Terrible acts of terrorism, the heart wrenching reality of refugees, violence on what seems an unprecedented level. Some places on the planet are far worse off than others, but no place is immune to problems. Nobody was more surprised by Brexit than the Brits and what more can be said about Donald Trump? It may well be another astonishing year coming up. Time for this one to end.
But today I was in Portchester to meet up with my friends Lee and JJ visiting from South Africa and I was so happy to see them. The weather on my trip to Portchester was as grey as it could be. There wasn't a scrap of countryside to be seen for the fog.
Colin had arranged a trip to the Isle of Wight and we were avidly hoping that the fog would lift, as if wishing it away would do the trick. Perhaps it did - compared to the previous day, the fog actually lifted but the day was still ghost grey.
The Wightlink Ferries run every half hour so we didn't have long to wait, just time for a quick look around the terminus.
The boarding is incredibly efficient and before you know it, you're up top ordering hot chocolate with marshmallows and cream.
But quick now. You'll miss the leaving.
This is a very busy harbour - how very quintessentially English, even the boats queue in an orderly manner.
It was really cold out there, but the views were so compelling we just bundled up.
This car bulk carrier was MUCH larger than the ferry we were on.
It's a quick trip and then we were on the island which is larger than I expected - 40 kilometres (25 miles) by 20 kilometres (13 miles) in size. Our ferry travelled from Portsmouth to Fishbourne.
We drove through Cowes and then on to the Needles on the other side of the island.
From a geological viewpoint these are very unusual, being vertically stacked columns of folded chalk on the western edge of the island. Really spectacular.
This site is also famous for being the site of the first Wireless Telegraph station where Marconi sent the first wireless transmission. Coincidentally I have recently read a bit about Tesla and apparently there is still much debate as to who actually did invent the radio and the decisions to award patents to one or the other depended on the political influences at the time. Tesla, however, died in poverty and Marconi was awarded a Nobel prize in physics.
Onwards to lunch! This being New Year's eve, there was almost nothing open but we found The Royal Oak at Wootten Rivers was serving a really good Carvery - almost Christmas dinner - which cheered everyone up no end. That and the cider and ale along with it.
Enough for JJ to feel up to taking on that pub machine which eats pound coins like peanuts. This is the first time I've every seen anyone actually win at this game. Most impressed!
And then he had a discussion with a swan, must have really been excellent ale. For a while it looked like the swan was going to follow us home.
Our last stop of the day was Ryde back on the other side of the island. It's a small English town which reminded me strongly of Bangor in Northern Ireland where I spent an afternoon with Ann back in July.
The Christmas sales are on everywhere so a bit of shopping happened, but lots of just wandering around looking too.
But it was getting pretty chilly and I think we'd hit saturation point for sightseeing.
So it was back on to the ferry and head on home.
This is around 4pm, but full on dusk.
And I have to tell you, not one of us was up to seeing in the New Year! The stamina has gone ...
Happy New Year everyone. Hope it's good for you.
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