At Tiiu and Dale's Place in Bangalore, Karnataka

I had a great visit in Bangalore with Tiiu and Dale! We arrived on Monday evening and ordered in food and had an early night as we were pretty tired from the weekend in Varkala. We began Tuesday with a delicious breakfast of coffee and dose at a little Indian restaurant. I then hired a cab for the day and went exploring the city of Bangalore. Tiiu had created a list of all the sights of Bangalore and the driver took me around for 8 hours. Our first stop was to Bangalore Palace and then it was on to Vidhana Soudha (the state of Karnataka's government buildings, Cubbon Park, Shiva Temple, Tipu Sultan's Palace and then I had a leisurely stroll through the Lal Bagh Botanical Gardens. After I was picked up it was over to UB City Hall where I started at the Cafe Noir, a little French Restaurant where I had a bottle of water, a sandwich and an iced coffee. A great restaurant! I had a look around the shops but it was only window shopping as it was incredibly expensive. I then went off on my own for a stroll down some of the streets of Bangalore. After meeting up with the driver I visited the Iskcon Temple. This is the Hare Krishna temple of Bangalore. It was a national holiday so it was incredibly busy! I wasn't allowed to take photos inside the temple but it was absolutely incredible and quite interesting to watch the people parade through the various temples as they prayed to the founder of the Hare Krishna organization. It was very interesting! It was late by the time I arrived back at Tiiu and Dale's and it was over to their friends for a sushi dinner and a game of cards! Another early night as I was quite tired! Yesterday I had a leisurely day exploring the downtown core of Bangalore. I began with a coffee and a sandwich at a coffee shop and then I wandered along Commercial Street, MG Road (Mahatma Ghandi) and Brigade Road. I spent hours looking through shops and market areas and was able to find some clothes that I purchased. This shopping was much more reasonable. I then found a bookstore that Tiiu had recommended and found a book that I had been looking for by Seth Vikram (A Suitable Boy). I was quite happy with my purchase and look forward to reading it as I travel through the South of India. I then went to Woody's for a South Indian vegetarian meal of marsala dose. It was delicious! Another great day! I am currently at The Stonehill International School where Tiiu and Dale teach. I have had a little visit with some of the people they work with and the kids they teach. I will be off in an hour to the train station where I will be catching a train to Mysore! It has been a wonderful visit with Tiiu and Dale. Thank you so much for everything you have done that has helped me settle into India! I cannot express how grateful I am for your kindness! Many thanks!

Varkala, India

I arrived in Chennai, India on Monday, March 8th and had a few hours layover before boarding my next flight south to Trivandrum! Luckily I had arranged for a pickup at the airport to get me to my first destination. It was an hour and a quarter drive to the Hillview on the North Cliff of Varkala. It was quite the experience getting there. Lots and lots of people, traffic and beeping horns but we got there. The Hillview was a great spot to get settled in India. I was there for 7 nights and was joined for the last two nights by Tiiu Vail and her boyfriend Dale as well as three of their Canadian friends Colin, Hana and Ainsley. I spent the first few days walking, jogging and swimming the beautiful beach of Varkala. The hotels, restaurants and shops are all built up on the top of the North Cliff of Varkala. It is quite a stunning view looking up at the cliffs from the beach! I spent a lot of time each day body surfing in the waves. They were incredibly powerful and you have to be careful as they have quite a significant undertow to them. Tiiu, Dale and their friends came on the last two days of my time in Varkala and we had great times at the beach, eating out at restaurants, chilling at the Chill Out lounge and playing cards! Congratulations to Dale and Gord who were the overall Euchre champions! I then flew up to Bangalore late Monday afternoon to Tiiu and Dale's place! A fabulous time in Varkala! Thanks for the great start to my India visit Tiiu and Dale!

Homeward Bound!

