Our next British job - teaching a bunch of Swiss boys in Torquay for two weeks.
And then ... ?
Well, somehow this feels like the beginning of a new adventure.
So I'm making another new start at Torquay Talkie. Go on over, have a look.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
On the Yellow Brick Road once more
Back to Oz
Time to spend some quality time with the kids and grandkids back in Oz.
Little boys doing what little boys do. And our only granddaughter - who was just tiny when we went away.
We stayed with son, James, in this house right on the beach.
This is the view from the front door.
And this is the beach that we were right next to. Gotta love WA and it's beaches!
And then there was the fun of meeting grandchild number four for the very first time.
Many happy hours spent admiring young Taj! What a man! (The picture isn't sideways, he is lying on his mat.)
And on top of all that, James's new puppy, this ball of fluff that is a very new Pomeranian: "Charlie".
Now is that a lovable face, or what?
And so relaxed, too.
One more, because they just are so cute.
Two weeks of that, and it was time for the looooong flight back to the UK.
Time to spend some quality time with the kids and grandkids back in Oz.
Little boys doing what little boys do. And our only granddaughter - who was just tiny when we went away.
We stayed with son, James, in this house right on the beach.
This is the view from the front door.
And this is the beach that we were right next to. Gotta love WA and it's beaches!
And then there was the fun of meeting grandchild number four for the very first time.
Many happy hours spent admiring young Taj! What a man! (The picture isn't sideways, he is lying on his mat.)
And on top of all that, James's new puppy, this ball of fluff that is a very new Pomeranian: "Charlie".
Now is that a lovable face, or what?
And so relaxed, too.
One more, because they just are so cute.
Two weeks of that, and it was time for the looooong flight back to the UK.
Sussex - castles and churches
Not only did Charlotte's family squeeze over to give us somewhere to stay, but Charlotte's mum, Susan - a very knowledgeable person in the local area, history and folklore - took us around a bit to show us some places.
We went to visit this magnificent old church at Lyminster, quite near Rustington.
Actually, we were really on our way to a knuckerhole. Susan had been to a Druid weekend camp where she had been giving a talk on dragons. After fire-walking, she had returned with a few of the coals from the fire to throw into a knuckerhole near this church, one of a number of such places in the area. You can read a little more about this in Wikipedia.
Chichester
On another day we went to Chichester.
This road near the water is below the high tide mark. People regularly park here (despite warning signs - who reads those anyway?) and come back later to find their car inundated.
We had a lovely day walking around town, and looking at the cathedral.
Peter's Three Wishes
There were three things Peter had been hoping to do in England:
Arundel Castle
To our delight, Susan took us to Arundel for the day.
Arundel Castle is a must-see. So old and so well-preserved, with such a wealth of history right there on display.
That side of the castle is still the family home, still lived in and used. This side of the castle, where you can visit, had recently been used in the making of the movie, "The Queen", I think it was.
There was lots to see. We went up into the old Keep, as well as other parts that have been carefully restored.
There are great views all around, especially from the Keep, demonstrating what a great defense point this would have been.
Two-Way Church
Arundel has a most unusual church. It is half Catholic, and half Church of England. It is split along the short arm of the cross, and the smaller, top-of-the-cross section isCatholic, while the larger portion is Church of England.
Here we are in the Catholic section. I was particularly interested in these ornately carved seats that look as though they could keep you in the upright position even if you fell asleep - at least you probably wouldn't fall over sideways too readily.
And then we had to go out and a long way around to look at the other side of the church, which looked very normal except for a blocked off section at the top end.
I'm not sure if this sculpture in the castle gardens is a demonstration of what the angels think about all this.
We went to visit this magnificent old church at Lyminster, quite near Rustington.
Actually, we were really on our way to a knuckerhole. Susan had been to a Druid weekend camp where she had been giving a talk on dragons. After fire-walking, she had returned with a few of the coals from the fire to throw into a knuckerhole near this church, one of a number of such places in the area. You can read a little more about this in Wikipedia.
Chichester
On another day we went to Chichester.
This road near the water is below the high tide mark. People regularly park here (despite warning signs - who reads those anyway?) and come back later to find their car inundated.
