9th June 2025 Hi I had two main reasons for visiting Madeira. Firstly, I had never visited it and secondly, because it is a scuba diving destination. Additionally, it's part of Portugal, which I've visited four times in the last decade and it continues to grow on me as a country which is beautiful, interesting, welcoming and better value than most major European countries. In summary, I spent three days diving from Santa Cruz and two days sightseeing in Funcha...

22nd May 2025 Hi, Headed north on May 21st and drove to Kyle of Lochalsh where I bunked overnight. Scotland was at its' most beautiful on a perfect sunny day for travelling out west. Loch Lomond, Rannoch Moor, Glencoe and all the other main locations along the A82 had their best clothes on. The attraction on this particular trip was a sail around Raasay and the Crowlin Islands on the world famous Waverley paddle steamer, the last ocean going paddle steamer in ...

30th May 2025 Hi I was inspired to visit Skiathos by an article I read in the Jet2 magazine a couple of years ago highlighting a solo holiday there. I hadn't visited Greece since Rachel's 50th birthday which was in Crete about fourteen years ago. On my eight previous visits to Greece I hadn't been in this part which is located in the Sporades archipelago to the east of the Greek mainland. On 1st May I drove to Manchester and caught up with sister Rachel and ...

6th November 2024 Hi, This brief blog is an accompaniment to the photos I took whilst in Northumberland for a three day trip with brother Donald, sister Rachel and brother in law Brian. It was the last chance to catch up with Donald prior to his return to New Zealand. It also ticked a few items on my retirement bucket list, namely Lindisfarne and Bamburgh. Wednesday October 30th It was a two and a half hour drive from Glasgow to Alnwick where we met up for lu...

23rd October 2024 Hi, This is just a quick note to accompany the recently posted photos of time spent in Scotland with family from New Zealand. August 29th-31st You can see from my previous blog that the wider family spent a week in Portugal in early September. Prior to that, my brother Donald, who I hadn't seen for five years, had come up to Scotland. We had a great day trip on 29th August to St Andrews, visiting the Royal and Ancient Club for lunch and bein...