Come on guys, it's not THAT obscure!!!
Specifically, it's our child, due early may.
I hope that clears up the confusion :P
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Monday, October 23, 2006
Norfolk Coastal Crawl
To the NORTH. I just love the freeway signs here, they always have north in caps like your some explorer heading off to the pole or something. We will did head north and to the coast around Norfolk. The first stop was Hustanton. They have supper strange beaches here though the colour was so different in sunlight as to the dull grey though the village about it was just lovely. There were lots of great old buildings out of stone with cute little gardens. It was amazing to see how far the sea went out. We did some walking around and tried the local icecream of course, even though it was freezing.
Next we drove through a number of lovely coastal villages, taking pictures here and there, ending up in Holkham where they had a great hall with lovely grounds, including cute deer. Holkham also had a great postoffice.
We were warmed to the heart to see this lovely gum in the middle of Holkham. Though we could take it or leave it with the pigeons
After this it was off to Cley next to the Sea, long name though cute village. We wondered about this place for a bit though could not do the walking around the flats to the beaches as we had run out of time. Never mind, next time gaget, next time.
I am sure Ben can make a nice panorama when he fixes this blog entry :) for the moment you will have to view without the techo adventuredd team member
Next we drove through a number of lovely coastal villages, taking pictures here and there, ending up in Holkham where they had a great hall with lovely grounds, including cute deer. Holkham also had a great postoffice.
We were warmed to the heart to see this lovely gum in the middle of Holkham. Though we could take it or leave it with the pigeons
After this it was off to Cley next to the Sea, long name though cute village. We wondered about this place for a bit though could not do the walking around the flats to the beaches as we had run out of time. Never mind, next time gaget, next time.
I am sure Ben can make a nice panorama when he fixes this blog entry :) for the moment you will have to view without the techo adventuredd team member
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
London Stage Two
Tate Modern
Who are these people trying to kid? Many of the pieces on display were utter rubbish. Like the single green fluorescant tube on an angle against a wall (the artists said that using a single tube was a "breakthrough" for their art). Mate I have the same light in my kitchen (though it is white - maybe that's the problem), can I call the gallery and a price check? We also had the pleasure of seeing a wall of very pink boobs from a confused female that tried to tell us that it was because the male is really very fragile. There was a stair banister on the wall to just in case we got tired from "interacting" with the floor tiles, another cutting edge work of art.
Another wonderful exhibit was a wire globe, with a painted female plaster torso inside, entitled (no kidding) "The Last Voyage of Captain Cook". There was an element of the erotic to Captain Cook's voyages, sayeth the plaque.
The prize I do believe should go to two idiots with multimedia "installations". The first thought having a nine minute looped tape play inside a room the size of a linen cupboard with farting sounds was a winner. The second was looped video of a clown dressed up as such, jumping up and down screaming no, no, no! In a masterstroke, it was playing on two televisions, one perched upside down on top of the other. I agree with him, No! No! No!
There was of course some saving graces in surrealism with an original Dali or two and Monet had an appearance which was nice also. The scupltures were good to if you didn't look too closely at the plaques describing them. There was a particularity good artist that had managed to sculp some sort of plasticene into those political looking cartoon charters and then took neat photos of them enlarged to about A2.
But after shaming the art world by having to leave the gallery, on account of laughing so hard, we did venture forth on a beautiful blue sky day in London. The following hours were spent wandering alongside the river where we came across the wonderful Borough Markets. My sort of markets, these. There was cheeses, breads, coffees and tea. Exciting new juices, fudge, chocolate of every kind and lets not forget the icecream. I think I found my stomachs heaven.
We also walked past the Globe but decided we were a bit short on time to stop for the tour. Also saw the millennium bridge, this of course was closed three days after it opened as it wobbled in a serious way when people walked on it, never good for a bridge. The designer when asked to comment on this stated that the people were walking the wrong way on it! Needless to say it took a few million pounds to fix the way people were walking on it and managed to reopen eventually.
