By this Author: astrix7

Photos and bits of writing that were put on facebook, but missed being included in the blog...

" Went out for dinner last night to an amazing place called <br style="color: rgb(29, 33, 41); font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">Griftpark1 which was a 10 minute walk away. Right next to it was a brightly lit fairground which at 8.30 on a Saturday night was almost deserted. It was very eerie walking through it on the way home. If we had seen a clown, we would have run like hell outa there. The 3 course dinner was magic, and it is going to be hard to match it on our travels..." Alan

"Wonder what the poor people are doing, as my Dad would say! In Rome at our lovely huge apartment. Spent the day familiarising ourselves as we normally do, ie washing, unpacking, supermarket, all the necessary stuff. Two walks, saw an old old old castle (270AD), with a pyramid attached, can&acute;t get inside today, just happened to &acute;sort of walk&acute; through a mini market of street stalls. Hell 6 weeks to go and I could shop &acute;for Africa&acute;. We have been having picnic lunches with a thermos (reminds me of the days the girls and I would go to Mahia with Mum and Dad and stop for the thermos). Now we love the cuppas. So excited, the last two weeks have been amazing but the best is yet to come!!!!!!!!!!" Leone

" I had run out of clothes, was having to cut my knickers elastic. Got this lovely roomy outfit today, 4 euros!! If anyone wants any, they have pussies, cats, dogs, bunnies etc. Just let me know your size and preference, it no problem xx" Leone "We have been living on a diet of pork and veges, or chicken and veges for 3 weeks now. Its not as if cows are sacred animals over here, so we cant understand why the supermarkets dont have any good steaks for sale. Around the corner from our apartment are two restaurants, so we decided to check them for a decent steak meal. The first was an upmarket chinese/japanese place called Yang Jin. It was full of banquet tables, and did a wonderful sea urchin soup, and lots of raw fish dishes. Beef chow mein was not on the menu so we decided to give it a miss. The next one was an Irish Pizzeria called The Donegal. Lucky for us they also did a few Irish dishes that were rich in meat and potatoes. So after a couple of pints of Harp lager we both enjoyed bowls of tender Beef stew cooked in Guiness with bread and potatoes. Sorry we were too hungry to take photos but damn it was good... ps hope they got Italian restaurants in Dublin..." Alan

"OMG, so huge I couldn&acute;t even finish it. It was great to have some beef, though I live on chicken and pork at home. We have had 2 meals out in the 3 weeks we been away, cos Alan a great cook and it makes one feel good to have &acute;healthy food' at night. We had become addicted to gelato every pm, we now have got some healthy yoghurt which tastes like gelato!!! " Leone

"Wow what a day, after being bedridden yesterday, couldn&acute;t wait to get to my perfume workshop. There were 3 other people there from NZ and we made 3 perfumes each. One was included in the price of the workshop, and we were able to buy one. (I made Prada Infusion d&acute;Iris for you Trudi). Never smelt it before so don&acute;t know if it right, tho we got given &acute;recipes&acute;. On the way home nearly tripped over a conglomeration of metal which I understand is the Eiffel Tower. PS Trudi, I will get you a shop perfume!"Leone

"A very cold day in London yesterday. Time to get hair done! Went to a very posh salon, after checking it out the day before. For the first time ever, I had a male hairdresser (young Indian guy who lacked English speaking skills!). What an experience, much time spent applying colour, awesome conditioning treatment which took ages and ages, (so relaxing) and a lot of time spent on the cut. When I got my glasses on, I nearly fell off my chair. Fire red!!!!!! Even Alan didn&acute;t recognise me down the street when I went to meet him. All this for 45 pounds ie $90, I like it but only while I in holiday mode!!! Lovely sunny day today, went to Camden Town market. Never imagined a market could be so huge, lively, interesting. I managed to get some new tops, yay yay I can throw out old ones and not wear the same things day after day. A real fun day in sunny London!!! " Leone

she really wanted a furbaby

and one of these sheeps

kids dream about moments like this

the only action in the deserted fairground

not a kid in sight

my tiramisu

Leone couldn;t finish her cheesecake

main course melted in the mouth

goat cheese, pine nut and raisin entree

cheers

this is the life

Wonder what the poor people are doing

guess who loves her new pajamas

A baby brother for oke dokey

A real Irish Pizzeria in Rome

A pint of Irish lager in Rome

That looks familiar

Finally got a photo of Alan;s bum..

that;s where we were

horses everywhere

beautiful horse

boat coming out of the lock at camden markets

cool shops

Awesome lampshades

Impressive wall art

cute bird

We left Clitheroe and flew to Amsterdam, where we spent the night in a luxury hotel where you couldn't make a cup of tea because there was no jug in the room. After breakfast the next morning we flew to Guangzhou and arrived there after a 12 hour flight at 6.30am China time. The hotel was luxurious but the beds were rock hard and "carnation" evaporated tinned milk was all they had to make a cup of tea with. After a few hours of sleep it was back on the plane for another 12 hour flight to Auckland. The hotel in Auckland was lovely and at least we could get a decent cuppa. The following morning we flew the last leg of our journey Home to Napier We were both exhausted and it was amazing to touch down in Hawkes Bay on a beautiful warm sunny day.

