Farnborough Air Show

The 19th of July was a very special day. I went to the Farnborough Air Show with Mark, his parents, Don and Christine, and Mark and Sharyn. Despite it being a greyish English day the weather was kind to us and we didn't get wet at all. There was an amazing array of flying machines - small ones, big ones, clever ones, fast ones, old ones, new ones, pilotless ones - I think you get the picture. As for naming all of them it's just too difficult. If you have any queries about these pictures they would best be directed to Don Gibson the plane enthusiast. Otherwise, Mark M might be able to help you out.

An old one!

A pilotless one, built for one purpose only.

My favourites - the Red Arrows

Mark Morriss, plane enthusiast studying the programme

Spare parts - look what you can do with a bit of imagination!

Pretties in Prague

Girls trip in July 08 to celebrate Rachel's birthday!

Karen, me, Rachel, Danielle

2 scoops please - obviously my Czech needs a little more practice

Sedlec Ossuary, Kutna Hora

Oops, no photos please sign wasn't noticeable til we left this church in Kutna Hora.

Vltava river, near the Charles Bridge, Prague

Fred & Ginger Building, Prague

The Astronomical Clock, Prague

Margate

Sharyn with the Margate ladies

Sharyn and I - posing again!

G and a fine Margate woman.

The ladies

A plane in a museum, A.K.A. Supermarine Spitfire MK XVI (LF) Type 361 TB752,

The Spitfire & Hurricane Memorial Museum, Ramsgate

Flat, sandy beach, perfect for a sprint!

Sharyn on the first sandy, white beach we've found in England!

Me outside an old house, Margate, UK

Shell grotto, Margate, UK

Shell grotto, Margate, UK

Tiki Tour: part 2

The last Monday in May is also a Bank Holiday so you guessed it, long weekend = more tiki touring. The Lakes District comes with high recommendations so that's where we thought we would head. Some lazy folk (a.k.a. Sharyn, Mark and Rachel) took the Friday off. Mark G and I showed our dedication and went to work as usual.

Early on Saturday morning we headed off to Heathrow to collect our rental car. Rachel and Mark M the desginated drivers chose a wee Peugot. It had a beautiful sun roof but not a lot of room in the back for 3 adult passengers. See the pictures below which highlight the poor French design!

Backseat of the peugot - hat for perspective.

As is tradition when hiring a car we stop off somewhere on the way. Obviously for food - the ASDA carpark in Wigan for a picnic. Then a major stop in the tacky, tourist town of Blackpool. You can't miss the array of rollercoasters on the skyline at Pleasure Beach. We had to check it out. Maybe it is possible to buy a single ticket and have just one ride on a rollercoaster. The three girls were getting quite excited while the thought of a ride was draining the colour from the lads faces. We were in luck, Pleasure Beach sell tickets for single rides. So, we handed over our 8 quid and headed off in search of the tallest, fastest rollercoaster in the park. At least 4 of us did. Mark M couldn't be persuaded so kindly offered to look after our belongings. At 235 feet Pepsi Max Big One is the tallest rollercoaster in England and also Europe. I can also confirm that it goes pretty fast but disappointingly there are no upside down bits. To check out a simulation go to http://www.blackpoolpleasurebeach.com/rides/pepsi-max-big-one/1/1/. Sensibly we waited til after our rollercoaster ride for ice-creams.

Hold on to your hats.

Around 8pm we arrived at Sedbergh where Mark M had found a lovely cottage for us. One slight problem was the extremely narrow driveway. It spooked Rach so Mark had to do the honours and squeeze the wee Peugot in the drive. It took two people to direct and ensure that the paint work on our rental car remained in tact.

Our hosts had recommended a local pub for dinner, maybe 100 m walk along from the house. Good time to test out my new high heels. Unfortunately as it was getting close to 9pm and they were busy we coudn't get a table there. They gave us another couple of options slightly further down the street. We enjoyed lovely meals in a quiet restaurant attached to a deserted pub. You know that you are in a country village when some bloke pulls out a table and plonks a TV down on it, wires up an aerial and turns on the boxing.

A haven for outdoor lovers the Lakes beckoned. The weather was particularly windy which made me feel at home. The locals said when or if the wind stopped it would rain. We had aspirations to do a water activity on one of the lakes - kayaking or windsurfing. However the windy weather meant nippy temperatures. After making inquiries at the Windermere Tourist Information Centre and a conference over brunch we settled on a lake cruise incorporating a walk. Due to the immense number of people visiting Windermere this bank holiday weekend we spent so long trying to get a park that we missed the ferry we hoped to get to Ambleside. On a whim, we decided to drive to Ambleside and hope it was less busy so that we could do our ferry cruise in reverse. This just meant going for the walk at the end rather than in the middle of our cruise.

