Tour of the UK with Cavell - August 2009

Kieran’s mum came over for a holiday so we decided to go on a 2 week holiday of the UK to show her the sights and also to see the sights ourselves. Following is a write up of what we did during the 2 weeks on the road. There was hardly a moment to relax!

Date: Sunday 2^nd August 2009

What we did today: We started to tour with a drive to Bath via Windsor castle then onto

Stonehenge finishing at our hotel in Bath. It was great to see Windsor castle and have a tour around the

grounds and the rooms. The queen was not in but we did get to see her corgis. While on the tour we saw the flags which were the payment from Blenheim palace for the rent of 2009 (see blog posting easter 2009). After having our lunch in the car to keep to our time schedule and to make sure we had enough time to walk around Stonehenge. Paying our small feel of £6.50 to enter and walk around the stones at close

quarter. It really was a sight to see and so glad we did make the time to stop and look (even if they are rocks).

We made our way to bath as the sun was setting and getting to the hotel in time before dark.

Date: Monday 3^rd August

What we did today: It was a full day as a tourist in the town of Bath. We walked into town as

we were staying pretty close. We started to day with a free walking tour which was actually free. Most free walking tours will ask you for a tip at the end of the walk. This one was put on by the council and very well done. As there were so many people they had 2 guides and they split the group in the middle. We however did not want to go with the guide that we were placed with so we walked over to the other group. When the guide we just left asked us why we went there. It was best to simply tell him we wanted to

go with the other group. He wasn’t too happy with that answer.

While in the town we visited and walked around the Roman baths. Which is obviously a must if you are going to the town. The history of which is very interesting. We finished off the day with some afternoon tea and some Thai takeaway dinner back in the hotel.

Date: Tuesday 4^th August

What we did today: Today we had a big day of driving ahead of us, it was almost 6 hrs on the road and lucky

for us it was raining, the only day it rained in the whole 2 weeks for the good part of the day. We drove from Bath to Avesbury (a large stone circle) and then onto the Keswick in the Lake District. Stopping to have lunch at a truck stop. Arriving at our BnB and finding we had to park at the top of a hill, this

was a new skill to learn how to parallel park on a very steep hill (good job Kieran). The BnB was very nice and we had a very nice room, and we would want to have for this was the most expensive accommodation on the whole of the trip. We gave Cavell the top room with the nice view of the lake.

After we had checked in we headed off for a walk around the town to stretch our legs and get something to eat for dinner. We settled on a pub to have a nice proper English dinner. The thing about the lakes district is that everyone brings their dogs along for the good walking tracks and nature. There were loads of dogs sitting around in the pub it was a really good atmosphere.

Date: Wednesday 5^th August

What we did today: Today is a very special day for us to spend in the Lake District. We

started out trying to hire a canoe in the Derwent Lake but it was just to ‘blustery‘ and they weren’t allowing people out L. They made the rules I guess. Instead we went on a very nice 2 hr walk around the lake and up into the hills with a view over the town. It was very nice you could easily spend a whole week going on walks around the town. We finished off the day with a look at the

Derwent pencil museum and got to learn how they made pencils and where the famous pencils came from. Kieran was even lucky enough to get herself a box. And a colouring in book for the boring times, or when she wanted to be a child again. That night we celebrated Kieran’s birthday at an Italian restaurant before we had to run to the car and then drive to the local theatre to see “A Midsummer’s Night dream” at the theatre by the lake at 8pm. It was a good show we were worried it would be modern and not classic to Shakespeare, but it wasn’t and it was really well done.

Date: Thursday 6^th August

What we did today: Today we travelled from the Lake District to Stirling in Scotland. Once

arriving at the BnB we checked in and then drove straight up to

Stirling castle. Being summer and school holidays it was pretty busy. They had a sign out the front saying the parking was full. We headed up just to make sure. To our surprise there were still spots but only a few we were lucky to get a parking spot. Many people behind us (following the ram). We had a tour around the castle it was very interesting to learn the history. There were gr8 views over the city. We were a bit bummer that the entire castle was not open but it was still a good time.