We had a lovely day walking around town, and looking at the cathedral.
Peter's Three Wishes
There were three things Peter had been hoping to do in England:
- Lie in some heather - done that!
- Drink a pint of Guinness in a real Irish pub - did that in Dublin.
- See a real English castle, drafty and built of stone, the real thing.
Arundel Castle
To our delight, Susan took us to Arundel for the day.
Arundel Castle is a must-see. So old and so well-preserved, with such a wealth of history right there on display.
That side of the castle is still the family home, still lived in and used. This side of the castle, where you can visit, had recently been used in the making of the movie, "The Queen", I think it was.
There was lots to see. We went up into the old Keep, as well as other parts that have been carefully restored.
There are great views all around, especially from the Keep, demonstrating what a great defense point this would have been.
Two-Way Church
Arundel has a most unusual church. It is half Catholic, and half Church of England. It is split along the short arm of the cross, and the smaller, top-of-the-cross section isCatholic, while the larger portion is Church of England.
Here we are in the Catholic section. I was particularly interested in these ornately carved seats that look as though they could keep you in the upright position even if you fell asleep - at least you probably wouldn't fall over sideways too readily.
And then we had to go out and a long way around to look at the other side of the church, which looked very normal except for a blocked off section at the top end.
I'm not sure if this sculpture in the castle gardens is a demonstration of what the angels think about all this.
Friday, November 2, 2007
The Emerald Isle
When we told Max we wanted to visit him in Ireland he said, "What for? It's just more of the same, only wetter and greener."
He was right, of course, but we still wanted to see it for ourselves.
Cheap Fares
So we decided to investigate some cheap airfares - Ryan Air, in fact. Booking and actually getting a genuinely cheap fare.
First you have to jump around looking for those odd crazy fares that pop up without rhyme or reason. You grab one when you find it, and book it.
So then it's time for add-ons. Starting with the compulsory tax - which, oddly enough, seems to be more with lower fares. Then they want you to pay for insurance in case they cancel your flight or something. And they want to know if you would like to take any luggage - there is no free luggage allowance - and that will be an extra ten pounds for every fifteen kilo piece.
We chose to travel with only hand baggage - we were allowed one ten kilo piece each.
We decided against paying a few extra pounds for "priority booking". Ryan Air pride themselves on giving passengers the freedom to choose their own seats ... so in the unholy rush, when boarding is announced, if you have priority booking you get to join the queue that boards first.
Security
We flew from Gatwick Airport, which is great to get to (you go on the train and the station is in the airport) but the security check queues were horrific. We noticed the people in our queue were all being asked to take their shoes off, but others weren't. We asked about this, and were told we had lobbed into the "random shoe line". Then, as we made it through the magic door without setting off any lights or alarms, we were unceremoniously requested to assume the position for a full and thorough pat-down ... none of this simple waving a wand over you that you get elsewhere.
However Peter's bag apparently set something off, and he was asked to give permission to have it searched. It is one of those back-packs with lots of little side pockets, and the officer rummaged through those until he came up with ... a bottle of shampoo that Peter had forgotten about and not declared (we thought we had left it behind in Sheffield) and it had a capacity greater than 100ml! That was binned, and Peter's phone and mp3 player then had to be swabbed for gun powder residue. (The funny thing was, when we were packing to return from Ireland we discovered a quite large pair of pointy scissors that had been there all along in one of the other pockets of his bag!)
A Foreign Country
It's easy to think of Ireland as being part of the UK - only it's not.
It's a foreign country, with a foreign language. But, being part of Europe, it is full of people from all over Europe, all colours and cultures, so that can seem a little incongruous. Apparently students in school all have to learn the Irish language, and in some schools it is the only language used.
Are the Jokes True?
You know how people say things about the Irish, and make jokes and stuff ... well this sign did make us wonder if any of it is actually true.
It's on the edge of a very busy road (we took the picture from the bus) where there is no footpath, and there is a railway line just over the wall there ... and we have no idea what it means!
Clever Map
However we did see one very clever thing that Peter was especially impressed with.
