Sight seeing in Venice

Last night (Sunday) we went as a group into Venice to see it at night. Probably a good idea as it smells less and looks more gorgeous! We left after dinner and went down the Grand Canal to St Marks Square where we sat and had a drink outdoors (it was very warm last night) with a small orchestra playing at the café. We then took a walk through the maze of back streets which left everyone but Russ and I confused and worried as to where they were (I might have been too, but Russ knew where we were!). It really was a great time and the best way to see Venice I think. We came home down the main shipping channel in a motor launch which was also pretty neat.

Today (Monday 28th) the whole group went into Venice and saw a glass blowing demonstration (and sales pitch), then we left them and spent a lovely day wandering the back streets and alleys around the city. Approximately 80,000 people visit Venice a day, but when you get off the beaten track there are still interesting shops and cafes-just not so many people.
The Bridge of Sighs


We went by elevator to the top of Campanile tower in St Mark’s Square for a fantastic view of the city, and then we wandered until lunch time when we stopped in a tiny café for prosciutto pizza and capriccioso salad. The mask shops and Murano glass shops were particularly beautiful; we found a great supermarket and came across a fresh fruit and vegetable market. The supermarket had a huge meat section (for Europe) and I was interested to see all the wonderful ways you can eat a horse! We often joked about turning some of our horses into burgers as kids-and there they were! “Hamburger Equine” They had a great selection of rabbit, whole and turned into interesting dishes, quail cheaper than Australia and nice (reasonably priced) grain fed chickens. Spirits were cheaper than duty free too.


It surprised us to see a very large and healthy looking rat racing for drier land as the tide rose. We also saw the wedding party of an English girl and her kilted Scottish husband leaving the registry office. Russ was pleased to see what he believes was a "retired Venitian gentleman" coming home in his boat with his fishing rods and crab pots on board-it reminded us of home I guess.


The walk from St Mark’s Square was a long and interesting one, then we took a 1 Euro ride home to our hotel. It took ten minutes by train and about 2 minutes to cross the road to the hotel.

Venice

Today was spent driving from Innsbruck in Austria to Venice in Italy. It was a long day on the bus, with traffic on the auto bahn to Italy extremely slow in places. It was hot too as the sun streamed through the big windows. The bus is air conditioned, but it still got too warm.

The scenery was pretty amazing as we passed through the last of the Austrian Alps and then the Dolomite Mountains in Italy. Once again, lots of castles, trees, green hills and rivers. As we got further into Italy we passed lots of apples and pears, strawberry farms, then the vineyards began. As the vineyards started, the houses became more boxy and functional rather than fancy.


In Innsbruck I paid 5 francs for a lousy internet connection. When I got here, I found a fast free one, so I’ve finally e-mailed family and can post a few photos. Not too many though as there’s more fun to be had than posting photos.

Tonight after dinner we are off on a night tour of Venice which should be good as it should be a beautiful night.

Engleberg (Switzerland) to Innsbruck (Austria)

Saturday 26th we got up early and left Engelberg for Austria. We had morning tea in Lichtenstein then went on to Innsbruck in Austria where we are spending the night. I thought Engelberg was spectacular, but the drive through the Austrian Alps was even more so. The mountains are bigger and closer to the road so you are always looking up. They are bigger, so there is more rock above the snow line. It’s amazing to see railway lines clinging to the edges of them before disappearing into tunnels, then reappear again. We also saw lots of para gliders in the sky which looked great. Austria has more castles than Switzerland and some very fast running glacial rivers. The houses are even more chocolate boxey than Switzerland too.

The Alps near The Horse Drawn Carriages


There was an extra tour by horse drawn carriage through the villages and forests but Russ and I decided to give it a miss and go for a 3 hour walk round the city centre of Innsbruck by ourselves. It is so beautiful and we really enjoyed some time away from all the others. We sat and had a drink at a street café and found a really good supermarket where we bought some very cheap local wine (it’s also very good) and some cheese and interesting bread. Tonight they all went to a folk show, but we choose once again to give it a miss and went for another walk round town and along the river instead. We were going to go out to one of the many outdoor cafes for dinner, but after the first big walk, thought we would eat in the hotel. It was a good choice as the soup, salads, schnitzel, potatoes and apple strudel were all delicious.
The Old City of Innsbruck

Weisbaden (Germany) to Engelberg (Switzerland)

Thursday 24th we left Wiesbaden (Germany) and headed to Heidelberg for morning tea, then on to Strasbourg (France) for lunch before arriving in Switzerland for dinner and a two night stop. It was a long day in the bus, but the first two stops were for 1 ½ hours each which allowed us to get out and have a good walk around two very beautiful medieval cities with their beautiful cathedrals, castles and cobbled squares. Russ and I ate Vietnamese for lunch in France and managed to find a super market and buy a couple of very reasonably priced bottles of wine.

