The Pit Stop

I don't know if anyone is aware that Tony is on medication for his blood pressure ( it's high, the outcome of cohabitating with such a laid back person such as myself!). The medication has a diuretic effect and coupled with Tony's prodigious intake of coke ( the drink) it can lead to some pretty amusing times, especially when traveling.

We had actually arrived at Toledo, but still yet had to find the hotel. Prior to arriving , Tony had already explored the possibilities of relieving the pressure on his bladder, checking out a fuel stop which ,unfortunately didn't have toilets.

As the pressure became more extreme, and in the process taking ALL his concentration in containing it, the effort of trying to find his way to our hotel was too great ( admittedly all three wing-men were hopeless with navigating). Pulling into an area off the main street, alongside shops which were closed for the siesta, thank goodness- he did his best with parallel parking, a pretty valiant achievement considering he was driving a left-handed vehicle on the right hand side of the road...and then made a bolt for it!!

You would think that with a children's playground on the area, there would be toilets close by....not so. Visualize ants on a nest after hot water has been poured over it and you have a picture of Tony and Andrew running around in search of somewhere, anywhere that would provide the opportunity for relief!!!

Being familiar with how this type of pressure,you would suppose his wife would be empathetic - wrong! Watching the manic search ( made funnier because of the previous night's lack of sleep) uproarious laughter got the better of me, tears running down my face. Cathy at least managed to restrain herself for a few minutes before succumbing. However hysteria set in when Tony, with hand hanging on and a final jig, found a row of Oleander trees to water !!

Unfortunately too busy to get a photo!! :)

Introduction to Spain

Palace at Madrid

We left Zermatt at 5.30...a pretty early start, and a pretty cool one as well. They have these cute electric vehicles, a bit like a.. golf cart which zoom around the streets so the guy had us at the station well within time. It was a pretty uneventful trip to Zurich until we were greeted by the news that our flight was delayed by three hours , apparently the plane hadn't even left Madrid for the return trip!!! Our intended sightseeing with Cathy and Andrew would have to be delayed :(

We arrived at the hotel about 7pm that night..pretty knackered but not too tired to have a decent feed. In Spain the restaurants don't take bookings for dinner until 9pm!!! We managed to (or Tony did) pull the poor hungry tourist routine and we arrived at the restaurant at 8.30! ( not much of a compromise, I know, but the best we could do!!) We were recommended here as it served traditional Spanish fare , an added bonus was a "quatro" of men dressed in pantaloons and tights serenading a patrons - good introduction to the local traditions!!

The next day was spent getting a feel for the place...a couple of feeble attempts at sightseeing, however after sighting the palace, we decided that was enough and we just cruised for the rest of the day...sometimes there is such a thing as too much culture :)

The following morning we picked up our vehicle, the combination of limited Spanish on as well as the generally laid back approach of the staff, meant that it was 2 1/2 hours before we actually crammed the four very large and heavy suitcases into the back and headed off towards Toledo.

Not too bad a place to spend 2 hrs waiting!!

Zermatt

The Matterhorn

To give credit where credit is due, Tony excelled himself in choosing to re-visit here. I admit to a certain hesitation when it was mentioned that it be included in our travels...but it is everything it was claimed to be.

We spent 10 hours passing through Italy into Switzerland by train. Saw beautiful lakes, mountains, townships, villages; crossed through plains and wetlands; agriculture and livestock- such a diversity of landscape - easy and enjoyable. We had three connections, all were straightforward...even with the Besser pallets we call suitcases!

Zermatt sits in a valley surrounded by The Alps, on the border of Switzerland and Italy. Overlooked by the Matterhorn, one of 28 mountains over 4000 metres in the area. It is a skiers paradise in the winter and boasts several summer pastimes including hiking, hangliding, mountain biking (in the true sense) and mountain climbing. There is an abundance of eateries...from sausage stands, creperies, chocolatiers, bakeries(mmm!! not over these yet) to pubs meals, Italian; Thai; Japanese; German restaurants. We succumbed to the Italian, Japanese and Thai . Tony is still in love with good fresh crusty rolls filled with ham and cheese (he will eat them for breakfast, lunch and, if I let him, for tea).

