Planning for 2010
It's a long time since I posted to this blog but I promise that I will use this more in the future, particularly for our travels.
We are in the early stages of planning a 4 month trip to Spain, France and possibly the UK and eastern US between May and September 2010. It will be a departure from our usual mode of travel, as I am getting very involved with home exchanges for most of the time. We haven't done this before and I am amazed how easy it seems and how friendly and accommodating other exchangers are. We have already hosted a French couple who exchanged with friends in Newcastle and are spending 6 months exchanging (Brisbane, Shoal Bay, Melbourne, near Adelaide and Perth). They do not speak much English so I put my French speaking skills to the test and came out surprisingly well. It was rather tiring but very rewarding. Now we have another couple to visit when we are in France next year.
Labels: Travel 2010
Parking-Rome
The sign in the window of the car says "Sono al Bar (I am at the bar) - Lunch". Doesn't this just typify perfectly the Italian attitude to parking!
13 July, Changi Airport
I guess this is the last blog before we arrive home tomorrow!
The last few days have been very eventful, continuing the 'things falling into place' theme of this whole trip.
On Monday, after Arthur had shown his photos of the area in 1977 to the staff at the resort and on the advice of the manager who knew some of the people Arthur worked with then, we decided to play it by ear and hitch a ride on a boat going back to the landing on the other side of the lake (at the dam wall) and ask for directions to the best name he had - Arbing, one of the party working on the feasibility study for the dam (about 20 years old then). He was also the son of the chief of their longhouse - Skarrok longhouse. One of the guys at the landing had his car and offered to take us to Arbing's house (now Councillor Arbing, deputy chief of his longhouse) where we found him at home! ...... and he recognised Mr. Arthur and remembered all the rest (Mr. Peter, Mr. Jim, Mr. John). From there we were taken on a round of visiting ... the boatman (now retired and about 68), another fellow, whose name I forget and the little girl (Ellen), about 12 then, now a widow and a grandmother, who used to give Arthur a lot of cheek!! Al these people are now living down stream of the dam as their longhouses were either relocated or disappeared under water when the dam was finished in 1984. It was an amazing day and completely unplanned.
Tuesday we went on a long day trip in a longboat, first to a longhouse for traditional dancing, rice wine, tea and buying traditional crafts; then up river to fish (Liz caught the first one, Arthur caught another and our guide another) and then a picnic and a very refreshing swim in the cool rapids of the Batang Ai river upstream where there are gravel banks. The guide cooked the fish with some fern fronds gathered earlier, in disposable bamboo cooking vessels!! (also gathered on site). It was such a relief, after the very warm swimming pool at the resort. We have lots of photos and will put them on when we get home.
Wednesday we travelled back to Kuching, arriving about 6pm. After a swim we found the amazing Topspot Seafood Centre where the fish, lobsters, crabs and prawns are extremely fresh and cooked for you on the spot. They are charged by weight and you then add vegetables, rice etc as you wish. Our meal of 2 small crayfish, large prawns (grilled in butter), fern fronds, mixed vegetables and rice came to the princely sum of 60RM (about 24 AUD) for 2!!!
This morning we flew from Kuching to Singapore (managed to change our 2 flights - skipped the KL leg fortunately), arriving at 1235 - only problem is the long wait for our next flight to Brisbane/Sydney.... couldn't change that one. However, I am getting some free internet time in the Rainforest Lounge where we also have a bed to catch up on some sleep (Arthur already has had 90 minutes).
9 July Batang Ai Longhouse Resort, Sarawak
I won't even attempt to add pictures to this, as this an incredibly slow internet connection. I just tried to reply to an email on our webmail and it timed out!
Our flight from Heathrow to KL was quite quick, in spite of leaving late on Friday. We really seem to pick our timing. Friday was the first anniversary of the London bombing and security at Heathrow was at a max. Fortunately, our drive from Bristol there only took 1 3/4 hours, so we had plenty of time. The plane from KL to Kuching was delayed, so we were over an hour late there. Thank heavens the Hilton at Kuching was air conditioned as it was very hot and humid outside. We were upgraded for some reason and had a suite! Great value. It took about 3 1/2 hours to drive to the dam wall on Batang Ai, then a boat from the hotel picks us up and takes us across the dam. It is very lush and tropical, the pool temp is about the same as the air - ie about 35C but the rooms have AC
I don't have a phone contact any more. We ran out of time on our card in England and I did not bother to renew it - was a bit complicated as it was a French simcard, so apologies to anyone who has SMSed us and we have not replied.
6 July Wallingford
The quality of mercy is not strained, it droppeth like the gentle rain from heaven on the place beneath........
trouble was, the rain was not exactly gentle.
