Jacqi's Travels

The flags in the side columns link to country's place in the list. For each country in the list I give a brief piece about my travels with a link to another page if one exists yet.

Sets of photos can be found on my flickr pages

Amsterdam

See Netherlands

Australia

1: October and November 2000
I missed my best friend, Kerry, who had gone home to Australia in November 1999 so Rik took me to visit her. We stayed with Kerry and her family in Perth, visited her dad in Nannup; drove north via Kalbarri and Geraldton to the Monkey Mia resort at shark Bay to see the dolphins and spent our last few days cycling on Rottnest Island.

2: December 2003 - January 2004
I spent Christmas 2003 and New Year 2004 and most of January (I came home on 26th) with my best friend, Kerry, and her family in Perth . We spent some time travelling in the south and visiting her dad and step-mum in Nannup.

Austria

1: 19 - 29 July 1992
This was a very, very cheap coach tour (Land Travel) advertised in my local paper (£89 half board). I thought it might be worth a try, especially after I met people on an earlier trip to Amsterdam who had been with Land Travel and had found it so good they had booked a second trip. I went with Joy McKitty, a friend from college.

I had thought it was too cheap to be true. I was right. The trip was beset by all sorts of problems and we discovered why when company went bust while we were away and our holiday was cut short. But it was a good, eventful, week. The views were wonderful, there was a heatwave and the other travellers were an interesting bunch.
We stayed in Taxenbach and visited Zell am Zee and Salzburg.
Photos on flickr.

2: Easter (April) 2007
I visited Vienna as part of the Prague, Vienna and Budapest Tour.

Bali

See Indonesia

Belarus

May 2007
During the Grand Russian Spectacular tour I visited Brest and Minsk.

Belgium

1: May 1992
My first visit to Belgium was a beautiful sunny afternoon in Bruges on the way home from the Floriade in the Netherlands.

2: Winter 1998-1999
My partner was living and working in Brussels that winter and I spent many weekends there. We visited the Atomium and Grand Place.

3: September 2004
A week in Belgium and France with friends, Jan and Dave, started in Rochehaut in Belgium.

4: December 2007
A four day break with my friend, Linda, visiting Bruges and Brussels and Lille to enjoy the Christmas markets. We also spent an evening in Ypres where we saw the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate.

Bosnia

July 2006
As part of the one week coach trip to Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia. I went to Mostar and Sarajevo. The Turkish Bridge in Mostar was very difficult to walk on and the weather was incredibly hot. In Sarajevo we stayed at the hotel that had been built for the olympics. The trip through Bosnia was rather sad, the effects of the war can still be seen in the dilapidated buildings and the poverty.

Crete

See Greece

Croatia

July 2006
As part of the one week coach trip to Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia. Such a beautiful country. I visited Dubrovnik, Split, the Dalmatian Coast, Zagreb, Zadar (where the hotel had a wonderful pool) and Plitvice National Park

Czech Republic

April 2007
A visit to Prague at Easter as part of the Leger coach tour of the Prague, Vienna and Budapest tour. Nice, but over-hyped, I think. I didn't find the famous clock as awesome as I expected - until I remembered just how many hundreds of years old it is.

Denmark

1: September 2006
My first visit was as part of the Archers coach tour of Scenic Scandinavia.
I flew into Copenhagen and had a full day there. The 'Castles of Zealand tour was great - I got to go into the courtyard at Elsinore - Hamlet's castle. The inside of Frederiksborg was a fabulous treat. We went to Odense where Hans Christian Andersen was born before leaving.

2: June 2007
Copenhagen again, this time with my partner, as part of the Grand Russian Spectacular tour.

Egypt

March 2003
1. A one week cruise on the Nile visiting the Valley of the Kings, Karnak, Philae Island, Aswan and Abu Simbel. We then spent a week at a hotel in Luxor. During that second week we visited Cairofor one day travelling there and back overnight by train. We went inside a pyramid.

