| Australia

Two weeks in Australia, with stopovers in Malaysia

First big holiday since our honeymoon, and we visited Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef and Melbourne.

| Halloween Party 2004

at Nick and Victoria's house

We went to a rather splendid party at Nick's house earlier in the year, so I was very excited to be invited to their fancy dress party. There are also pictures at Nick's site. Thanks to Ebay (gloves), Army surplus stores (belt, shorts, holsters), Woolworths (guns) and New Look (top) for most of my Lara Croft costume.

| Thames Festival 2004

South Bank

We caught up with some friends on the last evening of the Thames Festival, by the Oxo Tower, mainly to see the fireworks finale. The beach was our excellent vantage point and I took pictures with my new phone, a Nokia 6820. They came out surprisingly well.

| Ireland

Family wedding

We travelled to the north of Ireland for a family wedding, and took the opportunity to travel round Northern Ireland and County Donegal in Eire. We revisited where we spent family holidays as children and also did the touristy thing and made a short visit to the Giant's Causeway.

| Linux User Expo 2004

London Olympia

A two day exhibition and conference where Damion was giving a talk. I helped out at the Gnome and Linuxchix stand and met loads of people I've been chatting to online for years.

| Thailand

For our honeymoon, we visited Bangkok and Phuket in Thailand.

| Damion and Caroline's wedding

Highclere Castle

Finally our turn to get married. All the info is on our wedding site.

| Wales

We had a Friday evening appointment in Bristol so Damion decided it was an ideal opportunity to visit friends in Wales. On Friday night we arrived at Gavin's house near Cardiff and then watched him row in the BBC Llandaff Rowing Regatta on Saturday (better luck next year Gavin!). Then it was off to Aberystwyth to see Ciaran and visit the sights of the town. I caught too much sun in Cardiff so didn't feel too well on Saturday night, but we had a nice Sunday morning strolling around the town and having a lovely time all round. On the way home, we stopped off at Devil's Bridge, near Aber, and were knackered by the steep descent and ascents to see the waterfalls, bridges and viewpoints. It was worth it though....

| Paris

To celebrate Damion's birthday this year, I arranged a last minute trip to Disneyland Paris for the two of us from 4th-6th January. Unfortunately this coincided with the first snow of this winter. We managed to go on all the good rides but our Monday flight was cancelled and we ended up spending a large amount of time hanging around in hotels and airports. We weren't the only ones affected by the weather as this report shows.

| Caroline's 30th Birthday

London

Met up with friends at a pub, then had a meal at Rasa W1 (an indian restaurant).

| Mum came for a visit

London

Took in the sights of London at a leisurely pace.

| Maureen's visit

London

Maureen came for a visit and, among other things, we went on the London Eye.

| Damion and Caroline's Engagement !

New York

Damion surprised me with a trip to New York on Concorde, staying in the Regent Wall Street for 3 days. Travelling in style was cool. The weather was great and we saw many of the sights I missed on my previous visit. Sunday in Central Park was the best.

| Smarts family party

Kingswinford

A gathering to celebrate a huge number of birthdays and wedding anniversaries. We visited Cadbury World on the way home.

| New Zealand

Went over to see the country and spend some time with Damion's brother Matthew. Also caught up with Ben in Auckland too.

| Oasis

Lake District

Short break with friends.

| Fuerteventura

Maureen and I spent a week on Fuerteventura, one of the Canary Islands (near Lanzarote).

| Butler family gathering

Gloucester

A weekend away meeting Damion's family and exchanging Xmas pressies

| Heather and Alasdair's Wedding

Eastwood House

A great location with ceremony and reception in the one building. Stunning hair from Heather

| Ewen and Yukki's Wedding

Glasgow University Chapel

Excellent opportunity to catch up with everyone from Uni. Not many occasions have a Tea Ceremony and a Ceilidh...

| Cairngorms

We went up to Scotland for the weekend and had our first taste of snowboarding, in some excellent conditions.

| Canada

A wonderful holiday which started with Andy and Julie in Calgary. We got a great taste of Canada and spent a day skiing at Lake Louise.
On the east coast, I met all my Canadian relatives and we spent time exploring Toronto, before a Valentine's Day trip to Niagara Falls.

| Andy and Julie's Wedding

Scotland

Wonderful setting for a wedding, and the ceilidh in the evening was great fun.
They now live in Canada and have a baby boy named Robert.

| Scotland

As well as catching up with friends and family in Glasgow, we were able to hire a car for a couple of days and head north. We passed Loch Lomond and Fort William, going as far as Mallaig. We got fairly close to Ben Nevis as well.

| Simon and Liz's Wedding

Gloucester

Damion was an usher at this wedding and also went on the Stag Day, which is where this nice picture comes from...

| Paris

Damion and I took our first holiday together in Paris.
We travelled by Eurostar and stayed in a little hotel near Gare du Nord.