Hi Everyone

Its been a while since our last update and we have been very busy not only with events but also painting the house. Its very therapeutic and makes a nice change from sitting on aeroplanes!

At the beginning of February we were invited to the Hilton hotel in London for a Charity dinner in aid of MediCinema. This is a charity that brings the silver screen to patients young and old including those in beds and wheelchairs. It was a cracking night and the evening raised around £86,000 from an auction of memorabilia. Martin Bayfield the former rugby union player did a grand job as an auctioneer. We met up with Warwick and Sammy Davis – it was great to catch up with them as it had been a while since we last saw each other. Also there was Jonathan Sands who runs the brilliant Movieum on the South Bank – a visit is a must – there is even a Boba Fett there.

Our first convention of the year was the Hollywood show in Burbank, LA. It had been a few years since I had visited the west coast and it was a really busy show. At long last I was to meet my voice ‘Jason Wingreen’ He’s a wonderful gentleman and we spent a long time chatting about the Star Wars saga. On Saturday night we went to dinner with friends Derek & Alberto at their house and were joined by Mark Ryan and his lovely lady. Mark and I spent a lot of time filming together on the ‘Robin of Sherwood’ series so had a lot to talk about. Apart from a lovely dinner I also had fun on their Dracula pinball machine. I have to own up now that I didn’t win!

Sitting at the next table to me at the show was Davy Jones and we reminisced about playing football back in the UK many years ago. We were shocked when we got home to hear the terribly sad news.

Before flying to Roanoke for Shevacon we spent a few days in Bel Air with friends of ours . Again there was lots to catch up with and we had fun few days. The trip to Roanoke we knew was going to be a long haul as there are no direct flights. Instead of waking our friends up at the crack of dawn to get to LAX for an early flight we stayed at the airport the night before. The view from our room was very pretty – I am not sure what these lights were supposed to be, but they looked cool and changed colour every few minutes.

Our flight left at 8.00am which meant being at the airport around 6.00am. We then flew to San Francisco, changed planes to Chicago. We arrived in Chicago for our flight to Roanoke which was meant to depart at 8.00pm. This is when it all went pear shaped (and it was my Birthday ) which I had spent mostly in the air!! Our flight to Roanoke was cancelled due to fog. It was a mad rush to line up to book another flight for the following morning – the good news was they were able to put us on a flight – the bad news was it was another really early start as the flight departed at 7.00am. That meant another brief stop at an airport hotel.

Finally we arrived in Roanoke along with author Timothy Zahn and his wife and Randy Martinez and Denise – coincidentally we were all on the same flight. On our arrival we were met by Beth and the Shevacon team and were whisked off for breakfast to the lovely ‘Thelma’s Chicken & Waffles’ very welcoming and yummy!

The Roanoke Hotel and Convention Center was most impressive – a beautifully restored Tudor style building.

Shevacon is a multi genre show and there were some very interesting costumes. Appearing on two Q & A’s over the weekend can be tricky as you have to be careful not to repeat yourself. As long as there is plenty of laughter I guess it doesn’t really matter if you tell one or two stories twice. I sat on one panel with several authors including the delightful Janine Spendlove who is also a pilot with the US Marine Corps.

A lot of fans where dressed in steam punk, but there are always the faithful to Star Wars.

On Sunday snow had been forecast, and true to form it arrived in the afternoon. It looked very pretty but many people were worried about travelling home. In the evening we were due to go out to a local restaurant but as the weather was closing in we stayed at the hotel for dinner followed by a challenge to a game of pool with the lads. I had to accept and luckily with a little help of the ‘Force’ (aka cheating!) I managed to win.

Our flight out Monday was in the evening so we explored Roanoke which looked very picturesque in the snow. Beth drove us up to the famous Roanoke Star which stands 100ft tall and is illuminated every night.

Many thanks to Beth, Leif, Heather and all the committee who made us feel very welcome at Shevacon.

Next stop Liverpool then New York – hope to see some of you there.

Jeremy
 

Hi Everyone

Hope you all had a great Christmas and wish everyone a Happy New Year. This is an update with a difference as there was no sign of Boba Fett all over the holiday. We took a trip to Sri Lanka to visit our son and family who is working there for three years. We set off in early December to fly east to Sri Lanka which was around an 11 hour flight. This time instead of sunsets there was a beautiful sunrise.

We arrived in Colombo around lunchtime and Robbie was there to meet us. It was a bit of a shock coming from grey cold England to the heat and sunshine of Sri Lanka. It was also a shock to be driving on very narrow roads with the tuk-tuks (motorized rickshaws)taking over, dogs sleeping in the kerbs, cows wandering everywhere as were the pedestrians and buses overtaking on the inside and outside. Quite a scary one hour journey to Robbie and Kirsty’s house. It was very exciting to be there and the cousins were pleased to see each other.

The following day it was Jossie’s 6th birthday so we went for a special buffet lunch to celebrate. Needless to say Jossie spent most of the time choosing his desserts! Afterwards we all relaxed by the pool getting over the jetlag.

Robbie and Kirsty had organised a very busy schedule for us over the next 9 days. As we were a party of 12 we hired a minibus along with Gopan our driver. We left Colombo in the morning and our first stop was at the elephant orphanage en route to Kandy. What an amazing experience – the children were allowed to feed the baby elephants with bottles of milk, and we saw them being taken to the river to bathe and be scrubbed – the elephants that is....

