Scotland

After driving for 15 days and 10 hours we finally got to Glasgow - ok maybe it wasn't quite that long.  It was neat to see Mum and Dad after our super quick catch up at Heathrow. 

Breakfast pit stop

Our destination was the Isle of Skye so we didn't spend too much time chatting on the road side.  Packed up the car and we were off to explore Scotland.  The first little town we stopped at we checked out the tourist information centre.  Turns out the lady who works there has a sister living in Napier so we were treated like royalty - free postcards and maps to help us along the way.
Before we reached our accommodation in Kyleakin we stopped at Eilean Donan castle.  It is very picturesque as it sits on the edge of a peninsula (kind of) and is surrounded by water. 



Eilean Donan Castle

Kyleakin was a very small fishing village with only 3 restuarants to choose from for dinner. On the plus side it did have a ruined castle over looking the village so in the morning we walked up the hill to check it out.

Ruins of Castle Moil, Kyleakin

We then drove around the Isle of Skye, as it is so small we covered the whole Island in a day.  We went for a walk to the Neist Point Light house, got a flat tyre and had yummy hot chips by the sea side in Portree. 

Neist Point

Portree

The next day we headed to Inverness, stopping off to see a canal lock system in use.  Dad was very fascinated but Mum and I headed off for a coffee.  On the way up to Inverness we saw Urquhart Castle and failed in our attempt to spot the Loch Ness monster. 

Inverness wasn't quite what I expected, I was disappointed with sea gulls and rubbish dump smell all over the city.  Luckily I had booked accommodation in a little town called Ardersier which only had one restuarant to choose for dinner.  Thankfully the food was very tasty.  The next day we saw the Falkirk Wheel in action on our drive from Inverness to Edinburgh.  It is quite an amazing feat of engineering. 

Falkirk Wheel - takes canal boats up (or down) to the next canal

Nath and I were pleased to be in Edinburgh on a sunny hot day as last time we were there it was freezing cold for the All Blacks match.  There was a cool vibe in the city due to a jazz festival and the sun being out.  We wondered around and found a sunny spot in Princess Gardens to enjoy an ice block while Mum and Dad visited the Castle.  There were plenty of dinner options tonight and we choose a funky cafe/restuarant/bar and pigged out on sharing plates.  

Edinburgh

The drive back to London was an enourmous 7 hours or so, not helped by road works just north of Luton airport.  We stopped at Hadrians Wall to break up the drive and give Nath a chance to quench his thirst for all things History.  As the wall is 2000 years old I think we could all appreciate how significant it is. 

 

Back in London now and being a hotel and tourist guide for Mum and Dad.  Today they have ventured off by themselves to Weymouth and then Cornwall for some exciting travel adventures. 

 

Birthday Bash

It has been a fun few days in London.  It started on Thurs with Mum and Dad having a stop over in Heathrow for 3hrs before flying onto Ireland.  I got to have a whirlwind catch up with them and exchange birthday presents with Dad.  Tessa also arrived back in town on Thursday so it was all action. 
On Friday my birthday started with Nathan waking me up early as he had to go to work!  Tessa came round and checked out my pad before we lunched in Finchley.  We headed to central London and straight to the M&Ms store.  Loud and bright and kids everywhere! I was like a kid in a candy store.  Tessa went a bit crazy with shopping - buying a t-shirt and other souvenirs.  I was good and only spent £2.20 on a selection of chocolates. We then headed to Marble Arch and Selfridges. 

After it was time for a pre-dinner drink.  The pub was super cheap with only £10 jugs of Pimms.  I do question the strength of the drink though,  it tasted more like lemonade. 
We headed to Brick Lane for a curry - where the curry is never really that good but a cheap night is guaranteed.  Anna bought me a Camilla face mask as a fun birthday present so we had fun taking photos and drinking loads of wine.  Each of us was carrying a bottle of wine, plus we negotiated two free drinks with our meal.  Needless to say we had far too much wine at the table and a big night was had by most.  Anna was keen to take the party to Elephant and Castle to go clubbing but as 1) I had too many clothes on so I was not revealing enough flesh and 2) I didn't have my stab proof vest we turned down the offer.

We struggled to rise early the next morning to take Tessa and Gavin on sight seeing tour of the English country side.  We missioned to Stonehenge where Nath and I paid to go in again.  Why?  What a waste of money.  The first time was never that exciting so Im not sure where the impulse came from to pay to see it again. We then headed to the most picturesque town in England as described by the Lonely Planet, Castle Combe, with a stop off at Devizes for a traditional pub lunch.  The final stop of the day was to Bath, home of the Sally Lunn bun, where again Tessa did some souvenir shopping with a bit of sight seeing thrown in.  The only English tradition we missed showing Tessa was a castle!

