Family Blog

We do enjoy a good cruise. Summer 2019 saw us cruising in Europe, from UK, via Norway, Sweden and Estonia to St. Petersburg, and then back via Finland and Denmark. The travel pics are going in the travel blog - but here we are playing dress-up!

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Another adventure! Having enjoyed our Zip in Haiti, and knowing we would be in Wales, I booked us on "Velocity" the longest zipline in Europe and the fastest in the world! Located in the slate mountains of North West Wales, it was a long drive for a very short ride - but also a great experience!

It is extremely rare that we get to go out with members of the family - so when a 50's/60's music show passed through Telford, we persuaded my brother and sister-in-law to join us. It would just happen to turn out to be the same night as a World Cup England game.. poor Stevie! Fun show though - plenty of "singing along" !

Christmas saw us taking Shanhong's parents on a Princess cruise from Singapore. Generally, we had fun, but unfortunately, this cruise will be forever remembered for bad seas and a LOT of sea-sickness - we spent half the journey on a lower floor as our own room was swaying too much to cope! I was fine - but the rest of the gang were suffering!

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Always keen to try new things, we had our first trip in a Hot Air Balloon. As you'll see from the pics - all went well. It's amazing just how big the balloon is - and, in comparison, how small the bucket is! If you are interested - I can thoroughly recommend this company - they were fantastic. http://hotair-balloonrides.co.uk/
Remember, clicking on any pic opens the complete gallery.

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A nice holiday in the north of devon saw us horse-riding, clay-pigeon shooting, and staying in some quirky accommodation! Very "us" !

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A visit to UK would not be the same without visiting family - so we had mini trips over to see Lynn & Chris (and Kimberley) and to see Stephen & Christine. We did see David & Teresa too - but obviously forgot to take pics! A big welcome to the latest niece... Scarlett Olivia Darcy Hughes!

We also got the keys for the apartment we bought to rent out - so were in to tidy up after the last owners pretty much trashed it - and Shanhong got her first taste of painting!

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Pennywell Farm is a delightful little farm in South Devon, meant for little children, where you can cuddle baby pigs, watch pigs racing, play mini-golf, and ride on the back of a tractor. A place ideal for 5-year olds, and hence perfect for Shanhong and I - yes, we loved it!

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Although Shanhong's dad is in his 80s and mum not far behind, they surprised us this year by announcing they would not be staying in Beihai for Christmas/New Year, but would be going to Hainan island. A bit of probing later and we discover they had bought a new apartment!

So. after Christmas in our own place in Beihai, we joined them for the start of their new adventure, arriving in their new, but empty apartment in a small town on the island of Hainan. Within the first two days we had deliveries of furniture to be built, items ordered online, items shipped from Beihai, contractors trying to finish various bits of plumbing and electrics, internet, electricity and gas to arrange.... and hence a busy time. The pictures here, however, hopefully show all went well, and they have a beautiful place with a fantastic sea view!

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Routines have returned – life is busy at school, as always, and with my course. We did reinstate the ‘Saturday Walks’ – this is a chance to simply go out into the Singapore countryside. So, these pics cover two Saturdays – a
treetop walk in one of the many national parks, and a trip to the Turtle Museum inside the Chinese Gardens – both
great places when the sun is shining!

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