Christmas at the Botanics

It's a long time since we've been to the botanics, it was a regular haunt when the kiddies were wee, but only during the hours of daylight. These days they light up the place at Christmas and charge money to wander about in the dark. It is good, though it would be even better if it wasn't for all the other people there...

Woo Hoo It's Christmas!

Christmas comes but once a year, and when it does we dance like idiots. We were at home for Christmas this year, and hosted la famille Millar for exchanging gifts and eating. Helen did a magnificent turkey with all the fixin's but I didn't get a picture of that, or anything else. These are just a few snaps we took while waiting for folk to show up...

Helen's POV

A selection of 2018 snaps from Helen's phone, including some from Center Parcs and Croatia as well as closer to home.

Watery Activities Croatia

A wee compilation of all the usable footage I got from the "No-Pro" in Croatia this year. Good times!

Farewell Prvic, Farewell Hrvatska

Our last day, and we jumped in the little water-taxi and bade farewell to our temporary island home of Prvic Luka. When in Croatia one must of course visit Dubrovnik, so we duly did, but it was a rapid, targeted attack. The place was heaving. Nice though.

Croatia Day Twelve - SUP

If it's Thursday, it must be time to do a bit of Stand Up Paddleboarding in Vodice. We rented boards and got some excellent instruction from Bluewind Adventure, right on the main beach. They even took pictures and sent them to us. We all managed pretty well, but Holly was the star of the show and even managed a headstand on her board.

Croatia Day Eleven - Canoodling

Our local hotel rented us some sea kayaks, despite our complete lack of knowledge or expertise in the safe operation of such things. In the natural shelter of our wee bay the water was smooth enough and we got on fine, but on heading out to Otok Lupac - a small uninhabited island to the south of Prvic - the water got a bit choppier and it was a little alarming at times. Still, we found a wee sheltered bay round the back of the island, and caught our breath before heading back for lunch and a quick wander round the Prvic forest. In the evening, in a bizarre turn of events, we found ourselves watching England vs Croatia in the World Cup in a local hostelty. Everyone was there, from toddlers to grannies, all wearing the red checkerboard of Hrvatska and all enjoying the match. Especially when they won.

Croatia Day Ten - Vodice

Settling into our second week on peaceful, idyllic Prvic we decided to head for the bright lights of nearby Vodice. We took the ageing ferry around the island and headed for the beach and its inflatable fun thing. Back in Prvic Luka, we relaxed and watched the sun set, all at a suitably leisurely pace.

Croatia Day Nine - Swim

We took a notion to swim across our little bay, one side to the other, dodging yachties. And rewarded ourselves with beer and ice cream in our wee harbour bar.

Croatia Day Six - Zadar

Our last day in Zadar, and we spent it at our favourite stony beach and diving off the pier, followed by a couple of beers at the beautifully located Bar Bamboo round by the marina.

Croatia Day Five - Preko

We took a ferry from the port of Zadar over to Preko on the island of Ugljan. Preko itself sits in a sandy bay with shallow blue water, and has its own wee island you can wade to. Very beautiful and more tranquil than many of the bigger places we'd been to.

Croatia Day Four - Pag

A wee day trip to Pag island - nice bridge, pedalo on the beach - and then back to Zadar for the sunset at the Sun Salutation and Sea Organ on the waterfront.

Croatia Day Three - Krka

Day three, and we headed inland to Krka National Park, a beautiful series of waterfalls and pools of blue-green water set in a lush, wooded valley criss-crossed with boardwalks. It was beautiful, and we were allowed to swim in the main pool alongside the fishes. It was odd to be swimming in fresh water, but back in Zadar we restored normality with a splash in the Adriatic at our favourite stony beach.

Croatia Day One - Zadar

Day one in Croatia, and Holly's birthday. We had flown into Dubrovnik airport, picked up a hire car, and driven all the way up the coast to Zadar on the E65, a new, fast and almost empty motorway. We had glimpses of white limestone coastline, blue Adriatic water, rugged mountains, and small towns perched on hillsides.

On our first whole day, we wandered round the Old Town, stopped at Donat by the cathedral for an ice cream, and popped into Bruschetta for lunch to commemorate Holly's 14th birthday. 14!

We then drove out  beyond the marina to a swimming spot we'd been recommended, and took our first dip in the Adriatic. Beaches in Croatia tend towards the rocky rather the sandy, so we were all glad of our water shoes!

Then back to the house and our own wee pool. A nice gentle start to the holiday.

April Cancelled Due To Injury

Edit: There are more - and more interesting - photos from the trip here.



Normally at the start of April I'd be posting hundreds of images of happy, sunburned skiers sweating in their winter clothes under a brutal Alpine sun. And that's exactly what we were doing last week in Meribel. We had a massive dump of fresh powder - in April! - and we were loving it, whooping down the un-skied areas down the sides of the pistes and generally getting it. Then I took a nasty tumble just off the edge of the Jean Pachot red run, pulling my right calf muscle and twisting my left knee. I bravely skied to the nearest mountain restaurant, where a demi of the local muscle relaxant seemed to work its magic, but it was clear I'd have to head home. By the time I got back to the chalet I could hardly walk, so the next (and last) day was going to be a write-off. First whole day I've missed my whole ski career I think.

Friday, of course, is the day we all have lunch together, I bring the cameras out, and we all goof about a bit and I get some nice pictures. That's wasn't going to happen, so Tim and I took up position in a nice bar overlooking the ronde-point - more muscle relaxant - and waited for everyone to come back for lunch. A nice boozy lunch, as it turns out, and nice enough to persuade a few others not to head back out into the deepening afternoon slush. So we ended the day - and the trip - on a bit of a pub crawl, toasting each other, injuries, the sunshine and the snow. Not so much of a write-off after all.

Brighton Breezy

We visited Brighton for Auntie Kate's significant birthday. It was a blur of social activity, hopping from AirBNB to luncherie to restaurant to bar and back again, but we hardcore cyclists managed a wee jaunt along the seafront on the town's shared bikes.

Gay Paree

A family jaunt to the city of light, in honour of Grandma Pat's significant birthday. What a marvellous city. We stayed in an AirBNB apartment on the Avenue de la Grande Armée, strolled along the Seine and around Pere Lachaise, climbed the Tour Eiffel and the Arc de Triomphe, hiked up to Sacre Coeur, rented Vélib bikes, visited the Lodges' old haunts, and even managed a trip to Disneyland.

Birthday Triathlon

Another year, another birthday for me. Forty-twelve this time. We went to the Gardener's Cottage en famille, and very nice it was too. The day before, Helen had done her first triathlon in Peebles. She ran (and swam, and rode) a good race, but it was hard work. I didn't manage to get any decent pictures, except of Louis and the bike...

Val Thorens

A wee bit of footage from our ski trip earlier this year.

Once In A Lifetime

We had entered the ballot to walk across the brand new Queensferry Crossing, and on beautiful calm, sunny, blue-sky day - and with a few thousand other people - we did. It's a pretty bridge, as bridges go.