We thought the drive along the Black Forrest in Germany was pretty good, but were totally unprepared for the jaw dropping beauty of Switzerland and it’s beautiful farms, farm houses and of course the alps. I thought the Sth Island of NZ was good, but this place is amazing. It looks just like it came out of a story book. The Swiss chalets really do have beautiful geraniums in flower boxes and the cows are fat and beautiful and wear big noisy bells.

Today Friday we rode up Mt Titlis to 10,000 feet. We had to travel about 2 vertical ks up the mountain in 3 different sorts of cable cars to reach the summit. The last one was round, with a rotating floor to give you all over views. It was quite strange to travel in. It was minus 6 degrees on top; beautifully clear with amazing views of the Alps and farms and villages below.


We walked into an ice cave which was amazing, then went out and played in the snow. I have never seen anything so beautiful and we went up first before all the other tourists started to arrive and before the clouds started to surround the mountains.


I hate cable cars and chair lifts, but would not have missed this for anything. I was so busy admiring the view I didn’t feel in the least bit scared either.


After that we went for an hour cruise on Lake Lucerne into the city of Lucerne for lunch and a bit of shopping-Russ and I are probably the only ones not filling suit cases with steins and cuckoo clocks (no where to put a clock in the van!). After a visit to the Lion Monument,

we had a wander round town, then deserted the rest and came home on the train. The Chapel Bridge was very beautiful-it is covered in flower boxes on the outside and about 100 paintings on the inside.


It wasn’t easy figuring out how to buy a ticket, but we managed and had a very scenic and steep ride home through the country side. A Brisbane couple came along with us. I paid 2 Francs to use a toilet today (about $2.20) but I had no choice as I was desperate. Believe me, I made good use of my 2 Francs.

It’s nice to start getting to know people. It seemed to be a bit slow at first, but it’s getting better. We get on very well with a young couple from Cowra and a few others. Lots more people gathered in the tiny bar tonight for a couple of beers before dinner which was really good.

Amsterdam to Weisbaden

Wednesday 23rd we got up at 6am, showered, organized our luggage for the porters then went down to a pretty nice buffet breakfast. We left the hotel at 8am, went to a poxy Diamond cutting and polishing display (and sales pitch) left Amsterdam and at 11am crossed over the German border. We had a toilet break at the border and had to pay 50 Euros (about $1) to use the toilet. Apparently that is normal in Europe and why you see lots of people peeing on the side of the road.

We started to notice more and bigger trees, then the occasional hill and different houses with even steeper roofs as it snows in Germany. It’s been green all the way, but Germany was even lusher. It was exciting to cross the Moselle River and start to see vineyards. We drove on the Autobahn and got passed by heaps of cars. Antonio was sitting on 110km ph, but the passed as though we were standing still. I saw signs for deer crossing the road, but didn’t see any road kill (so much a part of our driving days in Australia).

Our lunch break was spent in Cologne. We had time to visit the beautiful (really beautiful) cathedral, take a good walk around the town, and grab some lunch. It looked like a lovely, interesting city and I wish I could have stayed longer. The bones of the Three Kings (of the Orient who travelled to Bethlehem) are in a golden crypt there and the cathedral has lots of beautiful stained glass windows. Building began in the 13th century.


After about two hours and some amazing scenery-bigger hills, forests, green grass, farm animals, pretty villages, castles and churches- we arrived at the Rhine River for a cruise. It was a big boat, but not too many on it and the scenery was amazing. More of those villages, castles, churches and vineyards, but so beautiful from the water. The big barges that carry freight up and down the river are pretty amazing and we saw a couple of really big caravan parks. It was also amazing to see lots of the ancient Roman walls and turrets that have survived.


