Monday, 27 April 2009
Sunday, 26 April 2009
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is one of those places I'd say, go to to say you've been there- but you probably wont go back again.
Stonehenge is located in a paddock right next to a highway or main road. From the road you can see it, but you need to pull over to see it closely. To get inside the fences that surround it is 6 pounds, which we paid. As we were walking around inside there were these people walking along the outside of the fence chanting 'we're too cheap to pay' it was pretty funny.
Is it worth the effort and six pound entry fee, I say yes. It is quite amazing to look at and (I listened to the audio guide so I learnt a bit more about its origins and theories) does get you thinking. On the downside, it really is just a bunch of rocks, and like a lot of people have said before, its smaller than you expect it to be. When you look at postcards, they are taken from an aerial view which gives the illusion that they are taller than they are. Anyway it was a nice sunny day and we really enjoyed our trip to stonehenge (and got home safely).
Old Sarum
After Salisbury we went to Old Sarum, which was the site of a ruined castle and fort, dating back 5000 years. It was on a hiltop overlooking Salisbury. It was pretty interesting, and the boys had fun mucking about on the ruins. It is pretty cool to read about how these people lived and the things they cherished. I dont know why but I find it interesting to read about their toilet systems expecially as they had no plumbing. In this case, they would do their business into a drop toilet, then a save woul have to dig it out.. BEST JOB IN THE WORLD!
We took lots of pictures of the parts of the ruin, and the signs so we can remember what it was a photo of. I even got a picture of the 4 of us smiing. Mind you the only reason Daniel is smiling is because he had just thrown a snail at my camera to try and knock it over. Mature hey?
We took lots of pictures of the parts of the ruin, and the signs so we can remember what it was a photo of. I even got a picture of the 4 of us smiing. Mind you the only reason Daniel is smiling is because he had just thrown a snail at my camera to try and knock it over. Mature hey?
Salisbury
On Thursday, We hired a car in London and Daniel drove us the hour and a half to Stonehenge and Salisbury.
Daniel drove really well in London, and on the motorway. We had his I Phone to tell us where to go so that was handy. I accidently made him take a wrong turn, so we ended up in Salisbury instead of Stonehenge.
Salisbury is well known for its cathedral which rises up above the city. It has very old origins, so the city had a really nice feel to it. It felt more like a small town rather than a city. We had lunch at a bakery- where we had awesome sausage rolls and even better desserts. Yum. We then went for a walk to the Cathedral, but didn;t pay to get in. It was really cool how all arond the church was nice flat grass, it would be good to go sit there and have a picnic on a nice sunny day. Again you will notice that Daniel doesn;t smile for photos anymore, as he likes to be a pain.
Daniel drove really well in London, and on the motorway. We had his I Phone to tell us where to go so that was handy. I accidently made him take a wrong turn, so we ended up in Salisbury instead of Stonehenge.
Salisbury is well known for its cathedral which rises up above the city. It has very old origins, so the city had a really nice feel to it. It felt more like a small town rather than a city. We had lunch at a bakery- where we had awesome sausage rolls and even better desserts. Yum. We then went for a walk to the Cathedral, but didn;t pay to get in. It was really cool how all arond the church was nice flat grass, it would be good to go sit there and have a picnic on a nice sunny day. Again you will notice that Daniel doesn;t smile for photos anymore, as he likes to be a pain.
Lords Cricket Ground etc
I don't have a lot to say about this, as I was at work when Daniel and Phelan went on a tour of Lords. They got to see the ashes trophy and it was a great place. Apparently, the tour guide you get will determine if it is good or not. 
Heres some photos they took.
Phelan and Nicola have been staying with us, for about a week. They fly back to australia in a week. It is handy having a sofa bed in our lounge room.
I have just been working, though I am having a week off next week when Mum and Dad are here. New budgets have just come out, so we are lookign at losing a few staff. This will certainly increase my workload which is already huge. Daniel is still on the job hunt and getting very sick of being at home all day. He did join a gym though, which is a short walk away.. and so expensive (sixty pounds a month). Its a virgin gym so has a pool and sauna etc but really he only goes there for the weights.
We went for a walk the other day to this place called Brent Reservoir, which is a big waterway a short walk from our place. Unfortnately the best way i'd describe it is a swamp, where people have dumped barrels, rubbish and probably a few dead bodies. It was such a waste of space, but apparently the breding place of some stupid bird. I am getting so sick of thinking a park or lake will be ncie only to find out its just overgrown and swampy. These people have no idea what theyre missing.
Monday, 13 April 2009
Easter
I had 4 days off over Easter, but unfortunately there were only 2 in a row, so we couldn't make very big plans. Daniel passed his CCNA exam in computer networking, so hopefully this will help him out with finding a job in networking. It is great as he studied so hard!
On Thursday we went into the City for a bit of a look around. We went to Hyde Park. It was really nice. I seem to prefer the more manicured parks than the scrubby unkept bushland like Hampstead Heath and Brent Reservoir. We did laugh though at the group of hobos who were all sitting around sharing a carton of beer. They were being clean, and were putting all their empties in a bin. There were also lots of squirrels. They are cute.
