December

Natal, Brazil, 05th-12th December A very enjoyable holiday for the sun worshippers, city slickers and fun seekers.
Main Beach, Ponta Negra The out of town beach resort
Mum posing on the Main Beach	Football and volley ball are a national pass time
Surfs up! Mum catching a big wave	Local fishing boats


City tour of Natal
City street towards the river	Town Hall
Me and a view of the skyline	Mum and a view of the skyline
Decaying grandeur in the backstreets	Shopping Mecca
Friendly locals	Ugly Cathedral we nicknamed 'The Ski Jump'
Modern building	Interior of a bus. Turnstiles discourage fare dodgers
The pool	Mum worshipping the sun

Night life in Ponta Negra (just south of Natal)
Live music and dancing in the street was the order of the evening	The Salsa bar where I solicited some lessons from the locals
Well known dance called the Capoeira, a 'self defence' style dance	Lots of handstands and kicks

Pipa Beach 2 Hour coach ride from Natal. We stayed there for two nights to soak up the more relaxed pace of life in the day and the buzz in the evening. A number of great beaches are in the area, each with something different to offer
The main beach	After the sun worshippers leave, the footballers come out to play
Surfing attracts the beauties...	Surfing competition in full swing
	Ever present breeze is idea for paragliding

Very interesting Youth Hostel here. Medieval themed!	Evening Promenade
Beach life	The balcony of the guesthouse where we stayed, a very sociable area
Incoming catch of the day
Street competition for the children of the village to compete for the best 'Performance'

Nature Reserve, Tibau do Sul
Monkey eats spider


Beach buggy North from Natal Took a beach buggy & driver for the whole day and headed North from Natal
Our fearless driver	The fearing passengers!
Cross by ferry to the north side of the river	All four of us shared a buggy

Watching the ships roll by...	Big new bridge is being build across the river. Locals say its a 'stop-start' project!
Dune park where we could have a 'bit of a spin'	Most of the journey was along the beach
Stopping off to watch a catch being haulled in

We were unable to find a phone as they were disguised as a giant cashew fruit!	Raft across a lagoon
Sand boarding
Death slide	Winch up is powered by an old V.W
The dunes	Must look strange if all you have known is rainforest!

Works Christmas meal, The Inglenook, Pagham. 01/12/2006 A meal, very lively disco and late night bar at the Inglenook, a favourite venue to the west of Bognor



Christmas meal in Worthing. 15/12/2006 Thanks to Michelle for organising a great selection of food and entertainment for us all.
Sport the Christmas cracker... (its James with the green hat)
Such choice; and yet straight for the chocolate cake!	Now you see it... me and my next victim of the night!

Jon and Allys Joint birthday Christmas bash. 16/12/2006 To prepare for the feasting I cycled from Littlehampton to High Wycombe for a great party. Far too much food as usual!
Breathing germs on the cake in an effort to blow the candles out	Ally, as Santa's little helper

Christmas party at Amys, Bermondsey, SE London. 23/12/2006 To welcome the new flat mates and celebrate everyone's finishing for Christmas we engaged on a marathon of vodka shots - with entirely predictable results.

Vodka, Lemon, Sugar and coffee	How its done
Those still standing were dancing...	Amy and myself.

Secret Santa Christmas meal, Prospect Park, Reading 24/12/2006
The gang (including Rachel and David - who are off shot) get together	Worthing pier, taken on a Christmas shopping trip.

Christmas This year it was the turn of Sarah and Ivan to host Christmas. Practically speaking this means much time and attention is spent on getting the house and food just right. Once so, a gang of thirsty, hungry house wreakers descend and undo all the good work. Still, we get invited back year after year! Not withstanding, the hard work by Sarah, Ivan and Joan, which is appreciated by all who attend...
Christmas Eve Everyone arrived for a lovely evening meal at Sarah and Ivan's in the conservatory. The biggest casualty was the red wine.
Mum Ivan and Philip
	Dad (Jim) and Michelle (Andrews girlfriend)
Philip	Me, sporting a crown of laurels

Christmas Day As is customary, We start the day off at midday in the pub, then back to open presents and nibble, then get changed for an evening Christmas meal.
The trick: Get there by midday and you are guaranteed a seat. It soon fills up	Thomas opening presents
Santa's helper (me) scurries under the tree to retrieve and hand out presents	Guest appearance of my cousins son, Archie
More surprises	Mum modelling her new ski wear
The family portrait Left to right, standing, Ivan (Sarah's husband), John (Ivan's brother), Michelle (Andrews girlfriend), Andrew (son of Sarah and Ivan), Thomas (my younger brother), Sarah (mums sister), David (my older brother), Jim (dad), Liz (mum), Philip (son of Sarah and Ivan), Amy (David's girlfriend), Jonathan (me). Seated; Joan (Mother of Ivan and John)





Boxing day Tradition states we go for a walk and come back to a buffet meal, and play games
Boxing day walk in Knaresborough

Famous viaduct - famous in North Yorkshire at least!
	Answering questions, teams split into 3

New Years Eve Holiday cottage, near Totnes, Devon. 30/12/2006 - 7/1/2007 To welcome in the New Year, Jo, Rach, James, Dawn and I hired a cottage tucked away in a beautiful corner of Devon. We eased into a pattern of lazy breakfasts, afternoon pub walks, day trips, evening home cooking or pub meal, games and puzzles by the log fire and cosy country pubs.
The name of the cottage	Not really a cottage! this whole house was ours for the week. Kitchen had a Rayburn which heated the house and water. Log fire in the sitting rooms and 4 upstairs bedrooms.
Surrounding countryside	Walk to the pub
Country pub in Dartington	Country pub in Torbryn

Staverton, local village A short walk from the cottage takes you in this pretty village
Staverton church	Inside the church I talked about the history of the village to the warden
Bridge across the river Dart exiting the south of the village. Hardly enough room for a donkey, let alone a car!	Staverton steam train station

Paignton, and Paignton Zoo Just south of Torquay, but still in Tor bay, is thr kitsch and charm seaside town of Paignton. The zoo is very interesting and covers a huge area. We didn't manage to see it all and we were there for nearly a whole day.
We must have gambled all of £5 in 2p pieces on the penny pushers	Working harbour
Red sandstone gives makes for interesting beach geology (and biology)	Dawn and Rachael enjoying the afternoon sun on the Pier
Dawn and I
Flamingos, in the zoo	Hungry tigers
Hatching chicks. Hang on, I didn't see chickens in the zoo. That makes them...SNAKE FOOD! This one just hatched - it was so..so sleepy that it staggered round and fell fast asleep in front of us.	All the ugly goats were culled shortly before we arrived
Dawn and monkey (on the right)	View out to Tor bay and Paignton Pier

Totnes Is a very pretty town. We visited the castle, shops, backstreets and you guessed it... the pub!
Old backstreet	Victorian Celtic style cross

Countryside walks Round a reservoir on Dartmoor, we encountered the semi wild Dartmoor ponies


Evening sun over the Venford Reservoir, built to supply drinking water in 1900's	Buckfast Abbey