Our last stop was the Tower Bridge upon which we toured the top and bottom levels. There are some great views to be had at such a height over London, as well as plenty of history. We went up in the elevator to the second level and then we had to hoof it the rest of the way to the top. We walked around, watched the film on it's construction and problems encountered with the beasty and went down the other side to check out the engine room, which was pretty cool.
Here there is huge machinery that used to open the bridge, with each section weighting in at 1,000 tons. It's still in good working order though they don't open it terribly often now of course. After this exciting tour we when thought to save our leggies and catch a boat back up the river to our bus stop. No matter how much time we leave to get back to the bus stop we are always running. The boat took a bit longer than we hoped.
The boat ride was not suposed to be a tourist thing but the driver asked everybody if they wanted some info on the history of stuff we were passing, I shouted no but was drowned out in the over keen visitors. Needless to say we had sat next to the speaker not knowing this could happen and I was deafened by the drone the whole way. (He was actually pretty interesting and entertaining -- Ben). But as luck would have it we did make the bus and I slept all the way back.
Who are these people trying to kid? Many of the pieces on display were utter rubbish. Like the single green fluorescant tube on an angle against a wall (the artists said that using a single tube was a "breakthrough" for their art). Mate I have the same light in my kitchen (though it is white - maybe that's the problem), can I call the gallery and a price check? We also had the pleasure of seeing a wall of very pink boobs from a confused female that tried to tell us that it was because the male is really very fragile. There was a stair banister on the wall to just in case we got tired from "interacting" with the floor tiles, another cutting edge work of art.
Another wonderful exhibit was a wire globe, with a painted female plaster torso inside, entitled (no kidding) "The Last Voyage of Captain Cook". There was an element of the erotic to Captain Cook's voyages, sayeth the plaque.
The prize I do believe should go to two idiots with multimedia "installations". The first thought having a nine minute looped tape play inside a room the size of a linen cupboard with farting sounds was a winner. The second was looped video of a clown dressed up as such, jumping up and down screaming no, no, no! In a masterstroke, it was playing on two televisions, one perched upside down on top of the other. I agree with him, No! No! No!
There was of course some saving graces in surrealism with an original Dali or two and Monet had an appearance which was nice also. The scupltures were good to if you didn't look too closely at the plaques describing them. There was a particularity good artist that had managed to sculp some sort of plasticene into those political looking cartoon charters and then took neat photos of them enlarged to about A2.
But after shaming the art world by having to leave the gallery, on account of laughing so hard, we did venture forth on a beautiful blue sky day in London. The following hours were spent wandering alongside the river where we came across the wonderful Borough Markets. My sort of markets, these. There was cheeses, breads, coffees and tea. Exciting new juices, fudge, chocolate of every kind and lets not forget the icecream. I think I found my stomachs heaven.
We also walked past the Globe but decided we were a bit short on time to stop for the tour. Also saw the millennium bridge, this of course was closed three days after it opened as it wobbled in a serious way when people walked on it, never good for a bridge. The designer when asked to comment on this stated that the people were walking the wrong way on it! Needless to say it took a few million pounds to fix the way people were walking on it and managed to reopen eventually.
Our last stop was the Tower Bridge upon which we toured the top and bottom levels. There are some great views to be had at such a height over London, as well as plenty of history. We went up in the elevator to the second level and then we had to hoof it the rest of the way to the top. We walked around, watched the film on it's construction and problems encountered with the beasty and went down the other side to check out the engine room, which was pretty cool.
Here there is huge machinery that used to open the bridge, with each section weighting in at 1,000 tons. It's still in good working order though they don't open it terribly often now of course. After this exciting tour we when thought to save our leggies and catch a boat back up the river to our bus stop. No matter how much time we leave to get back to the bus stop we are always running. The boat took a bit longer than we hoped.
The boat ride was not suposed to be a tourist thing but the driver asked everybody if they wanted some info on the history of stuff we were passing, I shouted no but was drowned out in the over keen visitors. Needless to say we had sat next to the speaker not knowing this could happen and I was deafened by the drone the whole way. (He was actually pretty interesting and entertaining -- Ben). But as luck would have it we did make the bus and I slept all the way back.
