hit my head! 

The whole day was incredibly interesting and I learnt a lot. 

It was also lovely chatting to and getting to know Jody & Delish. Jody is a little claustrophobic and she managed to do the whole tunnel tour! Kudos to her. 👍❤️

By the time I got back I was thirsty and hungry. I decided to just go to the hotel restaurant, but when I got there they had a big party of people and not many staff, so I figured I might be better off heading out, which I did, much to the dismay of my aching feet! 😃

I had a celebration cocktail to mark the 1 year anniversary of my meeting with a Rosemary Bush! 😂 which involved a child’s party, Prosecco, Jack Daniels (or possibly not!) and a strategically placed Rosemary bush! 🤪💚😂 I blame Stephanie!! 😂

I spent my last full day in Hue just mooching about. I had a nice leisurely breakfast (not the best I’ve had) and started writing my blog, which always takes longer than I think! 

It was raining, surprise, surprise ! 😳 I waited until it stopped then made my way across the bridge to the Central Market. I knew that upstairs they had lots of ladies making clothes and I needed my favourite trousers repaired. They have elasticated bottoms and the it had gone in one leg, plus one of the seams was coming loose. 

It made a change to be walking in the sunshine, even if it was only for 10 mins! 

On the way I popped back into the Gallery that I’d seen on my first day.

Once I got to the market I made my way to the second floor and spoke to one of the ladies, I explained what I needed, after convincing her I didn’t need a new dress, a new jacket or any trousers, even if she did have then in a ‘Big Size’! 😂 she took my hand and led me through the many many stalls and pointed down the stairs and told me to go down then out! 

I did as she said, asked another older lady, who also took me by the hand and led me outside the building, along the path then through an old doorway and up some dark and dodgy stairs into a room full of people sewing! 

Another lady came over, I again explained and showed her what I needed, for some reason she seemed thrilled about this! She gave my trousers to a nice gentleman who wasn’t sewing anything and told me it would be 50,000 dong (approx £2) she then hugged me, twirled me round hugged me again, grabbed my hand and led me back down the stairs! 😂😂 it was all very odd but very funny!! 

I so wanted to get a photo of the room with all the sewers in but I felt it would be rude. I returned in an hour to collect my perfectly repaired trousers, I paid him 100,000 and everyone then all started saying bye and waving at me! 😍❤️❤️

After this I walked back across the river, grabbed a coffee, a delicious Cafè Moui, sat out a brief downpour then returned once again to the hotel to finish writing and to book my next accommodation.

For my last evening in Hue, I’m going to have a ride on a Cyclo. 

There is an old guy outside the hotel who has asked me if I want a ride at least twice a day since I arrived, so today I’m going say yes! 

When I get outside there are 3 guys, the lovely old guy and 2 younger guys. I ask for him, he looks very pleased. 

After a lot of discussion, Google Translate and help from the concierge we finally figure out where I’m going and how much! 😂 I’m literally just going down the road but even then I feel guilty being ferried around by a guy who looks 112! 😳 But he’s happy, it’s fun so I just enjoy it and when we arrive I pay him double, which is still only £3! 

So, I’m leaving Hue tomorrow and going to Hanoi for 4 nights. 

I thought I might go from Hanoi to Japan or possibly somewhere else, Chiang Mai, Phuket, for a couple of weeks of chilling. However the weather in SE Asia is pretty wet in most places and I have far too much stuff to take to Japan. 

So my decision is to return to Australia and stay at Rebecca & Chris’s for a little while and then plan a Japanese trip, with less luggage! And my onward travel from there. 

I think it might also be nice to stay in one place for a couple of weeks! 😍 And I get to see my beautiful daughter. ❤️

That’s it for now guys. 

Have a great week. 

💛🤎🧡💛❤️🤎🧡❤️

🎉 🩷A very Happy 5th Birthday to the Beautiful Clementine! 🎉🩷

Books read:

Random Acts of Heroic Love. Danny Scheinmann. An excellent book. I loved everything about it. 

Thank you Jane for a great recommendation! ❤️❤️

Please keep your book recommendations coming.