After the success and enjoyment of keeping a travel blog, Meg has decided to continue 'blogging' back home. Please click on the link below and keep up to date with our new lives back in England ...
Sunday 20 March 2011
Friday 25 February 2011
A First Class end to a first class trip
After nine months of travelling the world the time had finally come for us to return home. During our time we had visited nine different countries, not only experiencing new customs and cultures but also enjoying the hospitality of a great many friends and family along the way.
At the end of 2010, Mark's father, John had contacted us and urged us to try and use up his British Airways airmiles that he had acquired during years of international travel. They were apparently due to expire at the end of the year, and as he had recently retired and was busy refurbishing his new home on the south coast of England he couldn't find the time to use them. You don't need to offer 250,000 airmiles twice to a couple of backpackers, so we quickly set about following his instructions. A few days later we had booked two tickets to fly home First Class, successfully using up all but 20,000 of his airmiles. Unbeknown to us, during this time John had telephoned BA to complain about losing his airmile fortune and had been told that they would be extended for another three years with any purchase ... he promptly used a few hundred airmiles booking a flight from London to Manchester, thereby extending the life of his stash. But then we called to tell him our great news. Oops.
The First Class experience was incredible. As our flight was due to take off at 10pm, we were invited to a five-course dinner in the Executive Lounge prior to takeoff. This was to allow us to sleep during the night flight, and the endless supply of champagne at dinner certainly made sleeping easier too!
On board, we were treated like royalty. Meg had her 'bed made' and had a great night's sleep, while Mark enjoyed reading a newspaper with real 'football' and also set about getting as many First Class freebies as possible. Needless to say, one of us didn't exactly behave like royalty!
Breakfast was served before we landed and was again a different experience to any other flight we'd taken. Table-cloths, silver cutlery, china crockery and even HP sauce!
From Heathrow we headed to our new lodgings in picturesque Stow-on-the-Wold. And we were delighted to see it rain non-stop for our first three days back in England. But unlike any rain we'd experienced over the last nine months, it drizzled. Nowhere does drizzle like home!
A few days later we headed down to visit Mark's father and deliver a bottle of champagne (as well as a set of British Airways First Class pyjamas) to say thanks for such a great end to our travels. We hope he'll learn to forgive us one day.
Tuesday 1 February 2011
Oh Carolina!
After our escapades in New York, we headed back to Washington DC to spend the weekend with Peter & Louise. On Saturday afternoon, Meg's uncle Mike came round, along with Louise's sister, Florence and her husband Pete. We put together a DVD of photos, videos and music from our travels which everyone seemed to enjoy, although we couldn't help feeling like we were subjecting them to the modern equivalent of the dreaded holiday slideshow.
In addition to enjoying Peter's home cooking, we also had a classic American breakfast at the local Pancake House. 'Omelet' containing processed cheese and cubes of bacon, served with hash browns, corned beef hash, pancakes, and finally doused in maple syrup was very different to a Full English breakfast, but probably similarly as healthy. However, it certainly all tasted very good!
As the snow began to fall, Mark spent a day visiting the sights of DC and some of the museums. During the day, another 'Severe Weather Warning' was issued and Mark managed to make it back to the house before 8 inches of snow fell in just 3 hours.
It was wet and sticky snow that brought down a large number of tree branches in the neighbourhood and finally resulted in a complete powercut. Once the snow had stopped falling, we ventured outside to clear tree branches from the driveway and pavement, help a stranded vehicle and build snowmen. Meg's two-headed monster was an inspiration!
The next day we headed South to Charlottesville, Virginia once all the roads had been plowed. The snow had not been as severe in Virginia and fortunately Charlottesville had power.
Our next destination after Virginia was Durham, North Carolina to stay with Meg's friend Jess and her husband Matt. On Friday night we went to a local bar / brewery for a fun evening. And on Saturday, after looking around the impressive Duke University campus, we went to watch a basketball game between North Carolina Central University and Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, both of which were historically African-American universities. It was an exciting game played in front of a full stadium, with the band playing energetic tunes and the cheerleaders clapping their hands and stomping their feet throughout the game.