Ferry cruise - Mark M & Rach

Shazz & Mark G

It is usually on Sunday when I miss being in NZ the most. Why, I hear you ask. Well because the shops are open for such short hours. Like 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. So, by the time you have done anything fun the shops are shut and it is difficult to purchase ingredients for a nice Sunday dinner. We fell in to this trap again. The local co-op in Sedbergh just did not have the right ingredients for our desired dinner so we had to settle on Indian takeaway.

With a longish drive home on Monday we resolved to get away early. I think we left about half an hour after our scheduled departure time. One of the problems with hiring a car is having too much freedom. Which way should we travel home? Where should we stop off? I don't remember why but York was chosen as the main stop en route home. Harrogate was floated as an option, something to do with Mark M's obsession with Mackintosh lollies.

Along the back roads to York I noticed a sign for Wensleydale Creamery. A hasty decision was made and we took an unscheduled stop at Hawes. It turns out that the creamery was established by one Kit Calvert. I'm not sure if he's any relation. We all enjoyed an early morning cheese tasting and purchased some of our favourites including papaya and blueberries. Yummy!

The wedges of Wensleydale

It seemed the thing to do in York if you only have a couple of hours is visit York Minster. I don't really know how we decide what to see or do on these trips. Mostly we seem to wander around, eat some food and see what interesting things we stumble on. No-one seems particularly keen or inclined to do any research before we go. Partly becasue we don't seem to decide where we are going until the last minute. This suits us fine but I guess one day we will come back from such a trip and be told by someone that we missed something we would have quite liked to see. I would love to hear from anyone who could recommend places either in England or Europe so I can put them on my list!

York Minster

As we had found Windermere busy on Sunday, York Minster was on bank holiday Monday. With limited time we opted for a look around the Minster. There was quite a long queue for the Tower! Rach and I joined on the back of a tour and learnt some of the history of the Minster while Mark, Mark and Sharyn wandered and took photos. We particularly liked the carving of a guy with two right feet. Turns out the master carver took an early lunch one day and instructed his apprentice to "do exactly the same for the other foot". It just goes to show how important it is to think before you give instructions!

The man with 2 right feet.

The 2 Mark's & Me

farewell from "the North"

Tiki tour: part 1

Over a month has passed since my last update. The only excuse I have is that I have been busy seeing more of the English countryside.

The first Monday in May is a bank holiday here in England. Our destination for the long weekend was the Bath/Bristol area. We didn't have much of a plan. It wasn't until the Thursday before we left that we finalised accommodation in Clevedon on the coast west of Bristol. This was at a Holiday Park in a pre-fab type thingee. Bascially one large living room that adjoined the kitchen and dining area, 2 bedrooms and a wee bathroom. Ample space for the 4 of us. The central heating made it like an oven. We quickly turned it off and opened all the windows and doors. It took about 24 hours before we got the temperature to a comfortable level!

En route to Clevedon we stopped off at Winchester for a picnic lunch outside the Cathedral.

Winchester Cathedral

Next stop en route was Stonehenge. I have to admit not quite as impressive as I had imagined. It was slightly strange approaching Stonehenge to see hundreds of people walking slowly around the perimetre, many looked like they were talking on cell phones. I later discovered these were the audioguides that inform you about the history and theories surrounding Stonehenge.

Stonehenge, a photographer's paradise

M & M @ Stonehenge, (Mark G and Mark M)

Final stop for the day was at Clevedon. Phew, we arrived just in time to have dinner at the holiday park restaurant. Oh, and sample a fine NZ Sauvignon Blanc - if it has been flown half way around the world it must be good!

With a full day at our disposal we decided to head off to Bath to explore. After a slowish start in the morning we made it to Bath in time for brunch. No point seeing the sights on an empty stomach. We spent a couple of hours exploring the Roman Baths.

Roman Baths, Bath

As the rain had subsided in the middle of the afternoon we parked the car and enjoyed a walk along the river. Also took in a little women's cricket that was being played at the Bath Cricket Ground. This was followed by a bit of a drive around the streets of Bath. In particular to find a special circular street, that is round, like a circle, you know, it's round. Mark G had been particularly intrigued by this street on his last visit to Bath and was very keen that we saw it. So, we did find it and drove around "The Circus" in a circle.

The Circus, Bath (Mark G)

"The round street, that is like a circle, it's you know, like round!"