On the way home at last

Huge Chinese hotel lobby

"Made it to Clitheroe. Sun shining but bitter cold wind. Taxi to our lovely apartment in the eaves of a grand old home. Walked half a mile ( in the wrong direction...damn you google maps ) to get groceries. A friendly local sheep told us and a friendly local person gave us a lift to the shop. Woke up to what sounded like the mating call of several species of birds, but worth the early rise to see the sun lighting up the hills. Leone is amazed at how beautiful the countryside around Clitheroe is, but not too happy about the flights of stairs we have to climb to get to our rooftop retreat...." Alan

" This is the Victorian mansion (1892) we are staying in, right at the top. It is set in 20 acres of land surrounded by trees with lots of birds. Beautiful surroundings, lots of holiday homes and permanent people but none of them too close to each other." Leone

"In beautiful Clitheroe where Alan was born. Jean and Steve (Alan&acute;s family), took us for a long tiki tour yesterday around the amazing villages, they really are amazing!!!!!! Stone fences, little streams running through, sheep with black faces. We stopped in a 400 year old pub for a shandy then got taken back to their place for a lovely meal. Lovely kind people, a great day at the end of our trip, quite different from trains, trams, buses, taxis, crowds ... just great and laidback." Leone

On one of the days we took a bus to Skipton and enjoyed looking around the stalls on the Markets. We followed this with a visit to Skipton Castle which is really impressive and is still complete after 900 years. It was a Royalist stronghold and withstood a 3 year siege by the armies of Oliver Cromwell in the 1640's. On the grounds is also the shell of a 12th century chapel complete with christening font. On the way back to the bus station we enjoyed a huge bacon and egg filled bun and a big mug of Yorkshire tea at a stall on the markets, we also popped on down to the town canals to check out a longboat festival that was going off with live music and a fairground. After a few minutes of this we realised that the day was getting colder and was looking like rain, so we headed back to the bus and our homebase in Clitheroe.

went looking for a shop but found only sheep

Victorian Mansion

our apartment in the eaves

view from our lounge window

One of the beautiful villages on our tour

stone walls that go on forever

Shall we have a shandy?? Yep why not

Hark to Bounty

400 year old pub

Sentry box or garden shed??

Afternoon at Clitheroe Castle Keep

Cenotaph to unknown soldier

overlooking Pendle Hill

up on the battlements

In a gale force wind

900 year old Skipton Castle

entrance staircase built in 16th century

central tudor courtyard

The great Hall

The Lord's bedchamber

Courtyard Yew tree planted in 1659

walking down to chapel

on the castle grounds

is the shell of a 12th century Chapel

with original font

Boats on the canal at Skipton

On our two days in Edinburgh we focused on the Royal Mile. Both days were cold and we experienced blue skies, sunshine, drizzle and snow each day. The walk up to the Edinburgh Castle was really interesting and we went inside the castle to check out the museums and the Scottish Crown Jewels ( which were amazing). The next day we walked down to Holyrood Abbey and Palace, but were content just to admire from the outside. on the way back we looked through a really good museum at the tollhouse (which was once a prison). It was coming to the end of our time away so we took things a bit easy and didn&acute;t try to see too much before heading down to Clitheroe.

Outside our Edinburgh apartment

Walking up the Royal Mile

past St Giles Cathedral

past funny wee pubs

past very skilful pipers

past funny wee restaurants

finally arrived at castle courtyard

Edinburgh castle

with drawbridge down

rows of cannon

overlooking the city

Inner keep 1

Inner keep 2

Magnificent banqueting hall

walls covered in armaments

fireplaces

suits of armour

another view of the city

seen from cannon placements

impressive fortifications

castle visit over

walked down to Walter Scott memorial

with views back to castle hill

Another day walking down the Royal Mile

Towards palace of Holyroodhouse

Scottish abode of royal family

Hollyrood Abbey 1

Hollyrood abbey 2

Looking through the gates

Palace 1

Palace 2

Comes with royal seal of approval?

She can&#38;acute;t resist a good looking poet

Old tollbooth building

tollbooth passageway

Set off for Newtownstewart on the coldest day ever. Bus dropped us off at wrong place, so we ended up walking in the countryside for ages, until we found signs. Size of Waipawa, Monday pm and everything closed except Conways Bar. This was well worthwhile (tiny bar), they all remembered the Doak name. Had photos of Doak&acute;s Hole, which was a fishing hole that is evidently well known through Europe. It is still called this. Also a photo of &acute;Doaks farm&acute; which is now a fish farm. It was quite a way out of town but one of the guys bought it up on google maps. They also produced their visitors book, which had an entry of a cousin of ours, Peter Doak Oct 1994 (the photos I had came from him). There is a photo of his entry which states &acute;my great great grandfather born here&acute;. Also found the house where our great great grandfather lived, No 8 Upper Street. That was a thrill. There is also a ruined castle there (1619 originally 4 stories high), it was damaged during the Irish Rebellion in 1641.With reluctance we had to leave this snug warm place and make our way back to the motorway to flag down the right bus. In the meantime we were starving. Were told to go cafe, that I don&acute;t think was open. They made us a sandwich and cuppa. Newtonstewart has great history, it is fascinating. Can view on google.

Outskirts of town

War memorial

Dam it cold, bit of a crappy street

The main street

Blue house is where my grt grt grandfather lived

Conways Bar where they have all the fun

As i said, where they have all fun!

Conways, smaller than my lounge

Neat people, they will miss us

Entry in visitors book Oct 1994

19th century, photo in pub

Same

No 8 Upper Street, so rapt to find it

Castle 1614, big story about this google

This could be Doaks hole!

OMG so cold