Now we are I our hotel near Wiesbaden and after a really good dinner (at 8pm) we are about to go to bed. Dom our guide advised us to eat well and enjoy it here as he says the Swiss are not known for their generosity when feeding people.

Tomorrow morning we get to sleep in until 7am!

London to Amsterdam

Tuesday 22nd at 6am, we got a mini cab from Mick’s to Trafalgar Tours office near Victoria Station in London. At 7.30 (half an hour late) we were on our way. Our driver Antonio is Italian and speaks almost no English, our tour guide is a funny little English man called Dom. He has a big round head, wears dark rimmed thick glasses, has big ears and reminds me of Mr. Potato Head! There are 43 Aussies on the tour, 4 French speaking Canadians and 3 Kiwis. Fancy coming all this way to end up with a bunch of Aussies.

We drove out of London and down through Kent to Dover to catch the ferry to Calais in France. Kent was beautiful with its little villages, hops and traditional hop oasts and heaps of other fruit trees. The white cliffs of Dover looked spectacular as we moved away from the coast.

Arriving in France we had our first taste of driving on the right hand side-a bit freaky at first, but you quickly forget and let the driver do his job-and Antonio is a good driver. The small part of France we saw was flat, with lots of farming and beautiful farm houses.

We drove quickly through Belgium (more cows, horses beautiful farm houses and still flat). The herds of cows are tiny-the biggest we saw was about 50 head. They grow a lot of potatoes, maize, wheat and (of course) Brussell’s Sprouts. It amazed us to see heaps and heaps of caravans and a few caravan parks.

Our first night was spent in Amsterdam. We arrived at 5pm for a wonderful ride around the harbour and through the canals. There are more canals than in Venice and the houses along them can be very grand. It’s also interesting to see some of the 2500 house boats on them too. We got to the hotel at 7pm, checked in then went to dinner at 9pm. Dinner was a just Ok buffet, but we were all too tired to really care. The hotel was nice, but the shower took a bit of nutting out.

It was more flat land with some very big rivers and a few windmills-a couple of which were working!

BARFL

Yesterday (Sunday) we walked from here to Merton Abbey Mill Complex for the Sunday market. It's not big, but we met a man selling wine in bulk and by the glass and yummy seafoods. We bought a couple of glasses of French white wine and a tasting plate of crab, shrimp, king prawns, smoked salmon and salmon pate for the total of 7.50 pounds. It was great. Then we caught the train to Sth Clapham, got off and walked to the common where the British Australian Rules Football league were playing football and Mick was umpiring. On the way through the common, we passed a fishing pond. Lots of Poms were there fishing for tench, perch and a 30lb carp that aparently lives there. They actually camp out in tents and "bivies" waiting to catch that elusive big fish. We stopped talking to a lovely chatty guy who only left us when his son got a bite on the line and called him away. Can you imagine fishing on Raglan Parade in a stocked pond?

Footy at Clapham Common


We sat on the grass at the footy drinking Fosters with Mick's housemates, having a very social time. Russ and I left early to cook the poor little orphans a roast of pork which left them even more homesick for their mums!

The Umpires

On the way home we passed a really nice hotel and called in there to book a couple of nights when we get back from Europe. The nice man on the desk suggested we should book it on the internet as it would be cheaper! The asking price we saw was 65 pounds, the price we paid this morning on the net was 49!!!!!

So, today was spent booking the hotel,then finding a hire car. After a lot of searching we found a new Toyota medium sized car for 300 pounds (all inclusive) for 10 days quite close to here. We'll go to Europe tomorrow for 18 days then pick it up when we get back and have 10 glorious days unplanned on our own.

After we figured all that out, we left here and walked to Wimbledon station and caught our first double decker bus to Putney River, changed and went on to Sth Kensignton to Harrods and The Victoria and Albert Museum. We are very confident using the tube, but had never used the bus. It was great riding up top through the suburbs (Wimbledon Village, Fulham and Chelsea) past the parks and commons and beautiful big homes and just knowing we could do it ourselves.

Tonight we shouted Mick and his house mate Kate to the Walkabout pub for a very cheap and cheerful dinner.

I'm really happy I've been to London and I really think "living" with real people for a week has been better than staying in a hotel, but in the end, it's just another big city (not unlike Tokyo actually) and now I can "tick it off".

