The McPs

The 3rd Last Post

2011-06-14T05:38:00.000-07:00

It's 10.15 pm and we have been on hold on the phone for the last 2 and a half hours, waiting to rebook. The hold music is rotating between 2 songs, one of which is 'I still call Australia home!' Is there a subliminal message in there?

Tomorrow's flight was cancelled while we were having dinner. Most cancellations have come in the night or early morning.

On the plus side, it means we don't need an alarm or wake up call, or to be ready to leave the hotel at 7am, so we can sleep in - yay!

On the negative side, I don't know when we are going to get home.

Today we taxied to the nearest civilisation - $17 each way to the Airport West Shopping Mall. We shared the taxi so a bit cheaper, and we went to a movie. It was really nice to get out!

The movie was Super 8 - weird as, and not our normal movie style at all, but moderately entertaining.

The hotel is feeding us well and we are meeting up with our fellow Wellingtonians at each meal. The humour is starting to get a bit warped - we think Qantas should charter a cruise ship to take us home!

The 2nd last post

2011-06-12T23:27:00.000-07:00

Hello again from Melbourne! Our bags made it on to the plane on Sunday morning, but the flight was cancelled before we could get on.

We had noticed the fog that shrouded the CBD and were worried that it would hold up our departure so we were surprised when the announcement came that we were cancelled due to 'volcanic activity in Wellington' - didn't think we had any volcanoes at home!

The airline got our bags off and organised food and lodgings after a bit of waiting around. They re-booked us on to Monday's flight, but once we started watching the TV we could see that it might take a bit longer than that.

Sure enough, we got a text at 1 am this morning saying the flight was cancelled again. Luckily, we slept through it, but I saw the message at 5-ish and we were on the phone to Qantas by 5.30 am. It took an hour to get through, but we were able to get re-booked for tomorrow's flight.

As more and more people get disrupted, it will be harder to get onto the next flight. We weren't able to get confirmation that Qantas would cover our accommodation and food costs.

We had to go to the airport to do that (fortunately just a short walk away) - what chaos! The queues were massive so it took most of the morning to get sorted.

Qantas have been pretty good - other airlines are not providing accommodation, but we were lucky enough to be amongst the first disrupted. That meant we could find a bed. Some people off our flight opted to go to Auckland even though Qantas were cutting these people off once they landed there - no accommodation or flights or assistance to get to Wellington. Plus we'd been told that Wellington airport was closed, so all in all, it wasn't an attractive option for us. The people who took it didn't get there anyway, but the hotel beds were all full by the time they pulled the plug on that flight.

The communication has been poor though. They talk to a couple of people at a time, rather than announcing it to everyone, and no one really seems to know what's going on.

We've heard some terribly sad stories including a couple coming from London to his mother's funeral. They wouldn't have made it in the end.

The extra days haven't felt like extra holiday - too much queuing and wondering what our next move will be. We can't easily get anywhere from here so we've just had our wee walks to the airport.

Third time lucky tomorrow - hopefully!

The last post

2011-06-11T04:43:00.000-07:00

We've had another lovely day today and it's sad to be leaving.

We took a train out to Williamstown, which is not far away as the crow flies, but is on the other side of the harbour/river mouth. We ate lunch out in the sunshine - one of my favourite things to do.

Then we ambled around the town and out on the pier. It was pleasantly warm and a relaxing time was had by all!

Tonight was our 'special' dinner at a posh restaurant down beside the river. It was nice but not exceptional. Just packing up now and getting ready for an early night before our 5.30 am wake-up - aaaagh!

A funny story to finish our Melbourne blogs...two or three times during our trip, Allan has been asked if he is eligible for the concession (seniors!) rate - mostly when he has been out with his much younger wife! Cracks me up, but a bit close to the bone for him since he is 50-mumble tomorrow!

The most fun ever

2011-06-10T03:09:00.000-07:00

We just had the most fun ever eating out. We went back to Hardware Lane to find the restaurant that we saw that had pork belly on the menu. I mentioned in an earlier post how the restaurants have people outside trying to entice people in. We had a ringside seat to the guys around us - it was so funny. Our guy was hilarious, managing to charm most of the people he approached in. The offer was two courses for $29.50, a free entree platter and a free wine. Our guy and the guy opposite were trying to outdo each other and nearly came to blows about the other 'breaking the rules'. It was priceless to watch!

Amazingly, the food was very good too - not fine dining, but good and hearty. The key is throughput, and this was demonstrated when they gave us our bill, and then the next guy whipped it away to process before Allan had even had a chance to get his credit card out! We ate our two courses, plus our entree platter and our free wine and were out in an hour and a quarter, but we laughed so much, it was cheap at the price.

What next?

2011-06-10T00:23:00.001-07:00

Today's been a bit quieter. We've done all the big things we wanted to, so we ambled over to Queen Victoria Market this morning. Didn't buy anything but 1/2 a dozen of their freshly cooked donuts - superb!

Then we parted company - Allan to bookshops and me to Target, the last shop I needed to check out. Stocked up on essentials, and then wandered back to the hotel.

The weather has been much more pleasant today - the cold wind has dropped and there were blue skies all day.

We went for a little trip on the train this afternoon and discovered Flagstaff Hill, a lovely park just outside the CBD. We just sat in the sun and chilled - most relaxing.

Back to Hardware Lane tonight for Pork Belly. It's just a quick trip on the tram, and so easy.

I do feel at home in Melbourne - so easy to navigate and get around. So many restaurants and such a nice feel.

On the go!

2011-06-09T04:29:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy 24 hours since I last wrote.

We didn't make it to Ginger Boy as it was full, but we found a cute and very authentic little Italian restaurant just down the lane from the hotel. Had a lovely meal and fun watching the Italian staff being...Italian!

Then we were off to Dr Zhivago - what a show! It was amazingly well done, the sets, the acting, the singing, everything. It was a complete contrast to Rock of Ages and although the musical style was a little old-fashoined, I think I preferred it. It was a long show - it didn't finish until 11pm.

We had an early start this morning - out by 9.30 - shock, horror!

We took a train to Ballarat - a 90 minute ride, which was very smooth and somewhat soporophic, if you know what I mean.

What a gorgeous town. There are lots of buildings that date back to around the time of the goldrush in the 1850s. All the people we spoke to were interested in the Christchurch earthquake when they found out that we were Kiwis. We did a tour of a place called the Mechanics' Institute - a bit of Australian history, full of fascinating anecdotes and really interesting.

Just like Wellington - the trains weren't running for our return trip, so we had a bus back to town. A long but interesting day.

Dinner was a bit of a comedown from what we've been having recently - Maccas!

Half way there

2011-06-07T23:42:00.000-07:00

Back on the straight and narrow with our eating today! We had a fantastic meal at a restaurant called Butchers Grill which gives you 50% off your food bill on Super Tuesdays. It had a Mediterranean feel but with a steak emphasis. Really nice.

We mapped out our preferred restaurants for our 8 dinners in Melbourne and we are making good progress through them. We still have Lygon St (Italian) to do, and we’ve booked Saturday night at Number 8 down by the river, where we’ve had a couple of memorable meals before. Tonight we’re trying Ginger Boy which was on Masterchef and is just around the corner.

Our hotel has been a real success story – couldn’t have asked for a better location. It’s an easy walk to the theatres, restaurants and shops, but there is a tram just 2 minutes’ walk away for when it’s cold and wet (which it has been the last couple of days).

I’ve had two successful shopping days – one in Myers and one at the Factory Outlet Centre down by Southern Cross Station.

Tonight we’re off to Dr Zhivago – managed to pick up tickets at the half price booth.

Tomorrow, we’re going to take the VicLine train out to Ballarat for a poke around. Our time is going fast!

Guilty Pleasures!

2011-06-06T05:00:00.000-07:00

We’ve been bad today – we’ve eaten lots of naughty but delicious food and Allan has been shopping – believe it or not!

We started at St Kilda – after a photo-stop at Ash and Bridget’s bridge, we went looking for a lunch stop. Wow, I’d forgotten about the cake shops there. We had a pastie and then Allan had a marzipan chocolate creation and I had the best vanilla square – so decadent! We tried to walk it off a bit, but there was a nippy wind.

Then Allan found the bookshop of his dreams – he restrained himself to just 5 books.

I came back for my obligatory nap and Allan headed off to his favourite music store (Allans Music!), and bought a couple more books. Luckily, his suitcase only weighed 11 kgs on the way over!

Then it was off to Hardware Lane for dinner. Such a vibrant part of town and lots of eager hosts trying to tempt you to eat with them. Even though it was pretty cool, we could eat outside because we were seated under a heater. We chose Italian, and I had a chocolate pudding with a pure liquid filling that was to die for. Back on the diet as soon as we get home!

Tomorrow will be my shopping day!

Rock of Ages

2011-06-05T17:32:00.000-07:00

A moderately busy day yesterday. I'm fighting off a cold so the stamina isn't what it normally is - or maybe it's just been too long since I travelled!

Docklands was a bit of a disappointment - they have created some lovely outdoor spaces and it all looked very pretty - but there was no-one there! All the eateries were closed and it was like a ghost town. I wonder if Melburnians come out at night and not on Sunday mornings? Lots of apartments with gorgeous views so maybe it will grow in popularity.

I came back to the hotel for a bit of a nap while Allan visited the Old Treasury Museum, which he found interesting.

We went for dinner at an authentic British pub - made me pine for the UK. It was a Sunday Roast deal that we chose so we could be out for our 7pm show. It didn't disappoint - lots of it, well cooked and tasty. The pub was packed. We're noticing that all the good restaurants are packed, and the others are empty - there doesn't seem to be a middle ground. Should make choosing where to eat easy.

The show we saw - Rock of Ages - was really well done, high energy and LOUD. It was based around 80's music and had lots of comedic characters and funny one liners. We both enjoyed it, although we weren't as familiar with the music as we thought we would be - I think the 70s was our decade!

Slept for ten hours last night - can't remember when that last happenned!

Off to St Kilda shortly. The weather looks like it might deteriorate over the week so will take advantage of the sunshine today.

On the road again

2011-06-04T15:46:00.000-07:00

We’re on the road again – yay! We arrived in Melbourne around 6 pm last night.

We departed from the ‘Rock’ – the new international terminal at Wellington Airport.

It is pretty spectacular and has a nice feel to it. Everything is automated through customs and immigration now, so absolutely no queues.