We caught up with Murray on Friday at the walkabout (aussie pub) was a good day and had a few bevvies. I also indulged and had the chocolate cake which was awesome but felt very guilty afterwards.
Easter is much smaller here, for instance in my local Sainsburys (supermarket) there was only half an aisle of easter eggs.. thats it! Certainly not the variety I am used to in Australia. I guess when you consider not everyone celebrates Easter, they dont want it in their faces. Daniel and I were lucky enough that the easter bunny came too.
Sunday was a yukky day weather-wise. I did lots of housework. We went for a walk to Brent Reservior, which is a waterway near our place. On a map it looked like it might be like the Lake, with nice bbq areas and walking paths, but it wasn't. I would more likely describe it as being the lake, but with bushland etc all around it, and a place where people dump rubbish etc. There were walking paths, but Daniel and I felt like someone would jump out and attack us. It was a bit creepy. They just don't seem to do their parks like we do.. I'm just not that keen on hanging out in the bush, in the middle of the city.
Monday we arranged to Meet Phelan in Brighton, on the South Coast. It is one of the UK's top beach attractions. It took an hour from London on the train, which meant it took us about an hour and 3 quarters to get from home to there (we live in NW london) It has a pebbly beach and Pier with amusement rides etc. It also has an aquarium.
I didn't think it would be that good, but we had a really lovely day especially as the sun came out in the afternoon (and so did the people who came to get some sun on the beach). Daniel and Phelan played some amusement games, and we went to the aquarium. As we were entering the aquarium, there were these 2 losers protesting saying "This aquarium is not sea-life it is SEA DEATH"- we didn't listen. The Brighton aquarium has been there since 1870 I think and has had an interesting history. It used to have monkeys, and dolphins but it is now illegal to keep dolphins in captivity in the UK. Compared to aussie aquariums, it was pretty poor but for the uk it did the job. we thought the picture of daniel from the aquarium was funny so Phelan bought it.
This was on exhibit in the aquarium. Can you spot the Ray? Such good camouflage.
People absolutely flock there when the sun comes out as you can see from the pictures (the pictures at top are from earlier in the day when it was overcast). They provide free deckchairs too. The place just made you feel happy!
On Thursday we went into the City for a bit of a look around. We went to Hyde Park. It was really nice. I seem to prefer the more manicured parks than the scrubby unkept bushland like Hampstead Heath and Brent Reservoir. We did laugh though at the group of hobos who were all sitting around sharing a carton of beer. They were being clean, and were putting all their empties in a bin. There were also lots of squirrels. They are cute.
We caught up with Murray on Friday at the walkabout (aussie pub) was a good day and had a few bevvies. I also indulged and had the chocolate cake which was awesome but felt very guilty afterwards.
Easter is much smaller here, for instance in my local Sainsburys (supermarket) there was only half an aisle of easter eggs.. thats it! Certainly not the variety I am used to in Australia. I guess when you consider not everyone celebrates Easter, they dont want it in their faces. Daniel and I were lucky enough that the easter bunny came too.
Sunday was a yukky day weather-wise. I did lots of housework. We went for a walk to Brent Reservior, which is a waterway near our place. On a map it looked like it might be like the Lake, with nice bbq areas and walking paths, but it wasn't. I would more likely describe it as being the lake, but with bushland etc all around it, and a place where people dump rubbish etc. There were walking paths, but Daniel and I felt like someone would jump out and attack us. It was a bit creepy. They just don't seem to do their parks like we do.. I'm just not that keen on hanging out in the bush, in the middle of the city.
Monday we arranged to Meet Phelan in Brighton, on the South Coast. It is one of the UK's top beach attractions. It took an hour from London on the train, which meant it took us about an hour and 3 quarters to get from home to there (we live in NW london) It has a pebbly beach and Pier with amusement rides etc. It also has an aquarium.
I didn't think it would be that good, but we had a really lovely day especially as the sun came out in the afternoon (and so did the people who came to get some sun on the beach). Daniel and Phelan played some amusement games, and we went to the aquarium. As we were entering the aquarium, there were these 2 losers protesting saying "This aquarium is not sea-life it is SEA DEATH"- we didn't listen. The Brighton aquarium has been there since 1870 I think and has had an interesting history. It used to have monkeys, and dolphins but it is now illegal to keep dolphins in captivity in the UK. Compared to aussie aquariums, it was pretty poor but for the uk it did the job. we thought the picture of daniel from the aquarium was funny so Phelan bought it.
This was on exhibit in the aquarium. Can you spot the Ray? Such good camouflage.
People absolutely flock there when the sun comes out as you can see from the pictures (the pictures at top are from earlier in the day when it was overcast). They provide free deckchairs too. The place just made you feel happy!
Saturday, 4 April 2009
random londonness
Daniel on the tube
Hampstead Heath- it is this park in a real posh subud, with bathing ponds... picture the wagga lagoon but people swim in it in summer. yuk
our place is the white one on the right on the first floor
the tube station
hendon station
tennis courts we play at
daniel posting a letter
our street when it hailed
Not much has been happening recently, but I thought I'd take some pictures of our local area.
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