Juanita with a wild pony
Having our final dinner before returning to Australian with Fraser & Penny in Wimbourne
Colehill Post Office up the road from Penny & Fraser
Adam, Norman, Lynda & Juanita having dinner at the infamous Bodmin Jail. Bodmin jail was one of the highlights of our trip, it was an extremely creepy place & haunted. The Doomsday Books & crown jewels were kept here. It fell into disrepair over the ages & it has now been purchased by Steve who is turning it into a very scary tourist attraction!!
Adam
We visited Adams Dad & his wife Lynda down in Cornwall, England. We were fortunate to be able to stay in their ancient converted cow shed which was just adjacent to the main barn. The walls were solid granite with exposed beams & very cosy with central heating for the cool climate. We had a great time down in Cornwall catching up with Norman & Lynda. Andy also made the trip over from the USA so we could all catch up, it was great to see him too. 
South Barn Cornwall, a solid granite converted barn near Bodmin. This barn is apparently named in the Doomsday Book & this is where Norman & Lynda settled for a time, they have now sold up & moved to Dorset. It was fortunate that we were lucky enough to enjoy Norman & Lynda's hospitality before it was sold. Thanks for making our stay a very memorable one.
Left: Lovely Lynda cooking up a storm in her very rustic & charming kitchen.
The converted cow shed that Adam & I stayed in, it was very charming & comfortable
This was inside, thick granite walls & exposed beams it even had a more than adequate kitchen.
Part of the garden behind our accomodation
The Eden project...not far from Adam's dad
You would not know it was freezing outside this lush tropical artificial jungle
We were very surprised to see thick layers of pollution in the early mornings in a relatively rural setting.
This would have been possibly the best photo that we took on our holiday...not far from Adam's dad's Barn.
Adam celebrated his 45th birthday in style at the local Roley's on the Ridge. A lovely rustic restaurant where some lovely Western Australian wine was consumed. Adam thanks family for the cards which were opened on the day. We are looking forward to spending some time together to be able to watch a new DVD set that has been added to our collection of the Rollingstones (set of 4 !)...Cheers 
Nana Mouskouri eat your heart out!
Juanita accepting her award from the University Chancellor
What is next you ask? Who know's maybe PhD ...^%#$%%^!!
Teddy, a graduation present from Adam all done out in regalia
The Chancellor paid tribute to the long suffering family members of academics, many relationships fail in the quest for knowledge...Juanita Doffs her Mortar board to Adam who has suffered the academic journey since 2003 & survived!
Professional photography was taken of the event, which will be posted at a later date.
Adam tuning up before the big jam session!
"Smoke on the Water"
Sarina is doing well, she has been working for Nadia part time & also doing some work for Adam & Juanita. She was learning the drums up until recently. It seems she has been suffering vertigo & tinnitus...the doctor has told her she has 30% hearing loss...that's the end of the drums. It looks like she is loosing her hearing like her Grand Mother, Great Grand Mother & possibly mother (not confirmed yet...to scared to have the test!).Jordan is growing up fast. He's a very active 3 year old, he has produced some very nice artworks for his Nanni. When digital pictures have been taken of them they will be posted to this site. The latest is he is a bit unwell, suffering a few mouth ulcers for not eating his veges!
Jordan having fun on Noono's boat...Christmas Day 2006. More pictures to come...
Adam is in top form, working in rehabilitative mental health. He is looking forward to the December cruise from Beijing in China. His lesiure time is spent relaxing, pottering around our extensive garden & being bullied by Jag the Rottweiler.
This is part of our garden that we fiddle around in. We have a 3rd of an acre, the house takes up most of the property. The garden is fairly low maintenance since we have started a mulching regime from when we moved in. The whole area is irrigated which also helps.
Above is poor old Tyson. As you can see from the image he is not looking too good at 8 years old. He got into a scrap & suffered a laceration which had to be sutured. Unfortunately in July 2007 we had to have him put to sleep, ongoing infections & arthritis affecting his mobility could not be resolved ...RIP Tyson old boy.
Now we have Jag the Rottweiler & young Panzer left. Adam rescued Jag from a family who had a very small backyard & very young children who could not go outside as Jag is a very heavy boisterous dog. He is really in his element here with a 3rd of an acre to run about with company 24/7. He is a fiercely loyal protector & God help anyone foolish enough to come over the front wall!
Disaster struck only last week. Panzer suffered a torn cruciate ligament. We were bracing ourselves to have Panzer euthanised. The surgery for this injury is very expensive. Panzer has already been an expensive dog. There were lots of tears and debates over the weekend this month. Adam could not stand to have her put to sleep so we had to book her in for surgery yesterday, as you can see from the image shes not too happy, the leg is very sore & she must remain confined for 2 weeks. Updates in 2 weeks time...
It was not until after we had booked the cruise & had paid for it that we realised we had taken a picture of the same ship in Sydney Harbour earlier in the year.
We are now counting down...after the cruise we will post our review & pictures to this blog...
This is our Itinerary
16 NIGHTS BEIJING TO BANGKOK - SAPPHIRE PRINCESS
DAY PORT ARRIVE DEPART
04 Dec 07 Beijing (Tianjin), China - Embark
05 Dec 07 At Sea - -
06 Dec 07 Nagasaki, Japan 12:00PM 6:00PM
07 Dec 07 At Sea - -
08 Dec 07 Shanghai, China 7:00AM 6:00PM
09 Dec 07 At Sea - -
10 Dec 07 Okinawa, Japan 7:00AM 2:00PM
11 Dec 07 Taipei (Keelung), Taiwan 9:00AM 6:00PM
12 Dec 07 At Sea - -
13 Dec 07 Hong Kong, China 8:00AM 6:00PM
14 Dec 07 At Sea - -
15 Dec 07 Nha Trang, Vietnam 9:00AM 6:00PM
16 Dec 07 Ho Chi Minh City (Vung Tau), Vietnam 7:00AM 7:00PM
17 Dec 07 At Sea - -
18 Dec 07 Singapore 8:00AM 5:00PM
19 Dec 07 At Sea - -
20 Dec 07 Bangkok (Laem Chabang), Thailand Disembark
Click this link to see a YouTube of the ship
Sapphire Princess Leaves Sydney: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d56iwjEcQms&mode=related&search=
There has been another development. We have come across another amazing cruise on the Ledgends of the Seas. Rome to Singapore 27 days 2008. Looks like this could be our next cruising highlight, there is a strong possiblity we may place a reservation on a cabin on this cruise this week!
Itinerary 2008
http://www.go.cruising.com.au/util/doc.jsp?n=Legend20BrochureLR2_118707541509559.pdf
