Balcombe, Sussex, Great Britain

We met Alan, Helen and Poppy Smith at London bridge Station and took a train to Balcombe where they live.

In 1981 we met Alan in Cuzco, Peru. He has been to see us several times in NZ and we have been to Balcombe a couple of times to see him and his family.

Alan and Helen live on a small rural property which they have bought off the estate that originally owned it and that Alan used to work for. Alan works as a tree surgeon and also does work for a wood sculpture called David Nash. Helen works from home where she writes publicity articles for the local high school as well as other work related to language schools.

The property has several ponds that are full of carp. We have been enjoying the fine warm spell of glorious weather to sit around the pond with an ale or two.


John even found some beer, at the local supermarket, named after his family!

We took a train to Brighton to have haddock and chips with our friends Tara and Jana. They both work in Brighton but we met them in Bulgaria so it was good to catch up again and reminisce.
Keena, Lil, Jana and Tara

We had time to wander the streets with Jana and walk along the pier. We have been to Brighton several times and the last time we were here there were lots of punks with their dogs outside the railway station. Jana says they have now been replaced by Emos!


One day we went with Alan to Seaford to help him with a fencing job. While Alan and John worked, Lil headed off over the hills to check out the view from the hills. The white chalky cliffs looked magnificent in the afternoon sun.


The beach was stony but there were dozens of people out walking their dogs and enjoying their tea and sandwiches on the beach. The brightly coloured beach huts along the waterfront can be bought for 23,000 Pounds. They have electricity but are very tiny.


We have had a fantastic time with Alan and Helen as they have had a quiet week and we have been able to do loads of things together. One night we had a dinner party and Alan served up a leg of venison from a hind he had shot in Scotland. He is a good cook and now we really will have to go on a diet!

Southampton, Great Britain

Caught a smooth modern train to Eastleigh Station near Southampton where we were picked up by Matt Parrington. John used to play golf with Matt back in Te Puke near where we live in NZ.

We stayed a couple of days with Jenny and Matt. Lil used to teach with Jenny at Te Puke High School. Jenny is working at a nursery school while Matt is working as a watchmaker for the Omega company. Their children are now independent and so they too are taking the opportunity to travel and work.

In the early 70s both of us arrived with a Greek passenger ship from Auckland to Southampton. We have now gone full circle!

Southampton still has some of the original old city walls and gates.

We took the opportunity to replace old clothes and footwear and walk about the town. We visited the Maritime Museum which has a small display of memorabilia from the Titanic which was interesting.

One day we caught a ferry to the Isle of Wight. It rained a little between the sunny spells but was it was still a pleasant day. There was a huge regatta and we were able to see the yachts racing up and down the bay at Cowes.

We crossed from East Cowes to West Cowes by the floating chain bridge. The bridge is guided across the waterway along huge chains. Foot passengers are free while vehicles have to pay a small charge.

The island is best visited by car and there were lots of deals advertised for cars with 4 passengers.

London, Great Britain

We lived in London from 1974-1977, where we used to work in the winters and travel in the summers. We have been back a few times since then as well. We stayed with Lil's sister, Annabelle, her partner Mark and their children Eden and Shay in Islington.

We were able to find our way from the train station to Annabelle's place without a map as there are maps at the bus stops and outside train stations. Every street is well signed with signs telling you if the street leads to another street further along. Very helpful, and such a change after places that we have visited that have no street names at all.

One of the most noticeable things after Eastern Europe is the number of trees everywhere and another is how green the grass in the parks is (and the cold wet weather of course).

London looks a lot cleaner than it used to and there didn't seem to be as many grey, dirty buildings as when we were last here. The central part of the city has a lot less traffic than it used to have as people now have to pay to travel through the central area. At some times of the day it seems deserted!

Spotted the St John's ambulance bicycle response team heading back to the local hospital.

