MY WEEK IN PICTURES

SUNDAY: Massively fed up with having to look after the bushes outside our garden fence. Resolved to take them away and plant veggies. Took the first one out. Took all afternoon.

MONDAY: The weather forecast said there was the tail end 0f a tropical storm coming. So I cleared the decking of all our plants and garden furniture. Some parts of the UK got it but not us.

TUESDAY: Whilst at work that tropical storm visited us for about 15 minutes. Now who says chickens are daft. They knew where to shelter!

WEDNESDAY: On the way home I noticed how olde worlde Leagrave station was. The main building is exactly as built in the late 1800's. The same can be said of Harlington. Long may they last.

THURSDAY: Back over in Harpenden for the physio. Harpenden station is another station that has been changed very little. Outside is a row of shops. They are built in the same fashion as the station. I remember this building used to be a coal merchant.

And the Harpenden chippy, one of the best I have ever been to, is still there!

FRIDAY: I noticed that the big tree outside our house was taking on it's Autumn colours, the leaves changing to their usual fiery red. Winter is on its way.

SATURDAY: Trish and I went to visit her niece Dina. She's just had her first child. Here she is..two weeks old Keris. Dina assures us she has the right baby. She is as white as her father. Mother is Trish's colour!

MY WEEK IN PICTURES

Sunday was spent in the garden. The long holiday we had certainly meant there was some tidying up to do, and some surprises! The veg had really come on.

Trish also got a free IPOD from her work and she was keen to download some songs to it. After a quick tutorial she was away. Musicals though! Part of her 82 CD set!

Monday was back to work and risking life and limb cycling in Luton. Here is a picture of a bike lane I have to negotiate. However, motorists seem to think it's somewhere for them to park. I have complained to the laughingly called 'Safer Neighbourhood Team' who say it's 'nothing to do with them'

Tuesday I discovered a new group, which I always love doing. Worth a listen for sure

On my way to work on Wednesday, I spotted two cars without tax. Here is one of them. it's possible to send the reg. number to Swansea via the DVLA website. This car's tax ran out in April but it's still on the road. Why should I pay and they not?

You're nicked!

On Thursday I went to Physio in Harpenden, where I used to live. Got there a bit early so cycled round a bit. I had forgotten what a lovely town it is. Apart from the fact that the A6 runs straight through the middle.

High Street Harpenden

The hospital is at the top of the road where I used to live, so I thought I would have a look at my old flat. When I did, I was glad I decided to move from there. Half of the building has been demolished due to severe subsidence. My flat was still there, but only just. For those who visited me there, look at this. If you remember, my flat was the one with the brown door. I knew there was something wrong when I lived there. I moved after 18 months. It had bad damp, with large mushrooms growing on the roof of the garage under the flats. it was lovely inside, a spacious lounge and bedroom.

4 Reed Place.

Friday, I finally made it out with JD. I had to bribe him with the promise of a bag of chewy liquorice which I found in Tesco. We went to the Old English Rose one of only TWO decent pubs on Luton selling various real ales. He was in good form and we had a good session.

The English Rose-Traditional.

Saturday we went out to our Local Mexican with Mike and Helen. The food was good as was the company

I forced Mike to dress for the occasion!

THE STABLES: ROBIN TROWER TRIO

Rustan and I was at The Stables Milton Keynes on Sunday night to see one of our favourite artists - Robin Trower. As usual he didn't disappoint. These videos tell the story. Hi to Steve, Dave and Iain who we met there. Good to see you all.

Videos by Rustan Lefin with help from me!

BARBADOS AND THE ROAD HOME

There is a hotel in Barbados and it's situated in a district called Worthing. Normally, I wouldn't use a hotel such as this one, it's expensive. It's self-catering for a start, and although it's got a restaurant, as we found out the last time we stayed here, in fact the first time, the food is expensive and I think Gordon Ramsey would be sending it back. However, we decided, even before we set off on the trip, that our last two days we would spend here. So there must be a reason right? Well there is. It's lux. It's right on the beach with a fab view over a multicoloured Caribbean and as it's low season it's dead easy to get a room. The rooms are everything you could want. There's a big balcony, fridge, air con, kitchen, cable TV, fast internet and a supermarket just up the road. It's also 15 minutes from the airport which means at night you can watch planes coming into land over the sea. As they turn towards the island from a couple of miles out they come straight at the hotel, their landing lights forming a silver pathway on the sea until they turn off parallel to the hotel and pass by, lights twinkling. We love it.

Brits in Barbados

We also had a fair amount of rain but this didn't stop the Brits from toughing it out under umbrellas on the beach. We waited for the rain to stop and then of course the sun comes out and soon the downpour is a memory. The sea is always toasty warm too and if there is a bit of wind about, rollers crash onto the shore which is always fun. It really is a piece of paradise, it even has a lovely name; The Coral Mist, and we really enjoy staying there, cooking for ourselves, buying our booze at the duty free and the supermarket, and keeping ourselves to ourselves. It's a great place to relax and prepare for the long trek home on Sunday.

As I write the sun is going down and the sunbeds still have customers, some new bathers have come down for a dusk dip and the restaurant looks out hopefully for trade. I can smell Trish's cheesy pasta cooking on the stove and there is a vodka (Absolute of course) and orange in my hand waiting to be drunk. So that's about it for this year. Thanks for following the travelblog. Hope you enjoyed it.

I can see a Virgin Atlantic 747 and it's coming our way.

DOMINICA

Antigua

It was time to leave Montserrat. We were looking forward to the short 20 minute hop across to Antigua and I was hoping that the passengers were a little better behaved than those on our trip over. My heart missed a beat slightly when I saw a pretty weighty woman approach the aircraft, all I could hope is that she let the pilot alone to do his job! I asked the captain if I could take some photos and he was cool with that man so here are a few.