London

We had a big day yesterday. Mick had to work, so we took ourselves to central London by train. It was all going really well until Russ raced ahead of me to catch a train. He got on, the doors closed and I was left standing on the platform. A nice couple saw it happen and asked if we both had mobile phones. I explained we were Australian, on holiday with no phones. They then asked what our plan was if we were seperated. I said there was no plan but I was standing still. Russ went to the next station and got off, when the next train came in, he had a quick look through the carriages and they spotted him and told him I was waiting behind for him. It's funny now, but I was fairly pissed off at the time!

Eventually we arrived in the city and spent a really long, interesting day at The Tower of London. It was really busy (Summer School Holidays here), but amazing and hard to believe some parts of it have stood since the 1100s. I especially liked seeing the suits of armour that had been made for the different princes and kings through the ages, the Crown Jewels and the grafitti that prisoners carved into the stone walls of the various towers.

The Tower of London




Guarding the Crown Jewels


After the Tower, we took a cruise down the Thames to rest our legs. It was really cheap (9 pounds return for two by using our travel cards) and a great look at the places of interest on the river.



The Tower Bridge<

We got home just after 6 and had a great Chinese takeaway from the restaurant next door, watched a bit of telly then went to bed exhausted.

Today we are off to watch Mick umpire Aussie Rules at Clapham Common and then Russ is cooking us all roast pork. Tomorrow Mick, Russ and I are off to the British Museum.

Central London

We had a great day out today in Central London. It's about 30 minutes on the Tube with a change on the way and you're there. We walked about 5ks around town and the main attractions stopping for lunch in a tiny cafe on the Thames which cost 12 pounds for the three of us and was really good. We finished the day with a ride on the London Eye-a must for me as I have ridden on the worlds 2nd and 3rd largest ferris wheels in Japan and wanted to ride the biggest.




Picadilly Circus


Buckingham Palace


The Thames, Houses of Parliament and Big Ben


The London Eye

London

Well, here we are about to start day 2 in London and it’s raining! We think it’ll clear which is good as today we plan to start sightseeing!

Our flights were both good. As usual we asked for aisle seats up the back of the plane and ended up with 4 seats for the two of us-much more comfortable than most of the other people on the plane! The stopover in Bangkok was a great idea. It allowed us to get a few hours sleep then take a walk around the morning markets before getting on the plane and doing it again.

It was great to have Mick waiting for us at Heathrow and great to have him just lead us home to his place. We arrived here at 9.15 pm on Wednesday night. The flat he shares with Kate Taylor (from Warrnambool) and Janelle (from NZ) is quite large and airy and really well located just a 10 minute walk from the Tube station and town. The suburb of Wimbledon is really nice-lots of trees and feels really safe. It was also nice to walk with Mick the following day and have him speak to 3 people he knew-it really does have quite a villagey feel about it.

Russ was up early and took himself on an hours walk around the suburb and to one of the local supermarkets Tesco’s to do a bit of shopping. Later in the morning, we walked to Walkabout pub where Mick works about once a week and had lunch; we walked around the shops and checked out the other two supermarkets and just generally relaxed. We dropped Mick home, then took another walk to the next suburb through the back streets, along a river where we watched people fishing, past the very old Merton Abbey Mill and printing complex and onto the Stainsburys Hypermarket.

Merton Abbey Mill Complex

It was a two hour walk and really interesting. Lord Nelson lived here and his family bequeathed land for a little park in town, the mill has the last working water wheel in the city of London and the abbey that is part of the mill complex dates back to the 1100s. It’s amazing just to see those things as you walk around town.

Lord Nelson's Park

Russ cooked dinner for us all-Mick’s favourite pasta dish then we headed to bed about 11ish. I’m sure all that walking was the secret to making us both sleep really well and wake feeling great this morning. I’m just about to wake Mick and we’ll head to the centre of London to see all those things you should-Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, Parliament house etc etc etc and if we don’t see it all, we’ll do it again. Mick is working tomorrow at the pub and umpiring a couple of Aussie Rules games on Sunday, but we are pretty confident we can find our way round easily armed with his Collins London Street Maps!

It was great to turn the computer on and find an usecured wireless connection nearby. It means we have unlimited access (for free) which Mick and Janelle are enjoying.

