Category Archives: Travel

“Such stuff as dreams are made on…”

Twenty five feet from the sea squats a small, thatched hut with a veranda from which we step straight onto the sand. A traveller’s dream destination, fittingly labelled ‘Play House,’ we happily make a temporary home in this cosy little … Continue reading

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Inside Out in Akaroa

Gardening is not usually my bag. My mother has the green fingers, and the tendency to arrive home with clippings from friend’s gardens, Botanic Gardens, woodland or verges. But I do appreciate other people’s efforts, and I can name a … Continue reading

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Villa Escudero

It was our daughter’s birthday last week, and with our men folk off about their own business, we decided a Mother/Daughter road trip might be fun. We packed the car and headed south for her favourite spot: Stilts, in Calatagan, … Continue reading

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Hiding Out at The Henry

The behemoth that is December in the Philippines had descended on Makati like a tidal wave. Cars rolled doggedly down EDSA and Ayala Avenue, bumper-to-tailgate, like an insuperable lava flow. Every shopping mall was seething with excited shoppers walking four … Continue reading

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Amuse Bouche

‘New Zealand’ suggests sheep and hobbits and rugby. It whispers of kiwis – birds and fruit – and an on-going feud with Australia as to who invented the pavlova. It rumbles about earthquakes and volcanoes.  It mumbles Sauvignon Blanc and … Continue reading

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Snapshots of Japan

A clean and helpful clockwork world where a pair of missing glasses is located and returned before panic sets in. A lavatory with a heated seat, an in-built bidet, a video screen and a sound system that provides the noisy gush … Continue reading

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“Selamat Datang!”

“I loved the heat. Hot, hot and then all the rain. It rains, you know, nearly every day in Malaya… It comes down in sheets, in buckets, nearly every day around the same time for an hour or two. And … Continue reading

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An Inn of Distinction

The Victoria is a glorious little boutique hotel tucked away down the narrow suburban streets of West Temple Sheen, just the other side of Richmond Park in London. Obediently, we followed our GPS off the motorway and onto the not-so-beaten-track. … Continue reading

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Ducks are A-Dabbling III

A Thames Valley Journal: Part 3 “In it’s unbroken loveliness this is, perhaps, the sweetest stretch of all the river…” ~ Jerome K. Jerome Day 6: Marlow to Maidenhead Before we left the Vicarage, we popped into the Church-next-door, All Saints … Continue reading

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