Suffolk for the weekend

Life has been kinda crazy here in London since we got back from Australia...Sarah has had a trip to Prague with Bel (a subject for another post) and has also had a work trip to Texas, so when we finally got a weekend together with nothing else planned, I seized the chance to plan a weekend away in the countryside.

To avoid the chaos of crossing London, I looked to the east of England, and found that Suffolk was a green, countryside county full of quaint medieval villages - sounded perfect.

We started our trip at Ickworth, a National Trust property created by an eccentric, wealthy Earl-Bishop featuring a huge central rotunda and sweeping curved galleries filled with marble columns and artwork - a most intriguing design.

Our photo is out of focus, so this one is courtesy of National Trust

Next stop was Bury St Edmund, which was named after the King (later Saint) Edmund who was buried here after being martyred by the Danes. The abbey founded in his honour was eventually pulled down (during the dissolution of the monasteries), but the area it once occupied is now a park and a beautiful garden. The scale of it is immense; the town's rather large cathedral (which is fascinating as it is in a gothic style, but the tower only went up in 2000 and the cloisters still arent finished) only fills one small corner of the Abbey's area.

Our final stop was Lavenham, where we were staying. Lavenham was once one of the 20 richest settlements in Medieval England, but appears frozen in time (except for the cars and tarmac, of course). The wool trade which sustained it dried up, and as a result it remains a town of half-timbered tudor buildings plus a beautiful (but perhaps over-sized for a town of 2000 people) church.

The Greyhound in Lavenham - a picture-perfect pub just around the corner from the B&B

In one of the (slightly less wonky) half-timbered buildings is the Priory B&B, which has five individually decorated rooms, all with four poster beds, exposed beam ceilings and the feel of an earlier era (but the comfort of the modern one!). We loved it...

The painted chamber, our room at the Priory

We'd had all sorts of plans of doing something else touristy on the Sunday, but it was sunny outside and we were so relaxed that we just sat in the park and read - it really is great to get away from it all...

Australia Part 4: Singapore

This is starting to get a little silly with the post names, but after a night in Sydney we returned to London via a night in Singapore with Claud and Greg. It was the first time Stephen had spent any time longer than a couple of hours in Singapore, and we had a great time - great food, great company, and some fascinating sights.

We arrived late in the evening for G&T on their balcony overlooking Singapore, which is about the best way to begin a visit (especially if you've been fortunate enough to be upgraded to Business Class on the way in).

The view from Claudia and Greg's Condo - I'd no idea that there was this much green still in Singapore

The following morning we had a quick breakfast Yum Cha, then headed off to the botanical gardens which were fantastic - one of the more impressive legacies of the colonial era. We followed this up with a bus trip down Orchard Road (stopping off to see the shop-houses at Emerald Hill - a fascinating slice of old Singapore in the midst of new Singapore).

You can't visit Singapore without having a Singapore Sling, and where else to do this but Raffles Hotel, an institution. It is a bit touristy, but at the same time is like a slice of the colonial era.

A Sling (and a beer) at Raffles

After lunch at one of the many street hawker markets, we split up - the boys to check out the tourist sights including a brand new Buddhist temple (it is really weird to think that this is the sort of thing that is still being built, rather than something that is hundreds of years old - the aircon and the fact that you can pay your contribution by credit card give it away a bit) and the girls to go shopping (fortunately we got upgraded for the flight to London as well - we were already over our weight limit so five more pairs of shoes were going to be too much otherwise).

The main hall of the temple - each one of the mini-statues lining the wall is individually sponsored at $600/year

A tranquil rooftop garden

We rounded the day by taking a sunset cruise on the harbour, and seeing Singapore the way it was originally meant to be seen - from the water. It was a fascinating mix of brand new construction and colonial architecture...

Claud and Greg loving the soundtrack (which must have said a dozen times that we should go out and go shopping)

Shophouses line the water while skyscrapers tower above

There is construction everywhere you look - the skyline must be constantly changing

Australia Part 3: New Zealand

The final leg of our trip down under was to visit Sarah's extended family in New Zealand. We flew into Queenstown where we collected a car and took the scenic drive down to Cromwell, where Sarah's grandfather and his wife (Pete and Doreen) and her uncle and aunt (Trevor and Jackie) live. It was great to catch up and share some stories, and see their new houses. Big thanks to Trevor and Jackie for the use of their house.

On the balcony at Trevor and Jackie's - we even tried some wine from the nearby vineyard

The next evening we took the Pig Route down from Cromwell to Dunedin. We were virtually the only traffic on the road, and so had the brilliant scenery to ourselves. It had been hot and dry (with very clear skies) across the Central Otago region, but as we headed towards the coast we saw some fantastic cloud formations which looked as if they were creeping across the surface of the mountains.