Still a lack of choice with just one duty free and one food outlet – I suppose the traffic doesn’t warrant more. We had a nice light lunch and coffee before take-off, and it was a nice change to fly mid-afternoon rather than crack of dawn.
We flew Qantas and I have to say that I am a fan of full service airlines – good food, a drink, movies. A few ‘lumps and bumps’ though, as the pilot put it, with bad weather heading to NZ.

Our hotel is good - clean and spacious, and just around the corner from the theatres. Bed squeaks though! We bought tickets for tonight to Rock of Ages. I have Dr Zhivago and Love Never Dies (the Phantom sequel) in my sights too and Allan is keen on the Tutankhamun exhibition so that’ll keep us out of trouble. Off to Docklands today to see how much it’s changed – it was just new when we were here five or six years ago.

Nearly over

2009-11-30T15:04:00.000-08:00

Well, our holiday is nearly over - tragedy!

We checked out of our accommodation a day early - Lynne and Kevan took our extra night. Although it was a very pretty location, it was swelteringly hot, and we struggled with no air-con in the bedroom at night. I didn’t mention earlier that Kevan had to jump to avoid a snake when they arrived, so that made me a bit nervous!

So now, we’re in Brisbane in a lovely hotel we found on Wotif. It’s such a pretty city, lovely architecture and lots of people around. We had a wonderful meal at the hotel restaurant - the food has been fantastic here, but this one was a real highlight for me.

Tuesday morning, and we are trying to fit everything in to our suitcases, before we leave. I have bought a few clothes, and Allan indulged at a music store and the occasional bookshop. Could be a mission!

We have had a great break, and it’s been nice to have a bit of time out on our own, before the Christmas rush.

Wedding Daze

2009-11-28T23:14:00.000-08:00

Phew! We’ve been overcooked the last couple of days.

We woke up on Saturday morning to a cloudy but hot day. We had to pack for our move to our new accommodation. There seemed to be a little more than we came with!

We headed out to the hills to check in - the place is very picturesque, a huge area of trees and bushes as well as a equestrian centre and a few golf holes.

We were a bit late leaving for the wedding - and Kevan’s GPS took us on a tiki tour, so it was fortunate that Rosalie was very late arriving. The venue was not air-conditioned and it was a 34 degree day, so we struggled a bit.

The wedding went off really well and Rosalie looked lovely. They had arranged 3 acts to entertain us; an American lady who had the most glorious voice, Pete’s own band, which included his son, and an NXS cover band, so we danced a bit, although the heat made it challenging!

Today’s been hot as well. We went up Tambourine Mountain for lunch with the family - the place had amazing views of Surfers and the Coast. A thunderstorm rolled in on the horizon and we saw great sheets of lightning - it was pretty spectacular.

Off to dinner at the resort’s bistro shortly, then an early night I think!

The days in between

2009-11-28T23:10:00.001-08:00

We’ve had a quiet few days since we last blogged. They’ve followed a pattern of: leisurely breakfast, wander down to Pacific Fair, shop a little, have lunch, wander back, have a nap, pre-dinner drinks and nibbles, then find a nice restaurant for dinner.

Allan has needed to go to Pac Fair for free internet access (he needs to keep an eye on his business emails) so I’ve had to shop to keep him company on his trips - a tough life!

We’ve had some lovely dinners and generally taken a stroll after eating to walk it off. It is very pleasant out in the late evening - cool enough to be comfortable.

We finally took possession of our rental car today - bit of a fraught process getting it delivered. We check out of here tomorrow and head out to the next accommodation - about 20 minutes out of town. The forecast for the wedding is 34 degrees and raining - could be sticky!

We met Rosalie’s fiancé, Pete today, and spent time with Lynne and Kevan and the boys, as well as Gordon and Suzanne. Good to catch up with everyone.

Irish Experience

2009-11-24T22:48:00.000-08:00

28 degrees today (Tuesday) - we are so thankful for the aircon in our apartment. There are units in the lounge and the bedroom, and we forget, until we leave the hotel, that it’s a scorcher outside. We walked back to Pacific Fair this morning - it’s only a 15 minute walk, but in the heat, it can be a challenge.

Our highlight for today was dinner and a show at the casino - it was an Irish Dancing show and really well done. The meal was Italian, and one of our best so far. It was just $20 extra on the show price, but $58 each on the menu prices, so we felt we’d got a bargain, especially since it was so nice.

It was lovely to walk back over the river at 9.30 pm and still be warm - and not too hot!

Taking it easy

2009-11-24T22:47:00.000-08:00

We had a major sleep last night, but we were wide awake at 5 am. Managed to doze a little more, and with an afternoon Nana nap, we’ve almost overcome our sleep deficit.

Took it fairly quietly today, wandered down to Pacific Fair by the scenic route. Browsed a few shops, but not Myers yet - will need a full day for that! The river is very pretty, and there’s lots of greenery. Really felt the heat on the way back, although it had clouded over a bit.

I swam in one of the three pools here this afternoon - refreshing and relaxing, and my first swim of the summer. Haven’t been to the beach yet, but it’s pretty breezy so the pool might be the best bet in the meantime.

We found a little French Café for dinner. Although I went out craving steak (after all, we’ve been here two days!), I had a snapper crumble - very tasty. We were next door to a Tepanyaki restaurant, so we watched the show put on by the chefs there, from afar. Might have to try that restaurant later in our stay. The food is uniformly excellent, but more expensive than I remember from last time we were here.

Believe it or not, the kitchen utensil toilet key made another appearance tonight - I’m wondering if there is one toilet between six restaurants? Tonight’s choice was a block away from last night’s, so either it’s a Broadbeach thing, or they really do share toilets!

Gold Coast Entertainment

2009-11-22T18:21:00.000-08:00

Well, here we are in sunny Gold Coast - a very long, but entertaining day getting here and getting settled.

The alarm went off at 2.55 am (aaaagh!). You might ask ‘why so early?’ As loyal AB fans, we felt we had to watch at least the first half of the rugby test! So, self inflicted sleep deprivation. We caught a taxi at half time and managed to watch the last 20 minutes at the airport after check in and before customs. The flight was a little bumpy but we both watched movies so the time passed quickly enough.

It was too early to check in to the apartment (Queensland is 3 hours behind NZ so we landed at 7 am local time). It was nearly 9.30 am when we got to the Phoenician to drop our bags. They promised to put priority on getting it ready, and they phoned at 11am to say we could come in, so that was great. We have lovely views of the river and hills, it’s very sunny and spacious, so we’re set. The hotel is brilliantly located, minutes walk from everything, including dozens of restaurants (therein lies a story - to come!)

We’d wandered over to the Oasis Shopping Centre while we waited for our room - do NOT ask me how it happened but we got roped in to attending a (sort of) time share presentation at midday - only 90 minutes of your time and you’re guaranteed to win a LCD TV, a holiday or $2000 cash - yeah right! It was actually not a bad concept and we could have been interested if we had been contemplating a big overseas holiday. Our friendly little salesgirl called the manager in to help close the deal - what an oaf! He did not like our questions and got quite aggressive. I (Sue) was smoking - it’s not like me to get mad with strangers, but I wasn’t letting him get away with not answering valid, due diligence type questions. In the end, he commented that we were probably quite interested until he sat down to talk to us, and I emphatically agreed with him! We laughed about it afterwards - but we have won a week in a resort (mostly in GC) for only a $199 booking fee. Maybe we’ll take it, maybe we wont! Can’t believe we let ourselves be conned in to giving up 2 hours of hour first day here!

We went to a lovely restaurant across the road for dinner - I love the al fresco dining you can do in in these warmer climates. I noticed a whole lot of people walking through the restaurant (one at a time) and onto the street carrying kitchen implements. They seem to go around the corner and then come back. I was puzzled to the point of wanting to flag down the waiter to ask why - it was so bizarre! Fortunately, the penny dropped (before I embarrassed myself) when I realised that all the men carried a whisk, and the women a ladle - the toilet keys were attached to the devices, presumably so people wouldn’t put the keys in their pocket and take them home! Mind you, I was further perplexed when I then saw men with the ladle and ladies with the whisk - best not ask!!

So, a lot of laughs on our first day on Oz.

Back to the apartment for the Australian Idol final - doesn’t screen in NZ until Friday, so I won’t say who won, but off to bed at 9.30 pm, after a 21 and a half hour day.

Tired but happy to be here at last!

Back home

2009-09-07T19:50:00.000-07:00

We're now back home via Sydney airport, with very pleasant memories of Adelaide. The last couple of blog posts and photos didn't upload properly, so here are a few random photos of Adelaide artwork to finish.

Glenelg, finally

2009-09-04T18:44:00.000-07:00

Well, we finally made it to Glenelg. What a pretty spot! It is to the south-west of the city but with a westerly aspect, so there was a beautiful sunset view. Bitterly, bitterly cold breeze though – straight from the Antarctic. It must be glorious in the summer.

We all went intending to have genuine Aussie fish and chips for dinner, since we were beside the sea. But the restaurant was a steak bar and their steaks were spectacular, so the girls had to succumb to temptation. They had a 1 kilo rump challenge, in which you got your meal for half price and a free tee shirt if you could knock it off in 30 minutes. I am sure I would have been up for the challenge on another day, but I ordered the more delicate serving of porterhouse instead. It was a tasty meal and a bit easier on the pocket than the night before!

Earlier in the day, Janet and I went on a tour of the Haighs chocolate factory. It was interesting to watch everything being hand made and decorated (and to sample of course!) There are Haighs shops everywhere in Adelaide.

While we were there, Allan did the museum and Phil took a train ride. Allan had earlier walked up to 'Light's Vision Lookout' with views overlooking the city and Adelaide Oval.

I’ve mentioned before how friendly the locals are – it is amazing how welcoming and willing to go out of their way they are. It will be a lasting memory of Adelaide for me.

The other memorable thing is the structure of the town, with the four terraces around the city centre and then parks all around. There is the free tram across from the North to the South Terrace, and a free bus that goes around the big square, so they have made it really easy for tourists to get around. There are statues and art works all around the city so it’s a lovely place to visit, although I’d probably say that a week is enough to see most of the things you would want to see.

Private Fashion Show

2009-09-03T19:03:00.000-07:00

A bit damp this morning – I think we brought the rain with us, as South Australia is actually the driest state in Australia.

We pottered around the shops again in the morning, and then met up for lunch. After that we visited the Migrants Museum.

