November 2019, the annual “no matter what” Bridesmaid weekend was to Byron Bay Australia.  What an awesome long weekend that was in the perfectly laid back, beach lifestyle of the rich and famous, that is Byron Bay Australia.  The shopping, the coffee, the cocktails and the wonderful food that Byron is famous for.  Didn’t realise that would be it for two years at the time.  Didn’t realise that a 20 year history of going offshore every year was coming to a grinding halt, didn’t realise that a cough that could kill you was going to close the borders and certainly didn’t realise that there was any option that we would ever not be able to travel.  You see that’s what Jen and Nigel do!  We travel!

Flash forward to March 2020, our next big adventure for the year was to be to Warbirds over Wanaka and then a loose plan to head off to Eastern Europe and start ticking of Stan’s (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan… you get the drift).  People were starting to get antsy about Covid mid March and by 25 March 2020 we were staying home to save lives.  Weeks turned into months and the daily grind of 1pm updates became the norm.  Level’s were introduced and we did our very best to adhere to them.  Then slowly the levels’ started to drop.  Wow takeaways! Then the restaurants opened and finally two shots for Summer!  In amongst all this our passports were set to expire.  So hopeful were we that this couldn’t last forever that we got them renewed.  We had them back within 24 hours of submitting (they obviously had nothing else to do at the time in the passport office).  Then the New Year 2021 arrive with all the hope in the world!  This will be our year!  It’s my 50^th birthday later in the year and so will definitely be doing something epic for that.

Delta!  It’s a terrible American airline to avoid at all costs and certainly if you have no other choice then don’t expect to get on the plane you are booked on or to take off on time or to get a packet of peanuts and a can of bloody mary mix like the lady next to you when they run out of everything mid flight.  Oh yes, it’s also a very virulent strain of Covid that turned 2021 into a constant cry of “what level are we at today?” “does that mean that we can get takeaways?” “when will the internal borders open?” and my personal favourite from everyone outside of Auckland “Oh, I keep forgetting you guys are still in lockdown”.  The borders opened briefly and then closed again while people were off in Australia catching up with their new grandchild.  It was an absolute cluster.

We started 2021 in the hope of spending my 50^th somewhere really special.  My first thought was that Australia has to be open so we can go to Ayers Rock, that’s a once in a lifetime type of thing.  But Australia remained closed and even when it opened you couldn’t get back to New Zealand without playing the MIQ lottery.  That’s OK I thought Rarotonga is open and so I contacted my Travel Broker based there to ask about Aitutaki as I’ve never been there.  The day after I emailed her they shut down the borders to Rarotonga as well.  Nevermind there’s always Queenstown and a private Onsen Hotpool, that is unless there is a boundary border for Auckland that means we can’t leave and go anywhere.  So, as it turned out, we used Nigel’s essential worker status to go and stay for three nights at the beautiful Park Hyatt in Auckland as one of three guests in the entire hotel.  Better Uber Eats and a fun birthday evening with Stefan.

Needless to say 2022 started off with a great deal of trepidation of trying to go anywhere but we were entirely determined and so booked to go back to Byron Bay to stay with our dear friends and go to the Byron Bay Blues Festival at Easter weekend.  We booked the tickets and held our breath that the border wouldn’t close again.  We booked our Festival tickets and held our breath that it wouldn’t be cancelled.  We attended two different party weekend’s with friends in the weeks leading up to leaving and hoped like hell we wouldn’t get Covid.  We paid $85 each for our predeparture Covid test and held our breath that it would come back negative.  We filed our Australian entry declaration along with our Covid vaccination certificates and negative results and embarked to the airport.

One of my absolute favourite feelings in the world is the escalator ride to international Koru lounge at Auckland airport.  I am privileged to have been able to do this many times in my life and I frickin love it.  It means you are safely at the airport, successfully through checkin and through customs and you are on your way somewhere.  There is no time zone once you are airside at any airport and so any time is a good time for bubbles.  It was so lovely seeing the Koru lounge buzzing with people who, like us had been absent for so long.  It gave us a real buzz and so much hope for a world of semi normal.

But it wasn’t ‘normal’.  As you left the lounge the mask went on (Covid isn’t contagious in the Koru lounge apparently).  The mask stays on until they serve you a meal and drink on the plane (Covid isn’t contagious when you are eating or drinking apparently).  The mask stays on until you depart the aircraft and go through the doors to the arrivals hall.  As soon as that happened in Australia there were no more masks (Covid is also not contagious in Australia apparently).  For seven lovely days in Byron Bay we shopped, drank coffee, drank cocktails and had amazing food once again.  Completely maskless.  We also attended the Blues Festival with 40 000 other maskless people breathing all over us.  So, we held our breath as we waited for our RAT result to get back to New Zealand.  We filled out our entry requirements to New Zealand and got back on the plane.  We then held our breath for our day one and day five results.  Still nothing, we had certainly dodged the bullet again.

In amongst all this I had firstly been watching my brother living his best life throughout the pandemic in an empty Bali. (Not envious once John) and had been watching the Instagram and TikTok influencers start to travel again.  Turkey, Egypt and Jordan! Vietnam and Cambodia! Nepal! Italy! Paris!  Seemed like everything and everyone was going back to a new normal.  So dang it! Covid be damned!  We are off.  First stop Singapore!  South East Asia in rainy season!  Pack an umbrella and bring it on.

So we have always wanted to go to Jamaica. Seeing Cool Runnings “Jamaica has a bob sled team!” secured our goal and so for many years we have said that we would get to Jamaica. It never really worked out on any of the other trips but this time we worked out we had enough time to get off the Norwegian Getaway and get straight out to the airport and fly to Jamaica for four days. So we did.

We stayed at an All Inclusive resort as most of the resorts around the island are. They are not cheap but includes all our food, drinks and entertainment and so they work out OK in the end. Realistically there aren’t many places in the resort towns to go to for meals etc. so you are better off just staying in the resort.

Wow, what a chilled out relaxed slooooooooowwwww pace of life that island is. The people are all really beautiful and rhythmic and there is music everywhere. As you drive around the island you see signs for small shacks on the side of the road “Jerk Stop” (obviously sells the famous Jamaican Jerk Chicken).”Beer Joint” (obviously sells beer) “Party Spot” (Where I assume there is a party). People wander along with a certain swagger and approximately 99.8% of people have dreadlocks or braids of some kind. Including the little tiny kids who are so adorable with their black hair in the start of braids or dreads in tiny little bundles. So Cute.