Streets of Zermatt

Our accommodation was fabulous..a boutique type hotel and from our bedroom window we had an un-interrupted view of the Matterhorn. The decor was a mixture of timber, glass, brushed aluminum and wrought iron, complimented by a plain color scheme of creams and whites in different textures. The light fittings were glass , wrought iron and strands of beads, twisted into an art -deco style chandeliers. The floor of the main lounge which was square-shaped, was a grid of 16 glass squares, through which you could view the hotels swimming /plunge pool. The ambience was elegant and understated..somewhere Michelle-ma-Belle would be totally at home in...

Dining Area

Lounge Area

Our first day we went for a hike up towards the Matterhorn..it was a 5km walk over which we climbed just under 1000 m in altitude. The day was clear, blue skies and sunny...and as we went up we passed a pretty outdoor cafe , you know the kind with checked tablecloths; went up further and passed a place which sold you fresh milk cows milk - I assume from the ones which were grazing with the bells around their necks; it was about this spot Tony spotted two marmutes (a beaver -like animal) coming out from their hidey-hole, I was still hoping to catch sight of a deer; we kept climbing, winding through the wooded path and every so often we would walk along side or pass under the cable car we had to catch back down. Peripherally we would get an idea of how high we were getting, as the mountains became closer and the path became narrower and the thought of catching the car down was becoming the focal point. It is much easier just to look down and keep walking, nevertheless the time of reckoning was closing in.On the way up I had thought of a way to ride the cable car to get back down. The several times I had suggested we walk back was met with deathly silence from my companion!!! so I was using the old grey matter (NO not my hair!) big time to work a way around it.

Yes..there ARE cows if you look hard

Not far now!

View from path

Looking down over Zermatt

At the top we sat in the sun and munched on...you guessed it , a crusty ham and cheese roll for Tony... the mountains were magnificent, not all were covered in snow, so the contrast of shale, rock and snow was very captivating...and I was "very captivated" trying to put off the inevitable.

I am pretty pleased with the solution to my dilemma..this area was way higher than Sabine's slope and it was a thought that just flashed into my head. I was hoping and praying that Tony and I would have the car to ourselves...as it came around I got and sat down , facing away from the downward view....then I promptly put Tony's black polar fleece jacket over my head and shut my eyes, just make sure!! Easy peasy!

The following day was Saturday and Tone was pretty keen to catch the train, which runs on a cog system, up to the other side from where we were the day before. We left at 9 as we had stuff lined up early in the afternoon and we wanted to make the most of it. The day again was gorgeous, the train itself has these really big windows. which come over to part of the roofline, so you can see the mountain tops, as you go. We arrived at Gronergrat and walked around for a while ...looking down over part of the glacier system which exists for 25 sq kms... you could see where the glacier had channeled it's way down the mountain and in one spot there was a hole about the size of a spa, it's water being a really deep blue/black. We decided to walk back down to the next train station..lots of walkers in both directions; doing different levels of difficulty and heaps of mature walkers striding it out as if it's a mere walk in the park rather than a steep uphill climb!!!

Vikki & Tony at Gronergrat

Walk back from Gronergrat

We were back in the village by 1pm and I managed to get my hair done...while Tony scored the rugby -Australia v Wales. He was pretty stoked - even if it was in French, he didn't mind because he does his own commentary anyway!!! Mattie, Nic and Spud were at the game and the text messages were flying all the way through it...from Matt's end anyway, Tony's fingers hardly fly.

It is a great place to visit...there is plenty to do (or not, just soak in the view); plenty of choices to eat and plenty of people to spend time with if you so choose. It would be a very romantic getaway ...for anyone already over this side of the world :) , thoroughly recommend it

Tomorrow we move onto Madrid to catch up with Andrew and Cathy..

Bolzano

Our trip from Paris proved to be quite eventful...we flew from Charles de Gaulle to Heathrow on to Munich. Unfortunately the Paris plane left late which meant ,of course, we arrived late and subsequently missed our connecting flight. British Airways were pretty good in fixing up another flight later that day, so we were ok but the luggage was stranded somewhere at Heathrow :(. We flew onto Munich... the luggage arrived at 2am, a pretty good result when you consider the repercussions of "lost luggage".