5 Hours and Counting

In 5 hours we'll head by taxi to the airport. It's been a thundery night here in Perth and now the wind is blowing. The pets are all inside and don't want us to leave (that means going outside for them).

Todd and Leah took us into the city last night for THE best Indian I have ever eaten. We had the Queen Mary banquet which was amazing. The food just kept coming. I paticularly enjoyed the samosas and tandoori fish from the entrees, the tikka masala chicken, the prawns, and the spinach dahl from the mains. We also got breads, dips pappadums and many more delicious dishes. When the waitress collected our (finally) empty serving bowls she asked if we would like any more! as it was an unlimited banquet! It's a big, modern, airy BYO restaurant which is unusual for Indian too.

I've called Thai airways and we can carry on luggage as normal to Bankok today but tomorrow we'll only be allowed our wallets and passports and prescription medicine to Heathrow. It's a bit of a bugger that that is the long haul, but I guess we'll survive.

3 Sleeps to go and Terrorists at Heathrow

Well, we have 3 sleeps to go before we leave and just our luck to have our holiday upset by terrorist activity in London.

As far as we are conderned (flying from Perth), we can still take the normal stuff on board. I was really worried I couldn't take a book, clean undies and a tooth brush and paste, but it seems that will still be possible. I can't let this spoil our holiday and am still more scared of mid air turbulance than being blown up. Seriously, we've already had a near death experience outside Denham at the hands of a silly old caravanner!

I spoke to Mick in London tonight and he requested as many packets of PK as we can fit in our luggage as the English chewy is "shit" to quote him.

Back in Perth

Yesterday we left Denham and our boat and van (quite sad) and headed to Perth-I almost got run off the road by a silly old fart towing a van on the road out of Denham. He mustn’t have seen me overtaking him and drifted right over the white line just as I neared his rear bumper. I ended up in the gravel doing 110km and praying our travel insurance was good!!!!. Russell also had exactly the same thing happen on the highway but he had a bit more of a shoulder on the road to use to pass. Any wonder caravanner’s have got such a bad name!

We travelled to Geralton via the scenic Chapman Valley then at Dongara we turned off the highway and took the Midland route to Perth to see if there were any flowers. No flowers, but a bit greener, sheep cattle and wheat farms and a few bends and hills, so it was good. The only problem was finding accommodation. It was getting quite late when we finally found a room in a pub in the tiny town of Watheroo. What a great night that turned out-the moment we arrived the barmaid and the chef/manager were so kind and helpful, then the locals all so friendly. It was great. The food was good, the drinks reasonably priced and the atmosphere was wonderful. Sometimes you can feel a bit of an outsider in those little country towns, but not there.

The chef warned me a train would be coming through at midnight and it might give me a bit of a shock. SHOCK? It sounded like it was coming through the wall of our room. The pub is the old railway station and tea rooms, so you can imagine how close the train was. Russ and I went for a walk along the old platform outside our room this morning while Tom (the chef) made our breakfast! As we left Tom suggested it might be a good idea if we went back that way to Denham when we get back from our holiday.

Today we’ve come through New Norcia (a beautiful and historic monastery town) and into Perth via the Swan Valley-we arrived home here at Leah, Blair and Todd’s at 12.15pm. Now it’s only 4 sleeps ‘til we fly out.

Packed Up and Ready to GO

Todd flew home to Perth this morning after 4 nights with us-we really enjoyed having him to stay and wish more of you would do the same. We only had 1 tripe out with Brice, but he and Russ took our boat out 3 times. They didn't have a real lot of success until a neighbour suggested they put the boat in further away.

Yesterday they went to Eagle Bluff and after travelling down a fairly hairy 4WD track, put it in on the beach. They caught lots of fish-mostly JUST undersize, but brought home a couple of really nice snapper which we ate for dinner. Todd's was of course the biggest, because he is the better fisherman ;-)

We had to move into a cabin last night as there wasn't a van site available for us. It's been a real blessing as we have been able to park the van out front and sort our clothes and belongings out for our trip next week. We've also been able to give the van and boat a real tidy out (the car still needs a wash though) before storing them. It also means we are packed to go-all the descisions as to what to take and what to leave are made! Our time in perth will me much more relaxing without all this still to be done.

