I started The Virtual Couch both on YouTube and here on Blogger in 2006 with the initial plan to stimulate my creative side. Sometimes life gets in the way and your plans get delayed a few years.
Fast forward six years and I have just completed a month of unbroken daily uploads to YouTube of my "60 Seconds on The Virtual Couch" project that was born on New Years Day, not as a new years resolution but more of a "what the heck, may as well give this a go" thought.
So after thirty-five videos (thus far) I am quite pleased at the results and the fact I've been able to maintain the momentum. Sometimes the videos I do are as much a surprise to myself as to whomever ends up watching.
I haven't really scripted or rehearsed much of the comedy skits I do, just start with an idea and ad-lib and hopefully something good ends up happening! Quite a few hit and miss videos to be honest, but a couple that even make me laugh when I watch them back.
So where to from here? Doing a video every day is a real challenge. Okay, let me re-phrase that as "doing an interesting and amusing video every day is a challenge". But life is about setting yourself goals and challenges and striving to achieve them.
Stay tuned, the Virtual Couch just may be a more interesting place to be this year.
Thanks to all those friends who do make an effort to watch my poor acting skills on a regular basis and provide feedback and encouragement it is certainly appreciated.
Feel free to join me daily on The Virtual Couch @ YouTube
Sunday, February 05, 2012
Saturday, July 09, 2011
Google+ : another social networking site
Finally the invitation from a friend worked and I joined the Google+ experiment. After GoogleWave and Google Buzz, perhaps Google+ will be the social networking success that Google has been aiming for in order to take on Facebook.
Is there room for yet another social networking website? Well, Myspace is more or less dead (I deleted my long dormant profile finally last month)and perhaps those with Android mobile 'phones will gravitate towards Google+
It certainly seems to have some more obvious and useful ways of sharing your information only with those who you want to via the concept of "circles" to which you add people (even those who are not yet on Google+). That seems to be a lesson learned from the clunky, bolted on privacy features of Facebook, so that is a tick from me.
Another nifty feature is the automatic 'upload' of pictures and videos from your 'phone (if enabled). These go into a private folder on Google+ which you can share afterwards (or not).
There is a few other interesting concepts I've yet to be able to test - "huddle" where you can gather a group to message together like in a chat room for instance.
The success and failure of the Google+ experiment will depend on how many friends adopt it and utilise it or see the need to.
Is there room for yet another social networking website? Well, Myspace is more or less dead (I deleted my long dormant profile finally last month)and perhaps those with Android mobile 'phones will gravitate towards Google+
It certainly seems to have some more obvious and useful ways of sharing your information only with those who you want to via the concept of "circles" to which you add people (even those who are not yet on Google+). That seems to be a lesson learned from the clunky, bolted on privacy features of Facebook, so that is a tick from me.
Another nifty feature is the automatic 'upload' of pictures and videos from your 'phone (if enabled). These go into a private folder on Google+ which you can share afterwards (or not).
There is a few other interesting concepts I've yet to be able to test - "huddle" where you can gather a group to message together like in a chat room for instance.
The success and failure of the Google+ experiment will depend on how many friends adopt it and utilise it or see the need to.
Sunday, July 03, 2011
Posting by email on my phone.
So really this is just a test blog from my phone to see if it works okay.
Got to love modern technology.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
A tribute to those taken too soon
It has been a while, and quite a bit has happened in my life and in the world since I last wrote something here. On a news note, there has been widespread devastation and loss here in the state of Victoria in Australia where I live from the most terrible of bushfires. The final toll is yet to be tallied and the mourning has only just begun.
On a personal note, I am in a much more reflective mood of late due to not only this, but realising that it is the anniversary of the death of my cousin Raine. At just 21, she lost her fight to cancer and passed away in February 2008.
I remember knowing that she was not doing well in the days beforehand, and one particular day I actually took a full hours lunch break (unusual for me as I often work through) and sat by the river, a strange melancholy mood on me.
It was the next day she passed away.
The past few weeks I've not been so great either, and yesterday I went for a walk and sat by the river again, and wrote a poem. I didn't plan to write it about my cousin, and I didn't even realise that it was the exact anniversary of her death either. What's more is that when I finished the poem, on the very last line the pen ran out. This was a brand new pen that I'd received recently (not a dodgy biro either). Kind of spooky or maybe just a coincidence.
So here it is; dedicated to my cousin Raine and all those that have been tragically taken from us.
Four is the number of seasons,
A full cycle has just passed,
And still I'm seeking the reasons,
Why you had to go so fast,
Your life cut short so young,
So many things still to be done,
Too many songs left unsung,
A dull ache in my heart,
Where I still am grieving,
So here I am turning to art,
To help myself cope with your leaving,
I've said my goodbye,
My precious memories remain,
To move on now I must try,
Some smiles I have to regain.
On a personal note, I am in a much more reflective mood of late due to not only this, but realising that it is the anniversary of the death of my cousin Raine. At just 21, she lost her fight to cancer and passed away in February 2008.
I remember knowing that she was not doing well in the days beforehand, and one particular day I actually took a full hours lunch break (unusual for me as I often work through) and sat by the river, a strange melancholy mood on me.
It was the next day she passed away.
The past few weeks I've not been so great either, and yesterday I went for a walk and sat by the river again, and wrote a poem. I didn't plan to write it about my cousin, and I didn't even realise that it was the exact anniversary of her death either. What's more is that when I finished the poem, on the very last line the pen ran out. This was a brand new pen that I'd received recently (not a dodgy biro either). Kind of spooky or maybe just a coincidence.
So here it is; dedicated to my cousin Raine and all those that have been tragically taken from us.
Four is the number of seasons,
A full cycle has just passed,
And still I'm seeking the reasons,
Why you had to go so fast,
Your life cut short so young,
So many things still to be done,
Too many songs left unsung,
A dull ache in my heart,
Where I still am grieving,
So here I am turning to art,
To help myself cope with your leaving,
I've said my goodbye,
My precious memories remain,
To move on now I must try,
Some smiles I have to regain.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Abortion
Here in the Australian State of Victoria where I live, there is currently a bit of a hullabaloo going on over a simple legislative change involving removing the "crime" of abortion from the Crimes Act. It is a simple change because abortion is not prosecuted any more, as most rational & logical people realise, it is a personal health matter & nothing to do with government or crime against society.
On the news.com.au site, a reader by the name of "Lucy" posted the following opinion, which I think says it all quite succinctly.
"Any decision regarding a woman's body and/or her reproductive system should be made between her and her doctor and the two of them can work through their respective morals, beliefs and circumstances with the situation. None of us have the right to tell any other person what to do with their body. If you don't like the idea of abortion, don't have one. Let others make the decision for themselves."
Well said Lucy and let us hope the upper house members concur & pass the bill.
On the news.com.au site, a reader by the name of "Lucy" posted the following opinion, which I think says it all quite succinctly.
"Any decision regarding a woman's body and/or her reproductive system should be made between her and her doctor and the two of them can work through their respective morals, beliefs and circumstances with the situation. None of us have the right to tell any other person what to do with their body. If you don't like the idea of abortion, don't have one. Let others make the decision for themselves."
Well said Lucy and let us hope the upper house members concur & pass the bill.
Sunday, October 05, 2008
A blog for Deano
I wrote a whole blog for you Deano (offline) and now I went back and checked my diary entry for Rome, when I talked about losing my mobile 'phone and you left a comment "what about the 'phone".