There is a lot of construction going on in the central city. Signs on the hoardings around the sites promise responsible work practices: they will keep the dust and noise down and not disturb neighbours peace outside work hours. The city has begun to get ready for the Olympic Games in 2012.

Evan and John

There are 5 in John's family and coincidentally 3 of them were in London at the same time. John's sister Joy was visiting with a daughter and caught up with 2 other daughters who are working here.

Evan, John, Joy, Christine, Lil

John's brother Evan and his wife Christine were visiting their son Matt who is on a working holiday here. We all had lunch in a park in the drizzle and in the evening all the men went to see an under 21 soccer game at the new Wembly Stadium.

Caught up with our friends from Te Puke, NZ for a roast lamb dinner! Gwen and Paddy are working in London for a few months as their children are now independent. They get away to look at places in Europe whenever they can and have been able to catch up with Paddy's family in Ireland.

Split, Croatia

Caught a ferry from Hvar to Split and stayed in a basic hostel just near the old city walls and Dioclecian Palace. It was built as a rectangular fortress with towers at each corner. The place is buzzing with walking tours in all kinds of languages and it is quite a maze through the narrow streets. The original palace was built right along the waterfront so ships could sail right into the palace. It was built by the Roman Emperor Dioclecian as a retirement palace from 295-305 AD.

Found some time to shop for replacement trousers as clothes are starting to fall apart after 18 months and daily washes! We are about to spend time at colder temperatures than we have had to date so need to look for some warmer clothes.


Lil's mosquito bites form Mostar!
Caught a bus to the airport to catch our Eazy Jet flight to London.

Jelsa, Hvar Island, Croatia

On the ferry to Hvar island we met an 82 year old Croatian man who lives in Auckland, New Zealand. He left the old Yugoslavia in 1953 for Chile with his wife and 2 children and then in the 1980s settled in NZ. He was at his family hometown for a holiday and to help his brother with the grape harvest. While there he was setting up a museum of stone, wood, and steel wine processing equipment. The museum is owned by the town and would take any profits from it. He told us that there was a wine festival in Jelsa the next day so we headed there on the local bus.

We spent the day at the beach and headed back into town for the 6pm start of the festival. The town band officially opened the festival with a march up and down the street with the locals in pursuit dressed in their pirate-like black and white shirts.

There were stalls selling local fast foods- little skinless sausages (chevapi), meat patties, char grilled cuttlefish, squid and octopus, fish soup, and prawns. Of course there were locals selling their freshly made wines.

We couldn't read any of the signs telling us what the events were, so it was all a surprise. A teenager led a herd of beautiful donkeys down the street to the end and then they thundered back with small kids struggling to stay on their saddle-less backs.

This was repeated several times without warning and had the unsuspecting strolling tourists diving for cover. We could never imagine such an event taking place in NZ because of all the safety red-tape.

The raffle of a scooter was drawn and won by someone from Bratislava and lots of wine as minor prizes.

A huge rope was strung across the water and the tug of war began.

We expected the winning team to pull the losers into the sea but that didn't happen.

A leg of smoked ham was hung on a pole beside the dock and young boys from about 9 years old lined up with with muscly teenagers.

They had to jump into the water and then pull themselves up the rope, touch the ham and get back down again as fast as possible.

Sadly we had to catch the last bus out of town at 8pm and didn't see any other events. The bus took us to Stari Grad where we had to wait until 10pm for the last bus back from there to Hvar. Stari grad was buzzing. There was some kind of presentation of certificates, cups and trophies in the square. Children were dressed in 'scout-like' clothes holding signs from different countries.

After this there was a huge fireworks display over the water. Along the waterfront were dozens of yachts for the Faros Marathon- a race around some of the islands. We were surprised to see the silver fern flag from NZ flapping from the rigging on a couple of the yachts.

The last bus arrived and filled up with young Italians heading for the night ferry that would get them home in time for work on Monday.

Hvar Island, Croatia

After a bus trip to Split we caught a ferry to Hvar Island. We rented a self-catering apartment near the main square and cathedral which was a treat.