Adelaide is different to Melbourne and Sydney in that you don’t see a lot of Italians and Greeks, nowhere near as cosmopolitan as the other bigger cities. The amazing thing we saw at the Museum was the criteria that immigrants had to meet until around 1960 – you had to be a white European for a start. They made potential immigrants do a dictation test, and the language was up to the officers – could be Hungarian, Spanish, never mind that the immigrant didn’t speak that language.

After that, we started on a trail of events to get us to dinner at Glenelg (by the sea). Talk about best laid plans! We got on a tram for what should have been a 45 minute ride - we’d booked dinner and planned a walk along the beach first. Well, we got one block of our tram ride before it stopped because of an accident at the next intersection. No problem, we thought, we’ll pop back to the hotel for a pre-dinner drink and try again later. So off we went at 5.15. The guy at the tram stop told us we could pick up a tram on the other side of the accident site – a few blocks up. Got there to be told the tram would be along in a few minutes. Half an hour later – no tram, but Janet had got talking to a lady on the platform who’d given her the lowdown on the local restaurants. She recommended one called Auge, which was nearby so we changed plans and went there. It was to die for – Italian food, lovely surroundings and supreme service, and the blokes nearly had a heart attack when they saw the bill too! Anyway, it was a wonderful night.

We ambled home via a ‘lantern’ – a building lit up in changing colours which was quite stunning. Then back down Rundle Mall, and we stumbled upon a dress rehearsal for a fashion show opening in the Mall on Friday. So there we are standing in the rain watching these slinky models strutting their stuff.

All in all, not your usual night out, but a lot of fun was had by all.

The Rocking Horse

2009-09-03T18:57:00.000-07:00

Forgot to mention we ran across the biggest rocking horse in the world somewhere in the Adelaide hills. Didn't do any rocking, but we did find out it was 3265 km back to Wellington!

Adelaide Hills

2009-09-02T03:59:00.000-07:00

We found a gorgeous Italian restaurant last night – very authentic, fantastic food and pretty expensive, but a wonderful dining experience. This holiday will have to be the last hurrah as far as eating up large is concerned!

Today (Wednesday) we hired a rental car and went up into the Adelaide Hills – the weather was pretty good and the location quite pretty – quite small hills by Wellington standards, but picturesque.

There is a lot of german history here, which we didn’t know, so there was sauerkraut and kranski for lunch. We also found a lookout with views over the city to the sea, although the rain and a cool wind had set in by then.

We arrived back to rush hour traffic – nothing like Wellington’s, but since there are no motorways in Adelaide, the traffic lights made it a slow trip.

All in all, four tired travellers tonight, but we’ll recover in time for tomorrow’s expeditions.

Barossa Valley

2009-09-02T03:58:00.000-07:00

It was a very early start today (Tuesday) as we joined a bus tour of the Barossa Valley. There were 15 of us – the rest were all Aussies, but we’ve had a great time. We visited 5 vineyards, all quite different, but all interesting. We went to Wolf Blass where the other three all sampled shirazes that sell for $350 per bottle. We had lunch at a lovely place which would make an exquisite wedding venue, and another highlight was the Langmeil vineyard, which had some vines which were 160 years old.

The predominant wines here are reds, which suited Janet and Phil and Allan, but I tried some lovely Rieslings. It is a lovely area and our tour guide was friendly and knowledgeable, so all in all, a great day. And the weather held!

Monday a shopping day

2009-09-02T03:57:00.000-07:00

Yet another showery day – shame! No choice but to go shopping really! Janet and I left the boys behind and hit Rundle Mall. I did really well and managed to get my summer wardrobe well under way, but Janet did better – 3 hours in one shop and 14 pieces added to the collection! The blokes arrived for a bit of lunch and then we headed back for our Nana Naps!

Later in the afternoon, we jumped on the free ‘loop’ bus and toured the town. It really is very pretty, there are four streets (north, east, south and west) each a mile long in a square with the city inside and parks and greenery surrounding the square.

We ate Thai food for dinner – a little spicy but very tasty. There is a free tram that runs across the square, so we came and
went for free.

Rundle Street Market

2009-08-30T18:02:00.000-07:00

Much refreshed after a good night’s sleep. The hotel is great – spacious and modern, with two bedrooms and two bathrooms – and views to die for (Not!!!!! Have a look at the pictures!) Brilliant location also, so we’re happy with our choice.

We’ve been to the market today – quite a food emphasis there too. We sampled Dutch baby pancakes, nougat, fudge and some clever battered and fried spiral cut potatoes (see photo). Didn’t really need lunch, but we had some anyway!

Also had a lovely walk along the river bank – it is a very pretty city, and the walk was very pleasant – until it rained again!

Saturday - where we lose our duty-free

2009-08-30T18:01:00.001-07:00

We’re here!! A very early start – a 3.30am wake up for a 6 am flight, all in a gusty Wellington wind. The rock and rolling started on the runway, but apart from another bumpy patch towards the end of the Sydney leg, it soon calmed down.

The day was most memorable for an encounter with Aussie border control. Even though we were completing customs at Adelaide, with just a transit stopover in Sydney, we had to go through security to re-board. Of course the ‘no liquids’ policy was enforced – if only someone had told us before we bought our duty free refreshments at Wellington airport! So each couple had to forfeit a bottle to the Border Control Christmas Party stash! Gutted! Luckily, I was allowed to keep my two bottles of perfume.

It was raining when we landed at Adelaide so we headed straight to our hotel, checked in and then grabbed some lunch – some indulged in some very sweet treats (but not me, of course!) Then it was back for a nana nap – it had been a long day!

We found a little French Bistro down the road for dinner – fairly rustic, and they had run out of a lot of our choices from the menu, but friendly and cheerful.

We're off to Adelaide tomorrow

2009-08-30T17:59:00.000-07:00

We’ll it’s been 15 months since we last journeyed overseas so it is definitely time! We are off to Adelaide tomorrow (Saturday) with our friends Phil and Janet. It’s the first time there for three of us, so looking forward to new experiences and sights.

The End

2008-05-28T22:17:00.001-07:00

We awoke to another glorious sunny day - it was nice not to have an alarm clock to wake us, but a 12 noon check out meant we could take our time. We headed up to the hotel’s roof top restaurant for breakfast. It was a bit posh, but what views! The bay went on for miles and it just added to the elegant ambience, so it was a wonderful start to our last day.

Santa Monica has a gorgeous tree-lined promenade where the shops are, so it was lovely to stroll and pick up a few bargains in the sunshine.

A street seller tried to get our attention by calling out ‘Hey, newlyweds!’ - that was a bit of a giggle!

LA customs was quick, although not intuitive! The big disappointment was no significant duty free shopping once we’d completed the formalities - I had planned for a final fling!

The flight was a whopping 13 hours 45 minutes, made longer by a 340 km per hour head wind, which made for a bumpy ride in parts. We were able to sleep a bit, although Allan has picked up a cold which made him a bit miserable.

Sad to think it is all over - the seven weeks went amazingly fast. It is interesting for us to look back on the early parts of the blog - England seems so long ago.

The three parts of our trip (London, UK and Europe) were each different to each other but all equally enjoyable - there were no down parts really, its been a wonderful experience, and I am ready to go back (as soon as this one’s paid for!)

Hollywood

2008-05-28T22:07:00.000-07:00

An early start for our day at Universal Studios, via Beverley Hills and Hollywood. We were pleasantly surprised with the Studios. They’re very well organised, friendly, clean and not over hyped. Of course, you could buy plenty of souvenirs, but mostly we just had fun with the shows and rides. Passed on the roller coaster, but had a cool and wet Jurassic Park ‘log-flume’ ride with an 84ft vertical waterfall drop, and watched a brilliant ’Waterworld’ show, with pyrotechnics, water stunts and much splashing! A nice day out, although Allan has managed to pick up a cold unfortunately.

We survived Terminal Five!

2008-05-28T21:53:00.000-07:00

Luckily, it was a bank holiday when we left London, so the traffic was really light. We had some trepidation after all the publicity we’d seen about delays and lost baggage at Terminal 5, but it was a piece of cake really. We had to use the check-in machines like we do at home, and were amazed to find that the default seats we were allocated were the last two together seats on the plane, even though we were early checking in. They were the middle two of the centre four, so we didn’t even have an aisle. We were on a British Airways flight, which was the only one of our trip that we weren’t able to pre-select our seats on.

The terminal is beautiful, and as I said to Allan, “this is what I call duty free shopping!” Miles and miles of shops selling all sorts - didn‘t buy much tho‘.

Security was extreme - we had to remove jackets, shoes (even my open sandals) and belts. Even so, there were only small queues.

The terminal has its own underground train to its other two buildings, so it is pretty vast. The flight was a long 11 hours, leaving at midday local time, and arriving at our hotel at 3 am on our body clocks - we didn’t sleep much either. I prefer to fly at night as we do on our homeward trip - more conducive to sleeping.

Security in LA was extreme as you’d expect, although again we were lucky with queues. We were finger printed and iris scanned, but there is no MAF type checking as we have at home, so the biggest delay was getting our luggage.

Took a shuttle to Santa Monica - our hotel is beautiful and the beach endless, and only a block away.

Homeward bound

2008-05-24T15:25:00.000-07:00

After all our farewells, we headed for the Eurostar. Our booked carriage had an air-con malfunction, so they upgraded us to first class - that was pretty special.

Now in London getting organised for our little detour to Santa Monica (Los Angeles) on the way home - another early start tomorrow (Sunday) morning.

Paris, je t’aime

2008-05-24T15:15:00.000-07:00

Last night (Thursday), we had our cabaret and dinner. It was a really good meal, but the show was the piece de resistance (are you impressed with my French?). It was the singing and dancing and the Can Can that you would expect, but it was the ‘support’ acts that blew us away. There was a trapeze artist who had us gasping, a hilarious comedian who had a guy from the audience join him on stage (our guys were cowering in case they got picked!), a juggling duo, whose routine was completely out of the ordinary, and an incredible mime/statue act. Everyone loved it and we laughed to the point of tears.

Today (Friday) we went to the Palace of Versailles and the Louvre (saw the Mona Lisa). Both visits were a little disappointing for various reasons, but they were on our ’to do’ list so it’s all good.

We had our final tour dinner tonight - snails for those brave enough (i.e. Allan, not me!).

