The Goodwood Park Hotel Chichester

... out there) we had a great time. The girls ground out a win, the hotel was amazing, and we were very well looked after by all the locals we came across. That's the sort of trip we wouldn't swap for anything and would happily repeat again.

Until the next random visit to somewhere in the world for a football game...
Big love
Sam & Lisa xx

(ps thought we'd share some of photos with you, as it felt a bit odd writing plain blogs!)

Hello,

Basically just testing to see if this works, and also cos Rhys told me to do this now. Also, I wanted Alton to appear as a little dot on our map thing. Anyways, we're off on sunday, looking forward to it, and I'm sure we'll miss you all! Bye for now!

Dave

... around a bit and recuperate before the undoubted bustle of London and China in the next couple of weeks.

So that's the past couple of weeks - fairly uneventful, but a nice chance to catch up with people I haven't seen in a while. I might not get a chance to write much more before I get home, since I will have little internet access in London, and I believe it can also be fairly patchy in China, but I will be home on December 15th, and will try to write more updates before then. Bye!

... by a canister of oxygen…. which was something I think I need to save for when the time is right…. or more importantly when I have more time!? As for orphans, my vague attempts at arranging to visit an orphanage or do anything with charity in mind, didn’t seem to come off for this trip….again it’s really a time issue!

I have however booked an organised trip so that I can ...

Camping in Barnes Green was good fun. We set out for the night to test the new tent, awning and cooking gear. It was very cold and we eneded up caught in a thunder storm, but I'm glad to report the tent was suberb. It was dry inside and our sleeping bags also did the job. We were nice and snug inside and we had a big fry up for breakfast, so all in all a success!

We got our carnet yesterday, so we're pretty much ready to go! Roll on December 24th!

Well, what can we say! What a send off from the villagefolk at Lindfield. It was coincidentally Guy Fawkes night which is also a pretty big deal in England.
A grand parade of burning torches and witches led up to a bonfire and fireworks extrordinaire.
To top it off, a display of Morris dancing by the local chaps outside the White Lion. Wow, the locals really love us. Tomorrow we depart for Queensland.

... 1920's style, special. The marina there is, well, I suppose some would find it beautiful, to me it is even worse than Eastbourne, very very expensive, great parking lot (I feel like near an airport!), a "walk of fame", on one side all kind of cafés and restaurants, on the other side the yachts. Lots of showing off, beeerkk.
Back in Shoreham by sea we find a nice tapas bar and enjoy a good glass of ...

... As you drive down a city street the lamp posts are lined with Christmas lights and the meridians are filled with plants, flowers and tressels with hanging baskets. There weren't a lot of opportunites for pictures as it was raining and visiblity was limited. We were back at the Calais ferry by 12:45 French time and home by 4:00pm English time.

... the plaques said that it would often serve around 100 dishes on the night of a grand dinner. The palace also had many sitting rooms with the uncomfortable looking furniture custom to the 19th century. The grandest room was the music room, which had an organ built into the wall and was reserved for dancing and parties. Its grandeur was like a defiled Sistene Chapel - untasteful, yet still demanding awe and appreciation. The walls were adorned with giant red and gold ...

... only to discover that flowing water was but a distant memory in this place and that the bowl was filled up with cigarette butts and smashed whisky bottles. Hurrying out, I set out in search of another 'Hotel', this time heading for the Plaza de Armas. When I reached it it proved to be a grand open space surrounded by fine wooden balconied buildings. A 'Turistico Information' office turned out to be closed, and I went into a café to buy a drink. I had, by this ...