Joint D Division DSSC 69 Course

Me and My Beautiful Wife

The Future Andy Murray and his Coach Mr Kumar

Gymkhana

Saturday saw the Wellington Gymkhana Club host the annual Gymkhana - a hot sunny morning in the Nilgiris hills provided an excellent backdrop to the event.

Back to Kerela

The last weekend break before heading home gave us the opportunity to head back to Kerela with Hazel's brother Andy and his wife Julie.  Once again it reminded us that it is possible to escape the hustle and bustle of India.

Captain Tom - master of the backwaters

Industrial Demonstration Tour

Hazel has reminded me that I have not updated the blog recently and so I hope to provide a few updates over the next couple of days.  First off are some photographs from the Industrial Demonstration Tour (IDT) which I undertook with the College during January.  While it was a bumpy ride around India in the back of some pretty cramped buses it gave me the opportunity to visit a bit more of the country and see both the Indian military and growing private companies.

First stop was Hyderabad and the former home of No 1 RAF Regiment Training School at Secunderabad

Subsequently we went to Vizag home of Eastern Naval Command and an early start to catch the tide.  Deploying on landing craft we sailed through the narrow channel and out into the Bay of Bengal where we met up with a number of Naval vessels who demonstrated their capabilities to us.

Along the way we visited Pune where we had the opportunity to see the SU30 flying up close and a visit to JCB to watch diggers being built (Tom would have been jealous). Finally we ended up near Mumbai where we witnessed the Artillery conduct a fire power demo.

Christmas in the Andaman Islands

Taking advantage of our location in southern India we decided to spend Christmas in the remote Andaman and Nicobar Islands which lie 1000km across the Bay of Bengal close to Myanmar and Thailand. Until 1941 the Andaman Islands were governed from a little piece of Britain constructed on Ross Island which lies a short distance from Port Blair.  Following an earthquake and subsequent invasion by the Japanese, Ross Island was abandoned and has gradually been swallowed up by the jungle.

The Islands remain relatively undiscovered and offer world class beaches and diving.  Here are just a few of our family pictures to give you a flavour of our holiday.

Sunset on Beach No 7 is said to be the best in South East Asia - we cannot disagree!

Tom taking time off from beach combing at Neil's Lagoon.

A very different Christmas!!

Tom loved snorkelling and spent about 4 hours a day in the water

Tom's Christmas present from his mum and dad was the chance to wash Rajan the elephant.

And he got to ride Rajan as well!

Tom snorkelling at Neil's Lagoon

Our beautiful home for 8 nights