The times they are a-changin'

So I'm back at work (however temporary that is), and Spring is in the air. Last weekend we got up to a whopping 20 degrees, which meant that I broke out the boardies and actually had bare feet for more than the time it takes me to shower. I just about got snow blindness from how white my legs are now!

Things are changing around here too with the warmer weather. The hedge out the back has grown back, and the trees are growing their leaves back. My friend Kay was saying this morning that she loves Spring, because it's like all the trees are saying, "Look how pretty I am!" I said that they are actually just advertising the new Spring colours...

The fields around here are all covered in these yellow flowers. They're crops of rapeseed, also known as canola. The name is not as bad as it sounds; it's based on the Latin for turnip (I'd like to thank my sponsor, Wikipedia, for that one).

The first photo there is actually the view from my classroom windows.

I was admiring the new foliage out the back this afternoon when I saw these storm clouds rolling in. Lately the weather forecast says 'changeable'. It's a lot better than saying something like, "Well, it's going to rain, it's going to be sunny and dry, it's going to be overcast, it's going to be hot, and it's going to be cold." And that's just the first hour of daylight. My friend at work, from Melbourne, said it feels like home!

My last day of holidays

Although Mum, Dad and Elaine were staying in London for an extra couple of days, I had to return to work, and so that Sunday was my last day with them. We started off by going to Camden markets. I saw where it had burnt down after my last visit - and I'm pleased to report that it's still standing now!! We did a little shopping, and then went on a canal tour up to Little Venice.

It was great! Freezing and wet, but great! It started with the only working lock in London, which in itself is an attraction. It's such a different view of places like Primrose Hill. The trip goes up through the middle of London Zoo, so we saw peacocks, African hunting dogs and, strangely, a couple of ibis - funny to think that they're in a cage at the zoo, and are a pest at home! We went past the floating Chinese restaurant that had been brought over from Hong Kong, and that caused Steven Spielberg to sell the house he bought but never lived in, because it disrupted his view. We saw the largest private gardens in London (maybe England, I don't remember) - they're owned by the Sultan of Brunei. There were a lot of historic places along the way as well. I still love seeing places where poets and authors have wandered.

After the eye

After we got off the London Eye, we took a bus up to Trafalgar Square. The others got their obligatory tourist shots, which I already have. I took Flaps across the street, under the Admiralty Arch, to show her Buckingham Palace, as she hadn't seen it on her first day in London. We then walked up through Leicester Square again, had some lunch, and then headed back to the hotel to get changed. Why get changed in the middle of the day? Why, to go and see "We Will Rock You", of course! I was happy as a pig in mud at the thought of finally seeing a show in the West End, and even though I'd already seen this one in Melbourne, it was as exciting as the first time. It wasn't exactly the same show either - there were little changes that had been made in order to suit an English audience.

After the show, we jumped on a random bus, which took us up to Camden Town. After that little sightseeing trip, we went back to the hotel for an early birthday dinner for me.

Saturday night do do doooooooo do doooooooo do do do

Before we get to Saturday, on Friday night we legged it across part of London. Once we'd gotten back from the Thames Barrier, we headed to Leicester Square to enquire about theatre tickets. Deciding that we needed to go back the next morning for those, we walked over to Covent Garden for a look-see, and then wandered around in the general direction of this Indian restaurant that Mum and Dad went to 7 years ago. Given the average lifespan of a restaurant, I was dubious at best about our ability to find it, but lo and behold, it was there.

Our first stop on Saturday morning was the all-important theatre tickets, which we scored for more of a bargain price than we'd originally thought. From there we went over to Westminster, and took a little ride on the London Eye. It was the first time that I'd done it, as the 6 or so times I'd planned on doing it before had not happened due to bad weather. I thought it was great! It was a fantastic way to see London, in a completely different way from all that I had seen before. We could see all of the House of Parliament, 10 Downing St, Post Office (now BT) Tower, the Gherkin and all the way out to Wembley. I'm looking forward to going back for another trip, but at night.

Next up...

After Wales, we spent a couple of days drifing around my local area. We headed to Watford to visit more family, and drifted over to Luton to check out where my dad used to run riot as a teenager. Lets just say, glad to be gone from there, and no plans to return!

We then left the reservation for the last time, and went to London for a few nights. We stayed at the Thistle in Marble Arch. Phwoar! Not a Club Croc, that's for sure!

The first day we were in the city we headed out to see the Thames Barrier. An odd choice, to be sure, but it was something that Dad wanted to see, so we did it.

Back home on the ranch

I showed Mum and Dad the river that the town I live in backs on to. It occurred to me that I hadn't posted photos of it on here for the rest of you to see, so here they are.

Random photos of Wales

The following photos don't really fit in order - some were taken over Easter weekend, and others at various times during the second visit.

Dear GOD it was cold up there!

These are druid stones. I can't find anything written about them after a good 2 minutes of searching, therefore nothing must exist!

I don't remember if this is Ferndale or not - I don't think it is. I do know that if you turn and face the other way from this view, you're facing a golf course. I'm not kidding.

Big Pit

We got up to various kinds of mischief whilst in Wales, which included more snow and a visit to the Big Pit. Unfortunately I can't post photos of the second lot of snow, as I took them on Flaps' camera, so I have to wait for her to get home and send them to me.

