After the success of the Cambodia trip in October, we booked another long weekend for Chinese New Year, this time to Bali, a destination that has been on my ‘must do‘ list for some time! It was a nice weekend – but, unfortunately did not live up to expectations – maybe because of a wrong location? The photos here are from the sunset temple, built on a rock jutting out to sea and the only beach we saw on the whole trip! The last three photos are by professional photographers, stolen from the internet – impressive indeed!

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More photos from the Bali trip can be found in the reports section - Singapore report 27.

Another day out with Shanhong's mum and dad was to Dudley Castle and Zoo. The castle sits on top of a hill, and the zoo is the bit from the bottom of the hill to the castle! This was a place my mum took me to as a child, and I have fond memories of this as one of the most open and 'friendly' zoos I know. I still like it!

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If you’ve been in touch for any length of time, you’ll know I have always fancied a cruise. This summer was my chance to give it a try as Shanhong and I (and Teddy of course) joined the Oceana for a one-week trip to Norway.

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The cruise left and returned to Southampton in the UK, and consisted of two ‘sea days’ getting to/from Norway and 4 days where we got off the ship and went to explore. Needless to say – it was every bit as good as I hoped and we will certainly be cruising again in the future. Full details can be found in the reports section of the website under Norway Reports.