Trip to Essex, Suffolk, The Cotswolds and more!

I'll try to get every thing written, in a short space of time, so please ignore my spelling mistakes.

Jersey Boys was great. The singing was awesome and the story was really good too, but it didn't have the Wham,Bam, Thank You Maam that Priscilla did. Unfortunately we haven't had a chance to get back and see anymore shows as yet - but its not like we are sitting around not doing anything!

On Wednesday morning, we got up early and headed through Hyde Park again. So beautiful to go for walks through the Park and it's not cold! There is an abundance of bird life, squirrals and ducks etc. Afterwards, we went back to the Palace guards and had our photos taken again with the welsh guards this time. The 3 of us all stood by 1 guard and had our photos taken, but then I thought the other guard might think we thought he was inferior (ugly) cos we didn't want his photo (he was very cute! looked about 12 in his big special uniform AND he was higher ranked too!) so I went over and stood next to him and said "Good morning" and (knock me over with a feather) he said "Morning" and I nearly fell over! THE WELSH GUARD SPOKE TO ME! and here i was expecting nothing, cos they aren'#t allowed to laugh or anything, so I felt really lucky!

Okay, I had a bit of trouble with my travelex card (not giving me any money) but we soon sorted that out and I was on my way out to Cockfosters (not a spelling mistake) to meet up with my firends Ted and Pat whom i met on the plane over last year. (Pat was the lady who managed to secure me a photo spot in the Captain's chair with his hat on AND first class pajamas and a toiletry bag that previously belonged to Toni Collette!)
Pat and Ted collected me off the plane and we headed North to (I'm sorry if i get this wrong Ted and Pat!) Walton-on-the-Naze, to a 'caravan' which is slightly different to the ones we have in Australia. It had 2 bedrooms, and toilet and seperate shower, lounge, dining and kitchen. It was just lovely. But not to waste anytime, we headed down to the English coast to a little spot at Southwold and had an afternoon snack at their beach hut, overlooking the sandy beach. I couldn't see the sand at the time because the tide was in, but it gradually appeared throught the afternoon and it was brilliant to see an English beach.
The beach hut was similar to those you can buy at like St Kilda or Bondi and was great to see how the English do it!
We then went for a drive up to another little area that escapes me by name, but there was a lighthouse that Ted climbed with me, while Pat ordered the Tea and hot chocolate, but from the top you could see out across the water in the direction of Holland. From the beach, you could also see some 'pill boxes' (?) that were used in the wars, so that the English could keep a look out form invaders. It was very interesting to see that they had been washed off the tops of the cliff and into the ocean, as the land has eroded away.
We then went for a walk through some bushland area, and back along the beach as the tide had receded and it was so different to our sorts of beaches. I even collected a couple of fossils too.
Anyway, after a plesent stroll around and there was so much to see (thanks to Ted and Pat who are excellent tour guides) we had dinner in a quaint little pub. I had the suggested 'Muvver's Beefsteak pie' and it was delicious! Geez i wish you could get that at home!
We headed back to the Caravan and enjhoyed a wine and bit of chocolate before retiring! What a big day!
The next day was more whistle stop tours of the area, starting with a trip to a pier where i took my thongs off and paddled in the North Sea (?) It was freezing! My toes curled up and me feet went red, but now i can say i have done it! We toured around the area of Essex and even crossed over into Suffolk, but i will never finish this blog and catch up to today if I don't start skipping over things a little faster!
I have pamphlets of many of the places i visited so I can show you when i get home, if you would like to see. I am very lucky to have had such a comprehensive tour of the area and i owe this to Pat and Ted. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to see your country!
Highlights were the shingle beach (nothing but stones) the best fish and chips in the world (and i have the photos to prove it) the buildings that I went to that were older than EVERYTHING! including the Bell pub from the 1300's and all of the little thatched roof cottages!
On Friday, it was time to head back in the direction of home, so we went through Harwich (pronounced Harrich) and wound our way back through the country to London. Thankfully we managed to miss most of the traffic. I had a great time.
Friday night I was back in London with Andrea and Shelly. Andrea and I went to the London Pub for tea, which is where your contiki tours take off from. I went to reminice, but more imporantly show Andrea where to go. I kind of wish I was heading off on another tour too!
We came back into town and packed our bags so we were ready for our Cotswolds/Bath/Stonehenge tour in the morning.
Saturday morning we climbed on board a mini bus with 13 other people and headed from Oxford (the university city). also on our tour were 3 Americans and a German, who were lovely people, that we made friends with. Kind of makes it nice when you've got someone new to chat with.
Oxford is the most amazing place. 1 university and 38 colleges. A college is where you like and study, but the University is what you attend and what gived you your degree. All of the building are SO old and immaculate and clean and you're not allowed to walk on your college's grass square unless your robe touched the ground. Until then, you haven't earned the right! Anyway, we had a great tour guide and she was far to excited for you not to join in, but she got us into some places we shouldn't have gone, cos she knew all the guards etc. We were also lucky enough to have arrived on Degree day, which is when those who deserve it, get all dressed up in their finery and families come and they get their degrees.
After Oxford we headed for the Cotswold which is this triangluar area of green in England. Everything is old and the tiny little villages and hamlets are just gorgeous! We would our way through many of them, stopping at appropriate places for photo opportunities and walks around. Avernight we stayed in a holiday inn just outside of Bristol and enjoyed the evening at the Fox Dan Pub in the carpark (pub was there before the hotel) and then Andrea and i had to move rooms cos the ariconditioner was leaking.
Today,(sunday) has been the hottest day in England this year, a massive 28 degrees! But i have to say, sitting on a mini bus with very little air con, it was bloody hot. Not complaining though, it beats the alternative and it was just 2 of the most perfect days, both weatherwise and sight seeing too!
This morning it was Hot english breaky at the hotel before we headed off to Bath. How beautiful it is. Hard to describe, so you'll have to wait for photos! Roman baths then a quick nip around the town to see the sights.
Now i will try to write this without making myself feel sick...
We went to Sally Lunn's Bakery and had a 'Sally L;unn's Bun'. It is like a sweet bread roll, tastes like a croissant and was the size of my HEAD! (kid you not, got the photo to prove it) anyway, it came tosted with lashings of butter (thick on top) with a side serve of jam and clotted cream (which is cream that has been whipped so much, it is almost like butter, without the salty flavour) We also had a cup of tea. To start with, the 3 of us thought it was beautiful and it really was flavour-wise, but it was SO big, and you kind of forget to stop eating when full, that even the thought of seeing one, is making Andrea and I shudder... I feel ill just thinking about it! But Go to Bath and have a Sally Lunn Bunn!

