Thanks to my parents for our zorbing trip as one of our Christmas presents of Zorbing.

We went down to Zorb South in Dorset for a wet ride. It was actually really good fun – Mel screamed with laughter all the way down.

Only downside is the price – no idea what the parents paid but believe it was discounted, but the entire “event” is around 36 seconds. So the list price of £50 for 2 people per ride is an absolute rip off.

So great fun – but 5x over priced….

Back in November 2008 we met a couple – Barry & Hazel – in a campsite in Holland where they had a little Mazda Bongo camper. We showed our van off and showed how much you can cram into a small space.

Then another “internet contact” was selling his sister van to ours, a Horizons Unlimited Innovation model, and I helped set up a web advert for him. Anyway – he ended up trading it in.

Barry & Hazel decided to upsize a little and saw Andys old Innovation van at a dealer and ended up buying it – obviously trying to keep up with the Joneses

That was coincidence enough, but yesterday we accidentally bumped into them at Lake Trasimeno in Italy! They were heading South, and us North, and bizzarely we chose the same spot on the same day – and considering this area has oodles of camping spots the probability is really quite low!

Now where is my lottery ticket….

At last, after 3 months of waiting, Gowry has finally chopped together a small video of our Spanish trail riding adventure in Andalucia in the south of Spain. 3 months ago! I mean – its not as if he works hard or anything.

Really knackered after a busy few days in Rome – tomorrow we rest!

Its been a really social time for us – a couple of days ago we met a young Canadian couple (Ryan & Dawn) who have been touring Europe in an old VW van for well over a year going to places we would not dare and just winging it from here to there! Lovely people who have just gone out there and done it and have some lovely stories to tell over a beer! They appear to have had an amazing time but sadly are heading North to UK to sell the van to pay for flights home! THAT is the way to do it – full respect to you guys!! (Very generous too – offered us there internet and train passes when they left!)

Then the next day we met some friends from home in Rome and they gave us a lovely guided tour with beers, wine, and food thrown in. So nice to “bump” into people when we’re away. (Sorry for the blog pic guys – but hey – you are now famous!)

What an excellent name for a band!

After blasting this out this afternoon we decided the lyrics of one of Scouting For Girls songs was superb and worth a mention! We’ve booked in to see them live in Hammersmith in November when we’re back in the UK for a week or so.

If you’ve not heard “I need a holiday” then suggest you turn up your volume and play the above video. Not the official video but a cool one made by a couple of girls as a project. How apt! Or should we say, “How apt it was….”

ENJOY!

Another great wakeboarding holiday with the boys at WM Ski in the Cotswolds. Took a while to get back into it – but had a great time. The team at WM Ski are superb and it was good to see some familiar faces. Much recommended.

Mel sadly had a meeting with Zorro as can be seen in the pic. Oops. This was due to falling off at speed on a corner and the board coming off and giving her a great clout. Ouch. I sadly saw it happen and, after seeing she was okay, did laugh a little…..

We’ll be back again J

Starting to taste the relaxing life Off to the Natural History Museum today – loads to see. Some funny picture opportunities….

From 0809 Natural History Museum