My adventure ends

Well. I have now been home for over a week and gradually the memory of my lovely adventure is starting to fade. Dale is trying really hard to keep my spirits up by getting the photos of our advenure developed and showing me some of the more interesting ones. I do miss my time with Twiga and Miss Gamby (Felicity) and hope that we can have some more adventures today some day.
I think I will have a quiet rest now and think about where I would like to travel next. I think I have what people like to call - the travel bug.
Lots of love to you all and a very big special thank you to those of you who followed this blog.
kia kaha. Keep strong.
Love Adventure Bear

Goodbye to Ireland

We are all feeling a little sad as tonight is our last night in Ireland. We arrived back in Dublin on Friday afternoon after a very nice drive through the Wicklow mountains, which are not really hilly but more like little rolling downs. Some very beautiful little villages though so Dale took quite a few photos.
On Saturday morning we went to see a very interesting Church and then went to the Guiness factory where we saw how they made Guiness. Very interesting to see the process.
Tomorrow - Sunday, we fly to London where we will meet up with family at the airport and then we leave for Singapore around 10.30pm. A very long flight but lots of time to update the diary and for us all to have a bit of sleep. Dale sends all her love to everyone and says thanks for all the comments which she loves to read. See you all soon.Keep well. Adventure Bear and DaleXX

Still heading around Ireland

Dear all. We are still continuing driving around Ireland and are now down on what is called the South East part. We have had lovely sunny days recently with just a little misty Irish mornings while the sun tries to push its way through. All the Irish folk we meet are telling us that the days are just 'grand'. We have visitd some very interesting houses, what are called Manor houses here and Dale took this photo to show you one of them.It was huge inside and while visitors can look around some of the rooms the current Earl lives in others. County Cork which is one of the areas we have been travelling through has lots of interesting and at times funny little statues and sculptures in its towns and also just on the road. We stopped at this one and discovered it was of an actor who lived quite a while ago called Charlie Chaplin. Felicity and Twiga thought you might like this photo of Dale and Charlie.

Wow, What do you think of this Castle., It is called Bunratty Castle and Dale and I, plus of course Felicity and Twiga climbed up very narrow stairs right to the Battlements up the top of the Castle. We were also able to visit all the rooms such as the Chapel, the bedrooms, the great hall just to name a few. You all would have loved it, especially you knights of Glamorgan kindergarten. Dale said she felt like a Queen as she walked around.

Must go now as we are all heading out on a Art trail where we can visit lots and lots of people making pottery, hats, candles, etc. We are now in our last few days here in the lovely county of Ireland and will soon be heading off to Singapore on our way home. Looking forward to seeing you all soon. Keep well., Hugs and kisses from Adventure Bear and Dale.XXXX

Around Northern Ireland

We are now in Northern Ireland and have spent the day being extremely busy. We spent last night at a lovely Bed and Breakfast place in a very little town called Cushendun. It was so small that it only had a Post Office/ Shop and a little pub where we had tea.
One of the places we visited was the Giants Causeway which they say was built by the giant Finn McCool so that he could visited his girlfriend who lived in Scotland which is just across the Irish Sea. The rocks are all fantastic shapes and Dale actually took a short videa which she will show you all when we get back. Twiga, Dale, Felicity and i went over this little bridge which is called Carrick-a-rede. The bridge swings a little as one walks across which was a bit scary but fun, at the same time. When I looked down i could see the sea rushing through underneath me. The people used to catch salmon from under the bridge but they don't do it now as most of the salmon do come swim here any more. It is interesting up this way when one watches the sea as two seas meet just a little north of here. One is the North Channel of the Irish Sea and the other is the Atlantic Ocean. After today we will head over to the west of Ireland and back into the Republic where we have to get out our Euro currency again.

Ireland

Top of the morning to you all from Ireland. We have finally got here after having spent a lovely well in Guildford, Surrey, England since we left Turkey. It was great to meet all Dales family and to have many lovely meals with them all. i am now a rather rounder bear than i was before. the weather however was not as nice as in Turkey. in fact it rained quite a lot which i didn't like much. We had a little excitement as we were catching the bus to the airport this morning as Felicity noticed that Twiga was missing from her bag. Off the bus she got to look for him and thankfully he was just hanging around by the station and was very relieved to see her.

We only arrived in Dublin this afternoon and have already been out and about looking at different things such as the halfpenny bridge and a lovely statue of some people who lived during the potato famine here in Ireland.

Tomorrow we are all going to get on the Hop on bus and go to the Guiness factory, Trinity College to look at the book of Kells and lots of other things. Also perhaps a little shopping for Dale and Felicity as they both think they may need another pair of trousers each as the weather is getting a little cold for them. Lucky me. a bear only needs fur and i have plenty of that.

lots of love to everyone. Adventure Bear and Dale XXXXX

England

Dear all,

Just to let you know that England is a little behind with their wireless hotspots - even for a bear! So there may not be very many posts untill Dale and Felicity can find a free spot some where!

Love Adventure Bear!

