Southern Ireland

After some initial confusion and a bit of a trip in the wrong direction we eventually were on the right road toward Killkenny!

Now, after plenty of driving its not hard to see why Ireland slaps some green in everything that represents them; their flag, sports gear, lepricorns waistcoat, tea towels, key rings, etc etc etc! Even their beer for St Paddy's day! Equally, its not hard to see why everything here is so green; it's always cool and raining; no droughts here!

Killkenny was a pretty spot on the river Nore with a fairly impressive castle and estate.

The castles here are built of a grey limestone unlike the castles of France and England we've seen which are more made of sandstone.

Main streets here cornered by the quintessential Irish pubs with their often humorous and larger than life Guinness advertisements. Don't be fooled however, the pubs aren't confined to corner sites; middle of the block is just fine too!

Waterford crystal was an interesting stop; certainly more informative than Swarovski in Austria (they use sand, red lead and pot ash to make it where as Swarovski replace the lead with silver I believe) and we watched them blow vases etc from hot globs of semi molten glass with varying results (some of their efforts tossed casually into the recycling bin much to the tour groups amusement and for some horror!!!). The fired glass was then cut (both by hand and machine - quite an amazing sight to see both as the machine is so precise and the men doing it so patient and accurate) the if needed etched by hand before being polished in a concoction of highly corrosive liquids!! The high prices they charge perhaps somewhat substantiated by the craftsmanship and attention to detail. Showroom here as usual had some elaborate works including a Cinderella carriage (a steal at €30000) and some lovely chandeliers ranging on price from €1700 to €7000. Also managed whilst on the tour to not only find but to swipe a London 2012 Olympics gold medalist vase however the guide ensured me it would be missed! Interestingly Waterford's factory makes the large pieces; all the trophies, big bowls and vases and the likes. Their factories elsewhere in Europe make the rest (glasses etc).

As luck would have it we then past Lismore Castle on a scenic backroad drive. This is the castle (at least the decorative turrets) that Waterford crystal took their original design for the cutting from. As usual it was a very grand show of power and not surprisingly snuggled in high and tight against the river as they so often are (reminiscent of England and the Dordogne in France; just greener here!).

The kissing of the Blarney stone at Blarney castle another real highlight!

When climbing it I couldn't help but to think of the Holy Grail and call from the top to the swarm of tourists below in the rain "ahoy down there! What is your business here!" Many amused faces was all I got, no replies! Blarney stone otherwise was not what was expected at all: the stone was more a collection of rock bits in the wall all stuck together and to kiss it/them you had to lay flat on your back over a big hole in the floor with 2 metal bars stopping you from falling through and only 2 metal hand rails to hold onto. As there were 100 people waiting in a line behind you at the top of the castle it was a matter of quickly dropping to the ground, planting a kiss on the darkened spot and jumping back up and getting out of the way for the next grubby lipped tourist to do likewise! Nice! Anyway, it's done now and fingers crossed we will all be more eloquent next time you see us!

Killarney on the southern coast was the base for our unmissable self guided tour of the Ring of Kerry; 180km through some amazing countryside and seaside, some perfectly Irish villages and the stunning Killarney National Park. Grizzly, gloomy, overcast and cool weather greeted us the morning of our drive but the B&B host in all her wisdom advised us we had been blessed with nice weather. Happy to know it could be worse we head off only to drive 30km the wrong way! With the exception of the narrowest and bumpiest of roads and the many cars, motorhomes, vans, busses and bicycles it was a pleasant drive; Killarney NP the highlight with Ross Castle, Muckross House and gardens and a number of pretty rock bridges built within it's grounds over the loughs.

The other highlight was a distant view of the 2 Skellig Islands just off the coast where the Monks built a monastery back in 500AD. As in Meteora it's hard to imagine how they built the monasteries in such hard to get to places! That's dedication for you!!! Couldn't get out to see them close up as ocean needs to be glassy flat (bugger!) but did spend some time at the info place learning all about them.