A pre-requisite of going to Bath surely has to be a visit to the mineral pools. That is if you can find them! We drove around in circles for bit, around the one way streets in the centre of town, trying to follow the signs, even asked people for directions. After 20 minutes of this I was a little bored so jumped out of the car at some lights and set off on foot. The trouble was the signs were really directing pedestrian traffic so they were difficult to follow in a car. Soon enough I found them hidden away in some back streets. I headed in and got information on prices, times etc. By this stage it was about 7pm so as food is always on my mind I voted that we leave it for the following day. I won!

We are getting a bit more organised on these excursions now and managing to fit in a bit of cooking in the evening instead of always going out. It is my sneaky way of increasing the two Mark's cooking repertoire. Hopefully it will pay dividends in the future. You have to plan ahead on Sunday because shops here close around 4pm. We had picked up all the necessary ingredients for pasta with bacon and creamy white wine sauce. Very yummy and pretty quick and easy too!

On Monday we had an earlier start as we wanted to go back to Bath to pay our visit to the mineral pools. I was slightly nervous about this as my body tends not to respond well to hot baths. I needn't have worried though. The New Royal Bath and open-air rooftop pool were both pleasant temperatures. We also tested out the aromatic steam rooms. They were almost intolerable - very hot and quite strong aromas. Not recommended if you are wearing contact lens'.

The open-air rooftop pool, Thermae Bath Spa, Bath

After a relaxing morning it was time for the longish drive home. It is difficult for us foreigners to know what bank holiday traffic is going to be like. Partly by accident we stuck to smaller roads for a while and stumbled across a sign for New Zealand. This couldn't be ignored so we took a detour half a mile off our path to check it out. Didn't actually find anything of note. The only evidence that this place exists is the photo's we took under the road sign.

Home away from home.

Torremolinos & Gibraltar

The Four Amigos: Mark G, me, Mark M, Sharyn

Just back from a sunny break in Torremolinos near Malaga. Basically it was a holiday so we didn't plan to do to much. Really enjoyed hanging out with Sharyn, Mark and G! The four of us get on pretty well which is lucky because we seem to be spending quite a lot of time together. They were there for a week but as it was only 2 weeks in to the new school term so I couldn't justify a whole week off. I compromised by joining them for the first 5 days.

I won't bore you with a lot of writing this time.

A summary of the trip is provided in the pictures below.

Sightseeing: Me, G, Mark M - near Palacio Episcopal, Malaga

Tennis: Mark M. I hit the highest number of aces, keep practicing boys.

It's lucky we gave them racquets for their recent birthdays!

Lost guitar: G playing the guitar

Beach walking: Mark M, G, Sharyn

Photography: lost count of how many pictures were taken! View from Castillo de Gibralfaro.

Excursions: the Rock of Gibraltar

Eating: Sharyn & Mark eating their ice-creams at Castillo de Gibralfaro

Making new friends: The monkeys and me, Gibraltar

Clowning: mostly me, Gibraltar

If you enjoyed these pictures there are a few more if you follow the link below.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=35315&l=e2d9d&id=637180956

Hasta leugo, Anna

A glimpse of Poland

I am just back from a 2 night taster trip to Krakow, Poland. We were lucky to make our 5.50am flight from Stansted as it was a text from me at 3.30am that woke Shelley up. The bus from Cambridge left at 3.40am which we just caught.

My first impressions of the city were that the people were relaxed, not bustling about like Londoners or Cambridgers. Krakow is pedestrian friendly which I really liked. There was little risk of being run over, or cycled down, when you stopped to take photos as all good tourists do. We spent a lot of time just wandering the streets admiring the architecture and scouting out good eating places. Oh, and doing a little shopping.

Rynek Glowny (Old Town, Market Square)

On Thursday we found our way to Hostel Yellow by around midday. Too early to check in officially we dropped off our bags and headed out in search of lunch. Did I mention, this was a culinary tour of Krakow? Shelley is diabetic so food is pretty important. We made good travelling companions! Our first experience of Polish cuisine was pretty average. I chose a meal that consisted of fried chicken, shoestring fries and coleslaw. All much the same colour on the plate so it looked pretty unappetising. Tasted OK. Everything on the menu at this place came with Georgian spices. I still haven't quite figured out what that means. With full stomachs we headed out to explore. We went and said our prayers in St Mary's Basilica. The interior is spectacularly ornate but unfortunately you can't take photos inside. On the hour a trumpeter plays from the tower. This continues throughout the night.

St Mary's Basilica

We then headed for the Kazimierz district. There are a number of circuits you can do with varying focuses. We chose one that took us past a few of the Jewish synagogues. It was interesting to wander through the area. However, without a guide it was difficult to learn anything of the history of the area or to know what we were looking at. After only three hours sleep though we probably weren't in a state to take too much in. We finished our afternoon exploring with a meander through the Wawel Castle grounds.