At Munich we began to travel on trains. This is definitely the way to travel here if you have the time. They are punctual, and the transit system is way less busy and stressful than when traveling by air. It also means you get a pretty good handle on the scenery which, when crossing through to the alps, isn't too hard to take!

We arrived at Bolzano, a little after lunch, to see Sabine waiting at the station. Man she's still a dynamo... she had us back at Lano ( about 20 k from Bolzano) and out the door sightseeing within the hour of arriving! We went up "Aussie Hill", a pleasant 20 min walk up just past a little cafe ( owned by her cousin) to where you can look over the valley. This area is flourishing with apple orchards and vineyards. Dotted around the valley and lower slopes are hamlets, with cute little houses, criss-crossed laneways through orchards and spires of the local churches; slightly up higher, an occasional castle can be seen. We went on to "have coffee" at her brother's tennis centre and met Elisabeth and Ernst, her parents. You can where Sabine gets her energy and enthusiasm from.. her parents run own and run an apartment style accommodation; they do the cleaning, the maintenance, gardening, as well as assisting Sabine with a similar style of operation; up until two years ago Elisabeth did all the baking for the cafe. On this particular day they were both running around the tennis court placing shots to rival those of Federa! ..pretty inspiring -they are in their late sixties.

Vikki & Tony at "Aussie Hill"

After "the coffee" Sabine had managed to talk me into a chairlift ride up one of the local slopes to see one of the best views of Mareno and Lana. To most this would be a cinch, but to those who are in the know, and as already previously mentioned, I am a BIG WUSS when it comes to heights. Squashing the bile rising from the depths of my stomach, I followed Sabine and sat myself in the chair which followed hers, and lowered the bar. Clunk and a swing forward to get going was all that was needed for the anxiety levels to make an appearance. Seizing the side armrests in a death grip.. the ride began. With Tony, in the chair behind me, trying to be supportive and encouraging ( yes, he has these momentary lapses) , it was too much and , forgetting my mantra,I screeched for him to ....be quiet!

Vikki on Chairlift

View from path on the way down from chairlift

The kids have grown so much..Micki is now 15, Miri is 14 and Andi 11( I think). They have full lives with their activities..soccer, violin, piano, drums, tennis and Homework! They appear to get on so well ( maybe my lack of German could contribute to this observation), love to play games particularly the Chinese 500 learnt in Tasmania :) Pastor Helmut is well and we have him on video talking about what happened when he returned from Australia a couple of years ago.

Micki and Andi

Miri

The following day Tony and I took a couple of bikes and went exploring our way to Mareno ( supposedly a 15 - 20 min ride from Lano). We came to know the local orchards pretty well, and were shown how kind and helpful the Italians could be to a couple of visitors, some going well beyond the call of duty! The day was perfect - still, blue skies warm, made more pleasant by the occasional spurt of water over us from the irrigation. We were pretty proud of ourselves as we successfully manouvered our way around the highway and local street with roundabouts using French/Italian/German signs and on the right hand side of the road!!

View of castle and vineyards

We had a meeting on Wednesday...accompanied by an orchestra ( Miri-piano; Micki- bass; Sabine-lead guitar and Andi on violin). Testimonies were swapped, choruses sung ( Tony singing in German- unbelievable!) - a fantastic night. Later, when we were having tea we went through photos and a video of the Dolmerites and we saw our Pamela, looking happy and excited, as she walked at one time; and at another, flew in a helicopter doing aerial acrobatics over these amazing formations !

We had a wonderful time here, really enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with Sabine and family. We have made tentative arrangements to go back in 2009 and do a week trek through the Dolmerites :) followed up by Summer Camp. Here's hoping.

Paris

We are sitting in The Jardin du Luxemberg on a sunny Sunday afternoon, having a picnic with plenty of others around to provide for our interest and entertainment. Families. couples, exercise enthusiasts,tai chi group, touch footy, frisbee flickers; the hum of french in the background, all in all not too hard to take!!

We arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport, Paris, to the most overwhelming stench I have EVER smelt!!! So overwhelming in fact that when Tone thought he might go and saw a guy coming out dry retching, he thought better of it!! Oh great! all the stories I'd heard about Paris and toilets were true and I was going to have to hang on for FIVE DAYS :(

Thankfully things improved almost immediately and within a couple of minutes two very friendly (and English speaking ) Parisiennes gave us directions on how to reach our accommodation. One guy ( from Bangladesh) traveled in with us, and he gave us the low down on the Paris way,which we have managed to adapt to pretty easily- late mornings, late nights and plenty of good food!!

Our accommodation - organised through Qantas Waynie, is modest and charming and most importantly clean with a more than do-able loo!!! It's located really centrally to the middle of Paris...walking distance to most major venues, or at the most a quick trip on thre Metro. I'm afraid I have let the Aussie side down amidst the tres chic European men and women...our first morning at breakfast - a buffet style incorporating many delicious goodies, not too many of them healthy. I had decided on the most wholesome option available, a hard boiled egg, sitting with amongst the savoury choices of ham, salami & cheese. I picked one up and tried a leeetle test to measure, if indeed it was harboiled. Alas, not so!! and I ended up with raw egg down my hand and wrist..and some on my clothes. My surprised gasp disallowed a discreet withdrawl ....

Tony in front of our hotel

The Parisienne's have been very friendly and helpful; there is an absolute magic here, it is a very relaxed way of living. The traffic is a lot less than London albeit much crazier; the streets are wide and clean as are the footpaths ( it seem that Paris has dealt with the potential threat of terrorism differently to that of London. In Paris public rubbish bins are still available, using large clear plastic bags suspended from a basketball-type hoops. In London it is very hard to find a public bin anywhere), and we have managed to get ourselves around very easily, well sign posted and public transport is prompt.

The type architecture of the city area varies - always pleasing to the eye. It's amazing what can be accomplished in stone, abundant carvings of symmetrical patterns; men, women, flora and fauna ; everywhere we have walked has had statues either of marble or bronze, some adorned with gilt and bronze ...really opulent but elegant at the same time. To be honest, I started out taking heaps of photos as everything we saw was so striking and impressive , as time has gone on I started to ease up a bit, as there are only so many of buildings you can look at!!! However I'm not going to spare you guys anything, you can see the lot!

View from Place de la Concord

National Assembly

Night shot of fountain at Place de la Concord

Our first night in we just walked along the banks of the Seine, soaking up the atmosphere and the surroundings; we had to walk past the Place de Concorde (where Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI were beheaded, among others!)with it's fountains and the gold tipped obelisk; past the gate to entrance to the Jardin de Tuileries which leads to the Louvre and across the Champs Elysses to the path which was adjacent to the river...so you can see why we were so mesmerized. Then to top it off ,over the river in all its splendor -the Eiffel Tower!!

We took the customary hop/on hop/off bus tour as we have found it's a pretty easy way of getting the feel of a place; Tony went to the third/top floor of the Eiffel Tower whereas I limited myself to the first floor as I am a great big chicken when it comes to heights - so much so that when I arrived I made my way straight to the cafe and wrote postcards. The tower has made a big impression on Tony - it's something he has always wanted to see and the fact that it's right there, easily accessible was a bit surreal. He made sure that at some point every day we at least saw a part of it!!!

Sideways !!




It seems they're all sideways!!

The highlight for me has been the Louvre ( surprisingly so, as I thought I would prefer to soak up the atmosphere and culture of the places we visited and leave the cultural intellectual tours to those less ignorant than myself!). Yet loved the exhibits we saw - Da Vinci, Reuben, the Dutch Masters,Micheangelo, Napoleons Apartments, housed in in what was originally a palace. We even saw the excavations of the original fortress partially intact underneath the existing museum .