Last night we had tickets (pre-booked a couple of days earlier when it was sunny and hot) for 'A Merchant of Venice', performed in the new outdoor theatre in the grounds of Oxford Castle (former gaol). We spent the day walking around Oxford in increasing mist and light rain, but ever optimistic that by evening it would clear. One of the consolations was, the cast were considerably wetter than we were. At the beginning, it was only light drizzle and even stopped for a while, but by the second act it was really coming down, and at one point the performance was stopped while they drilled holes in the stage for the water to drain away. As the play was being done in modern dress, complete with platform shoes on the girls, it was getting more and more dangerous for them. We were told at that stage that if we wanted to leave, do so now while there was a short break!! Some did leave, which I think was a bit unfair on the cast, who were real troopers. Fortunately for Portia and Nerissa, the famous scene is delivered in men's clothes which in this case were black tracksuits. It was a very different rendition of the Merchant, with rap and pop music introducing some scenes.
3 July Wallingford
I can't believe that is so long since I posted a blog. The internet access where we were staying in St Cyprien was very expensive and very frustrating, so I did not bother - just checked emails.
This is just a quick post to give a brief update since the last blog. Our week in the Dordogne passed very quickly but we saw a lot, as the distances from where we were staying, to places we really wanted to see, were small. Our longest day was a lovely trip through the area south-east through Villefranche-en-Perigord, to the Quercy region, Cahors then St. Cirque-La Popie on the Lot river - a gorgeous town, clinging to the cliffs above the river ( in my opinion much nicer than Rocamadour which we went to on the way back to base). The weather that day (Thursday) and from then on has been quite hot, culminating in 36C in Bordeaux on Saturday and 38C on Sunday - it was even 33C in Wallingford yesterday and promises to be another hot one today. We are about to go to Blenheim and Woodstock.
Barbara and Bernard live in the main street of Wallingord, in a tudor style house with a lovely large garden (at the moment sadly needing rain - we can' believe how dry this part of England is). William the Conqueror crossed the Thames at Wallingford and it was decreed a town in the 1100's.
Fans of Agatha Christie, Midsomer Murders will be interested in Wallingford. Agathie Christie lived here at the end of her life. Her house is just down the road. We went to Cholsey to see Agathie Christie's grave yesterday. Athough her house is in Wallingford village, it is actually in Cholsey Parish, which is why she is buried there together with her archeologist husband. Wallingford and nearby Dorchester feature in Midsomer Murders and other English detective series.
Later on Monday
Just returned from a morning at Blenheim, touring the palace and gardens. The guided visit was excellent - informative without being too long-winded and the whole place is stunning. I thought we were palaced out, but this was really worthwhile. We topped it off with a detour to Bladon Churchyard to see Winston Churchill's grave - very simple, in Bladon Churchyard. Then, returning to Wallingford via the northern side of Oxford, so passed the turnoff to Headington and John Radcliffe, where Anthony worked in 2002 (?). It is still quite hot, although a welcome easterly breeze has modified it a bit. Tomorrow we are going to have a pub lunch at apub owned by Anthony Worral Thompson ( a well known English super chef) - looking forward to that. Wednesday we will spend mainly in Oxford, finishing up with The Merchant of Venice at the open air theatre in Oxford Castle (newly opened).
PS I have been trying to add photos on an earlier blog, but I don't think it worked.
20 juin - Dinan, Bretagne
Just when we thought things could not possibly get better we arrived in Dinan. Our B&B is about 1/4 the way up a steep cobblestone street leading from the port to the old town which looks like it has been created for some Hollywood set! Half timbered houses very like in England lean drunkenly over narrow cobblestone streets; the ramparts completely circle the old town which stands on a bluff above the River Rance, just inland from St Malo. Our room does not have a level floor anywhere but the bathroom is brand new. We look down on the street and the most amazingly red wall of roses opposite.
We intended to go straight out of Paris onto the autoroute, but missed a turn - what luck; we ended up in Bougival where the impressionists used to go to get out of town, at the locks on the Seine (Rhondda, this answers your question re locks). Its these serendipitous things which really make a journey special - like the day before, after visiting Giverny in perfect sunshine, finding the restaurant we had eaten at in 2004 - le Jardin des Epicures - and enjoying the best meal we have had so far on our trip - not only the food but the setting on the terrace, the sunny day, the friendly people around, the waiters. What a way for Arthur and Rhondda to spend their last afternoon in France - and we arrived at CDG with an hour to spare.
We are hoping for some sun tomorrow to visit Mont St Michel - it is overcast today. The countryside looks a bit dry for this part of France so the locals are proabaly a bit like Sydneysiders, hoping it would rain.
Some images of the Vatican museum and the approx. 1 hour queue to get in (not so much for the tickets, but to go through the security check!)
