My cousin Ian arrived in Comox on August 8th. He had come, for ten days, to visit his mother and us. He spent most of his time with Jean going places locally in the valley and spending time with her at local beauty spots like the marina. which she loves. The days went too quickly and soon he was on his way back, August 17th.
I put together a short video of his trip which you can see by clicking here. I hope you enjoy it.
You can also take a closer look at some of the pics in the slideshow below.
This past weekend Cynthia and I spent some time with other supporters of A.C.T.S. which is the acronym for African Technical Community Services Society.
Africa Community Technical Service Society (ACTS) is a registered charity with the Canada Revenue Agency and is involved in bringing fresh, clean water to over 8.4 million people in Uganda who live without access to
safe drinking water.
Friday night we met at some friends’ home with old and new friends, who like us, have been involved in supporting ACTS projects for over 20 years.
Saturday, we attended the AGM of ACTS and then joined in a church service at St. Peter’s church, Comox, to give thanks for all that has been done by God through ACTS and supporters.
Following the service, we all celebrated in the church hall by sharing in a meal together. It was a wonderful day.
This post is not meant to be a commercial for ACTS, just a few words in memory of good times meeting friends and celebrating the wonderful work of this brilliant NGO.
However, should the post and the video tweak your heart strings into giving or finding out more about ACTS it would be a good thing.
Last weekend, Tim, Andi, Ben and I went to support and watch Oliver participate in his green stripe belt test in Taekwondo. The test involved the demonstration of kicking ability, defence and attack moves and poomsae, which you might remember from a previous post. It’s the demonstration of a sequence of movements which involve speed, grace and power.
We had a great time. Oliver did too once the butterflies had settled. Below are a video I made of the occasion and a small slideshow.
On May 06, Cynthia and I set off on our adventure to Europe. We had planned a river cruise in the Bordeaux region of France, exploration of N. Ireland by car and a visit to friends and relatives in England and Wales. We ended the trip with two days spent on our own on the Isle of Wight, the island at the south of England. I’ve included some links along the way if you wish to delve deeper. (By the way, once you click a link, a new window should open. Use the back button on your computer to return to this post.)
We boarded the vessel Viking Forseti in Bordeaux and spent the next week or so sailing the rivers Gironde, Dordogne and Garonne, mostly in the red circle on the map.
Welcomed Aboard
We tasted wines from all the regions. We were given hints on how to taste wines. However, the piece of information I liked best came from one of the guides at a chateau…”in the end, it really comes down to what you like and enjoy”. We saw many lovely towns and villages in the region and loved them all. Bordeaux is a beautiful city and well worth visiting. If you’d like to take a peek at some info on a wine tour click here. This is not what we did by the way, but similar. Viking Cruises did a wonderful job of the tour. As always, the ship and staff were great.
With good friends
Next we boarded a flight from Bordeaux to Dublin for stage two, the drive around Northern Island. We picked up a car at Dublin airport and headed north-west. We stayed mostly at small bed and breakfast homes and they were all excellent. We visited many tourist sites including the cliffs at Slieve League, a reconstructed folk village at Glencolmcillie, the Giant’s Causeway and of course the city of Belfast. As always the scenery was spectacular and the people so kind and helpful.
Cliffs at Slieve League
At Glencolmcillie Village
From Dublin we flew to Gatwick airport and picked up a car again. We visited friends in the village of Cuddesdon, Oxford. This tiny village is the home of Ripon College of Oxford University and produces the Archbishops of Canterbury. We saw family in Kingham in the Cotswolds of England, a very beautiful area of England should you be visiting.
With family, Kingham, the Cotswolds.
Then it was on to see friends in the village of Gilwern near Abergavenny in Wales, where we visited and toured a primary school.
With Dil and Sandra in Wales
Cousins came next, in Abertillery (our home town) and Risca in Wales, and then on to cousins in Portsmouth on the south coast of England. If you are interested in anything naval, Portsmouth should be a must see for you.
More family, Porthcawl, Wales
Pub night with family in Portsmouth
We ended the trip with a two day visit to the Isle of Wight. We went for two reasons: 1. we hadn’t been there before 2. a friend who was born and lived there ’til teens recommended we go. We toured around the island seeing sights. It’s very easy to do this quickly in a car for the island is diamond shaped, being 13 miles north to south and about 27 miles east to west. we had a good time in spite of the weather turning sour on us.
Glassblower, Isle of Wight
The connections home on June 03 were great. We were very tired and so glad to see Ben who met us at the airport. It had been a good trip. Thanks for tagging along.
If you wish to see more pics of our trip click here.
If you’d like to see a short video of our trip click below
