Pete's Birthday 2008: The land of white high heels and gold hoop earrings

July 2008, and only seven weeks late, Nadine, Dave and myself travel to Essex to celebrate Pete's birthday.

We should really have dug out our white stilettos, gold hooped earrings and Burberry patches to blend in with the locals.

The weekend consisted of sunbathing, wine-tasting, rowing, barbecuing, and me getting asked for ID in a pub before buying two pitchers of cocktail to finish within five minutes at closing time.