Sunday 30th December Mavora Lakes & Te Anau

We left Queenstown slightly earlier than expected in spite of a relatively late night and headed south down Lake Wakatipu towards 5 Rivers. The views along the lake were stunning and the weather was good but we could see that it would be "variable" later in the day. 

We stopped for a quick coffee and cake at a very vice roadside cafe at 5 Rivers before travelling on towards Mavora Lakes. We had left Lake Wakatipu at this stage and were in a wide valley with fields (and plenty of sheep) on both sides and bursts of yellow broom.

The trip to Mavora involved a 35Km drive along an unsurfaced road which was actually much better that we had expected. However, by now the weather was very definitely closing in with dark ominous clouds and rain beginning. Mavora Lakes are very beautiful but sadly we did not seem them at their best. Originally we had planned to stay there overnight but with the weather looking set in for the day we decided to travel on to Te Anau after lunch
Lunch was a left over salad in the campervan looking out as the rain swept across the lake and the countryside.

As we left Mavora the weather started to improve and as we arrived in a very busy Te Anau the sun came out on occasions. We checked into a camp site and probably secured the last place in town. A wander around the lake side, the town and booking our trip to Doubtful Sound and it was time for another BBQ.

Saturday 29th Queenstown, Artists and Sri Lankan curry

The day started slightly cooler and much fresher with some cloud and some sun. We decided to walk around the Frankton arm of Lake Wakatipu toward Frankton and having enquired at the information office in Queenstown we were assured that there was a good walk to "The Boat Shed" where we could get coffee and cakes before returning by bus. The young female assistant said that she did the walk in an hour and then added - doing power walking! Off we went firstly walking down to the lake side at Quuenstown and walking around the peninsular which houses the botanical gardens. The views across the lake were lovely although it was certainly duller and much more cloudy by now

We arrived at said Boat Shed after about an hour an a half which we thought was pretty good since we had taken in an extra 2Km compaired to her walk. The Boat Shed was really nice housed in an "antique building", right on the edge of the lake and they served some excellent food. After a short stop we decided to ignore the bus and walk back and with a couple of rest stops we arrived back at the camp site exactly 4 hours after having left and we realised that we had walked over 8 1/2 miles.

When we arrived back we decided that a swim was in order and we drove to Wilsons Bay a few kilometers out of Queenstown and enjoyed a brief and pretty chilly swim on a lovely beach. OK even I would have to admit that the water was cold! Tonight we are having dinner with Tim Wilson and his partner Vaj. Tim is Rosemary's cousin and is a well known Kiwi landscape artist with a gallery in Queenstown. Tim enquired if we would like a curry and knowing that Vaj is Sri Lankan we quickly said yes. Off there very shortly and then tomorrow we head south where we plan to stay overnight at the Mavora Lakes, weather permitting.

We were not disappointed; the Sri Lankan curry was fantastic and we had a lovely evening with Tim, Vaj and their artist friend Anita.

Friday 28th December - Glenorchy

Last time we visited the Queenstown area we went to Glenorchy on a rather dreary day and found it uninspiring. However, we did remember the drive along Lake Wakatipu to be stunning so we decided to revisit this trip. The sun was out, it was warm but fresh and all was set for a good day along the lake.

Quite frankly we had forgotten how good the views along the lake are; it was simply magnificent! At almost every corner there was another great view and all the while the perspective was changing. Glenorchy looked very different this time, the views were quite brilliant and we found a lovely spot by the lake to pull in with the trusty campervan and enjoy an excellent salad for lunch. Difficult to describe how good the place was but I hope the photos at least do it justice.

After lunch we travelled along the unsurfaced road to Paradise by Diamond Lake and parallel to the Dart river where lots of adrenalin junkies were jet boating through the rapids. Paradise would appear to be a “one house town” but definitely not one horse as there were many stables of ready saddled horses waiting for riders to arrive. The house at Paradise was very grand and Ray said it reminded him of the western from long ago – Bonanza. Around this area we entered the Mount Aspiring National Park. The mountain itself is known as the New Zealand Matterhorn and we were treated to spectacular views of it from all angles. Certainly quite similar to the Matterhorn from some angles but surrounded by other peaks so not quite so prominent as its Swiss counterpart.

