This should actually be titled Day 89 as we lost Day 88 somewhere!
The silver tube journey was uneventful and over very quickly, before long we landed in Brisbane and our quarter of a year on the other side of the world was done.
Now all that remains is to get back into the routine of daily life at the Bate's . I did make one mistake, I got up on Wednesday morning and went to work, this surprised people as I was supposed to turn up on Thursday, so I went home again.
We want to thank all those who provided us with their hospitality and made the trip as enjoyable as it was. There were also 13 hotels in 7 countries and numerous meals in numerous restaurants, pubs, bistros and brasseries, cafes and trattorias.
Well here we are Day 87 and time to leave. Bags packed, including the extra 50kg to go by snail pace sea delivery, who would have thought we would have so much extra......... anyone?
WG55ZWF went back to the dealer it came from yesterday, a fine car I must say.
Travelled 6630 miles
Used 132 gallons of fuel
Economy 50.4 mpg
Average speed 38.7 mph
Just doing this blog then we will be heading for the airport to spend 20 hours in a silver tube, look out Benson here we come......
Last blog in this series will be Tuesday, Australian time so watch out for it...... bye for now
Anyway it's getting cold here, Jack Frost has arrived
Today was another family catchup time. This time we were off to Sandbach/Knutsford to see Penny's Auntie Joyce and cousin Jill and her partner Rob.
Tom Tom said that it was 71 miles and a journey time of 1hr 30 minutes so we set off up the M6. We arrived early and spent half an hour at motorway services.
Arrived dead on time at 12pm at Jill and Rob's with Joyce having already been picked up. It was nice to see her again, the last time was 2003. She looked good and as always, elegant. Jill and Rob were a delight to meet and Ozzie the Jack Russell just wanted to play ball.
We set off, minus Ozzie for a 17th century pub called "The Bears Head". Great place and is part of the same chain as "The Dolphin" in Haywards Heath so the menu was familiar. Penny had the whole sole and the rest of us had Lancashire Hot Pot. yum...........
Nice easy days with Sue and Alan. The weather however is turning cold, last night, Saturday, it went to 0 deg and there was ice on the car window this morning, the day time temperature was around 8 deg, I even wore my gloves this morning when I went to get the papers.
Friday night the four of us went to the Belgrade Theatre here in Coventry to see a production of "We Love You City", it's a play about Coventry City winning the FA Cup in 1987. Now on the surface that sounds really exciting a play about a football match, but it turned out to be really good, it covered a whole series of social problems in the city at the time, particularly the loss of the motor industry and the resulting unemployment. The acting, staging and writing was really superb, people were encouraged to wear city gear including some who came in the shirts and hats they wore to the cup final in 1987. Altogether with the Italian meal beforehand it was a good night.
Saturday we paid our usual visit to the Hatton Farm markets. Much the same as it usually is but we still like going, in fact this time we nearly bought a dresser for the dining room, it was only after a god nights sleep we decided that it probably wouldn't fit, close call though.
Today, Sunday we visited Stratford again but this time with Sue and Alan, Jen and Matt. We walked up through the town this time and finished at the Garrick Inn, a pub that has been operating under different names since 1594 .......!
Jen
a startled Matt Alan bringing opera to the streets of Coventry
Stratford
Matt checking out the lingerie
Bill's house
christmas shop Lambs Restaurant on Sheep Street
Garrick Inn named after the famous actor who came to Stratford
After a really nice stay with Mike and Ro we made our way back "home" to Coventry. We were very happy to get back after the hectic schedule we had been following since leaving the Uk. We covered 2158 miles or 3452 kms in 14 days, the car performed flawlessly and kept the fuel economy at 50.4 mpg.
with Mike and Ro, don't know why we laughing, England could only manage a draw!
After another comfortable night in the Folkestone Holiday Inn Express, surprisingly better than the name would suggest, we set out on a colder but sunny day for the Battle of Britain Memorial. While we have been in the UK there have been several celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the BoB so we thought as we were in the area where the main battles took place we would visit the memorial and, as it turned out, the rather boys ownish museum at Hawkinge.
Hawkinge was one of the most front line fighter airfields during this time and the movie "The Battle of Britain" was shot there. The museum has a number of the replica Spitfires and Hurricane that were made for it, I called it boys ownish because it seems to be run by a number of enthusiasts who have collected thousands of items over the years which are all on display so it makes looking at them all rather difficult. This is not to say they don't do a great job in preserving this historical record but i don't think they know much about displaying it all. After you have seen the 39th badly damaged Merlin engine block and the 721st piece of Messerschmitt 109 wing shot down by P/O Smith on the 10th Sept 1940 etc etc it all gets a bit much and you tend to wander past what is probably really interesting stuff but miss because of the volume on display. They also ban cameras so you can't make any sort of recored of your visit, which is a pity.
Then onto to Leeds Castle in Kent for lunch and a look around. This is a medieval castle that was owned by several Queens including Eleanor of Provence, it then past into "private" hands, however in 1923 it was bought by an American socialite, who became Lady Ballie during one of her marriages, proceeded to bring in a French interior designer to tart the place up! She did the right thing when she died and left the castle to the nation, most of it has been put back to how it might have looked before......
the only people there were from Germany, ironic eh !