So months later you've been chasing me up, and I realised that I had actually read that comment overseas and edited the entry to say what happened.
Re-read the Rome diary entry Deano!
Waking up tomorrow for 5am (body thinking it is 4am) is going to hurt!
So months later you've been chasing me up, and I realised that I had actually read that comment overseas and edited the entry to say what happened.
Re-read the Rome diary entry Deano!
:)
In other news, I've finally put something else up on my YouTube channel
Not going to make any promises, but will try for semi-regular updates there, as I have a few things on my mind to do.
Waking up tomorrow for 5am (body thinking it is 4am) is going to hurt!
Friday, August 08, 2008
And the Winner is .................
Syd-eney ... Ooops, I'm a few years late. Actually Sydney is still the winner, no matter how much China tries to claim that these will be the best games ever, they have lost the moral right to such a claim due to the fact they are not a free society and they encourage tyranny not only within their own borders but without too.
There are only a few nations that can rival the hypocrisy that is the "government" of China, and of course one of those is the current administration that has occupied the White House for the past eight years.
But I will not be watching the opening ceremony tonight, nor any of the actual games coverage if I can help it. Not whilst free speech is stifled and censored, not whilst people are being controlled and repressed in Tibet, not whilst people are dying by the hundreds of thousands in Darfur whilst the Chinese government props up and supports the government in Sudan, which is in turn aiding the genocide.
Sure, we can say "well lets forget the politics and just enjoy the sport" but sometimes it is through sport that politics can be influenced. China has reneged on many promises for these games already, and not only that but choosing to hold them in a city which is already suffering from bad pollution and lack of water supply.
Much is touted about the successful economic prosperity of China in recent years, but at what cost? Does anyone remember what happened in 1989? Probably not many modern Chinese as the events of Tienanmen Square have been "excised" from the official history books in China, and we will never know exactly how many people were killed.
I remember though, as it happened when I was 17 and studying "Power and Political People" in my final year at high school. I remember the lone man who stood in front of a column of tanks and for many minutes halted the Red Army in its tracks.
On this night when everyone else is "celebrating" what of those who died all those years ago? I am sure their relatives are not celebrating.
There are only a few nations that can rival the hypocrisy that is the "government" of China, and of course one of those is the current administration that has occupied the White House for the past eight years.
But I will not be watching the opening ceremony tonight, nor any of the actual games coverage if I can help it. Not whilst free speech is stifled and censored, not whilst people are being controlled and repressed in Tibet, not whilst people are dying by the hundreds of thousands in Darfur whilst the Chinese government props up and supports the government in Sudan, which is in turn aiding the genocide.
Sure, we can say "well lets forget the politics and just enjoy the sport" but sometimes it is through sport that politics can be influenced. China has reneged on many promises for these games already, and not only that but choosing to hold them in a city which is already suffering from bad pollution and lack of water supply.
Much is touted about the successful economic prosperity of China in recent years, but at what cost? Does anyone remember what happened in 1989? Probably not many modern Chinese as the events of Tienanmen Square have been "excised" from the official history books in China, and we will never know exactly how many people were killed.
I remember though, as it happened when I was 17 and studying "Power and Political People" in my final year at high school. I remember the lone man who stood in front of a column of tanks and for many minutes halted the Red Army in its tracks.
On this night when everyone else is "celebrating" what of those who died all those years ago? I am sure their relatives are not celebrating.
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Another nail in the coffin of Australian TV
The other night I was watching TV, which is a pretty rare thing for me these days, as I have deliberately reduced my viewing habits to a bare minimum over the past few years, mostly helped by the complete lack of anything interesting to watch and my ability to download the television programs I really want from the internet (shhh supposedly its naughty to do that).
I came across an absolute abortion of a television show called "Hole in the Wall" on Channel Nine. I think I managed to watch about thirty seconds before I had to change it and watch an advertisement for tampons on another channel.
This "show" (and I hesitate to even call it a television show) was allegedly a game show where the contestants (c-grade celebrities dressed in appalling silver jumpsuits) had to contort their bodies to fit through styro-foam walls with shapes cut out of them.
Pure drivel, worse than Big Brother. But what is more scary is that it rated its pants off according to the story in the Age.
Oh good grief people of Australia, please prove to me that you are not moronic enough to regularly watch this complete dross next week. Send Channel Nine a message that we possess intelligence and want quality television!
Then again, this is the viewing public who think Sam Newman is funny, so I'm not holding my breath.
I came across an absolute abortion of a television show called "Hole in the Wall" on Channel Nine. I think I managed to watch about thirty seconds before I had to change it and watch an advertisement for tampons on another channel.
This "show" (and I hesitate to even call it a television show) was allegedly a game show where the contestants (c-grade celebrities dressed in appalling silver jumpsuits) had to contort their bodies to fit through styro-foam walls with shapes cut out of them.
Pure drivel, worse than Big Brother. But what is more scary is that it rated its pants off according to the story in the Age.
Oh good grief people of Australia, please prove to me that you are not moronic enough to regularly watch this complete dross next week. Send Channel Nine a message that we possess intelligence and want quality television!
Then again, this is the viewing public who think Sam Newman is funny, so I'm not holding my breath.
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Winter means Wonderful Colds
Some random thoughts whilst I am at home convalescing with a rather heavy cold making me feel less than healthy. Ah yes, the true indication of winter is that you get a cold, mostly from other people on public transport or from fellow colleagues at your job (which I think was my downfall). Roll on "tele-commuting" which I'd be happy to do right now, only where I work has restricted remote access rules to the point unless I have a company laptop (and as a contractor I never will) I'm not going to be able to do that.
Job is going well so far, so is getting back into the daily routine of waking up early and catching the train. It is surprising that after almost three months out of that routine how quickly one can become accustomed to it again.
Random thoughts on current events:
- Why Geelong is barely represented on GoogleMaps "StreetView" function, come on guys, this is the second biggest city in Victoria!
- Our Federal Government's obsession with content filtering on the internet at ISP level. For a variety of technical and philosophical reasons I totally object to it. If parents cannot exercise control of their kids in their own home (it is even easier to control what they see on the internet than on TV) then they have no right to complain about the content on the internet. I am an adult, and the internet is not for unrestricted viewing. But it seems all you need to do is yell "our children need to be protected" and all logical argument goes out the window.
- Ditto the above for photography in general. We are now at the ridiculous stage that parents cannot take photographs of their kids at school sports. We are becoming a paranoid society and it plays into the hands of the stupid minorities and more sinister elements of society who get off on "controlling" the rest of us.
- People with stupid opinions, especially in public positions should keep their mouths shut. Notable mentions go to a certain Catholic Cardinal in Sydney who exhorted (by inference) Caucasians to procreate more and cast doubt on Climate Change being caused by human activity. Another notable mention is a certain "television personality" who made a fairly crass statement (inadvertent he claims!) about a female politician who is now in hospital due to obvious personal problems that may or may not have been compounded by what was said and the ensuing media coverage.
Job is going well so far, so is getting back into the daily routine of waking up early and catching the train. It is surprising that after almost three months out of that routine how quickly one can become accustomed to it again.
Random thoughts on current events:
- Why Geelong is barely represented on GoogleMaps "StreetView" function, come on guys, this is the second biggest city in Victoria!