2. A week on warm sun and relaxation in Sharm el Sheikh has been booked for January 2009l

England

Home. I've visited quite a lot of England. Photos on Flickr, notes when I get round to it (I promise!)

Fiji

November/December 2005
We had a five day stop-over in Fiji on the way to New Zealand. Fiji was lovely and warm after cold grey England. We were in Nadi . I tried to learn to scuba dive but the water was a little too choppy for me and I was too nervous.

Finland

1: June 2006
A very brief look at Helsinki before boarding the overnight Silja ferry to Stockholm. We were hoping to have more time but we were waiting for ages to get through the border from Russia.

2: June 2008
As part of the Arctic Circle trip I visited Rovaniemi, Sodankylä, Saariselkä and Inari. I also saw a bit more of Helsinki, including the Sibelius Monument, before flying home from there at the end of the holiday.

France

1: 1980s
France was the first foreign country I visited. This was as day trips to Calais or Bolougne taking the ferry across from Dover.

2: September 1993
With my friends Debbie (who I met on a trip to Pamplona), and Keith (from my French evening class) I spend a long weekend in France. We had no set plan, other than having booked a hotel in Bolougne for our first night. We drove (Debbie's car) where the fancy took us and, in Lille, happened upon a festival or fair. It took the form of a giant market, music on the street, moules-frites (mussels and chips) in all the restaurants which had mountains of empty mussel shells outside their doors.

3: March 1992: Paris
A long weekend coach trip seeing the usual sights.

4: December 1998
Christmas in Val d'Isère with my (then) new boyfriend and his friends Mark and Isabel. I travelled there on the Snow Train (Eurostar)We stayed at his friend's apartment. Christmas Eve was magical - all snowy mountains, real Christmas trees and a romantic boyfriend. But on Christmas Morning, before breakfast, he broke his leg and spent several days in hospital.

5: September 2004
A one-week tour (including Belgium) with friends Jan and Dave. We got lost a few times which I thought was all part of the fun. We visited the Mercier Champagne caves and some WW1 cemeteries.

6: December 2007
A four day break with my friend, Linda, to Lille (and Bruges and Brussels)to enjoy the Christmas markets.

7: May 2008
A long Bank Holiday Weekend (we went on Friday and came back on Tuesday) to Paris with Rik. This was partly as a tenth anniversary break (we met on 6th March 1998) and partly because I wanted to visit the Musée D'Orsay and the Louvre before we emigrate. We had a great weekend and went up the Eiffel Tower when it was all lit up in the evening.

Germany

1: July 1992
My first visit to Germany was to a salt mine in Berchtesgaden as part of the Austrian coach tour.

2: May 2007: Berlin
As part of the Grand Russian Spectacular tour we briefly visited Berlin. We saw Checkpoint Charlie, and the Brandenburg Gate.

Goa

See India.

Greece

October 2006: Crete
Rik had wanted to take me to Greece for quite a while. He chose Crete because he had been before and wanted to go back and see all the ancient ruins and to walk in the Gorge. We based ourselves in Matala, at the middle of the south coast but moved north-east to Agios Nicholas . We visited Chania, Rethymnon, Knossos, the Dictian Cave (where Zeus was supposed to have been born) on the Plain of Lesithi. We also went to the only palm forest in Europe, at Vai Beach. On our last day we visited the museum at Heraklion. I haven't written the trip notes up yet but the photos are on flickr.

Hungary

April 2007: Györ and Budapest
As part of the Prague, Vienna and Budapest tour at Easter. We spent a few hours in Györ and then onto the beautiful golden city of Budapest. I think this must be the most beautiful city I have ever visited. We stayed in the cylindrical Hotel Budapest, had champagne on the terrace of the Museum of Fine Arts on Heroes Square ; visited Vajdahunyad Castle where we heard some wonderful organ playing in the chapel and saw the beautiful Chain Bridge. Photos on flickr, details/travel notes when I get round to transcribing them.