We arrived in Dunedin quite late in the evening and proceeded to spend the following couple of days catching up with Clarence, Yvonne, Cousin Matt and his fiance Abbi (and, of course, Jessie who had flown over to join us). Yvonne took us touring down the peninsula, visiting Lanarch Castle gardens (which were beautiful) and the albatross colony. The whole area was so unspoilt that it was tempting to stay. We also sneaked in some aquajogging, and visited Matt and Abbi's new house which is just over the road from the beach. Yvonne cooked us a wonderful Lamb Roast, which poor old Matt couldn't share as he was on a detox diet (consists of lemon, chilli & maple syrup water, three times a day)

Lanarch Castle garden

Near the albatross colony

At the beach near Jackie's (Yvonne's friend) house

Abbi, Matt, Sarah and Stephen

In the garden with Clarence

Jessie and Clarence in his garden

The added bonus on the trip home was the in-flight entertainment - not for the quality so much (although the Air New Zealand kit is brilliant) but in celebration of their new systems they had a 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire' contest. The first person on the flight to complete the interactive game on the console would win a free return flight to NZ from Sydney - and Stephen won it not once but twice (the first time the game reset itself before the hostess could arrive to verify, so he had to start from scratch)...taking home a free flight for Jessie to visit Clarence later in the year :)

Trinidad

Last December, just before heading out to Australia, I had a short two week stay in Trinidad for work. We were based in the capital of Trinidad (Port of Spain) however on one of the weekends did manage to hire a mini-bus to show us a little of the island.

Once outside of the capital we were surrounded by lush tropical jungle and some very pretty coastline. Sadly, as we pulled up to the beach, the rain set in although it did clear later in the afternoon so we could have a long lunch by the water and watch the boats go by.

Our trip to the beach

Its SNOWING!!!

We just thought we'd fill you in on the weather conditions in London at the moment - we have snow which is well over ankle deep, and it is still falling lightly. Apparently it is the most snow in 20 years, and the public transport ground to a halt today (oh, the joys of being able to walk to work - I was the only person on my floor by 4:30 because the dozen or so people who had made it in had to leave to make sure that they didn't get stranded)

We could easily have gone to Greenwich park to go sledding down the main hill (pesky work again :)) and as you can see, some other people have taken advantage of the conditions to build a snowman.

I'm sure that we'll be sick of it soon enough but while it lasts it is really exciting to have proper snow around the house - first time we've ever seen it anywhere but a ski resort...

Local snowpeople (and a snow puppy)

The whole area was covered!

When I was in London I had to walk to work in the snow, uphill both ways...

Australia Part 2 - New South Wales

29^th of December saw us arrive into Sydney where we began a frenetic programme of visits with friends and Sarah's family. It was a bit surreal being back, lots of things hadn't changed but my memory of them didn't match reality – I had forgotten just how big a city it is (geographically) and we were glad that we rented a car or we'd never have reached everyone.

One really great thing about going back was how easy it was to slip back into old friendships - Claudia, Lou, Nat and Sarah at lunch in Kirrabilli

Our NYE was down at the harbour, as Cam and Lou were kind enough to host us in their apartment which has a great view out towards the Heads for the 9pm fireworks. For the midnight fireworks the party relocated to just below the bridge to join the throng – it was a magnificent sight. A huge thanks to Cam and Lou as they really went above and beyond to keep us very well fed and and watered.

Happy New Years!

Pretty!

On the balcony to watch the fireworks - Claudia, Nat, Jess, Megan and Sarah

Sarah, Megan, Jess and Lou

New Years Day was taken up with a series of BBQs (thanks in particular to Claud and Greg) and on the 2^nd we headed up the coast to North Arm Cove for R&R (and a bit of gardening/mowing/waterblasting of the water tank – there is a real sense of satisfaction in doing work around the garden). We hit two beaches, pigged out and spent quality time with the McKinlays – and played a lot of Settlers of Catan (the six player expansion set got a real work-out).

New Year's Day at Claudia and Greg's

Jessie and Sarah at Nelson's Bay

Jimmy's Beach near Hawks Nest

We had begun to get very comfortable in NAC, but unfortunately reality intervened as we had to visit the dentist in Sydney on Thursday afternoon; this left us a couple more days to see as many people as we could before hopping on the plane to New Zealand.

Australia Part 1 - Tasmania

For almost a month we were able to put the hussle and bustle (and freezing weather) of London behind us and jump on the long flight back to Australia to catch up with friends and family.