- Our Federal Government's obsession with content filtering on the internet at ISP level. For a variety of technical and philosophical reasons I totally object to it. If parents cannot exercise control of their kids in their own home (it is even easier to control what they see on the internet than on TV) then they have no right to complain about the content on the internet. I am an adult, and the internet is not for unrestricted viewing. But it seems all you need to do is yell "our children need to be protected" and all logical argument goes out the window.
- Ditto the above for photography in general. We are now at the ridiculous stage that parents cannot take photographs of their kids at school sports. We are becoming a paranoid society and it plays into the hands of the stupid minorities and more sinister elements of society who get off on "controlling" the rest of us.
- People with stupid opinions, especially in public positions should keep their mouths shut. Notable mentions go to a certain Catholic Cardinal in Sydney who exhorted (by inference) Caucasians to procreate more and cast doubt on Climate Change being caused by human activity. Another notable mention is a certain "television personality" who made a fairly crass statement (inadvertent he claims!) about a female politician who is now in hospital due to obvious personal problems that may or may not have been compounded by what was said and the ensuing media coverage.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Days of Laziness Ending ......
Ok, so I've not quite got the majority of my photographs up for public scrutiny as yet, so what exactly have I been doing for the past three weeks since I got back from overseas.
To be honest, I really don't know. Sleeping, reading, playing games, emailing friends, visiting family, relaxing ... generally not much. At the same time, I was following up a lead for a new contract job and starting to chase up other job opportunities as although leading the lazy life of an unemployed git has been rather nice, still have to find some money to pay the bills and keep the roof over the head.
So, I will be once again getting off my virtual couch every day and doing the trek to Melbourne via the train from Geelong and "working for the man", or in this case, another big bank.
I am actually looking forward to it, as this position will mean working with some friends from a few years ago, so there will not be much of the awkwardness when you start at a new role, making new friends or who to go to lunch or coffee. All that small stuff that is part of a being the new guy at any company.
I've yet to decide what to do with this blog, but would be nice to keep writing on a semi-regular basis with my view from the virtual couch on life, the universe and everything.
Who knows, there could be another trip in the planning too!
So wish me luck as I return to the world of employment as of next Wednesday!
See you on the flip side.
To be honest, I really don't know. Sleeping, reading, playing games, emailing friends, visiting family, relaxing ... generally not much. At the same time, I was following up a lead for a new contract job and starting to chase up other job opportunities as although leading the lazy life of an unemployed git has been rather nice, still have to find some money to pay the bills and keep the roof over the head.
So, I will be once again getting off my virtual couch every day and doing the trek to Melbourne via the train from Geelong and "working for the man", or in this case, another big bank.
I am actually looking forward to it, as this position will mean working with some friends from a few years ago, so there will not be much of the awkwardness when you start at a new role, making new friends or who to go to lunch or coffee. All that small stuff that is part of a being the new guy at any company.
I've yet to decide what to do with this blog, but would be nice to keep writing on a semi-regular basis with my view from the virtual couch on life, the universe and everything.
Who knows, there could be another trip in the planning too!
So wish me luck as I return to the world of employment as of next Wednesday!
See you on the flip side.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Photographs (at last?!)
I have been back in Australia for exactly two weeks now and if you asked me what I have been doing for the past fourteen days my answer would be something along the lines of:
"Errrr, sleep, play xbox360 games, sleep, eat, see family, see friends, sleep, play games"
So really nothing as scintillating or interesting as my recent travels. Ho-hum, am I suffering perchance from the post-holiday blues? No, but I can tell you I'm freezing my frickin' proverbials off in this colder weather!
Anyway, back to the subject at hand, which is the oft-requested photographs. I've inflicted a few lengthy viewing sessions on some friends and family. But realising that even I am getting sick of wading through 2200 or so photographs (even though they are neatly arranged in relevant day/place folders) I am currently whittling them down to a short selection from each place/day and uploading them to my FaceBook and MySpace profiles and also to a Flickr page (linked to the title of this blog or click HERE .
The Flickr set is a little abridged from even the FB or MS albums, simply because I don't like splashing friends faces around on the world wide web without their permission. FB and MS I can restrict to just friends so that is okay (in my logic).
In other news I'm currently in the hunt for a job, with some positive rumblings on one front at least. So I may yet be back writing my vlinewhinger blog in the very near future!
Hopefully by the end of next week I will have most of the photographs that I intend to display publicly uploaded.
"Errrr, sleep, play xbox360 games, sleep, eat, see family, see friends, sleep, play games"
So really nothing as scintillating or interesting as my recent travels. Ho-hum, am I suffering perchance from the post-holiday blues? No, but I can tell you I'm freezing my frickin' proverbials off in this colder weather!
Anyway, back to the subject at hand, which is the oft-requested photographs. I've inflicted a few lengthy viewing sessions on some friends and family. But realising that even I am getting sick of wading through 2200 or so photographs (even though they are neatly arranged in relevant day/place folders) I am currently whittling them down to a short selection from each place/day and uploading them to my FaceBook and MySpace profiles and also to a Flickr page (linked to the title of this blog or click HERE .
The Flickr set is a little abridged from even the FB or MS albums, simply because I don't like splashing friends faces around on the world wide web without their permission. FB and MS I can restrict to just friends so that is okay (in my logic).
In other news I'm currently in the hunt for a job, with some positive rumblings on one front at least. So I may yet be back writing my vlinewhinger blog in the very near future!
Hopefully by the end of next week I will have most of the photographs that I intend to display publicly uploaded.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Home safe and sound
Just a quick entry before I go to sleep to let everyone know I am home in Geelong West all safe and sound, despite Hong Kong having a category 8 Typhoon blowing nearish that made weather conditions interesting and our flight home delayed by over an hour (actually meant that my rush from the connecting flight was not needed!).
I think I set a record for getting off the plane, thru immigration, finding bag & thru customs .. less than 15 minutes. I even beat Ken, the limo driver who was picking me up, he was amazed that I made it out so quickly as the usual time is 30 minutes plus for most people he picks up from international flights.
Will write something tomorrow and get to work onto posting photographs up.
:)
I think I set a record for getting off the plane, thru immigration, finding bag & thru customs .. less than 15 minutes. I even beat Ken, the limo driver who was picking me up, he was amazed that I made it out so quickly as the usual time is 30 minutes plus for most people he picks up from international flights.
Will write something tomorrow and get to work onto posting photographs up.
:)
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Homeward Bound
Where is my damn breakfast? That´s my overriding thought right now on the morning of my departure back to Australia rather than any thoughts of the flight home or contemplation of the end of my holiday.
Yesterday (Monday) I had a very quiet day, said goodbye to Lauren in the morning (I think I was still asleep but mumbled a few appropriate things!) and James brought me up to Heathrow in the afternoon to the hotel that I had booked right next to the airport.
My homeward leg is a bit different to the last time I flew home, in that I have two stops, and three flights. I´m flying FinnAir for the first two, so will be flying 3 hours to Helsinki in finland first, with a brief one hour stop there. Then it is an eight and a bit flight to Hong Kong. I think I will try and sleep on this flight to reset my body clock to aussie time. Then after almost two hours in Hong Kong (probably enough time to get lost at the airport), it will be the homeward leg to Melbourne on Qantas for around 9 hours I think.
So Wednesday 9pm aussie time I arrive and hopefully be met by Ken, my reliable and talkative limo driver who will be eager to hear my gossip, especially from my Romanian part of my holiday (no doubt a few others are too).