We went into Dublin city for the day, and - naturally - bought ourselves a map so we could find our way around.
Peter is one of the multitude of people who struggles with map-folding! So when we opened this little beauty and found this:
... well, we were most impressed! Open the map, close the map, open the map ... could have played with it all day! Now why aren't all maps made like that?
The Castle
We went to Kilkenny. But someone got there first and he was already dead.
Sorry. It had to be said.
We wanted to see a real castle, so we climbed aboard a bus and set off through the mist to have a look at Kilkenny Castle. We got to see plenty of green and wet on the way.
We were a little disappointed - it lost one of it's four sides during a battle yonks ago, and they didn't bother to rebuild it. We took the obligatory guided tour through the inside rooms - it was more like a palace than a castle.
He was right, of course, but we still wanted to see it for ourselves.
Cheap Fares
So we decided to investigate some cheap airfares - Ryan Air, in fact. Booking and actually getting a genuinely cheap fare.
First you have to jump around looking for those odd crazy fares that pop up without rhyme or reason. You grab one when you find it, and book it.
So then it's time for add-ons. Starting with the compulsory tax - which, oddly enough, seems to be more with lower fares. Then they want you to pay for insurance in case they cancel your flight or something. And they want to know if you would like to take any luggage - there is no free luggage allowance - and that will be an extra ten pounds for every fifteen kilo piece.
We chose to travel with only hand baggage - we were allowed one ten kilo piece each.
We decided against paying a few extra pounds for "priority booking". Ryan Air pride themselves on giving passengers the freedom to choose their own seats ... so in the unholy rush, when boarding is announced, if you have priority booking you get to join the queue that boards first.
Security
We flew from Gatwick Airport, which is great to get to (you go on the train and the station is in the airport) but the security check queues were horrific. We noticed the people in our queue were all being asked to take their shoes off, but others weren't. We asked about this, and were told we had lobbed into the "random shoe line". Then, as we made it through the magic door without setting off any lights or alarms, we were unceremoniously requested to assume the position for a full and thorough pat-down ... none of this simple waving a wand over you that you get elsewhere.
However Peter's bag apparently set something off, and he was asked to give permission to have it searched. It is one of those back-packs with lots of little side pockets, and the officer rummaged through those until he came up with ... a bottle of shampoo that Peter had forgotten about and not declared (we thought we had left it behind in Sheffield) and it had a capacity greater than 100ml! That was binned, and Peter's phone and mp3 player then had to be swabbed for gun powder residue. (The funny thing was, when we were packing to return from Ireland we discovered a quite large pair of pointy scissors that had been there all along in one of the other pockets of his bag!)
A Foreign Country
It's easy to think of Ireland as being part of the UK - only it's not.
It's a foreign country, with a foreign language. But, being part of Europe, it is full of people from all over Europe, all colours and cultures, so that can seem a little incongruous. Apparently students in school all have to learn the Irish language, and in some schools it is the only language used.
Are the Jokes True?
You know how people say things about the Irish, and make jokes and stuff ... well this sign did make us wonder if any of it is actually true.
It's on the edge of a very busy road (we took the picture from the bus) where there is no footpath, and there is a railway line just over the wall there ... and we have no idea what it means!
Clever Map
However we did see one very clever thing that Peter was especially impressed with.
We went into Dublin city for the day, and - naturally - bought ourselves a map so we could find our way around.
Peter is one of the multitude of people who struggles with map-folding! So when we opened this little beauty and found this:
... well, we were most impressed! Open the map, close the map, open the map ... could have played with it all day! Now why aren't all maps made like that?
The Castle
We went to Kilkenny. But someone got there first and he was already dead.
Sorry. It had to be said.
We wanted to see a real castle, so we climbed aboard a bus and set off through the mist to have a look at Kilkenny Castle. We got to see plenty of green and wet on the way.
We were a little disappointed - it lost one of it's four sides during a battle yonks ago, and they didn't bother to rebuild it. We took the obligatory guided tour through the inside rooms - it was more like a palace than a castle.
Rustington!
What a delightful name for a little place in England!
