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

Nilgiris Tribal Art

A Future Wimbledon Champion

Tom has been having tennis lessons every Saturday morning and has now developed a pretty mean backhand.  Here are a few recent photographs taken at the courts of the Wellington Gymkhana Club:

Wellington Shuffles

Tom ran his first 5km run on Saturday 7th December in a fairly respectable 40 minutes.

Here is with his proud Mum and Dad at the end of the run.

The Berryman Family Running Routes - Wellington (Nilgiris) Tamil Nadu

Nativity Play

Tom stars as a mumbling shepherd!

Tom's Slightly Late Birthday Party

Tom had a BBQ for all of his friends today to celebrate his 8th Birthday (which was on Wednesday).  A truly international affair with friends from Korea, Japan, Germany, USA, India, UK and Singapore.

Visit by Grandad Nick

It was great to see my Dad and Debbie this weekend  - not least because it got me out of the 10-day Air-Land exercise for a few days!  Thanks to Debbie's friend Viv we were given a personal tour of the Parkside Tea Estate near Coonoor.  Tom, in particular, enjoyed the visit because of his insatiable desire to understand how things work.  Here are a few pictures from the trip:

Group picture with the Estate Manager

Tom among the tea plants

Tom with the finished product - enough tea to last me a lifetime - destined for Japan

Kinderland

Hazel is working 3 days a week at a local Montessori School in Upper Coonoor.  Here she is with her class.

Kotagari to Wellington

Chris overlooking the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington

Today was a holiday from College and so Hazel and I took the opportunity to cycle the road between Kotagari and Wellington - a steep uphills, but also some great swooping downhills.

Forward Area Tour

 Probably the highlight of the course is the Forward Area Tour, which is an opportunity for Indian Air Force and Navy officers as well as International Students to visit the contested areas along the Indian borders in order to see how the Indian Army operates.  I asked to visit Kashmir and Ladakh, as much for the mountains as for the professional interest.  The following provides a brief snapshot of the 10-day visit.



Initially, seven of the international officers were sent to Kasmir to shake hands with the Corps Commander and visit Uri and the border with Pakistan.
 Here we are the Pakistan border - to think that 6 months ago I was at the Kyber Pass on the Afghan-Pak border.  I probably feature in my own target pack now!

On to Jammu to catch up with the rest of our party before flying to Leh

Arriving in Leh with a traditional welcome

 Somewhere in the desert around Leh!

Indian officers unused to the cold sporting the latest cold weather gear (a 10-man cold weather jacket per person!)

 Classic views of Buddhist monasteries

  Sucking thin air in the Ladakh Himalaya - I enjoyed the patronising tone of the Indian Army DS who kept trying to tell me about the dangers of high altitude.