Headless Moron

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Day 2 - London - Amsterdam
jawapro
Thu 22/01/2009 06:51 AM

Early this morning (far too early if you ask me) we met up with our Contiki tour group, and all boarded the coach for Dover.

The coach isn’t too bad - as there’s only 2 to a row (anther 2 on the other side of the aisle. It’s somewhat squishy - and was kept way too warm for me today - but it’s not too bad a way to travel.

We got to Dover - and saw our first glimpse of the famous White Cliffs.

We got more of a look as we headed out into the Channel. Sadly we didn’t see any Toybotas in the harbour as we left.

We landed at Calis in France, and straight away hit the motorways heading out of town, and out of the country. I struggled to take decent photos out of the window. The scenery wasn’t too different from Southern England (which we drove through on our way to Dover). It’s extremely flat. There are also lots of paddocks, but very few animals visible.

We drove right through Belgium (home of Tintin and the Smurfs) without stopping. Photoed is one of the Belgium towns we drove past.

We stopped just after the Netherlands border at a service station complex, and we braved a foreign MacDonalds.

Thankfully the tellers spoke English - so it wasn’t too hard.

We did have to pay to use the toilet though - which was somewhat odd. Equivalent of 60c Australian.

Still not sure how tipping is supposed to work either.

The group was asked to come up to the front of the bus on the last leg to introduce themselves. Emma took this photo to prove that I actually did it (I hate public speaking). Turns out there are 5 or so Tasmanians on the tour - and quite a few other Australians, as well as a group of Yanky nursing students, and a couple of New Zealanders and a few from elsewhere around the globe.

This really blurry shot is the hotel as we arrived.

The rest of the tour group have gone off on a cruise around the canals. Emma was dead tired (she didn’t sleep well last night) so we didn’t go. It sounds like it’s a get as drunk as you can cruise - with ass much beer and wine as you can drink thrown in.

Following that, the tour are planning to go and see a sex show in the red light district and then head off to a Coffee Shop where you can buy weed (legal here). Not really our sort of thing.

So that’s it for now. I just need to work out how to blog all this.

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Day 1 - London
jawapro
Thu 22/01/2009 06:50 AM

From Heathrow, we caught the tube into London. Efficient - but crowded. That about sums up the tube network. That and the fact that they are constantly saying “mind the gap”. You hear that a few hundred times on the tube. It’s not even a big gap.

We found our hotel - but weren’t able to check in yet. We did manage to leave our bags with the bag-room though. We went over the road to a coffee shop for a drink, and attempted to contact home to say we’d got there. We’d been sending SMSs but hadn’t got any replies so we didn’t know if they were working. Apparently they were - our parents just hadn’t replied.

As far as weather goes - it was a pleasant surprise. Everyone had been telling us it would be very cold and we’d need many layers of cloths etc. Emma was wearing layers - but I was just in my big red jacket - and that was plenty warm enough. It was too cold for just a shirt - but not by too much.

It also wasn’t raining. It rained while we were on the tube from Heathrow, but after that it was fine.

We went for a walk, and found the entrance to the British Museum (where the lion was) but decided that as the weather wasn’t bad - we should go and take a look at some of the outside things. We grabbed a Travelpass for the Tube network, and headed off to find the Queen.

Buckingham Palace. One of the must-sees in London - but not actually all that exciting in itself.

Sadly, there was no changing of the guards ceremony - but there were still some there, who would occasionally do a little march and their dance thing. Not sure if they do it on a schedule, or just when they are sick if standing in the same place.

There were also some ‘normal’ guards to stop people from entering the palace.

The Union Jack was flying - but I don’t think that means the Queen is in town. I thought it was her standard that flew in that case.

A group of mounted guards rode past for some unknown reason.

This was the only queen we saw - and she was the wrong one.

We walked through the park opposite the palace, and met this cute little squirrel/chipmunk guy. We can’t remember which is the name of the European variety and which is the American.

From here we could see the Eye - but there was no way I was going on it.

We walked past Downing Street - but you’re not allowed in it.

From here we walked to Westminster. Here we saw the House of Parliament:

Big Ben:

Westminster Abbey:

And a friendly chap called Churchill.

We were now even closer to the Eye - but I was even further from going on it. Didn’t appear to be in use anyway.

Next stop was the Tower of London - which is less of a Tower and more of a group of them.

It costs a bit to get in - and there were no tours running - but it was still worth it.