Date: Friday 7^th August

What we did today: After going down to breakfast and running into some Rude Australians

we checked out and drove to the (William) Wallace Monument. Driving out of the city and thinking we were getting lost we finally can upon a sign that which let us know we were going in the right

direction. When we got there we decided to get our exercise and walk to the monument. There was a mini bus which takes you up there but as we did not know when the next bus would come we used our human legs to get us there. The walk turned out to not take too long but was pretty steep it sure was a wake up though. Getting to the monument just before it opened was wonderful it gave us time to just stand back and observe it for a while. Something I am sure we would not have spent that much time doing. Finally it opened, we bought our tickets and headed up the 142 stairs to the very top. All the way up there were rooms off to the side with things to look at and entertain us tourists. It was all very informative. The views from the top were amazing and not as scary as I first thought. Although I would not liked to have been one of the builders up there though.

After visitng the monument we headed for the Falkirk Wheel the largest man made lock at Falkirk we ended up having lunch there and watching a few boats go up and down. It was a very nice peaceful time just sitting and watching in good sunshine by the water. After we had had enough of that we headed for our next destination, Glasgow.

Date: Saturday 8^th August

What we did today: We spent the day in Glasgow soaking up the sights and being proper tourists. We did a Hop on Hop off bus tour, we all got off at the ‘Kelvingrove Museum’ I went and saw the ‘Dr Who’ exhibit and it was rubbish. I was looking forward to it and then when I got in there it was just really boring which was a major bummer, think it must have been made more for children than adult fans. After our Hop on Hop off bus tour we went back into the major part of Glasgow for a shop/walk around. We ended up having afternoon teat at the willow tea rooms ( a Rennie MacIntosh’s tea room)

Date: Sunday 9^th August

What we did today: Driving to the airport car drop of at 7am, what a night mare I am so glad

we left early. All the roads were on a de tour and after following all the signs getting a bit lost we finally made it there on time to drop the car off and then check in for our flight to Belfast. Our

flight got in early as a result we decided to get the bus into town and to save some money. We then walked with our bags to the hotel in a rush. We had a tour to get in 40mins and were unsure how long the walk would take. We could have checked in then and there but instead we decided to put them in storage, we briskly walked back to the meeting spot for out Giants Causeway tour where we waited for 20 mins, so happy we rushed!

The tour was really good we learnt a lot and got to see a bit more that just the causeway. It would have been nice to have had the time to do a whole day tour but with the packed itinerary it was not to be. The causeway was good to see but to be honest it was a little bit small than I thought it was going to be.

Date: Monday 10^th August

What we did today: we started the day with a very hearty all you could eat breakfast and

then have a black cab tour around the city with ‘Fergus’. It was a really good tour and he even went for longer than he should have it was well worth doing it if you get a chance. We took in all

sights and learnt a lot of the history and the wars, we even got to see where the titanic was built. Once it was over we were dropped off at the train station. We took our train from Belfast to Dublin then a bus to the airport to pick up the car and then on to Kilkenny. What an effort that was. We made it all in one piece and even got to pick up our car early so we had a nice drive down to Kilkenny. We had a drive through the town it gage its size and see some sights. We parked up and had dinner in a pub before going on the search for our hotel on the out skirts of the town.

Date: Tuesday 11^th August

What we did today: Today we had a day out in Kilkenny, we wandered around the Kilkenny Arts Festival. As we have done in most town we visited we made our way to the walking tour. This one was not free and was no where near as good as the other ones we have had L Still got some info and a good walk around town.

Date: Wednesday 12^th August

What we did today: Wednesday was another driving day. Today we headed to Cork. On our way to Cork we stopped off at Waterford to have a look at the factory and shop for some crystal. Turns out the factory has been closed and the prices are still high even in the factory itself. We walked away without buying anything. Making our way to the city of Cork took a bit longer than we had expected, we did not get in until late. After parking and checking in at the hotel we went in search of food and settled on an interesting restaurant called “Kelly’s” located on the upper levels on the high street. This place was a house freaks, I guess they just wanted to get a nice home cooked meals. We felt instantly out of place and could be told as tourists straight away. Everyone in there seamed to know each other and were having a chat with the waitress. The restaurant had old 70’s carpet and curtains with a few Irish pictures on the wall. The reason we settled on this place is I was in search of some Irish lamb and this was the only place with it on the menu as we sat down and we got to order I find out they had just run out!!! Comon. Changing my mind we still had a good meal and it was good value for what we got, hence why they have so many regulars.

