As we travelled from London to Suffolk the refrain of "Jerusalem" played over and over in my head. The landscape was indeed a 'green and pleasant land'.  We spent a wonderful few days staying with Cynthia and Martin Parry, in their a 16th century farmhouse - "Dairy Farm", St Andrews, Suffolk - just south of Norwich in East Anglia.
The low ceilings were quite a challenge for Johno. He was slow to learn, and hence lost a few layers of skin off his head!
While staying with Cynthia and Martin we did some fabulous day trips - to Southwold with the colourful beach huts (that are selling for up to GBP140,000 EACH), and to Dunwich where we had a delicious pub lunch. We walked along a blustery beach, to Orford Ness with its historic military installations, and to Norwich with its impressive cathedral, castle, downtown arcades, and the Sainsbury Centre at the University of East Anglia.
 Thank you, Cynthia, Martin and Charlotte, for a wonderful, and all-too-brief, visit.
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 In Toowoomba, practicing for our upcoming trip to Paris. Thanks to Diane and Harry for the parasol. We went to Toowoomba to visit Johno's granddaughter, Cassandra. She is studying for a BA in performing arts and marketing at the University of Southern Queensland.
I was impressed with Toowoomba, including its greenness and picturesque gardens.
 One of Johno's dreams finally came true when we flew on an Airbus A380 from Singapore to London.
 One of the many highlights of our visit was two days of sailing on Joanne and Matt's (and Rosy's) beloved "Easy Beat", a spacious and well-equipped catamaran.
We sailed on the Broadwater, an inland waterway that stretches from the Gold Coast to north of Brisbane, anchoring overnight at a scenic and sheltered location.
 We have started another two months of travels - first a week in Paradise Point (near Surfers Paradise, Australia) with Johno's daughter and family, followed by the UK (Suffolk and Scotland), France (Paris, Albi in the French Pyrannees, and two weeks on a self-drive barge in southern France), Italy (Lake Como, including a few days in Bellagio), Slovenia (a week in the spa town of Lasko) and almost a week in New York City. As you can see, we are travelling lightly, despite the many seasons and the many levels of formality we will experience. After a brief stopover in Auckland and a catchup with Johno's son AJ and his partner, Debbie, we headed to Brisbane. We were met by Joanne and her husband, Matt. They drove us to their home in Paradise Point, which is just north of Surfers Paradise.
The following day, Monday, we drove to Byron Bay, where we enjoyed a wonderful seafood lunch, and took in the views of the bay (left) as well as the impressive Lennox Beach (right).
Tuesday evening was memorable for several reasons - we met our new grandson, Harry, for the first time; and we caught up with three couples, two of whom had previously lived and worked in Rarotonga. The wife of the other couple had worked with me in Auckland - 55 years ago!
We drove into Brisbane today, to visit Johno's grandson, Matthew, and his girlfriend Kayla.
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CategoriesHelen says.....I am addicted to travelling - my bags are always packed! Archives
September 2016
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