Then we cruised the town by night looking at all the sights illuminated, and culminating at the Eiffel Tower They turn ‘twinkling’ lights on for 10 minutes on the hour so that was a highlight. Allan tried haggling with one of the hawkers selling souvenirs - he didn’t win! The guy told him ‘you must be crazy!’

Back on the bus, everyone was feeling a little nostalgic on our last night, so we ended up singing - a combination of Australian, American and Italian (for our driver) songs. The six kiwis didn’t include any singers, so we joined in the others’ songs, but didn’t offer any of our own! A lovely evening!

Both of us would love to spend more time in Paris on our next trip!

Lyon to Paris

2008-05-22T14:16:00.000-07:00

Last night (Wednesday) after dinner, our tour director took us on a little walking tour of Lyon. It was the first time on the tour that we have been scheduled to arrive, have dinner, go to bed, and then leave without seeing the town, so it was an unscheduled bonus to see the old town.

Lyon has what are called a ‘Hill of Workers’ and a ‘Hill of Prayers’. One is full of churches and the other is where the silk factories were. The narrow cobbled streets are full of protected houses, which have little private corridors between then, which you are allowed to explore, as long as you do so in absolute silence - a challenge for some of our group! The town is very pretty with its two rivers, its statues and fountains, especially at dusk, as we saw it.

It was a fairly long trip up to Paris with only a couple of quick motorway stops. We had a booking for the Eiffel Tower at 2pm, so had to be on time. The area was teeming with people, but we were in the group queue which saved a bit of time. I wasn’t as impressed by its size as I thought I might be, but the views from where we were (halfway up) were spectacular. The town goes on for ever.

After that, we had a bus tour of the city highlights It was pretty mind blowing - you’d see a stunning building, and then another, and another, and another. It is very clean and everything is in really good condition. There is a lot of greenery and the Champs-Elysee is gorgeous. I think we’re going to like it here!

We’re booked to see the Louvre and The Palace of Versailles tomorrow with a dinner in the evening, but hopefully there will be time to wander.

We’re off to a cabaret and dinner tonight so it’s all go, go, go!

On the road again

2008-05-21T22:07:00.000-07:00

Headed for Lyon today - a longish drive with a lengthy lunch stop in Avignon (from the song ‘Sur le Pont d’Avignon’). It was very pretty, and we had our first French Crepes for lunch. The little towns certainly have plenty of character and charm, although we did love Nice. Climbed another hill, saw some more ruins! It is beautiful, on these sunny days seeing the views (especially the rivers) from these vantage points.

Off to Paris in the morning - can’t believe we have been away for nearly 6 weeks. We have loved every minute of it so far, and I think we both think that we could get used to the lifestyle! The group continues to be friendly, and we are all able to sit down and chat with any of the others over a meal. I am sure that we will keep in touch with a lot of them.

A sleep in at last

2008-05-21T22:02:00.000-07:00

Didn’t have to leave the hotel until 9.30am, so we were able to have a leisurely breakfast, before being taken to the markets, which were full of beautiful fruit and vegies, breads, cheeses, as well as craft items. It was beautifully clean and very vibrant. Then we were free for the rest of the day.

We took off on a jaunt up a hill, where the view over the Mediterranean stretched out for miles in both directions - it was gorgeous. There is certainly plenty of money here if the yachts we saw are anything to go by. There are a lot of ruins here also, dating back to the 15th century - some were at the top of our hill, and there was a lovely waterfall. It was very restful and peaceful as we ambled around, chatting with another couple from our tour party.

It was a luxury to be able to go back to the hotel for a battery recharge, and then hit the shops again. Everything is very expensive, as it has been all over Europe, but I did manage to negotiate buying some shampoo in French!

Our evening meal was in Monte Carlo, where they were setting up for the Grand Prix next week. The roads are treacherously narrow and windy when you are in an enormous coach (we’re not allowed to call it a bus!), but our driver is absolutely amazing. Thought of Toby (and Michael!) as we saw all the seating set up for the race - not many cars around yet, but certainly plenty of evidence that the race is coming. I can see that when we get home and watch TV, we’ll be saying ‘been there’ whenever we see something we recognise.

Then we were off to the casino. Not our cup of tea, but interesting to see how the other half lives. The grandness and elegance of the buildings there was amazing - again, eye-opening to see how much money is invested to encourage others to part with theirs!

Nous sommes en France!

2008-05-21T21:57:00.000-07:00

We finally have the chance to practise our French. We’re in Nice, with only a park between us and the sea, and shops and restaurants directly behind us. It is the best location we have had - many of our hotels have been out of the city centre. We’re here for two nights with more free time than usual, so had dinner on our own for the first time in Europe. Our waiter spoke English and had us on a bit when we tried out our French. We asked for the bill as our tour director had taught us - he said ’Non!’ and laughed at us. Also told Allan off for pinching my chips, so it was entertaining. I had my first steak since we came to Europe!

Earlier today (Monday), we went to the Leaning Tower at Pisa - it looked much more impressive in real life than in pictures we had seen.

We also had a tour through a perfume factory and the opportunity to buy, of course. The men were noticeably reticent on this part of the tour!

We drove around 450 kms today, and in 2 ½ hours driving along the coast of northern Italy, we went through 176 tunnels. They block out the views, but do give you long straight roads. We have found all through Europe that wherever there are hills and valleys, they build tunnel and bridges - a bit different to home. Many of them have other tunnels veering off them as well. The longest tunnel in Europe is 17km, although the longest we’ve done was 14, I think. The coastline that we did see in Italy, Monte Carlo and the south of France (the Riviera) is amazing - steep hills down to the water, absolutely covered with houses just clinging to the rocks. A lot of it is pretty ritzy, but access must be a nightmare. The views are magnificent though.

Their graves can’t be below ground because of the rocks. Instead they have them stacked into concrete walls.

It was a little grey today, but yesterday was the first day that we have had rain - it hosed down in Florence for 15 minutes, and also when we were driving, but then the sun came out again. In Europe, we have not had our warm clothes out at all, whereas in the UK, our summer gear stayed in the suitcase, so I feel vindicated with the amount of luggage I packed!

A Spot of Indulgence!

2008-05-18T13:43:00.000-07:00

We headed for Florence today - and another walking tour. Saw Michelangelo’s David, and a had brief look at the town, before hitting the shops. We had special previews at a gold shop, and a leather shop - lovely jackets of the softest leather. Both of us indulged in the leather shop. More details when we get home!

We are now at Montecatini, about 40 minutes further north. Off to France tomorrow.

17,000 steps

2008-05-18T13:36:00.000-07:00

They had us out the door by 7am on Saturday morning to join the queues at Vatican City. Tours are let in earlier than the public opening times, but we were still in a long line. We saw the Vatican museum, the Sistine Chapel and St Peter’s Basilica. Although it was all pretty amazing, we found it a little shocking to see such money and effort invested in decoration. I found the Chapel a bit too much - every square inch is painted, but you couldn’t move for people. The Basilica was pretty special - it is even bigger than St Paul’s which we saw in London, but a completely different style.

After a very short break, we were off on another walking tour, this time to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. These places were built 2000 years ago and there is a surprising amount remaining intact.

After a couple of hours off, we were off on our third walking tour. The highlight of this was the Pantheon - stunning! The top of its dome is open to the air - a hole of several metres. It is now a church and when it rains, the rain spirals down to the floor in quite a spectacular way. We finished with really Italian pizza in a vibrant little restaurant in a narrow lane. A quintessential Italian experience to end our time in Rome.

It was a shattering day in terms of distances walked, over largely cobbled uneven streets, and time spent standing in queues, or moving at a snail’s pace in the crowds, but we both loved the history and charm of Rome, and I’d come back just to watch the traffic!

Ferraris in Ferrara

2008-05-18T13:32:00.000-07:00

At this stage in our trip, we are doing big distances each day - up to 600km. I guess that’s why we’ve got three two-nighters in a row.

We’ve arrived in Rome (outskirts only so far). We had a lovely stop in a smallish town called Ferrara - we all agreed that it gave us what we had hoped for in Venice - much cleaner and in a better state of repair.

As we drove in we saw dozens of classic sports cars - Ferraris, Triumphs, etc. The boys were all grieved to find that they had gone by the time we came back to photograph them. There were some markets in the town too, with good bargains to be had, so there was a bit of a division of the sexes.

Our Italian coach driver has gone on a couple of days mandatory rest so we have a substitute, also Italian. The new one is a little more hair raising, so people have been honking at us a bit on the road today!

Party night tonight! We went to an Italian Restaurant in Rome - another one where entertainment is part of the package. We had five courses to our meal, including an excellent macaroni, and a lasagne (both before the main course!) The entertainment was in the form of a very flirtatious waiter, who delivered meals with a kiss on the cheek to some of the ladies, and a rose and two kisses to all of us at the end, plus a fabulous flute player, and a singing guitarist. It was a lot of fun.

After that, we had a bus tour of Rome by night. We saw many of the monuments, beautifully lit, and visited the Trevi Fountain The crowds were phenomenal, even at that time of night.

Even more spectacular was the traffic - they pay no heed to the rules. The most bizarre event was when we were in one of the tunnels in a traffic jam. The two lanes were chokka with buses and cars, so several cars from further back decided they would commandeer the lane belonging to the oncoming traffic - who just had to wait! Italian drivers have no fear and no patience! The pedestrians are the same really and we were told to be pushy and not let any one pass us. Very hard to keep our group together in such crowds.

Boats and more boats

2008-05-15T13:40:00.003-07:00

We were taken on a bit of a harbour cruise this morning (Thursday), and delivered to the Moreno glass factory. Here, they make exquisite, world famous Venetian Glass by hand, so we watched a demo and then had the sales pitch. The piece I liked cost 2700 euros (double that for NZ$s), so I resisted, you‘ll be pleased to know!

This was followed by another walking tour through a palace and a basilica. There was a strict dress code for the basilica which meant no shorts, mini skirts, or bare shoulders, so we were all back to jeans, even though it was really hot.

Our last official appointment for the day was a gondola ride, accompanied by an accordionist and a singer. We went through narrow little canals, seeing the ‘backyards’ of a lot of homes. It was a lovely way to pass an afternoon.

It has been good to come to Venice - it is so different, with its canals and its city built on wooden piles, but the water is fairly putrid, the town a bit grubby, the building walls are disintegrating and the people quite aggressive - we got growled at for eating our lunch on some steps leading up to a small statue. Don’t think this city would be in my top 10 - Lucerne is still my number one for Europe.

Viva Italia!

