Finally, after getting up at 5.30am in Charleston, catching a 7.30am flight to Charlotte, then another to New York, then another to Seoul, then another to Sydney, then sleepwalking though the day, then going to bed at 6.30pm and sleeping for 12 hours, I'm staggering zombie-like around my own home eating toasted cheese sandwiches after... Continue Reading →

The long haul home has begun. We rose at 5.30am for a 7.30am flight to New York (via Charlotte, North Carolina). If we make the connecting flight - deep breaths - its 14 hours to Seoul, a two-hour wait, then 10 hours to Sydney. Fark a duck. Our last day of holiday kicked off with... Continue Reading →

I love weddings, especially Southern ones. They're my new absolute favourite. I don't know what this says about me, but one of my favourite moments was having a good blub along with the groom as he said his vows. Here are some blurry snaps I took on my phone of the day. (I'll post some... Continue Reading →

The wedding rehearsal was everything - and nothing - I hoped it would be. I'd half expected mint juleps being sipped by elegant Southern belles, what I got was a friendly, down-home feast. Held on a ramshackle wharf called Crosby's Dock, there was a vat of vodka and mint infused punch, endless cans of beer... Continue Reading →

When we lived in New York, I discovered a cheap and cheerful airline called Jet Blue that got us to Orlando and Cancun for a fraction of the price the other airlines were charging. And they've done us good service again to Charleston, well, aside from running 90 minutes late on their departure time (so... Continue Reading →

Four days in New York goes pretty bloody fast. This morning we're heading to the airport for an 8am flight to Charleston. Working backwards, that means getting up at 5.30am. Yawn. I remarked to Husband that I think we're getting too old for short, long-haul holidays. We just don't have the stamina anymore. Yesterday we... Continue Reading →

Being the cultural philistine that I am, if I'm going to see a play it must have someone famous in it. And the only time I go to see plays is in New York. So that's three plays in the past 20 years. I saw Molly Ringwald in Cabaret. I saw Eddie Izzard in the... Continue Reading →

Talk about conflicting emotions - I'm sitting on my hotel room bed, watching news reports about the Boston Marathon bombings surrounded by my extensive New York purchases. It feels really wrong that life goes so blithely on. But, as a reporter noted from Times Square, New Yorkers have not allowed themselves to be paralyzed by... Continue Reading →

So I get an email from my sister last night: "All ok over there ?? Lara just mentioned she had heard that NY was in lockdown after the Boston bombings?" Ohhhh, so that's why there were police everywhere. Welcome to New York, on terror alert. You know how I was saying it felt like I... Continue Reading →

Only 30 minutes into my flight from Sydney to Seoul, it all came flooding back .... Stop the plane I want to get off! My god I hate flying. I turned to Husband and said: "I am never flying anywhere ever again." He smiled and nodded and paid me absolutely no attention because that's what... Continue Reading →