After a very short flight (45 Mins) we were in Paris. However, it took us another 4 hours to collect our luggage and get to the campgroud. To add to our enjoyment we were greeted with rainy skies.
We checked into the campsite and set-up camp. Cam locked the bikes - still in their bike bags to the tree and we went to bed wondering whether we would float away with the water that was fast forming puddles from all the rain.
~~Monday~~
Monday in Paris. Well to be thruthful we didn't actually wake up until 11am. I know I know - what a waste of time. We got up and had showers. Interesting..... you press a button and pre heated water runs for around 10 seconds then turns off. I soon figured out that by holding the button down I could get a continuous flow of water.
After showering we went for a walk in search of food and money. Of course we ended up going the long way. We eventually found a bank and stocked up on Euros. We then stopped in at a fruit and veg store. I could not believe the quality of the food and it was sooooo cheap. A big punet of strawberries 1.50 and a big punet of raspberries 2.00.
We kept wondering the streets in search of coffee - by now it was close to 3pm and I was getting tired (hard to imagine after a big nights sleep) so we found a supermarket and stocked up on the essentials to keep us going for a while - you know things like Red Wine, Brie and chocloate. No seriously, we did buy some other stuff as well.
Again we were surprised by how cheap it was.
We decided to head back to the campground - truth be known - we didn't know where we were....
On the way back we walked through Parc de Bolougne past France Gallop - we finally found a coffee shop and we tried out our French. Bonsoir, duex cafe latter s'il vous plait - oh you would like 2 coffee with milk? Yes please. But hey, at least we tried.
I must admit - I didn't really like Paris or France for that matter until late this afternoon - all the people we encounted yesterday were rude and arrogant (typically french I suppose), however, they were really nice today and the sun was shinning.
Note to self - just because the light says to can cross the road or you are at a pedestrian crossing does not give you automatic right of way to cross the street.....
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
London
Well we arrived in London and to our surprise it was Sunny and 21 degrees. We didn't expect that we would find our first sunshine in London.
Mum and Dad met us at the airport, once we had dropped our bikes off at left luggage we caught the tube into Picadilly Circus to our hotel - the Regent Palace Hotel.
We had some dinner at Harry Ramsden - famous for fish and chips. I didn't think they were that good. After dinner Mum and Dad left and Cam and I went for walk around town as it was still light.
We stumbled on Buckingham Palace, trafalgar Square, Big Ben, the London Eye, 10 Downing Street and the Victory Arch.
~~Friday~~
We met Mum and Dad at the hotel and then walked back to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guard - every other tourist in London had the same idea.
From Buckingham Palace we walked through St James Park to Westminister Abbey. The lines were ridiculous to enter so we moved on. We crossed the road to the Parliament Buildings and caught the Original Tour Bus. The bus took us across Lambeth Bridge and through London city - which I might add is the smallest city in the world being on 1 square mile. We stopped on St Paul's Cathedral - 530 steps later we were at the top of the dome looking out over greater London.
From there we hoped back onto the bus and headed to the Tower of London. We crossed over London Bridge - which is really plain compared to Tower Bridge. The original bridge was sold to an American from Arizona for £2 million. They thought they were buying Tower Bridge - a common misunderstanding among tourists.
Tower of London is amazing. The original building was built in 1066 AD and was added to many times over the years. The Tower of London is where the crown jewels are on display. Amazing, the 2 largest diamonds in the world are owned by the Monachy. From the Tower of London we caught a boat down the Thames River. This was fun - the guide kept us very amused as he told us tales about the many sights we went passed - Shakespears Globe, HMS Belfast, Sir Francis Drake's ships - the Golden Hind, the London Eye, Cleopatra's Needle, under London Bridge, Southwark Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge, Millienium Bridge and Waterloo Bridge - so many bridges.
Once we got off the boat we walked through Trafalgar Square towards the hotel. We had a quite drink with Mum and Dad before heading off to have dinner with Ngaira. After dinner Ngaira took us on a walk around London. We walked up Regent Street, Oxford Street, Carnaby Street and back through Liecester Square to the hotel. We bid Ngaira farewell and gratefully hit the sack.
What a long day!
~~Saturday~~
We met up with Natalie at 9am and headed down to the Mall (a street) to watch a dress rehersal of the Queen's Regala which is taking place on June 11 for the Queen's birthday. From the Mall we walked through Hyde Oark and Kensington Gardens to Notting Hill where we visited the Portabello Street Markets. We didn't hang around for long as there were people everywhere. From the markets we made our way back to Kensington Gardens and bid Nat a farewell.