Not content with this excursion along dirt tracks, the Leader of the Opposition decided we should now go along a further unsurfaced road to Kinloch which is at the north west side of the lake opposite Glenorchy. We arrived here to find a small camp site with beautiful views over the lake and a very nice cafe where in true English manner we consumed tea and cakes.

Originally we had planned to eat out in Queenstown that evening ( a curry had even been mentioned and suitable Indian restaurants had already been located in case of emergency!). However, as we approached Queenstown we both felt that a BBQ at the camp site would be more appropriate so after a brief stop at the supermarket to reprovision we settled down to chicken, sausages, asparagus and hash browns all courtesy of the built in BBQ. Another excellent day!

Thursday 27th December Lake Hawea to Queenstown

We woke to another lovely sunny morning with beautiful views across Lake Hawea and headed off on our journey to Queenstown stopping off briefly in Wanaka to buy some insect repellent. The sand flies are bad at present and they obviously love this warm weather. Last time we were in NZ we weren’t bothered by them until we crossed the Southern Alps to the very humid and sub tropical west coast. This time they were waiting for us in Wanaka! After Wanaka we took the high road which crosses the Crown Range. Again, lupins everywhere and now joined by the most glorious swathes of bright yellow broom. A truly beautiful drive with one or two shear drops and many hairpins. However, an excellent road and really very easy to drive.

We had planned to meet up on Friday 28th with Richard Bowley, his wife Jenni and their family, William, Rachel and Jonathan. However, shortly after we left Lake Hawea we received a text from Jenni to say that dates had been confused somewhat and they were in fact leaving at 07:00 on Friday so could we meet that evening. In true NZ style we said “no worries”. Richard works with Stafford a leading Timberland Fund and is a client of Rosemary’s. We arrived at the Top Ten campsite “Creeksyde” which is very close to the centre of Queenstown and after sorting ourselves out walked into town and observed the “gap year” crowd on the beach. It was about 4pm and I think most of them had just got up after a heavy night out! It was very hot and at the insistence of the lovely lady wife, we sought out the nearest ice cream emporium and consumed the most enormous ice creams which seemed to take half an hour to finish!

Back to the camp site, showered and changed and off we went by taxi to meet with Richard and family at their appartment in “The Rees” on Frankton Road. We had a lovely evening chatting away and enjoying excellent food and wine at the in house restaurant which had fabulous views over the Frankton arm of Lake Wakatipu.

Wednesday 26th December

Our final day in Wanaka and we woke to slightly cloudy skies but still very warm temperatures. The campervan needed tidying and after this was achieved we headed downtown for some shopping, a coffee (and cakes) and a stroll around Wanaka. We left Wanaka and drove up Lake Hawea to the point where it joins the northern end of Lake Wanaka and then further north up to the far end of Lake Wanaka stopping for a picnic lunch at Boundary Creek. Back to the northern end of Lake Hawea along an unsurfaced road for about 3 miles to our next overnight stop at Kidds Bush camp site which is a DoC (Department of Conservation) site with fairly basic facilities but in a wonderful scenic location at the end of the lake. Of course we swam in the lake but even we would admit that it was slightly chilly!

The trusty built in barbeque came into action again to produce pork chops, asparagus and hash browns accompanied by a modicum of NZ wine. At one stage we were concerned about some rather noisy near neighbours who were obviously continuing to enjoy the Christmas spirit (and probably spirits!). However after about 6pm the alcohol must have run out or their energy fizzled out – not a squeak was heard from them from then on.

It was a lovely place to stop and our first night of “freedom” camping was a great success. Tomorrow we drive to Queenstown.

Tuesday 25th Christmas Day

Christmas Day produced very similar weather but perhaps even hotter! Hilt & Anne picked us up shortly after 10:00 and we headed off for a fairly strenuous uphill walk to Diamond Lake with stupendous views over Lake Wanaka and the surrounding mountains. We then drove down to the lake near our camp site for a very welcome cooling swim. After a short rest we headed off to walk the 3.5 miles to David & Jess’s house for Christmas dinner. It was very hot and quite hard work so we were pleased to receive a text from Hilt offering to pick us up at Wanaka marina which cut out the final (uphill) mile. Whilst we had been swimming and walking the Dixon clan had been liloing down the Cl

utha river and Hilt had been fishing catching a superb specimen 3 lb rainbow trout. We arrived at the Dixon residence and after a fairly quiet start we were into a very competitive game of pool volleyball quickly followed by champagne and a fabulous barbeque of crayfish, prawns, duck breast, butterfly lamb with numerous accompaniments and of course several excellent NZ wines culminating in a terrific Peregrine Pinot Noir. No sooner had dinner ended than we started a round the house game of petanque which I guess meant four rounds. Enthusiasm was more in evidence than skill or expertise but it was highly enjoyable. By now it was dark and David produced some fireworks to light up the sky and end a wonderful evening. We slumped into out taxi and headed back to the camp site. A great end to a wonderful day and many, many thanks to David & Jess for such great hospitality and excellent food and wine.