2008-05-15T13:40:00.002-07:00

Well, after a very long day driving, we are finally (Wednesday) in Italy. We were warned that it would be vastly different to the previous countries we have visited. The Germanic countries are very structured and organised…Italy is not!

We saw evidence of this on the outskirts of town, when we hit the traffic. Chaos reigned and there was much ooh and aahing as little cars cut in front of us, and trucks did the same to little cars.

We had a quick turn around at the hotel before going out to an Italian Restaurant for dinner. Service appears to be a haphazard thing in this city, but the meal was nice enough. We’ve been told that tourists flock to Venice in such numbers that there is no need for the locals to go out of their way to please anyone but themselves, so they don’t.

After dinner, we took a stroll around St Mark’s Square, which was very pretty with the lights coming on and little orchestras playing along the sides.

A drop of Culture

2008-05-15T13:40:00.001-07:00

An early start for a palace tour - vast and with beautiful gardens, and then on for a walking tour of Vienna. It is quite a pretty place with wonderful architecture. We sampled Sachertorte which is a traditional Austrian chocolate cake served with lashings of cream. We’ve tried to eat local specialty foods as we’ve travelled around - a good excuse to have chocolate cake only for lunch!

Our evening excursion was a real highlight. We went to a top class local restaurant for a four course dinner, which was the best meal we have had, and definitely the best ambience. The men’s toilets had to be seen to be believed - there was neon pink scented water coming out of the taps! All of the women in the party had to inspect them too!

Vienna is all about music and we were taken to front row seats at a performance by a string orchestra (plus clarinet and flute) as well as a soprano, baritone and ballet dancers, playing the music of Mozart and Strauss. It was quite short but a lovely end to the day. There was even a comedy spot with one of our party being invited on stage to accompany them with a triangle. Luckily, neither Allan nor I were the nominated victim this time!

Oh for a cuppa…

2008-05-15T13:40:00.000-07:00

We are (I am?) struggling to find a decent cup of tea in Europe. The Germanic hotels don’t provide it in the room, so if we’re lucky, we get one for breakfast. To buy one is around 5.20 euros ($11) which is more than we pay for a latte or cappuccino!

Today (Monday) we stopped for Movenpick ice creams - Allan had 2 scoops, I had one. The guy wrote 3x4.00 on our docket so we fronted up to the check-out expecting (and horrified) to be paying 12 euros ($25) for our ice creams. Fortunately, it was a code and they were only 4.20 euros, and we did enjoy them as it was very hot again.

We have seen two lovely cities today. We spent a few hours in Salzburg, birthplace of Mozart, and home to Mozart chocolates. The town allows no traffic within except horse -drawn carriages, and it was very quaint - teeming with people though. We tried an original Mozart chocolate - marzipan and pistachio centres. Lovely.

We’re now in Vienna for the next couple of nights. We’ve been out for a group dinner at a winery. Again, there was music provided - an accordion and a violin, who serenaded us with traditional Austrian music, as well as a range of sing-along stuff (including Waltzing Matilda!) They played quite a bit from the Sound of Music which was set (and partially filmed around) here. Edelweiss was spine tingling! We had to laugh when they passed around the plate for tips - they rejected coins and were only interested in notes!

Travelling was much quicker today as it is a public holiday, and trucks are not allowed on the road (unless they are refrigerated) at weekends and on holidays. We have been blown away by the huge numbers of trucks on the road, both here and in the UK. They are shocking tail-gaters too. We are doing between 400 and 600 km per day, so it’s no wonder we need to be on the road by 7.30 am each day!

Four countries in one day

2008-05-11T13:03:00.000-07:00

Before lunch today, we had been in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria and Germany. Not a bad effort.

We covered a fair few kilometres today - with stops to look at the castle which the Disneyland Castle was based on, and at Oberammergau, where the Passion Play is performed once every ten years.

Everyone on the coach (including us!) was tired today, so it was quieter than normal. We arrived at Munich late afternoon, having a quick visit to the Olympic Village, which was fairly striking, and the BMW factory, the grandeur of which made it easy to understand why BMWs are so expensive!

We were taken to a German beer hall and given a litre glass of beer, which was almost too heavy to lift. Developing the biceps! They sold us giant pretzels - a hundred times bigger than the NZ ones! The place was beautifully decorated and had a oom-pah band performing to add to the atmosphere. I am not normally a beer drinker, but It was a great laugh.

Munich is an interesting town. It was largely wiped out in WW2, but they rebuilt it exactly as it was before, including reconstructing the things that weren’t right before, which seems a little strange.

Both of us have to say that we are really impressed with the tour company. The organisation is superb and they are not taking us to junky places. We have a pre-organised wake up call at 6 am every morning (aaagh!), baggage is taken care of and everything works like clockwork. A great way

Running out of superlatives!

2008-05-10T11:09:00.000-07:00

Lucerne is so beautiful, with the lake in the foreground and the mountains soaring all around, a real contrast to the flatness of Holland and Germany.

We have had so much fun today! We’ve taken two of the optional excursions. The first to a Swiss lunch, three courses Including a fondue and bratwurst, and entertainment consisting of yodelling, the alp horn, spoon playing, and a band based around an accordion. It was fantastic - until I was one of the unlucky ones called up on stage for audience participation in the yodelling session! I had to yodel, accompanied by the accordion and the m.c. only. Horrific. After we had all done our bit, they made us come to the front again and skull a Swiss beer while they sang a song from each of our nationalities - I got Pokarekare Ana. I can hear my children laughing at me from here!!

After that, it was great to relax on a cruise around the lake. The weather is still wonderful, so we’ve been lucky.

The Black Forest

2008-05-10T11:08:00.000-07:00

Well, it wasn’t black actually, didn’t even see that many trees, but we tried Black Forest Cake - it was divine! We pulled up this little shop not far from the Swiss border. The owner plied us all with cherry liqueur (before 10.00 am) and exhorted us to spend all our money with him. He made and sold cuckoo clocks, and sold many souvenirs. It was a fun experience.

We were then driven to some more exquisite scenery - this time, the Rhine falls, where we walked close to the water and soaked up the very green and peaceful atmosphere.

Our last stop for the day was to ride a cable car up a 7000 foot mountain (Lucerne, Switzerland) and frolic in the snow. The views were stunning, and I think some of our party had not seen snow before. We were to have taken a cog-wheel train up, but it was out of action due to an avalanche.

Off to our hotel in Lucerne for a two nighter.

Into Germany

2008-05-08T13:38:00.001-07:00

Wow, Europe is amazing! Every country is different to the others. So far, we have been into Belgium, Holland and now Germany.

Today (Thursday) we went on a cruise down the Rhine river - it was exquisite. Once again, the weather has been perfect. The river was a deep, deep green with beautiful forests rising up from both sides, and quaint houses and villages, as well as hill top castles. The boat was a floating palace, more like an elegant restaurant downstairs, with open air tables on the top deck. Along the riverside, we saw vineyards planted on steep hillsides. When there is so much flat ground around I am not sure why they do this, but it looked like it would be very hard work.

We explored Heidelberg today also, and enjoyed the contrast between that (a small town, and one of the very few in this area without extensive damage from Second World War bombing) and Cologne, which is a big town. In Cologne we looked at a cathedral of enormous proportions, that is supposedly home to the remains of the three wise men. The exterior was black with the effects of the pollution they have here, such a contrast with the very green countryside.

One thing about Europe that takes a bit of getting used to is the public toilets (or lack thereof)! Most are not the most pleasant, and many you have to pay to use. Even McDonalds in Cologne charged 1 Euro to use their toilet, we hadn’t budgeted for that! Fortunately, our tour guide knows where the best ones are, but she had some interesting stories of toilet misadventures from other tours to tell us!

The tour party is loosening up as we get to know each other better, and we are having some hilarious conversations trying to explain some of our Kiwi expressions (“drive around the roundabout”) particularly to the Americans. They’re a great bunch of people.

Big Day Out on Wednesday

2008-05-08T13:37:00.001-07:00

Well, our early start was a shock to the system, after a late and not particularly restful night - the aircon didn’t work and the locals were partying, so it was a very hot and noisy night.

Today we were in Amsterdam - a very 'liberal' city. We did a canal boat trip which was lovely, especially with the glorious weather. We are told that Holland very seldom has fine weather and it got up to 25 degrees and not a cloud in the sky, so we’ve been lucky.

The buildings here are tall and thin - and crooked! They lean against each other for support, and some are ‘stapled’ together with metal rods to hold them up. We were told that they are sometimes built sloping forward to provide rain protection to the front of the house -maybe they haven’t heard of eaves! We also visited a diamond factory and saw a couple of $100,000 diamonds (stones only, the ring would’ve been extra), but we were not tempted to buy. I did manage to get a lovely ring stuck on my finger, but they got it off me in the end!

Passed briefly through the red light district - that was an eye opener!

Amsterdam has a population of 800,000 and has 600,000 bicycles, so you had to watch out for them. There were parking buildings for bikes where we saw thousands of them together - quite a sight.

After that we headed out to the countryside where we toured a working windmill, run by a very eccentric fellow, as well as a cheese factory (yummy sampling) and a clog making workshop, both with the obligatory entertaining host.

Lastly we visited a most beautiful lakeside town, which was hugely tourist focussed - t-shirts, windmills and other souvenirs. Sampled Dutch Apple cake - it was a little disappointing.

Our fellow members of the tour are a friendly bunch, with a range of ages of 40ish to 70ish, but we’re having a good laugh with them all.

Germany tomorrow, including a cruise on the Rhine!

Over the ditch...

2008-05-08T13:35:00.000-07:00

Here we are in Brussels, Belgium, famous for it’s lace, it’s chocolate, waffles and beer. Looked at the first, and tasted the other three so that’s a good effort, eh?

It is a pretty town, and gorgeous weather today (Tuesday), but streaming with people - mainly tourists by the look of it. The driving is erratic and they are forever honking impatiently.

We arrived at 1 pm local time (an hour ahead of England) by Eurostar. The train was comfortable and quick, not much different to a commuter train really. Our tour guide is very friendly and knowledgeable and the tour party of 42 people consists mainly of Australians, with 10 Americans and around half a dozen kiwis.

We were taken to the Grand’Place, a town square with amazing old buildings and lots of shops aimed at the tourists. We had a couple of hours to wander around before reboarding the bus for a tiki tour around town. The bus is almost brand new, it is only on it’s 2nd tour, and is very big. It will be quite different for us, since we have been touring by ourselves in the UK, to get used to being in a big group - it felt a bit like being on a school trip at times! We leave at 7.30 am tomorrow, which will be a shock to the system!