We walked through the gardens to the Princess Diana memorial fountain and then down Picadilly Road to the hotel. We then caught the train out to Broxbourne to met up with Mum and Dad. Alan and Ryanna met us at the train station and we walked back to Alan's house. Alan and Janet are my dad's second cousins. At the house we also met their son Neil, his wife Angela and their 3 kids - Ryanna, Ryan and Mollie.
After chatting for a while and having a look at our photos from the wedding and the trip so ar we then sat down to a gourmet feast followed by merangue, profiteroles andchocolate and fresh strawberrys. PS British Strawberry's rock.
Tommorrow Cam and I head to Paris and the beginning of our cycle adventure. Our first obstacle to overcome is how to get luggage and bikes from Paris Airport to our campsite - 2km's from the Eiffel Tower.
~~Sunday~~
We started the day with a quick walk through a very empty Leicester Square and then down to Cleopatra's Needle. From there we headed back to the hotel via Covent Street Markets. We met up with Nick at Picadilly Circus. Nick came down from Oxford to have brunch with us. We headed over towards Harrods with the intentions of grabbing something to eat there or close by.
However, to my dismay - Harrods does not open on Sundays.
So we headed back towards the Hotel - we took the scenic route past Marble Arch - oops we got back to our room to find we had been locked out. Checkout time is 12 noon and it was 12.05pm. We had to trudge back down 5 flights of stairs to explain to the reception desk why we were late.
We grabbed our luggage and went to eat our very late brunch. After lunch we bid Nick a farewell and caught the train out to Heathrow Airport.
The one thing I have noticed and really hated about London - The People. They are just plain RUDE! They never smile or greet you in a friendly manner. They never appologise for bulldozing you over on the street.
Okay - so not al Londoners were rude but a bloody hight percent were.
Overall we had great weather and throughly enjoyed London. We definately needed more time to explore and definetely more money. The pound killed us......
Mum and Dad met us at the airport, once we had dropped our bikes off at left luggage we caught the tube into Picadilly Circus to our hotel - the Regent Palace Hotel.
We had some dinner at Harry Ramsden - famous for fish and chips. I didn't think they were that good. After dinner Mum and Dad left and Cam and I went for walk around town as it was still light.
We stumbled on Buckingham Palace, trafalgar Square, Big Ben, the London Eye, 10 Downing Street and the Victory Arch.
~~Friday~~
We met Mum and Dad at the hotel and then walked back to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guard - every other tourist in London had the same idea.
From Buckingham Palace we walked through St James Park to Westminister Abbey. The lines were ridiculous to enter so we moved on. We crossed the road to the Parliament Buildings and caught the Original Tour Bus. The bus took us across Lambeth Bridge and through London city - which I might add is the smallest city in the world being on 1 square mile. We stopped on St Paul's Cathedral - 530 steps later we were at the top of the dome looking out over greater London.
From there we hoped back onto the bus and headed to the Tower of London. We crossed over London Bridge - which is really plain compared to Tower Bridge. The original bridge was sold to an American from Arizona for £2 million. They thought they were buying Tower Bridge - a common misunderstanding among tourists.
Tower of London is amazing. The original building was built in 1066 AD and was added to many times over the years. The Tower of London is where the crown jewels are on display. Amazing, the 2 largest diamonds in the world are owned by the Monachy. From the Tower of London we caught a boat down the Thames River. This was fun - the guide kept us very amused as he told us tales about the many sights we went passed - Shakespears Globe, HMS Belfast, Sir Francis Drake's ships - the Golden Hind, the London Eye, Cleopatra's Needle, under London Bridge, Southwark Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge, Millienium Bridge and Waterloo Bridge - so many bridges.
Once we got off the boat we walked through Trafalgar Square towards the hotel. We had a quite drink with Mum and Dad before heading off to have dinner with Ngaira. After dinner Ngaira took us on a walk around London. We walked up Regent Street, Oxford Street, Carnaby Street and back through Liecester Square to the hotel. We bid Ngaira farewell and gratefully hit the sack.
What a long day!
~~Saturday~~
We met up with Natalie at 9am and headed down to the Mall (a street) to watch a dress rehersal of the Queen's Regala which is taking place on June 11 for the Queen's birthday. From the Mall we walked through Hyde Oark and Kensington Gardens to Notting Hill where we visited the Portabello Street Markets. We didn't hang around for long as there were people everywhere. From the markets we made our way back to Kensington Gardens and bid Nat a farewell.