Rock hut near Skellig islands

Paddock with all the rock

Killarney had scrubbed up for our arrival! It was in immaculate condition; grass cut, edges trimmed, windows gleaming! The week surrounding our visit here had coincided with the hugely popular Irish Golf Open! Didn't see any big named stars but did have perhaps a caddy or lowly ranked player at our B&B!

Into the land of luck!

After the slowest ferry yet (Holy Head, Wales to Dublin, Ireland with Irish Ferries) we were finally getting close to the Holy Grail; Guinness! It took about 3 hours on the ferry to travel the distance we could see from Mt Snowden in Wales!? The on board cinema and extensive range of shops should have suggested it would take a while! Found many 'souvenirs' on the boat bearing Irish names of friends at home; O'Grady, O'Shea, O'Brien, Gallagher and Fitzgerald come to mind quickly! Hadn't really considered you all Irish!
Back tracking now to an hour before the ferry...

A quick trip to see Caernarfon Castle in Gwynedd, close to Holy Head northern Wales, was where Manda's ever reliable point and shoot camera went belly up! It now takes a headache inducing purple wriggly photo! Clearly the trip took its toll on it; namely the 8000 photos, wet musty walks, beaches/sand/salt mist, occasional drops and more recently the loss of it's case on the Cinque Terre ferry. It served us well.

Pretty castle with lovely lady

Boats at low tide!

While here at the castle Manda also decided my red eyes needed attention so bought some Golden Eye Ointment (does actually exist here - contains 1% chloramphenicol surprise surprise!) but other than gum my eyelashes up it's done nothing. In my desperation to have her stop inflicting gummy lashes morning and night I've been more diligent with the lubricant drops and hey presto I've got clear comfortable eyes again!
Didnt see Kate or William despite being on watch throughout Anglesea much to our (or at least Manda's) disappointment.

Back to Ireland where our adventure adopted Mum and Dad for 8 nights (after their time in Iceland).

Dublin centre was surprisingly quiet and a little less vibrant than I'd expected initially but after digging a bit deeper and exploring the temple bar and trinity college areas  it brightened and livened up (wet weather mightn't have helped either?). They also had some really nice parks with some amazing trees which clearly grow much faster/bigger than at home with the more optimal climate here!

View over Guinness Factory

A visit to the Guinness Store House was self guided but quite informative, tasty and unexpectedly long.

May have been faster but for the fact that drinking it was offered more than once; initially in the form of a 'taste' then they went all out and let you pour your own pint (Manda and Dad did this and have certificates to prove it! Funny as it was, the lady teaching them how to pour the perfect pint felt Manda's came up a bit short! It's in the genes!). The last chance for a complimentary pint was at the rooftop bar. The Guinness here certainly deserves the title of best Guinness world wide to date for me! Not to mention that it gets better by the pint; 2 pints + family dregs consumed in quick time to ensure we made it to the Jameson whiskey Factory Tour and it was going down real well! Thankfully Arthur Guinness had the foresight to sign the land lease for 9000 years, so for the time being Guinness production is looking safe in Dublin! Oh 1 interesting fact; here in Ireland what Guinness they produce in a week Irishmen and women consume in 9 days!?! Impressive...

So good....

Jameson interesting also but could hardly compete with the gianormaty of Guinness.

Funny young Irish chap took tour and was happier to see us drinking than walking around the no longer used distillery (set up to loosely resemble old factory - now in Cork). The calling for volunteers as usual saw Manda prompt me to offer and this time I was doing a whiskey tasting; Jameson, Johnny Walker (scotch) and Jack Daniels (American). Did enjoy the smokey scotch whiskey and smooth Irish whiskey but the American stuff was a little hard to swallow!!! The use of peat in the roasting of the barley for scotch whiskey and its double distillation certainly impart upon it a distinctive and pleasant flavour! The Irish use a non smoke producing fuel to roast their barley then triple distill it to make it nice and smooth. Overall an interesting and mind altering experience!