Last Days in Turkey

We are now in our last days in Turkey and on our way back to Istanbul we visited the Underground City which was fantastic. A whole city where people could live, as well as take their animals and go to school. I was a little frightened by the dark but luckily Dale had her little torch handy so together we went down very deep underground. It is great having this adventure with Twiga and Felicity as they are very brave and supportive when I get frightened.

We spent the night in a little cabin on an overnight train from Ankara to Istanbul and went to visit the Blue Mosque when we arrived. The mosque was huge and covered with fantastic tiles, mostly in different shades of blue. We could have spent hours there but it was extremely busy.

After breakfast today we fly to England to visit Dales family and hopefully Felicity and her can get their washing done. Luckily I am a bear and only need to brush my fur now and again.

Thank you all for your great comments and thank you Alison for letting me know that you are now in England. I also was very impressed with the airplane toilets and thankful that I didn't fall in as bears cant fly you know. Dale looks after me very well although Felicity and Twiga sometimes play tricks on me.

Love to you all back in New Zealand and other parts of the world. Adventure Bear and Dale.

A warm hello from Turkey. We have had a wonderful few days here. Have been up in a hot air Balloon floating over Goreme which was really exciting. And last night we went to a Turkish show dancing with every one else. Missing you all.love Adventure Bear and Dale.

Hi everyone. Thank you very much for your comments. I love reading them while over here as Dale keeps on missing you all and talking about you. However she is pleased that she does not have to tidy up this week. i hope that you are looking after Roseanne. Keep well and happy. Lots of love Adventure Bear and Dale.

Hi everyone. Here I am again updating you on my adventures. And boy have there been lots. Our tour guide Latifa has shown us lots of ruins from the many different cultures which have lived here in Turkey especially the Romans and the Greeks. One day we visited some fantastic pools at a place called Pamukkale. Here the water cascades down from terrace to terrace and it looks like cotton or snow when one sees it from a distance.The next day we dro e to Dalyan where we took a boat to some mud pools where Dale and Felicity covered themselves with mud which is meant to make them look 10 years only. Naturally Twiga and i did not do such a daft thing as everyone knows that Giraffes and Bears don't like mud. After they had washed off the mud we went back to the town to have lunch and then headed off up the river towards Iztuzu beach watching Turtles on the way. We had a fantastic time frolicking in the water and then it was time to head off again.

We ended up in a village called Kas the next night where we had a room looking out over the very blue Mediterean sea. The outlook was lovely but the room left a little to be desired but we did sleep very well. As we are also staying here for the next night Latifa took us all out on gulet boat for the whole day. What a great day it was - swimming, eating, lying around just enjoying ourselves. Very hard on a bear.

I will now say good bye in turkish - gule gule and will be in touch again soon.

Love Adventure Bear and of course Dale XXXXX

Message for YOU!

Made from our photos so far!

Love Adventure Bear

Pictures

Here are some cool pictures of the trip so far. Enjoy!

Love Adventure Bear

Turkey

hi everyone. We finally arrived in Istanbul after what was a very long day. About a four hour stopover in Singapore and a re fuel, of the plane that is in Dubai we landed in this very busy city around 8.00am. Us and 16 million other Istanbulians. And it seemed as all of them were out and about. We did discover that after Ramadan when they fast they have three days of celebrations and boy do they celebrate.

Weather was nice and we walked and walked and walked visiting lots of fantastic places such as Hagia Sofia which used to be a Mosque but is now more of a museum, Topaki Place which was used by the Sultans in times gone by, a few places where the tombs of the different sultans are stored just to name a few. We had coffee, one can get a decent cappucino here which was great for Dale. I also tried an apple tea which was delicious.

A carpet sales person tried to sell Dale and Felicity a turkish carpet but they remembered the rules and didn't buy.

We have now let Istanbul and are on tour, travelling around parts of Turkey. However it was very scary on the first day as it was pouring with rain and we discovered that the brakes on the bus did not work very well.Imagine the look on Dales face, priceless. She held on to me very tightly and tried to relax as we hurtled down the hills at a rather fast pace.

Luckily we changed buses at Gallipoli and now feel much safer.

Gallipoli very fascinating as we visited the sites of the battles which were held here in World War One. Perhaps you could talk to your parents about this war. No knights in shining armour here. Yesterday we visited Troy and walked around the ruins of the City. There is a replica of the Trojan horse here as well. Perhaps Chrissy, Leanne or Karen could show you some photos on the Web. Must go now as breakfast calls. Lots of love Adventure Bear and DaleXXX

Auckland International Airport

hi everyone. Here i am at the Airport having a coffee with Dale of course. I am really looking forward to my holiday adventure with her and her daughter Felicity. We are taking Twiga - Room 6 from Northcore Primary School with us. I guess i will probably have to share a room with him. I hope he doesn't snore. It is going to take me a whole day to get to Istanbul as we have to land at Singapore and again at Dubai. Whoope do.

Missing you all already.

Love Adventure Bear XXX

Hello!

Hi everyone, My name is Adventure Bear! I am going to be going with Dale on her special trip and blogging back to you in New Zealand!

I can't wait to visit some of the exciting places we have planned like Turkey, England, Ireland and Singapore!

Don't forget to keep chekcing to see if I have left you a post.

Also I would love to read your comments - so get typing and reply to my posts.

Love,

Adventure Bear