Lovely weekend in Sydney
Laurence has kindly send us these beautiful shots of perfect weather in Sydney. They include the lovely couple and the super fishman himself, Laurence. Taken at Cottage Point, for those of you that have not checked out this location, it is truly amazing. It is in the beautiful Kuring-gai Chase National Park, where you can dine at a very groovy restaurant or the cafe, go for walks or hang out and fish.
Due to wind however the fishing took place at Mcgraths Creek
PS there is a distinct lack of the Lovely Chris in these pictures, Laurence you will have to do better :P
Due to wind however the fishing took place at Mcgraths Creek
PS there is a distinct lack of the Lovely Chris in these pictures, Laurence you will have to do better :P
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Stonehenge
And so we come to Stonehenge.
It's extremely old (about 4000 years!), extremely impressive, and nobody living knows for sure what it was for. So there isn't much I can say about it. As usual though Wikipedia has a lot of analysis here. Still, we were very glad we came.
It's set on a rather unremarkable plain, surrounded by pastures and the ordinary tourist entrance. When it was built this area was probably heavily wooded. It would be great to get up close and touch the stones, but alas you have to stay behind the velvet rope.
The audio guide did mention that things weren't always this way - sometime in the last couple of hundred years (forget exactly when) a nearby shop rented out chisels for you to chip off your own souvenir. Friend of humanity, that chap.
It's extremely old (about 4000 years!), extremely impressive, and nobody living knows for sure what it was for. So there isn't much I can say about it. As usual though Wikipedia has a lot of analysis here. Still, we were very glad we came.
It's set on a rather unremarkable plain, surrounded by pastures and the ordinary tourist entrance. When it was built this area was probably heavily wooded. It would be great to get up close and touch the stones, but alas you have to stay behind the velvet rope.
The audio guide did mention that things weren't always this way - sometime in the last couple of hundred years (forget exactly when) a nearby shop rented out chisels for you to chip off your own souvenir. Friend of humanity, that chap.
Longleat
On the way back to Cambridge from Bath, we decided to take a small detour through the Salisbury plain and visit Stonehenge. While we were driving along we saw some signs for Longleat.
The only reason I'd heard of this place was that the last round of the Red Bull Air Race was meant to be held here (the main race day was canned due to bad weather). The pilots who complete in these air races are dead set loonies; if you ever see it advertised on the box, take a look and be amazed.
Anyhow, a quick look through the Lonely Planet convinced us we should stop and take a peak.
Longleat is the home of the Lord Bath, a supposedly colourful peer about Wessex. I don't know terribly much about him, but apparently he is well known around these parts. It is a sixteenth century stately home set in 900 acres of parkland, and is regarded as one of the finest examples of Elizabethan architecture in Britain. The parkland was designed by Capability Brown (who may have been the inspiration for Bloody Stupid Johnson from the Discworld series, at least according to Wikipedia)
Here is a panorama taken from a gentle hill looking down into the valley to the house. Like all the images in the blog, click the image for a bigger version.
The house itself is simply magnificent inside, and you have to take a look if you ever happen to the area. The rooms are frozen in time, and you can really feel the centuries. And the money.
There is simply oodles of trivia about this place. Unfortunately most of it came from the excellent tour guide and was verbal (there isn't much on the web unfortunately). So, you'll have to rely on my questionable memory.
Soon after the house was completed, Queen Elizabeth wanted to visit. The owner of the house (I think it was the original Sir John Thynne) didn't much want her to visit - it cost a fortune to host a Monarch and their enormous entourages. So he kept making excuses - the house wasn't ready, there was a terrible illness etc. But eventually she turned up anyway, and enjoyed herself. It cost a bucket.
We were told that it was quite common for monarchs, when money was a little low, to run off to extended holidays at stately homes in the countryside - it was much cheaper to leach off the landowners (where the host pays for everything) than to stay at the castles. Freeloaders.
