Last weekend we spent in the seaside town of Bornemouth (boor-mth to the locals) in Dorset on England's south coast. We went down there to visit my relatives; Uncle Gary, Aunty Anne, my cousins (some of who I've never met before) and my cousin Cheryl's two cute kids.

Despite the continuing bad weather which bought torrential rain and hail, we scored an insider's scenic tour of the area.

With the release here today of the new James Bond film, Die Another Day, I thought I'd post a comment about the 007 hype here in London. I guess really it is quite understandable because, DangerMouse aside, James Bond is really the only British super-hero (and really, even DangerMouse is a Bond spoof!).

It's hard to meet english people in London, so we've been catching up with Aussie expat friends we haven't seen for a while. This is causing us to see the inside of a great many pubs.