Date: Thursday 13^th August

What we did today: This morning we went to Blarney Castle to pucker up to the blarney

stone. Was a really nice grounds and was so happy we got there first thing in the morning right as it opened we didn’t have the crowds. We did take our time making our way up tot the castle and having a nice look around as a bus load of American tourist was storming behind us just as we were getting into the castle. All we heard as we walked up the tiny narrow staircase was all the fat unfit people who couldn’t breathe or walk up the stairs or even fit up them for that fact. We got to the top,

laid on our back and with Kieran’s top almost coming off giving the guy holding her a good sight. We headed back down and looked around the gardens. That afternoon we took ourselves to the Jameson distillery and went on a tour. Walking a bit too quickly through all the parts of the “non working” distillery we made our way to the tasting area. I (Glen) got to sit down at a table and compare Jameson with a scotch and bourbon. It was good! Buying some nice souvenirs we left. Kieran drove us back to Cork and that afternoon we walked around, there were no free walking tours here so we just had a wander around ourselves.

Date: Friday 14^th August

What we did today: It was the final day. We had to drive from Cork to Dublin drop off of the car and then get to the airport. We decided against going back into Dublin town we might not have made it back in time for our flight so we decided to just hang around the airport. Nothing special happened and we arrived back in London for the end of our trip around the UK.

Easter long weekend 2009

Cotswold

The Cotswold is an area of little of England knows for its little villages and cottages. All very nice and pretty places. We visited a lot of these on our Monday as we had a full day and were in no rush. From the bnb we had a suggested rout to take and almost finished it except it was a long day out. Most of the villages had rivers or streams running through them which added to how beautiful they were. When we arrived at the larger/more popular ones it became much more crowded and harder to find a parking spot.

The best way to describe these villages is a cross between Berry (in NSW) and the set of post man pat. Then you have almost how the village is. Lots of antiques and cafes, why do they always do that have antiques and cafes in these places that are usually frequented by old people? Is it to remind them of their past and then make them eat?

We had lunch in pub garden soaking up the sun…first we had seen in a long time.

By the end of the day we had sit down have a coffee and some scones.

Oxford Castle

Saturday saw us leave the car at the BnB and head into Oxford for a day of

sightseeing. You can’t really park in oxford and was much easier to get the train than the park and ride. Plus a benefit of travelling by train allowed us to use a 2-4-1 offer when you travel by train. We had our ticket and our little book of offers, with these in hand we walked into town and headed straight for oxford castle, we got in for £7.50, score!

We had a tour of the castle which was ok, but there didn’t seem to be too much to look at there. Don’t get me wrong it was gr8 and to get the history is what I like too. It just didn’t feel like it was big enough I know it was a castle just thought it would have been bigger/ more to look at. The castle was always used to hold prisoners and part of the gaol had been transformed into a luxury hotel (http://www.malmaison-oxford.com/) we were not allowed to go and have a look at these cells/rooms and defiantly could not afford to stay there for £275 a night!

We really wanted to do a walking tour of the city as they are always a gr8 way to learn about a town and the history. We headed down to the local Information centre to find out that all the tours had been booked up until Monday! Disappointed we walked on and thought right we will go visit the Bodlien library (we had read it was a must see). Upon arrival there we found out their tours were also all full up! Fine then we will just go walking around ourselves…that was until

we stumbled up a sign that said for tours wait here and some one will come collect you. There was a time indicating only 10mins from when we read it so we waited and a few more people joined then along came the tour guide. He was, how do you say it ….slightly mental.