The memorial is in the shape of 3 white propellers with a pilot in the middle
waiting for the scramble...
all the names of Churchill's few
BoB Museum, only photo I could take..... Holly
Leeds Castle
Queens medieval bathroom.. room where initial Arab/Israeli peace talks were held
Started the day in Reims where we went to see the Cathedral. More beautiful on the outside than inside it was built in around 1211. To the French it was very important as it was the place that all the Kings were annointed and crowned. There is a chapel dedicated to Joan D'Arc who personally dragged Charles IV to Reims to have him "done" so that France would have a legitimate king to thwart the English.
During WWI it was occupied briefly by the Germans then retaken by the French however the city was then bombarded and the cathedral badly damaged, which is why so many of the windows are plain glass or reasonably new........... history lesson over!
one thing we've noticed is that where ever we go something is being cleaned or restored, but Reims is celebrating it's 800 year anniversary next year........ here you see the difference
Crispy Joan d'Arc nemesis of the English Seen this guy before, Rome, S. Peter
Au revoir Reims Last motorway stop in France
blimey Chris let me finish before you comment, no pressure then!
Another short drive of nearly 600 kms, uneventful but warm weather.
We decided to miss the motorway for first 100kms and drove through some lovely high country and came across interesting places. A monument for the dead of the resistance during the war.
We are ensconced in the Reims hotel and hope to go and see the Cathedral here before heading off to Calais and Folkstone for Monday night.
Alpine Valley with vines The Big Chicken on the motorway
Good bike roads
Monument to the resistance dead in the Haut Jura area
Today was a special day in Annecy, it was the festival of Retours des Alpages which means return of the pastures, this basically means the folk from the Alpine regions come to town and do Alpiney things. Drink, food, crafts, music and clog dancing...... oh and yodelling !
It was a very enjoyable day and quite different, I wish we had smelly vision as some of the food was very aromatic.
Here then is a short video and some photos........
Lunch Time
Even the Gendarmes were showing off the good stuff in the park
Must thank Chris and Kym for suggesting Annecy as a destination. It really is a superb location, the scenery both in the town and around the lake is stunning and the people are very friendly especially if you make the effort to speak the language.
I have to report that not only did Penny eat the frogs legs yesterday she ordered them in French, and I was also complimented by the waitress, who looked like a young Suzy Quattro, on my use of the language.
Today was a trip around Lake Annecy on one of the boats, it takes just over an hour and it's really nice. There are several villages spread around the shore all with something to see, and because the lake is truly glacial the water has that same colour and glow that some of them in NZ have.
All aboard the good ship "Savoie"
Chateaux in the mist Back to Annecy
Old Town, photographer's dream....
After lunch we got old WG55 out and went for a spin around the lake.....
Pengy, having recovered from downing a whole bottle of Avocat joined us on this trip
We were going off to Lake Geneva tomorrow but I have to report that both of us have had colds and Penny is suffering worse than I am so we thought we might have a quiet day instead. Having said that there is some sort of festival in the old town so we'll give that a spin in the morning and see what it's about, I suspect it's got a lot to do with food and drink!
Driving long distances is like flying long haul except you have to stay awake. Today is the longest journey we have done in one day but you just get in the car and sometime later you get to where you are going. We packed another picnic and had a nice stop somewhere in France, most of the journey was on motorway and we didn't really have any idea where we where except to know we were going in the right direction.
Left the hotel and started the journey down the street........
Picnic somewhere in France..... Where are we? no idea just stay on the motorway
stayin awake, stayin awake, oo oo oo
great scenery and many tunnels
Annecy at last and another hotel...... views of town ......
and lake
Dinner time and when in France eat frogs legs......... Penny tells me it's like chicken...... right!
We love Luxembourg City, although it doesn't have the well known sights to see it is a very urbane city with beautiful park areas and a mixture of old and new buildings. To us it was an unknown, the history and the people. There is a very cosmopolitain feel as the European Parliament Secretariat is based here and people from all the various member states live and work here. Consequently the gravy train is in full swing with lots of quality restaurants and shops.
Once again our choice of hotel is good as we are only a 15 minute walk from the centre, and apart from some rain last night the weather is warm and in the main sunny.....
So here are some shots of the mysterious Luxembourg City
as you can see getting very autumnal now....
we did see the remote control mower in the park, good for your garden John and these slopes...
we thought we'd made the gravy train but it was an easy way to get a "touristy" look around.....
new leather jacket from the lower town! I'm smiling because I got 2 new shirts
Palace of the Grand Duchy
for sale.. Charlie Chaplin's chairs Flower market in square
Actors in the Theatre Square -- there is only one theatre ! No, he's not raising the middle digit
Casemates, hewn into the rock Pengy surfaced from the Amsterdam garage OK
Goodbye to the Luxembourgers and we will roll on the 586km to Annecy tomorrow........ easy!
