Well, it’s officially the beginning of Autumn here now which is odd as it’s still 30C.  The UK is in the grip of snow and we’re still in shorts!

I didn’t realise it was so long since I’d written a blog. Not since we finally left Nidri last year so I’ll do a quick resume of the last 6 months for those interested (well that will be me then!)

We had a fabulous last few weeks in Greece and eventually left Olive out of the water next to our friends’ boat, Seaesta Blue.  We have arranged for a bit of work to be done on her including anti-fouling, new side curtains, new anchor chain and, be still my beating heart, an ELECTRIC TOILET! Hopefully this will all be done by our return in April so that we can set off early and sail off into the horizon. It is Greece though so……..

Our time back in Australia has been lovely as usual. We’ve spent a bit of time enjoying being back in our house but had a few trips away too.  We’ve bought a slightly bigger campervan (this one has a loo – bit of a theme going on here) so we’ve been able to go off and see a bit of Queensland including Tamworth Country Music Festival which was fantastic.   We’re heading off to Sydney soon for a visit so will see what it’s like on a longer trip. Luckily we’re used to living in small spaces and this one doesn’t move around while you’re trying to sleep!

One other fairly major occurrence since we’ve been back home is a fairly impressive weight loss! Sailing friends introduced us to the Gutsy Health eating plan which appealed to me as it was based on foods that improved your gut health but, and if I’m honest more importantly, helped us lose weight fast. And I mean fast.  In the first month Andy lost over 10 kgs and I lost nearly 8.  I know, I know, you’re supposed to do it gradually and sustainably but this was eating good, lean meat and lots of veggies plus supplements and we’ve now last 27 kilos between us!  We now eat well all week and, if we have a bit of a splurge at the weekend, we get back on it for a few days. We’re both feeling really good and ready to get back on that boat.

We’ve started to plan  this season’s sailing in the Med. Our boat is in Lavrion, south of Athens, so we’re going to head north from there and explore the Aegean.  We’ll go up  through the Evia Channel and round to the Sporades (where Mamma Mia was filmed) which look amazing. Then down through the Dodecanese to Symi where we will cross into Turkey for three months.  I run a women’s sailing group in the Med and it looks like there will be a fair few of us doing a similar trip this year so I think it’s going to be a great summer!

I’m planning to make a bit more of an effort on the blog front this year so, if you enjoy it, let me know. And if you don’t, keep it to yourself!