Nath and I are gearing up for two months of exciting travel adventures.  The next two months look a little like this:

• Scotland - with my parents - late July
• Amsterdam - Anna, Boz, Nath and I - mid August
• Egypt - Nath and I - late Aug, begining of Sept
• Munich for Oktoberfest - 8+ friends from Uni - mid Sept

Somewhere between Egypt and Munich I have to be back at work :(  Work is far from my mind, living in the moment and loving it.

Summer begins

Well my 2 month summer break has begun!  This week is going to be slow and relaxing and then next week onwards the action begins.  Will have a week with Tessa in London, then a week in Scotland with my parents, then 11 days with my parents in London.  It's going to be awesome.  This Thursday Mum and Dad pass through Heathrow on their way to Ireland so I will tube out and hopefully, fingers crossed, get to spend an hour so with them at the airport before they fly out.  Enough time for a coffee and an exchange of birthdays presents - my birthday is on Friday and Dads is on Saturday.  Already told him that seeing me is his present!
The weekend of Nathan's birthday we are going to Amsterdam for an unforgettable birthday (of course this depends on how many cafe's we visit!).  Anna and Borrie are coming along and hopefully Burns too. 
Summer is rounded off with a 9 day tour of Egypt with just Nath and I.  It will be nice to have some bonding time just the two of us. 
Then its back to work.  But to brighten up my mood at having to be back at work we are going to Oktoberfest to drink beer!  My dream come true.  I only have work one full week before I get the day off to drink beer.  How cool.
We have been busy keeping our wee garden alive.  The herbs have taken off and the tomato plants are huge but no sign of fruit yet.  Ceck out the BGT (before growing time) and DGT (during growing time) pics below.

We had a super cute skype conversation with Zane and Lena last Friday.  It has been a month perhaps since we last talked and its amazing to see the changes in Lena.  She copies Romana and wears a handbag on her arm and wraps her doll up in a blanket before dumping her in the pram.  So cute.
 

This past weekend we met Anna and Borrie at the Tate Modern and got a wee bit cultural.  Nath and I had checked out one whole floor while A&B were still in the 1st gallery!  We decided to change tact and headed to the London Bridge experience, which all in all was very lame and tame.  It was meant to be the scariest experience in London but it was pathetic, we felt ripped off and we had 2 4 1 tickets.  Poor suckers who pay full price. 

Picasso

Some modern contemporary work

Will keep you updated as our summer travels take place. 

Mich and Nath

Suffolk

This past weekend Anna, Boz, Nath and I undertook a road trip to Suffolk.  The only request from Anna was that we had to see a castle.  On day one we went to Framlingham Castle and spent a few hours walking around the castle.  The time was drawn out by Nath and Boz playing chess, Borrie really thinks through his moves! 

Nath and Boz to tall for the houses in Framlingham

We went to a sea side town called Southwold and walked along the pier.  Luckily we missed a massive downpour that caused immediate flooding on the roads.  Turns out the Brits dont slope their roads downwards towards a drain, they just make the roads flat with no drains.  Real clever. 

On Sunday, after no sleep as we stayed next to a night club, we visited some beautiful market villages.  The first one we came to was Bury-St-Edmund that has a ruined Abbey in the town centre.  We had fun climbing over the ruins, it so cool how you are able to get up close and touch things.

St Edmundsbury Cathedral

We then stopped at Lavenham before heading home to London.  Anna and I wanted tea and scones for afternoon tea so the boys reluctantly agreed and ended up wanting more! Gotta love clotted cream.  Thats all the travel for a while.  Hope to plan a few more weekends away during the summer months.

Bad taste, but good fit

Friends arrive in London

We have been so busy at the moment catching up with friends and family from back home.  Firstly Anna and Borrie arrived.  Luckily they have moved over so they wont be returning home for a while.  This will give us plenty of opportunities to travel with them.  They stayed at ours for the past week and it was neat to have them around. Almost felt like being back at uni.

On Thursday night Nath and I had a fun night at brick lane catching up with my Aunty Rose and Uncle Gav, and my cousin who lives in London.  It had been a while since I last saw them as I didn't get a chance to see them before I left NZ.  So it was really bizarre to see them in London.  I think they are a bad influence as I had a wee hang over on Friday.  It could of been the 3 rounds of drinks we got for free with our curry's!  Good deal.