The walking tour went for a good 1.5 hrs and our crazy guide was getting a bit much, interesting to listen to but he did have his own way of explaining things in the hardest way to understand.. There were also obscure references to politics and then talk about Portsmouth (no where near oxford) and how that where they shipped people to the colonies, he never said it like that but just that from Portsmouth is where America and Australia began.

Dinner at Jamie’s

While in oxford we went to dinner at Jamie Oliver’s Italian Restaurant. It is very reasonably priced the expensive part was for the drinks. We had dinner nice an early 6pm as you could not book a table and we wanted to get in early so we didn’t have to wait too long. Was good and am happy to say we have eaten at one of his restaurants. Although there is no evidence yep no pictures were taken.

BnB –

The BnB was nice, the breakfast was awesome and Kieran loved the home made

Jams but it did feel a little bit like were staying with a Nan. Not a specific Nan but just the way the owner was with her guests. I think some people would like that though.

The car

Was a Vauxhall (holden) Corsa.We have both agreed that no one should buy one of these. I am not sure if it was because we were useless or what but it was a very annoying car. The lights were always on, the windscreen wipers had a stupid way to turn them on and off and the rear one was on the same leaver. I don’t recommend anyone buying this car.

Blenheim Palace

Blenheim Place – Home to the current 11^th Duke or Marlborough .

First off it wasn’t the best of days to go visit, raining grey and a public holiday meant lots of people. While there we totally felt out numbered by the sea of grey hair and walking sticks.

All that aside it was still good to go there and see the place where Churchill was born.

From the day before we found a 2-4-1 deal for Blenheim. So we bought a ticket on Saturday for the next day. When we arrived at the gate we showed our 1

ticket (£2.50) and the 2-4-1 coupon which gave us a saving of £17.50…what a bargain. As we saved so much money we decided to pay for an extra tour of the state

rooms (where the duke lives) as it was open due to the duke being away. Was good to see where/how they live along with all the extra rooms and even a whole room just for displaying some china plates..thats what I call toooo much room.

Throughout the palace we got to see the beginnings and when and why it was built along with a few of the stories around the people who were living in there over the years. Was all very interesting and full of history.

We ended the day with a run around the maze (sure glen cheated a little using his height to see over the hedges).

Morocco

First Arrival
I wasn’t working and Kieran had to take some leave before it expired so we thought what the heck lets go travelling, as you do (especially when 1 person is unemployed). We decided on Morocco as it was warmish, cheap and in the dates we were free. That was to change upon arrival.

Finding the cheapest way there we landed in Marrakech on the Friday night before our tour was to start. In order to meet up with our group and guide we had to be in Casablanca by 7pm Saturday night. We woke in the morning and headed down to the train station went there by taxi and paid way to much, will tell you about money a bit later on. Walked up to the counter and found that our train was leaving in 3 mins. We hurriedly bought 1st class tickets (125 each = $20) and ran to our train. Making it onboard and in our seat just as the train was pulling away from the station.

It was a really nice journey in our comfy seats and watching the country just float on by. It was our real first look at Morocco. I was amazed to see that it was so green all along the train tracks and the rolling fields of green. Here we were thinking that this country would be almost desert and barren.

Arriving in Casablanca after our 3.5 hr journey we made our way to our hotel and settled in. The taxi there was much cheaper and we were learning to start how to haggle and what we should be paying.

Met up with tour group at 7pm only to find out there were 5 of us!

Eating Camel Meat

When I first heard that the Moroccans ate camel meat I knew I had to try me some of that. Always up for tying a new flavour, we spoke to our guide who took us to a restaurant that night to get a Camel meat Tagine. Along with me there were 2 others eating the dish.

When it came out it looked gr8 and smelt good too. After the photo shot of the food I finally got some one my fork and stuck it in my gob. It was totally not what I was expecting to get in my mouth. I could be that it had been slow cooked in the tagine but it tasted wonderfully delicious. Just like a perfectly cooked leg of beef. There was no flavour like that of game meat or the taste of kangaroo. It was very much like a steak The meat just pulled apart and tasted gr8. Part of me thought “ nahhh that wasn’t camel meat, it was too good and not tough enough”. I sure do hope it was the real deal I will be having that again. I must try and find it again and cook it myself to see if it really is that tender with the same taste.