That night we stayed at a rather splendid 1920’s colonial hotel called The Mansion Hotel which we had to ourselves apart from one other couple.

The following morning we drove to the amazing botanical gardens in Kandy. There were so many wonderful plants and trees to look at.
What was just as interesting was the local people’s reaction to the grandchildren as their pale skins and hair colouring were very different. They caused quite a stir with people wanting to be photographed with them much to the kids embarrassment.

We then drove for an hour north to stay at the Ashburnham Tea Estate. After much difficulty in finding it we eventually arrived and were welcomed by Brendon who served us with freshly brewed tea (what else) and apple pie (how English!) It was a lovely house perched on the hillside overlooking the tea plantation. Next morning we decided to explore. It had been raining overnight and what we hadn’t bargained for was the fact that rain brings out the leeches. Halfway up the hill we were all suddenly leaping around trying to remove the leeches that had attached themselves to our feet and legs, and those of us in sandals had the pleasure of them crawling between our toes ugh! Plenty of screaming came from the children and the adults.......................more from the adults!

Our next journey was to Dambulla. Brendon very kindly made us a picnic lunch to take with us, which was greatly appreciated.
When we arrived we were quite overwhelmed by the beauty of the seated Buddha at the entrance to the Golden Temple. As it was lunchtime Robbie decided to take the picnic with us – big mistake. What we didn’t envisage was a whole cartload of hungry monkeys waiting to descend on any poor soul who happened to be carrying lunch. Poor Robbie was chased by several quite angry looking monkeys and he had no option but to throw the food at them. As you can imagine this caused tears from the children who were looking forward to their picnic. After buying some fruit to pacify the little ones we went on to see the largest and best preserved cave temples in Sri Lanka. The interiors are quite incredible.

There was no let up in our schedule and our next port of call was Sigiriya – and the famous Sigiriya Rock which is now a World Heritage site. Built on the top of a rock was a lavish royal palace which can be reached by climbing 1202 steps. Maureen & I decided not to climb to the top..........................

Our next hotel was the Palm Garden Village Hotel in the ancient Royal Capital of Anuradhapura which was another rather lovely colonial hotel set in beautiful gardens alongside a lake where a wild elephant was supposed to drink every morning – I saw no elephant?
We visited another temple where the monkeys seemed quite content just munching the floral offerings and leaving us alone. Sri Lanka is full of wonderful temples both Hindu and Buddhist.

The streets in Sri Lanka are buzzing with shops selling everything from fruit to remote controls, baskets, shoes, clothes and carvings to mention a few. After another busy day it was good to get back to the peace of the pool at the hotel.

Another day and another trip this time to the west coast to Kalpitya where we would be staying at the Palagama Beach Resort in a wooden cabana.
Our cabana was very luxurious inside as was the cabana on the beach where we all relaxed and read. The children spent most of their time in the rather lovely pool both day and night.

It was now time to head back to Colombo as Robbie had to go back to work. We had a few days relaxing in Colombo, shopping and preparing for Christmas which seemed very strange in a hot country. The week before Christmas we took another trip with Jamie and his family to Mirissa via the famous old city of Galle. One purpose of the trip was to go whale watching. The resort we stayed in was on the beach. The accommodation was a little less salubrious, but was made up for with the delicious fresh fish we were able to sample for dinner. The whale watching trip was a success and we saw two whales surfacing around 10 times – it was magical.

Every night we were spoilt for choice as there were so many restaurants offering freshly caught fish.

On our way back to Colombo we stopped off at the Handunugoda tea plantation where we were given a guided tour and finished up with tea tasting. Also on the estate they grew cinnamon and peppercorns.

We also managed to fit in a visit to Geoffrey Bawa’s house who was a renowned Asian architect of the 20th century. The house and gardens were superb. Geoffrey Bawa had bells fitted in various locations around the gardens and his staff knew immediately where he was by the sound of the bell.

We had booked for lunch but had no idea that our table would be set on the lovely lawn.

It was already Christmas Eve and we had to get back to Colombo to prepare for Christmas Day. The children had been rehearsing a nativity play which they were going to perform on Christmas morning. It was a bit chaotic as a certain actor......was refusing to go on stage. At the last minute the real actor was called in to understudy – I’m not sure what part I was playing but was given a white dressing gown (smacks of ‘One Flew over the cuckoo’s nest!’ and told to bear gifts.

Anyhow it was a success and a nice start to the day which was spent quietly. Jamie & Robbie had a big surprise for me. They had organised a real cricket game for Boxing Day next to Colombo’s international pitch. It was a 20/20 game and I was captain of one side and Robbie skippered the other side. I opened the batting and was soon bowled out by my son (thanks a lot Jamie). When it came to fielding I made amends by catching one of the opposition and have the bruises to prove it.

After a few more days sightseeing in Colombo it was New Years Eve and another birthday – this time Connie’s 8th. We spent the day swimming and then had a Sri Lankan tea party.

Finally it was time for the adults to get ready for their evening out. We had been invited to an exclusive party on the top of the Mount Lavinia Hotel - a great way to end the year and also our trip to Sri Lanka.

This blog only tells half the story – we saw so much more, the people were charming and the countryside breath taking and the driving absolutely nerve wracking, but we are here to tell the story. This is a country well worth visiting. As we left we finally saw the resident tortoise, and also had a glimpse of the wonderful Maldives en route to London.

Our next events start in February – hope to see some of you soon.

All the best for 2012

Jeremy