Italy

October 2007
A fabulous tour of Italy. The locations were mostly wonderful; my fellow tourers were great fun; the tour director, unfortunately, was not good to the point of being rude and misogynistic.

It would be difficult to choose a favourite place. Rome was great because of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. In Venice and Assisi I felt that I had walked into a painting by an old master. I loved the medieval towns of San Gimignano, Urbino, Siena and Lucca. The only place I didn't like was Naples. For details of all the other places I visited see the tour page.

Malaysia

2000
We spent a few hours at Kuala Lumpur airport on the way to and from Australia. Maybe I'll get to see more than the airport some day.

Mexico

1995
A few hours in Mexico when I was in Nogales, Texas, with Joan Melton.

Morocco

September / October 2008
I took a ten day Highlights of Morocco tour just before my final exam. It was probably the most exotic place I've every been. I visited Rabat, Meknes, Fez, Ifrane, Atlas Mountains, Ziz Gorges, Erfoud, Rissani, The Road of 1000 Kasbahs, Du Dades Valley, Todra Gorges, Ouarzazate, Marrakech and Casablanca.

Netherlands

1: May 1992
A long weekend to go to the Floriade flower show in Zoetermeer. My first experience of sharing with a stranger and it worked very well. There were four single women who had agreed to share so as not to pay a single supplement and all four of us got on well together. As well as the flower show we were taken to a cheese makers, a clog maker in Volendamand went to the Ann Frank Museum and a boat trip on the canals of Amsterdam.

2: Summer 1994
My friend, Debbie, told me she was off to Amsterdam for a weekend and the weather was too nice to be working so I decided to go with her. This was a very different trip from the 1992 trip. This was more a party trip in fabulous weather.

New Zealand

1: January - March 1994
The first, big trip. I spent time with my brother and his family who lived in Putaruru. They took me to Whakarewarewa, the Coromandel and Waitomo Caves. I toured the south and north islands on my own taking a bus down to Wellington and getting the ferry across to Picton . I went down to Christchurch and took the train through Arthur's Pass to Greymouth. I took a bus tour down the West Coast of the South Island visiting the glaciers at Fox and Franz Joseph, through the Haast Pass and finishing in Queenstown. It was too wet to get to Milford so I travelled to Dunedin and back up to Christchurch with a wonderful lady, Joan, who I met on the West Cost Express tour.

Back on the North Island I spent time in Napier with Rene, an old friend of my father. Shortly before leaving NZ I took a tour of Northland going into the Whangerei caves and up to Ninety Mile Beach. I will post the story here sometime.

2: March 2001
For the wedding of my friends, Lisa and Kevin, in Te Puke. I was Matron of Honour. Rik came with me - it was his first visit to NZ. After the wedding we set off on a tour of both North and South Island. We met up with friends in Wellington . Then, in the middle of a storm on the Milford Sound, Rik asked me to marry him.

3: December 2005
Christmas with family in Putaruru and some time with our friend in Waipu.

Norway

1: September 2006
As part of the Scenic Scandinavia tour. It's a fabulous country. I loved the Medieval Merchant's House in Bergen, the fjords, the mountains. I also visited Oslo and the Heavy Water Plant at Telemark.

2: June 2008
I went much further north - all the way to Nordkapp on the longest day as part of the Arctic Circle trip.

October 2007
I visited this lovely hilltop place during my tour of Italy. We stayed overnight at the Hotel Titano. It was amazing to see the difference between the daytime when it was chock-a-block with tourists and the evening when it was quiet and peaceful. The hotel was quirky and the food great.

Scotland

August 1990
I first went to Scotland in August 1990. I had free train travel as I was married to a train driver. On that visit I went to Edinburgh and Inverness.