Stop 1 was Tasmania, where Stephen's family live (or had assembled) and where we would spend Christmas. The food extravaganza began on the way home from the airport with fresh oysters; the following day we got crayfish; and we were fortunate enough to still be in town when the Taste of Tasmania kicked off (for great seafood platters, tempura mushrooms and berries with icecream).

Berries at the taste with Bob and Alison

But the real reason we were there was to catch up with the family – we had a wonderful time getting to know our nephew Jack, meeting Alison (Bob's girlfriend) as well as spending quality time with David and Di, Marcus, Marnie and Bob – and seeing the grandparents, cousins, uncles and aunts (many for the first time in at least two years!). A big thanks to Andrew and Louise for hosting Catchpolefest 2008 - it was great to see everyone there.

Jack with his Christmas Cracker hat

Christmas lunch (L-R Jack, Marcus, Bob, Alison, cousin Scott, uncle Michael, auntie Helena, Di, David, Meg, Sarah, cousin Renee and Marnie

Marcus and Marnie on Christmas morning

Bob and Alison on Christmas morning

L-R Marcus, Alison, Sarah, cousin Emma, Anthony (Emma's boyfriend), auntie Paula, Marnie and cousin Sara out for drinks in Hobart town

Some of the other highlights were watching the Sydney-Hobart race finish up the Derwent; Bob and Alison cooking us dinner and providing the chance to hang out with Marcus and Marnie; and seeing Jack and getting to know him as a real 'little person' (Christmas regains some of its magic when youngsters are around).

Stephen and Jack

The winner of the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, Wild Oats XI (from David & Di's balcony)

Manchester with Matt and Jo

It'd been far too long since we caught up with Matt and Jo, our friends from back in Aus who are now living in Manchester, so I jumped on the Saturday morning slow train to visit. Jo had had her work Christmas party in London the night before, which meant I had a buddy on the train. This was fortunate, as flooding on the tracks slowed us down considerably. We spent a fair bit of the trip trading stories on where we'd been since we last spoke and getting ideas about where to go next (Prague and Budapest are climbing up my list...)

Matt was, unfortunately, down with the flu, so it was a bit of a vegging-out weekend - besides ducking out for a great dinner at their local, our main trip out was to the Manchester Christmas markets which were very cool - heaps of stalls selling everything European and wintery you could possibly imagine - about as different from an Aussie Christmas as can be

So thanks M&J for a wonderful weekend - hope it's not too long until next time!

Jo and Matt outside the market square - I think Jo is actually propping Matt up...and yes, that Santa really is as big as it looks...

Out and about in London

I've been out and about the last few weeks taking in the sights of London. Last weekend I checked out the Imperial War Museum - mostly because of the special Ian Fleming & James Bond exhibition that they were running. While the James Bond bit was good (they had the 'Little Nelly' mini-copter and some of the other props) and there were a few interesting stories of Ian Fleming's war years (he was actually involved in some minor spy plots for the Admiralty), I actually got more out of the museum itself (which was free, as opposed to the James Bond one)

They had a great exhibit which recreated the size and feel of a WWI trench...

...plus a room full of interesting memorabilia

Biggles would have been at home there

They also had a range of paraphernalia; this book saved a man's life

This is an aerial photo taken from a fighter defending the docklands - top right corner is where we live now

The following Wednesday, Matt Williams and I headed off to watch the Barbarians play Australia at Wembley Stadium. The Barbarians is an invitational side, and the only qualifications considered when issuing an invitation are that the player's rugby is of a high enough standard and secondly that he should behave himself on and off the field. The team was from all over the world, included lots of All Blacks and South Africans; the rugby was free-flowing and exciting (although the finishing lacked a little) and George Gregan even got a run for the Ba-bas

Where have we been?

For anyone who uses this blog to keep up with what is happening in our lives, sorry if you've been starved for news. We're still well, still busy, but our social lives have taken over from our traveling lives a bit. Some highlights have been:

Zoe's Halloween/Birthday party - everyone got right into the theme - including not one but two Amy Winehouses (the one who was cross-dressing looked more like her...)

Sarah's Halloween Ball at work - held at the London Dungeon, which was a pretty cool venue but not somewhere to wander around carrying a full glass of champagne (lots of people to make you jump)

Derby Day Party with Kylie and Anthony - these guys have just arrived from Australia and decided to re-create that Spring Racing Carnival atmosphere (complete with a sweep and taped races) in their living room - it was a great escape from a gray and rainy autumn afternoon

The Sound of Music - unbelievably, Stephen had gone his whole life without seeing the movie - so on a whim we picked up last minute tickets to the live show and thoroughly enjoyed it

Croatia

If you’re anything like me a couple of years ago, when you think of Croatia you think of mountains, peasant costumes and civil war, and the only history you know of the area involves Franz Ferdinand (the Archduke, not the band) in 1914. Well, there is a lot more to it that I ever realised – and we were fortunate enough to spend a week there (or unfortunate enough to only spend a week there...)

