Pembrokeshire June 2016

It was a long drive from Suffolk to Walton West but it was worth it to be back in Pembrokeshire and staying at the Tree Tops Bungalow.

It is a short walk down into the village of Little Haven with its three pubs. We visited each and had a particularly good meal at The Swan.

Below: Sitting at The Point Little Haven and looking towards Broad Haven beach. Good weather at the start of our visit! 

Below: Great views towards Broad Haven from the Tree Tops bungalow, which is a very well appointed holiday rental - Sky TV and a pool table!

A day out in Tenby and a beach that holds its own with the best of them, despite the lack of tropical weather.

The famous Equinox!

A walk from West Dale beach, round St Ann's Head, picnic in a field and back to Dale. Marvellous!

Just before sunset on Broad Haven beach.

Onzain - Loire Valley

5 April 2016: Flew Stansted to Tours, one hour and five minutes via Ryanair, who used to have a poor reputation but I can't fault them. Tours airport is small and one usually walks straight through. However, heightened security procedures meant that it took about ten minutes to get into the fresh French air.

Weather warm on our arrival but for the remainder of our stay it was no warmer than in England. We enjoyed trips to the marvellous Chateau de Chenonceau, built above the Loire, and lunches in superb family run restaurants in the countryside.

Australia February-March 2016

We flew from Melbourne to Adelaide, a flight of just over an hour. After a enjoyable day in the city and an overnight stop, we drove down through beautiful countryside to Cape Jervis for the ferry to Kangaroo Island.

The island has abundant wildlife, including 100s  of Australian Sea Lions  at Seal Bay:

Koalas are a species introduced to Kangaroo Island and we saw a few, including a male adult outside our room one evening at American River.

This chap is not venomous but I almost trod on a black king snake when we visited Dudley Wines!

Driving is a pleasure on Kangaroo Island - straight and traffic free roads. However, you have to watch out for sunbathing goannas and at one point we had to stop because a mother kangaroo and its joey were sat in the middle road. They only moved on the toot of a horn.

Below is the beach at Red Banks where I had a marginal encounter with a shark.

Admiral's Arch. There are about 7 000 New Zealand fur seals in total here and around the rest of the western coast of Kangaroo Island.

The 'remarkable rocks':

 Like a Dali painting.

Antechamber Bay and yet another beautiful, deserted beach.

Dudley Wines Cellar door - a lovely lunch and a meeting with a snake!

After six great days and nights on Kangaroo Island we got the ferry beck to the mainland and drove along the Fleurieu Peninsula to Victor Harbour where we stayed at a fabulous B&B just outside the town - Austiny.

A visit to Goolwa and the Coorong National Park at the mouth of the Murray River:

Granite Island at Victor Harbour also has some remarkable rocks. We did not see any penguins or seals but did find this skink sat on a path:

Following our return to Melbourne we hired another car for a trip to Lorne on the Great Ocean Road. Lorne: A lovely place and our tree top cottage suited us fine. The cockatoos liked it too, as you can see...

Are you coming in or what?

We went Platypus spotting at dusk on Lake Elizabeth near Forrest. It was like looking for the Loch Ness Monster! We managed a few glimpses of the elusive creatures. A landslide blocked the river in 1952 and thus the lake was formed and some of the trees perished. No idea where the platypus came from. A beautiful place, as you can see...