Christmas

Dinner for 11 people in Falmouth, cooked by Simon with help from the house mates: Nutgrove:Night out in Cassidy's:

At Simon's Mums:xxx Roz

Georgie's Day Out in St. Ives:

Staring:

Louise, Kevin, Simon, Roz, Derry, Geffery, Piglet &

Georgie

xxx

Hello hello. Our mental summer here in Cornwall has finally come to an end so myself and Simon have managed to find time off work together for a little holiday. After very little planning we booked flights to Croatia and before we could say "Govorite li engleski?" our private jet had landed in Zadar. Following a recommendation from a friend of Simon's we headed straight for the Paklenica Naional Park. The park circles around a limestone karst mountain range with two steep gorges slashed into the landscape. We were so happy we weren't there mid-summer. We were sweating so much, I'd hate to think how much hotter the sun gets, and the off season meant we had the paths to ourselves. But best of all, that season meant the autumn colours were breathtaking against the lunar coloured mountains.

We hiked into one of the gorges and camped for the night (hanging our food to avoid bears!!!!). This meant we could get much deeper into the park than the day trippers. We didn't encounter any bears but did see this rather funky salamander.

The second day brought us along a valley and down into the second gorge. This was tough going as the route wasn't so much a path as a dry boulderous river bed. Tricky to negotiate with heavy ruck sacs!

We were so happy with the recommendation to go there. Stunning alpine and Mediterranean flora, deserted trails, and the spectacular deep winding gorges. Hiker's dream...

... but that said, we were ready for some relaxation of the non physical kind. We went back to the city of Zadar for some good food, even better ice cream and a little bit of culture. Simon has the photos of the beautiful narrow marble streets and the church towers and plazas, but he is currently driving to Wales with them heal hostage in his laptop... sorry.

One feature I particularly fell in love with was the sea organ. Pipes and whistles are built into steps descending into the sea. The water lapping against the steps pushes air through the pipes and out through small holes creating an amazing hypnotic and unique sound, 24 hours a day, every day. Even better when the wake of a ferry comes along. click to listen to a clip I found on youtube After the mountains and after the city, we headed for the islands. Dugi Otok to be precise. Meaning long island, 43km long and 4.6km wide (at it's widest!) And it was Adriatic bliss, deserted of tourists, secluded beaches, very few vehicles and amazing calamari.We rented an appartment with a beautiful view (I'm running out of discriptive superlatives) from our kitchen balcony. We loved it there and decided to spend the rest of the holiday exploring the island. We rented bikes, a boat and a scooter to do so.

Some more of the island...Well that's about it. We had to get a ferry, a bus, a plane, a taxi, a red double decked, the tube, and a train to get home. And straight back to work.

xxx Roz and Simon

Hello all again. England has just come out the other side of it's big August bank holiday weekend and Cornwall was BUSY. The sun actually shone as forcasted so the masses descended upon us, including one wee Irish girl called Sara Hayden.

She came carrying gifts of coarse brown sodabread flour, oatmeal biscuits and the Dee memorial book. It's the first time I got to see it and I'm sure it's been said many times already but well done to the girls, Riona and Aisling (and all else involved) for all the hard stressful work they put into it. It's beautiful and a fantastic collection of memories.

On the Friday, I had to work but Sara went out for a meal with Simon and my housemates in Hunky Dory's and heckled me while I served them! The next day Sara, Derry and myself got the ferry.......to St. Mawes across the bay to have quintessential English cream teas in the The Tresanton

Sunday saw us a little more active with a couple of hours of snorkeling. I ended up getting quiet cold and so sat on a little secluded beach while Sara when back out for more!

Monday Simon dropped us early (maybe not so bright) to Newquay for a little explore before back on the plane home for Sara.

Sorry about lack of photos but we were having such a good time we never had time to take any.

more soon..... xxx Roz

Sea Kayaking Cornwall ran two week long courses in the Isles of Scilly ending last week and I managed to get three days off work to join Simon. The Scillies are (as copied off SKC's blog) a unique archiplego of low lying isles which stand approximately 22 miles south west of mainland Britain. The islands are very tropical in their appearance and have a unique charm. They're stunningly beautiful...

The flora:

The fauna: Dinner:

Planning the next day's kayaking: Some kayaking:

Myself and Simon:

xxx roz