Join me on my trips

All previous posts have now disappeared as I start a new year. Let's see where I go and what happens in the world.  The river is flooding and here is a white pheasant. The willow tree has been pollarded and looks very stark but will come back in a nice shape.  A lot of thin branches had split or fallen in the winds so the tree surgeon said it was time to take it right back to previous pollarding. Watching him was quite scary. It was a very wet day. Thought I would add a few photos from the Forbes family adventure in South America. Their photos from Instagram. Not sure how they will keep them permanently as Instagram seems to lose pictures or maybe it is that I won't understand it. These were taken in Brazil and Bolivia. The rain has been incessant every second day or so. Its a good thing there aren't any chickens just now. So today 16th January here is the situation with water right up to my feet. 17th - coldest night of the year which doesn't mean much seeing as we are

Based on a river cruise up the Mekong, another up and down the Duoro, crossing the Atlantic on Cunard's Queen Mary and the South Pacific on  Silversea's Silver Whisper. My experience is therefore not extensive but varied. One of the main things to remember is that a cruise is really a holiday on a ship not a means of transport. I had thought of it as the latter which was wrong. River cruises are preferable to me. I loved the quiet of sailing through rural areas. Long days at sea consist of sleeping and eating if you don't partake of the activities. Fortunately there is almost always a bridge teacher who organises tournaments. Then there are lectures of differing qualities though those giving them may be rehashing something they have given many times before and the delivery is variable. You may even be lucky enough to find something useful like French lessons or watercolour classes, even knitting and there will be a gym on bigger ships. On both the QM and SW there are at lea