The resort had a couple of beaches with lounge chairs and a beach bar and these awesome floaty mat type things that you could literally float to Honduras on if you fell asleep. The water was so incredibly clear that it became a little freaky when we started to see the sting rays and really large fish that we were occupying the water with. But the coolest part of our nature in Jamaica adventure was the Pelican’s.
Imagine lying silently in the warmest clearest water you’ve ever seen. The waves lap quietly onto perfect white sand and the sun beats down on you as you rock quietly in the swell.. Then GAZUMPHAH! A pelican dives right down into the water within 10 centimetres of you! Grabs a gullet full of tiny fish and then bobs next to you before launching himself in the flappiest, awkward running flap off the sea. It was terrifying the first time and then becomes the highlight of our swims. We even got to recognise the different pelican’s – magic.

At about midday a little boat turns the corner and moors just off the end of the resort beach. Cowboy hat dude hops off and most of the resort go down and see him over the next few hours. High fives, fist pumps and cash are exchanged for small bags of the green stuff Jamaica is famous for. At the same time Crayfish dude is wandering along with a live crayfish that you can pay him to go and cook for you and serve on the beach. He also sells green stuff and apparently other things too as he was quite happy to tell Nigel and I. There was one other guy wearing a tee shirt that said on the front :You want it…I got it!” on the back it said “If I don’t got it… I go get it!”.
Needless to say that at approximately 4.20 every day the air is filled with the unmistakeable smell of any Pink Floyd Revival concert I’ve ever been to. To be fair you can smell it on your way to breakfast, just after lunch and in the late nights down on the beach. No wonder everyone is so mellow!

Evenings were spent in the resort restaurants and there were four different ones with differing cuisines and then afterwards the resort staff would put on some incredible shows. A tribute to Bob and Ziggy Marley one night. A Jamaican night with every other famous Jamaican artist featured Peter Tosh, Jimmy Cliff, Shaggy, Ini Kamoze etc. The music was so great and everyone was so chilled. The Jamaican’s have incredible rhythm and I know that’s a stereotype but they just do! Every staff member has a certain style about them – they are just so darn cool! Hilarious watching the Americans trying to twerk like a Jamaican mon… yeah nah!

All too soon we were on our way out to the airport to get back to the States. We hopped on our American Airlines flight and were advised on four separate occasions that we were sitting in an exit row and were we willing and able to help in the case of an emergency. “Yes” we both answered on each occasion secretly thankful for the extra legroom.
As we sat in our aisle and middle seat there was a complete debacle in the row in front as a guy who had obviously lost a couple of his braincells on the beach of Jamaica was found to be sitting four rows away from the seat on his boarding pass. This caused a flow on effect as everyone tried to sit somewhere else and the following debacle was outright hilarious.

Just before takeoff a dude who I can only describe as Ziggy Marley complete with full camouflage gear, dreads and distinct odour squeezed past Nigel and I to take his place on the window seat. “Are you willing and able to help in an emergency”?” asked the flight attendant… three times! He nodded slowly and then turned to me to see if I could explain what that meant. I started explaining to him that he would need to open the door if instructed by the crew, he promptly fell asleep head forward ,drool escaping his lips. This is how he stayed the whole 1.5 hour flight back to Miami. Just before landing the flight attendant came and started throwing bags of pretzels at him to wake him up. She announced that it’s a common occurrence on the flights back to the States from Jamaica. They have their last smoke in the car on the way to the airport so maximise their opportunity. My main issue was that there might be drug dogs at the airport in Miami and if they sniffed me they would absolutely be able to pick up on something. Thankfully that didn’t happen but it was a great Instagram post none the less. It should be noted that our flight was at 10.30am. Perfect time of day to get blazed according to Ziggy.

What a wild, bucket list ticking awesome few days in Jamaica. We will be back. We will stay longer and we will look back fondly on our little piece of paradise in the Caribbean.

 

I love Las Vegas. I love how some people hate Las Vegas because it’s tacky. I think that’s probably most of its charm. When we were in Venice we encountered a group of Americans on a bus to the airport who were saying how similar they found the real Venice to the Venetian in Vegas. Where else can you go from Paris to New York to Venice within a short casino infused wander. Take it for what it is and just enjoy the people watching, the constant sound of pokie machines and the sheer number of bachelorette and bachelor parties and “Wilson Family Holiday 2018” tee shirts.

The first time I went to Las Vegas was with my Mum, Dad and brother in 1990. We stayed in the Dunes Hotel which three years later was imploded in typical Las Vegas style with fireworks, cannon blasts and massive amounts of explosives while 200 000 people watched on. The Bellagio with its wondrous fountains was built on the site. My mum wasn’t keen on Vegas as she had absolutely no interest in gambling but my dad really wanted to go. Let’s just say that mum discovered the Poker machines and at the end of the trip was fossicking around in the bottom of her handbag for a loose quarter to slot in a machine for one more try before we left the airport.

Over the years I’ve been back and each time I have left money behind in the machines and on the tables. This time was going to be different, Nigel and I were determined to win the million. I was also determined to find a $5 Blackjack table and take the house down. Let’s just say that we did win. At one point Nigel came up with a $280 chit that he had cashed out. I on the other hand was $70 up on the blackjack table and so he had to go and insert the $280 into a machine to have something to do while I continue playing the table. He won again! And then he lost and I won and then I lost again. That’s pretty much summed up the whole 5 days in Vegas! They give you just enough joy to keep going back and then just when you’re having a good time and have worked out how much to tip the drinks waitress, Vegas strips it all away a from you. Leaving you sitting on a chair you’re your terrible glass of wine, watching other people win money as they slot their cash into the other machines.

I did manage to convince Nigel to learn how to play Blackjack though. He was a bit hesitant to begin with but after a few hands he started to get the hang of it. By the end of the first night when he was yelling “bust bust bust” at the very amply endowed croupier I knew I had him hooked. Then we lost our money and went home.

Speaking of home… I had scored the best goddamn hotel room of the whole trip. We stayed at Hilton Vacations at the Flamingo in a one bedroom apartment. It’s a timeshare resort so when you arrive the spend the first few days trying to convince you to go to a presentation on timeshares but after a while they give up. But holy heck! Massive bedroom, bathroom, spas bath, full size kitchen with the biggest microwave I’ve ever seen and a full washing machine and dryer. Well I was in heaven. For those of you who travel you know how hard it is to get clean clothes. We had washed clothes in the sink and wandered hours to the laundromat for almost five months now so I literally washed everything we owned. Was so exciting! And at around $100 a night it was the best value hotel we had in the States.