Charlotte and her mother and brother live in this tiny end-of-terrace home in Rustington. This was really our first taste of home life in Britain - it's all a lot more squeezy than we are used to in Oz - and this lovely family all squeezed over just a little more so that we would have a place to stay.
Actually, as it's only a two-bedroom house, this little two-room chalet is where Charlotte lives, and she very graciously moved to the sofa in the house so that we could stay here.
The weather was beautiful, and the spacious backyard proved a great place to sit and chat and even have some of our meals.
But what has Peter noticed?
Something interesting on the ground ... English wildlife maybe ...
What's the big deal? It's just a slug. I didn't have one of those little rulers to put down next to it and show you the size of this thing. We have deadly snakes and stingy spiders in Oz, but nothing like this.
Again, no size comparison ... but this one is huge, and fat. AND it's just busy cleaning up where the cat was sick. What I wanted to know is - do cats eat slugs?
Meet the Folks
As a special treat Charlotte took us around to meet her grandparents for a spot of afternoon tea.
Another delightful English home and garden - we had tea in the conservatory - and gracious folks.
This was a very special meeting, though, because these folks have been avid readers of my Turkey Blog (keeping up with their granddaughter in Turkey) and so at least they already knew me quite well.
We were able to chat and laugh about things that had happened - as if they had been there too - and I was able to learn about
The Recipe:
for the delicious quince jam we were sharing on our scones!
If this is too small for you to read, and you have some quinces ready for jamming, then you need to go to www.findonvillage.com, which is apparently one of the rare places you can get a good quince jam recipe.
Charlotte and her mother and brother live in this tiny end-of-terrace home in Rustington. This was really our first taste of home life in Britain - it's all a lot more squeezy than we are used to in Oz - and this lovely family all squeezed over just a little more so that we would have a place to stay.
Actually, as it's only a two-bedroom house, this little two-room chalet is where Charlotte lives, and she very graciously moved to the sofa in the house so that we could stay here.
The weather was beautiful, and the spacious backyard proved a great place to sit and chat and even have some of our meals.
But what has Peter noticed?
Something interesting on the ground ... English wildlife maybe ...
What's the big deal? It's just a slug. I didn't have one of those little rulers to put down next to it and show you the size of this thing. We have deadly snakes and stingy spiders in Oz, but nothing like this.
Again, no size comparison ... but this one is huge, and fat. AND it's just busy cleaning up where the cat was sick. What I wanted to know is - do cats eat slugs?
Meet the Folks
As a special treat Charlotte took us around to meet her grandparents for a spot of afternoon tea.
Another delightful English home and garden - we had tea in the conservatory - and gracious folks.
This was a very special meeting, though, because these folks have been avid readers of my Turkey Blog (keeping up with their granddaughter in Turkey) and so at least they already knew me quite well.
We were able to chat and laugh about things that had happened - as if they had been there too - and I was able to learn about
The Recipe:
for the delicious quince jam we were sharing on our scones!
If this is too small for you to read, and you have some quinces ready for jamming, then you need to go to www.findonvillage.com, which is apparently one of the rare places you can get a good quince jam recipe.
Nothing is brighter than Brighton
Charlotte picked us up at Brighton railway station - bags and all squeezed into her tiny red car - and we trundled along the scenic coastal route (a decision we all instantly regretted as we were soon tightly traffic jammed). We paused along the way to have an actual look at the actual beach at Brighton. Not quite Bondi, though, ay?
We're back online!!
Finally!
It's only been "a few weeks", but it seems like forever ... we have been to so many places and seen and done so much in that time. And we have had to snatch a bit of email time here and there.
We've been going to the local library for the last couple of weeks - they let you have a (free) hour, and only an hour - those minutes just fly by - and they filter evil things like this blog so I couldn't even see it!
So, finally time to upload some pics and tell a few tales ...
It's only been "a few weeks", but it seems like forever ... we have been to so many places and seen and done so much in that time. And we have had to snatch a bit of email time here and there.
We've been going to the local library for the last couple of weeks - they let you have a (free) hour, and only an hour - those minutes just fly by - and they filter evil things like this blog so I couldn't even see it!
So, finally time to upload some pics and tell a few tales ...
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