The other new experience was buying a replacement camera from Argos in Dublin! Argos appears normal enough from the outside (bright attractive signage and window displays) but once inside resembles more of a catalogue (both electronic and paper) browsing space with a few small displays of their merchandise. From the catalogue, which was like a big version of the Yellowpages and too heavy to lift, you found what you wanted eventually, then wrote the code down and took it to the checkout where you paid for it. They then disappeared out the back into a space that must be larger than Gringots Bank, retrieved the item and moments later you were on your way! It was a real magical Harry Potter like experience but on a budget with no frills!

Manda an Mum had a look in the Christchurch Cathedral (abc) in the Viking part of town and learnt that there the story about the cat that chased the rat all the way down into an organ pipe only for them both to become stuck and preserved while the men sorted out the new camera with good success! Interesting fact: new camera batteries do have a small amount of charge so they can be used upon purchase or for in store demonstration.

Christchurch Cathedral Dublin

Dublin Gaol was less successful; walked for kms and with time quickly running out we turned back deciding against a visitors pass to the prison. Perhaps another time!

Irish Museum was quite interesting with great examples of 'bog men' found in peat digs! Incredible to think hair, skin, bones and internal organs can be so well preserved in peat for so many years! Also on display were interesting examples of tools, clothes, shoes, jewelry, treasures they'd either tossed into the bog or intentionally buried there which had been preserved almost perfectly. Amazingly there was a felt like broad brimmed hat (like a witches hat) which was in near new condition; not bad for something 1000's of years old!

Apparently still not 100% over driving in Europe as twice in Dublin I found myself gingerly turning right into roads toward oncoming traffic (thankfully both times while it was stopped at traffic lights... And no, not after Guinness or whiskey). Will have to sort this out soon I think before we have another unwanted experience like the one on the motorbike! Wish us luck!

Wales needs

Wales was alway going to be a bit of a push; so little time and such grand plans to squeeze in as much as possible. The lack of time, distance on slow roads and a rapidly approaching deadline to be in Ireland to meet up with my parents were what got us in the end. The outcome of this was that we had to recklessly chop the Gower Peninsula from the itinerary. A little sad as it is widely regarded as one of Wales' real treasures in terms of its natural costal beauty. Maybe another time I guess!

As always there was a sliver lining! Cutting the Gower off meant an extra day in Snowdonia National Park and a more relaxed journey. Thankfully Mt Snowdon didn't fail to impress! The 8 mile hike/scramble up to it's summit was breathtaking - large glacial lakes with bright blue water, soft spongy alpine grasses and wild flowers, abrupt treacherous cliff faces (yes, people are lost here every year) and the ever present clouds billowing over the top intermittently with bouts of blue sky and warm sunlight topped it off (the day about as good as you could hope for)!

View from Mt Snowden top

For some reason there were dozens of people climbing up (of all shapes, sizes and ages) raising money for charity which made it busier than normal i'm sure. Just as unexpectedly were the people running up and down?!? Later we found out there was some sort of marathon on!!! Crazy people! Manda chugged along in good time and proved herself by completing the walk in faster time than suggested! The train that somehow made it to the summit whilst appealing cost £18 which was a bit of a disincentive (well to us anyway... There were however loads of people taking it lazy cootes!).

The other walk was a long walk to Swallow Falls (2-3 uneven, wet and rough miles along the river) from the local information centre a bit of a bum steer for an afternoon activity but was pleasant enough once we got there and paid our £1 admission at the unpoliced turnstile. Honest Brad at his best!

Sparrow Falls

Have been staying in a little alpine like village with a difficult to pronounce name (Betws-y-coed)

which has been perfect, despite the fact our lodgings at the bunk shack contained a large spider in Manda's bed and resembled, in terms of size, construction and smell, a lavatory cubicle; the temporary hollow plastic walls held together with metal 'L' brackets the real clincher!

Thankfully the sun has put in a strong showing this past 2 days  (with some cloudy periods, unavoidable I'm sure) which have brightened and dried our slightly dampened spirits! We've even managed a few picnics at the local oval which has been perfect!

Off to Ireland now for a dram or 2 and a pint or 2 to wash the haggis down! Can't wait!

In other news, Manda has finally succumbed to the travel bug that's been following me around constantly since we left home! Hopefully she'll flick it soon enough!!!