It had suddenly hit us that we were only days away from going home and for me days from being back at work so I decided I needed a hair cut. I booked in with Tinesha at the next door casino and turned up at my allotted time. Tinesha proceeded to talk incessantly for two hours. She was actually really interesting and taught me a lot about the psyche of an average black American woman. Her biggest fear for her teenage sons was that they would be killed by the police. She didn’t worry about car accidents or drugs as she said she raised good men. But she said that good black men are getting killed every day in America and it scared her to death. She had five kids with three of them in College costing her $30 000 a year each that she knew would be worth it. She also hated Trump, loved Obama and didn’t think that Oprah should run for president. She was third generation from being a slave and one day wanted to go back to Louisiana and buy a plantation house for her extended family to live in. Her husband proposed to her for the first time when they were both seven years old and proposed to her every year for the next 20 years until she finally agreed to marry him. They get married again every 5 years (lots of options in Vegas) and this year would be their 20th wedding anniversary so they were going to go back to Louisiana for another wedding ceremony. Finally she spent a good 20 minutes telling me how to tip in America. How much for the busboy, how much for taxi drivers, that you should tip Uber drivers and that it was generally 15-20% for Hairdressers and that you add it to the bill like in a restaurant. Anyway considering she had waist length braids in her hair she did a pretty good job on some blonde moderately curly, pulled through a bush backwards hair. She deserved her 20%.

Anyway, to cut a long story short we did not win a million and have once again left money in Vegas that we need to go back and win back one day… that’s the plan anyway.

As we left Las Vegas and it’s 43 degrees of stifling airless heat outside we were not ready or prepared for San Francisco and its 14 degrees of fog. We stayed in Chinatown with an amazing view of the bay that we couldn’t see most of the time because off the fog. Right outside our hotel was a Hop on Hop Off bus and if you’ve been following along you know how much we love a Hop On Hop Off bus. So on we hopped!
We wrapped up in every layer we had as the windchill took it down to about 5 degrees and headed off on the open top double decker hanging to each other for warmth with a smile and a good attitude. What a unique city. We loved the architecture and the Harbour area and had a wonderful lunch overlooking Alcatraz after watching the Sea lions at Pier 39.

On our first night we found out that San Fran is famous for its $1 oysters. As you know Nigel loves oysters so we went off to see what they were like. What we found was a cute little French bistro in an alley way that served homemade paté and French rosé and as many oysters as you want for $1 each. Needless to say this little place became our local and we would wander down in the afternoon for an entrée before dinner.

But it was all coming to an end. We were getting ready for our final day. How would we get to the airport and what time should we leave? Were our bags over weight, did we need to dump anything heavy before check in? What time was the latest check out and could we store our bags? All questions that very soon we wouldn’t have to worry about. We wouldn’t worry about which hotel we would stay in next or where to find a convenience store and whether we had to eat cereal with chopsticks because we didn’t have a spoon. We wouldn’t worry about trip advisor reviews or money changing or finding somewhere to eat dinner. We wouldn’t worry about how to get our clothes clean or how to find our way back to our accommodation in the dark. We wouldn’t worry that the we’d get sick or hurt ourselves and be somewhere where no one speaks English. We wouldn’t worry about check in’s and check outs and Ubers. We wouldn’t worry about getting our luggage over cobblestones or up steep stairs. No more worries about where we put the passports and did we have both credit cards with us. I guess heading home would be “No Worries!”

After 32 countries and every form of transportation known to man we were on our final journey home. As we stepped on the plane headed for Auckland we got a text from Stefan. “I’ll see you in the morning” he said.

We were only in Miami for two days and we were back out to the port to get on our second cruise the Norwegian Getaway for 7 nights. 

While Nigel and I were on the canal boat in England I encountered a last minute deal for a one week cruise that would take us to Mexico, Belize and Honduras.  It left two days after the Cuba Cruise that had booked ages ago and was really cheap.  So we sat in the middle of the English countryside and booked a balcony cabin (with no specific allocation as it was cheap). It’s one of those last minute decisions that turned out to be absolutely brilliant.

The Getaway is a huge ship with climbing walls, waterslides 4000 guests and 1600 crew, basically twice the size of the one to Cuba.  And you could tell.  We now agree when people speak about the really big ships being a bit too big.  They have so many things to do on them it’s a bit overwhelming and yet they still feel very crowded.  We had an amazing balcony room though as in the end they gave us an aft balcony at the back of the boat and so we spent most of our time sitting out there watching dolphins and flying fish and the world go by.

Our first port was Costa Maya Mexico which is famous for the Mayan Pyramid complex.  Big one on our bucket list and so we bit the bullet and did the day tour to see them.  We weren’t disappointed.  The temples are the stepped limestone rocks that you will recognise as soon as you see them.  They were built around 200 B.C – 700 A.D and so in comparison to Egypt they are babies but compared to the Aztecs from the 1500’s they are really old and very interesting.   Yes they did perform human sacrifice on top of them (but only later on and only to bring the rain, which apparently worked out well for them so they continued).  The Mayan people covered their pyramids in a red paint that you needed a whole heap of trees to create and so basically they cut all the trees down and ran out of food so they could have nice red painted houses.  That’s when they all left and the pyramids ended up covered in trees and debris and realistically you only know there is one there as there is a hill in the middle of the flat land.  Only 20% of the pyramids have been excavated and most of them are still waiting to show their secrets.  They still say that less is known about the Mayans than any other ancient culture.  Mainly because most of it is still underground.

Our next stop was in Belize.  Well actually it was a small offshore island owned by Belize and developed by the Norwegian cruise line company to provide zip lining, day beds, as many burgers as you could eat, A frozen margarita machine and beautiful clear warm water (which unfortunately was full of jellyfish and so we didn’t swim.).  It also had a butterfly house and you could buy a chilled fresh coconut with rum in it for $10USD.  It was a fun day and another country to add to the list but we really didn’t spend too much time there.

Next was Roatan Island Honduras.  They had zip lining, chilled coconuts with rum and as many burgers as you eat too but it was all inside the port area which was surrounded by a large wall.  Nigel and I decided we wanted to go for a look in town to see how the locals live and got all the way out to the port entrance where there was a massive sign.

“Please reconsider leaving the Port Area! We recommend that you only leave the port area on an organised excursion.  If you do leave the port area on your own please ensure that any valuables or irreplaceable items are left on the ship.  Please exercise caution and remain vigilant.”