Monday 24th Wanaka

The day was spent on a very exciting boat trip up Lake Wanaka to a beach near Stevenson’s Island (wepos etc) with Hilt & Anne, David & Jess and Helen & Rich. Much swimming, kayaking, wake boarding and even fishing.

The weather was absolutely stunning with clear blue skies and temperatures reaching over 30C. A fabulous day and we saw Lake Wanaka at its very best.

On the boat trip back we were dropped off at Waterfall Creek for a relatively short walk back to our camp site at Top Ten Wanaka.

After a very quick visit to Wanaka town to buy cheeses and get some cash we settled down to use the campervan’s built in BBQ to produce steak and hash browns accompanied by an excellent salad (and of course a good bottle of Central Otago Pinot Noir) . By then we were exhausted and crashed out!

Sunday 23rd Tekapo to Wanaka

The morning dawned with brilliant sunshine and we headed off to Wanaka. The lupins continued to accompany us on our journey lining the roads on both sides

First stop was Lake Pukaki which was a stunningly blue as Lake Tekapo had been and we had a wonderfully clear view of a snow capped Mount Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand.

As we drove down Lake Dunstan to Cromwell, we were amazed to see hillsides covered in brilliant yellow. This was apparently a type of forget me not, although we think there may have been a different type of low ground covering plant there also.

Our plan had been to make it to Mount Difficulty (a well known vineyard and restaurant) for lunch. Mount Difficulty is at Bannockburn just south of Cromwell. We arrived at about 1.30; it looked very busy including a party who had arrived by helicopter! We made a lot of the fact that we had come all the way from England for lunch and got the last table. It was a lovely start to our stay in Central Otago.

After lunch we joined the throngs purchasing Mount Difficulty wine and headed off towards Wanaka. This part of Central Otago is famed for its stoned fruit and we stopped near Lowburn to purchase cherries and apricots and apples. On the way to Wanaka we received a text from Hilt with a wine tasting invitation which we hastily accepted. David, Hilton and Anne's eldest son, is getting married to his fiancee, Jess in February 2014 and the event will be held in Rippon Vineyard and after trying out the proposed menu, they were turning their attention to the wines and we joined them there.

we then had a lovely swim in Lake Wanaka before joining David, Jess, Hilton and Anne and Helen and Richard (who had by that time arrived from Wales) for a barbecue.

Friday/Saturday 21/22

Our Air New Zealand flight from Tahiti Papeete took off pretty much on time at 02:00 Friday morning and we had a pleasant flight to Auckland crossing the International Date Line which meant that a 5 hour flight arrived in Auckland at 07:00 on Saturday 22nd! All very confusing. We changed planes in Auckland and flew straight down south to Christchurch and picked up our campervan at Maui rentals. We were then on our way to Lake Tekapo and initally the weather was cloudy and cool but after stopping for provisions in Ashburton we headed south west towards Geraldine and Fairlie. After Geraldine we started climbing into the Southern Alps area and the weather improved minute by minute. The scenery was glorious and as we approached Tekapo the sun was fully out and we experience the famed Tekapo lupins at their very best. They were just everywhere in every colour imaginable.

As we crested a hill we had the most stupendous view of Lake Tekapo and the snow clad mountains in the distance. It's impossible to describe properly and the photos don,t do it full justice but the colour of the lake was an extraordinary turquoise blue and the air was incredibly clear. Simply stunning.

Our camp site was right on the edge of the lake and we enjoyed a stroll around the lake before having an early night.