Cotswold Gardens and Stratford-upon-Avon

Shakesphere in this part of the world is a branch of religion. Pubs, clubs, inns, restaurants, malls and even the local plumber and electrician proudly bear his name! And why wouldn't you?! Heaven knows they owe it to him!!
A tour of Stratford with the ever so British and ever so delightful Barbara was just what we needed to get us enthused and orientated to the main sights of town as the rain fell down. A favourite of ours (be it a little morbid) was William Shakespeare and his extended families 'grave' in the church; being too worried about having his bones dug up and burnt (a bone fire ----> bonfire) which was common in his time, he purchased a spot within the church to assure security at quite a cost. Did the trick as his still there, untouched! The plaque he wrote, more of a curse than poetic verse, warning against opening was quite funny!

Birthplace of Shakespear

Cheap under 25 tickets (£5 - ie a donation more than anything) to The Merchant of Venice at the Royal Shakesphere Company's (RSC) Swan theatre (reopened in 2010) was another real highlight of the trip and certainly something many people hope to do but simply can't - only 10 under 25s tickets available each day on the day (must prebook months in advance otherwise) and we got tickets 9 and 10! Lucky indeed! Normal price £50 and up; the theatre holds 1000+. The show was a sellout, as they are every night, and the quality of the performance absolutely second to none! Sir Patrick Stewart from Star Trek (this came as news to me?!?) and most recently X-Men as Professor Charles Xavier played a lead role; we felt honored to see someone as highly renowned and decorated perform for us. Brilliant! Am I converted to a Shakespeare lover? Quite possibly!

Royal Shakespear Company

The Black Swan or Dirty Duck as the locals affectionately call it, was a terrific place for a meal. Within stone throw of the RSC Swan Theatre and offering 2 tasty British main meals with mushy peas for £10 it was always going to be hard to pass up! Sadly however they didn't pour Flowers Beers which we were keen to try; Mr Flower, a very successful brewer many years ago gave a substantial grant and large allotment of land along the Avon River in Stratford to the RSC which is still owned in it's entirety by them today...

Other than develop an appreciation for Shakespeare and people who can perform it I also learnt some other interesting things here in Stratford. The Tudor style homes, of which there are many here, were originally built mainly of straw, cows blood and runny cow manure all mixed together and poured over sticks to create a hard concrete like product which was put between the black wooden frame. They certainly were thrifty back in the old days!

Also, the closer the frame together, ie the more vertical wooden beams a wall was composed of the wealthier the inhabitant!
Cotswolds were quiet, quaint and beautiful. Tall pitched thatched roofs, neat stone walls, small pained windows with chaotic yet seemingly ordered flowering gardens completed the Cotswolds unique look.

Anne Hathawaits House

Shakespears birthplace again

Cool window

Manda and I tried a sleep in the car one afternoon as we were both totally pooped out so we stopped on the roadside just outside one of the villages, lay the seats back and shut the eyes. About half an hour later we were awoken with a startling banging on the roof! A very gruff English looking chap dressed in his best pheasant or quail hunting attire (little green woolen cap on) had woken us to move us on. Clearly they don't have the rest, revive, survive campaigns here!?!


We stayed in Upper Quinton, at a little B&B named Winton House; a Georgian period home which was more than sufficient. School holidays meant the owners children were home which was fine as it also meant there was a new rabbit and 13 new hens for Manda to ogle! Given it was only 10 miles to Stratford we ended up there a time or two for meals etc. We did do a bit of a day trip through some of the other little Cotswold villages which were close by like Chipping Camdon, each cuter than the previous. The lack of Maccas and other chain shops/hotels/restaurants really contributed to the olden day feel of these brilliant little villages.

Certainly a place to come back to for more of a look in the future!

Southern England

After leaving the 'essential' Brighton off our list of places to see  sighting the fact its just another crummy European beach we couldn't be happier! At their expense we've managed to see plenty of amazing places in southern England so far!

When collecting car from Heathrow Europecar there were no diesel ones which we desperately wanted (so much more fuel efficient) so Manda being Manda buttered up the man in charge of cars coming in and out and he told us to wait 5 minutes as there was a diesel VW Golf coming from the wash room we could take. Perfect! Amazing where a few kind words can get you!