We retrieved the car out of the underground car park, loaded up and set out for Luxembourg, three hours later we were out of Amsterdam....... no just kidding! The sat nav wanted to keep sending us around the canals but we finally broke free and hit the highway. 400 kms, easy drive ..... we wanted to drive through the Ardenne so we changed the route slightly and got off the motorway and drove through the forests ending up with a picnic.
The Ardenne Region Picnic in the forest
Here we are at the picnic supplied by the Amsterdam Hotel, or rather the 4 breakfasts we had....
The forest near Bastogne.... maybe a shell hole in the 2nd picture ..... maybe not!
First pictures of Luxembourg City taken on the iPhone on a slightly rainy night
Dinner at a French Restaurant, although we are outside it does have heaters, lamb shanks and rice pudding
Awoke to another great day, clear and warm, t-shirt weather.
Amsterdam has improved, yesterday we were a little disappointed. The streets are dirty and we felt less safe than we should. Rome by comparison was much better.
But things improved today, probably because we didn't venture anywhere near the red light area.
Here is the idyllic scene outside the hotel and this just up from us is the narrowist canal
along the way we came to the flower and bulb markets - cannabis starter kit anyone?
local cheese shop but time for a hot chocolate.........
then passing the Reefer Coffeeshop,
I can state we did not inhale as we walked by
The sign you see at these coffee shops is
hmmmm is that baby good ! "Smoking permitted - No tobacco allowed"
Rembrandt being given the bird ! Rembrandt Museum - Penny with real one
all shapes and sizes of bikes opening bridge
In the left hand photo, if you look carefully you'll see these buildings are crooked
The picture on the right is of Penny eating fries but this is not the whole story. Just as we arrived at the bar an old guy (ok maybe my age) dressed in only a thong was doing a trapeze act in the street. Now this thong was moving around quite a bit as he was climbing ropes and turning upside down and of course gravity was taking its natural course, I have to tell you it was not a pretty sight, but before I could whip out the camera he finished. I can hear the sighs of relief all round.............
Finally a visit to Anne Franks. Very moving, she must have been quite a young lady
Again apologies for the formatting, for some reason which I cannot fathom it's not quite right.....
Sunday, and after a fond farewell to Brugge where the street markets were setting up, we set off for Amsterdam. The weather was very kind to us again, warm and sunny. We had had a rainy Saturday night in Brugge but it cleared up nicely.
Tom Tom performed well apart from losing it at the last minute in Amsterdam. Now I have to say the traffic in the centre is manic, not so much from cars or scooters, as in Rome, but bicycles. There are millions of them and it seems they have the right of way every way. At one point we had to cross an intersection without lights, there were trams coming, bicycles everywhere and a few cars, I was grateful for the real motorcyclist who led me across without a major incident. Then there was the point were I was following a car as the lanes are confusing, It turned out he was a taxi and I ended up in the bus lane on the tram tracks, whoops !
Found the hotel and unloaded the bags. The parking is underneath and a lift brings up a "tray" that you park on then it goes down and puts the car in the correct spot, all this for only 55 euros per night.......!
The room as you can see is brilliant and has a canal view.
View from window onward to a trip on a canal boat
wheres my bike you are now entering the red light district !!!!
You'll never believe what you see.........
sorry about the photos cannot work out whats wrong......
A sombre day today, sunny and warm but as we walked on Flanders Fields a shiver went up the spine.
We started at the new cemetery at Fromelles, opened in July this year - brave men who lying in mass graves were finally unearthed and given the dignity due to them at last.......
The youngest there, C. Morgan at 16 years perhaps a mere child "ardent for some desperate glory"
Then we came to Bedford House Cemetery adopting the nickname given to a local stately home by the tommies. It is one of the most beautiful resting places on the Ypres salient. There are 5000 men lying here!
Then there's Tyne Cot overlooking the very fields at Passchendaele where thousands perished.........
A German pillbox where machine guns spat out their deadly fire
row after row after row...... 12,000 are here, the wall at the rear commemorates 35,000 others who lie where only God knows......... On the Menin Gate at Ypres there are another 54,000 names
Seeing this you can't help but think of Owen's words...........
Up early at Folkstone and on to Dover for the 8-30am ferry. It was a good job we got there early as the boat left at 8-20am. The good thing though was, contrary to the weather forecast the wind was virtually nil and the sea was very calm so the voyage was great.
disappearing white cliffs Penny all at sea
Calais WG55ZWF waiting for the door to open
Du Panne
on the beach at Du Panne, where with Ken I spent a cold night in 1967 Brugge town square
15th Century town hall pot of coffee 10 euros
Orange slices in Belgian chocolate
visit to the chocolatier my new favourite beer, so far
Today is the beginning of the European Tour and we have arrived at the Holiday Inn Express hotel in Folkstone. We did think it might be a bit iffy but it is surprisingly very nice.
On the way we decided to do a detour and for those of you who have been you will recognise The Dolphin in Haywards Heath, which is of course the village Chris, Kym and the girls lived in while they were in the UK.
so here we are tucking into lunch..............
Tomorrow is the ferry across the channel and they are forcasting high winds....... oh great!