We walked through the gardens to the Princess Diana memorial fountain and then down Picadilly Road to the hotel. We then caught the train out to Broxbourne to met up with Mum and Dad. Alan and Ryanna met us at the train station and we walked back to Alan's house. Alan and Janet are my dad's second cousins. At the house we also met their son Neil, his wife Angela and their 3 kids - Ryanna, Ryan and Mollie.
After chatting for a while and having a look at our photos from the wedding and the trip so ar we then sat down to a gourmet feast followed by merangue, profiteroles andchocolate and fresh strawberrys. PS British Strawberry's rock.
Tommorrow Cam and I head to Paris and the beginning of our cycle adventure. Our first obstacle to overcome is how to get luggage and bikes from Paris Airport to our campsite - 2km's from the Eiffel Tower.
~~Sunday~~
We started the day with a quick walk through a very empty Leicester Square and then down to Cleopatra's Needle. From there we headed back to the hotel via Covent Street Markets. We met up with Nick at Picadilly Circus. Nick came down from Oxford to have brunch with us. We headed over towards Harrods with the intentions of grabbing something to eat there or close by.
However, to my dismay - Harrods does not open on Sundays.
So we headed back towards the Hotel - we took the scenic route past Marble Arch - oops we got back to our room to find we had been locked out. Checkout time is 12 noon and it was 12.05pm. We had to trudge back down 5 flights of stairs to explain to the reception desk why we were late.
We grabbed our luggage and went to eat our very late brunch. After lunch we bid Nick a farewell and caught the train out to Heathrow Airport.
The one thing I have noticed and really hated about London - The People. They are just plain RUDE! They never smile or greet you in a friendly manner. They never appologise for bulldozing you over on the street.
Okay - so not al Londoners were rude but a bloody hight percent were.
Overall we had great weather and throughly enjoyed London. We definately needed more time to explore and definetely more money. The pound killed us......
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Kaslo and the wedding...
After checking in at Vancouver Airport for our flight to Castlegar we were told that we should make it today. Make it today? What do they mean?
Apparently, Castlegar is often refered to as Cancelgar as most flights are either cancelled or delayed due to bad weather.
After waiting for nearly an hour we finally boarded our small 36 seater plane. We were on our way.... Our flight was okay - bumpy due to being in a small plane. Our bikes are fairing okay so far. The boxes are starting to look like something we grabbed from the recycle bin on our way out. We have patches of Duct tape all over the boxes to fix holes and tears.
Our final destination was Kaslo, a small town where I lived as an exchange student for 12 months in 1991. It was strange to be back in the small town where I lived 14 years ago. Nothing had changed - nothing ever changes......
We were the first of the guests to arrive and used the free time to wash our clothes and catch up on some much needed sleep.
Shannon and Trevor and the girls (Trish, Vicki and Tanis) arrived on Thursday and Stan and Hil arrived on Friday.
The plan was to decorate the hall on friday afternoon but as it was raining (again!!) on friday morning we decided to decorate the hall in the morning and hope for sunshine in the afternoon. No such luck. So we spend friday afternoon drinking beers in preparation for the big pre wedding party. There must have been nearly 70 people at the party and I even remembered some of them.
~~Wedding Day~~
Hil and I got ready first as we had to set up the wedding cake before rushing back for the wedding pictures. The cake was made up of 100 cup cakes with white icing covered by Gerbers (however you spell it). It looked cool.
The wedding ceremony was held on a restored paddle steamer - so beautiful. The weather cleared just long enough for Shannon to get some great wedding shots and for the guests to make it safely from the boat to the reception not too far away.
Shannon and Trevor kept the reception pretty simple and casual and that made for a really relaxed and enjoyable evening.
We have many photos which we will update at another time as the Calgary library doesn't allow us to plug in our camera to download the photos.
I will not waste your time trying explain how beautiful Kaslo is. I will let you see it for yourself when we link the latest pics.
Cam and I caught a lift with Neil and Marina to Calgary on Sunday afternoon.
My close friend Linnea travelled all the way down from Fort McMurray (11 hours by bus) to have dinner with us and then headed back the next day.
Linnea - you rock!!! It was so wonderful to see you again - lets make it less than 4 years between visits next time. xox
Well my time is running out - we are leaving Calgary tonight for London. We will try to upload some pics.
Hope all is well back home.
Apparently, Castlegar is often refered to as Cancelgar as most flights are either cancelled or delayed due to bad weather.
After waiting for nearly an hour we finally boarded our small 36 seater plane. We were on our way.... Our flight was okay - bumpy due to being in a small plane. Our bikes are fairing okay so far. The boxes are starting to look like something we grabbed from the recycle bin on our way out. We have patches of Duct tape all over the boxes to fix holes and tears.