Sailsbury, probably better known to most as the gateway to Stone Henge, was a sight to see in itself! Everything we imagined a small English town to be! Tudor style homes, cottage gardens, boutique stores, elaborate, warm and welcoming pubs/inns, bakeries selling pies, sausage rolls and pastys, amazing churches... It had it all.

After arriving on market day (people and cars everywhere!) while it was raining and without accommodation booked we felt a little overwhelmed but were soon content enough. Info centre booked us into a new B&B which was perfect (more expensive than France but ok at £60/night), had the most tasty sausage roll and cornish pastry from the bakery while the rain eased and then perused the markets. Market weren't to disappoint; Manda found her illusive makeup at a fraction of the Boots cost, we found 'faggots' (3 for £5; they look like offal and fat rissoles - yum!), 'postmans legs' dog bones (mookie would love these - looked like cattle leg bones), cheap boxes of cards for all occasions, and British fudge and lollies... Overall a huge success!
Ventured out in the afternoon when rain stopped to discover clear blue skies (for the first and possibly last time) and managed to see cathedral in all it's glory bathed in sunlight! One of those special moments!

Stone Henge was terrific! Raining not surprisingly but as they say when one door is closed another is opened and this was the case here! As it was raining the office wouldn't give audio guides out, essential really to understanding the site, however serendipitously we bumped into 'Simon with a pony tail' - Stone Henge extraordinaire, astronomer since age 4 and life time enthusiast! This guy may well have been involved in it's construction and reincarnated as a staff member here! Everything from its origins and time line of inhabitants to present day activities here (solstice parties being one funny one) along with information on carbon dating and laser mapping of the site (lay of the land and rock faces measured 2 dots per mm) I couldn't help but to fall under his and it's spell!!! We felt so compelled by his ramblings we wrote him a card from the box we bought at the Sailsbury markets! The rain poured down initially so the Gallipoli poncho finally started earning it's keep (having been carried in the small back pack for the last 4 months). The umbrella, hardly dry from the day previous, again proving it's worth! People looked at me like i was crazy in a poncho however I got the last laugh as it was perfect against the rain driven horizontally by the relentless wind and perfect for photo bombing (I looked like an alien!). Perfect start to the day!

After traveling many miles from Stone Henge to St. Austell (near lands end) while Manda caught up on her journal (oops! I mean caught up on sleep!) the VW and I had become well acquainted. Cromwell region, despite it being 'a little out of our way', was so pretty; undulating luscious green pastures testament to the rainfall pattern I guess?!

The Eden Project was the main reason for the trip here however there appears to be much more than this to do here. Alas, we didn't have time to do much more. Stayed in a freaky eccentric dudes B&B named Sedgemore Heights in St. He turned out ok giving us a 2 for one coupon for the Eden Project so couldn't complain too loudly!

Saw Harry Potter here at their White Swan Cinema (like Armidale Cinema), got one of the last 10 tickets which were being held for last minute people after talking with the manager and explaining Manda couldn't do 3D hence we needed/wished to see the 2D version. At £7 each it was a good cheap night out! Ray at the B&B didn't appreciate us driving the 2 minute walk... Not sure what he'd been smoking from his garden but whatever it was must have impaired his eyesight; it was teeming rain and blowing a gale!

Was Ray the B and B host on this?!

Eden Project was simply amazing. 2 giant climate controlled biomes constructed in 2000 in an old china clay pit which had reached the end of it's productive life.

Eden Project before as a clay mine

The area before rehabilitation was an environmental wreck; like an open cut mine at home. Today it's been completely rehabilitated into a "park" for want of a better description with the biomes being the jewel of the crown.

Eden Project now - what a transformnation!

The biomes each house a different climate controlled garden/parkland; those being meditaranean and rainforrest (largest indoor rainforrest in the world!). Each obviously containing specimens specific to that habitat; some rare, some endangered or on the verge of, but generally all plants we use/rely on day to day. In the rainforrest particularly there were plants I'd never seen, and never associated with day to day use; cocoa, cashew, arabica coffee, tea, vanilla, peanuts, mangos, pawpaw to name a few; all growing incredibly well!