There’s a welcome dinner tonight, here at our hotel, where I guess we will get to know the rest of the tour party better.

Some thoughts on B&Bs

2008-05-05T14:41:00.000-07:00

We stayed in 13 different places over our 16 days in the UK. These included Guest Houses, an Inn, Farm Stays and B&Bs. Of the 13, I would happily go back to all but 3, who were ok, but had a negative factor about each.

Observations -
- we paid around 60 to 70 pounds a night for most of them
- most had ensuite bathrooms
- 3 had pink baths!
- in most bathrooms, the toilet paper matched the walls!
- most had Infinity hot water in the showers, but very poor water pressure
- pink and green floral was the predominant colour scheme
- in many cases, the bedding, curtains and chair upholstery were all the same fabrics
- many had squeaky floorboards, or doors that didn’t fit the door frames, which added to their charm
- one had (very) sloping floors, and sagging ceilings!
- the people were nearly all exceptionally friendly, those who weren’t were simply more reserved

All in all, a great experience!

We may be out of touch for a bit in Europe, as it appears the internet may cost heaps there - will do our best!

Farewell to the United Kingdom (for now)

2008-05-05T14:32:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely day today ambling through the countryside, until we got in to the London traffic. Our B&B last night was in a house that was only 10 years old - from a house built in 1624 on our first night, it was quite a contrast! It was a lovely rural setting and the weather today was gorgeous so we have ended on a high note.

We had a look around Eastbourne this morning - it appealed much more than Brighton. It was very pretty and much easier to navigate.

From there, we drove through a town called Battle, which was the location of the battle when William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066. Then on to our final castle (a semi-ruin) built by another bloke who wanted to show the world how wealthy he was. It was set in beautiful grounds where people could picnic and many families were there enjoying the sunshine.

From what I have seen, family life in the UK is strong - we have seen many families out and about and without exception, parents have dealt wonderfully with their kids. Lots of grandparent involvement also. Lovely to see.

On our way up to London, there were huge delays for traffic going the opposite way to us, including several hundred motorbikes travelling in convoy - it was quite a sight. Had a good run until we hit the outskirts of town, which wasn’t surprising. We dropped the rental car back having driven around 2,500 miles - it was a good wee motor and the travelling was pretty smooth all in all.

Last stop before London and Europe

2008-05-05T00:27:00.000-07:00

Headed off to Portsmouth where our first stop was the historic dockyards. We toured the ship Victory which was involved in the battle of Trafalgar, and in which Nelson actually died It had been fully restored and was pretty spectacular.

On then to Brighton, to see the sea. Unfortunately, thousands of other had the same idea, and we gave up after getting caught in a one way street system that defied comprehension, and traffic for Africa. This town was poor in respect of parking areas which most places provide on the fringes to encourage cars out of town.

Hopefully might fare better at Eastbourne or Hastings tomorrow.

Buskers, Baths and Blocks of Stone

2008-05-03T14:40:00.000-07:00

On the recommendation of our landlady, we used the local park and ride and took a double decker bus from the outskirts of Bath. Parking is really expensive ( the worst was 7 pounds when we went to the Railway Museum in York) and difficult to find close to where you are going, so it was a great option.

We were diverted by a couple of buskers - two fairly scantily clad Welshmen with a comedy / acrobat routine that was hilarious (if not quite a family show!) - they drew a huge crowd and were very funny. I have to say that the buskers in the UK are excellent - they would leave the Cuba Mall lot for dead. We saw some great ones in London, especially in the subways.

Anyway, we eventually made it to the Roman Bath House that Bath is famous for. They had excavated a lot of the remains of the original - it made me see how archaeology could be interesting. The waters were not as remarkable to we Kiwis who are used to seeing hot water come up out of the ground, and if we had paid the 10.50 pounds that it cost to get in, plus the 50p to taste the waters, I think we might have felt a little ripped off.

We are travelling with British Heritage passes which get us into a lot of the places we have been - we have more than got our money’s worth on it, which we only just did with our equivalent London Pass.

Discovered the original home of Sally Lunn (who made the bun) so had to sample - yum!

After that, we drove down to Stonehenge, it was quite surreal. Who knows why people put such time and effort into building such a structure? The crowds there were huge - it is obviously a big drawcard for tourists.

The Pits

2008-05-02T15:00:00.000-07:00

This morning we went hundreds of metres underground at a coal mine. Our tour guide told tales of rats and all sorts as he kitted us out in hard hats and helmet lights. What a job it must be to be a miner. Often had to bend down to walk without banging our heads - not too bad for me, but a challenge for the taller people. We had to surrender everything we had on us that had dry cell batteries, so watches, cameras, phones as well as lighters had to be handed over before we could go down. I forgot all about my pedometer, which has a battery, but fortunately I didn’t blow up the mine! It was really interesting, and a completely new experience.

One more Castle in the afternoon (for Allan) while I poked around the local streets, then an aborted trip into Cardiff. We’d been planning a tour around the Millennium Stadium, but the traffic was diabolical, and there was a game on so we ditched that plan and carried on to Wells (near Bath), our home for the next two nights.

Our GPS gave us a bit of grief as we got into a monster traffic jam in Bristol, when we should have bypassed the town. Added an hour to our journey. Although the GPS has sometimes led us on ‘short cuts’ that have been somewhat remote and often tortuously narrow roads, it has been a great help getting from town to town, and finding what we’ve been looking for, and we’d have struggled without it, especially since I am navigationally challenged at the best of times!

But wait, there’s more … (Castles!)

2008-05-02T14:50:00.000-07:00

Welsh ones this time! We visited Conwy and Caernafon. Both are in ruins and both in pretty coastal settings. From what I can gather they were built on a whim of King Edward 1 who wanted to secure his empire - even though it wasn’t under threat, at a cost in today’s currency of something like $NZ115 million each! He built seven of them around teh Welsh coast!

The Welsh Coast was lovely - we could see a North Sea oil rig in the distance, and the roads, to this point were great six lane motorways. However, once we left the coast, we were on very narrow and windy hills with lots of blind corners and crests. British drivers do not pull over and let faster traffic pass! The roads often have solid stone walls, up to 1.5 metres high on both sides, so there is nowhere to go if you meet someone coming the other way. Still, we made it safely, even though it was a slow trip. Stopped somewhere halfway down the middle of Wales for the night.

We actually started our day in Chester with a tour on an open topped vintage bus. Once again, the guide was a real character and added to the experience.

A day without Castles, Cathedrals or Palaces!

2008-04-30T12:44:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not! There were some ruins though. We visited the ruins of Hadrian’s Wall, which was built in the second (?) century and was 4.5 metres high and 3 metres wide and spanned from coast to coast near the Scottish border. Still some left, but apparently many of the stones were nicked to build the Norman castles and churches!

We left there to have a look around the Lake District, Windermere and Grasmere in particular, which was pretty (but grey again!). The townships are lovely - lots of trees and greenery.

We also visited a town called Kendal, in the same area. One claim to fame there was the 1657 Chocolate House that we read about in the Lonely Planet Guide. It sold chocolate cakes, drinks and chocolates, as well as having a chocolate museum. It was pretty special and my Aztec Hot Chocolate was superb. Allan had an almond one which he rated highly. The building was built in the 17th century and the staff were in period costume too, so it was the total package!

On to a farm near Chester, and a super dinner at another country pub. One of the notable thinks about food here is that it is always piping hot and served on very hot plates. It will be hard to come home and think about cooking!

Off to Wales tomorrow.

A quick pub meal

2008-04-30T12:33:00.000-07:00

We had an interesting experience with dinner last night (Monday). After our long day yesterday, we thought we would have a quick pub meal before checking in to our accommodation. Stopped at Blairgowrie and, after checking the menu on display, asked for a table. Once we sat down, we realised we were in the more pretentious formal dining room and the menu was a 3 course set menu for 20 pounds each! We weren’t that hungry, and certainly didn’t have time to linger, so asked to be served as quickly as possible. Well, we had a drink, ate our three courses, had a cuppa, and we were out the door in 45 minutes, and so was everyone else in the restaurant, so it wasn’t quite as grand as we thought!

Stayed at a lovely farm B&B, one of the nicest we’ve had and a quite bucolic rural setting.

Today we have visited Loch Ness and Loch Lomond, both pretty but a little diminished by the grey weather. Saw an exquisite Loch on the way, called Ludhair, which was crystal clear and still so there was a gorgeous mirror image of the surrounding hills reflected in the lake. Loch Tay, near Fortingall was very pretty too.

This morning we visited Glamis castle, where the Queen Mother spent a lot of time. It was more my thing than Allan’s - I would love to throw a dinner party in one of these stately dining rooms! It was a long, long journey to Carlisle (Cumbria, England) for the night. Sad to leave Scotland, as we loved it. We skirted Glasgow, and saw an electrical storm like none I have ever seen. Huge forks of lightening streaked the sky for ½ an hour, and torrential rain caused some flooding. It took us 30 minutes to travel a couple of miles as the storm coincided with rush hour traffic.

Anyway, we are here now, and settled into a restored barn, which is beautiful. Our first ground floor accommodation, for which my bag boy is very grateful!

McPherson Territory

2008-04-30T12:22:00.000-07:00

Finally got to the Clan McPherson Museum in Newtonmore - we were greeted like…family! We knew quite a bit of the history from Allan’s dad’s book and one written by a more distant relative, but seeing all the artefacts and historical items dating back centuries was fascinating. The curator even asked us to mind the shop while she popped out to post a letter, then came back and made us a cuppa. She had a harp there which she got Allan playing (not sure what the McP significance was with that) but also played us a piano piece with lyrics referring to Scots who have left for foreign shores and gave us a copy of the music. It is very haunting.

We’ve also now visited Kingussie, Fortingall, and Blairgowrie, all of which have McPherson links. Would have been good to have more time exploring the heritage.

We were told that a large portion of tourists to Scotland are on ancestry tours, so we are not alone. My Dad’s family has a Scottish heritage also, but I have not seen the name listed in any of the indexes I have looked at.

Monday Military Madness

2008-04-29T01:31:00.001-07:00

We left our Inverness B&B early in the hope of making some headway on our to-do list, but we were still in the area at lunch time!

