Famille Summerbelle News

It was like driving through a one road town in a spaghetti Western.

I know everyone bangs on about Apple, and that some day soon they'll probably turn into the bad guys, but this trip owes a big thank you to Apple... We're both big unashamed fans of pretty much everything that they make, but on this occasion the real star is our little faithful MacBook which has taken a fair bruising on...

It is isn't it? We haven't been everywhere yet, and perhaps we haven't even been to enough places to be so bold, but I replace it difficult to believe that there may be a more beautiful place than New Zealand. Don't get me wrong, everywhere you go you'll replace something or some place beautiful - and many places perhaps benefit...

When we sat down for dinner this evening, we talked about how lucky we have been with our journey. It seems as though each country offers us a new perspective, something very different and it seems always at the right moment. Truth is we scarcely planned this trip. What with house moving, making sure all was fine with Famille Summerbelle...

We had a ball. Everyone so friendly, the scenery was stunning and life by the beach suited us just fine. And we saw those Kangaroos. Thanks especially to Simon and Bernie who gave us the finest barbecue steak we've ever had.

Well, it is my brother - and the artwork is the talent of the younger members of the family, Abbie and Morghan. Thanks girls! Not just that but we were given some lovely cookies and some warm clothes (!) for our journey around the fresher parts of the South Island. Occasionally, we get to use our blog for a shameless...

We've arrived in Melbourne after 8 days of camping, beaches, barbeques, whales, kangaroos and roadkill wombats (still haven't seen a live one sadly...). We have our own private loo. Heaven! Melbourne has a distinctly different air about it. Perhaps a little more cosmopolitan and certainly it feels a little more 'used' than the rest of Australia. Which we replace all...

Ophelia was very excited today. After 4 days of driving down the coast we have finally seen these lovely creatures. We are staying in Pambula, on the Sapphire coast, camping on the beach side. The kangaroos run freely around us eating the grass and coming close to the camping-car. They are very friendly and seeing 'le petit bebe dedans' as...

It's a lot easier to understand Australia when the sun shines. It is such a beautiful country, with an awesome coastline which really comes alive in the nice weather. Over the weekend it was great to watch the families who had taken the two or three days to camp, surf, swim and eat delicious camp barbeques. It's so different to...

is heaven! After 4 days of rain and cold weather we really enjoyed some sun for a lovely walk from the famous Bondi Beach to Covelly. The sea had a stunning turquoise colour and big waves attracted lots of surfers. We were also able to enjoy the open air 'Sculpture by the Sea' annual exhibition along the coast.

We've never been this far away from Europe! Arriving in Sydney was pretty smooth, although along the way we learnt that we aren't big fans of night flights and that the difference between very new planes (like the A380 that we took to Singapore) and very old planes (like the 1970s Jumbo Jet we took to Sydney) is huge -...

We've been in Langkawi for four days now, although this is the bit in our trip where we are struggling to remember which day or even what time of day it is. Heaven. Langkawi is a beautiful tropical island on the west coast of Malaysia and unbelievable close to Thailand (Phuket). It is a reasonably untouched island, with a pretty...

This is where we are staying in Langkawi: Bon Ton is a privately owned resort which we found out about by reading a blog post by Irene from Bloesem. Her favourable post and the evidently unique style of the place really attracted us. On arrival we were not disappointed. Bon Ton is a collection of traditional Malay houses (mostly fishing...

Just 3 nights in Singapore. We arrived from Japan on one of those huge airplanes with two full floors (I think there were 500 people on board!). Ophelia liked the stairs - a great new addition to her flying experience. Singapore is, well, not really us. The weather is nice and we have a big pool at the hotel. Perhaps...

We very happily stumbled across the International Manga Museum in Kyoto and stopped for lunch and a good look around. Both of us are reasonably interested in 'whimsical pictures' as Manga translates, and found it fun to spend an hour or two searching among the work of great Manga stars like Osamu Tezuka (creator of Astro Boy and the beautifully...

I don't think our world trip could have got off to a better start than the two weeks we have just spent in Japan. I (this is Simon!) had a trip to Japan just once a couple of years ago, and had always believed that Julie would love the place. But somehow, I think the experience seriously exceeded any expectations...

As a family we love trains. Actually more precisely, Julie HATES planes so wherever possible we stick to the ground and take trains. We know there are some great train journeys to be had, but as a train experience the Shinkansen (or the Bullet when I was a kid) has got to be amongst the best. I can't think of...

This is how you choose your dish in many restaurants here in Japan...It all looks very real but it's entirely plastic! Ophelia wishes she could have the same to play with! You can get you own plastic food in the UK at Replica.

We woke up at 5am this morning to go to Tokyo Tusukiji Fish Market. It is the biggest wholesale fish and seafood market in the World! The market opens most mornings at 3am with the arrival of the products by ship, truck and plane from all over the world. The market handles more than 400 types of seafood from tiny...