Our final destination was Kaslo, a small town where I lived as an exchange student for 12 months in 1991. It was strange to be back in the small town where I lived 14 years ago. Nothing had changed - nothing ever changes......
We were the first of the guests to arrive and used the free time to wash our clothes and catch up on some much needed sleep.
Shannon and Trevor and the girls (Trish, Vicki and Tanis) arrived on Thursday and Stan and Hil arrived on Friday.
The plan was to decorate the hall on friday afternoon but as it was raining (again!!) on friday morning we decided to decorate the hall in the morning and hope for sunshine in the afternoon. No such luck. So we spend friday afternoon drinking beers in preparation for the big pre wedding party. There must have been nearly 70 people at the party and I even remembered some of them.
~~Wedding Day~~
Hil and I got ready first as we had to set up the wedding cake before rushing back for the wedding pictures. The cake was made up of 100 cup cakes with white icing covered by Gerbers (however you spell it). It looked cool.
The wedding ceremony was held on a restored paddle steamer - so beautiful. The weather cleared just long enough for Shannon to get some great wedding shots and for the guests to make it safely from the boat to the reception not too far away.
Shannon and Trevor kept the reception pretty simple and casual and that made for a really relaxed and enjoyable evening.
We have many photos which we will update at another time as the Calgary library doesn't allow us to plug in our camera to download the photos.
I will not waste your time trying explain how beautiful Kaslo is. I will let you see it for yourself when we link the latest pics.
Cam and I caught a lift with Neil and Marina to Calgary on Sunday afternoon.
My close friend Linnea travelled all the way down from Fort McMurray (11 hours by bus) to have dinner with us and then headed back the next day.
Linnea - you rock!!! It was so wonderful to see you again - lets make it less than 4 years between visits next time. xox
Well my time is running out - we are leaving Calgary tonight for London. We will try to upload some pics.
Hope all is well back home.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Our Stay in Vancouver...
I had forgotten just how much I love Vancouver.
After making our way from the airport into the city to grab our supplies from MEC, we headed to Kip and Tree's place in Kitsilano. They live in an appartment on the 9th floor looking north across Vancouver Harbour to the Mountains.
Tree had to go to work and Kip was out playing golf so Cam and I took the opportunity to catch up on some much needed sleep.....
4 hours later and slightly refreshed we heading to Carlos n' buds to catch up with some of my old friends. Seeing everyone again was awesome! You know you have great friends when after four years apart you can just pick up where you left off. It was like I had never left.... Cam and I also caught up with Anna and Catherine. They had recently moved to Vancouver (from Melbourne) for 12 months on a working holiday visa. After dinner we headed to a Blues/Jazz bar to listen to Tree's favorite band - Brickhouse. I think we finally headed home to bed at around 1.30am. Very tired....
On Sunday Cam and I took Anna and Catherine to North Vancouver and showed them around the Capilano Park. We decied not to go to the Capilano Suspension Bridge as you have to pay to get in. Instead, we were going to take them to the Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge which is free and much nicer. We were also planning to go to the top of Grouse Mountain.
We met the girls downtown at around lunchtime and caught the sea bus over to North Vancouver. The sea bus is basically a commuter ferry that crosses the harbour. By the time we got to the other side it was raining quite heavily and so we decided to grab some lunch and see if the rain stopped. The decision was made that we would continue on despite the rain - after all it is Vancouver and if you waited for the rain to stop you would never go anywhere.
We caught a bus to Capilano Park and then wandered around some great nature trails - we eventually arrived at the Salmon Hatchery and Cleveland Dam. By this stage it was getting late and the rain was starting to fall heavier. We decided that we wouldn't go up Grouse Mountain as we would not be able to see anything through the clouds. The girls will go up some other time.
We caught the bus back to the sea bus terminal and then headed back into the city. We said goodbye to the girls and headed back to Kip and Tree's place for dinner.
On Monday morning we got up early - well okay so it was around 9ish and headed back across the harbour to Lynn Canyon. It was so beautiful. The bridge is around 40 metres high and about 60 metres long (maybe it was the otherway round...) anyways it was beautiful. The bridge crosses a narrow valley with a torrent of water dropping through a series of waterfalls and ponds. We wondered around the trails for a while before heading back into Vancouver. At this stage we were both pretty damn and starting to get cold.
Once back at Kip and Tree's place we packed our bags and headed to Karl and Lisa's place in Abbotsford. I lived with Karl for about 6 months at the end of my stay in Canada. We caught the West Coast Express - it is a commuter train that only runs during peak hour.