First stop was a military base (Fort George) built in the 18th century - it was vast and the construction of it quite amazing It is still a military base today so we had to behave, but once again the human interest stories had us fascinated. It was interesting seeing the contrast between the design of the ‘modern’ Fort George and the older Norman-style castles.

Next stop was Culloden which was the last of our places related to the Border Clashes. It was a battlefield where over 1500 people, (including McPhersons) were killed in a one hour battle. They had a room set up with filmed reconstructions from both sides screening on all four walls so you had a sense of being in the middle of the battle - made the reality of hand to hand combat very vivid.

Allan is more interested than I am in all this war stuff but I have become caught up in it too (which I wouldn’t have expected!)

Sunday - into the Highlands

2008-04-27T14:51:00.000-07:00

[Photos of Stirling Castle and Wallace Memorial added 30 April]

Had a fairly big agenda today, mostly based on the English / Scottish border wars. We went to Stirling Castle, Bannock Burn and the William Wallace Memorial. The first was quite different to any others we’d seen - it was light and airy, and had a fantastic chapel and Grand Hall which would be a fabulous wedding venue! The staff here were much more interesting and interested than those at Edinburgh Castle.

At Bannock Burn we heard all about Robert the Bruce and had a play with some weapons of the time. William Wallace was the hero portrayed in the Braveheart movie.

The Royal Mile

2008-04-27T00:36:00.001-07:00

The pedometer sure got a workout today. The cobbles are very uneven, so the calf muscles suffer a little!

Edinburgh has two main streets, the Royal Mile, which has a castle at one end and a palace at the other, and Princes St, which is the shopping street. Guess which one we did first?

We started at Edinburgh Castle, which is the first one that we have found a little disappointing - huge queues and not that much worth seeing.

We followed that with a more interesting (and strenuous) trip through a ‘Close’ which is simply a 6 ft wide sloping street, which is now underground, but which used to be edged by 5 storey tenements. There was a real labyrinth of closes, and the guide was in character. There was also a character (a maid) called Janet Nimmo - her photo bore a marked resemblance to our friend Janet, who was a Nimmo before she married!

The rest of the Mile was full of lots of souvenir shops, lots of tartan, whiskey and heather. Spent an interesting half hour checking out kilts for Ash - learnt all the right bits to measure, using Allan as a model, so that Ash could order online if he wants. Saw lots of kilts that were made in China, but you could certainly tell the difference between those and the real thing, which use 8 yards of tartan.

I was a bit exhausted by then so I left Allan to go down the hill to (and later climb up the hill from) Holyrood Palace - the Queen’s official residence in Scotland. He thought it was one of the better palaces, I think.

I hit the shopping street, but didn’t buy anything (I think I’m having a personality change - I haven’t bought anything of any consequence yet!)

We used buses to get around - the guest house was in a very handy location, and our host a true Scotsman.

Overall, we both loved Edinburgh - I think it is a town that would appeal to young people too, there were certainly plenty of them about.

Friday - Scotland at last!

2008-04-25T14:08:00.000-07:00

Another full and interesting day. It was really exciting to cross the border this morning, although we did a bit of tiki-touring first. We visited a couple of small towns first, one of which included Ford Castle, which was the inspiration for Allan’s company logo - looked just like the real thing!

We drove on to a place called Flodden field which was the scene of a battle between England and Scotland in 1513, in which 14,000 men died in a day. Apparently, the Scots came roaring down the hill with their pikes, and got stuck in the mud at the bottom, leaving them open to the English attack. There was little to see but a monument and the fields, but it was very moving to stand at the scene where so many people had died at once.

Our next stop was Jedburgh where we used the information centre to help us book two nights accommodation in Edinburgh (we don’t have a Scottish B&B book). They were so helpful, and a passing Scotsman had us in fits with an entertaining story about the superiority of Scots over the English, which is too long to repeat here. I have to say that everywhere we have been since leaving London, people have been exceptionally friendly and helpful.

We visited the ruins of both Jedburgh Abbey and Rosslyn Chapel. We are learning the difference between abbeys, cathedrals, minsters, and about lady chapels, transepts, reredos and sacresies - maybe there’ll be a prize for anyone who can tell us what they all are when we get back! Ruins are intriguing, and most places have either live, or audio guides, which add interest.

Now ensconced in our attic room on the edge of Edinburgh and looking forward to checking out the town tomorrow.

Thursday, I think!

2008-04-25T00:11:00.000-07:00

Another day, another 275 steps to climb. I am getting good at them now! This time, we were at York Minster (a very gothic cathedral). A different style of architecture, but equally impressive. There were lots of interesting stories about the construction of this one - things that went wrong, didn’t fit or were not centred correctly. It amazes me that buildings constructed so many years ago, without modern engineering knowledge still stand, they have catastrophic fires, or bombs dropped on them, and they just get put back together again. Also, that churches of such epic proportions still manage to function as ordinary churches.

Had a quick walk through the Shambles before hitting the road.

Today was our longest travel day so far. We didn’t quite make it to Scotland - we’re close to the border at Berwick-on-Tweed, staying at a guesthouse. Came via Durham, a very pretty town with another cathedral for us to look at (’romantic’ style - stunning), but we passed on another tower climb!

Had another unsuccessful attempt at a castle. We were aiming for Alnwick (pronounced ‘Annick’) but it closed before we got there. A lot of these castles are family homes and this one had quite stunning gardens. We were disappointed to miss it.

We are trying to sort out our plans for the last few days of our touring time, because it is a bank holiday weekend so we need to book accommodation. All the destinations we had in mind (Bath, Brighton, Hastings) are likely to be popular with the locals so will get on the phone tomorrow. Might have to compromise on our itinerary a bit.

The day we (nearly) went to Belvoir

2008-04-23T23:45:00.000-07:00

Woke to the best breakfast yet. Most of you will know that Allan is a cereal and yoghurt man, but today he had a big bowl of porridge, a huge plate of sausage, bacon, eggs, tomatoes and mushrooms, plus toast! He is starting to enjoy cooked breakfasts.

It was wet and misty unfortunately, but we headed off to the Castle, only to find that it is not open at the moment, so our reason for coming this way was a non event really, but we did have a lovely time at the farm, and we got some valuable tips on where to go in Scotland.

We hit he motorway for York - what a pretty town. We visited the National Rail Museum - Phil, you would have loved it.

Allan walked the Wall that surrounds the town, although managed to miss a couple of access points so ended up walking one and a half times round the city walls.

Our B&B here is a Victorian house with 5 rooms, owned by a South African couple, so of course we had to talk rugby. They sent us to a tea house called Betty’s for dinner. What an experience. It was a Swiss / high tea type venue with light meals. There was live piano music, so we enjoyed the music and the ambience, and of course the food. Should have had a Yorkshire Pudding really!
Heading for Scotland tomorrow.

Allan's Nostalgia

2008-04-23T23:28:00.000-07:00

Houses I lived in more than 40 years ago - in Nottingham:

And London (Greenwich):

Game Over...

2008-04-23T01:49:00.000-07:00

Or the day we left the town of Rugby! It took a little longer than we expected. First we had breakfast cooked us by the landlord’s mother in law. She was a sweetie and a real laugh, and seemed really excited to meet a couple of Kiwis. She even hugged me when we left! The landlord, Geoff, was a soccer nut and proudly told us that he was the mascot for the Coventry team - he wears an elephant suit on match days! We had to then go back into town to top up Allan’s phone, then go back to the Inn to return the key we’d forgotten to surrender!

Finally hit the road for Nottingham - a longer journey than we have previously done. Visited the ruins of Nottingham Castle, and the museum, as well as 'Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem' (England’s oldest(?) alehouse). Lots of Robin Hood history, beautiful Nottingham lace, and the story of the evil occupants of the castle who kept overthrowing the incumbents.

One of the places Allan wanted to see was Belvoir (pronounced Bee-ver) Castle, so we headed that way, but arrived too late to see it, so decided to do it the next morning.

We checked in to our accommodation, which was a working farm with 3 rooms for B&B. Everything was chintzy and cottagey, so looked very English. The hostess was a Scottish lady who was just lovely and made us very welcome. She also recommended a local restaurant where we had a great meal, with pre-dinner drinks in front of the open fire. A good day.

Moving On Monday

2008-04-22T14:05:00.000-07:00

Headed for yet another castle, this time Warwick. Again, different but interesting. Saw an archery demonstration by an expert - arrows are a more deadly weapon than I thought.

Also saw a demonstration of a trebuchet - a missile launching device that could heave 150 pound rocks - pretty impressive technology from such a long time ago.

Called briefly into Coventry Cathedral and then on to Rugby. Once again we have struggled to find accommodation - not so many to choose from in this part of the world. We’re in a country Inn - actually, in a cottage out the back.

The Cotswolds

2008-04-22T14:03:00.000-07:00

Decided to stop another night here and explore the area. Chipping Campden was just gorgeous, picture postcard pretty with very old stone buildings and cobbled streets - and the contrast of loads of cars parked along the street - it felt like it should have been horses and carriages!

On the subject of cars, two comments. I wondered why some cars had white number plates, and some yellow until I realised that they all have white on the front, and yellow on the back!. There is no rule to say which side of the road you can park on, so you will have cars pointing any which way on both sides of the street.

We checked out Shakespeare’s birthplace in Stratford on Avon, and his wife, Anne Hathaway’s cottage. The latter was made especially interesting by two fascinating guides who brought the history to life and gave us background to lots of sayings we use today. For example, in those times, it was ok for a man to beat his wife, as long as the stick was skinnier than his thumb, hence the expression ‘under the thumb‘!

Saw lots of little country towns with names like Upper and Lower Slaughter and Bourton-on-the-Water, but Chipping Campden was our favourite.

Had dinner in a country pub and then home to bed.

Photo of our car as requested by Ash:

Checking out

2008-04-22T10:39:00.000-07:00

We carefully planned our journey to pick up the rental car from Hertz in Fulham on Friday. It was out of the congestion zone so we knew we had a wee way to go. Surprisingly, since we haven’t bought much, our suitcases were fit to bust! We took the Tube to the closest station, but we under-estimated the distance to the rental car office - a half hour walk, dragging our cases behind us - phew! Picked up a cute little Kia, pretty peppy, and we were off to Windsor Castle.

I know I keep going on about the castles we are seeing, but they are all different and amazing. This was the grandest and interesting because HM was in residence. It was the day of the christening of Edward and Sophie’s baby at the Chapel there so the whole family was there, and I thought we might get a glimpse, but no such luck.