It has been a fantastic holiday, and I promise not to make you all sit through 2200 photographs, but will post a decent selection on a web gallery (probably flickr) and in my facebook and myspace profiles too.
I dare say this blog will continue on, but with perhaps less exciting and interesting entries than the past six weeks!
See you on the flip side.
Yesterday (Monday) I had a very quiet day, said goodbye to Lauren in the morning (I think I was still asleep but mumbled a few appropriate things!) and James brought me up to Heathrow in the afternoon to the hotel that I had booked right next to the airport.
My homeward leg is a bit different to the last time I flew home, in that I have two stops, and three flights. I´m flying FinnAir for the first two, so will be flying 3 hours to Helsinki in finland first, with a brief one hour stop there. Then it is an eight and a bit flight to Hong Kong. I think I will try and sleep on this flight to reset my body clock to aussie time. Then after almost two hours in Hong Kong (probably enough time to get lost at the airport), it will be the homeward leg to Melbourne on Qantas for around 9 hours I think.
So Wednesday 9pm aussie time I arrive and hopefully be met by Ken, my reliable and talkative limo driver who will be eager to hear my gossip, especially from my Romanian part of my holiday (no doubt a few others are too).
It has been a fantastic holiday, and I promise not to make you all sit through 2200 photographs, but will post a decent selection on a web gallery (probably flickr) and in my facebook and myspace profiles too.
I dare say this blog will continue on, but with perhaps less exciting and interesting entries than the past six weeks!
See you on the flip side.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Cornwall weekend Friday 20 to Sunday 22nd June
Friday afternoon James, Lauren and myself jumped into their brand new little Fiat 500 and headed the 300 or so miles to the southwest corner of England.
For the first time on my whole trip about three quarters of the way to Cornwall I felt incredibly ill and we had to stop at service station fairly rapidly. No I didnt throw up but rather embarrassingly it was a very upset stomach that almost caused me to pass out with pain, as it was James had to grab my arm and he said my legs looked like they were jelly as we made our way to the toilets. Probably a combination of not eating a snack at the previous rest-stop and only having a coffee which was very very bad but I kept drinking it ... that and bouncing around in the back of the car for over four hours!
Anyway, after toilet break, an oatmeal bar and some lucazade fizzy drink, I came good and we were on our way to Redruth in Cornwall where Lauren´s Mum and step-dad Peter live.
This was also probably the saddest part of my whole journey as the house and surrounding towns (including St Ives) is where my gorgeous cousin Raine lived, worked and unfortunately died after an 18 month battle with cancer. She had passed away in mid-Feb this year, just weeks before her 22nd birthday,
In a way this trip was kind of dedicated to her as she always told me I needed to come over again and do more of an organised trip than I did four years ago.
Saturday we spent the day in St Ives, which was a lovely village dating back many many years from a Pilchard fishing history. The weather was typical english weather, dull, dreary and lightly raining for most of the day. It didnt dampen my enjoyment of the town of St Ives, even just to meet people who Raine worked with, to visit the cafe where she worked for many years and to see the church where her funeral service was held. I guess in a way it was my goodbye to her.
Sunday couldn´t have been more a day of contrast as we headed to the other side of peninsula, to Penzance, Moushole, and my favourite part of the day, exploring the Saint Michael´s Mount, which is an island off the Cornwall coast reached by a causeway at low tide. The island has a huge castle on the top, which is still in private hands but adminstered by the National Trust. It was fantastic. I really want a castle to live in!
In the evening was the long drive back, but we made great time, stopping in Salisbury for dinner.
I really enjoyed Cornwall, however still cannot get over how narrow the roads are in the villages and towns and the fact that some of them are two with pedestrians to boot!
Oh and I can tick off Stonehenge from my list of to see, we drove past it on the way down and I got a decent picture. I´d already been to a detailed musuem at Salisbury four years ago that had quite a bit of information on the circle of rings, so there was no need to stop. Plus the road was half-closed as all the druids were gathering for the summer solstice on the Saturday night so lots of people and police milling about.
For the first time on my whole trip about three quarters of the way to Cornwall I felt incredibly ill and we had to stop at service station fairly rapidly. No I didnt throw up but rather embarrassingly it was a very upset stomach that almost caused me to pass out with pain, as it was James had to grab my arm and he said my legs looked like they were jelly as we made our way to the toilets. Probably a combination of not eating a snack at the previous rest-stop and only having a coffee which was very very bad but I kept drinking it ... that and bouncing around in the back of the car for over four hours!
Anyway, after toilet break, an oatmeal bar and some lucazade fizzy drink, I came good and we were on our way to Redruth in Cornwall where Lauren´s Mum and step-dad Peter live.
This was also probably the saddest part of my whole journey as the house and surrounding towns (including St Ives) is where my gorgeous cousin Raine lived, worked and unfortunately died after an 18 month battle with cancer. She had passed away in mid-Feb this year, just weeks before her 22nd birthday,
In a way this trip was kind of dedicated to her as she always told me I needed to come over again and do more of an organised trip than I did four years ago.
Saturday we spent the day in St Ives, which was a lovely village dating back many many years from a Pilchard fishing history. The weather was typical english weather, dull, dreary and lightly raining for most of the day. It didnt dampen my enjoyment of the town of St Ives, even just to meet people who Raine worked with, to visit the cafe where she worked for many years and to see the church where her funeral service was held. I guess in a way it was my goodbye to her.
Sunday couldn´t have been more a day of contrast as we headed to the other side of peninsula, to Penzance, Moushole, and my favourite part of the day, exploring the Saint Michael´s Mount, which is an island off the Cornwall coast reached by a causeway at low tide. The island has a huge castle on the top, which is still in private hands but adminstered by the National Trust. It was fantastic. I really want a castle to live in!
In the evening was the long drive back, but we made great time, stopping in Salisbury for dinner.
I really enjoyed Cornwall, however still cannot get over how narrow the roads are in the villages and towns and the fact that some of them are two with pedestrians to boot!
Oh and I can tick off Stonehenge from my list of to see, we drove past it on the way down and I got a decent picture. I´d already been to a detailed musuem at Salisbury four years ago that had quite a bit of information on the circle of rings, so there was no need to stop. Plus the road was half-closed as all the druids were gathering for the summer solstice on the Saturday night so lots of people and police milling about.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Cardiff day trip Thursday 19th of June 2008
After my day trip to Portsmouth fell by the wayside (busy aunts & sick aunts) I was pretty excited to head off to Cardiff in Wales today for a bit of a day trip. Id already sussed out the ticket to buy with James (my cousin Lauren´s fiance) help, but to give you and indication of the prices of train tickets here it was 52 pounds (around $120 aussie or so) which I suppose isnt bad considering I went a fair distance.
The tricky bit was changing stations at Reading, although I had plenty of time between connecting trains. Thing was, there was no handy dandy big display listing all the trains & platforms that was accessible INSIDE the station (ie without using your ticket to leave the station - which i couldnt do) so I nicked around a few platforms and sort of thought where I should go, but ended up asking (oh the humiliation to my manhood ... having to ASK ... kidding!) anyway, turned out I was in the right spot.
At the moment the races are on at Royal Ascot (James was spewing as he realised he would have had an excuse with me being here to take time off work to go) so there were quite a few dressed up guys and gals strutting there stuff whilst I waited for my train (Reading seems to be an way point for trains).