Prices in Morocco
Morocco might not be an expensive country but as a tourist with 1 person out of work it was sure was to us. Granted we are probably being biased here as we have been to Egypt where everything was good and cheap without too much ripping off the tourist. We half expected Morocco to be

exactly the same. Now as a tourist and a white person in a foreign land you know that the prices are going to be hiked up just for you. After a few days in we started to get more saving and realise how much things should cost and how much we should be paying for taxis, etc. We made sure we would buy our water in a supermarket in stead of a corner shop as they don’t have prices on them.

We found the smaller (petit) taxis were the cheapest and on our last day

we had limited funds to get to the airport so we looked for the small taxi. The drivers of the big taxis were saying they are the same price as the small ones, yeah we know buddy we have heard that one before. Time spent haggling with them saying we only have 50 to pay for the both of us to the airport and then triple confirming that they agree we hopped into the big taxi. Upon arrival the driver says after I handed over the 50 that it was 50 each. We said nooo we told you 50 that is all we have and that is all you getting. He gave us a look of ‘ok alright you got me but it was worth a try’.

Hot tip, So make sure you learn your prices as soon as possible so you don’t have too many days of being ripped off.


Crappy Tour Guide
We had been warned that the tour guide for Morocco had been CRAP! We had hoped we got a different guide or the crappy one had left. Nope that was not the case, we started out by giving this guy the benefit of the doubt and with only 5 of us it could be a different story he might actually be good.

We were WRONG! Turns out if anything he might have been even worse for our group than the others as it was so small. We left Morocco feeling that we had not learnt anything about the history of the county or most of the builds. We did learn a lot about how there are 5 pillars of Islam, how pretty the girls are on our tour and that the guide has a wife in the US who sends him money. Didn’t learn all that much, as a result we can recommend to not use TRAVEL TALK as a tour company for Morocco.

Sights
Ok sure their might be a bit of negativity above and well we were swayed

by the guide and the blatant ripping off style of the locals in the big cities but we would recommend it as a place to go, just not with the company we went with. We saw some amazing sights and how nice the country side is.

One of the best places we went to was the Sahara desert when we got the chance to watch the sun set. It would have been amazing to stay out on the desert at night all on your own.

Last day without tour group - Waterfall
A girl on our tour Michelle was joining up with the next leg of her tour in Marrakech the same place we were flying out of so we had the whole of Saturday to do something. Michelle had read/heard about this waterfall that was really nice to go look at and she really wanted to go there. We had nothing else to do so kier and I agreed to go along. After finding a tour company to take us there (for ½ the price our tour guide got from a taxi man) we had a private 4 wheel drive to take us down there with 4 hr at the falls b4 we had to return.

At the falls we went to do a walk around but found it easier to get a guide. Glen didn’t want to get a guide and wanted to legg it down the hill with out any directions. I couldn’t see the point to hiring a guide when there were paths all over the place. We had 4 hrs to kill and could afford to get lost.

Update since last blog in August 08

Well it has been a while since anything new has been up here. I do apologise for that. You must understand we are having too much fun to be writing blogs. From now on we will try to keep then short and sweet. We really do want to keep you all informed and interested in what we are up to.

Redoak beer tasting – August 08

A birthday gift from Kieran was to do a taste testing class. It was more of a dinner and drink beer class which was wonderful. It was at a microbrewery in clarrence st Sydney called redoak. http://www.redoak.com.au/. I went along with Brendon, it was such a cool little place and what we got was excellent. Really good food that went well with the beers (the whole point of the night) and then we finished off with more beers after all the food. We had 6 beers all up and a 4 course meal. Just superb I can recommend it and even for the price it is really good value. As mine was a gift I also got 6 assorted beers to take home. What a bonus!

Bledsoe Cup Wallabie Vs All Blacks – July 08

During my time back in Aus I have been living with Cavell. As a thank you for everything she has done for me. I took her along to the Wallabies vs the All Blacks at ANZ Stadium at Homebush.