While we were reading this there was whole heap of locals standing outside the fence yelling “don’t worry” “It’s safe outside” “Come out we will look after you”.  Nigel and I looked at each other and went, Oh well we are here now and stepped out the gate.

Pretty much you get hassled for the first 200 metres by locals wanting to sell you something or get you into their bar or into their cigar shop The Cubans could learn a few things about hassling and begging from the Hondurans.  But after the first few minutes they gave up and it’s kids going home from school and shops and banks and funny little run down house’ on stilts over the water.  It also had two armed guards at every bank.  One outside in bullet proof vest and machine gun and another inside with a shotgun.  They meant business.  We found out later just how dangerous Honduras is on a good day, but this little piece seemed to be just like any other town.

We walked along for as long as we could in the heat and then headed back down to the port area and back to watch the world go by in a restaurant overlooking the ship.  When we went to pay the credit card machine didn’t work and so Nigel had to go back onto the ship to get the cash and then come back to pay while I remained as collateral.  Still according to the rules of the how many countries can you clock up before you die list we had another one under our belt.  However because Nigel had to get off the ship twice and I only had to once he now reckons he’s been to Honduras twice as often as me… dammit!

 

Miami.  The sun was shining every day and the storms would brew every afternoon.  The temperature outside was almost unbearable and it seemed that as soon as you walked out the door you would start melting.  We spent most of the time hanging around the hotel in the air conditioning.  Nigel went on an adventure at one point to the laundromat.  Which as he got halfway there realised that he was literally on the wrong side of the tracks and thought it felt really dangerous.  Oh well he kept going as he was halfway there with a bag of dirty clothes.  That’s commitment to the laundry cause.

They have a free metromover over ground electric people mover.  It basically does loops of Miami and you just hop on and hop off when you want.  It’s free and moves millions of people everyday to where they need to be in reliable air conditioned comfort.  Listen up Auckland!! We took it to the beachside area one afternoon and it was a really fun discovery.  They had a band playing and people were down there for dancing and drinking.  There were whole groups of fairly elderly locals (who obviously go there often) dancing, having shots and generally having a great time.  What a fabulous way to spend an afternoon.

Our first cruise was on the Norwegian Sky and this one was an all inclusive drinks cruise which basically meant that when you got on they gave you a frozen margarita.  You had to pay for bottled water though and to be honest you get a little tired of the amount of food and drink you get on those boats.  But the ship was beautiful and we loved it.

First stop was Havana (ooh nah nah).  Our first look out the window of our cabin and we saw the cars.  All 1950’s pink, purple, green Cadillac’s and dodges.  These vehicles were imported in the fifties by the wealthy Americans who were all moving down to Cuba for the cigars and the sunshine and the music and the fun.  They were left there when the Americans all left and the locals have basically kept them going since then.  None of the parts are original and the motors are gas guzzling behemoth’s. It was literally exactly what you would think.  There are also a whole lot of Lada’s and funny little yellow electric beetle taxis.  There were also lots of horse and carts taking tourists for rides.  Nigel and I got off and got straight on the Hop on Hop Off bus (which we find is a really great way to get around a new city and work out what you want to stop at or go back and see again).

It was really fascinating.  The buildings were once beautiful and colourful and you can see the history in them.  They are now crumbling and empty and the few that are restored are once again beautiful on the outside but empty inside.  The shops that are not tourist stores have hardly anything in them and it reminded us of when we were in Russia in the 1990’s.  The tour takes you through Revolution Square where the iron faces of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara look down on the tourists being taken around in the square in old American cars.  We went back to the Central Parque area to sit outside and listen to the band that was playing in the local café and it was really surreal.  Then the thunder storms hit and we slowly meandered our way back to the ship.  One of the unique parts of this cruise is that the boat stays overnight so you can experience Havana in the evening as well which was a real treat.

We walked back right around the harbour area to the ship and saw the small fishing boats and kids playing in the sea.  The harbour was absolutely filthy though with more plastic bottles and rubbish than I’ve seen anywhere.  There was an oil slick from the rusting old Algerian Oil Tankers who supply Cuba with some of their crude oil.  The rest is supplied by Venezuela who are paying off their cold war debt in oil.  Cuba has also offered to pay off their cold war debt to the Czech Republic in Rum but I digress.  The harbour is an oily slick of plastic rubbish that no plastic bag ban in NZ will change in a hurry.  The infrastructure is growing for tourism though and they were really prepared for the 2000 passengers who were on the ship.  There are about 2 million tourists visiting every year now to Cuba and the locals are learning now how to beg.  They aren’t very good at it though and just sort of hold out their hand and smile at you.  You can buy fake Cuban cigars that are stolen by the factory works and sold on the street to unsuspecting tourists.  You can also probably wander about for many more hours than we did and find some amazing little hidey holes.

I really think that the tide has turned already for Havana though and if you want to see what people talk about you better get there quick.  It won’t be long before it’s like many of the other Caribbean ports with zip lining, day beds and frozen margarita machines.

Speaking of other ports we went from Cuba to the Bahamas.  It was actually an island owned by The Bahamas built up by Norwegian Cruise lines to have day beds, a band on the beach, as many hamburgers as you could eat, a frozen margarita machine and the warmest most beautiful water.   It was divine!  We spent the afternoon in the water getting sunburnt for the very first time on this trip though as we completely underestimated the Caribbean sun.  We could spend the whole day outside in Europe and not really feel the sun but a couple of hours in Bahamas and we were a little sorry for ourselves.  We learnt a very valuable lesson about that.

Then next thing we knew our ship was heading back to Miami, we were checking into another hotel and trying to find a laundromat.  “Seems that’s all you ever do in Miami Mum” said Stefan when we spoke to him and he was probably right.

 

I will never ever forget the first time I saw the Manhattan skyline.   I drove from our apartment in Wayne New Jersey and crossed the George Washington Bridge.  Nigel had a project and we had arrived at night and gone straight to our Condominium complex.  Our apartment was basically in the middle of the woods, with fireflys and deer and raccoons roaming about.  We had a private lake and seven swimming pools and on the weekends the apartment complex hosted wiener roasts.  We were so far from Manhattan and yet really only a 40 minute drive.