Wawel Castle

Our first day ended with dinner at a Polish restaurant near to the hostel. The menu sounded fabulous. However, the food was rather disappointing. Shelley ordered Wild Boar and I chose roasted Duck. Both meats were overcooked and very dry. The meals were served very quickly which can only mean that they were re-heated. Ewww. At least the sides we ordered were edible - a creamy spinach dish, beetroot and roasted potatoes. Yum. We didn't risk trying the desserts.

On Friday we were booked in for a tour to Auschwitz (Oswiecim in Polish). Our driver collected us from the hostel at 9.30am so not too early a start. However due to dodgy alarm setting (on Shelley's part) I was woken at 4.30am anyway by buzzing in the locker by my head. Can't believe I heard it with earplugs in. No-one else seemed to be bothered or woken by the noise so I let it go for a while. Then decided it wasn't going to shut up so had to work out which bag it was in and try to turn it off. The noise was slightly louder when I opened the locker and located the bag so in fact Shelley was woken and turned it off. Pretty funny as we had joked before going to bed that I might set alarm for the wrong time as I have been known to do on school hockey trips.

Arbeit Macht Frei ("Work Brings Freedom") YEAH RIGHT!

If I were clever I would turn this photo into a Tui billboard. It is difficult to know what to say about our visit to Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II Birkenau. We had an excellent guide who brought to life the history of the place. The displays of 2 000 kg of human hair, thousands of pairs of glasses, suitcases, shoes and other personal possessions bring home the scale of the torture and extermination that took place. All so recently too!

Entrance to gas chamber and crematorium, Auschwitz I

The platform at Birkenau

The place where trains from all over Europe arrived, three quarters of the passengers were led from here straight to the gas chambers.

"If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens,

how incapable must Man be of learning from experience."

George Bernard Shaw

With our "sightseeing" quota for the day filled we relaxed in the mall for the remainder of the afternoon. We searched three floors of shops for the perfect pair of shoes for Shelley. Which, eventually we found. This required some stamina and a little Lody (ice cream) to replenish our energy stores.

Shelley's choice, Spaghetti Chocolate Deluxe

The culinary tour continues. Actually, I don't remember the proper name for this. But in true Polish style these desserts were huge! I had a much smaller sample of another Chocolate concoction with ice-cream, cream and chocolate liquer. How could you go wrong? The presentation was amazing but I put that down to it being an Italian branded shop.

We made a reservation for dinner at a place called Chlopskie Jadlo which advertised itself as Polish country style cooking. I was slightly dubious about the complimentary lard that is served at the beginning of your meal. However as part of my education I forced myself to sample it. I should mention the lard was served with beautiful bread and a soft cheese. The lard did not look appetising, a thick white glug as you'd imagine, with chunks of something a little more solid floating about. I cautiously spread a little on a piece of bread and sampled. To my surprise it was quite delicious. That's because it was warm and the floaty things most closely resembled pork crackling. Everyone knows its the fat in food that makes it taste good. As I haven't been to any other countries that serve up lard as a starter I'm not too worried that I will acquire an addiction to it. My main was equally delicious although I can't remember exactly what it was. Some kind of meat in a creamy, winey, mushroomy sauce served with buttery mashed potatoes. Let's not consider the fat content of this dinner. No dessert was necessary as our stomachs were probably still digesting the enormous helpings of ice-cream we'd eaten earlier.

Our last night involved exploring the Krakow night-life. Well, sort of. We wandered the streets and poked our heads in to a few places. This usually meant ducking down a dark alley, shuffling downstairs to a darkly lit basement and quickly assessing the atmosphere. We sampled a couple of local vodka's in a smoky cellar bar. After rejecting a few more places we settled on a cafe style bar for our nightcap. A very rich hot chocolate with a good measure of baileys. Not particularly Polish but very yummy.

On our last day we did not set out to see or do anything in particular. There was more street wandering just taking in the slightly different sights on a weekend day. People dressed in National costume playing piano accordians and the like. We bought amber jewellery at Cloth Hall, the market in Rynek Glowny. The highlight of the day was deciding we were both in need of a cheap haircut. How could you go wrong for 80 zloty (20 quid, 45 NZD)? So, we booked ourselves in at the first place we found.

By this stage any apprehension about our inability to communicate had well and truly vanished. I was less concerned about this seeing as I pretty much couldn't talk the entire time we were away due to some stupid illness. It turned out that the reception chick had pretty good English. She was used as an interpreter and we both came out with shorter hair. All round a success I think.

There was time for one last meal before we headed to the airport to catch our flight. As we had had mixed success with Polish cuisine we settled on Japanese. This was a beautifully presented and delicious meal. The perfect way to celebrate the end of our unintended culinary holiday.

Do widzenia! Anna!