A BarBee @ 26a

Kids of all shapes & sizes gathered for a BBQ at 26a. Needless to say not everyone jumped on the castle, poor old Storm had to miss out !

Must get the gardener over again

Jammin' in Jamaica

Yeah mon, the theme of a week long wedding in Negril,Jamaica rang out from both locals & party goers alike.

Just 2 weeks into a new job, I find myself boarding a Virgin plane & heading for foreign shores again. Seth & I join Toby & family to celebrate his marriage to Carol. We arrived hoping the week ahead would be decidedly better than the flight out had been.

A beach front affair, the wedding required us to be fully suited & booted, and as an usher, had me dressed in morning suit. Despite repeated requests for cool linen outfits the groom stuck to his guns & was lucky to have a cool west indies breeze refresh us from the mid day sun.

Post mandatory photos we clambered aboard a closely moored yacht & sailed along the coast (still suited & booted). Beer, cocktails & sunshine wash down with plenty of atmosphere & reggae soon saw the swimmers out. An on board slide was put to great use & the majority of us cooled off it the sea.

Seth & I chose to stay away from the rest of the wedding party allowing us to go off & explore. We ventures off in a tourist motor, sampled an array of restaurants & attempted an ill fated off road expedition through the countryside.

The week swang by in a blur & despite returning home on an equally terrible Virgin flight as our trip out we had ourselves a fantastic time.

A Storm arrives

A new member of the Robinson/Hatchard clan popped out into the world last week. Hagar's brief message read "Born on Fri (18th) am 0244 UK time at 7 lbs 6 oz Stormont ‘’Storm’’ Hatchard is well after an awesome water birth where he completed his first length of the birthing pool before bungeing back to Mum via his umbilical. Polly and Storm will be back home in Granville Way on Sunday afternoon and send their love to everyone."

Needless to say I assisted by toasting the little fella with a cold beer after the end of my first week at work ! He'll have a good share of Fish Fingers I'm sure :)

Toby's Stag to Bristol

A fun & frollock filled weekend down the M4 had between 25 & 30 boys join forces & tackle the difficult task of enjoying a comedy club night out, clay pigeon shooting, kart racing & watching England beat France to rekindle our 2008 6 nations challenge.

Weston lodge played host to both the shooting & karting. A few of us excelled in being extremely poor shots & an even larger number of us felt the latent effects of the comedy night impairing our non existant kart driving abilities.

Fortunately a refreshing shower & change later had us fully recharged & we were all back in the driving seat to crack on.

A short prize giving ceremony to ensure Toby, sorry Bow Peep, was warmed up & do we hot footed it down in the Walkabout to grabbed grub & toast the second successive England victory over France.

K&C's New Year UK tour - Scotland

And so to Edinburgh to explore the city & a few nights stay with Micka in his penthouse porn pad.
The snow laiden clouds were blown in on a strong cold South Easterly wind made for a dramatic sky line on arrival, but these cleared at night to show the city's festive skyline.

Our first full day started with a flurry of snow that dusted the roof tops & pavements. We set out thorough the fresh snow & headed up to the castle via the historic Royal mile.

Once at the castle, the panoramic vista of entire city & surrounding country opened up in front of us. The vista lasted no more than 30 minutes before we were again engulfed by clouds. The real snow started to fall this time & ALL the kids started to play (didn't they Karina!!)

The cold of outside made the inner castle appear positively warm.

Our evening plans turned to the scary side of the city. Deep below the crowded pubs & shops, in the underground chambers beneath the city, we found this whitely ghost (hehe - sorry Mick, think you need more Scottish sun!)


Our final day in Scotland took us to the coast, to Leigh, where the decommissioned HMS Britannia is moored. The well managed tourist attraction had us quizzing around simultaneously seeing how the Queen et al had lived aboard the the royal ship & avoiding families with screaming kids.

We finished the day with a relaxing afternoon long lunch, swapping University/Rugby stories with Sam, Kate & little Fin at their house just south of Dundee.

K&C's New Year UK tour - Lake District & New Years Eve

The rain continued with drizzle & low hanging cloud interspersed by heavy down pours. Fully kitted up we weren't going to let the weather get in the way of exploring the lakes.
The stunning countryside opened up as the cloud lifted & occasionally cleared. We drove through Kendal & on to the village of Ings where we checked into the Watermill hotel. The promised real ale was great, which is more than could be said for the real food & the real atmosphere, so we headed out to see the sights instead.

Just south of Windermere lies the tourist epicentre of Bowness on Windermere. We parked up & headed in the opposite direction seeking some quieter back waters & slightly spooky forests.

We extended our planned 10 mile hike seeking out some more back country scrambling. Fortunately we were decending as the 10 minute drop would have killed us to climb up!
Our lucky stars were shinning so far, the weather held off while we were out walking; so despite trudging through deep mud & flooded fields we manged to keep dry... well, ish!

K&C's New Year UK tour - Liverpool & the Beatles

There's not too much to tell about Liverpool other than the Beatles. The 2008 European city of culture has a long way to improve it's image but it suited us well for a quick half day visit.
The Beatles tour, situated in the Albert docks was a colourful trip through the city's beloved boy band history.
The Cavern, where the band first played is still a live band venue in the city centre. We grab a quick beer to drink in the nostalgic atmosphere & hung out with John for a short while. We left, leaving the rest of Liverpool's indigenous population to shop the 4th day of the January sales (Dec 30th !).