They are on their way! I just did the hardest thing ever! I just sent Kathleen, Lauren and Cameron off in a taxi to the airport. They are on their way home! Although I miss them already, I am so happy that they are on their way home to Canada! Wow, I can hardly believe that it has been over 5 months since we began our trip! It has been fabulous but I am so excited that Lauren, Cameron and Kathleen are on their way home! It will be a 55 hour journey from start to finish as they journey from Perth to Singapore, to London, to Toronto and then to North Bay. They will arrive in North Bay on Sat. March 6 at 3:10 p.m. Have a great trip guys! I will be on my way to India in 3 days time and I look forward to seeing you upon my return! I love you so much! Thanks for the fabulous journey! much love always, Daddy xoxoxo

South-West Australia/Mandurah and Busselton

We had a great final two weeks in South-west Australia! We stayed one week at the Silver Sands resort in Mandurah and then the next week at the Amalfi Resort in Busselton. Both locations were great and we had lots of fun swimming in the pools and playing tennis. The beaches of South-western Australia are spectacular and we had a great afternoon at Preston Beach south of Mandurah. We have really enjoyed listening to the unmistakable call of the kookaburra. The kookaburra is a kingfisher and is native to Australia. It has a very joyful, laughter-like call. We enjoyed several drives south of Busselton in the Margaret River area and again, explored fabulous beaches. We visited one of the most beautiful beaches yesterday, Yallingup, and it was a perfect way to culminate the many spectacular visits to the many beaches we have explored in New Zealand and Australia. It was so beautiful. As we were driving around this area late afternoon we travelled through an area where we saw many wild kangaroos roaming in the western Australian fields! A great way to end our trip!

A Visit with the Jacobs Family in Perth, WA

We had a wonderful time catching up with Pete, Jo, Matt, and Tom at their home in Perth. We had only visited with Pete and Jo once since they moved away from North Bay 7 years ago so we were long overdue for a visit. We were fortunate to be here to celebrate Jo's birthday and we went out to a fabulous outdoor restaurant with them and their friends Derek, Liz and their son Sean. The restaurant specialized in making wood-fired pizzas and everyone got to make their own which was great fun. The kids got to play mini-putt while the adults celebrated Jo's birthday with a couple of cocktails. We also got to enjoy a leisurely afternoon the next day and enjoyed a couple of drinks down at the Breakwater Pub at Hilliary's Marina. Jo was a gracious hostess and showed us the sites of Perth including its most famous beach, Cottesloe and its 1 000 acre King's Park. We had a very Aussie lunch of fish and chips by the beach followed by an afternoon of swimming and jumping in the waves at Cottesloe. The following day we visited King's Park where we enjoyed a picnic lunch under the shade of a tree and then a stroll through the park where we enjoyed fabulous views of the city and the Swan River. Cameron of course was thrilled to have the boys to play with and had a great time playing basketball and swimming in the pool. All this combined with fabulous meals and visits in the backyard at their home and we were very much spoiled! Thanks so much Pete, Jo, Matt and Tom! We had a wonderful visit!

Rottnest Island

We enjoyed a fabulous day at Rottnest Island which is located about 20 km off the coast of Perth. We travelled around the island on a bus that we were able to hop on and off as we pleased. Rotto is a beautiful island with white sandy beaches and gorgeous bays to snorkel in. We had so much fun! We got up close to a few quokkas which are cute little marsupials. They are pretty tame as they have no predators on the island. As you can see, they are quite photogenic!

Our Aussie friends-The Hirst Family!

Wow! How do you put into words the gratitude we have for our dear Aussie friends, the Hirst family! We first met Antony and Michelle while travelling in Italy more than 14 years ago! Shortly after meeting them, we also visited them in Melbourne in January 1996. Although it had been a very long time since we have seen them, we spoke to them just about every Christmas since then, and exchanged letters and photos of our families. How fortunate we are to have them as our friends! Our visit with them on this trip at their home in Mount Martha was absolutely fabulous! They graciously invited us into their home and shared their beautiful part of Australia with us. We spent just over two weeks with them and everyday was so special! Many of our highlights were the four birthday parties for Henry, Lauren, Cameron and Jack, the early morning ocean swims, beach days, jumping off the cliffs, visits to wineries and botanical gardens, beautiful meals together, and catching up with dear friends. It is very difficult to put into words how we feel about how grateful we are to the Hirst family and how you have made our trip to Australia so special! We feel privileged to have you as friends! Thank you so much and we can hardly wait to welcome you to Canada!