The medieval town of Hvar has 2724 hours of sunshine a year! The rocky island manages to grow pines which many restaurants use to fuel the wood ovens to cook the local dishes. Lavender seems to like the poor soil and climate and the locals sell all kinds of lavender products. Rosemary clings to the cliffs and was used in ancient times as a mouthwash to ward off scurvy. Giant yukkas line the seaside paths looking like overgrown asparagus and were used by nuns to make a kind of lace.

Hvar had the cleanest water we have seen in all our travels to date! The water was 23 degrees Celsius. There was no sand and areas were roped off to separate swimmers from boats.

Many of the hotels owners pave between the rocks outside their hotels so there is a flat space to set up the loungers and umbrellas they rent to guests.

Above Hvar on a rocky hill is a Venetian fortress from 1551.

In the port were several super yachts.



The island was an important Venetian port in the Middle Ages so it has many buildings carved by Venetian masons. There are 15th century Franciscan Monasteries, a Gothic Arsenal, and the first municipal theatre in Europe (1612) although it was rebuilt in the 19th century. It is a popular place for Italian holiday makers. We found it a beautiful spot but it is also very expensive.

Mostar, Bosnia and Hercegovina

Mostar is built along the Neretva River and is most well known from the images on television of its stone bridge being shelled by Croatian artillery in 1993.

The original bridge was built when the town was the provincial capital for the Ottoman Empire. Today there is a diving club that charges tourists to jump off the bridge (300 Euro) but if you really want to jump without paying you have to do it at 6am. There has been an annual diving competition off the bridge for 200+ years!
Up the slopes from the bridge are cobbled narrow streets in the preserved Ottoman quarter.

In the inter-ethnic wars from 1992-1995 after the collapse of Yugoslavia, Serbian forces shelled Mostar. Croats and Muslims joined to expel the Serbs but shortly after became adversaries. The Croat forces took over the western bank expelling Muslims and the city became divided along the river.


We saw several entire cemeteries full of people who had died in 1993.

We stayed in a wonderful hostel in Mostar. It was situated in a typical soviet style concrete apartment block but was so homely.

It is run by Majda who has turned her apartment into a hostel. Majda saw the first part of the war and then fled to London. Her brother helps out as well and he spent 15 years in Sweden. Majda's mother lends a hand as well preparing food and picking up and dropping off guests for the buses and trains. She even greeted us with a cuppa in bed.

Majda's brother Bata took 16 of us on tour and it was very interesting. He took us to the top of the hill overlooking the city and showed us how ethnically separated the city still is. It was easy to see where development in the city was taking place.

He told us about his experiences being a Muslim at this time. He also gave us examples of how today there are disparities in sport, health care, and beer depending on where you live- the Croatian side of the city or the Bosnian side.

We traveled through what used to be a small village called Medugorje, but is now a huge religious tourist resort for Catholics. In 1981 six teenagers claimed to have seen an apparition of the Virgin Mary. The place is pumping with tour buses, hotels, restaurants, and souvenir shops.

Spent the middle of the day at some waterfalls where the water was really cold as it flowed several kilometers underground before spilling from the rocks to the river below. The younguns enjoyed jumping from the cliffs on a rope and John became the oldest to give it a go!

Dervish Monastery and after the meal visited the monastery. We listened to the Dervishes chanting while we dressed to enter the building. Inside were two tombs of Visited an ancient town called Blagaj where the Buna River gushed out of the enormous cliff. We ate the local trout at a restaurant overlooking the TekijaTejik Dervishes. It was quite late so it was difficult to photograph the place but it was spectacular all lit up at night.

Bata showed everyone how to drink the special coffee that they brewed at the monastery. It came in a little handled pot with a glass of water and sugar cubes. the cold water was added to the coffee and stirred causing it to form white froth. The sugar was put between your teeth and the coffee sucked through it.

We had a great trip and didn't get to bed till about 1am!