Wednesday - Out and about the country side.

Our hosts other dog. Just as big as the other one.  Much more friendly. We walk through the gate at the back to get to our car. This one always comes over for a pat.

Today, we went for a drive to the beach, 29 mile west of here, through lots of small villages and along some narrow roads. It was not always the most relaxed driving as the passing cars were quite close and so was the thick hedge on the left side.

Most of the cars out here are small cars. Given the width of the country roads, that is quite understandable. The car parking spots seem smaller as well!  Many houses don't have parking spots either. The price of petrol may be another reason for small cars £1.13 pl. That's double our price at home

The beach, Weston Super Mare, was very busy.  Plenty of people dipping their toes.  About 20oC.

Not quite warm enough for us.  It didn't really look that inviting either. Not exactly Torquay or Ocean Grove

There were all sorts of attractions on the beach, carnival rides, donkey rides

And a sand sculpture exhibition

We continued our journey on to Bristol, where we wisely chose the Park and ride option again. This was off peak, so it only cost £4 in total.  Bristol has an eclectic array of buildings.  Obviously the strict planning rules of Bath have not been applied to Bristol.  

St Nicholas Market was quite unusual.  Inside the building were lots of very small stalls with wooden doors. Quite old. All sorts of food stalls as well as just about anything else for sale.  Our fish and chips by the water were very nice, but had we known about this market, I'm sure we would have had lunch here.  Bristol is much more multicultural than Bath, so the food smells were amazing.

Fortunately our car has a very good gps, otherwise we would still be out there. A lot of traffic about, and lots of different roads. Nicola is chief gps operater and has done a good job.

Tomorrow we are off to Stonehenge and whatever takes our eye. 

Tuesday -Bath

A quirky note I forgot about last time. 

While at dinner at the pub, the waiter was about to take our order, when a medium sized dog sprints through the dining area, up onto the bench lounge next to us, across the lap of the lady at the adjacent table, and back to the calls from his owner, who had been in the bar with the dog.  The dog must have got bored and decided to explore when someone opened the door.  The waiter just looked and said "I wasn't expecting that". 

Speaking of dogs, our hosts (or their parents) have dogs. Here is one of them.

He/she is huge and still a pup!  The other one is just as big! A St Bernard of some sort.

Today we drove to the outskirts of Bath for the park and ride service.  Free parking with a bus service every 10 mins into Bath central. £3.30 return.

It's a world heritage listed town with very strict planning and heritage control. Incredibly beautiful, not to mention, an old town.  We did a free "Mayor's walking tour. 2 1/2 hour walk around all the major sights with a very informative commentary from a local who had been doing these tours for 42 years!  

Bath Abbey

Puletney Bridge

The Circle (a circle of houses , 5 levels, 2 are below ground level)

The Royal Circuit

A typical street

Lunch followed at The Bath Bun Tea Shoppe.  Very old English.

Afterwards we went through the Roman Baths.  Quite fascinating. Heated thermal water still comes from the below.  Temperature is 46oC. Pretty hot. 

The Brazilians in Rio obviously took some inspiration from Bath, using green water in their diving pool!

Later on, it was a visit to the Jane Austen Centre. She spent a few years here in Bath and wrote some of her famous books here in the early 1800's. Nicola tried out writing with the feathered quill.

Afternoon tea upstairs. Russell did have the famous Bath Bun.

Next week, Bath hosts Stage 6 of The Tour of Britian bike race.  Lots of businesses and the public have decorated bikes.  The Council are fully supporting it too.

It was a warm day here today, about 26oC.  Very warm by English standards.  Very few places have air conditioning, but our house was very nice when we returned. Solid stone walls make for good insulation.

FYI

Petrol price £1.14 (about double what we pay at home)!

Monday -Off to Bath

Today we headed off to Bath.  So with backpacks on our backs, we set off. Nicola's is heavier than ours after 6 weeks of travel and shopping.  Our Travelodge hotel was in Drury Lane, Covent Garden. Great location and about 5 minute walk from Holborn Tube station.  Stopped for brekkie on the way. We then had to catch a train to Marble Arch (5stops) to pick up our car.  Holborn station began maintenance work today so when we arrived at 9.45, we couldn't enter until 10. So we stood around with backpacks on until we they were ready. We let the first train go as their was no room for us with packs on. The next one was only a few minutes later. Just enough room. Wearing backpacks in crowds needs some spatial awareness.  It is very easy to give someone the heave ho!  Didn't happen, but close a few times! It is also a new experience for us wearing full backpacks.  Nicola is an old hand at it.  Carrying an extra14kgs on your back is an incentive not to put on too much weight whilst on holiday! It was nice to collect our car.

Our car is a Nissan Juke.  A smallish car, but fine for us with back packs.  May have been an issue with suitcases.  It does have a very good gps (once we worked it out). I wisely let Nicola sit in the front to deal with the gps. She is much better with that sort of thing.

We stopped at a motorway service centre for a cuppa.  It was huge.  All sorts of food and other shops, even poker machines!  Very busy. A long queue for the ladies loos, even Russell had to queue for nearly as long as we did.