View of the Louvre through the pyramid glass




At Tuileries Gardens with the Louvre in the background

The other place we visited which I really loved was Versailles...we had our only metro challenge to get there, but it was a cinch in the end. It was easy to see why Paris fell out of love with Marie- Antoinette...the palace is nothing less than a total extravagence . Pretty amazing for us to look at centuries later, but definately fuel for a revolution. The gardens were beautiful and we had a perfect sunny day to wander around checking them out. We brought a picnic and a blanket ( yes I travel with my own!!), so that we could lie in the sun, on the grass. A big mistake as it turns out. I kept hearing this annoying trilling every so often...it turns out that a man of short stature, dressed in black, sole reason for living was, to trill at anyone who had the smallest part of themselves on the grass!!! We, and many others, snuck off to a less public area to enjoy our moment in the sun. I seem to have misplaced the photos from this day as I took a great one of the Hall of Mirrors and it is no longer there...a bummer as it was the highlight of the inside. :(

Chapel Inside Versailles

Things we did

Bus Tour

Eiffel Tower

The Louvre

Notre Dame

Versailles

Luxemburg Gardens

Tuileries Gardens

Endless night walks

Aftern0on teas of French Pastries

Ireland

There are some i know who will appreciate that the bookings for this leg of the trip were to my advantage. For some unknown reason Tony's seat was Economy class and mine was Business. You may ask didn't she offer to swap? Yes she did ..halfheartedly and being the true gentleman he is, he declined- oh it was sweet!!! Happy, happy, joy, joy!!!

Having landed, some of us traveling better than others, we had a very trying trip from Dublin to Kinsale, our first stop. A 200 km trip took us almost 6 1/2 hrs!!! There were roadworks galore .We have since found out that Dublin has the worst traffic flow in Ireland. A combination of a large population, very poor road design and the fact there isn't much public transport to speak of. To hold us up even further halfway to Kinsale there was this huge traffic jam that went on for about 4-5 km!! We couldn't work out how it could happen on a dual carriageway!!! We get futher down the highway and there are signs every so often for an event being held that weekend for an Electric Picnic and you guessed it...most of the traffic was heading that way! See if you can guess what it is, we were certainly wishing we were back on the plane to London!

We reached our destination a lovely village on the south coast of Ireland - Kinsale. It has a historical connection to Spain as it was the harbour from which the 5th Spanish Armada was launched from..which explained several Spanish-named B&B's and restaurants...and i wonder if it has anything to do with the olive complexioned Irish walking around!!?

Our B&B at Kinsale

We have been lucky that for the 5 days we've been here it has been Irish Heritage Week...therefore most of the sight seeing has been at a minimal cost :). One such gem was the James Fort at Kinsale which was built by the British as a defence fort against the Spanish and Northern Irish clans. It was re-enactment day when we went. A combination of Dads Army characters (and antics), merging with stereotypical Braveheart warriors and cheiftains and lastly the Roman Army...all cavorting in warlike games..nothing too serious mind you as the Roman Army didn't even set foot on Irish soil!!

Tony on the steps of St James Fort

Our next port of call was to a place called Killarney- the place where Irelands first national Park was established. Beautiful Autumn scenery, rambling, narrow roads bordered by rustic handmade stone walls, trickling streams meandering throught the woods - we spotted a doe peering through the woods as we walked into town for dinner. Killarney became popular with English aristocracy and later with wealthy Americans ( are there any other kind?) as the lakes were full of fish. Today it is still the same with many of the locals spending their weekends donning outboards on their small skiff-like vessels as well as wearing the tradtional garb of waders and fishing hats..not a woman in sight! Truly a very much a male dominated pastime.

A group of intrepeid fishermen..note the outboard!

We spent our time at Ross castle, Muckcross House - a beautifully restored Manor with traditional working farms forming part of the Estate. These farms are run without the use of power and many of the people working the farms spent their childhood without electricity as it didn't arrive in Ireland until 1955!! So they either did everything by hand or with the help of horse-drawn machinery. Amazing really that this is within their life experience and we're not talking people that much older than myself ( yes i know i'm now OFFICIALLY old, bah humbug). Tony bought himself a little cap from here , a woollen one, it makes him look like his grandpa!

Traditional donkey..which is which you may ask!