Thursday 20th December - back to Tahiti

Since the weather forecast was so bad, severe storms with thunder and lightning, we decided to catch the 12:00 plane back to Tahiti rather that wait for the 19:00 that we were originally booked on. We were both concerned that i=f the forecast weather arrived then there may be no more flights from Bora Bora and we would miss our connection to Auckland, New Zealand. The flight was much better on this occasion with some turbulence but nothing to that experienced in the previous 2 flights. Arrived on time at Papeete airport, left our luggage in storage and headed of to explore the town. Papeete would not win any city beauty contests but it is bustling, colourful and has an strangely mixed character of South Seas and French. Most people speak french and certainly menus etc are all in french. We visited the market which was full of exotic fruit and very unusual looking fish.

One thing which was decidedly unfrench was that traffic stopped unfailingly at pedestrian crossings! You certainly don't experience that in France. Eventually we headed for the airport and stopped to see the ladies assembling the garlands for new arrivals - all very colourful. The Air New Zealand plane left pretty much on time at 02:00 and we had a fairly relaxed and almost turbulence free 5 1/2 hour flight to Auckland

Bora Bora

We arrived in Bora Bora and the short flight was bumpy but mercifully short and the landing was smooth as Bora Bora was not under cloud unlike most of the rest of the surrounding area.    We were taken by boat to the island on which we were to stay and settled in to our thatch hut, complete with outside shower and jacuzzi.

It was about lunch time and we had a very nice salad by the pool and contemplated a couple of relaxing days ahead.   Well not quite.  Unfortunately we had seen the forecast for the duration of our stay and it was rain, rain, rain and thunder and lightening almost all the time.

In the UK it tends to rain heavily for a short time but this has been tropical rain which is of a much greater intensity than anything we can remember and as I write this it has been going on since we arrived nearly two days ago with only a short, but lovely, break yesterday morning when we had a lovely swim in the lagoon under clear blue skies.

Bora Bora is quite stunning but sadly we have not seen it at its best.

Arrived in a very wet Tahiti

Having had so many good flights recently I guess we were due a bad one and this was a bad one. Pretty much non stop turbulence for 8 1/2 hours and then 2 aborted landings! Now safely landed and in our hotel. However plans to have a quick look in Papeete centre have been abandoned as it is currently raining very hard. It is now 21:30 so I think we will give up for the evening and hope for brighter skies tomorrow.   Having said the above the flight had its good points which must not be forgotten.  The cabin crew were all from the islands and were very charming.  We were greeted on the plane with a niare flower which is the main flower of the islands and the logo of the airline.  It has a very heady scent and was still smelling when we landed.  The food on board was very beautifully presented and healthy.  The food and wines reflected the historical connections with France and the pilot was French.

Tahiti here we come

After a good night's sleep, a good breakfast including omelettes cooked especially for us, 30 minutes in the hotel fitness room and endless exhortations to 'have a great day' we are back at LAX for our flight to Tahiti.    The view of the airport and LA from that area of town suggests little charm but no doubt there are some pretty parts and some green spaces.   

However the blue seas and peace and tranquility of Tahiti and Bora Bora is not now far away.

Flying to LA

Over an hour late taking off from Heathrow but then a very uneventful, smooth and comfortable flight with Air New Zealand to Los Angeles. Some decent NZ fizz and Pinot Noir was served and the time seemed to go fairly quickly. We had to sit or lie slightly apart but quite independently we both seemed to watch pretty much the same videos, including Ab Fab, Fawlty Towers and Yes Minister! Must get the psychoanalyst in to look at that. Contrary to many experiences passing through the Homeland Security checks was reasonably quick which was certainly helped by us being some of the first people off the plane. Suitably digitally fingerprinted and photographed we headed off via the courtesy bus to the Marriott which was only a few blocks away but the area around the airport (LAX) was incredibly busy

On our way

We were up bright and early to finish our packing and to check that everything was sorted with the house. Having decided that we would use the train and tube to get to Heathrow we were taken to Pulborough station by the trusty Camilla taxi service. Very smooth and uneventful until reaching London which was really busy and congested. However, the Piccadilly line to T1 was fast and efficent and the lovely lady wife is now in her element in the Star Alliance lounge with G&T in hand

2012 - that was the year that was

Skinners Cottage, Rackham Street, Rackham, West Sussex, RH20 2EX. Tel: 01903 741644 

Dear friends,

Apologies to those who do not like Christmas letters but here is our news from 2012.

2012 has seen a reasonable balance between work and holidaying and given continuing good health we don’t really see the need to change things dramatically.

