To The Manor...

Just spent a very smashing night at Charingworth Manor, sandwiched between spending time in and around the really lovely and quite charming Chipping Campden. My wife really is fantastic (she made the booking), and with all that is going on at the moment, it was great to just be away from home.  It made for a very Happy Easter!

What a Difference a Year Makes...

01-01-08: New Zealand

01-01-09: Home

and in between, got married, went to France, went to Thailand, started a new job... It was good.

Political Honeymoon (Part II)...

In the end, we got home exactly as planned: a flight from Krabi to Bangkok, a couple of hours at the airport there, and an onward flight to Heathrow, bags checked all the way there.

So was it worth all the unease, a couple of 20 minute conversations with Eva Air in Taiwan and the contingency plans B, C, D and E that we came up with but never put into play?

Well, we were extremely lucky: there was a huge queue at Bangkok of people hoping to get onto flights home, who we really felt for. We were fortunate that everything was back in operation that day: ours was the first morning flight out from Krabi to Bangkok and if we would have been travelling the day before, we'd have been on the overnight bus. And it was fantastic that the Suvarnabhumi Airport authorities managed to get things back to normal operation so quickly after they gained control of the airport, especially as there had been fears that this could take weeks.

So for us, it all ended well, and we were so glad we managed the complete stay at the last hotel as planned, as it was by far the best of an excellent holiday/ honeymoon...

Political Honeymoon...

We missed getting stuck at Bangkok airport by a matter of hours when the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) overtook it on Tuesday 25th November. Since then we have had an interesting wait whilst we try and find out how and when we could get home.

First all flights were cancelled indefinitely; then some were going from U-Tapeo, a military airbase 150km outside of Bangkok, although we weren't sure if this included ours and thus when we would be able to get home. Now we know our flight is going from Bangkok as planned, but instead of the easy transfer flight from Krabi on the day, we are not sure if we will need to leave a night early and get an overnight bus so that we can make the check-in that is currently taking place at the Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre (BITEC) rather than at the airport.

Theoretically it is great: you get to stay in Thailand indefinitely, a wonderful and beautiful place with huge amounts to see and do. But we have a real life we need to get back to, and not knowing how things will work out means we have had trouble creating alternate plans and working out the when and wheres. This hasn't led to stress exactly, but more to an uneasiness over the last week or so.

We get to make our final decisions on what to do tomorrow morning: a one hour flight or a twelv hour bus ride. It has been an interesting honeymoon at least...

Storms Over the Ardèche...

If I ever write a thriller, a Mills and Boon, or a made for TV movie, this is what it will be called. Lovely place, very easy to get lost though, so if you go walking around the gorges, make sure you take a map...!

"Lets go to Brighton for the Weekend..."

A top weekend with friends: too many for the Frenchman's one bedroomed flat, so camping in a field with the facilities consisting of a tap was the accommodation. It did mean that an excellent fire could be built though...

And then extending the weekend with a tour of the area was cut a short due to rain, but we stayed at Ye Olde Smugglers Inne on Sunday night in the very pleasant little village of Alfriston which was great: especially good was waking on a monday morning knowing you don't have to go to work...

ps. the title is of course a quote from the excellent Bloc Party track Waiting for the 7.18, which I couldn't stop singing in my head all weekend...

On 'Holiday'...

For posterity, this is the note that was on the doctor's prescription for malaria tablets from when we went to Vietnam. I just love the punctuation that says so much...

Life in a Northern Town...

I do miss the place and it is great to go back there. The location is great; the scenery beautiful; and most importantly, the people are absolutely fantastic.

No regrets really about leaving: things change and sometimes it is time to move on. And I am happier with what is going on in my life these days (for obvious reasons). But mostly I miss the people. They are a fantastic bunch and I should make the effort to traverse the 160 miles more often...