I remember seeing the skyline at first rising up in the distance.  The twin towers were huge and completely dominated the end of the island.  The Empire State was stunning and the Chrysler building was shiny and bright.  I loved it.  I drove across the bridge and encountered my first stoop and trash cans and hotdog vendors on the sidewalk.  It was literally like I had transported myself into Sesame Street.  I half expected Big Bird to come wandering around the corner.  I then worked out that the drivers in Manhattan were maniacs and there was nowhere to park so I saved my Manhattan adventures for when I would take the bus into Midtown.   It wasa always an experience to take the bus to Manhattan and then return to this little Oasis in the woods.

Same feeling all these years later but the Twin Towers are no longer and it’s been replaced with One World Trade.  Our first time in New York Nigel and I went up the Empire State and said we will go up the Twin Towers next time.  The next times we were in Manhattan we saw ground zero and a huge construction site and said we must go up that next time.  So finally managed a trip to the top this time and then wandered around the 9-11 memorial.  The lift ride up to the top is a really awesome experience and very theatrical.  The 9-11 memorial was quite moving.  Families there to celebrate birthdays and to remember those who died.  You know it’s their birthday as there is a white rose placed in their name by the staff.  I have to say that I really hope that there is never any day as shocking as 9-11 was for me.  Even now I still can’t believe it happened.

New York was fantastic and busy and covered in police and bollards and security everywhere.  We escaped the crowds and headed for a whole day in Central Park where we sat and watched the squirrels and walked and walked for hours.  It seemed that around every corner was another surprise and another person selling hotdogs.

A friend of mine who is a New Yorker had recommended that we do a show called Accomplice.  He said go with an open mind and your walking shoes and you’ll see a whole new side of New York.  I won’t spoil the surprises but it’s best described as a walking immersive experience through the streets of New York.  It starts with a phone call with your starting destination and then you go from there.  You never really know who are the actors and who are regular people.  It was absolutely brilliant and we both loved the puzzles and surprises and saw some awesome parts of the city.  Highly recommended way to spend a few hours and a few thousand steps in New York.

But our city adventure was over and we were off to the Airport again.  This time to fly to Miami where our Caribbean cruising adventure would start.

Nigel and I love a good Airshow and so we were particularly excited to head off on a train to Farnborough where we stayed in the most expensive Holiday Inn you can ever imagine.  To be fair it was where all the pilots were staying as it was literally 50 metres to one of the entrances to the show.  We woke up nice and early and went off to stock up on sandwiches and water bottles for what was going to be a big long day.

Farnborough Airport is massive and the outdoor displays of the planes went on and on and on.  What was good though in such a big space you never really felt crowded.  We had paid extra to be in a separate area where they provided deck chairs and nicer bathrooms so we headed straight there to find a good spot up on the fence line.

As soon as we sat down Nigel spotted the pyrotechnics in front of us.  The grass was also a very tinder dry shade of yellow after the hottest English Summer since 1976.  “When the grass catches on fire later we need to hope the wind is going the other way” Nigel said.

The show started with all the usual suspects but did include the only flying Lancaster Bomber in the world.  The F16 took off and landed twice in front of us.  The Red Arrows were spectacular with their red white and blue smoke and there was a helicopter that did aerobatics!  First time we had ever seen that.  Nigel was bit disappointed that there weren’t more things that we hadn’t seen before but all in all it was a really good day.

You have to give credit to the people who organise Warbirds over Wanaka though.  The organisation and the choreography at Warbirds was actually better than Farnborough and you can’t beat the beautiful Central Otago backdrop.  But as far as bucket list items this was one of them for us.  We have ticked that box!

Last thing before the end of the show the pyrotechnics did go off.  When we watched the video back later we realised that one of them had fallen over which is why the grass right in front of us caught fire.  The wind was going the other way so we got to watch the fire engines slowly come over while the people on the ground were trying to put the grass out by kicking dirt on it.  We really don’t think that they knew what to do in a grass fire as it caught really quickly.  The Red Arrows were due to take off again and had to wait for the smoke to clear before they could.  It was pretty exciting.

Back to our Farnborough hotel and then the next day back to London.  We had a couple of cruisy days just hanging about and getting ready for our next and final leg of our epic journey.

 

Over the years Nigel and I have mastered the art of ‘being’.   It’s the opposite of ‘doing’.  Sometimes you just have to do nothing for long periods of time.  That’s what canal boating is. A week pretty much of ‘being’. If you are a get up early and get on the road so you can get to your destination type person then this isn’t really going to be your thing.

I have to admit, we were both pretty apprehensive about how we would get on especially with manoeuvring the boat (Nigel’s job) and managing the locks and swing bridges and all the other obstacles along the canal (my job).  When we arrived at the Wharf, Colin came to give us an overview of the boat and give us the basics of what we were doing.  He would then ride down the canal for a bit with us while Nigel got use to the steering.  Colin was our new best friend.  He took us through a methodical list of everything we needed to know and told us that any knot’s a good knot and to not get too hung up about it.  He said that the locks will be fine if you take your time and to go off and make great memories.  He said be kind and courteous to everyone and make sure you say hello to absolutely everyone.  He also said that if anything happens to give them a call and they will come and see you no matter where you are.  His advice for if anyone falls overboard is to kill the engine, throw the life ring out and tell them to stand up.  That’s because the water is realistically only waist deep and so after you get over the shock of the cold water you can pretty much wade through the mud to the side and get back on (thankfully we managed not to test this theory).  You go so slowly down the canals that even when we were four days into our trip and turned around to come back we were only a 30 minute drive from the wharf where we picked it up.

Going so slowly means that there is plenty of time for ‘being’ on the boat.  Even the driving was fairly straight forward 97% of the time and pretty laid back for Nigel (the other 3% involved large amounts of swearing and calling our boat a ‘goddamn son of a bitch’).  It’s also a very social activity as you must say hello to every single boat you pass.  I decided one day that I would adopt a different English accent for each boat and having gone through my best Cornwall farmers accent, Cockney Rhyming slang and my poshest Queens English I ended up settling on “How do?!”.  I was very confused with all the English who were asking “Are you alright?”  Is the correct answer to this “Yes I’m fine thanks” or am I supposed to also ask if they are also “Alright?”  Please advise if you know.

What we didn’t realise is that you get people coming along and asking you questions whenever you are tied up.  These people are called Gongoozlers, they love the canals and the boats but don’t actually canal boat.  They stop for a chat and usually ask some very simple questions about the boat and like to watch you going through the locks.  They take photos of you as you pass by and tend to get in the way a bit when you are actually trying to do something.  But they are generally just families with their kids wanting to take them for a fun free day out.  The kids love being asked to help push the lock open or help close them later and it’s a really nice vibe.  Because there is a walking path the whole way along the canal (left over from when the horses use to drag the barges) you get quite a few hikers, people walking dogs and cyclists as well.  Everyone says hello and offers to help if you need it so it’s a very pleasant group of people you end up sharing the waterways with.