A comment on the trains of UK here. There simply is no comparison to the Vline trains. The UK ones are fast, smooth and modern and the second train i caught, the economy reserved seats were equivalent to first class in australia with more leg room & a tray (no reclining tho) and im not totally sure but I think you can plug laptops into each seat so they use power rather than their batteries.
When i finally got to Cardiff the weather was brilliant, if a bit chilly with the wind (reminded me of Warrnambool weather actually). Cardiff is a place going ahead with seemingly quite a bit of new buildings and renovations happening in the centre of the city.
I had no idea where I was going so my first stop when I walked out of the platforms was to find the information desk at the station. Thankfully there were photocopies of a map of the centre of the city and the bay area which was detailed enough but only on an a4 sized piece of paper so I wouldn´t look a complete Mr Obvious Tourist.
Having said that, I got myself lost by not referencing myself on the map properly within two streets. Happily the city father´s had known I was coming and put lots of touristy information signposts pointing to the bits I wanted to go to (like Cardiff Castle) so I was ´unlost´ in moments. Well that happened too when I saw the big naff off stadium.
At the castle they told me there was a video presentation to go to, then i could go on guided tour of the mansion part of the castle that had been the home of the Maquis de Bute (this is from memory, i better google this later) who had a monopoly on the coal in wales and its export for several generations until it was nationalised.
Hmmm could have skipped the video presentation as it was just ummmmm wanky! I think they tried to present it at a level for school kids but it came off just really dumb and really didnt convey much information ... basically it was two teenagers being chased around cardiff by the various inhabitants of the castle throughout its history and a bit of a graphic of what it looked like over the time ...
The guided tour on the other hand was great. The house has been kept more or less as it was when the family handed it over to the city in 1947. So it definitely has a lived in feel. Was not allowed to take pictures unfortunately.
After that I went up to the actual keep itself which was a ruin, having been irreparably damaged during the English Civil War in the 1640´s
I grabbed a quick bite at the castle and then walked to find the information centre and asked how long walking to the bay area would take, and as it was only 30 mins (translate to 20 mins for me) I walked there. Funny how things look very different on TV, by which I mean I went to the Millenium Centre that has been featured in Dr Who and more in Torchwood. Although there was stuff being set up so my photographs are not going to look great, but I did get a picture of myself in front of what i think is the back entrance to Torchwood.
After a wander around the foreshore area, I walked up to a cinema complex that also hosted a Dr Who exhibition with some of costumes and props from Dr Who. So more photos there.
The rest of the day I wandered around and eventually decided to have a beer whilst I waited for my train back to Guildford. Tried a local ale called Brain which was okay, but decided to finished off with a Guiness.
Trains were a bit late so my admiration of the efficiency of the rail system here was a bit dented! But at least they explained why fairly promptly and we made up the time.
I enjoyed the day in Cardiff, but I think Edinburgh was still my favourite place so far on this trip.
2163 photographs is the count so far. Some of you may have seen the random ones I´ve stuck up on facebook. I promise promise promise when I get back on Thursday I will have a gallery up on somewhere (flickr etc).
The tricky bit was changing stations at Reading, although I had plenty of time between connecting trains. Thing was, there was no handy dandy big display listing all the trains & platforms that was accessible INSIDE the station (ie without using your ticket to leave the station - which i couldnt do) so I nicked around a few platforms and sort of thought where I should go, but ended up asking (oh the humiliation to my manhood ... having to ASK ... kidding!) anyway, turned out I was in the right spot.
At the moment the races are on at Royal Ascot (James was spewing as he realised he would have had an excuse with me being here to take time off work to go) so there were quite a few dressed up guys and gals strutting there stuff whilst I waited for my train (Reading seems to be an way point for trains).
A comment on the trains of UK here. There simply is no comparison to the Vline trains. The UK ones are fast, smooth and modern and the second train i caught, the economy reserved seats were equivalent to first class in australia with more leg room & a tray (no reclining tho) and im not totally sure but I think you can plug laptops into each seat so they use power rather than their batteries.
When i finally got to Cardiff the weather was brilliant, if a bit chilly with the wind (reminded me of Warrnambool weather actually). Cardiff is a place going ahead with seemingly quite a bit of new buildings and renovations happening in the centre of the city.
I had no idea where I was going so my first stop when I walked out of the platforms was to find the information desk at the station. Thankfully there were photocopies of a map of the centre of the city and the bay area which was detailed enough but only on an a4 sized piece of paper so I wouldn´t look a complete Mr Obvious Tourist.
Having said that, I got myself lost by not referencing myself on the map properly within two streets. Happily the city father´s had known I was coming and put lots of touristy information signposts pointing to the bits I wanted to go to (like Cardiff Castle) so I was ´unlost´ in moments. Well that happened too when I saw the big naff off stadium.
At the castle they told me there was a video presentation to go to, then i could go on guided tour of the mansion part of the castle that had been the home of the Maquis de Bute (this is from memory, i better google this later) who had a monopoly on the coal in wales and its export for several generations until it was nationalised.
Hmmm could have skipped the video presentation as it was just ummmmm wanky! I think they tried to present it at a level for school kids but it came off just really dumb and really didnt convey much information ... basically it was two teenagers being chased around cardiff by the various inhabitants of the castle throughout its history and a bit of a graphic of what it looked like over the time ...
The guided tour on the other hand was great. The house has been kept more or less as it was when the family handed it over to the city in 1947. So it definitely has a lived in feel. Was not allowed to take pictures unfortunately.
After that I went up to the actual keep itself which was a ruin, having been irreparably damaged during the English Civil War in the 1640´s
I grabbed a quick bite at the castle and then walked to find the information centre and asked how long walking to the bay area would take, and as it was only 30 mins (translate to 20 mins for me) I walked there. Funny how things look very different on TV, by which I mean I went to the Millenium Centre that has been featured in Dr Who and more in Torchwood. Although there was stuff being set up so my photographs are not going to look great, but I did get a picture of myself in front of what i think is the back entrance to Torchwood.
After a wander around the foreshore area, I walked up to a cinema complex that also hosted a Dr Who exhibition with some of costumes and props from Dr Who. So more photos there.
The rest of the day I wandered around and eventually decided to have a beer whilst I waited for my train back to Guildford. Tried a local ale called Brain which was okay, but decided to finished off with a Guiness.
Trains were a bit late so my admiration of the efficiency of the rail system here was a bit dented! But at least they explained why fairly promptly and we made up the time.
I enjoyed the day in Cardiff, but I think Edinburgh was still my favourite place so far on this trip.
2163 photographs is the count so far. Some of you may have seen the random ones I´ve stuck up on facebook. I promise promise promise when I get back on Thursday I will have a gallery up on somewhere (flickr etc).
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Guildford - June 16 to June 18
Ok, Im almost up to date! Yeah I have been slack with my blogging but hopefully everything has been covered so far. The past few days here have just been chill out days really, kind of like the few days in Romania, think I have really needed a bit of a wind down after the three weeks on the go touring.
I did plan to visit Portsmouth today (Wed 18th) but unfortunately the auntie I planned to visit was really busy all this week, so no time to catch up, which was a bit disappointing but hopefully catch her next time i come (which I am thinking might be later this year).