There were some real sadnesses in 2012 particularly in August when we lost Ray’s aunt Sadie who had been an important part of his life for all of his life. In her last few years Sadie had suffered from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s and sadly was not the lively person who we had known so well. Just a few days after Sadie our friend Alex Brown passed away in Newcastle. We have known Alex & Lydia for a long time and they visited us in Rustington for several years now and much enjoyed the south coast. His last months were tough but he was so well looked after by the Marie Curie Hospice.

By contrast there was also real joy as both Hilton & Anne and John & Sarah became grandparents. Welcome to this world to Grace (for Ali & Jo), Annabelle (Richard & Jane) and Natalia (David & Laina)

So here are a few of the things we have been up to during 2012

Unusually for us we decided to have a UK holiday in January and were rewarded with a glorious week of sunny but cold weather in the Cotswolds where we stayed in a delightful property call The Nest which is part of HPB’s site at Buckland Court just south of Broadway.

The apartment was very cosy and warm and we had a great week walking every day and fitting in a performance of Love’s Labour’s Lost at Stratford. One day we met up with John & Sarah’s son David and his wife Laina, enjoying a beautiful walk and an excellent pub lunch. Just a lovely week.

We managed a skiing trip to Saalbach in Austria in February and Ray had his first experience with the Ski MoJo a device intended to help support those with dodgy knees – a success and he will be using it again next year. The snow was quite reasonable but sadly sunny skies were rare and for those of you who ski regularly you will know that does spoil the visibility and makes it slightly harder work.

Again we made use of an HPB property at Viehhofen which is about 4 Km from Saalbach and 7 Km from Zell am See. For those of you who don’t know the area, we highly recommend it both in winter and summer.

  

For the last few years we have travelled to an Eastern European country in April and this year we visited Wroclaw and Krakow in Poland. We flew by RyanAir to Wroclaw which had been recommended by a Polish travel specialist (actually a waitress in Rosemary’s local “Eat” coffee shop in High Holborn!!). Wroclaw is a small city but the centre is charming with a lovely main square, including as appears typical in Poland, a building in the middle of the square which divides it in two.

We had two nights in the most enormous hotel suite in Wroclaw for £90 total and on the third day we caught the polish railway to Krakow, a four hour journey across a fairly uninteresting landscape with several industrial towns en route. However, it was an interesting journey and Krakow did not disappoint. It is unsurprisingly more of a tourist attraction than Wroclaw. The main square is apparently the largest in Europe and it is certainly very impressive.

Typically, it too includes a large building which divides it. The square is full of restaurants serving international food and although it was not particularly warm, life is clearly lived outside a lot more than in the UK.

 The Wawel castle area as featured in the photo below was magnificent.

We visited Auschwitz - Birkenau and were glad we did, but it was truly horrific - an extraordinary example of man's inhumanity to man.

Next year we had planned a trip to St Petersburg and Moscow but we have promised our Greek friends that we will visit Athens, so Russia must wait until 2014.

In May we had two weeks in Italy, one in Tuscany near Sienna at the HPB Stigliano property which is as lovely as ever.

The second week we were staying in a Trullo near Alberobello in Puglia. It was a good holiday although Ray had an infection and the weather was very mixed. We flew to Pisa, picked up a hire car and after a week in Tuscany drove to the deep south through a day long torrential downpour to Puglia in the heel of Italy.

We enjoyed the HPB Trullo and had a couple of very enjoyable meals at a local Puglian restaurant where everything is cooked in front of you, even down to the sauces for pasta.

In June and July we had a week each in the Yorkshire Dales and then in Norfolk, coinciding in the latter case with the start of the Olympics which were a huge success and we both very much enjoyed. In Yorkshire, Rosemary had an enjoyable day visiting Harlow Carr and Newby Hall with local friend and fellow garden enthusiast, Sarah Storey and we both met up with John and Sarah on another occasion for a walk (in the rain!!) and a warming lunch near Bolton Castle.

We tried to get over to Barrow in Furness on one occasion to meet Rosemary’s niece only to find we were waterlogged (and indeed marooned for a while) and had to turn back from Kendal and so sadly we missed Harriet on that occasion. We did make it over in that direction later in the week and fitted in a visit to Gresgarth Hall, of which more later. On the Saturday of our visit we joined John and Sarah again for a charity folk concert starring John and some other local folk artists. There were some interesting acts and it was all in a good cause.