Back to the car, get in, Russell pushes the button to start, the power comes on but the engine won't start.  Tried various things. No luck.  Let's get the car manual out.  No, there isn't one.  Ok, Google "How to start a Nissan Juke?"  Apparently you need your foot on the brake for the car to start! (Did it by accident the first time)

A pleasant drive to Bath, which we just drove through as parking is pretty difficult at this busy time of year.  On to Marksbury, (5 mile from Bath) to our home for 4 nights Lowerchurch farmhouse.  Our host, Caroline, greeted us and showed us around.  This place is spectacular, a 17th century house that has been beautifully renovated.  The photos give you an idea.  

The building on the left (below) is another holiday rental.  The building on the right is the owners' office.

We occupy the left half of this semi detached house. The owners parents live in the right hand side.

The owners live next door. All the houses in the village are like this.

We headed off to a local pub for dinner.  It would be walking distance, but half of the journey does not have suitable walking paths or even verges on the road, so we drove it. It was also a very busy road. 

Nice meal, plenty of space, quiet compared to London. Very enjoyable evening. 

A family day in London

While waiting for Nicola, we had a drink in the pub across the road from our hotel. It is the oldest licensed pub in London.

It was wonderful to greet Nicola last night. She was delighted to see us (tears of joy -it's nice to be loved).  She had a fantastic time, so pressure is on us to make her last week away, a little exciting.

We started the day off with brekkie at Pret Manger (a French inspired bakery, they are everywhere here), followed by a chat with Michael, who had arrived in Munich  (for work) at 6.30am this morning. He ran into my cousin (Heather and Anthony) at Melbourne Airport. They were heading overseas yesterday as well.  Have a great holiday Heather and Anthony.

At 11, we started a Fat Tires Bike ride around London.  We did this 2 years ago, but Nicola hadn't.  

It was really enjoyable and informative, taking in sights like Kensington Palace and Gardens, Hyde Park,

Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.

Riding past Buckingham Palace, we were confronted with masses of people.  We were there for the changing of the Guards.  Whilst we didn't see the actual change (you have to be there very early to see it these days) the procession passed right past us. Timing is everything.

As the Royal roads are closed on Sundays, we didn't have to deal with much traffic, except getting to Trafalgar Square and Charing Cross.  

A quirky traffic light.  Note the button to press. It's for horse riders.  Up a bit higher than usual so they don't have to dismount. Lots of Royal/Military horses about!

Crowds everywhere, not to mention double decker buses.  We saw hundreds of them today.

We wandered into St Pauls Cathedral late in the day, no sightseeing as there was an choral recital in progress, but we were able to sit and listen, and take in the sights and sounds.

This evening, we went to the London Eye.  Thanks Wendy, for the suggestion of doing a night journey.  

Off to Bath tomorrow, back in London on Friday.

Cheers for now.

Almost there. Yes we are here.

I am writing this with 1 hour before landing in London.  Ground temperature is 20oC. It is 32 hrs since we left Bendigo.  (We had a couple of hours visiting family in Melbourne).   The flight has been pretty good, just a little turbulence now and then.  This plane is the A380, the first leg 777-300. The A380 is much more comfortable and quieter. (Although a few kids on this leg.  They have been pretty good though). 

There was a medical emergency on board, a doctor/nurse was called from the passenger list. Lucky you weren't on this flight Nicola. The person wasn't seated far from us, so it was a hive of activity for about an hour. He was put on oxygen.  Much discussion was had about his condition.  I thought they were going to call for a medical diversion at on point.  Bucharest would have been the nearest airport.  That was avoided, fortunately, although he has been under constant watch by the doctor/nurse.  I'm sure an ambulance will be ready for him at Heathrow.

Hopefully our time at Heathrow will short.  Sick of airports at this point!

I continue now from our hotel room with feet up and a real cup of tea.  Really sick of airports now.  We arrived earlier than expected which was good, but nobody could get off until paramedics dealt with the unwell passenger. That wasn't too long, but we stood waiting in line at immigration for an hour!  Border Force are very serious about who they let in!

We spoke to Nicola a short while ago, who was looking at the White Cliffs of Dover as their ferry neared England.  So our catch up will be in a few hours time.

Bye for now from some weary travellers.

Part way there.

We are now sitting at Doha airport. Left Melbourne, 45 mins late, but made up time and arrived just before sunrise at 4.45am.  Temperature outside was 34oC at that time.  Just as well we are just inside in transit! Flight was full so no room to stretch out. Comfortable enough and smooth travelling.

Had a shower here. It was so nice. Feel quite refreshed for the next leg.  Doesn't Russ look relaxed?  Forgotten about work already.  Bye

Europe 2016. Here we come

2 wandering Epsomites are off again. First stop Doha (flying Qatar). Just a transit stop of a couple of hours, although might be less as our 9.40pm departure has already blown out to 10.05pm. It will be a long night, no matter what.  Especially when in cattle class. Gin and Tonics will taste the same!

Then onto London, where we will meet Nicola on Saturday night. It will be great to catch up with her. 

Stay tuned for the next update.