On our first day we puttered down the canal for only a short while until we could moor and get use to the boat.  After beaching the boat on a very shallow piece of canal we decided to sleep on it and sort it out in the morning.  It was otherwise a fairly uneventful evening and we just enjoyed being in our own little space.

The next day was a completely different affair.   Our first obstacle came in the form of a swing bridge.  Nigel moored up and I got off to work out which key to put where and what to pull and push when.  I followed the instructions and swung the bridge around so Nigel could get through.  Then I did the whole operation backwards to close it again.  I made it… I was very proud of myself.

Next stop was the Foxton Locks and the reason we had chosen to do this arm of the canal system.  Because I was born in Foxton New Zealand I felt I had a duty to visit the place where our little town was named after and to see what the lock system was all about.  I was completely worried about doing the locks.  It’s a staircase lock system of 10 locks with each gate flooding the next gate and a two lock system to go through.  They have volunteers who help you and give advice on navigating and they were really lovely.  “Red before white and you’ll be right”… that was all I had to remember, which basically meant winding the red paddles open before the white paddles and then closing them again after the gates were open.  In the meanwhile Nigel was shitting himself on the boat.  The currents in the lock tend to bang you forwards and backwards and so you must constantly rev backwards and forwards to stay steady.  All the Gongoozlers kept saying to me “You got the hard job then” as I was winding the gates open and closed but they were so far from the truth.  The driving and manoeuvring of the boat is the really hard part and requires way more spatial awareness than I will ever have.

At the end of the locks I thanked my lockkeeper who had helped me the whole way and got back on the boat and Nigel and I high fived.  We made it!  We were then off to go through our first tunnel which was the 1066 metre long Husband Bosworth tunnel.  As you approach you can see a very small speck in the distance of the tunnel which we assumed was the light at the end of the tunnel.  It was about halfway through that we realised it was another boat and that we would have to cross paths in the middle of the diesel smoke filled tunnel.  There is exactly enough room for two narrow boats to pass in this tunnel.  Literally centimetres apart.  It was pretty nerve wracking.  It really didn’t help that the person driving the other boat was a mad woman who sang “la de da de da” the whole way along the tunnel and thought that passing us was a great game.  We finally got through to the other end and again Nigel and I high fived.  We made that too.

Our next adventure on a very big day was an unmanned lock leading into the Welford arm of the canal.  This one wasn’t painted red and white and so I had to really think about what I was doing to get in and out again.  Nigel aced the driving and I finally thought I had the hang of it.  I then decided to take the tiller for a bit and give the driving a go.  Well that was a complete debacle that ended with the boat almost crashing into the bank and getting lodged sideways on the canal while Nigel loudly shouted “Jen what the hell are you doing?”  We’re still best friends though.

Then we continued on for the next six nights.  Stopping where we wanted to.  Shopping where we could.  Saying hello to every single boat we passed and generally just being.  It has to be a good day when the biggest news of the day was that the three swans from the night before had found us again the next night and wanted more crackers.  Big news!  We also managed to feed the fish, see the deer, spot a couple of squirrels, baa at the sheep and generally do bugger all.  You shouldn’t run your engines between 8pm and 8am and so the whole canal stops for the night.  Most nights we were nowhere near anyone else and had the whole place to ourselves.  It was really really lovely.

We did the Foxton locks again on the way back and it was so much easier than the first time.  By now we were locals.  We could answer the Gongoozlers questions about where the water went and Nigel got a clean 7.5 out of 10 for his mid lake entry passing another temporarily moored boat from the lockkeeper.  The lockkeeper also said that it’s a contact sport and to not worry too much about the dings.  We spent the day studying and meandering about at the locks, bought an icecream and a mug that said “We did the Foxton Locks”.  Having gone back to see other people negotiate the middle lock which has a constant current pushing you around Nigel felt a lot better about his effort.  There were some incredible bangs coming from some of the other boats.

So on the final night we headed back to within a short cruise of the Wharf and enjoyed another night in the middle of nowhere.  We ate tinned English pies and mushy peas and baked beans and generally had a good time.  We fed the ducks and washed the dishes and that was pretty much it.  Perfect.  The next morning Nigel aced the boat reverse turn into the wharf and once again we were genuinely sad to say good bye to our little home.  She had certainly convinced us that canal boating was definitely our ‘thing’.

We have decided that we also need to add a disclaimer to this story.  We were in England for the longest warmest dry spell since 1976.  Every day we had was warm around 27 degrees, sunny and dry.  We got our jerseys out once for about an hour the whole week and the rest of the time we were coating ourselves in sunscreen.  The Gongoozlers all remarked as they went past “hot innit?.  At one point we had two English women simultaneously complaining about the heat of the summer and how much they hate winter.  It was classic.  If you were here in a more normal English summer month on a canal boat you may well have a completely different story.  We were incredibly lucky with the weather we got as I can’t imagine it would be nearly as much fun in the teeming rain and cold.  We’d be happy to find out one day though.

So off on our next leg of the journey… Farnborough Air Show!  We love a good airshow!

After Sweden the three muskateers headed off to London.  We had an Air BnB in Clapham Junction booked and we wanted to show Stefan all the key sights.  He had been to London before but was too little to remember.  Off we went and bought an Oyster card for the trains and tube and a Hop on Hop off bus ticket and proceeded to Hop on and Hop off buses.  Each morning we would head off with our Oyster card and Hop on Hop off bus card and a smile and a good attitude.  We did the canal tour from Tower Bridge to Westminster and back as well and were very disappointed with the scaffolding over Big Ben.  We went to Madame Tussauds which Stefan declared to be catering to the wrong demographic by having 4D experiences and not enough waxworks.  I have to say I agree.  It was slightly disappointing but a box ticking exercise nevertheless for Stefan and he now doesn’t need to return.  Spent a great afternoon at the Tower of London which is always great and I still giggle every time I see Henry VIII’s codpiece in his suit of armour.  The Tower of London also contains the worlds dumbest Americans who literally think that everything in England has been built as a tourist attraction.

Then it was off to the pub to watch Sweden v England in the Fifa World Cup.  Hmmm we were very quiet little swedes that day.  But on occasion Nigel would elbow me and tell me to quiet down when I groaned at the wrong times.  England won quite convincingly and that night was incredibly rowdy in Clapham Junction.  There was a viral video shot about 100 metres from our flat of a guy leaping of the top of a double decker bus and straight through a bus shelter roof.  It was pretty rowdy.