At the end of July we headed for Norfolk stopping off for a wonderful Indian meal courtesy of Robin and Tara at Letchworth and then spending a night on the way at the Swan Hotel in Lavenham where we met up with a cousin of Rosemary’s, Anita. Rosemary had been one of Anita’s bridesmaids many years ago and Anita and her husband Ron now live in Lavenham. None of us had seen each other for quite a while and we enjoyed hearing about all the family history from Anita who is spending a lot of time researching the Hurrell family and other related families. Apparently, the Hurrell’s came from both sides of the Suffolk/Essex border – Rosemary was unaware that she may be an Essex girl!. I’m not sure she has recovered from the thought!

The week was spent in an apartment overlooking a golf course, although we did not do any more than hitting a basket of 50 balls each. We visited Norwich to see the university (UEA) and the house where Ray lived during his year there doing an MSc; we also visited Blickling Hall, Holkham Hall and had a very quick trip to the Sandringham Garden Fair before we realised it was a mistake and headed for the relative quiet of the North Coast.

Evenings were often spent watching the Olympics, although we were in Sussex on those two memorable Saturday evenings. In September we had about 10 days in Alsace and the valley of the Doubs/Goumois area returning via Beaune and Honfleur. We took the Mazda and were able to drive with the top down for the vast majority of the time.

The first few days were really hot ~ 29C and whilst it cooled down considerable after that we enjoyed plenty of sunshine. In Goumois which is in the valley of the Doubs and right on the Swiss border, we stayed at the Hotel Taillard where we first stayed ~ 30 years ago. It has hardly changed.

In Beaune we had a “sliding doors” moment when having decided on one of two possible ways we could walk into the centre of town from our hotel, on the route we opted for, we met Cindy Leslie, a friend for some 30 years, who was travelling with her husband Andrew and a party of friends on a wine tasting trip.


We loved Alsace. We had not been for many years; the villages are beautiful, pristine but surprisingly busy. The drive over the Vosges mountains following the Route des Cretes and then back along the valley through all of the wine villages was memorable.

We also had a lovely drive in wonderful weather through the hills around Burgundy and many of the famous villages. In Meursault and Puligny-Montrachet the “vendange” had just started and there was much excitement and frantic activity.

As all fellow gardeners will know, the weather was not good for annuals, including vegetables and fruit and so it proved at Skinners Cottage. Despite that lots of plants did well and Rosemary continued with the planting of a new border around the fenced potager,

The highlight from a gardening perspective was a visit to Skinners Cottage by the Society of Amberley Garden Enthusiasts (SAGE), of which we are members despite not living in Amberley. They came in their numbers early in September and were very gracious about Rosemary’s efforts and loved the natural beauty of the setting and views. We served wine, pork pies and sausages and Ray’s home made focaccia and it was a really lovely evening.

We also visited a number of interesting gardens on our trips, the best by far being Gresgarth Hall just outside Lancaster which is the home of Lady Arabella Lennox-Boyd, a renowned garden designer. The house is very interesting. From the front it looks like a Scottish castle although the wild boar statue is strictly Italian. From the side (picture below) it has a very different, Mediterranean look. In any event the gardens are lovely combining structure and the modern naturalistic planting and both the house and garden benefit from lovely natural surroundings.

We also visited East Ruston Vicarage, which we thought was a bit messy and Coton Manor which was very nice but the weather was so dull that we certainly did not see it at its best.

On 15th December we head off for a long 6 ½ week trip. It is partly a reprise of our trip of two years ago although we will be taking in some of the South Island of New Zealand which we missed last time. We will be meeting up with the Dixons for a Christmas Day barbeque in Wanaka. We are stopping on the way at Bora Bora, one of the French Polynesian Islands and will also visit Tasmania whilst in Australia. We are also spending a few days in Hong Kong on our way home. We recognise that we are very privileged to be embarking on such a trip

Work - ah yes, we had forgotten about that! Rosemary is still working full time, but does not need an office, so works from home three days a week and when away manages to use email and Skype to keep on top of things. Ray is still involved in a non executive capacity with three companies and is undertaking some projects which interest him. He has in his spare time also become a very good baker although these skills have yet to be tested by Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood!

Have a great Christmas and we hope that 2013 will be good for all of you. 

Ray & Rosemary
ray.jackson1948@gmail.com rjackson@wedlakebell.com