Saturday evening was Dr. Jess' one free evening from working the nightshift at the local hospital and we went out for a nice dinner after the game. On Sunday we took their retired racing greyhound, Mitchell, out for a walk, and then went for dinner with Matt at the local Mexican restaurant.
On Monday we drove back to DC where the temperature fell from +21'C to -2'C. Considering the journey took 6 hours this seemed an incredible difference in climate. Although we would have preferred a warmer return, we were pleased to find our gang of snowmen welcoming us home!
In addition to enjoying Peter's home cooking, we also had a classic American breakfast at the local Pancake House. 'Omelet' containing processed cheese and cubes of bacon, served with hash browns, corned beef hash, pancakes, and finally doused in maple syrup was very different to a Full English breakfast, but probably similarly as healthy. However, it certainly all tasted very good!
As the snow began to fall, Mark spent a day visiting the sights of DC and some of the museums. During the day, another 'Severe Weather Warning' was issued and Mark managed to make it back to the house before 8 inches of snow fell in just 3 hours.
It was wet and sticky snow that brought down a large number of tree branches in the neighbourhood and finally resulted in a complete powercut. Once the snow had stopped falling, we ventured outside to clear tree branches from the driveway and pavement, help a stranded vehicle and build snowmen. Meg's two-headed monster was an inspiration!
The next day we headed South to Charlottesville, Virginia once all the roads had been plowed. The snow had not been as severe in Virginia and fortunately Charlottesville had power.
Our next destination after Virginia was Durham, North Carolina to stay with Meg's friend Jess and her husband Matt. On Friday night we went to a local bar / brewery for a fun evening. And on Saturday, after looking around the impressive Duke University campus, we went to watch a basketball game between North Carolina Central University and Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, both of which were historically African-American universities. It was an exciting game played in front of a full stadium, with the band playing energetic tunes and the cheerleaders clapping their hands and stomping their feet throughout the game.
Saturday evening was Dr. Jess' one free evening from working the nightshift at the local hospital and we went out for a nice dinner after the game. On Sunday we took their retired racing greyhound, Mitchell, out for a walk, and then went for dinner with Matt at the local Mexican restaurant.
On Monday we drove back to DC where the temperature fell from +21'C to -2'C. Considering the journey took 6 hours this seemed an incredible difference in climate. Although we would have preferred a warmer return, we were pleased to find our gang of snowmen welcoming us home!
Monday 24 January 2011
From sandy beaches to snowy driveways
After six months in Australia and New Zealand we flew East on our way to Washington DC. We flew via Los Angeles where we changed planes for a domestic flight across the USA and eventually arrived into DC after 20 hours of travelling. In addition to jet-lag, we were shocked by the temperature difference between Sydney in mid-Summer and DC in mid-winter - from +35'C to -5'C in less than a day. We met Hilary and Pete at the airport who transported our tired and confused bodies back to their home.
Our first few days in DC were spent recovering from jet-lag and acclimatising to the cold. Walking in the forests and shovelling snow from the driveway seemed to do the trick, and we were soon back to our normal selves.
Feeling ready for a new adventure we headed up to New York City for a few days where we stayed with Meg's uncle Malc and aunt Sally who live 40 minutes out of the city in Greenwich, Connecticut. It rained heavily throughout our first day there, so we took the subway from Grand Central Station to the upper-west side and explored the Museum of Natural History before a quick dash across snowy Central Park to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
We spent a couple of very enjoyable evenings in Greenwich with Malc and Sally.
We were more fortunate with the weather on our second day and so explored lower Manhattan on foot. From the Flat Iron building we headed into Greenwich Village and stumbled across a great deli / bakery for bagels, bread and cake.
We then continued further South passing by a number of landmarks, including Ground Zero and Wall Street.
After a whirlwind couple of days we headed back to Washington on the train, laden-down with bagels and other treats acquired on our New York adventure.
Sunday 9 January 2011
The Ashes - 5th Test: The SCG
Following an uncomfortable 12 hour overnight coach journey from Melbourne we arrived into Sydney for the final Ashes test. Our first day at the Sydney Cricket Ground was Day 2, where England continued to bowl well and had Australia 8/189 before a minor tail-end revival gave them a more respectable total of 280 runs.