On one of the days we hired a car from Heathrow and headed off for a drive in the country.  Our first stop was the village of Turville (or Dibley as you may know it).  This quaint little village was used for the whole Vicar of Dibley series for all the exterior shots.  Being only 40 minutes from London and having a church and a vicarage it was a great choice.  We had lunch in a pub that was founded in 1550 and does a really good venison pie.  (Jeez England does history well).  We then drove through the University City of Oxford and on to the Cotswolds with their white and black houses with thatched roofs.  It was so blimmin CUTE.  We ended the day at Stonehenge (which is smaller than we thought) but getting up close to it was actually quite worth it (as opposed to the cheapskates who hold up traffic on the motorway past it to take a photo).  To be fair you do get a good photo on the motorway and the traffic is slow enough for you to see it.

Back to Clapham Junction for a late night kebab… as you do in London.

London was fun but incredibly crowded and busy.  Being in the middle of Summer holidays with the best weather England had ever seen probably didn’t help with the crowds.  It was time to head off to St Pancras station to board the Channel Tunnel to Paris.  Nigel and I had never done it before and Nigel was really looking forward to it.  Stefan was looking forward to getting a new country to add to his list, as despite having been to 46 countries in his life, had never been to France.  Fair to say that the trip itself is fairly disappointing.  The queuing to get through passport control, security and onto the train took longer than the actual trip but I guess that’s the point of the high speed trains.  I can tell you too from experience that if you jump high enough up in the air when the train is going 300 kms per hour that you don’t go flying down the back of the train.  But when you arrive at Gare Du Nord and get off in the heart of Paris it’s pretty awesome.

We had an Air BnB that was behind some very large wooden doors in the streets behind Gare Du Nord.  It’s in a part of Paris called Little India, which is next to Little Turkey… you could get a great curry or kebab if you wanted them.  When we checked in the owner also told us that the pickpockets frequent the road and to be very aware.  We were and we needed to be.  Especially the night that France beat Russia to make the finals in the Fifa World Cup.  Apparently (we didn’t see it) there was a riot outside our flat the next night and the police were crawling all over the place when we left.  After the final where they won against Croatia there was more rioting all over Paris with tear gas and water cannons.  I’m quite glad that we weren’t there for that.

While we were there we got a two day Hop on Hop off bus ticket and proceeded to Hop on and off buses again.  By the end of our time we had pretty much seen all the major sights and learnt more Parisian history that you could ever need at a pub quiz.

Stefan had especially wanted to go to the Louvre and so we spent an afternoon wandering about completely lost and standing in queues.  The longest queue was for the ladies toilet and so Nigel and Stefan just had to wander about and amuse themselves for literally 45 minutes.  The Mona Lisa was packed, as was Venus De Milo and Stefan was really disappointed to find that most of the paintings he wanted to see were being borrowed for other exhibitions or were in a part of the Louvre that was closed.  It seems that’s always the way in Europe.  It’s either closed, away on tour or under scaffolding.

We finished our time in Paris with a really expensive steak and béarnaise sauce meal at a quintessential French restaurant.  Food and company and location and wine was fantastic.  Paris you little minx you certainly can deliver.  It was the best 200 Euro we had ever spent.

The next day we went back to Gare du Nord to check in for the Eurostar.  As we arrived we were told there had been a suicide on the track and there would be a 60 minute delay.  Sobering stuff and despite the waiting I think everyone was actually quite understanding. The queues were awful and the technology at the station kept failing.  The ticket scanning service failed and so Nigel ended up going through and Stefan and I ended up in another queue.  We then decided to use our European Passports to cut the queue and ended up getting through faster than Nigel.  His bag scanning machine had broken down and so his wait was awful.  Our issue is that Stefan and I left France on New Zealand passports and then left again on Swedish passports and never actually entered England.  Hmmm we will see if that causes an issue when I try to leave.

Back to London and Stefan took his luggage, his oyster card and a smile and a good attitude and headed off to Heathrow to fly home.   We on the other hand were off to Market Harborough to pick up our canal boat for a week.  Our last night in London was spent watching the canal boats youtube do’s and don’ts video and researching knots.   This next leg will either be amazingly epic or a complete debacle.  I’ll let you know.

 

 

While my mother was alive I had spoken often to her about where she wanted to have her ashes buried.  She was never completely resolute but we talked often about her going back to Danmarksby in Sweden where she had worked and got to know my dad Bengt and then was proposed to and been married in the beautiful Danmarksby Church.  Years later I had been christened there, Mum and I buried my dad there with his parents in 1993 and we had Stefan christened there in 2000.  “If you want to” she would say.  In the hospital while we were all gathered we confirmed with her that we would take her back and bury her with my dad.  Mum also said that if we do all go back to Sweden that we must go and find Rosa Heller, her best friend while she lived in Sweden.  Rosa had visited us in New Zealand once and I had given her the shock of her life one day by showing up at the door in the year 2000 to ask if she would like to come to Stefan’s christening.  She did come and helped us immensely to set things up and do it all properly.   So it was decided.  We are all going to Sweden.

Upon reflection I realise that mum wanted us to make this journey for the following reasons.

1. She wanted to enforce all of us to take a holiday
2. She wanted to keep the family focussed on being together
3. She wanted us to create memories that last a life time
4. She loved the peace and serenity of the church grounds which are so beautifully maintained.
5. She loved my dad and his Swedishness

So in the hospital and the days after she died we agreed and planned a trip to Sweden.  In Summer 2018, during the university and school holidays and decided a date 30 June 2018.  I emailed the church and booked in the time (gets busy with weddings in Summer) and everything else could revolve around that.

So back to the beginning of our Scandinavia Adventure.

Nigel and I arrived and checked in to the ultimate AirBnB in Copenhagen which is an apartment on Nyhavn.  Outside our front windows was the most historic and iconic part of Copenhagen and during our stay we (hanging out the windows) and our apartment featured in approximately 4.6 million selfies.  We met with a friend of mine and her new partner who decided quite quickly that our lounge was better than any other rooftop destination in Copenhagen and so we just stayed put and chatted.  Nigel and I had a lovely few days just wandering the streets and relaxing.  Then came the day we woke up early and went to the airport to retrieve our son who had flown directly from NZ via Bangkok to Copenhagen (Confucius say… that man who go through metal detector sideways… going to Bangkok J). The three muskateers together again.