Leave that man alone!

We arrived at Dominica airport and were driven to Hibiscus Valley Nature Inn. It's in the middle of the rainforest served by a rough road. We were shown to our room by Nigel, also the cook of some repute. We had a tree cottage and although they are well maintained cosy and charming, they lacked certain essentials, a fridge, for the booze,air con, and mozzie shades over the open windows. You got a noisy free standing fan but if you suffer from mozzies, this is not the room for you. This is the rainforest, so expect the little devils. I don't suffer from them but my Trish does. They wait at airports for her plane to land, salivating in anticipation of her arrival, all over the Caribbean, The Far East and Scotland. We upgraded to an apartment, not so charming but with all the essentials apart from internet. This explains the late posting of this blog as we are actually in Barbados now.

The trouble with going on holiday to the Windies at this time of year is that it's low season. I say 'trouble' but sometimes it's a blessing but it can be a cleft stick. For example, when you book, you can get a room anywhere you want but on the other hand the establishment is usually running a skeleton staff. There are usually few guests, again a boon for service is usually pretty exclusive but then on the other hand you end up eating alone, going on trips alone and doing pretty much everything on your own. I think this is good and especially this week for we had the exclusive use of our very own Carib guide Kim.

We made it!

Kim and his jeep took us anywhere we wanted to go so we ended up doing a tour of the island hampered only by roads which made the roads of St. Vincent look like the main runway at Heathrow. Luckily the beautiful and historic island of Dominica, fought over by the English and French with regularity over the years, does not have the volume of traffic to make the narrow, potholed, twisty, animal/human riddled roads supreme in the terrifying stakes.

The bamboo bar at The Islet View

Kim also told us in depth about the history of his people, the original inhabitants of The CARIBbean. During this historical interlude, Trish piped up from the back seat informing us that her great grandma was a Carib, a fact she had not shared with me until now which Kim thought so funny he drove into a pothole which until then he had done magnificently to avoid. Kim also liked a beer or two and took us not only to Fort Shirley in Portsmouth and the Emerald Lake and waterfall, but to the Islet View Bar where we met owner Rudi who had turned a shack into a bamboo lined hostelry complete with homemade bamboo furniture, complete with a fantastic view out to the sparkling sea.

Islet View Bar and Restaurant

Kim

We climbed the left one

He also made us climb up a steep rainforested semi-mountain in order that we see the cannon mounted at the top by the British to guard the strait between Dominica and it's neighbouring island. The cannon was presumably used to fire on French ships as they tried to sneak through. It was worth the climb, which we ended, dripping with sweat and with the knowledge that due to the rain that had transformed the trail into a river as we made our way up, we had a precarious route down as well.

Trish drinking beer!

Pumpkin soup in an interesting bowlhe week. The last leg of our journey

SOUFRIE

Our hosts have lived on Montserrat for many years. They used to live in the capital Plymouth and also had a beach bar on the south west side of the island. In 1995 their lives changed dramatically. Following a devastating hurricane in 1989, Mount Soufrie, resident volcano decided to erupt. It was a massive eruption. A population of 12,000 was reduced, almost overnight to 3,000. The town of Plymouth was buried under 30 feet of ash as was the golf course and beaches. People were evacuated, a million dollars was marooned inside the vault of Barclays Bank only to be 'rescued' by a gang of determined yet hapless thieves some years later. The lava flowed in torrents down the side of Soufrie and a huge mushroom cloud rose into the air, whilst above it the lightening arced and slashed at the darkening skies. Day turned to night as red hot boulders were cast to the heavens.

The Golf Course

Shirley and Lou remember these times clearly, as if it was yesterday it all happened. The beach upon which their bar stood was buried and destroyed. They had to evacuate their house as did many people, never to return. Much of this now lies in the Forbidden Zone, a fence marks the boundary. From the observatory, Plymouth, grey and lifeless, the once proud town, looks for all like a modern day Pompeii which of course that is exactly what it is. A three year cycle prevents any attempt to colonize the Bad Lands and some say that until the bones of ancient indigenous Indians, removed from their shallow graves, are returned to their resting place, the eruptions will continue.

The devastation is quite shocking, yet the islanders continue with their lives in the shadow of the volcano which, ironically provides some of them with a much needed livelihood. Although no-one is allowed into the Zone, one can get as close as to be too close, should something ever happen again, but the town of Plymouth is off limits, entombed, perhaps to be excavated at a later date. As you can imagine a lot of mythology and magic surrounds us here on Montserrat. Shirley, lady of the house regails us with countless tales of mysterious goings on and happenings together with advice on how to deal with people who trouble you, how to ward off spirits who would do you a disservice, how to entice the opposite kind of spirits and the places on the island you really would not want to spend a night, no matter how brave you might talk in the daylight hours!

Church and house

Speaking of this, we visited an interesting hotel yesterday. On the wrought iron gate its name 'Overston House' does not give a clue as to its origin unless of course you are a real Beatles fan. For Overston House was the home of George Martin and is in fact still owned by him. Once inside this beautiful building set in sculpted gardens the first thing you notice are photos of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, taken and signed by Linda McCartney hanging on the wall along a long corridor. These are accompanied by other photos she took on the island. Given that Air Studios, were also built by Martin and now lay derelict in the Zone, (once hosting such groups as The Beatles and The Stones), it can be see that Martin had a love for this island which exists to the current day. And did I feel a temptation to remove just one of these signed, framed photos? Of course not. I don't want to be a name in someone's shoe!

A three story house

Lou and Shirley's beach bar

Nature fights back

George's Place

Lennon