Tomorrow Im off to Cardiff in Wales for the day, then on Friday night we are driving down to St Ives in Cornwall (south west england) for the weekend. Monday is my last day in UK, and James and Lauren will drive me up to heathrow to the hotel that Im staying at overnight and Tuesday I will fly out in the morning and arrive Wed night Aussie time to be picked up by my chauffeur.
(yes Im blogging future dates, in case I dont get a chance to blog before I leave).
I did plan to visit Portsmouth today (Wed 18th) but unfortunately the auntie I planned to visit was really busy all this week, so no time to catch up, which was a bit disappointing but hopefully catch her next time i come (which I am thinking might be later this year).
Tomorrow Im off to Cardiff in Wales for the day, then on Friday night we are driving down to St Ives in Cornwall (south west england) for the weekend. Monday is my last day in UK, and James and Lauren will drive me up to heathrow to the hotel that Im staying at overnight and Tuesday I will fly out in the morning and arrive Wed night Aussie time to be picked up by my chauffeur.
(yes Im blogging future dates, in case I dont get a chance to blog before I leave).
Sunday June 15 - London day trip
After meeting Lauren yesterday we had travelled back to Guildford which is about a 30 minute train ride south of London. Had to drag the bag through a couple of underground stops and then thru Waterloo Station (kept thinking of the Bourne Ultimatum which was filmed there) thank goodness Lauren met me in London as I´d have had fun doing it myself.
Hmmm the trains here in London are sooooooo much nicer than than Vline ones and alot faster! Ooops, wrong blog (vlinewhinger may get resurrected).
Anyway, Sunday we had decided to do a day trip up to London and we visited the British Museum which was totally amazing and we only had time just to wander around the ancient history of Egypt and the middle east.
Oh look ... some Mummies, and there is a part of the beard of the Sphinx, and the Rosetta Stone ... is that enough history to take in for an afternoon!!
Lunch was in Covent Gardens in a great little mexican restaurant which served only organic food.
So in all in all it was a great day just wandering around with Lauren and getting to know her.
Hmmm the trains here in London are sooooooo much nicer than than Vline ones and alot faster! Ooops, wrong blog (vlinewhinger may get resurrected).
Anyway, Sunday we had decided to do a day trip up to London and we visited the British Museum which was totally amazing and we only had time just to wander around the ancient history of Egypt and the middle east.
Oh look ... some Mummies, and there is a part of the beard of the Sphinx, and the Rosetta Stone ... is that enough history to take in for an afternoon!!
Lunch was in Covent Gardens in a great little mexican restaurant which served only organic food.
So in all in all it was a great day just wandering around with Lauren and getting to know her.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Scottish Tour sunday June 8 to Saturday June 14
I have to confess to laziness with regard to keeping a travel diary for Scotland, but for completeness sake I need to at least list the highlights of the week I spent travelling around that wonderful country and share some of the stories.
Sunday morning I got a cooked breakfast in my room which got me started and I went downstairs to join up the tour, as it turned out we had a small group compared to the previous tour I did where there were 44 people, this time only 25, so plenty of room on the coach.
there was a mixed bag of people, less new zealanders than last time, but they were amongst the first to talk to me. Amongst the other nationalities were Canadian, french-canadian, australian, indian and american.
It was a long drive up to Edinburgh where we stayed the first two nights and we had a great hotel in both quality and location, which was overlooking the old city, I have some great photos of the castle and the the view.
I have to say that Edinburgh is the first city I have felt totally at home and relaxed in for the whole tour. It just had a familiar air about it. There was no other city that gave me that feeling.
We explored the city with a local guide and ended up in the castle, which was just fantastic. I am an avid fan of castles, and if i could have a fantasy home, then that would be it!
The only real optional extra for the tour was the scottish folklore night, which turned out to be a little too cheesy and unfortunately with fairly ordinary food. It certainly was not worth the 50 pounds cost. Particularly not when we met up with some people who got free tickets to the night cos they had been staying at the hotel that it was hosted in.
That particular night turned out to be fairly random, with the canadian girl Margaret, myself, one of the french canadian girls Caroline meeting up with four other people who themselves were strangers to each other (well it was a couple from yorkshire and two guys who knew each other .. Harry from Finland and Renno who was also french canadian ...) they all wanted to go out, so we headed out to the nearest pub ... Renno was funny as he was in full scottish regalia having bought himself a kilt, shirt and shoes ...
The first pub I asked whether they would be closing soon (as it was 10.30pm and some pubs seem to shut smartly at 11pm) ... well, the barmaid was from Australia ... adelaide to be exact. The night kicked on and we ended up in the Old Town at a bar and having a great time ... until i remembered we had to be up early to head off in the morning. So we called it a night at 2am or so and just going back to my above point, in no other city would I have considered wandering around drunk as I was, but it felt like a typical night out in Melbourne.
After Edinburgh we drove further into the highlands, stopping at St Andrews, the home of golf and also nearby on the beach is where the scene for Chariots of Fire was filmed. By this stage of the tour Id become friendly with Cathy and Ian, a couple from near Mortlake in Victoria, they were a lovely couple and it was their first time overseas, most mornings we sat together and were joined by Margaret, a canadian girl with no fear of going out to the wee hours (she had way more stamina than me!).
We also visited a whiskey distillery for the Glenlivet brand and I tasted an 18 year old sample which was delicious and smooth. You could tell the non whiskey drinkers by the cries of ´oh it burns it burns´ which was most amusing.
The third night we stayed at a ski resort town of Aviemore with a hotel room that had views of the mountains (some of which had snow on them) and forest ... another postcard moment, this was in the Cairngorm Mountains.
It was the next morning that I had haggis for breakfast, although Id tasted it the night in Edinburgh. It really was just like spicy mince, and not at all what you would think. I drew the line at having black pudding though! (congealed blood).
After Aviemore on day four we drove onward ( I think it was day three we caught a brief glimpse of Balmoral Castle ... no chance of a photo there as too many high trees and we didnt stop (well you are not allowed to). We drove through the battlefield of Culloden Moor and saw all the flags, but we didnt stop, which was a shame.
Our first stop of the day was at Iverness, the highland capital and then we headed on again this time stopping at Loch Ness .... nope, didnt see the monster ....or did I?? (you will have to wait for the photos).
After Loch Ness we stopped for photos again at the castle that was in the first highlander film - Eilean Donan Castle. No chance of a toilet stop there as about 50 billion coaches full of 80+ year olds who all lined up for probably one toilet in the tourist information place.
Hmm this blog is sounding just like a driving description, but to be fair, we did an awful lot of driving that day - not that it worried me as the scenery was just spectacular.
After crossing a bridge, driving across the Island of Skye, we caught a ferry, which Margaret got pretty excited about as she had never been on a ferry before.
The next photo stop of this long driving day was at Glenfinnan, the alleged site of where Bonnie Prince Charlie hoisted his standard in 1745 (that led to the battle of Culloden after they retreated back from just outside London). Also nearby this stop was a bridge that has appeared in Harry Potter films, so I took a photo of that too.
Our stop for day 4 and day 5 was a town called Oba,which is a fishing port. It was a nice little town, if a bit on the tired side and in need of a spruce up. That kind of described our hotel, which was quite nice but definitely in need of renovation. Ended up at a bar next door for a few hours talking with the locals who were all pretty friendly, although it did take me a bit to tune into the accent!