I had just put dinner on when Brice and his lady friend Phyllis called up to suggest we go out to dinner tonight-so now tonights dinner will become tomorrows in Geraldton. Then it's Perth on Thursday and off on Tuesday. It's almost here.

No FIsh for Todd

Before We Headed Out Fishing

Brice took Russ, Todd, Me and Harold fishing yesterday. It was a bit rough in the morning, but settled down to a nice day. The trouble was, we couldn’t get a fish to bring home. Todd caught heaps, but had to throw them all back So much for my promises of Brice never failing to catch fish, I’ll probably be reminded of that in times to come! It was still a good day-we stopped and ate our lunch at Pt Peron-it’s beautiful where the red cliffs meet the white sand which meets the blue water.

We were hiking along on the way home when we ran aground on a sand bar. Harold and the fish box fell into the cabin, clipping Todd on the shins as they went. It was lucky no real hurts were suffered and the boat props ($1000 each) were OK. Brice has travelled that way lots of times, but the tide was particularly big and Shark Bay can be very shallow in places at the best of times-even we have run the tinny aground. We ended the day up at Brice’s having drinks and nibblies with him, Harold and Delyce. Poor Todd having to put up with all us old farts!

Early This Morning-Our Van is Second on the Left


Right now, Russ and Todd are out fishing for crab bait-we’ll go do some crabbing after lunch. Brice has bought us 16 crabs for dinner though in case the crabbing’s a failure!

Tonight is our last in the van for 8 weeks. We move into a cabin here for 2 nights tomorrow, clean the van pack our clothes and passports, then the van and boat go into storage here. It’s a funny feeling after 6 months and I worry about leaving it behind more than I did about the house!

Fishing in Denham Once Again

It’s a beautiful warm, still day in Denham-the water looks like glass out there today. Todd arrived on the 11.45am flight from Perth and he and Russ were off fishing within the hour. I’ve enjoyed a quiet afternoon trying to post photos to this Blog. It’s very slow going, so that’s why you never see many.

Last night we took dinner up to Brice’s-home made rissoles, mash, veggies and onion gravy. He’d bought a dozen crabs and cooked them for entrée, so we were as full as little piggies by the time we finished all that.

Tomorrow the four of us are going out fishing in his boat-it looks like it should be a great day. His other friends have been catching heaps, so hopefully we will have an esky or two full of fillets to send home to Perth with Todd. Brice and his mates packed a heap of fish last night after dinner to be frozen including a beautiful tuna which Jay Russ and I ate as they packed (sashimi style) and made Brice ill. He reckons tuna isn’t even good for pet food and couldn’t believe we could eat it raw but it was so fresh and delicious. He’s promised to show me how to rig a line to try and catch my own which I’d love.

Back in Denham for a week

We are back in Denham for a week or so. It has felt a bit sad heading south, but it felt good to drive into a park where we know a few people. After we set up we went down to see Brice bring his boat and their big catch of fish in. It was lovely to see his face when he realized who had driven up to the fish cleaning table. He’s been down in Perth having treatment for cancer and I have to say it seems to have taken its toll on him-he is looking very tired.

Todd is flying up on Friday to spend a few days with us, so for the first time ever we put our annex up. It’s surprisingly easy tlittle long, o do, so I think we will do it often from now on. It’s very nice with really big windows and really gives the sense of another room. When we looked at the box, we discovered we had a week to notify the makers of any faults or bad fit. It’s a bit late now and lucky it’s OK!

It was beautiful here today, so we were really happy to take the boat out fishing-it seems like such a long time since we last went. We got lots of little fish and enough fresh bait for tomorrow. Russ almost landed a small shark but it bit through the line just before we could land it. Brice tells us they are very good eating and there are lots in the bay at the moment, so maybe tomorrow.

The caravan park put on a sausage sizzle to raise money for charity tonight. It was lots of fun and nice to meet a few other people. Tomorrow night we are taking dinner to Brice’s after we get back from some more fishing.

In just under 2 weeks we’ll be heading to London etc. We had planned to take the van to Perth and leave it with Allan, but have found very cheap storage for it and the boat here. When we get home, we’ll spend a few days in Perth then head back up here for another months fishing before it gets too hot and windy. I tell you what, Windy Warrnambool has got nothing on this west coast when it starts to blow!!!!