After Bath, it was off to Lacock (laycock) and wow, what another pretty little town! This one is so pretty it is where they filmed the Colin Firth version of Pride and Prejudice! (I kept saying "i wonder if Colin touched this?") and bits of Harry Potter too. Just gorgeous little places. We were very glad to have been on the small bus, because we got to go places that a coach would not have been able to get and thanks to our driver, who was a bit of a dare devil, he puched the boundries to get us closer to places too!
After Lacock it was off to Stonehenge and well, there is not much to say really... It was STONEHENGE! Loved it! Was smaller than I imagined but still fantastic. I now have photos of me holding it, wearing it, standing next to it, picking up the pieces and any other silly pose i could think of. I have seen stonehenge!

Righto, well we arrived safely back in London, have checked into our hostel and were happy to be upgraded to a 6 bed room instead of 10 beds and have done our washing for the week. Andrea and I are both heading out of town tomorrow to do some visiting. I'm going up to Durham to see Anna from my tour last year, so hopefully we can fit out bags in Shelly's hotel
room. I'll be back on Tuesday and we'll hopefully see Mamma Mia then, cos we haven't had the chance as yet.

NOW I AM UP TO DATE! I hope you enjoy my travels and I'll write again probably when i get to Paris!

Sheridan xoxox

Not enough time in the days!

Hello there,

I am having a hard time trying to find time to get everything done. Since I last wrote I have been out of town with my friend Pat and Ted, so I have a lot to catch up on!

Monday afternoon, we caught the Original bus tour that you can hop on and off around the city and it was really good to get a refresher course around the area. We marked out on the map what we wanted to see and what we could do on our own. Shell and Andrea also had things they wanted to see that I have already, so it was good to plan our time. After a lap on the bus, we headed off to find our tea and a theatre.

So the 3 of us brought tickets to Priscilla, Queen of the desert and headed off to the theatre, where we were upgraded! Yay for toilets that don't work. Anyway, we had really good seats and sadly enough, Jason Donovan doesn't work on Mondays so we got a different actor, but I was kind of glad about that. I'm no big JD fan, and I thought that the understudy was excellent, so we were all happy!

When we got back to our hotel, most of the other 9 people staying in our room were asleep and after the amount of walking around we are doing each day, it was very easy to fall into bed and stay there! BUT the mornings are so light. You kinda wake up to the light (hostel curtains are pretty non-existant) and you think, its about 7:30am.... It's like 6:00am and you're ready to go!

On Tuesday we got up and jumped straight back on the hop on hop off bus and went around to Hyde Park corner where there is a big war memorial to Australian and NZ soldiers. There is a huge one made out of West Australian Granite and it has all the names of the battlefields that Aussie soldiers have fought in. But when you get up really close, the names of EVERY Australian town that sent soliders to war is engraved. We stood there for ages looking at them all, trying to find Mildura, but we couldn't. We did however locate Hattah, Nowingi, Sunny Cliffs, Kersbrook, and a whole heap of other familiar towns. But it was wonderful to see.