Med biome inside...

The biomes were connected centrally with by a dining hall like room with shops and an eatery all selling fair trade and organic produce. The food looked delicious; much of it produced from their gardens (no hash cookies on the menu despite there being a huge garden of it on public display for education on hemps properties in the textile and rope industries!!! Completely unprotected from visitors!). As mentioned above, they were big on fair trade. They were also big and extremely proactive with the use of renewable resources and green technology which despite my initial hesitation/skepticism towards I found amazing, practical and extremely accessible. The way they presented the facts, figures and technologies made it clear to even the lowest common denominator! I will certainly attempt to live 'smarter', 'greener' and 'fairer' since coming here! Their outside gardens were also terrific and again hard to believe in 10 years the transformation. More great information here, including my favourite, a garden of many commonly used medicinal plants (too many to list) but it did include precursors to morphine and digoxin, arnica and ecinatia and as mentioned before good old hemp! Ray at the B&B had given us a 2 for 1 entry coupon from the local paper so even more impressively it was cheaper to get in! Project Eden was certainly one of my more impressive educational experiences whilst away!

Gardens outside just as amazing!

Headed north from St Austell to Bath for the compulsory stop at the old roman baths (very expensive but beautiful nonetheless; complimentary glass of warm spring water at the conclusion of the tour horrid but isn't all medicine?!).

Regal Homes Bath

Bath Cathedral

Roman Baths, Bath

Damned audioguides Bath Baths

50p Gardens and River - very pretty

Sally Lun's world famous buns (buns are bread rolls... nothing else!) served from the oldest house/shop in Bath were also expensive but rather nice with enough clotted cream to clog even the cleanest arteries! And whist the Mayor's walking tour was informative and free, entry to the nicely manicured riverside garden was not (50p for a student)! Pleasant enough place; very grand and well manicured and rich in history so couldn't ask for much more.

London: God save the Queen! (thanks Chris!)

Leaving Santorini was so sad! It was as though the trip was over. Putting the bags on the conveyer belt and through the scanner at Santorini airport after being dropped off by the crazy and reckless hire car lady we felt a little deflated and certainly reminiscent. Manda, occasionally of the "glass half empty" thought, was surprisingly spot on though; we're off to London and another 5 weeks of travel! Hooray for that! Hooray also for American stupidity! A "lovely" American lass left her passport (yes, her passport!!!) at her Santorini hotel and the lady from the hotel picked us as upstanding Aussies at the airport and asked us if we'd meet her in Athens and return it?! I couldn't see any reason not to but for good measure and to get money conscious Mandas on side she gave us 20€ for our trouble!? Score! "Thank y'all so much" to quote the American lass in Athens who looked petrified her passport would never be seen again!

London was perfect; big red double decker busses, red post boxes, and eye catching red telephone boxes (complete with equally eye catching adverts inside!), black taxis, bobbies in tall helmet hats, slow and crowded underground trains and the Oyster Card, Boots the chemist and warm pints with a hearty counter meal (chips here hot as opposed to Turkey where they're served cold 99% of the time)! All experienced within hours of arriving! Rain and gloomy dark cloud, not wanting to be forgotten, also came to the party and has done so each and every day! No wonder they all carry umbrellas and own Wellington boots!

Spent 4 nights (3 days) at the 5 star and centrally located Hotel Jo Woods, which was terrific! It was lovely to see Jo who we haven't  really seen since the wedding last year (with the exception of a few days in Paris all those months ago). Despite Jo's busy schedule we managed to squeeze in a West End show; Priscilla Queen of the Desert - jazzed up with sequins, coloured lights, pink feather boas, a ridiculously large silver bus and equally large glittering silver stiletto heel (not sure what it is about large things and this genre of show? Do you know Chris??? Thinking of Rocky Horror Show in particular!). Whilst it was very comical it was also a little touching, not bad for a show about a trio of overtly gay fellas traveling across Aus! Many Aussie jokes missed by British crowd but well appreciated by the 3 of us! Amazing costumes including cockatoos, koalas, bottle brushes, emus and waratahs. Also did an underwhelming and overly expensive meal at Jamie Oliver's Fifteen with Michael and Mel and Jo (Manda and I were at least 30 min late as the train was so slow and then we walked the wrong direction from the station... Talk about embarrassing...).  Great to see you Jo!