Day 5 we headed from Oban by ferry (the coach came on the ferry) and we drove across the Island of Mull to get to another ferry to the Isle of Iona ... that was a pretty little town with a rebuilt Abbey where in 563 St Columba established one of the first Christian monasteries on british soil.
that night we had to fend for ourselves for dinner in Oban and a few of us did a recce on the main street and found a homely little fish n chip restaurant and booked a table. About 8 of us turned up there, and were charmed by the young scottish girl who was the maitre´d .. she had everything under control, busily clearing tables, taking orders, making small talk and ordering other staff around ...she was awesome! Funnily enough the four kiwis turned up at the same place, so we gave the a bit of a ribbing about following aussies (well we had americans and canadians on the table but most of us were aussie) the locals had no idea what to make of us as we were quite loud but the maitre´d thought it was hilarious and even said when we left that she´d miss all the fun. We ended up giving her a fairly generous tip, as the food was served promptly and it was delicious.
Afterwards we had some drinks at the hotel and were entertained by a strange old guy who joined us and was trying to crack onto one of the american women ... no chance!
Day 6 we visited Inveraray which was a lovely little town, there was a piper at the coach parking who piped us in, which was pretty cool. It was here that I managed to pick up a nice gift for my cousin Lauren of a cashmere scarf, (which she loved when I gave it to her). Ian, Cathy and I went to a little cafe where I had the most delicious piece of pavola EVER! Another local (old guy) started talking to us there and he had the thickest accent yet I´ve heard in Scotland.
Ian couldn´t understand a word he was saying, but I could follow most of it, and he was saying how most of the barstaff were australians plus some worked at the bank in the town. He was also telling us to go in a certain door at the local hotel because then we would get cheaper prices ... too bad we were only stopping there for about 45 minutes!
We stopped again at the Rest and be Thankful road and Loch Lomond, where we got a group shot (organised by ourselves) and thank you to the random woman who took about 5 shots using different cameras and took direction from me as to the best spot to stand to take it!
Then we left the highlands and headed to Glasgow. Which reminded me a bit of the feel of Sydney. We only had a few hours to wander around the main centre of the city, but it was pretty nice and we ran into some fantastic buskers - a bagpiper, two drummers and two african guys playing bongo drums - Im telling you it totally rocked! (and yes i recorded a bit of it on video).
Then Angela (aussie woman) and Beth (american woman) and I searched the streets of Glasgow for a pub .... after asking locals who didnt seem to know where any pubs were we found a reasonable pub to have a quick pint at before we had to head back to the meeting point. I also spotted Dr who´s tardis in two different spots in the city (and had also spotted it in Edinburgh).
The hotel where we were staying at was really nice, probably one of the nicest of the both tours i have done and certainly the most organised when it came to dinner! AND it even had free internet which was just awesome ... although there was much entertainment as there was a school social on at the hotel, so lots of girls and guys running around drunk at all hours of the night!
Day 7 was the long long long drive back to London - not everyone came back with us, the french canadian girls had left us at glasgow to pick up a camper van .... interesting fact there was that the girl (amelie) doing the driving had only driven manuals three times and never had driven a big van before ... I think she was quite stressed especially as some of the roads they would be driving on were really just footpaths in disguise!
Eventually we got back to London and I was worried about hooking up with my cousin Lauren, but needn´t have worried as I literally stepped off the coach and she was there!
Hmmm well this has been a long blog entry and Ive probably missed out some stuff if I had been keeping it every day - ah well, the photographs will tell the story of what a beautiful country Scotland is - Im definitely coming back.
Sunday morning I got a cooked breakfast in my room which got me started and I went downstairs to join up the tour, as it turned out we had a small group compared to the previous tour I did where there were 44 people, this time only 25, so plenty of room on the coach.
there was a mixed bag of people, less new zealanders than last time, but they were amongst the first to talk to me. Amongst the other nationalities were Canadian, french-canadian, australian, indian and american.
It was a long drive up to Edinburgh where we stayed the first two nights and we had a great hotel in both quality and location, which was overlooking the old city, I have some great photos of the castle and the the view.
I have to say that Edinburgh is the first city I have felt totally at home and relaxed in for the whole tour. It just had a familiar air about it. There was no other city that gave me that feeling.
We explored the city with a local guide and ended up in the castle, which was just fantastic. I am an avid fan of castles, and if i could have a fantasy home, then that would be it!
The only real optional extra for the tour was the scottish folklore night, which turned out to be a little too cheesy and unfortunately with fairly ordinary food. It certainly was not worth the 50 pounds cost. Particularly not when we met up with some people who got free tickets to the night cos they had been staying at the hotel that it was hosted in.
That particular night turned out to be fairly random, with the canadian girl Margaret, myself, one of the french canadian girls Caroline meeting up with four other people who themselves were strangers to each other (well it was a couple from yorkshire and two guys who knew each other .. Harry from Finland and Renno who was also french canadian ...) they all wanted to go out, so we headed out to the nearest pub ... Renno was funny as he was in full scottish regalia having bought himself a kilt, shirt and shoes ...
The first pub I asked whether they would be closing soon (as it was 10.30pm and some pubs seem to shut smartly at 11pm) ... well, the barmaid was from Australia ... adelaide to be exact. The night kicked on and we ended up in the Old Town at a bar and having a great time ... until i remembered we had to be up early to head off in the morning. So we called it a night at 2am or so and just going back to my above point, in no other city would I have considered wandering around drunk as I was, but it felt like a typical night out in Melbourne.
After Edinburgh we drove further into the highlands, stopping at St Andrews, the home of golf and also nearby on the beach is where the scene for Chariots of Fire was filmed. By this stage of the tour Id become friendly with Cathy and Ian, a couple from near Mortlake in Victoria, they were a lovely couple and it was their first time overseas, most mornings we sat together and were joined by Margaret, a canadian girl with no fear of going out to the wee hours (she had way more stamina than me!).
We also visited a whiskey distillery for the Glenlivet brand and I tasted an 18 year old sample which was delicious and smooth. You could tell the non whiskey drinkers by the cries of ´oh it burns it burns´ which was most amusing.
The third night we stayed at a ski resort town of Aviemore with a hotel room that had views of the mountains (some of which had snow on them) and forest ... another postcard moment, this was in the Cairngorm Mountains.
It was the next morning that I had haggis for breakfast, although Id tasted it the night in Edinburgh. It really was just like spicy mince, and not at all what you would think. I drew the line at having black pudding though! (congealed blood).
After Aviemore on day four we drove onward ( I think it was day three we caught a brief glimpse of Balmoral Castle ... no chance of a photo there as too many high trees and we didnt stop (well you are not allowed to). We drove through the battlefield of Culloden Moor and saw all the flags, but we didnt stop, which was a shame.
Our first stop of the day was at Iverness, the highland capital and then we headed on again this time stopping at Loch Ness .... nope, didnt see the monster ....or did I?? (you will have to wait for the photos).
After Loch Ness we stopped for photos again at the castle that was in the first highlander film - Eilean Donan Castle. No chance of a toilet stop there as about 50 billion coaches full of 80+ year olds who all lined up for probably one toilet in the tourist information place.
Hmm this blog is sounding just like a driving description, but to be fair, we did an awful lot of driving that day - not that it worried me as the scenery was just spectacular.
After crossing a bridge, driving across the Island of Skye, we caught a ferry, which Margaret got pretty excited about as she had never been on a ferry before.