We spent the next day travelling around the Ring of Kerry on our way to Bunratty...a special highlight...really going back in time, the scenery beautiful and restful..we had a lovely sunny day sandwiched between two rainy ones...really lucky

Beautiful scenery along the Ring of Kerry


At Bunratty we were part of a Medieval Banquet hosted at the castle. We had the tradtional medieval fare consisting of home made vegie soup; pork spare ribs ( yuk), roast chook with lots of garden fresh vegies...and mead and lager...which made for a merry night for some( not us). There were minstrels (a very talented violinist and harpist) which provided the accompaniment for the singers who whose voices resonated throughout the high ceilings of the banquet hall. A nice low key escape as we were pretty tired.

I admit to feeling an affinity with Ireland. Not only does it have it's similarities with Tasmania, it also has its own flavour. The colours of the countryside have greater depth and clarity.. the green is much fuller than home, the browns, rustier, a much warmer feel about it. Their culture appears to be slightly haphazard, a little more of going with the flow; they have a strong nationalistic outlook; their knowledge of their history and the struggle for independence is talked about as if was a very recent event...they still refer to time as before The Freedom or after.Their native tongue is now being taught again in schools, as there was a genaration where it's use was banned under British rule.

The sign posts on the roads were a constant source of amusement for us..I, funnily enough, was able to work them out easily and quickly, Tony however found the whole system ,a combination of frustration and humerous. Needless to say I made the most of my new found navigational skills and only put at risk,once, my mantra of "we travel well together" by getting seriously lost!

Tomorrow Paris!! Blog will be scarce unless there is an internet cafe close by

xox

A selection Of London Piccies

London Bridge taken from the gardens at the Tower of London

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament

Entrance area to British Museum

Sharing a "cultural moment"!!

View over the top of St Pauls Cathedral

and lastly, one for for emmyjane!

For Amanda and Dee Dee

The Gals





At St Pauls Cathedral. Nic back-packed Maddie up 452 steps!! What a machine!





A picnic at Richmond on the River Thames

The Bubba

Bath

Caught a train from London to Bath, taking Rose, Nic and Maddie with us..

Baths claim to fame is, of course, the mineral spas over which, firstly the Celts and secondly the Romans, built baths. Amazing really the ingenuity of both civilisations; in the use of the natural layout of the land to enhance the water flow, and to facilitate the drainage away from the main bath area. The natural springs pump through a million liters of mineral water each day filled with over 200 types of different minerals. This is why "going to Bath to take the waters" became the done thing to do!!! Today they have an ultra modern version which we did grudgingly dragged ourselves along to..a choice of an indoor or outdoor pool which incorporated a spa; four steam rooms (hard to handle I know) with this great shower area in the centre which,when you needed to cool down, massaged you with spring water. Unfortunately the two hours went only too quickly..

Another facet about Bath is the fact that it is an entirely in- tact Georgian city...and is listed as a UNESC World Heritage city accordingly. Set in a green English valley surrounded by rolling hills (known as the Bath skyline) there are still some areas with the original cobblestone streets; all buildings are in local Bathstone giving a uniformity and quaintness ( a soothing panorama to one with such a OC personality as mine!); and in the centre of the city is this absolutely awesome building - Bath Abbey. A monument to some saint or religion I'm sure, however as we didn't bother to find out can't add anything more here.

And lest we forget, Bath was home to Jane Austen for a period of four years and , as Amanda knows, the popular setting for many a Georgette Heyer novel!) Funnily enough, even though there is a Jane Austen Museum, she's not really pushed as a tourist icon.

We went on the Bizarre Bath Tour on our second evening there...hosted by a local stand-up comedian. Considering stand-up at the best of times could be dodgy, marry it with the English humor and it could've been quite "iffy" . It was absolutely hilarious, had all of us in stitches- well mostly. Maddie was very concerned about the (toy) rabbit. His owner set out to prove that his rabbit was on par (if not better than) the great escape artist Harry Houdini. Bound severely with heavy chains, which were then padlocked and weighted down, the rabbit was tossed unceremoniously into the river. SUSPENSE reigned as she waited for the rabbit to surface...with a sudden whoosh up he rose, chain and weight free. However did this appease the concern felt for the rabbit's well being. NO! As we continued to trek through the dimly lit backstreets every so often a little voice would pipe up asking "where's the wabbit, is he alright?" At the final banter, in front of the flood-lit Abbey, who should come and join us other than the rabbit hooning around the corner on a motorised skateboard!!! Hurray -peace at last!!!