I decided not to drive there nor catch a bus. Instead we were to travel there via Ferry. This was a great idea in theory it was to be awesome in practice not so much. The deal was that there were beers on the ferry and then a bus to the stadium then a bus back and a ferry back into town, pick up and drop off out side cargo bar in darling harbor.

We got in early to get some lunch/dinner, have a few beers and wait till the ferry left at 5 pm (kick off at 8). It was a really nice day, we hoped on the ferry and took our seats after grabbing a few beers first. Nice little cruise up the river looking at all the houses (all though it was night and you couldn’t see much). We made it to the drop off point. This is where the theory fell apart; we sat on the boat for ohhh about an hour waiting for our turn to disembark. Finally made it off the boat and then we had to wait for our bus, Made it on lucky, ohhh I was standing next to (http://www.abc.net.au/tv/gruentransfer/panel.htm Todd Sampson from the Gruen Transfer….ok it was a slight brush with fame.)

After we got off the bus we only had 10 mins till kick off to get to our seats. The seats were at the other side of where the bus dropped us off and almost at the very top level. We had to walk very quick to get there, I had to stop to use the gents …to many beers. Cavell kept on walking. I got out and realized I only had 5 mins to get there from where I was, I had to get there and so I started to run all the time looking for Cavell. I had to legg it up the corkscrew and only just got to our seats b4 the haka….. Cavell was not there. I sat in the seat and waited for Cavell, eventually she arrived after not being able to hear me yell to her over the roar of the crowd as the game kicked off.

The game was good we won a thrashing 32-18. It had good atmosphere too. Getting home was another saga in its self. Hoped back on the bus and off to another pier for a pick up from the boat. There were hundreds of people there all waiting for their boats. Finally security came just in time to let Cavell though but not me. Happily Cavell came back and we waited together for the next boat. After a long cold wet night we made it back to the city at midnight and then onto the last train back and finally home at 1:30.

Next time I go I will be taking the bus and leave the beers at home, it was an evening to remember.

Goldcoast (Boys Weekend) – July 08

This weekend marked a weekend I should be going to Rock Werchter with Kieran and the rest of the gang. Instead I was stuck in Aus. Being down about not going to a massive music festival in Belgium I thought lets go to the gold coast that is just as good! I drummed up some of the boys to go with me.

We landed on the Thursday night and had hired a car to get us around. We all packed into our tank a giant ford falcon way to much room for all of us but was gr8 to have that space and I do love arm rests while you drive. That night we met up with Craig’s mate Cheynne who was in the hotel room right next door was a crazy coincident.

The Friday had us going to Dreamworld. Had been ages since I went on rides there. As Jarrod hates rides but still came into the park anyway, we had someone to mind all out stuff very handy. Went on the Claw the newest ride since I had been there. From the ground it looked pretty weak, when you were on it, it was another story.
That night we got some beers, port and other drinks for a night in the hotel and just played cards till the wee hours of the night.

On Saturday it decided to rain for most of the day, we went out to the shops saw a movie. That night we went out to Jupiter’s casino to try our hand at some betting. Unfortunately no one won L. Afterwards we hit the clubs, it we really busy out more than Sydney on a Saturday night (it could just be that all the clubs were in such close proximity of each other). It was a good night out.

Sunday day saw us driving up to Brisbane; we had to hit the new shopping factory outlet to see if anything was on sale at the surf clothing shops. When we were done with our shopping fest. I dropped Greg off at his nans and then headed into Brissy to see an old house mate Ellie. It was a good time catching up over a beer although I did crash her nephews 1st birthday party oopppss. We had to cut our visit short so we could get back to the Gold coast on time for jarrod to pack his bags and then take him to the airport.

Although it was raining on Monday that didn’t stop us for going to movieworld. Ohhh man was it the best choice ever. Due to the rain the park was not that busy, the rides were still operating though. I won’t go on too much about the park just that the new Superman ride is AWESOME!!!! We went on it around 4 times it was sooooo good.
When the park was all done we headed back to pick our bags up from the hotel and off to the airport to drop the car off and catch our plan.