We then spent a night back up in Sweden with Stefan’s God mother Jen and her lovely family and then woke up on MidSommar Eve where we drove to Lund to celebrate the middle of Summer in the town where I studied at Lund University and Nigel arrived to surprise me… it’s a long but quite good love story if you ever want to hear it.  We went back to the bus stop where a young guy called Bengt helped and paid for Nigel get to the obscure hostel I was living in.  The rest is now part of our little family’s history.

We went back to Copenhagen to show Stefan the sights including Tivoli by night and a long walk through the Freetown.  This little part of Copenhagen was started by a group of hippies squatting in some old buildings and has grown into an independent village of 700 residents where they have made their own rules and have legalised marijuana and self-govern themselves.  After many years of fighting it, the Danish government have now accepted this and just leave them alone.  But don’t try and take anything out of the village as the Police are waiting with sniffer dogs etc. at the gates.  It was really interesting.   We then flew to Stockholm to get ready to meet with the family and extended family.

We decided to stay the first night in Sweden in a self contained cabin in the same camping ground that Nigel and I had lived in when we first arrived in Stockholm and we lived in our campervan until it got too cold in September and we needed to get an apartment.  It was so great.  Lake to swim in, woods to walk in and loads of great memories for us of times gone by.  Staying in camping stugas in Sweden is one of the best ways to stay as in general they are always really good.  Fully self contained and the campgrounds are always on a lake or nearby somewhere to swim.

The next day we went out to the island of Tynningö where we had the world’s most incredible Air BnB.  Built in 1875 on the banks of the Baltic it was a 7 bedroom, two lounges, three bathrooms mansion.  Perfect for the 15 of us who would eventually all end up staying there.  Tynningö is a small island part of the Stockholm archipelago which consists of 35 000 islands and is incredibly beautiful.  Luckily access to Tynningö is part of the Swedish road system and so there is a free car ferry that goes twice an hour from the mainland.  We got pretty good at that ferry as we spent 10 days on the island.

We spent time together talking, laughing, reminiscing and making brand new memories.  The weather was perfect every day and we could all just relax and enjoy swimming and our time together.

In the week before the service John, Ingrid and I went through to the church to meet with the minster and to go and sort out what we were going to do on the day of the service.  We also wanted to see if we could find Rosa.  She had lived in the same house since she moved there from Germany in the 1960’s so it wasn’t too hard to find her house.  We rang the doorbell and 94 year old Rosa opened it.  I didn’t want to give her a heart attack so I said very slowly in Swedish “I’m Jenny Fromén… Margaret and Bengt Fromén’s daughter from New Zealand”.  She was completely bewildered so I said it again.  She went and got her hearing aids in and I said it again.  She looked at Ingrid and John and asked “well who are they”.  I explained it all again in my very best Swedish and then she finally understood.  We gave her once again the shock of her life.  She invited us in and we managed to explain why we were there and that the service would be on Saturday if she wanted to come.  She explained that she didn’t manage too well these days and it might not be possible but that she was glad that she knew that mum had died.  She also explained that she at first thought we were members of some form of cult that was there to convert her.  “I’ve had people from New Zealand show up here before and give me a shock” she said. “Yes, that was me too” I said.

The day of the memorial service we all made sure we were on time for the ferry and headed up to Uppsala.  It was a really lovely service in Swedish with the same hymn from their wedding, my christening, Stefan’s christening and my Dads funeral played on the big organ.  We decided that the religion that was lacking from mum’s NZ funeral service was made up for in the Swedish one but it was really lovely.  The organist came up at the beginning and said that she was the daughter of Dan-Erik Oldeberg and that Dan-Erik and his wife were coming to the funeral.  Dan-Erik was my dad’s best friend when they grew up and he had been at my Dads funeral too.  It was so lovely seeing them and we went back to see them again before we left to catch up properly.

Rosa came to the funeral too.  Her neighbour had driven her down because she thought it was important.  She brought a small bunch of wildflowers from her garden to lay on the grave.  Our mum would have been so pleased we found her.

It has made all of us really happy to know that mum and dad are together again and that they are in the most beautiful place together.  Somewhere that now gives all of us and our children a connection to Sweden and a reason to always return.

Interestingly of all the islands in the whole archipelago we ended up on the one where our friends Malin and Håkan have their yacht moored every summer.  The evening after the service they invited all of us to go out for a champagne sunset cruise which was a real highlight for everyone and something that you can only do if you have the right connections.  As they say if you don’t own a boat then have friend’s who do.  We sailed right around the island drinking large quantities of champagne and having a really lovely time.  It was a great way to end a very emotional day.

The next day we had invited all of our Swedish relations and some friends to come to the house for lunch.  Everyone who arrived was really interested to have a look through the house and so the first part of the day was spent doing guided tours of the beautiful house.  The couples who lived on the island were most interested as it’s such a small island and so everyone knew this house.  We had 46 people in total with everyone playing Kubb or swimming or kicking a football around in between the rolling lunch that we had organised.  At 3pm we had pre arranged with another of our friends that she would lead a Surströmming party.  For the uninitiated Surströmming is fermented rotting herring that is canned and is the stinkiest thing you can imagine.  It is so bad that the smell lingered for a couple of days later even though we had opened the tin in a remote corner of the garden.  Swedes who love Surströmming LOVE Surströmming and get very excited to eat it.  Many of those who came that day were absolutely thrilled to find out that we had it and it was a good opportunity for everyone to try it.  Nigel loved it.  Apparently it doesn’t taste the way it smells (which is a good thing).

Over the week Nigel and I wanted to eat as many of the things we missed and so every night pretty much everyone else in the house would get to try the various odd Swedish foods that we wanted to eat.  Shrimps one night, Swedish sausages another and a crayfish party the next night etc.  Not always easy to find some of the foods as they were out of season but we did our best and scoured every supermarket until we could find them.

Then it was all over.  The house was returned to the state that we found it and we all went our different ways.  Thankfully we also managed a five star Air BnB review from the owners which is great considering how noisy we had been most nights in fits of laughter.  It was an incredibly special time for us and one that we will never forget.

Our final night in Sweden was spent back at the campground where we met up with our friend Magnus who had arranged to take us up to the top of the Kista Science Tower where he works to see the view.  Kista is where Nigel’s office was when we lived there the first time.  It was great for him to see the old building and where he used to work.  That night one of his colleagues from Kista came round for pizza dinner and some drinks.  They had a good old catch up about telco and life in general.  Great way to end our time in Sweden.