London

London is fantastic.... so much to see and do. We managed to see a couple of things most days, some with the kids and some without depending on the nature of the venue. I reckon even if we had been here for six months, we still wouldn't have seen all there is.

A quick mention that everyone is doing well and have mostly settled in. The girls are living it up shopping, shopping and yes more shopping...there are an abundance of shops to tempt even the most resistant of shoppers ( however i did manage to limit myself to only ONE pair of shoes, and as you know a resistant shopper I'm not!!) Maddie, in six weeks has moved on big-time, lots of changes. It was great seeing Rosie and spending time with them all...

We were lucky enough to be staying only a couple of tube stops from the group household and a little further away from Rose. Another Trip Advisor gem. This one had a great system for the bathroom light at night. One night i got up to go spend a penny(!!) and thought , in an effort not to wake Tone i would leave the light off. However just as my cheeks touched the seat, on came the light. Wow was I suitably impressed with the sensor activation!! . The next morning i mentioned all to Tony , who then asked me to try it out again. Only too willing to share the discovery, I mimed the process again behind a closed door. The light came on! Tony called me out and lo and behold there he was with his hand on the light switch...he had got up the night before and turned the light on for me !!.

The food is amazing. were were told that London had stodgy boring food and it was hard to buy anything fresh...not so at all, it's an epicurean delight. In true Cole fashion food played a BIG part of our stay and the variety of types of food is awesome (asian, middle eastern, european, french patisseries) and they're really big into fresh and organic, so that made me a pretty happy camper :) It was lucky for me that within the first couple of days i had an attack of the bali belly which made it sooo much easier to resist the temptation of the yummy delights. ..hanging around with Nic is great coz she already knows the good eateries!

It's hard to describe the impact of being in the middle of a place such as London, where there is the evidence of the knowledge of history(people, places and events)right before your eyes. There is a sense of unreality as you see Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the Coronation Throne; St Pauls, Windsor Castle, The Tower of London and London Bridge. To see statues of Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth 1, Wellington, Nelson, Churchill; to walk over the crypts of Issac Newtown, Charles Dickens, to see the tombs of Queens Elizabeth and Mary; to see tradition enacted with the changing of the guards; to see the British Museum with it's displays of ancient and modern events and places...we were awestruck .

Things we did:

British Museuum
Shakespeare at Hampton Court
St Paul's Cathedral The London Eye
Tower Of London
Windsor Castle
Sunday Roast at Richmond after the Meeting
Soho Night walk - VERY enlightening
Westminster Abbey
Hop on, Hop Off Bus Tour
Buckingham Palace

Sorry no photos this time ---blogger keeps crashing every time i,ve tried to download them :(

Hong Kong

Sorry to all about the hold up...time management skills leave a lot to be desired...am on holdiays you know!!!! Here goes


Sydney

I felt like a bit of a traitor leaving Occy for so long, so as Tony was away for 2 nights I thought he could sleep with me. A good decision for the first night, the second however you could be mistaken that I had gone to bed with a flea..jumping around, getting up and turning around, grunting and snoring ( Tony tells me that he actually puts up with that every night..yeah right).
Leaving behind what I hope to be the last of my winter, I arrived in Sydney at lunch time. Spent the afternoon doing the Manly Ferry thing. Saw Harry Potter at the Imax..fantastic, felt right in the middle of it all.

Sydney – Hong Kong

This is definitely the way to go..a roomy comfortable seat with TV- mega movie choices, selection of several cd’s and last but not least a reclining bed to watch telly by. Managed a comfortable 3 movies on the way over, as did Tone...all in all a pretty cruisey way to spend 9 hours.

