David and Penny in Guernsey and France

August and September 2008

Getting to Guernsey

We travelled to Guernsey and France in August and September 2008 to spend time with Liz and Bernadette who live in Guernsey; to have some experience of barging so that we could try out this different way of travelling by water; and to spend time in France. David had visited briefly while he was working but Penny had never been there.

We had an excellent trip from Sydney to Guernsey, free from fuss. We were staying overnight in Singapore and had a bonus when we dropped our bags in Sydney and found that they could be checked through to London. As we had packed enough in our carry-ons for an overnight stay, this was great as it meant we could go straight through at the airport in Singapore and travel easily on the train (MRT) to our hotel. We had a good night there, sampling the busy night shopping scene and then the next morning strolled around the waterfront area before we went to the airport, again on the MRT.

<b>Singapore waterfront</b>

Singapore Harbour

Children from

the Shortland Islands in the Northwest of the Solomon Islands (near Bougainville).

Our Friend Solomon shows us artefacts from WWII in

underground caves on the East Coast of the

extinct double cone volcano Kolombangara

A baby visiting with us on our yacht in the Louisiade Archipeligo

of Papua New Guinea. Babies love balloons.

Dismasted in the Coral Sea! It took us a further 9 days to

rig a jury mast and sails and then reach land (Gladstone) on the

East Coast of Australia