Rob's 40th

Yes that's right. That's the real reason we came to St Helena - to hide away and pretend we weren't really entering our 40s (Clare's only a couple of months behind me!). Also we never could decide whether to have that party, have that camping weekend or go to Rome for the weekend so it was easier to disappear into the middle of nowhere and not organise anything.

But we did manage to organise a barbecue at Piccolo Hill to mark the occasion and a good time was had by all. One per cent of the entire population (I've bored so many people with that statistic - you can tell I'm an accountant) turned out and the sun shone (mostly) and the sausages weren't burnt (mainly because I left the cooking to 2 South Africans who get a bit more practice in than us Brits).

We were wondering whether to go through the stress of organising our first party on St Helena but we're very glad we did. We had all the Piccolo neighbours, some work colleagues, some friends Clare has met through toddler groups and some others we've met along the way.

The day after the BBQ the 4 of us went for a walk up to the top of the Flagstaff which is a big hill that you can see from our house. It's supposed to take 45 minutes to walk up there, but that's obviously not with a 2 year old and a 6 year old. So it took us about 2.5 hours to get up there but it was worth it for the amazing views at the top (see the photos).

The next day (Monday) was actually my birthday. We went out for a meal in the evening to Anne's Place, probably the only place open on a Monday night.

My birthday present from Clare was a boat trip to Lemon Valley - a place further round the coast which is a good spot for picnics and snorkelling. We went with some of the neighbours (Phil and DT and their 2 kids and Nick and Lynn and their 2). The problem with swimming in the sea in St Helena is that sometimes the swell of the tide makes it difficult to get in and out of the water. So when we arrived at Lemon Valley it took 3 attempts to get all the passengers off the boat as they had to time the approach to the landing steps when the sea was calm and then head back out when the swell rose up again. It was a bit hairy getting us all on safe land but we made it in the end. We had a nice picnic and explored in the rock pools and around the valley (there's an old Slave quarantine station there) while we waited to see if the sea calmed down. We saw lots of dophins in the distance. A snorkelling boat trip came over and tried to drop anchor but even they decided it was too rough and gave up in the end. Anyway about 40 minutes before we were due to be picked up some of us decided it was calm enough to give it a go so me, Clare, Phil and Nick went for a bit of snorkelling. It was good to finally get in the water. The boat came back to get us and after several attempts managed to get us all back on board to head back to Jamestown. Back at James Bay, Milly decided she wanted to go for a swim so Milly (in her armbands) and I jumped back in the sea for another quick dip.

40 - it's just a number (that's the sort of thing people in their 40s say).

Have a look at the new slideshow (if anyone hasn't worked it out yet if you click on the slideshow it takes you to another site where you can see the photos in a larger size with captions).

Quick update on what's been happening since then:

- Milly has had her 3rd birthday. She had a little party at the house and opened her presents that we'd brought out with us.

- Tom has joined Beavers and went for a day out with all the Scout movement to Blue Hill

- We went to a social evening at Tom's school where there were various games and a marathon bingo session. Milly got to play in the classroom she'll be starting in in September.

- Went to the pancake day celebrations in Jamestown (pancake races down the main street)

- Tom has started snorkelling lessons and is now swimming confidently in the sea

- The 4 of us went sailing with the Dice Man (a bloke who's sailing round the world and deciding on his next port by the throw of a dice). After a good start seeing a whale shark we all either threw up, felt like throwing up or screamed and cried. I'll let you guess who did which!