Also, in the great hall there is an ornately carved balcony connected to the suite where royal visitors would stay. This was knocked through the wall at the request of Charles I who was coming to visit, and wanted to keep a lofty eye on his subjects while he was in his rooms. This of course was done, even though Charles was only staying one night.
As for the rest of the estate, it now has mazes, (both garden and mirror), rides, cruises and a safari park. It's a bit over the top and we steered well clear of all of that. But all of it was for a pretty good reason - this was all set up sometime in the last century when the previous Lord Bath inherited the estate from his father. The laws on inheritances had just changed, and the new Lord Bath was faced with an inheritance tax bill equivalent to 18 million pounds. Sheesh. Instead of selling up, as he would have otherwise needed to do, he instead opened the house to paying visitors to help recoup the costs. After that came the Safari Park and the rest of it.
For what it's worth, all the attractions seem to be very popular, even at 10am on a cold wet Sunday morning outside of school holidays.
The only reason I'd heard of this place was that the last round of the Red Bull Air Race was meant to be held here (the main race day was canned due to bad weather). The pilots who complete in these air races are dead set loonies; if you ever see it advertised on the box, take a look and be amazed.
Anyhow, a quick look through the Lonely Planet convinced us we should stop and take a peak.
Longleat is the home of the Lord Bath, a supposedly colourful peer about Wessex. I don't know terribly much about him, but apparently he is well known around these parts. It is a sixteenth century stately home set in 900 acres of parkland, and is regarded as one of the finest examples of Elizabethan architecture in Britain. The parkland was designed by Capability Brown (who may have been the inspiration for Bloody Stupid Johnson from the Discworld series, at least according to Wikipedia)
Here is a panorama taken from a gentle hill looking down into the valley to the house. Like all the images in the blog, click the image for a bigger version.
The house itself is simply magnificent inside, and you have to take a look if you ever happen to the area. The rooms are frozen in time, and you can really feel the centuries. And the money.
There is simply oodles of trivia about this place. Unfortunately most of it came from the excellent tour guide and was verbal (there isn't much on the web unfortunately). So, you'll have to rely on my questionable memory.
Soon after the house was completed, Queen Elizabeth wanted to visit. The owner of the house (I think it was the original Sir John Thynne) didn't much want her to visit - it cost a fortune to host a Monarch and their enormous entourages. So he kept making excuses - the house wasn't ready, there was a terrible illness etc. But eventually she turned up anyway, and enjoyed herself. It cost a bucket.
We were told that it was quite common for monarchs, when money was a little low, to run off to extended holidays at stately homes in the countryside - it was much cheaper to leach off the landowners (where the host pays for everything) than to stay at the castles. Freeloaders.
Also, in the great hall there is an ornately carved balcony connected to the suite where royal visitors would stay. This was knocked through the wall at the request of Charles I who was coming to visit, and wanted to keep a lofty eye on his subjects while he was in his rooms. This of course was done, even though Charles was only staying one night.
As for the rest of the estate, it now has mazes, (both garden and mirror), rides, cruises and a safari park. It's a bit over the top and we steered well clear of all of that. But all of it was for a pretty good reason - this was all set up sometime in the last century when the previous Lord Bath inherited the estate from his father. The laws on inheritances had just changed, and the new Lord Bath was faced with an inheritance tax bill equivalent to 18 million pounds. Sheesh. Instead of selling up, as he would have otherwise needed to do, he instead opened the house to paying visitors to help recoup the costs. After that came the Safari Park and the rest of it.
For what it's worth, all the attractions seem to be very popular, even at 10am on a cold wet Sunday morning outside of school holidays.
More Bath Photos
...that didn't make into the last entry.
Firstly, something with an Australian flavour. This is a memorial to Admiral Arthur Phillip, the leader of the First Fleet, and the first Governor of Australia. He died in Bath, and this memorial is found in Bath Abbey.
And this panorama was taken from the road we took out of Bath. Bath is nestled in seven green hills, and it makes for a very pretty setting. Click for a (much!) larger version.