BAck on the bus and around to Big Ben and the houses of parliment (tour guide told us it was a great thing the guy who designed the bell's, name was Benjamin and not Richard...) and we wandered around there for a while before catching the river ferry down to Greenwich to see the place where mean time is calculated. I straddled the Longitude line and had my photo taken and was very excited to be there!

We wandered around the town for a while and checked out some little shops, had lunch in a tiny little alley then caught the boat back in, hust in time to not make it back on our bus because the snotty driver HAD to read the ticket (which was expired by 28 minutes). Anyway, WE soon real;ised that another trip to the theatre was on, so it was off to see Jersey Boys!

More on that later and my recent trip to Essex, Southwold, Manningtree and Harwich later, when I have more time!

Cheers for now!

Sheridan

London! (Take 4)

Well, flying in over London was still an amazing sight to see. Last time I flew in it was early morning and I don't remember seeing a thing, but yesterday I could see for miles!

I left home at 9:00am on Saturday and Andrea and I headed for Melbourne with Will and Louise. When we arrived at the airport, we couldn't check in our bags; as the Malaysian counter doesn't open until 2 hours before flights, so that was another 5 hour wait. Thankfully Louise had a hotel room just down the road so we went and stayed there for a while, before grabbing some tea.

We did a few laps of Melbourne airport and finally got on the plane at midnight. The first half of the flight was fantastic. Got a bit of food then went straight to sleep and next thing, it's morning and we are nearing Koala Loompa (as it will now be referred to).

Turns out we have a 3 hour stop over; not long enough to do anything, but long enough to bore you to tears! The Koala Loompa airport has a giant round section in the middle that is actually a tiny little rain forest, so we went for a wander through there, had a starbucks and did several laps of the complex. We also had a great time starting a domino effect...

First it started with a few (like 20) pilots and air hostesses going through security towards our boarding gate and we could see comfy couches on the other side, so Shelly, Andrea and I stood behind the pilots to ask the staff on the metal detectors if we could get checked and go sit on the couches. Security told us "NO" but all of a sudden we had a line of like 250 people standing behind us, waiting to get though the gate. Geez people can be sheep! Anyway, we eventually got through and then the Plane trip of 14 hours began and by goodness it was LONG! As it was daylight, it was harder to sleep and there are sonly so many games of bejewelled that you can play. In the end I made the other girls play celebrity head with me, because I was going mad with boredom! That actually passed 2 hours!

Anyway, everything went well in the landing and customs stage etc we caught the express train through to the city, because the tube was down for the weekend at Heathrow and it was raining when we arrived. We had much deserved showers and finally got to clean our teeth, when we checked in then it was off to ED's American diner (irony I know) for some chips and bed by 10pm. What a great sleep, all 3 of us were so tired!

Tip of the day: Malaysia Airways are NOT worth the extra 2 stars rating that they have, at least not for poverty class passengers. There were no hot towels; no fluffy socks, and worst of all - No toothbrushes or paste! How dare they deprive me of clean teeth! I will pack my own for the return journey...

So today we got up and headed off down the road. Just wandering along looking around and then we realise that we are a short walk from BuckingHuge Palace, so we tootled off down there and sat on the fence railing, saving ourselves front row seats for the changing of the guard. Was great to see it again, as i had forgotten a lot of stuff.

We were standing there laughing about if you dropped your camera through the fence, would the guard march over and pick it up for you? Then amazingly enough, I did drop my umbrella through the fence (duh) and No... the guards do not stop what they are doing to help you :) Thankfully, a nice police officer realised my plight (I am great with sign language through a fence) and came and picked it upo for me! My umbrealla is now called Bessie and has been in the palace grounds!

Have to go, cos I'm out of time, but will blog again when I get the chance!

Sheridan :)

Here I go again!

Every since I stepped foot back on Australian soil I have been saying " I have to do that again!" Well, I'm just about all packed and ready to head off. This time I'm traveling with 2 friends from home, Andrea and Shelly, so the plane trip over shouldn't be so boring.

2010's European Vacation is much shorter and I'll only be putting my foot down in 3 countries this time (YES, I count an airport as a new country... Hence Malaysia is the only 'new' country I will be visiting. I leave home tomorrow (Saturday) morning for Melbourne, chauffeured by Louise and get on the plane at Midnight.

i'll be staying in and London only flitting off to other places for short visits and then heading across to Paris on the Eurostar on the 26th.

Well, no good telling you about it now... I will when I get there!

Cheers,

Sheridan