Originally we’d planned the trip as a group of four, with Natalie and Rick joining us. Unfortunately Rick’s travelling companion went and got herself hitched, and so he dropped out, leaving Stephen to look after the ladies for the trip. This looked like it was going to be trouble, late on Saturday night as we were looking for our hostel in Split, when we heard (in a threatening Mediterranean accent) 'ey you lovely ladies need directions?'. We turned, ready to fight or run, only to see Rick bearing down on us wearing a goofy grin...he'd stitched up a plan with Natalie all along (or at least from 3 weeks before).

Split

Unfortunately we had a ferry to catch so we only got to blitz through Diocletian’s palace – especially because we’d been up late catching up with all Rick’s stories of adventures getting from Athens to Split overland, via Albania amongst other countries you would never think to visit. It is incredible that the retirement palace of one of Rome’s most powerful emperors has been so fully absorbed into the fabric of Split town that we ate breakfast in the main gate and stayed in what was once the servants area without thinking twice.

Part of Diocletian's palace

Time hasn’t been kind to the palace, or to Diocletian’s legacy – he was a persecutor of Christians, but they’ve built a church on top of his mausoleum - but I think it rams it home how spoilt Europeans are for history that this place isn't behind glass...

Hvar

Hvar regularly comes near the top of lists of must-visit Mediterranean islands, and feels very much like a rich person’s playground with a harbour full of yachts, some lovely resorts and a spectacular harbour setting. This was our 'splash out' stay and so we stayed in one of the aformentioned resorts (the Amfora) which was simply wonderful. We only had 36 hours on the island and while the end of summer (with an almighty rainstorm) impaired the afternoon of the Sunday we were able to spend most of Monday by the pool (and the rest of it exploring).

A view of the harbour

Hotel Amfora pool and private beach

The town itself was fascinating, with a warren of back streets reminiscent of Granada (although on a much smaller scale). Hvar also has a legendary nightlife, although it turns out not on a Sunday unfortunately...but we still had a lovely dinner and really enjoyed exploring the town at night.

Rick and Stephen got inspired enough to climb to the fort at the top of the hill while Sarah and Nat enjoyed more sun

Korcula

Our next stop on our island hopping adventure was the town of Lumbarda, on the island of Korcula - again only a short ferry ride away. Nat's cousin is lucky enough to have a beach house there and while it was simple, it was everything we needed. It even looked over a small beach, complete with a beach bar and a jetski hire place (which Stephen and Rick made use of).

The main beach of Lumbarda, though, is rated one of Croatia's best, and while it is not quite up there with an Australian beach, it had sand (not pebbles) and the clearest water we'd seen in a long time. It also had German tourists, including one playing oompapah music on an accordian. We lapped it up - we needed our vitamin D dose to get us through the impending winter.

Korcula was the home of Marco Polo, and the town is hugely proud of their most famous son. It is also the home of the Moreshka - a sword dance which apparently shares some common ancestry with the Morris Dancers of England.

Skye (Nat's cousin) had worded us up on the best places to check out while we were in Korcula, and we followed her guidance, having cocktails in one of the turrets from the town wall and fantastic dinner.

A long way from home

Our last day on Korcula dawned gray, so we decided go get on our bikes - literally...fortunately the island is covered with bike tracks so we could ride to our hearts content.

Rick and Stephen rode up to Zrnovo - an epic climb

Dubrovnik
Dubronik was a competitor town to Venice during the 16th century, and was fiercely independent. In order to keep this independence it had built a tremendous wall around the perimeter - walking around it took us the best part of the morning. It was a brilliant city to visit, and we weren't the only people to find that - the city was crammed with people. It had been shelled by the Serbs in 1992, but you wouldn't know it today so rapid has been the re-building.

A tip we (or Rick, really) discovered - the best view of the city is from up the hill. Given that the cable car was destroyed in the civil war, the top of the hill is you can climb a bit of the way up to a lookout and get much the same view by going up Bernarda Shawa Street - Bernard Shaw was famous for saying 'If you want to see heaven on earth, visit Dubrovnik'. He was right, and it was a shame to leave...

The view from the top of Bernarda Shawa Street

On the wall

A couple we'd sat next to at dinner in Korcula had pointed us in the direction of a bar perched neatly on the outside of the walls, which was definitely worth checking out.

Relaxing by the 'hole in the wall' bar

The view from the neighbouring fort