Following a busy summer we enjoyed a fun filled, active winter. Amelie had a much needed rest, comfortably attached to our berth in the Coast marina, Victoria, while the humans enjoyed a social scene.

Curtis and Julie spent several weekends with us, the first for their thirtieth wedding anniversary and the second, with their daughter Natana, celebrating Curtis’ birthday. We played tourists on both occasions, enjoying the food scene in Victoria, visiting the beautiful Buchart Gardens for the “Twelve days of Christmas” extravaganza, iMax cinema, Christmas market, the Gingerbread Christmas display and discovering the “Moss Lady” in Beacon Hill Park.

The Moss Lady was inspired by the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall. These gardens were owned by Tim Smit founder of the Eden Project, client and friend during his E&Y days.

Sheila and David, who live in Vancouver invited us to their family Halloween party, which was our first and we had a ball. Firstly dressing up and then “feeding” over a thousand children with sweets. The added bonus was catching up with the Wright kids, their partners and their cousins together with seeing parts of Vancouver that the locals enjoy.

Jan King, the marina manager organised a potluck marina party, hosted on the Orca Spirit whale watching catamaran, which we attended. During the few hours that we were there, the wind picked up and fabric damage was seen on a few boats. Amelie was unscathed but it was a bouncy night, with temperatures dropping and snow for several days. The Amelie crew came away from the party with a particularly nasty respiratory bug which lasted for a few weeks, luckily not Covid.

Peggy and Jim rented an airB&B for a month in Victoria and we enjoyed their company, sharing meals, celebrating Thanksgiving together, visiting Duncan and the “Hand of Man” museum, giving lifts to Stephen to the only chandlery in town and Debbie to Costco. 

Mid December we flew to the UK for six weeks, enjoying the evening before out on the town with Sheila, Dave, Chris and Jess (who kindly put us up).

Jaz and Liam welcomed us at Heathrow in their festive hats and then our flurry of activities began. Stephen immediately took off to Devon to be with his family, spending the first evening with Katie, Tom and Sam, which was very special to him. Debbie pottered between London and Norfolk for the first week sharing her time with Jaz, Liam, Jon and Amy.

Medical appointments, opticians for both (we need a whole blog to write about Debbie’s contact lens saga) and replacement of a dental crown for Stephen were ticked off but the main focus was spending time with our family and friends. The Polar Express, Carols at the Royal Albert Hall, Occombe Farm, Christmas shopping with plenty of eating out filled the first week. Stephen, Jon and Amy joined Debbie, Jaz and Liam in London for Debbie’s birthday and then Debbie travelled to Devon for a few days post Christmas. The grandchildren are growing fast, incredibly funny and a joy to be around.

Stephen visited his two sisters, brother, two aunts and caught up with his friends, John, James and Dawn, travelling 4,000 miles in a hire car over the six weeks. He hates driving.

Debbie relied on trains when they weren’t on strike and on one occasion, National Express bus, which was by far, a more pleasurable experience, on time, clean and up to date communication.

We spent the new year with Jaz and Liam at Jon and Amy’s new house in Wymondham, Norfolk. A seafood extravaganza with champagne and cocktails throughout New Year’s Eve. Rugby was on the agenda with our team playing……very disappointingly.

We spent swathes of time apart but this is normal and healthy for us when we visit the UK and it is necessary to “divide and conquer” as Stephen states.

Jane, Chris, Jenny, Wendy and Peter caught up with us, which we much appreciated with them having busy lives. One treat was meeting little 10 day old Indie, Jane’s latest grandchild and her big sister, Ahla.

We stayed with Sussanne and Andrew in their beautiful Cotswold home together with Ian from Yantina who graciously drove Debbie back to London. An evening of catching up on everyone’s news and plans for the future.

Time with the Collins clan is always special and Boxing Day was no exception, a day of laughing. Jaz and Liam encouraged Debbie to have Jackie for a weekend sleepover and the world was put to rights, once again much laughter intermingled with a few tears. Sadly as Jackie was leaving, she received the news that her mum was failing fast and Jean passed away later that evening. Debbie has special memories of Jean and Tenny over the years with a beautiful silver pot that Tenny gilded many years ago.

Jaz and Liam joined Stephen and Debbie in Devon for a few days towards the end of the UK visit. Beach walk with the dogs, playground with the youngest four grandchildren, enjoying Oscar’s stomp rocket in a field, cosy Devonian pubs, bingo with the two girls, Crab Shack for a decadent lunch and catching up with the adults. Time went too swiftly.

Stephen enjoyed a visit to Paignton Zoo to celebrate Fraser’s fourth birthday together with his four youngest grandchildren and their parents.

Whilst in Norfolk, Debbie and Eddie visited us at Jon and Amy’s house for an evening. Eddie, as normal, had us in hysterics with his stories and the odd joke. We also caught up with Andrew, Ulli, Ben and Scarlet at a favourite drinking hole in Norwich.

Stephen and I were treated to an exceptional tasting menu at a fabulous place in Norwich by the two youngest, the common theme here is that we ate out a lot!

The six weeks were energetic, fun, precious time with the kids and grandchildren, seeing good friends, boosting the UK’s economy by what we (rather Debbie) brought back and making lasting memories.

Ian and Susan had been checking on Amelie during our absence which put our minds at rest and it was a pleasure to see them on our return.

The last nine weeks in port went in a flash, with guests spending time with us on Amelie, a weekend visit to Seattle staying with Peggy and Jim on a palatial houseboat adorned by two cats and the inevitable last of the winter season boat projects. Stephen returned to the UK in March for two weeks to undergo several medical assessments which turned out to be good news. Whilst he was there, he caught up with family and friends, taking Jaz to the ten year OWR reunion. Both of them caught up with friends from a decade ago, a very lively, drunk evening.

Victoria has been our home for three winters over the last seven years and we made the decision, this would be our last. We were dying to get off the dock but saying goodbye to local friends was the hardest part. Old haunts were visited for the final time with positive thoughts of pastures new.