Karl and Lisa own 2 Bullmastiff dogs. I didn't realise a dogs head could be so BIG! Thank god they are friendly otherwise they could easliy bit off an arm or leg.
Well the first part of our trip is drawing to a close. We are leaving Vancouver and heading to Kaslo tomorrow for the wedding.
Kaslo is a small fishing village on Kootenay Lake about an hour north of Nelson. Kaslo is the town I lived in while I was an exchange student in 1991.
Click on this link to see the pics from Vancouver.
After making our way from the airport into the city to grab our supplies from MEC, we headed to Kip and Tree's place in Kitsilano. They live in an appartment on the 9th floor looking north across Vancouver Harbour to the Mountains.
Tree had to go to work and Kip was out playing golf so Cam and I took the opportunity to catch up on some much needed sleep.....
4 hours later and slightly refreshed we heading to Carlos n' buds to catch up with some of my old friends. Seeing everyone again was awesome! You know you have great friends when after four years apart you can just pick up where you left off. It was like I had never left.... Cam and I also caught up with Anna and Catherine. They had recently moved to Vancouver (from Melbourne) for 12 months on a working holiday visa. After dinner we headed to a Blues/Jazz bar to listen to Tree's favorite band - Brickhouse. I think we finally headed home to bed at around 1.30am. Very tired....
On Sunday Cam and I took Anna and Catherine to North Vancouver and showed them around the Capilano Park. We decied not to go to the Capilano Suspension Bridge as you have to pay to get in. Instead, we were going to take them to the Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge which is free and much nicer. We were also planning to go to the top of Grouse Mountain.
We met the girls downtown at around lunchtime and caught the sea bus over to North Vancouver. The sea bus is basically a commuter ferry that crosses the harbour. By the time we got to the other side it was raining quite heavily and so we decided to grab some lunch and see if the rain stopped. The decision was made that we would continue on despite the rain - after all it is Vancouver and if you waited for the rain to stop you would never go anywhere.
We caught a bus to Capilano Park and then wandered around some great nature trails - we eventually arrived at the Salmon Hatchery and Cleveland Dam. By this stage it was getting late and the rain was starting to fall heavier. We decided that we wouldn't go up Grouse Mountain as we would not be able to see anything through the clouds. The girls will go up some other time.
We caught the bus back to the sea bus terminal and then headed back into the city. We said goodbye to the girls and headed back to Kip and Tree's place for dinner.
On Monday morning we got up early - well okay so it was around 9ish and headed back across the harbour to Lynn Canyon. It was so beautiful. The bridge is around 40 metres high and about 60 metres long (maybe it was the otherway round...) anyways it was beautiful. The bridge crosses a narrow valley with a torrent of water dropping through a series of waterfalls and ponds. We wondered around the trails for a while before heading back into Vancouver. At this stage we were both pretty damn and starting to get cold.
Once back at Kip and Tree's place we packed our bags and headed to Karl and Lisa's place in Abbotsford. I lived with Karl for about 6 months at the end of my stay in Canada. We caught the West Coast Express - it is a commuter train that only runs during peak hour.
Karl and Lisa own 2 Bullmastiff dogs. I didn't realise a dogs head could be so BIG! Thank god they are friendly otherwise they could easliy bit off an arm or leg.
Well the first part of our trip is drawing to a close. We are leaving Vancouver and heading to Kaslo tomorrow for the wedding.
Kaslo is a small fishing village on Kootenay Lake about an hour north of Nelson. Kaslo is the town I lived in while I was an exchange student in 1991.
Click on this link to see the pics from Vancouver.
Sunday, May 15, 2005
How to add a comment...
For those of you who wish to add a comment - you don't need to become a blog user. You can enter a comment - just make sure you check the anonymous button.
Saturday, May 14, 2005
Vancouver
After a long bumpy flight we have arrived safely in Vancouver.
And for those of you that know Vancouver - yes it was overcast and is now raining. The weather doesn't disapoint. : )
Nothing has changed much - we easily found our way around using public transport.
Talk soon.
And for those of you that know Vancouver - yes it was overcast and is now raining. The weather doesn't disapoint. : )
Nothing has changed much - we easily found our way around using public transport.
Talk soon.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
On our way
Well the time has finally arrived. We are about to leave Canberra and head to Sydney for the beginning of our adventures.
Thanks to everyone who helped celebrate our departure last night - I am really enjoying the hangover.
See you all on our return.
Stay in touch and stay healthy.
Thanks to everyone who helped celebrate our departure last night - I am really enjoying the hangover.
See you all on our return.
Stay in touch and stay healthy.
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
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