Hong Kong

Arrived and found ourselves at the hotel at about 8 pm Wednesday night. We managed to catch up with Tony’s brother for a couple of hours, pretty much filled us in on what to do and see over the next few days.
Tony scored very well on the accommodation. He did the Trip Advisor thing and came upon the YMCA , right on the harbor of Kowloon, overlooking Hong Kong. Our room had a fantastic view of the Harbor, never the same view twice, day or night. The harbor itself is very busy with the daily coming and goings of passenger ferries ( a popular mode of public transport between Kowloon and Hong Kong as well as to the outlying islands), fishing boats and cruise ships. Some days it was very hard to see across to the other side. The heat and smog made the air pretty thick, coupled with the humidity , other times the days were really clear and considering we’re in the monsoon season very minimal rain. Every night both sides of the harbor light up with a laser light show, a different format on alternate nights and sometimes a pretty speccy firework display to finish it off.

Certainly it’s an easy place to get around, I have decided to do the customary method of being five paces behind Tony ( no you are NOT mistaken I did say behind. Thought if we were to get through 3 months of ensuring my mantra of “we travel well together” had any chance at all, I couldn’t possibly forge the way anywhere!) NB However I did have one momentary lapse when I was absolutely sure I knew where we were going, only to find that I set a cracking pace way too far ahead of Tony as well as in the totally wrong direction. He did finally manage to catch me, panting and sweating( the heat believe me!) He said it was like following a flashing beacon as my hair caught the sun ahead of him!! I have yet to write my lines “I will not take the lead again”

I love the atmosphere here...there is such diversity of cultures and languages. Obviously the home-grown Chinese – the more affluent and anglicised Hong Kong alongside the more traditional Kowloon and New Territories. However along with these are there is a heavy representation of Europeans –Germans, Spanish, French, English; South Americans (surprisingly few Americans and Canadians) and tourists from other parts of Asia. Walking anywhere here is such a sensory experience, listening to different languages, seeing different styles of dress; some areas are quite smelly ( a union of refuse and heat). But the smell of food is tantalising, some areas are markets with fresh food available i.e. fish, dehydrated offal and seafood, as well as stall cooked food.

In spite of the size of the population here , or maybe because of it, there is orderliness. People travel in harmony, the sheer numbers on public transport are amazing and though there is a rush when the trains etc arrive there is also order in how they go about it. The streets and public areas are clean, lots of people around with brooms and pans; lots of signage about hand washing and there are hygiene stations at the entrance of many buildings, maybe leftover from the SARS days; there is a big effort pushing anti-smoking and in fact there aren’t any butts on the street.

At night, like home in the summer time, the walkways and public parks are full of people enjoying the cooler part of the day. On Sunday we were walking back through the ferry terminal and there were whole walkways filled with families having a picnic. They lay down thick cardboard on the cement (like a table cloth)and laid down their food to share in the middle and sat on the outside perimeter. Saw the same thing in the entrance to a park in the middle of the city...a gathering of noisy chatter and food!! Much like an aussie barbie.

Things we did;
· Dare I say a trip to the tailors for shirts and trousers; Bus trip through Repulse Bay to the Stanley Markets.
· Dinner at the Peking 1 and watched the light show
· Lunch at the cricket club with a friend of Duncan’s - learned the protocol of ordering and eating Yum Cha
· Night walk up to Central on the escalators in search of the night food markets. The escalators go up the centre of Hong Kong crossing over the small streets which have food markets, antique shops and restaurants
· Caught the tram up to the Peak, walked around and contained Tony in taking video shots. Those who have seen the last lot of HK photos will know what I mean!




View over the city from Tram going up to peak




The Tourists!!!

· Ferry trip to Cheung Chu a traditional fishing island about 50 mins from HK. Beautiful. A real mixture of traditional and modern China. A Buddhist temple sits across from what seemed to be a new-ish basketball court and playground. Soccer was being played in mid-30 degree heat by a group of enthusiastic boys! MacDonald’s sits in the middle of a street full of food stalls selling dried fish and their bits and eateries- really big on seafood naturally. Public toilets for women consisted of porcelain long drops. You’d want to make sure that the aim was good :)



Dried fish sold in the markets of Cheung Chu




Check the spelling !!!!!!


· Quiet day moving hotels , to the other side of New Territories, in preparation for departure the next day. Did manage to spend a couple of hours at the DFO adjacent to the hotel though.

WE WILL BE BACK