Friday night was so fun as I got to catch up with my bestie - Tessa!  With her husband Gav.  They were only in London for one night before heading off on a 4 week tour of Europe.  They return to London mid July where I will get to spend a few more days hanging out with them, can't wait.

Any day now I am expecting a text to arrange a catch up with Julie who I caoched canoe polo with back home.  She is in London for her nieces wedding.  In exactly a month today I will be seeing Mum and Dad!  I will be doing a road trip around Scotland with them and then I will have time with them in London before they jet off to Turkey and Greece.

Busy busy.  Tomorrow is my school sports day that I have had to help organise.  The forecast is for some light rain showers, so fingers crossed they stay away till after 3:00.  I only have 3 weeks of work before we break up for summer.  Next week is education outside the classroom so classes are out and about.  That week will fly by then there's one left - with prize giving assemblies, and end of term lunches it will be a short week.

Lords

Nath and I made it to Lords (the spiritual home of cricket) for the second test between England and Sri Lanka.  The other spectators were very much English gentry! We saw a lot of chinos, loafers and blazers, much different to what we would see walking down a London street.  Unfortunately the weather wasn't great so our day was cut short.  Around the ground they had cricket records that have been set at Lords and we saw one by Dan Vettori so we were stoked.

The other highlight of the day was being able to take alcohol into the ground.  Very bizarre.  Per person you could take 1 bottle of wine or 4 pint cans.  We still can't figure out why they let people BYO but it sure makes the day a little cheaper.

We had great seats, 2nd row.

Players on the balcony waiting for the rain to stop.

Chester

We had a nice loooong weekend away in Cheshire.  The biggest town in Cheshire is Chester so we spent most of the time hanging out there if we weren't stuck on the M6.  The trip from London is supposed to take 3 hours but we got held up for 90min at an accident!  It doesn't take much for congestion to build on the M6, 4 lanes of traffic going nowhere.

Eventually we arrived at our hotel and were very looked after with a chilled bottle of wine waiting for us.  We relaxed in the hotel and explored the grounds before our lovely dinner.  After I enjoyed watching Barcelona thrash Man U in the Champions League final.  Brilliant.  I also enjoyed the bucket of beers we had with dinner and the footy.  Funny as everyone in the restaurant were drinking wine and we had a bucket of beers on our table.

On Sunday we didn't get up to early and had a big breakfast to energise us for the zoo.  I couldn't remember the zoo song and Nath wasn't keen to join in.  We only spent a few hours at the zoo even though it is the biggest in the UK.  We felt that both Auckland and Hamilton zoos are bigger and better.  Chester zoo had a monorail and a boat trip around the zoo - shows how lazy the Poms are!  We walked around the zoo fairly quickly and got out of there - too many bloody kids with soccer hooligan hair cuts.

We went into Chester town centre where we took a walk around the old city walls.  The walls form a 2 mile loop around the city and take in sights such as the cathedral, roman amphitheatre, university, castle and the highlight was the bear and billet pub.  Housed in an old tudor building built in 1664 it is the oldest wooden building in Chester.  It was home of an Earl before turning into a pub in the 1700s.  We did a quick spot of shopping where I managed to score a pair of Bench jeans for £15 down from £60 and they don't need to be taken up at the bottom.

Part of the old walls

The bear and billet pub

Italian was on the menu for dinner and when we found the Prezzo restaurant it was next to a Vue movie theatre.  We decided to watch Pirates of the Caribbean in 3D.  It was very cool but especially as we saw some of the set when they were filming in London.  We could clearly see the set they used in the movie and some of the buildings where the movie was filmed we have been in. 

Luckily there were no traffic hold ups on the way home.   I am looking forward to the rest of the week off work due to the mid term break.  Tomorrow is lady's morning at the squash club, so if I tidy myself up  and act like a lady I might go along (Nath and I joined the local squash club if you didn't already know).  Anna and Borrie arrived in London today after flying out from NZ on Friday and having a 2 day stop over in LA.  Good ol Borrie starts work tomorrow so Anna and I can be ladies of leisure while our men (read boys) work for us.
The lovely weather we were having has been replaced by rain for the past few days.  Hopefully this is the last of it, although it is helping our herb garden along nicely. 
We had a new teacher start work at the begining of this term and as I was still newish we made friends.  Turned out it was a good move on my behalf because she just got promoted to assistant principal so now I have friends in high places and Im just waiting for my promotion!