After a couple of days in Leeds with Martin's mother we moved on to stay with his brother in Ripon and on Saturday we took our niece Olivia, aged 5 and three quarters, to Fountains Abbey for a picnic and Sunday to the beach at Saltburn. A jewel of a beach with fine silky sand, a big pier for such a small town, with to one side a lovely view of a headland and to the other some factory in Middlesborough belching out copious smoke. Particularly good fish and chips a...

Yesterday we drove up to Leeds to visit family, Martin's poor old Prius groaning with a bootful of cases (well a girl has to pack for all possible weathers up north) and the bikes on the back which ruined the aerodynamics and fuel efficiency. I struggled to reach 60 uphill whilst maintaining economic fuel consumption and was overtaken by an articulated lorry. Felt like a true pensioner. Today we walked around Waterloo Lake in Roundhay Park which i believe is one...

The first week of retirement passed in a blur of activity and by Friday we were ready for a restful day, but a walk in Chislehurst was brightened by the resident grey heron by the currently dried out pond. On Sunday we visited my mother and sister in Hove and all had dinner at the picturesque Ginger Fox a charming gastropub in the countryside. Spot the fox chasing a pheasant! After eating out 4 times over the weekend i decided to become reaquainted with the gym...

Well, I have finally had time to come to grips with the technology and am ready for a practice run. I see no reason why travelling in the UK cannot be regarded as exploring and so our first day trip was to Whitstable, a first for us. A lovely English summer day, hot in the sun and cool in the shade with a whipping salt-laden wind. Had delicious fresh cockles, a tradition for Martin whenever he is at the seaside (with apologies to those who may be shocked by our...