Stardate March 9, 2019 - Testing, testing 1,2,3...

Hello!  Welcome to our new blog. You might remember us from our previously published travel masterpieces wellspotteddick.blogspot.com (2013), crumpetsandgingerbeer.blogspot.com (2015) and Geoff's solo effort, dittmargoestoswitzerland.blogspot.com (2016).  We're off again!  But not for 5 weeks.  Being cautious by nature, I'm setting up this blog well in advance to ensure that all goes like clockwork with text, picture-spacing etc when we hit the skies on April 15.

Our itinerary is this: travel to Canberra airport and ensconce ourselves in the one-size-fits-all (but no riff-raff) business lounge for a skinful before boarding a Singapore airlines flying machine for a direct flight to Singers.  A few hours swanning around there and then a flight to London.  A week there, then Edinburgh and Glasgow by train, a week in the highlands, a week in the English midlands and then a week in the Emerald isle, flying home from Manchester.  My hearty applause to Mr Snorkypants for organising our itinerary.  (I'd help but, you know, I have Stan and Netflix duties....)

I was going to spend this post whinging about Delonghi stovetops, Arlec fans and Optus NBN.  However I want this blog to be an upbeat document so suffice to say those products/companies are all unmitigated poop and we shall now move on.

My daughter Susie is, as some know, currently a resident of Shanghai.  In a couple of pics she has sent recently I've been amazed at her resemblance to my mum Nancye (who died too young in 1996) as a young woman   So let's see:

This is Susie and her friend, pic taken yesterday when they visited the Shanghai Power Station of Art.

And this is my mum, Nancye being a Dutch missy in a fancy dress parade in 1942.  Mum would only have been 14 or 15 here and Susie is somewhat older, but in my view there's no mistaking the resemblance.   This pleases me a lot.   It also means that neither I, nor Susie, is adopted.         

Susie was recently recruited to the People's Liberation Army but claims living in China has not changed her.  When talking about Europeans or Americans she does use the turn of phrase "imperialist running dogs" quite frequently though.  ;-)

Here's mum aged about 16 in another funny hat. She was a damn fine woman, my mum, despite her taste in millinery.












Shutting up shop now for a few weeks.  Must confess to some anxiety about Brexit and how it might affect our UK travels, not to mention the standard of living for the locals.  Stupid, stupid idea to leave the European Union.  Let's hope there's a second referendum and the ill-informed who voted 'leave' and those who didn't bother voting at all see sense!

Disembarking from my soapbox now.  Over and out!  xx