The diamond jubilee edition

KOS, GREECE. SEPTEMBER 28.

September has been a month of festivities, family, friends, incredible memories and soggy livers all round. Our beloved patriarch celebrated his early 60th in Praia da Luz with all the kids and some of our nearest and dearest from around the world. Guests jetted in from New York, London, Auckland – even a couple of visitors from Hawkes Bay. We were so thrilled to be be speaking in our native tongue again … there was a couple of mentions of just a hint of Rog’s French accent. We’d really missed all that banter and teasing that Kiwis – and Gwynnes especially – love so much.

None of us will forget the moment when out of the blue, one of Roger’s oldest and dearest friends, Dave Raos arrived at our villa all the way from Whitford. At one point it looked like the old boy wouldn’t make 60 after all. Thankfully most of us were in on it and had the defibrillator handy.

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The kids pulled out all the stops and arrived with Rog masks, tour t-shirts, a cake baked in London, plus wonderful energy and adoration for their Rog. Maddy even managed to wrangle friends and family to record video tributes. All in all a 35 minute short film including some luscious lady-boys luring the birthday boy to Bangkok; the all-new Maroochydore Musical (coming to a town near you); a 6’4 pants-less former rower; a mini-feature from West Auckland and many truly heartfelt sentiments from all over the world. Lots of laughs and a few tears. What a huge effort, amazing times. We will never forget it.

Like all good jubilees, the celebrations went on for a few days. We marked the occasion with an afternoon at a very chilled beachside bar at Burgau on The Algarve. A laidback affair with a few swims, Rogers everywhere, great food and not a lot of fuss.

A few snaps from the festivities.

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After the Southern Hemisphere beer-pong circuit was won by Denise and me in February, some felt there was a score to be settled in the Northern Hemisphere. Of course it would have been terribly unsporting for us to beat the guest of honour so Denise and I graciously threw the game and handed Roger and Tim the International Senior Beer Pong crown. (choke).

Having said that, Guy and Jason were naive – and a lot less gracious – ruthlessly defeating their seniors. Being 30 years our junior with a lot to learn, they were awarded Most Promising Newcomers.

An Opito rematch is scheduled for Summer 2020.

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ON WITH THE TOUR….

After dispersing around Spain for a bit we all reconvened in Valencia for the inaugural Gwynne Paella bake off. We had the most amazing day being guided through the markets to select fresh ingredients, then back to the cooking school to work on our creations. Seafood vs rabbit and chicken. Valencia’s the home of Paella and our hosts were enthusiastic and authentic, pouring endless Sangria into us at 11 am, followed by shots when the rice was added (tradition), more wine and aperitifs to finish. Yes there was also some cooking involved too. We stumbled out into the bright Valencian light at 3pm with incredible memories and serious new skills. Sabato, here we come.

Valencia was such a great spot. We’re finding the second-tier cities really accessible and interesting. The super modern architecture set against the original Spanish architecture is spectacular and just works. We also loved that, much like us, the Valencians totally worship food and the markets are of an epic scale.

We all scattered and Rog and I are flying solo again. After such special times with the family and friends, it was sad saying goodbye and took a bit of getting used to. We’re at about the halfway mark of our adventures now and after licking our wounds for a bit we’re back on the move and loving it.

Getting from Valencia to Greece was not without its challenges. For starters, the quickest flight took us via Romania. We literally flew across Greece, offloaded in Bucharest, found our bags, back on board then backtracked to Athens. Eight hours in total but cheap as chips … if only the story ended there. We arrived at Valencia for our early morning flight, only to realise it didn’t exist. Well it did, but left from Castellon airport 100ks away. The perils of getting a bit casual with the bookings. Thanks to a lead-footed taxi driver we screamed up the motorway, just making our flight in the nick of time. Walking up the steps to board, Roger spotted putty holding the windows in place. Lucky us, we were aboard one of the few remaining 737-300s still in service – circa 25 years old.

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Turns out we weren’t the only ones relieved to make it to Bucharest, with a hearty round of applause as we touched down.

We’ve spent the last week hopping around islands in Greece. The smaller islands have been so welcoming, food is incredible and really laid back. We had four days on what turned out to be the party island of Ios. Mercifully it was all but done for the season so we had the benefit of great restaurants, beaches and bars and met the wrung-out and relieved locals who have spent much of the last five months gritting their teeth.

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A couple of days in Santorini were a mixed bag in every sense. The place was heaving with cruise ship passengers packing in all they could in their last-remaining moments, and young Insta-stars posing their hearts out to get just right selfie on just the right shelfie. Some truly breathtaking locations and poses.

We hadn’t realised Santorini was perched on the edge of a sunken volcano so when it blows, it blows. The weather couldn’t have been less like the postcard. Think Ruapehu with howling gales, low cloud and vanishing hats.

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HAIRCUT ROULETTE

Forget about ‘what do you miss most about home or how do you pack for 6 months? It seems it’s the hair that gets the most gasps when we meet people and tell them we’re travelling for six months. (Ladies you get it.)

We’ve both been religious about our five-weekly appointments in Newmarket for years. Hair’s a pretty big deal in our house. So far we’ve done OK with two great cuts – one in London and the other in San Sebastian. But as we head deeper into Turkey and Morocco the game of haircut roulette is about to get a whole lot more interesting.

Colour on the other hand, is a a whole new game. I’m way beyond my 10 week cycle now, but I have it on good authority from a Greek pharmacy assistant, that this is the shade for me.

My freshly-minted sexagenarian has pledged to don the gloves, paint on the Greecian 2000 and love me no matter what. Watch this space.

WHERE TO NEXT?

The longer we’re living this nomadic life, the easier it is to go with the wind. We’ve become surprisingly casual about planning and booking ahead – often not having a roof over our heads for the next few days. We’re getting it down to a fine art and if things don’t work out there’s always a Plan B. Or C. The seasons are really working for us now. With the European Summer coming to an end it’s easier and way cheaper to find places to stay and things to do. Temperatures are still in the mid-20s so Summer by NZ standards.

We’ve just booked a week on a gulet sailing boat along the coast of Turkey which will be incredible. A new experience for Rog not being the skipper so we’ll see how long it takes for him to teach those Turks a few Coromandel tricks.

From there we’re tossing up between Morocco or Puglia in Italy next. Tough choice.

There’s been a few complaints about the long silence between blogs (you know who you are) so we’ll do our best to tap out another one soon. We love hearing from you and appreciate all your recommendations and tips. Kiwis really know how to travel!