A RIGHT ROYAL SHOCK

Crikey! There we were in Windsor for a bit of a perambulation when who should turn up but the flaming Royals. Not just one of them either. It was flipping Royal Ascot today weren't it and the three of us from the visiting Aussie media - the honourable Michael (worm farm) Wade from Yahoo 7, Donna (Visit Ireland why don't you?) Campbell and I were treated to some exciting close encounters with their Royal highnesses.

First, we'd barely set foot in Windsor before Prince Philip came railing around a corner driving his favourite horse and buggy and not looking a day over the ninety years old he's just turned - please see photo below. The old fella looked happy as Larry and I was so astonished to see him that I quite forgot I had an actual message to give him from a tribe that worship him in Tanna, Vanuatu. No sooner had the Duke of Edinburgh appeared than he was racing past us leaving just the aroma of freshly delivered horsey poo in his wake. I feel intensely guilty because I promised the chief of the Yaohannen tribe on Tanna, Siko Nathuan, that I would get their message - "come and live with us in the hut we've built for your long awaited return" to paraphrase - to their chosen idol and I was simply so dumbfounded to actually encounter him that I said nothing.



Anyhow, after that we got an eyefull of the Queen's adored corgis and one old dorgy (dachshund/corgy love child) inside the castle grounds and then lo and behold, there was Her Majesty herself having a little ride just beyond the feeble reach of the lens I had available at the time. It was a flaming Royal feast I'll tell you.

But the Royals were not finished with us. A little later they set off from the castle en route to Ascot in a fleet of limos and the crack Aussie media team were there to bring you the news...That, sadly, former Eton schoolboy Wills and his brand new bride, Kate, in her brand new High Street branded clothes, weren't erm, there. Damn and blast and forgive my fascinator.

However, those who did give us a wave were: The Queen, the Duke of Eders, Prince Andrew, Princess Eugenie, Duchess Camilla of Prince Charles and some others the window reflections didn't give us a clear gander at.

Now that's what I call a happy coincidence. You go for a day looking around the gorgeous and magnificent riverside town of Windsor and you get almost a full set of the Royal family for your troubles. And I ain't even a royalist meself.

London looked ravishing today herself in the sunshine and the view from on high here at the brand new St Pancras Renaissance Hotel is spectacular. What a building this is - a masterpiece of Victorian flamboyance and pomposity but truly exquisite inside and out. And we even saw the bald bloke (who looks uncannily like the comedian Harry Hill) from UK Masterchef in the corridor.

I was born and brought up in this city and it's hard not to feel nostalgic on revisiting. I took so much for granted when growing up here - the amazing creativity, the extraordinary buildings, the theatre, the music, the pubs, the fifteen different languages being spoken in one tube carriage - but it's taken me a long time to realise and be brave enough to state that London really is back to its very best and among the most wonderful urban centres on this planet.

Come and you may just bump into a Vanuatan God!

Winter sunshine

There's pretty much nothing I like better than warm winter sunshine. We've woken today to a beautiful day at Pacific Palms and I've already sat out on the veranda writing in just a T-shirt, while Mila wheeled around me on her trike. It feels like we're coming to the end of a long, wet winter. Hooray! I'm sure there'll be a bit more cold to endure but hey I can sniff spring just around the corner.

It's crazy that weather can have such an effect on one's moods but it certainly does. In fact, one local I knew had to move north from here as she had seasonally-affected depression and this area has generally excellent weather so it must have been bad. Anyhow, before I betray my English roots by making this blog all about the weather, I'll move on.

I've had a busy and productive week of writing and blogging on "Our Patch" - www.ourpatch.com.au. I'm enjoying coming up with a different subject every day and throwing it out there. Blogging is never going to be great literature, it's more akin to the opinion pieces in the newspaper I reckon, but hopefully some of what I write will be food for thought for somebody.

One of the great things about travel writing is not just visiting a whole variety of countries and areas but revisiting them in your head. Over the last week it's been Vanuatu and Montreal and now I am onto Pacific Palms where I live and Woolgoolga, while at the same time planning my next trip with the Canadian Tourism Commission to the Arctic and Toronto. In the meantime, we're also dreaming up a three month stint in Europe next year over our winter. That's another great thing about the job, that I can base myself anywhere - my colleague and fellow blogger Louise Goldsbury is currently spending the summer in New York, lucky thing.

In our case, after the two girls have played pass the parcel with winter colds and flu for the past three months, we're intent on getting out of here during the chilly months! I'll try to line up work in the UK, where I am hoping to visit the Norfolk broads for the first time, Italy, France and Spain. And top of my list is Denmark, a place I've never visited but always wanted to. When I didn't have kids and my Mum was still alive, living in London, I was able to spend every winter over in Europe and it did make for a pretty sweet life of near perpetual summer.

But then again, variety is the spice of life, and having grown up in a country where it's cold and rainy for eight or more months a year, I know that I really appreciate it when spring and summer arrive. Plus there's a lot to love about the other, cooler seasons too. And when it's dry and clear in this area in the winter and there's nobody about on any of our beaches, it's one of the world's most beautiful places.

Vanuatan smiles

Well, I've just been in Vanuatu for a week during the 30th anniversary independence celebrations and am now back home with the girls. I don't want to be predictable but I missed them like mad and while it was certainly an interesting visit, I'm glad to be home.

While in Vanuatu I spent a few days on the island of Tanna, where the tourism infrastructure remains very basic. The cross island roads are only for the most experienced fourwheel drivers and you have to be patient as it takes a helluva long time to get anywhere. There is an impressive active volcano to visit, although as a contact lens wearer being showered with regular bursts of volcanic ash, I can't say I saw much other than a blurry outline of some explosive eruptions, while grit between my cornea and lens brought floods of tears to my eyes. My guide must have thought I was having a truly emotional experience!

Apparently the people of Vanuatu were named the happiest in the world according to a 2006 survey and I must say most of them seem to smile a lot, in spite of having very little. I visited traditional villages where they have barely changed the way they live in centuries and still buy their wives with pigs. They worship Prince Philip in one of those villages, believing him to be the reincarnation of one of their spirit ancestors and it must be one of the few places in the world where the old fella is considered more important than his wife, HRH the Queenie. I've promised to send a message to Buckingham Palace from the village, asking the Duke Of Edinburgh to visit the village next year, so we'll see what response I get.

Other not for print experiences include arriving at my basic accommodation and being told I was sharing a bungalow with my female escort from the Vanuatan Tourist Office. Now I am very liberal but this seemed just a little inappropriate to me! I also had my all-time worst meal on a press trip at a restaurant in Port Vila and a few things on my itinerary simply didn't eventuate but hey, you need to be patient when you travel places where there is little tourism infrastructure. Oh and during a snorkel in very shallow water off Iririki Island, just off Port Vila, I got startled by a very inquisitive sea snake. It came right up to my mask and was ready to give me a venomous smooch. Still at least I wasn't sharing my room with it.

I might go back to Vanuata one day with the girls. One village chief has invited my family back for their main festival and I reckon it'd be great to expose the kids to life in a traditional community. However, no matter how many pigs I'm offered for Mila or Freya, I'm afraid I'll have to say no.