Ooo Devon is a Place on Earth!

We wanted to have a short break in North Devon and opted for Westward Ho! I’ll be honest – I have avoided this in the past as who has an exclamation mark in their name?! It seemed faintly ridiculous, but to Westward Ho! we went. And Wow! We loved Westward Ho! A beach of endless sand, a simple seaside holiday with fish and chips and ice cream – it was just when we needed.

The beach itself was the piece de resistance – at low tide it stretched on, beautiful flat sand. I couldn’t believe we were in the UK – it seemed more like New Zealand!

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Natural Beauty and Devastating History at Omaha Beach

The next stop on our road trip was Omaha Beach, site of the beach landings in WW2 in Normandy, France which marked D-Day.

Today the beach is marked by a stunning sculpture called The Braves to signify hope, freedom, and fraternity. It is also a lovely wide sandy beach, which doesn’t give any clue of its dark past.

The Travel Photos that I’m Most Proud Of

My photos are mixed – there are some floor shots, while i’m working out how to use a camera, and some in the dark while I haven’t managed to put flash on.  But sometimes the stars align and my photos come out well and I’m proud of them! So here is a showcase of some of the photos I like best (this is subjective – you might think they’re rubbish! 🙂 )

Don’t Smile while Snorkelling : lessons learnt in Fuertaventura

We visited Fuertaventura for a complete break from the world… and that is what we got. It was like stepping from the cold English winter straight into summer; a bubble containing only swimming, sunshine, and good food.

This was actually my first ever package holiday! I found it difficult to relinquish control but it worked out OK and it was cheaper than booking the separate parts ourselves. We stayed in a resort type hotel, so we were joined by English, French, and German tourists, all chasing the sunshine!

Exploring on Electric Bikes in Vancouver

We arrived in Vancouver late at night, dishevelled and fed up after a over 24 hours of travelling. When we left the hotel bright and early the next morning, it was like a new dawn. We had a brunch of Eggs Benedict, and then wandered into the centre of Vancouver.

The centre of Vancouver hinges on Granville Street and Robson Street which both had a mixture of chain shops, independent shops, and department stores. We enjoyed watching a street performer Jackie Chan Chan, who was pretty funny and chose my BF to join in with his act as the “strong man”.

“Are we going to die?” : an Ang Thong boat trip

We were gutted when we read that the boat trip to Ang Thong National Marine Park was not running in November. It was in the crease of the page of my guidebook so I hadn’t seen it, and I was practically self-flagellating at the thought of such sloppy planning. Now what would we do?? How could we go to Ko Samui and miss Ang Thong? The Islands where The Beach was set…

We were totally relieved and excited therefore when we found out that tours were still running – yay!  We booked a tour at one of the many tour operators in Ko Samui, and on the morning of our tour we were picked up by a minibus already packed with young tourists that looked like they were on their Gap Yah.

Dropping my shoe off a Chairlift in Sentosa

Sentosa is a small island just south of Singapore, known for its theme parks and beaches. We visited for a day trip whilst in Singapore.

We had the best time on the luge there. You get a chairlift up the mountain and ride a small luge race car thing down. It was really fun – fast enough to be exhilarating but not so fast that you thought you were going to die! In fact, far from being the “Grandma” of the race track, as my BF would taunt me

Riding the coastal road in Athens

I spent my birthday in Athens, and we decided to head to Pireas. This is the major port of Athens, where all the cruise ships dock (and apparently where you can buy an I-pad from a dude holding them up to the passing tourist buses!).

On the other side of Pireas, there is a large marina full of super-yachts. We enjoyed a simple birthday lunch of kebabs and coke overlooking the harbour

More Manatees and a Jumping Ray!

On our last day in Florida we had planned to go another water park, but I was a bit tired of theme parks, and we so enjoyed our beach adventures and manatee spotting that we decided to do more. So we headed to a power station near Tampa – not the most obvious of tourist attractions!

The power station is quite ugly, but it gives off heat, meaning the water in the adjacent river is warm – perfect for Manatees in winter! And to our delight, we were able to get really clear views of the manatees in the clear water

Wild dolphins on beautiful Honeymoon Island

Honeymoon Island is aptly named – it is the perfect destination to get-away-from-it-all. Not really an island, it is really a peninsular, just north of Clearwater, Florida.

Honeymoon Island has unspolit sand, and we almost had the place to ourselves. I was standing with the clear waves lapping at my feet, feeling content, when things got even better… I saw a Dolphin!