September 3rd 2009 Well, that’s it, we’re all packed up and in a hotel in Heathrow ready for the off tomorrow morning. We’ve had a lovely couple of days with Dad, Fay and Sara (with a small amount of wine consumed!) and before that a nice couple of weeks with Gramps in Berkshire which included a day out with Nanny in Milton Keynes. We had a lovely BBQ with the usual suspects which was a really lovely evening filled with fun and laughter and loads of good wishes to take with us round the world. We also had a fantastic cream tea, hand cooked by Yvonne ‘Nigella’ Riches which will have to see us through for the next twelve months. ...

16th August 2009 Dinasaurs in Wales…. Up early and packed up ready to make a move east to Thatcham for the next two weeks via a day out with some friends from Cyprus. We had arranged to meet Clive, Alexia, Samantha and Kirsten at Dan-yr-Ogof caves just on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park. We got to the caves for when they opened, which on reflection was a good move since it became rather busy later on. We firstly explored the main cave which was discovered by the Morgan brothers in the 1900s. The whole cave area was surrounded by model dinasaurs - life size in some cases, surrounded by ancient tree ferns and forests. ...

It’s been a manic couple of weeks. On 4th August, after starting treatment in January, I finally got my new teeth. At the same time, we had a visit from Teresa and Richard so had been out and about doing ‘stuff’ in amongst them helping us to pack up the flat and set up some new bedroom furniture because it had been rented. At the end of the week, taking a break from the frantic packing and cleaning that was going on we bought our tickets. D-Day is now set in stone for 4th September where we fly to New York , our first destination. So now homeless, we packed up the remainder of our stuff and set off for Welsh (and often Wet) West Wales where I was going to stay for a week with my Dad while Ed stays in Thatcham. ...

25th July 2009 A fabulous spectacle put on by a French company featuring clowns and acrobats perfoming and playing musical instruments while suspended from a frame held aloft by a crane. We had a wonderful evening, kicked off by a meal in Wagamamas then round to Roald Dahl Plas to wait for the main event. While we were waiting strolling artists entertained the crowd. ...

After queing for practically the whole length of the Severn Bridge to get back into Wales (due to some Oasis concert in Cardiff!) we finally arrived home an hour later than expected. A lovely meal at Strada down the bay then an early night followed. The work now begins for the next trip - the big one. Starting tomorrow with sorting out some books and DVDs ect. I get the feeling the next 3 months is going to fly past! Watch this space!!! ...

Thursday 11th June 2009 We came back to the former site of Expo ‘98 this morning with the key aim of visiting the Oceanarium (the second largest in the world - the first being in Osaka Japan, so there’s a target!). We took the cable car ride from the car park to the oceanarium which was really lovely and great to get a different perspective on this vast site. ...

Wednesday 10th June 2009 This was it, the morning we planned to visit Lisbon. We parked in the underground car park under the Praca dos Restauradores, which put us right in the centre of old Lisbon, in the area known as Baixa. This has lots of cobbled streets in a grid system and is one of the busiest parts of the city. We took the Elevador de Santa Justa up to the top and were afforded some wonderful views of Lisbon’s main streets and the Castelo de Sao Jorge on the opposite hill. We walked past the ruined cathedral and into the Bairro Alto district, this apparently is Lisbon’s best-known night life area with countless small bars and restaurants among the buildings colourfully decorated with tiles. ...

Tuesday 9th June 2009 We were really looking forward to going to Sintra, having seen all its lush greenery and cobbled streets on a channel 5 program earlier this year. We were therefore a bit disappointed when we arrived amid the hordes of touists and coaches to a small square where the (quite frankly) boring looking National Palace stood. However, we gamely paid our entrance fee and started to shuffle our way through various rooms followng the snaking queue of French, German, Spanish, Portugese and American tourists taking endless photos of things that they would forget the name of. After about an hour of trying to make our way out of various tour groups we decided that we hadn’t come to Sintra for this and left for some lunch. ...

Monday 8th June 2009 After a lazy morning just sitting around reading (and searching for ever-elusive wi fi networks!) we headed off to Obidos. A wonderful, picture-postcard walled town another 30 mins north of where we are, Obidos is full of white-washed, red tiled buildings. It is obviously a very touristy town, but was very quiet since it’s Monday - I’d imagine it gets quite packed at weekends since it’s not really that big! We enjoyed a leisurely stroll around its narrow cobbled streets where we found some bird boxes for Gramps, before stopping for lunch in the aptly named ‘Bar Typico’, where we had a lovely plate of cold meats and cheese and a humungous cheese salad - not cheddar as we had both (very Britishly) assummed, but Mozarella. Yummy! ...

Sunday 7th June 2009 After a really early start (4.30 am) we finally arrived at the appartment around 12.30. It’s really lovely here - the appartment is much bigger than ours in Cardiff and wonderfully light with views right over the hills. There are some wind turbines on the hill overlooking the whole complex that Richard will be pleased to hear have been spinning round since we got here :D ...

Off to Portugal tomorrow. Staying at a friend’s apartment on the Westin CampoReal Golf Resort & Spa, which should be quite nice. It’s about 30 minutes north of Lisbon. [maptype=G_SATELLITE_MAP;gpxview=all] Not into golf at all, but it should still make a nice relaxing break, whilst only being a short drive from Lisbon, Sintra and the coast - all of which we’d like to spend some time in. Pretty much packed now, so nearly all set to go. ...

Finally! Visited the dentist yesterday and he’s very happy with the way that everything is healing, so we’ve now been able to book in my next three appointments to get my teeth fitted. All being well (and I’ve still got everything crossed and saluting all single magpies in the vicinity!!) my treatment should finish on 6th August. This means our departure date should fall sometime between 7th and 14th September! ...