It was so good to see James again as we arrived in Calgary where he met us & drove us to the Hotel Elan, less than a block from his home. The first thing we did after checking in was to give James his surprise birthday present of the quilt I made for him from some of the fabric we bought in Alaska last year when we were with him. His reaction was wonderful & it's such a pleasure to have all the work appreciated so much - he loves it! We had several days h...

How lovely to be back in Vancouver after 9 years & have the pleasant experience of seeing the changes & also the familiar sites, igniting happy memories of our times here with the children - we kept having deja-vu moments as we walked around. After another flight with no sleep we were greeted at Vancouver airport by the most delightful volunteer named Harry who welcomed us in the generous way Canadians do & made us feel "right at home" immediately! It...

An overnight flight from Australia via Auckland to Hawaii was of course too long & uncomfortable leaving us both happy that a room was ready when we checked in to the Imperial Hotel mid morning. Renovations & drilling in the room next door meant we couldn't have a sleep so headed out for a stroll around the shops & tasty brunch in the lovely warm weather. A late afternoon rest was followed by a swim in the sea which was also perfect temperature. Anoth...

We spent a happy weekend with Sarah & Chris in Brisbane. An early morning by the bay for Sandgate Parkrun to the pier & back. Coffee & fruit shopping at the always interesting Carseldine markets then a walk in the rain around the Regional Flavours food festival at Southbank. A Sunday afternoon of golf for the boys & shopping in the city for the girls rounded off a great start to our holiday.

It's freezing here & we had snow on the ground this week so it's time to head north........ let's go around the world. First stop Brisbane.