A year or two later I worked in London with Maggie who moved home to her native Kirkcaldy and I went to visit her. She took me to Wemyss Castle where her parents lived and worked.

A few years after that, I worked with Julia, who lived in Glasgow, and spent a weekend with her.

Singapore

April 1994
I spent three days here on the way back from Bali. People told me there was nothing to Singapore except shopping but I decided to see for myself, especially as the plane stopped there anyway. They were more or less right. I was also too worn out from travelling by then to really enjoy the place. I also found it too clean.

1: July 1992
Pamplona and San Sebastian - a coach tour with lots of Kiwis and Aussies.

2: December 1992
Fuerteventura, Canary Islands. A one week package tour on my own to get some warmth and sunshine before the winter blues set in. The resort wasn't too built up and the air was clean - better than December in London. It was the first time I had ever flown.

3: January 1995
A week of sunshine on the island of Lanzarote in the Canaries. I went with Josie, from my English evening class.

4: February 2002
For the wedding of our friends Mark and Isabel in Almusafes, near Valencia. We shared an apartment in Tackytown (aka Benidorm) with friends and their children. We visited the Science Museum in Valencia and Guadalest.

5: October 2008
A two-week trip as my last(?) holiday while based in the UK.
I visited Madrid, Aranjuez, Curenca, Valencia, Peniscola, Barcelona, Zaragoza, Segovia, Avila, Salamanca, Seville, Jerez, Ronda, Granada and Cordoba. Details on the tour page Photos starting to go up on flickr.

Sweden

September 2006
As part of the Scenic Scandinavia tour I visited Karlstad and Stockholm.

June 2007
I was in Stockholm again as part of the Grand Russian Spectacular. Different company and different guide meant that we were taken to see different parts of the city.

June 2008
Towards the end of the Arctic Circle and Northern Highlights tour we were back in Sweden having travelled overnight from Helsinki on the ferry. It was with archers, the company with whom I first visited Sweden and we had the some lovely guide, Elizabeth.

Switzerland

December 1998
So far, my only time in Switzerland was when we flew home from Geneva airport, having been taken there by ambulance from the hospital in Bourg St Maurice. Maybe I'll get to see more of the country, and in happier circumstances, one day.

Turkey

October 1998
My first holiday with Rik was a week in Side on the Turkish coast. We had to stay in the resort as their was a problem with the hire car booking.

United Kingdom

All my life!

I've been to quite a bit of the UK. I lived in London for more than forty years. I've also visited York - both the city and the moors; Lincoln, Norwich, Cornwall, the New Forest. On the east coast I've visited Hull, Scarborough, Robin Hood's Bay, Great Yarmouth, Margate, Southend.
Along the bottom I've been to Brighton (my son now lives there, Hastings, Dover (to cross the channel to France), Bournemouth and Exeter.

USA

December 1995 - March 1996
I had the great good fortune to be invited to travel with a wonderful lady, Joan Melton, across the bottom of the United States. I met Joan when we were both travelling in New Zealand. I flew out to Pensacola, Florida as she was staying in Gulf Shores, Alabama. We went down to Orlando to visit EPCOT. Then we moved west, through Mississippi and Louisiana , stopping to spend some time in New Orleans. On to Texas . We went up to Oklahoma City and down to Big Bend National Park. In New Mexico we visited Carlsbad Caverns. I ended my trip in Arizona and flew home, after ten-and-a-half wonderful weeks, from Phoenix.

Wales

1998
I'd never been to Wales before 1998, then went three times in one summer.

First to Cardiff, to the wedding of a friend of my partner.

Then my friends, Linda and Dave, took me to Wales in their caravan. We went to Aberdaren, Red Wharf Bay, the Isle of Anglesey (I was on Anglesey while Rik was nearby on the Isle of Man), Porthmadog, and many other places in North Wales.

Later that summer I went to the first Team Waste summer camp in Llangynog near Carmarthen in South West Wales. I've been back almost every year since.