The weekend wasn’t as warm as I would have like nor did it have the best weather I was looking for (after having no summer for the last 2 years). All up though I was out of Sydney for the weekend with mates, it was a good time away.

Grinspoon – June 08

It had been a while since I saw a concert (sept 07) and Grinspoon too. I thought while I am back in Aus bugger it I am going to go see some music gigs. Asked around and got a few takers. Another reason for going was to test out my new eyes. No more glasses in mosh pits (see living end post). The concert was really good, met up with the group before hand for some beers in a pub and then over to the Metro theater. They played a bit of their new stuff but heaps of their old stuff which is what we really wanted. Ohhh it was soo good to see a band live again and get into a moshpit once again.

Up the Coat Hanger - Jun 08

This weekend I celebrated my birthday by doing the Sydney Harbor Bridge climb (with Greg and Craig). Me having a fear of heights (remember the Eiffel tower), I did not even think of that as I made the booking. I was just thinking I have living in Sydney my whole life and as a Sydneysider this is something I should do, especially for my travels around the world I need to advertise for Aus.

I did not really have any fears of the height until it was too late and I was locked in all dress (in the sexy jumpsuits) and ready to go off with the group. The practice with the safety clip was fine. As we started to go out onto the platform over land to begin the walk is when I started to go weak at the knees. I had to keep telling myself just look out and not down and you will fine. Walking over the water looking down through the open grates was ok for me it felt very open and if you were walking on air at some points. As it turned out I was the slowest person and the only one with a fear of heights.

Scroll back in time……..the reason why they didn’t look after the person with the fear was due to Craig and me running (literally running) late. Greg was there and when they asked him if the other people have any conditions or fears of heights that will stop them from doing the climb he replied with a no. Not even thinking of me….nice. Craig and I after our run up the hill we made it to our time and the group. We just didn’t get the debrief about something! Must not have been too important. We did our breath test and were back with the group.

As we started to walk up the arches I felt much better, if I looked down I saw a giant piece of metal and I could tell my brain it was the ground ahhh… much better. The Views were amazing and we picked a cracking day to climb. After a week of rain looking towards the weekend was not good. It all came good and it was amazing just to look out over the harbour at that height and not enclosed by glass. It was truly amazing. We reached the middle had our pictures taken with the group and individuals. Then came the decent back, I had no issues on the bridge at all and by the end I was loving it and could stay up there for ages.

It was a really good walk and I can totally recommend it for anyone, even those with height fears.

After the climb we met up with jarrod at the Australian hotel, had some wedges and a few beers to enjoy the climb we had just done. The night started with dinner and many many beers at the Lowenbrau at the rocks and then kicked on to a whole bunch of pubs. Was a good night and great way to celebrate a birthday.

Globe Theater - April 08

King Lear

Today we went and saw King Lear at the Shakespeare globe Theater, was a really good show and for only a £5 it was a bargain. I had always wanted to go and see something on at the Globe after watching a few Shakespeare plays (at the globe) on the ABC years ago. I was happy to fulfill that wish. For the price of the ticket we were in the pit this meant we had to stand for ohhh around 4hrs. Standing for that long isn’t as bad as it sounds because you mind does not think about it due to what is happening in front of your eyes. The acting was brilliant and being so close to the actors was amazing. We were right at the front of the stage. I thought that my height would have been an issue for other people but it wasn’t. After the play we went to the pub around the corner and had a few beers in there along with the actors.

ANZAC Day April 08

Up at 4 am to go to the 5am dawn service. Sure it was early but had to be done especially when living abroad. I had never been to a dawn service in Australia but after leaving I have been to 2 and feel great about it. I think it has that sense of pride about ones country when away from it.

We were up bright and early to go down to the dawn service which was held at the NZ war memorial near Hyde Park. We didn’t get there too early as we still need our sleep and the others had to work that day. We caught a bus down and got there just as it was starting. Ok so we were at the back of the pack and could have got there earlier and actually heard every word they were saying. It was still a good atmosphere to be apart of. After the ceremony we went over to the Aussie memorial to watch the laying of the wreath.