Inside ‘The Tower’, there are lost of different towers and buildings. The whole complex has been used as fortresses, palaces, and various other things. It is most famous as a prison, even though that was one of it’s lesser uses (from what we could tell from the plaques)

The towers were interesting - some included video projectors detailing some information about a room or period.

While another room had a couple of actors who were busy discussing why Edward The Something’s marriage was considered successful with some other patrons.

In another of the towers, we got to handle some old pieces of equipment.

Although difficult to tell from this photo of the model - the entire Tower complex used to be surrounded by water. You can still see a ditch where the moat used to be - but it’s not full of water anymore.

In this section of the Tower, the Crown Jewels are kept. There were heaps of Beef Eaters (guards) roaming about, and you weren’t allowed to take photos.

Never knew there were so many different gold and jewel swords and scepters.

This is a replica of one of the crowns - which we were allowed to photograph.

It was getting late and dark by this stage - and we were kicked out before we got to the center tower (which was being renovated). I’m not sure what’s in there, or what we missed. Pity - but such is life.

Just besides the Tower, is Tower Bridge. We didn’t go in or on it - but spent a while gazing at it from the shore.

Tower Bridge in the dark - after we left the tower.

From here we caught the tube back to the hotel, checked in with Contiki and headed for bed. We were both dead tired, and I fell asleep before Emma even turned off the lights (she was in the bathroom at the time).

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The Flights
jawapro
Thu 22/01/2009 06:49 AM

Well - here’s a chance to update you.

After picking my sister up from Tiani and Andrew’s wedding, we went back to my parent’s house for the night. A stupidly early morning after a late night - we had to be at the Launceston airport at 8. From here it was a short hope over the strait to Melbourne, where we had 7 hours to wait for our next flight. We didn’t book these ourselves - they were included as part of the tour, otherwise we would have tried a later flight from Launceston.

The time was not wasted though - because Bec, Mike, and Gabs made the trip into Melbourne to catch up with us (and buy some donuts).

We then went through security into the International lounge and waited for our flight. We were pretty tired by this stage.

The first flight (to Singapore) wasn’t too bad. We ended up being stuck in the middle of the middle isle (about the worst place to be) but it wasn’t too bad. The service was great - even if the seats are too crowded.

We landed in Singapore, and had a little look around. The board said that we had 3 hours before the next flight (we thought it should have been 1) and there was a person with a sign saying to come back to that gate in 1 hour.

It was my first time in a foreign country - and it wasn’t very exciting, just very hot. I didn’t even get a stamp in my passport!

We went for a walk, and used the free internet. Unfortunately, we were wrong with our flight details - or more accurately, we were right, but hadn’t understood the instructions properly. The Qantas flight that bought us here was continuing to London, but it wasn’t the flight we were booked on.

We went back to the gate we had come out from - but then our names were announced over the PA. We should have been at a gate on the far end of the airport.

We sprinted.

Emma wasn’t as able to sprint - as her bag’s much more difficult to manage than my backpack, and she was still suffering from sunburn from the wedding photos.

But we made it - and were the last 2 on the plane.

"We have learned to read our clue."

This flight was longer - but I had an aisle seat, so we could get up more easily. I managed to get a decent amount of light sleep - so I wasn’t too bad when we landed. It was pretty hot on the plane though - and we didn’t have individual air vents like we did on the Qantas one.

Eventually we landed in London. The terminal we ended up in at Heathrow was not really very exciting. In fact, compared to Melbourne and Singapore, it was very boring. We did manage to find some showers so we could feel a little more human. Unfourtuantly the showers are controlled using sensors, not taps. Emma had left her shampoo in the shower, so after getting dressed, she reached back in to get it, and triggered the shower, and got wet all over again.

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Library in Amsterdam
jawapro
Wed 21/01/2009 08:14 PM

Well - we're in Amsterdam now. Still trying to find an interent place that will let us use USB so I can blog properly.

Everything's going ok.

Stay tuned.

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We made it to Singapore
jawapro
Mon 19/01/2009 01:15 AM

Well - we made it to Singapore. It's blooming hot here - can't wait to get to London!

Not much sleep - but not too bad a trip. Stuck in the middle of the middle row - but at least we get an aisle next leg.

Anyway - will blog properly later. Free Internet access here - but only for 15 min.

First time in another country ever - and I don't even get a stamp in my passport to prove it.

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