St Pattys

We spent St Patrick’s weekend in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Everyone was in party mode and there was a big parade through the city streets. It brings home all the stuff we have heard and seen over the years of the troubled times Belfast has gone through. Even through they are well into the peace process there were still stark reminders about the past and the lingering problems the Catholics and the Protestants still have against each other. This is mainly all in the suburbs, where huge walls still split the two communities. Even though this is the case Belfast is still a fun and friendly place! On Sunday we battered through Gale force winds, blizzards, ice pellets and sideways rain! We bore the brunt of a freezing front from the Arctic. On Sunday we hired a van and drove up to the very north to the beautiful Causeway coastal road. We stopped at the Giants Causeway where the coast has eroded away to show 10's of 1000's of basalt columns which looked quite amazing. We then made our way back along the coastal road through fishing villages before heading back to Belfast.

The Ulster freedom fighters and other murals, these are everywhere

We did a black cab history tour around Belfast. A lot of political stuff everywhere
The huge walls that still surrounds the suburbs and splits the communities, it is still there for a reason.

The girls joining in on the fun of the parade
A few to many Guinness’s and Harps
St Patrick!The local riot stopper, these were everywhere!
The huge basalt columns

An old medieval castle from the 1200's on the coastal road
The wild and rugged north coast

Happy 25th birthday Lachie!

happy 25th birthday to lachie!
as we aren't working we spent the day down on the river in richmond and chillin out at home.
because none of us are big fans of cake...really...i made yummy chocolate chip cookies as lachies 'birthday cake' and cooked kofte (thanks to rachels recipe book!) and enjoyed some spanish guitar music.

Going Banana's!

The Canary Islands are such a diverse place, they consist of 7 islands and we went to two of them. Its basically spring time all year round however up in the mountain there was still patches of snow around and it was still a little cool once the sun went down.
We were on beaches, hiking though rough scrub and then rainforest and forests full of canary pines, seeing vast volcanic areas that looked like we were on mars and dry deserts that were like africa, it has it all and each island is different in its own special way. Its a very outdoorsy and scenic place. Oh, and there is banana plantations everywhere!!!
loving the contrasts of the black volcanic rock and the lime green succulent plants

having a candlelit dinner at our finca in the oratava valley, tenerifein our beautiful garden...

in front of Teide mountain which is the highest mountain in 'spain'. the best part is...we climbed to the top of it! it was such a great achievement!

all the canary islands are volcanic so all the beaches are black, makes for a beautiful contrast.

this was the view from our finca (white concrete house) on the main island, Tenerife.almost to the top of teide mountain. I got a bit of altitude sickness just after this photo...though it doesn't look like it does it?Jenny, Lachie and I on the very top of Teide mountain. There was lots of sulphur coming out of the top of the crater. i was feeling pretty weak in this picture. a view from the top of the crater almost 4000metres up (3780m)!

san andres beach near santa cruz on the main island. the sand from this beach was imported from the sahara dessert! one day we went far west on tenerife to see the sunset on the water. this picture doesn't do any justice to the grandness of the area... on the way to the most westerly point we had to stop and take a deep breath as we were driving on a very narrow ledge of a very very high ledge. phew...

a big ball of lava that rolled down the volcano, gathering more and more lava as it rolled down. they looked like they have been thrown from the volcano but were more like lava snow balls...not as exciting as we'd hoped

a view of the valley we stayed in in La Gomera, Valle Gran Rey. A very chilled out, warmer, hippy feel about this place. Tenerife would get quite cold at night.

the view from our hostel in valle gran rey, la gomera

the last sunset we saw on the plane back to London...boohoo

happy as a canary!

this afternoon we fly out to tenerif, canary islands, which we are so excited about! we've been planning this trip for so long and now it's finally here!

there is a better vibe in london now too as it's getting alot lighter. january wasn't a great month in terms of the weather and the 'dreary' feeling it brings with it but now it's getting alot lighter in the morning and it's still light at 6pm. it gives us that really excited feeling that summer is on its way. sadly (because it's so early) but beautifully all the cherry blossom type trees are in full bloom and all the daffodils and other pretty spring flowers are popping up everywhere. it's such a delight!

the day i flew out of sydney was cherrys birthday and the day i got back to london was ali's birthday (hence the picture of ali blowing out candles on a cake) and tomorrow is mums birthday. Happy birthday mum!!x

cherry and wee scout at cherrys birthday breakfast in dee why

below: heather and i at longreef making the most of the sunshine.

funny scoutface