FINISHING UP OUR 2018 HOLIDAY

GIANT'S CAUSEWAY

No trip to northern Ireland would be complete without a visit to the Giants causeway.

Entry to this natural phenomenon is free …. but the car park run by the National Trust is 

very expensive !

First you walk about a kilometer along a well made path/road.

Once you come upon the basalt pipes that constitute the feature you are able to scramble over it

with very few restrictions.

there were quite a few people exploring the site the day we were there but I'm sure that it becomes very crowded in the season.

You can see the scale of the columns when tony stand at the base of one large crop of pipes.

Further along the path there are more features to see .

 My photo is using the zoom on my camera came out a little strange but you can still the the size of it anyway.

Then there is the long walk back to the car park.

GAME OF THRONES

There are lots of locations used in the Game of Thrones TV show scattered all over the countryside.

This avenue of trees is called the dark hedges in the series and it is truly spectacular

 

Our two weeks in our little house at Ballintoy were terrific.

This holiday was going just as we had planned ...slow and relaxing.

WELLS

After a short visit with family I Wales we finished up our holiday is the little city of Wells.

Our stay coincided with a Bank Holiday weekend  but we managed to see this little gem without too many problems.

The Bishop's Palace with its lovely building and beautiful grounds

gave us hours of pleasure as we explored 

and then there was the 

Cathedral !!

Spectacular from the outside

and even better on the inside.

The whole cathedral precinct was full of beautiful old buildings

and we wandered at leisure taking it all in.

What a terrific place to end our holiday.

On our last day we grabbed our last Cream tea from the bishop's Palace Tea Room

Pity  we can't get this stuff in Australia. It is WONDERFUL !!!

Another wonderful holiday.

Cheers.

ALL OVER FOR ANOTHER YEAR

Well that's Christmas for another year.

We've feasted on ham on the bone - No, we haven't eaten it all yet, there was 10kg of it !!

We carved about 2kg of it to take as our contribution along with a lovely crunchy wombok and noodle salad to out family gathering with Tony's side of the family.

Earlier in December we travelled to Hervey Bay and put on a Christmas spread for the rellies up there as well as Mum and Dad. Cold chicken and ham and the wombok salad again as it is Dad's favourite. 

Add a warm potato bake followed by Christmas Pudding with custard and cream and they were happy.

It gets more difficult every year to bring them out of the care facility but they enjoy the outing as long as we don't keep them too long.

This is the ham.

It is the highlight of Christmas for me.

Glazed with marmalade and Dijon mustard there is nothing to beat it.

On Christmas Eve at home we three ( Tony, Sally and I ) sat down to delicious rolled turkey breast and hot ham with roast veggies

This has become a new tradition over the last few years since we  can be cool in  the air conditioning.

do you see the roast pumpkin there in the photo? ( you may know it as butternut Squash)

An Aussie roast dinner would not be the same without roast pumpkin.

 Give it a go !!

Followed it up with Christmas pud  - AGAIN !

So by the end off Christmas Day we have effectively had THREE Christmas meals !

Boxing Day was spent lazing around and nibbling on leftover ham, turkey, potato salad, Christmas pudding, trifle plus cheese, nuts, shortbread and Christmas cake!!!!!

The weather has been very pleasant and relatively cool. 

Never-the-less the aircon has been blasting away and lots of relaxation has happened.

Reading, watching tv, listening to talking books, puzzles have all be indulged in and we are feeling very relaxed .

So today Tony and I were feeling the need of fresh horizons and a cool breeze to take the sting out of the 30 degree heat.

We drove to a place called Woody Point - about an hour and fifteen minutes from home to a quiet little spot on the shores of Moreton Bay.

We found ourselves a table mostly in the shade where a cool breeze was blowing off the sea and polished off more ham in the form of sandwiches for him and salad for me.

Before we set off home again we followed the path along the shore for as far  as it would go without giving us sunstroke.

Now it's Sunday night and what's for dinner?

I haven't shopped for more than a week so it was just a matter of gathering all the bits and pieces of veggies and egg, ham, cheese and a bit of milk and cream and putting them together to make a delicious frittata.

There it is going into the oven...……..

and here it is coming out.

It makes a nice change to all the salads we have been having and we should have enough for tomorrow perhaps with a bit of steak on the BBQ.

And that puts to an end the eating marathon that is Christmas.

Everyone in this house is severely overweight and so the usual vows have been made about weight loss.

Let's hope we are more successful than in previous years.

Cheers.

Merry Christmas

I hope you have a lovely day surrounded by the ones you love.

Cheers.

CARRICK-A-REDE ROPE BRIDGE

Our cottage in Ballintoy was only a short walk to the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge.

Just turn from our laneway at the little gate in the photo and walk down the pretty path

then along the grassy path towards the sea.

This is where you are aiming for 

but first you have quite a long walk along the cliff tops

then  down some very steep stone steps - there's a seat to sit and recover on the way back !!

and then you're there !

Carefully controlled,

no time to stop in the middle and take photos !

Once on the little island there are pretty views to take in

 Later in the day we drove back past the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge to a little park that gave great views of the bridge.

Such a pretty part of the world.

Cheers.