On the way home we stopped at the greasy spoon (café) downstairs (from home) for an English breakfast, one of the best rewards after waking up early.

That afternoon Kieran and I went to the Walkabout (Aussie pub) at Temple for some drinks with the group of friends. It was a good big night and there were a lot of old fellas in there who served and they were having a wonderful time, so were we.

Reverse Clark Kent – April 08

I decided to get my eyes corrected through lasik (laser eye surgery). Had the procedure on the 1st April (no joke) I made sure it was after midday so the joke would be on them and not me muuhahaha, we were all safe.

Having glasses for the last 4 years I finally got sick of having them, and not being able to use contacts. I just kept feeling how restricted my active life can be when I really thought about it. Snowboarding at Christmas – needing to wear glasses under the goggles, swimming at the beach – will I be able to find Kieran on the beach? I though heck I’m overseas I might as well come home looking like a new man (well most people have seen me without glasses in Aus, so I am only a new man to my UK friends) and be more active with my new eyeballs.

The whole thing took only 10 mins 5 mins per eye. Really painless and very easy to do. I was in the clinic for around 3 hrs. It was an interesting feeling when they put the suction cap over your eye to make the laser incision to peel back a flap on the eye so the lasik can get through. It starts to go dark and not the kind of dark if you are sitting in a room with your eyes closed and no lights on. It was darker as if you were blind, there was just nothing. There was nothing that bad of the whole procedure. My eyeballs were numbed with an anesthetic. And when the laser when it wasn’t scary at all. Sitting the waiting room I was more worried about finishing my book before I went in (I new I would not be able to read for a good 4 days after).

When it was all finished and done. They took me to the recover room, more of a storage room with a few chairs and close curtains. A nurse was telling me about the eye drops I had to use. One problem there nursie I can’t see what your showing me!. I had to get Kieran to read them out to me later.

I was lucky to have Kieran come after work and pick me up, she didn’t walk me into any poles or make me trip at all and was a very good nurse out of work. I had to rest my eyes all that night and for the next few days. Not that you would really want to open your eyes as it stung a bit, like when your really really tied and just want to close them.. I did have to wear these very sexy (not!) goggles to bed every night for the next 2 weeks, Kieran loved waking up to a man swimming everyday.

The night of the surgery I noticed straight away how good my vision was and it was excellent. I loved it and now I love my new eyes.. Thank you cosmetic surgery.

4 Seasons in one day – March 08

This country has some really jacked up weather, it is meant to be spring and yet it decides to snow, we have a gr8 week where you only need to go out in a thin jumper. Come weekend and it decided to chuck it down full of snow and cold. I’m not really complaining too much just having a winge (been over here tooo long) it’s always nice to see some snow fall though.

Weekend Off: Tate & Avenue Q – March 08

Today we had a day out to celebrate Kieran not having to work. It had been a while since we had spent some time together and had made a whole day of something in London.

First we were off to the Tate modern to see an art exhibition by Juan Munoz

After which we thought heck we are in town might as well go see a show, so as you do in London we got some last minuet tickets and went and saw Avenue Q a musical with puppets. It was good.

To finish off the wonderful day out we had an ice-cream dinner….. Yep only ice-cream for dinner (we are so healthy us). It couldn’t just be any ice-cream we went to the Hagen Das Restaurant in Leicester Square. Ohhh man was it sooooo good, sickly good

The crazies are out (Speakers Corner) Feb 08

We went over to speaker’s corner for a walk around, interesting place but way to much religious talk. There were mostly Muslims and Christens ranting about their gods and how they will save us all. There was a woman who hated the Irish and anyone else who wasn’t an original English person from England………she was Scottish! Crazy mental people love that place somewhere they are treated normal I guess.

We will rock you – Jan 08

Kieran’s brother-in-law Greg came for a few weeks after the New Year. While he was over here he treated Kieran and I to a night out to “We will rock you” a queen musical. It was interesting to see a musical made up of songs that we all know (even some we didn’t but do now). The way the story was written and how they made it work with the songs was really well done. We can totally recommend it for anyone to see.