The next photo stop of this long driving day was at Glenfinnan, the alleged site of where Bonnie Prince Charlie hoisted his standard in 1745 (that led to the battle of Culloden after they retreated back from just outside London). Also nearby this stop was a bridge that has appeared in Harry Potter films, so I took a photo of that too.
Our stop for day 4 and day 5 was a town called Oba,which is a fishing port. It was a nice little town, if a bit on the tired side and in need of a spruce up. That kind of described our hotel, which was quite nice but definitely in need of renovation. Ended up at a bar next door for a few hours talking with the locals who were all pretty friendly, although it did take me a bit to tune into the accent!
Day 5 we headed from Oban by ferry (the coach came on the ferry) and we drove across the Island of Mull to get to another ferry to the Isle of Iona ... that was a pretty little town with a rebuilt Abbey where in 563 St Columba established one of the first Christian monasteries on british soil.
that night we had to fend for ourselves for dinner in Oban and a few of us did a recce on the main street and found a homely little fish n chip restaurant and booked a table. About 8 of us turned up there, and were charmed by the young scottish girl who was the maitre´d .. she had everything under control, busily clearing tables, taking orders, making small talk and ordering other staff around ...she was awesome! Funnily enough the four kiwis turned up at the same place, so we gave the a bit of a ribbing about following aussies (well we had americans and canadians on the table but most of us were aussie) the locals had no idea what to make of us as we were quite loud but the maitre´d thought it was hilarious and even said when we left that she´d miss all the fun. We ended up giving her a fairly generous tip, as the food was served promptly and it was delicious.
Afterwards we had some drinks at the hotel and were entertained by a strange old guy who joined us and was trying to crack onto one of the american women ... no chance!
Day 6 we visited Inveraray which was a lovely little town, there was a piper at the coach parking who piped us in, which was pretty cool. It was here that I managed to pick up a nice gift for my cousin Lauren of a cashmere scarf, (which she loved when I gave it to her). Ian, Cathy and I went to a little cafe where I had the most delicious piece of pavola EVER! Another local (old guy) started talking to us there and he had the thickest accent yet I´ve heard in Scotland.
Ian couldn´t understand a word he was saying, but I could follow most of it, and he was saying how most of the barstaff were australians plus some worked at the bank in the town. He was also telling us to go in a certain door at the local hotel because then we would get cheaper prices ... too bad we were only stopping there for about 45 minutes!
We stopped again at the Rest and be Thankful road and Loch Lomond, where we got a group shot (organised by ourselves) and thank you to the random woman who took about 5 shots using different cameras and took direction from me as to the best spot to stand to take it!
Then we left the highlands and headed to Glasgow. Which reminded me a bit of the feel of Sydney. We only had a few hours to wander around the main centre of the city, but it was pretty nice and we ran into some fantastic buskers - a bagpiper, two drummers and two african guys playing bongo drums - Im telling you it totally rocked! (and yes i recorded a bit of it on video).
Then Angela (aussie woman) and Beth (american woman) and I searched the streets of Glasgow for a pub .... after asking locals who didnt seem to know where any pubs were we found a reasonable pub to have a quick pint at before we had to head back to the meeting point. I also spotted Dr who´s tardis in two different spots in the city (and had also spotted it in Edinburgh).
The hotel where we were staying at was really nice, probably one of the nicest of the both tours i have done and certainly the most organised when it came to dinner! AND it even had free internet which was just awesome ... although there was much entertainment as there was a school social on at the hotel, so lots of girls and guys running around drunk at all hours of the night!
Day 7 was the long long long drive back to London - not everyone came back with us, the french canadian girls had left us at glasgow to pick up a camper van .... interesting fact there was that the girl (amelie) doing the driving had only driven manuals three times and never had driven a big van before ... I think she was quite stressed especially as some of the roads they would be driving on were really just footpaths in disguise!
Eventually we got back to London and I was worried about hooking up with my cousin Lauren, but needn´t have worried as I literally stepped off the coach and she was there!
Hmmm well this has been a long blog entry and Ive probably missed out some stuff if I had been keeping it every day - ah well, the photographs will tell the story of what a beautiful country Scotland is - Im definitely coming back.
Day 15 Paris to London Saturday 7th June
It was an early wake up and take your own bags down to the coach today, and not everyone was there as some had left last night or earlier in the morning.
A strange feeling to be sure, as the past two weeks had been so frenetic and busy and now it was all over and people talked of their next plans, some were going onto other tours (like me) some flying home and others doing more travel by themselves.
The trip to Calais was fairly quiet although quite jolly at times, I think Mark enjoyed us as a group, and Im pretty sure his next group (which had much less aussies and kiwis) will not be as much fun.
So at Calais we said goodbye to Mark and Luigi, and boarded the ferry. The same core group of Freeman, Alison and myself plus a few others went to the same lounge onboard where we spent the trip over. Ordered some beers and a cornish pastie and kicked back.
there was a girl going around offering massages and Freeman asked for one, the look on his face was of pure bliss so I asked for one as well, alison got some classic photographs of me whilst I was getting the massage. Im not such a fan of the massage anywhere near my ribs (so sensitive there) but the neck, head and ears had me just about falling asleep.
When I asked how much it cost she just said to me to pay what i thought it was worth, so I forked over 20 euro - which funnily enough was the amount Freeman had handed over too.
All too soon we were back on a bus heading to London, which took what seemed like forever and once again at the Thistle euston ... my biggest problem now was getting to the other hotel where i was staying that night. Luckily Id talking to Hillary and her mum Viv and they were more or less going the same way (Kensington area) as me so we organised a taxi with the concierge for a flat rate of 25 pounds. As it turned out their hotel was more or less around the corner from mine.
This night I was supposed to update all my blogs and write email but I ended up watching team america on the tv and going to sleep, but not before making sure Id ordered breakfast inroom for the morning.
A strange feeling to be sure, as the past two weeks had been so frenetic and busy and now it was all over and people talked of their next plans, some were going onto other tours (like me) some flying home and others doing more travel by themselves.
The trip to Calais was fairly quiet although quite jolly at times, I think Mark enjoyed us as a group, and Im pretty sure his next group (which had much less aussies and kiwis) will not be as much fun.
So at Calais we said goodbye to Mark and Luigi, and boarded the ferry. The same core group of Freeman, Alison and myself plus a few others went to the same lounge onboard where we spent the trip over. Ordered some beers and a cornish pastie and kicked back.
there was a girl going around offering massages and Freeman asked for one, the look on his face was of pure bliss so I asked for one as well, alison got some classic photographs of me whilst I was getting the massage. Im not such a fan of the massage anywhere near my ribs (so sensitive there) but the neck, head and ears had me just about falling asleep.
When I asked how much it cost she just said to me to pay what i thought it was worth, so I forked over 20 euro - which funnily enough was the amount Freeman had handed over too.
All too soon we were back on a bus heading to London, which took what seemed like forever and once again at the Thistle euston ... my biggest problem now was getting to the other hotel where i was staying that night. Luckily Id talking to Hillary and her mum Viv and they were more or less going the same way (Kensington area) as me so we organised a taxi with the concierge for a flat rate of 25 pounds. As it turned out their hotel was more or less around the corner from mine.
This night I was supposed to update all my blogs and write email but I ended up watching team america on the tv and going to sleep, but not before making sure Id ordered breakfast inroom for the morning.
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