Hawaii
A cruise around the Hawaiian islands for 5 days and then a further 5 days to Vancouver turned into a honeymoon for us as we got married in late April. Weather in Hawaii was superb but became naturally cooler as the ship progressed north. A boiler breakdown forced a late arrival in Vancouver with a knock-on effect to New York for our 2 day stay.
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Harrogate
A long weekend was taken at the end of May with a visit to a Great Yorkshire Kit Car show 99 at Harrogate, North Yorkshire. A great weekend was had, this time with our tent. Unfortunately the weather was not too good with
the resultant poor attendance of visitors and exhibitors. We drove up in the Magenta which was of course re-visiting the place from where we bought it. Kingsley and the Magenta Register were present as usual and we took a couple of photos of other Magentas; re: Magenta page.
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North Yorkshire
Mid-June allowed a visit to the Metro Centre at Gateshead, viewing the Angel of the North on the way. Not such a big shopping centre as is claimed but worth a visit I suppose.
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We extended our trip to South Shields and worked our way down the coast passing through Whitburn, Sunderland, Seaham, Peterlee down past Hartlepool to Seaton Carew where we B&B'd.
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The following day we continued our trip down the coast through Middlesbrough, Redcar, Saltburn-by-the-Sea to Whitby and Scarborough, dropping in atRobin Hood's Bay on the way.
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Germany
At the end of July, the adventure of the year had to be visiting Helga and Christian in Leiningen near Koblenz.
Although we've been before this time we went on the motorbike - our 1100cc Yamaha Virago. Very cold, sometimes
damp, very noisy, and not the comfiest of journeys we've ever made, but it proved to be quite an experience - and
of course half the cost than if we had used the car ! We had to stop frequently for petrol because of the small
Virago teardrop tank but we needed the pauses for a stretch of the legs ! Bearing in mind it is over 200 miles
just to get from our home to Dover we travelled 1100 miles in total with an each-way trip taking 14 hours.
Fabulous to see our friends once again - daily walks into the local woods and evenings with the local beer and
food ensured a peaceful and relaxing time.
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Paris
A coach trip to Fontenaye in the suburbs of Paris was taken in the middle of the August eclipse week. We left
Tamworth early on the 10th returning late on the 12th. A good coach driver and courier ensured that we had a very
informative and interesting couple of days in the French capital. Watching the eclipse in the vicinity of the Eifel Tower with thousands of other people was a once in a lifetime thrill. It was only about a 98% eclipse in Paris but that didn't affect the disquieting ambience of the occasion. A visit to the war cemetries of World War 1 was made on the return journey - fascinating.
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Kefalonia
Mid-autumn allowed a week on the Greek island of Kefalonia - the largest of the Ionian group. A very nice island
with great scenery and very little tourist development compared to other similar islands. A Thomson square deal
(well priced at £270 each) booked via Bargain Holidays.com placed us in a friendly self-catering apartment in the resort of Skala, just 5 minutes
from the beach. We hired a Panda (the vehicle type - not the animal) for 6 days for around £120 and were
able to see just about the whole island while we were there.
There are lots of small and private beaches scattered about the coast but most are shale and pebble with sand
beaches in the minority. The best part about this kind of holiday though is the evenings; walking out to the local
tavernas for a few beers and sampling the Greek food is a delight.
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Robert sings his way back from Tenerife
Ginny's youngest son Rob, who went to Tenerife to sing in bars and make his fortune, came back after two weeks
of problems. Within 24 hours of arriving it became apparent that the bar-owner, Callum, was a right shit who had
no intention of giving him work. The following day Rob's apartment was broken into. A few days later he's mugged.
Rob did make one or two friends though and managed to pass an audition for a band, but all-in-all it was a poor
experience for him and he is back in his old job working at the various leisure centres in the Tamworth area.
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