We also saw Mel and Michael and spent most of our overlapping days with them seeing such sights as Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, parliament, London eye and 4D experience, Westminster Abbey, British museum, topped off with the essential round of warm pints/house wine at the pub! Being people who didn't learn from past embarrassing experiences on the metro system we often ran late for meetings with Mel and Michael leaving us sweaty and red faced!

British museum was my pick of the bunch; not only was it a magnificent building it had a marvelous collection of bits and pieces from all corners of the globe. Not surprisingly we didn't manage to see much of it, however we did see of note the rosetta stone (invaluable key to deciphering hieroglyphics: a decree written in hieroglyphics, demotic and greek), the well preserved carvings from the Parthenon (which are extremely contentious as the Greeks want them back and the Brits are refusing on reasonable(?) grounds) and some amazing egyptian relics, including my personal favourite, a body from 3000 years ago preserved in the desert sand complete with hair and skin! All this and SO much more for FREE! We will return.

West End shows another highlight. As mentioned before we were lucky enough to see Priscilla with Jo and also saw, on our own as Jo was out on a bender (go Jo!!), Jersey Boys (tickets bought in Picadilly Square on the day of the show gets a good discount). Jersey Boys whilst not bad only got a 4 out of 7 Brandy Stars. Good musical score (plenty of toe tapping and thigh slapping) but just lacked a little overall for us. No 'big' things rolled out was perhaps the missing piece?!

London tower and Beef Eater tour was exceptional (beef eaters are the guards who dress most elaborately and live on site - possibly the worlds best job?!); also saw the crown jewels here. Having arrived early (poor navigation on my behalf on the damned tube system saw us arrive later than planned however and didn't I know it!) we had loads of time to have a proper sticky which would be impossible later as it's FULL of people. Ravens (all 8) appeared in good health (and why wouldn't they be given they're the royalty who reside there now!!!) so there doesn't appear to be any concern for the monarchy at present (if they all die, ie none live here, it is rumored the monarchy will fall?!). Phew for that!

Struggling with the pound... Whilst Aussie dollar is strong prices still seem high?! None the less can't complain! It's been terrific to see familiar food on the plate including a favourite of mine the Weetabix and fresh milk! They're 'bix' whilst tasting the same have rounded corners so you can slam 'em down faster and strangely come individually wrapped in plastic?!?! The Brits seem to love over packaging everything! Marmite a reasonable enough experience especially on toast with loads of butter!

Now off to learn about conservation in Eden and see sone of southern England!

Honeymoon special: Santorini

Died and gone to heaven? Quite possibly... Without doubt the absolute highlight of the trip which I suspect will remain unsurpassed. It may come as a surprise to some as normally i find it hard to sit still but here has just been too amazing to do anything but sit still... With a view like this from your front row private caldera balcony complete with private jacuzzi, cliff falling steeply and unforgivingly away into the aegean blue abyss, where better a place to kick back and lazily flop back into a big soft deck chair and enjoy life?!

Pearl Suite view

Moonlit Suite view

Manda often remarks "Brad, are we having a dream? I feel like I need to pinch myself!" and "is this really happening to us, normal run of the mill people?". I can't help but to wonder too... From the moment we walked through the cute discrete little white gate and passed the pretty little rooftop cactus and rock garden (where we were relieved of our bags by a white dressed man washing the hip height fence to a brilliant white)

Entrance

to the moment we left it was laid on; attention to detail paramount. Welcome cocktails upon arrival, candles in the room with champagne to settle us in, twice daily room service, everything immaculately clean, glistening cool blue pool, cocktails and beers at sunset (my beer kept filling itself up from my personal stash I'd purchased in town at a 5th of the cost),

Sunset drinks

a lovely room upgrade on our last night and a breakfast menu that would put many restaurants dinner menus to shame... Just tick the boxes of what you would like, pick the time slot convenient and hey presto it'd be delivered to your marble topped balcony table piping hot! I had to laugh, I wasn't sure if I could have just one or two things but Manda confirmed I could have as much or little as I liked; evidently I took advantage! Can't elaborate on what was on the menu but will try and put a photo in! When we had our room upgrade we also got an improved breaky menu; noticeable additions included smoked salmon, local blue cheese and some funky pies.

