Me with a whale shark, Kwatisore Bay
We arrive at Manokwari after 4 flights and 36 hours of travelling, bang on time and with all our luggage. The Dewi Nusantara, just out of dry dock gleams in the half light – the rain lashing down as we motor out to her by tender. This is our third trip and the welcome is warm, many faces familiar. Continue reading
Here we are again at Basel Art Fair. We are lucky this time in that we have Art First doyenne Clare Cooper to guide us. Continue reading
Castle by night with Szechenyi chain bridge in foreground, built by a Scot
Our son Tommy has bought us a weekend break in Budapest as a 60thbirthday present. He has chosen the hotel, devised an itinerary and booked a Michelin star restaurant for the Saturday night. Continue reading
Looking over into Spain, the other side of the Douro river
With hardly time to breathe we are off again, this time to Portugal. At the UWS Gala dinner I successfully bid for a weekend in the Douro Valley on one of the region’s oldest wine estates. As it is a holiday weekend in Switzerland we decide to go a day early and spend a night in Porto. Continue reading
Ross and I are visiting Nepal to see the progress of United World Schools in this remote eastern region of Sankhuwasabha. After our exhausting first 12.5 hour day, the next two days are marginally less long but no less rigorous as the roads are even worse. The schools at Wana and Nagi Dada are perched precipitously on ridges overlooking glorious terraces, with misty mountains dominating the distant horizon. When it’s clear you can see the snowy peaks of Makalu and Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world after Everest and K2. Truly majestic scenery. Continue reading
Girls at Kalleri, 19th UWS Nepal school
Ross and I are visiting Nepal on behalf of United World Schools to make the first Trustee visit to catch up on the progress here. In just under three years we have built 22 schools and have four more under construction with the aim of reaching 30 by the end of the year. We have also opened in a new and very remote area, Gulmi, to provide education for the Dalits, or untouchables. Continue reading
The Dents bathed in sunlight under the watchful eye of the full supermoon
This season saw some of the best snow for almost a decade, but also some of the worst weather. For us weekenders, we were constantly frustrated by the enthusiastic reports of sunshine and fresh powder on weekdays, while we were rained off for two consecutive weekends! Somehow these photos don’t reflect that – who takes photos when it’s miserable? Continue reading
I don’t think my garden will look like this…
It was a rare warm spring day when I arrived at Sarah Raven’s Perch Hill Farm this week for a master-class in veg growing. The Sussex countryside was bucolic – gambolling lambs, forsythia bursting, hedgerows popping…and Sarah’s farm was beginning to sprout too. Continue reading
The alarm goes off at 3 am. Quickly we pull our clothes on and rush to catch one of the few buses that are operating at this time of the morning. We are here to witness the famous Morgestraich, the first event of the world-famous Basel Carnival or Fasnacht.
I never tire of this view of the majestic Dents du Midi – now covered in masses of snow
We have always spent Christmas and New year in Champery since my mother died in 2009. There seemed no need to remain in England after that; and even less so after Louise died in 2011. The three of us come here and try and avoid the madness that overtakes even rational people at Christmas time. The only presents I give are to Ross and Tommy; friends may receive small tokens from our travels, Christmas biscuits from the Basel market or home-made chutneys, if I’ve made any! Continue reading
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