Lovely Essexy summer afternoons

Oops, well didn't I do too well, again a year or so later... well, I'm busy, dear diary. Makes me think of Yazoo.
Had a gorgeous summer afternoon with Siggers and poppy. A bit of a walk through the fields and dinner at the Black Bull.

Ah. Essex is lush this time of year.

Oooo I Might start this again...

Now I have returned again to solid work.. I might start this again. Can't believe three years have passed, where where did you go my lovelies? Lots went on, mostly in gorgeous NZ,  which I miss every day, Ah... Oooo NZ my second lion-heart... ah but it was worth coming back for Katie B. Beautiful faces new and old, reasons to be happy, be sad, feel loved, feel bad, accept that's the way it is, and enjoy each day the best I can. Not very lyrical huh. Ha ha ha :)

Noises Off Up the Old Vic

Noises off at the Old Vic with Celia Imrie and others I recognised but I'm crap with names... 

Had a lovely night of laughing and smiling and seeing them all up close coz I got stalls B! Lots of wrinkles and veins, and real energy, fantastic.  And it wasn't even that expensive, mmmm, my kinda night out! haha. Celia was fantastic & gorgeous, and the rest very good too.

Comedy of Errors, with Lenny Henry

And just a few days before, I went to the National Theatre on the southbank to see a preview of the Comedy of Errors, with Lenny Henry and others. I thought actually that his lost twin brother's sister-in-law stole the show, she was very funny. Lenny was impressive, as were nearly all the cast. I was a little lost at the beginning, with the shakespeanian english, it took me a while to tune in, and I was tired!! not used to working again yet, you see.

Surprising how a play from how long ago? 425 years ago? Still funny and possible in a contemporary setting, still familiar. Great evening, I must do more of this, its been a while.

End of the Rainbow, with Tracie Bennett

Ole! Now this was camp, well, very gay, and what else would you expect from a show about the last period of Judy's life. Well, I didn't expect such an amazing performance, such an amazing voice. I really do know what they mean now when they say she was channeling Garland. Wonderful evening at Richmond Theatre, which is small and very beautiful. Funny, touching, funnier, sad... emotional. Amazing :)

OMG its nearly december

Can't believe I've left it nearly frickin 6 months without updating me online diary/journal/whatever, I'm thinking of this as that from now on, kinda nice to look back and see the things i enjoyed and stuff, you know. I'm a bit soppy like that.

So, June to now... Berlin, lovely as usual, Mykonos with friends, lovely as ever, really lovely. Spain many times, how I miss spain as soon as I leave.. and always just love being there. Maybe I'll move back sometime. Had a fab trip down to Cornwall, and a few more down the south coast.

Now back in London, and feeling a bit settled. well, for now. which is very nice. Been seeing old friends,and making a few new ones. Lots of cultural stuff too but not enough swimming... well, I don't much like the pools here. Nothing like those in Oz, or spain really.

Nowt much else to say.. other than I'm happay.. haha

Swimming about Montreal

Pool at the Biosphere. The F1 was going on next door but it really doesn't interest me

Pool at the Olympic Stadium. The place was quite run down in parts, but the pool itself gorgeous and I had the lane to myself! woohoo.

Ole ole. Now in Niagara but have really enjoyed the last 4 days in Montreal. A beautiful city much in the way Berlin is beautiful; and I found 2 wonderful pools to exercise in. Also did lots of museum stuff and travelling around on the decent metro system. Plus, I can now find due north and south with the stars, thanks to the planetarium! woohooo!

Singapore Pool woohoo

just a quick one to add to me pool collection. I found this gorgeous, huge, clean and cheap public pool in Singapore; what a relief from the heat. woohoo.

March is Pool Month oh yeah

Melbourne Aquatic

Andrew Boy Charlton, Sydney

Waikato Uni Summer Pool, Hamilton. NZ

Fitzoy Pool, Melbourne

well, it was... had an unsually large selection of lovelies to enjoy so I did Mmmm.... bit swimmer nerdy aye, but they make me happy! woohoo

Best of Central American flash City Tour

Downtown Belize City, a bit of a shithole as my uncle would say, but it is.. shame, but the result of hurricanes and lack of investment..


Dusk on the Lake near Tikal, Stayed in a wonderfully odd and basic hostel in the hills...
Where we had localled horse killed Constrictor for us tea! blimey.. a bit like very rubbery overcooked Monkfish. Quite tasty though. View over Tikal city at dusk.. and we kinda got lost on the way out, it got completely dark, as it does in the jungle.. and we got quite scared!! but it was fun. There're big cats in this places!! arrrgh!!!!


Central old town Guatamala City. Only really had time to walk about the area, I'm sure it had much more sights but it was one night only... heyhoo... The country look beautiful and I gotta see more..but the city, like most of these countries.. are a bit, mmm, better avoided maybe, not the beauty spot! Still, I love seeing people and how they live their lives. Certainly saw some of that.


Dusk over San Salvador (El Salvador). Had a great time here. Two days. Met some nice people and saw some of the town day and night. Really liked the place and wanna go back, we'll see...


A view over the garden of the modern art museum in San Salvador.


A chicken bus near the Honduras / Nicaragua border... Honduras looked very poor. Was goin to the capital Tegucigalpa but was quite a diversion and didn't have time.. so just saw people and countryside, which was beautiful, mostly unspoilt and basic.

Managua, Capital of Nicaragua. I arrived here late at night and was immediately pissed off with everyone telling me how dangeous it was and not to walk in the streets, get a cab everywhere.. :( well, i listened to them in the end and got a cab the 5 blocks from the bus terminal to a hostal. I could see it was a bit dodgy in the morning, but still, shame. Quite a beautiful city in parts, also suffering from lack of investment, corruption and earthquakes. Still, beautiful from certain angles and worth a visit. The countryside was lovely and lush.


A view from the central lake crater over the city to the bay. My funny taxi driver behind :)


Met this gorgeous woman, Mary, in the saturday morning market downtown San Jose, Costa Rica. Turns out she came here 50 years ago, met a german, married him, had two boys and never went back to Tunbridge.

San Jose was fun, and the countryside on Costa Rica is stunning, still, not enough time.. but saw many things I liked. Moreover, its a country you feel very safe in, and the people are friendly.

View from the peninsular to Panama City.

Downtown Panama City, with Leo, a wonderful fella I met and... well, if I were living in this city, I think he would have been my love, but que sera sera, or maybe hubiera sido... heyhoo.. better to have loved, aye?