Firstly, something with an Australian flavour. This is a memorial to Admiral Arthur Phillip, the leader of the First Fleet, and the first Governor of Australia. He died in Bath, and this memorial is found in Bath Abbey.
And this panorama was taken from the road we took out of Bath. Bath is nestled in seven green hills, and it makes for a very pretty setting. Click for a (much!) larger version.
The Song of Angels
We treated ourselves last night by droping into St John College for evensong. We had to battle the traffic to go to the bike shop as Ben had blown a tyre on his bike. Though the whole choir was not present the men certainly upheld the reputation. It was truely a pleasure to listen to, angels in song they were and we the listeners were not required to sing a note which suited us just fine. The building was wonderful as all these old worldly places are, this one had a beautifully arched ceiling with saints painted in gold. No pictures I am afraid it is strictly a come and see for yourself affair.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Time for a bath!
Yes, we are back to adventuring after a two week lull. We were busy unpacking our furniture that finally arrived after two months.
Our first stop in Bath was, you guessed it, the famous world heritage listed Roman baths and what a treat, definitely worth the entry fee. You get to check out all the ancient ruins, all the different rooms and pools they would have had back then including a steam room as well as seeing the still bubbling up hot spring of the orignal pool. You can't swim in it though, but the lovely commercial sector have been kind enough to open a new fandangled one, very nice but none of the romance or style of the old one, and it costs twenty pounds to get in.
The first photos here are of the original pool (almost 2000 years old and still working!), the second image has the steam rising off the water and the third image is supposed to be an ice cold pool that you went in after the steam room, clearly now used as a place for folks to keep their spare change! The image with the little piles of red stone are the raised floor so the hot air from the fires could keep the floors warm.
After the tour through the baths you end up in the restaurant which gives out free spring water, but remember folks this is a hot spring, Ben was brave enough to try it but alas I was not quick enough to catch the face he made as he drank it, it was quite funny. (Tastes like warmed up water that's been sitting in an old tarnished copper pot for 1000 years -- Ben)
Next stop was the lovely Bath Abbey. This place has the most amazing ceiling of which I have included two images. The others are of the front window, organ and directly outside. It also has a cool tradition of praying every hour for the world, they invite whoever happens to be there at the time to join in. Very nice.
Next it was on to the very beautiful Pulteney Bridge and the even more impressive Avon river running under it. We were lucky enough to get a seat in a cafe on the river for dinner. This beautiful river winds its way all through Bath and of cause it goes up through Strathford upon Avon. We are hoping to hire a barge and do this trip sometime soon.
Our first stop in Bath was, you guessed it, the famous world heritage listed Roman baths and what a treat, definitely worth the entry fee. You get to check out all the ancient ruins, all the different rooms and pools they would have had back then including a steam room as well as seeing the still bubbling up hot spring of the orignal pool. You can't swim in it though, but the lovely commercial sector have been kind enough to open a new fandangled one, very nice but none of the romance or style of the old one, and it costs twenty pounds to get in.
The first photos here are of the original pool (almost 2000 years old and still working!), the second image has the steam rising off the water and the third image is supposed to be an ice cold pool that you went in after the steam room, clearly now used as a place for folks to keep their spare change! The image with the little piles of red stone are the raised floor so the hot air from the fires could keep the floors warm.
After the tour through the baths you end up in the restaurant which gives out free spring water, but remember folks this is a hot spring, Ben was brave enough to try it but alas I was not quick enough to catch the face he made as he drank it, it was quite funny. (Tastes like warmed up water that's been sitting in an old tarnished copper pot for 1000 years -- Ben)
Next stop was the lovely Bath Abbey. This place has the most amazing ceiling of which I have included two images. The others are of the front window, organ and directly outside. It also has a cool tradition of praying every hour for the world, they invite whoever happens to be there at the time to join in. Very nice.
Next it was on to the very beautiful Pulteney Bridge and the even more impressive Avon river running under it. We were lucky enough to get a seat in a cafe on the river for dinner. This beautiful river winds its way all through Bath and of cause it goes up through Strathford upon Avon. We are hoping to hire a barge and do this trip sometime soon.
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