We ambled through the countryside, thankful for the GPS, looking for a B&B. Proved to be more of a mission than we expected, but finally bought a book and chose one in a place called Weston-sub-Edge near Chipping Campden.

It was a farm, built in 1624 - but beautifully restored and very comfortable. The hostess knows NZ well and her family were into rugby so it was a nice connection.

Thoughts on london

2008-04-18T15:19:00.000-07:00

Sue’s thoughts on London:

Loved the shows, the London Eye and the River Cruise. Enjoyed the more recent history, and the old buildings fascinated me.

Blown away by the range of ethnicities - I’d almost say that genuine Poms were in the minority, especially working in the service areas. Apparently there has been a huge influx of Eastern Europeans. Interestingly, it has sometimes been difficult for us to make ourselves understood, even tho’ we speak English!

Plenty left to do next time we come to London!

And some things I (Allan) didn’t know before coming here:

1 - Pall Mall is pronounced “pal mal” not “paul maul”
2 - It can get quite windy on the walkways and escalators down to the underground
3 - There are no rubbish bins on the underground - security reasons
4 - Even though cars drive on the left side of the road, pedestrians don’t walk on the left side of the footpath - they are all over the place
5 - I always wondered where the owners of terraced housing used to park their horses etc - now I know - in the Mews. I guess that’s why there is now no on-site space for a garage
6 - Why some cars have white number plates and other cars have yellow number plates (see Sue's next installment for the answer)

Friday - last day in London

2008-04-18T15:13:00.000-07:00

Had lots left on our ’to do’ list so we were out early to Kensington Palace, where Princess Diana lived. The size and ornateness of the rooms together with the great age made it a fascinating insight.

From there we headed off to Buckingham Palace, although only the Queens Gallery was open. It was bitingly cold today, but worth the walk to see the Palace up close.

After that, we split up - the first time Allan has trusted me to navigate the Underground by myself! I went of to Harrods - what an experience! The food hall had a pizzeria where the pizza man sang opera in the most amazing voice while he tossed pizzas - huge crowds stopped to watch. Had a good poke around, had a makeup demo, and bought a bit of product. Although it was a very elegant and expensive, it had a fun atmosphere, and I was glad I went.

Allan went on tours of the Tower Bridge and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, and had a quick look in the Tate Modern Gallery. Then he zipped back into Oxford St area for a music mega store - he was very restrained and didn’t buy, but said he could have had a field day.

Dinner in the Hotel restaurant and that’s our London Week done.

The 482 steps

2008-04-18T15:05:00.000-07:00

This morning we returned to St Paul’s Cathedral - we climbed the 482 steps (very steep and narrow) to the top for the most amazing views. Most proud of myself! The weather has deteriorated a little, a very cold wind has picked up, but the rain has stayed away thankfully. Then it was off to Waterloo Station for an overland train to Twickenham.

We have now tried most of the transport options - underground, over ground, ferry, light rail and double decker bus. The only thing we haven’t tried is a London cab - they are everywhere.

We got a little lost at Twickenham - the little leggies were struggling!! A little confusing when the sign points to Museum of Twickenham in the opposite direction to Twickenham Museum. It was worth the effort tho’ - the rugby museum was really interesting, and the ground quite spectacular. We went on a guided tour of the stadium and toured the museum - it was pleasing to see NZ well represented there, although it was basically an English Rugby Museum.

Didn’t make it back to the hotel before the show so ate in the theatre district. Phantom was very well done, the sets were so amazing, and the production excellent. Allan especially loved this show, although I’d have to say ‘We Will Rock You’ was my favourite. I could have kept going to shows for weeks - would’ve loved to see Blood Brothers again, and Joseph.

Another 19,000 steps

2008-04-16T14:31:00.000-07:00

Another busy day...cloudy and cool, but no rain. Another 19,000 steps on the pedometer as we explored the financial districts and walked both the London and Millennium Bridges. Had a real pub lunch for the first time. The ambience was cool, the pie and mash very English! Had a early tea at a Café that is a bit of a shrine to Princess Diana (opposite Kensington Gardens where she lived). It was another English classic of fish and chips and peas - very well cooked, and nice to be back in the hotel at an early hour.

We are getting a really good feed at the hotel with the included cooked breakfast, lunches have been light, and dinners have been generally at the low budget end as we haven’t really been hungry. Food is very expensive, we’ve given up converting to NZ$. Paid 4 pounds ($10) for a Coke at the theatre!

First fine day!

2008-04-16T13:33:00.000-07:00

This morning dawned crystal clear - our first truly fine day, so we took off to the London Eye. It was pretty special, and we took masses of photos and video footage. What a tourist magnet!

After we got off that, we took a ferry up to Greenwich and had a look at the observatory there. Managed to get a photo of me with one foot each side of the Meridian Line. The park there is beautiful - for all its size and huge population, London has lots of beautifully maintained green spaces.

Allan lived in Greenwich as an 8 year old, so we went and found the flat they rented. He had a photo with him of the place back then (1965) and he was able to take a photo from the same perspective 42 years on, so that was special.

Took in our second show tonight - Chicago. It was technically (in the singing and dancing) excellent but seemed to lack the X factor, we thought. Once again, I had trouble staying awake!
I must explain here that we are walking around 12 - 14 kms (according to my pedometer) a day so that is why I am struggling a bit by 8pm at night. I assure you - it isn’t just old age!

We are off to Phantom on Thursday night so will try to do better then!

Out and about on Monday

2008-04-16T01:54:00.000-07:00

Up early today - a shock to the system, as we had to meet our tour bus at 8.20am. Part of our accommodation package was this half day tour of London. The guide was fantastic and gave us lots of insights which we wouldn’t have otherwise had. Helped us get our bearings above ground (since we’d already sussed the underground!). Spent an hour in St Paul’s Cathedral. It was amazing - (Glenn, we could understand your temptation to photograph, we resisted tho’!) We will head back on our own to spend more time later in the week.

Monday afternoon was a visit to The Tower of London, which Allan loved - he is fascinated by the history of it all. I found it interesting, but a little long.

We had prepared our wish list for London shows - limiting ourselves to 3 only! We managed to get tickets tonight to ‘We will Rock you’ (Queen). It was fantastic and we both loved it, but one of us (!), despite the music being throbbingly loud, had extreme difficulty staying awake!

Amazing who you come across

2008-04-13T13:55:00.000-07:00

Amazing who you come across in London - I ran into this Keira chick who I recognised from somewhere - she was very nice but didn’t say much. Sue chatted to Tom Cruise for a while, but forgot to ask for an autograph.

Our visit to Madam Tussaud’s was interesting, although I thought it was overly commercial, with an opportunity to part with cash around every corner. The wax figures were very good however (some better than others).

London - Day One

2008-04-12T10:46:00.000-07:00

Well, it feels like we've been everywhere today - we've knocked off half a Monopoly board already (Pall Mall, Whitehall, Northumberland Ave, the Strand, Trafalgar Square (amazing!), Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus, Oxford and Regent Sts. In Regent St, we found Hamleys Toy Store - it was huge with so many different things that aren’t available in NZ, especially remote controlled toys and board games. Staff were demonstrating lots of the toys, and it was difficult to drag my little boy away!

We’ve mastered the Underground, there are two stations only a few minutes walk away.

Last on today’s list was the National Art Gallery - it was packed with people, and very vast. We recognised the names of some of the artists and the age of some of the works was phenomenal.

Struck quite a bit of rain today, but it’s not too cold, so all things considered, it could be worse.

Overall impressions? I am blown away by the number of people we are seeing wherever we go, and by the cultural diversity of the place. Roll on tomorrow!

The (long) Friday flight

2008-04-12T10:09:00.000-07:00

This was a new experience for both of us, and I have to admit that I wasn’t looking forward to it. However, it wasn’t so bad. Had a light supper before settling down to sleep, and we both slept quite well, so we felt quite human when we touched down at Hong Kong, at 6 am local time. We walked the long departure wing, which went on for miles, but was good exercise (although we did use the travelators). Most of the shops were shut so still no shopping! We reboarded 1 ¾ hours later and had our 2nd breakfast of the day. Allan watched a lot of movies, it was great to be able to pick and choose when and what we watched, although I found that I fell asleep every time I started a movie!

My highlight was flying over the Himalayas and seeing mountain peaks piercing the clouds for miles and miles. It was spectacular and awe inspiring. Also quite amazing following the flight on the TV screen and seeing that Moscow was just a bit further to the north. Allan found it strange seeing the sun out of the left (i.e. south) window instead of the right when travelling east.
This leg of the flight certainly felt longer, I think because it was daylight. We had to circle at London for half an hour while the thunderstorms eased. It was a spooky looking out the window and seeing several other planes - in NZ we don’t usually share our airspace! Eventually touched down - Heathrow terminal 4 is not exactly salubrious!
London at last!

Arrived at the hotel around 5 pm. I was really hungry, and couldn’t figure out why, when we had had two breakfasts and lunch on the plane - forgot that we’d had a 26 hour day by the time we’d checked in. Wandered down Notting Hill and had dinner, before coming back. I fell asleep at 7.30 pm (on top of the bed) and slept through to 6.30 am. I obviously climbed in to bed some time in the night, but I have never slept like that before. Allan slept well too, so we’re raring to explore London today.

On the way there...

2008-04-12T10:07:00.000-07:00

Well, it was 26 degrees in Melbourne for our day there (Thursday). Allan left at 7am for his conference, which he found very worthwhile.

I used my transport card for 11 tram and train rides, so I got my money’s worth. Visited my usual shopping haunts, but didn’t buy a thing - a bit out of character for me, but I will revert to type soon, never fear! Spent a lovely couple of hours at St Kilda watching the world go by. Walked over ‘The Bridge’ (where Ash proposed to Bridget!) and saw a movie, so the day passed very pleasantly, before meeting Allan to head for the airport.

First leg to Melbourne

2008-04-12T10:03:00.000-07:00

Well, we made it! The first leg of our journey is complete. Ash and Mikki took us out to the airport, which was lucky - it meant that they could make a return trip quickly when Allan realised that he had left his UK tickets in the car!!

Our Melbourne hotel (which we got cheap on Wotif) is very elegant and huge - we’re well ready for a sleep…

Eight days to go!

2008-03-31T23:33:00.000-07:00

Picked up our tickets today - almost feels like we're really going!