I did, however, get photos at the Big Pit, or at least part of it. We couldn't take anything with a battery down with us, so that meant no photos of us being about 90m underground. The Big Pit was a working mine right up until 1980, and has since been turned into a museum. Tours are taken around by ex-miners. It was fascinating, in a completely different way to the Heritage Park, which we had visited a couple of weeks beforehand. I was surprised to not feel claustrophobic being so far underground. It was a lot more spacious that I had imagined. At one point we did turn off our head lamps to see what it was like for the kids who opened and closed the doors all the time in the dark, and it was a bit of a relief to get them back on.

It's blurry, but it's the only photo we have!

Lainey's birthday

We left Eileen's and headed on to Wales once again. Dad is going to get banned from visiting there sooner or later - his arrival brings snow. We had visited Eileen's on a Thursday, and the temperature topped out at about 20 degrees - heatwave! Imagine our surprise then, when a couple of days later, it snowed...

We managed a bit of secret squirrel's business, and between Dad and myself, we managed by stealth to get Elaine a birthday cake without her noticing, despite her being in the supermarket with us. Go team us! Of course it helps that age is clearly impairing Flaps' ability to see and hear...

We didn't have 46 candles (and couldn't have fit them all on the cake if we had), so Jules and I decided there was only one thing to be done. We lit the 13 or so that we had four times - and sang the annoying birthday song each time too!

High on a hill was a lonely goatherd

This post actually fits in between Weston-super-mare and Minehead, but I can't seem to be able to switch the order of things. I had for some reason thought that we went to Cheddar Gorge the morning of seeing Aunty Eileen, but as usual, I was wrong.

Cheddar Gorge is bordered by huge rock cliffs, and the gorge itself features what are supposed to be fairly amazing caves, but given the expense of visiting them, we declined to see them. When we arrived at the gorge though, it was shrouded in fog and mist, making it just a little eery, and infinitely awesome.

We drove up through the village, and then up the road a little more to see the cliffs. We had a couple of quick stops for some photos of the locals, before parking and walking through the village. Flaps was a bit confused, as she had thought we were going to a cheese factory, not an actual gorge. Turns out they do also make cheese, and age it in the caves. Mmmmmmm moss and lichen infused cheese!

Dad purchased some scrumpy cider (not for the faint of heart - it looks like cloudy urine and apparently tastes about the same), and I found this awesome leather shop tucked away behind a few things. Might go back yet - it's near the place where the cheese rolling will take place.

Yet another moment of irony...

Come on Eileen

After a birthday breakfast to celebrate Flaps notching up another year, we headed out of Minehead, on our way to Barnstaple to visit Aunty Eileen. She's of my grandmother's generation, and like the other survivors of that group, she's an in-law. Let me just say, it was an experience! I'm still thinking of going back and putting my name on the door of the house...

I have no idea of the route that we took to get there, but we did go through some beautiful countryside. It still amazes me that for a country that is so small geographically, which is filled with so many people, there are so many wide open spaces.

Minehead

Minehead was the place where my dad and aunty holidayed when they were kids. It's another seaside town, still in Somerset. We took a stroll through the shops, had dinner at a great Italian restaurant, and went to bed. A big day!

This is the most dressed I've ever been whilst at the beach!!



When the tide goes out, the boats get beached. Clearly it's not something they're concerned about...

Weston-super-mare

From the Cotswolds we headed on down the motorway, trying to decide where to go for the night. Mum made me pick between Bath and the coast, and in the end we went with the coast. A little driving around some small villages didn't land us a B&B, so we finished up in Weston-super-mare. We stayed right on the beachfront - just what everyone needs, a holiday at the British seaside, when it's struggling to get to 5 degrees!







This was the ironic statment of the day... It actually refers to rock candy.

The Cotswolds

From Oxford, we headed through the Cotswolds. We only had a vague plan in mind - see the Slaughters for a friend of Mum and Dad's, and go to Stanway (which might not be spelt correctly), which is where my great grandparents used to live.

First stop was Bourton-on-the-Water, a picturesque village with a stream (canal?) running through the main street. Clearly a tourist destination, the village high street was filled with cute shops and cafes, and so we stopped there for lunch.

After lunch we headed a few miles away to the Upper and Lower Slaughter. I had seen the Slaughters on a travel program once, but that didn't do justice to it. It was amazing - clearly not for tourists, it was so beautiful. There was an old mill, sheep, daffodils - the typical English village.

Moving right along

We spent that night at Heathrow, as Unky Bat had to fly home to go back to work. Due to a scheduling conflict that stopped us continuing with what we had planned for the Wednesday, a transport meeting was held (everyone drinking in Mum and Dad's room while we discussed the plans for the following day, freaking alco's), and we decided to head through the Cotswolds and see where we ended up for the night.

We set out first of all for Oxford. Being the nerd that I am, I was pretty excited about it. It was pretty much how I imagined it, with the old buildings and parks throughout the town. I managed to force myself away from the door of the bookshop, and I'm sure that my bank card breathed a sigh of relief for that!

And then...

After we left Wales on Easter Monday, I came home whilst the others jetted off to Ireland. I said nasty words about them, but they're not for printing. I had to work for a week before my holidays started.

Finally I got to join them again, and we went to see cousins who live near Sandhurst. We went to Windsor, which is nearby, and we managed to see the changing of the guards. It wasn't something I'd managed to see before, so it was pretty exciting.

Effing tourists...

We had a little stroll through the town afterwards, observing a few things along the way, including the guildhall where Charlie and Horse-face got hitched (pun intended), and the crooked house.

Elaine wanted to have her photo taken with the bobby and the guy with the gun, but didn't want to ask. What's a girl to do? I barrelled up to them and asked them outright, and no worries! I think Elaine was a bit scared to even breathe loud though...