Oops! wrong way round - breakfast menu Moonlit suite

Did manage to drag ourselves away from the suite on a few occasions; red, white and black beaches all great and certainly unique.

Manda at Red Beach

Red Beach

Day and night trips to Oia, Fira and a road trip south through a number of smaller villages also memorable. It would be safe to say where we are in Imerovigli is the pick of the views and locations. Little villages cute and had a nice greek feel to them.

Oia - postcard view

Oia extremely busy as it's generally regarded as the best place to farewell the day and take in the worlds most celebrated sunset every afternoon (it's never cloudy or a flop so we've been told).

Brandy at Oia for sunset

Funnily most people visiting Santorini don't understand sunset and the concept of dusk following the sunset; as soon as the sun drops below the horizon the 1000's of people lined up watching it disperse; little did they realise that the best was yet to come. The period of about an hour here after suns red glow disappears is when you really get the sunset views... The pinks, oranges and red giving way to purple and every shade of blue imaginable before it turns to blackness.

Oia - crowds at sunset

It also has the best eateries we felt and ended up eating there a few times. The Red Bicycle was one such restaurant - Manda bravely settled with risotto of crab, wild asparagus and saffron and I had slow cooked octopus tentacle on a bed of potato with crab meat, dill and truffle foam! Yum! Then for desert we shared a passionfruit crème brûlée with coconut icecream and a mango foam... Small but delicious! To top the night off, just before finishing our crème brûlée, the power went off at Oia, in typical Greek fashion, leaving us romantically stranded in the candle light; the perfect way we felt to finish our evening out. It took about 20 minutes to come back on perfect timing (now midnight). Apparently this happens 5 or so times a year the waitress told us! Again lucky! More luck only realised after leaving saw us receive free wine! Nice touch! Can only assume they knew we were honeymooners!?!

Oia at dusk

Evidently we only spent one sunset in Oia with the hoards and in future spent it peacefully and unhindered on our balcony, cocktail/beer in hand with little bowl of complimentary nuts (some really interesting looking stuff!) Much better!

Mandy dancing at sunset

Fira, main village in Santorini, had some lovely little shops and we managed to find some nice little souvenirs and Manda found herself a pretty little pair of silver swirl earrings; the swirls represents life in Greek mythology so it was quite fitting. We initially spent a night here which while nice lacked the view and luxurious feel.

Wine (whites we've had quite nice), aubergines, watermelon, capers and tomatoes are all popular Santorini produce. My favourite would be the tomatoes; they turn them into chutney, patê, salads obviously and most impressively sundried tomatoes and tomato balls (a delicious deep fried appetiser). Yum!

Sun drying tom tomatoes

Can't forget the humble gyros/souvalaki that have sustained us so cheaply over the last 2 weeks! Santorinis not the best in Greece but not too bad!

Staple of the Greek diet?!

Donkeys. Didn't ride them on the basis that we didn't feel they were treated terribly well but did have a laugh watching them and avoiding their excrement as we used our own legs!

Now, leaving Santorini, we have really seen just how fortunate we are to be taking this trip and doing what we have. Santorini was our little treat and we've relished each and every precious moment accordingly. It's certainly been one of the most amazing experiences we've had and is highly recommended! It's also been a nice change to camping and hostel accommodation!

Back to the real world now! Heading to the UK for our last 5 weeks and a well overdue catchup with Jo in London!

View into volcanic part of Santorini from caldera

View from Above Blue towards Oia in the distance - some say it looks like a sprinkle of icing sugar, could also be, less romantically, compared to swallow poo on its mud nest in the hay shed!