Welcome to Rob's World, the (cheesily titled) homepage of Robin Rainton.
Given I'm mainly too lazy/busy (take your pick) to write a full 'blog very often there's now a Microblog which you'll also find on Facebook and Twitter, and maybe a few other places too.
Microblog... everyday ramblings interspersed with posts from trips and other activities.
Wednesday 9 October 2024
It's a fair cop, guv'nor! Oh... wait... just parked behind us & probably eating at the same restaurant. Phew! 
Wednesday 9 October 2024
Lunch at La Table d'Ayzi. Nom, nom, nom! 
Wednesday 9 October 2024
Sightseeing at a *VERY* windy Lac d'Estaing. 100+kph recorded at the local airport so who knows what it was up here!
Tuesday 8 October 2024
When your friend's luggage beats him through French customs. Lucky there's nothing exy in this unattended box!
Friday 4 October 2024
Out on the town for snacks and a few beers. It's been too long... cheers!
Thursday 3 October 2024
Out walking and stumbled across these... that's lunch sorted! 
Tuesday 1 October 2024
Lunch catch up with friends in town. Pizza, tiramisu & lemon meringue. Yum!
Friday 27 September 2024
Home sweet home. Blue skies at the Col d'Aspin & noodle soup for lunch. Ahhhhhhh.... 
Wednesday 25 September 2024
Bienvenue en France! Not quite the warm welcome home I'd hoped for! 
Wednesday 25 September 2024
Airline food ain't what it used to be!
The below are collections of posts/images organised by trip or subject or other events. Click on the title or image to view each.
Madeira - Sep '24
Madeira - the island of eternal spring. A short break to catch up with family.
Good times spent eating, drinking and just hanging out. Interspersed with driving tours of some favourite, and some new spots.
This isn't a cycling destination - too many 'main road only' routes and tunnels aren't ideal, but... a wonderful island for scenic and unusual walks alongside the network of levadas and in the beautiful highlands. Sadly recent bush fires have closed some of the most picturesque and famous routes, but we still found plenty to enjoy.
Another very successful trip!
France & Italy - Summer '24
A trip to the Alps is becoming our (erm... my?) go-to summer excursion, so off we go again. But... the strange weather of 2024 continues and things didn't quiet go to plan.
Never mind, a detour along French & Italian Riviera isn't exactly a hardship! After that and a brief stop in the Italian lakes (always a pleasure) then back to the mountains via Aosta valley & a return to France.
So not to plan, but always an adventure. Great food, walks, hikes and some epic cycling of course!
24 hours in San Sebastian - Jan '23
Early birthday celebration in the city of gastronomic delights!
England - Nov/Dec '23
Impromptu trip to England for handful of nights. Mainly to visit family with the bonus of catching up with and a few friends along the way. Very wintry feeling (and the usual pre-xmas silliness) but with stops at a couple of cosy country venues and plenty of our favourite food we made it through
Bali - Oct/Nov '23
Ostensibly this trip was an opportunity to catch up with Pratiwi's family, most of whom we hadn't seen since Thailand & Indonesia, Mar '15. Bali was the chosen spot for this reunion, and while I wasn't really looking forward to the long trip from Europe (much further than from Australia) can't really complain about having to spend 2+ weeks in paradise.
As you can imagine, much merriment ensued. But while westerners might think this means plenty of boozy nights, in fact the Asian equivalent appears to involve feasting on all manner of food. For us, foods that are very hard to come by in France so all the better.
Sure, there were trips to the beach, mountains, temples and even couple of snorkeling excursions but always we came home to a feast of some kind. Gotta say, I got behind this wholeheartedly and had a blast.