Our initial fears of a repeat of Perth were quickly forgotten as England's batsmen overtook the Australian total for a loss of just 5 wickets.
We were back again on Day 3 of the test for 'Pink Day', where money was raised for the breast cancer charity in honour of former Australian cricketer Glenn McGrath's late first wife. It was amazing to see the whole ground awash with pink including the stumps and most of the advertising hoardings. England batted all day with Bell and Prior both posting centuries.
England continued to bat until lunch on Day 4, reaching a score of 644 runs - the highest total any England side has ever scored in Australia. We had been fortunate to witness an incredible number of records being broken throughout this test. In the final two sessions of the day, England took an incredible 7 wickets giving Australia no hope of saving the match.
With England requiring only 3 wickets for victory, entry into the ground on the final day was free. Despite this, finding a needle in a haystack would have been easier than spotting an Aussie inside the ground!
Following a couple of rain delays England took care of the final 3 wickets and the party commenced.
We had a great morning singing along with the Barmy Army. Mark also realised that Day 5 in Sydney was the 13th day he had attended out of the 23 played in this amazing series. Meg set about calculating how many 'Brownie Points' this had earned her!
The only sad moment of the victory was bidding farewell to Paul Collingwood who announced his retirement from test cricket. Despite having a below-par series, Collingwood was still a fan-favourite for his reliable catching, solid batting, endless commitment and fighting spirit.
The next day we left Australia and made our way to Washington DC to visit Meg's parents. Going from temperatures of 30'C to -5'C in the space of one day was a shock to our systems. But the biggest change is that Mark can now walk the streets without being pointed at and called "Colly". He is no longer a celebrity!
Friday 31 December 2010
The Ashes - 4th Test: The MCG
Day 1 - We attended the first day of the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground with Anna, Jamie and Richard. We had unintentionally purchased seats in the infamous 'Bay 13' section of the ground. And with a crowd of over 84,000 we were expecting a raucous atmosphere.
Aside from the cricket, one of the most entertaining spectacles inside Australian grounds involves inflatable beach balls. The grounds strictly prohibit beach balls and to the amusement of the crowd, very-serious-stewards chase the balls as they are slapped around the ground. We decided that the Boxing Day Test was the perfect day to finally release our Malaysian inflatable strawberry - you can see it in the photo below causing great concern to two onlooking stewards!
England had a great day in the field and bowled Australia all-out for 98 runs. This was a record lowest score for any Australian side against England at the MCG and did much to silence the Australian fans.
Day 2 - Mark attended with Richard and they sat in the top tier to enjoy some spectacular views of the game.
The unpredictable Melbourne summer weather was in full evidence as they sat shivering through the morning session, and needed sun cream for the last few hours of play. England had another great day, closing play at 444-5.
Day 3 - Mark and Richard plunged themselves into the crazy world of the Barmy Army as England continued to dominate the game.
Day 4 - Meg was back on the fourth day of the test as England took the final three Australian wickets to retain the Ashes. We sat with the Barmy Army and enjoyed a great party inside the stadium.
Most of the Australian fans had stayed away. And with the England supporters all grouped together, an amazing echoing atmosphere was created as we sang songs about England, the Barmy Army, Ricky Ponting and the unfortunate Mitchell Johnson.
After the game had ended, we stayed inside the stadium for over an hour singing. The players then did a lap of honour, followed by their unusual 'Sprinkler Dance' in front of us.
Due to our proximity to the Barmy Army, we feature in a few press photographs of the crowd.
After the game we headed into the city to the Barmy Army's 'headquarters' for a celebratory drink and a few songs.
Throughout the last few weeks, Mark's likeness to England cricketer Paul Collingwood has been stated by an astounding number of cricket fans. Meg has been congratulated for marrying 'Colly' and we were allowed to bypass the queue for a bar after a group of English fans outside began chanting "Colly" and patting Mark on the back! With all this constant adulation it was no surprise to find somebody trying to impersonate Mark. A doppel-doppelganger!
Two Collys together was always going to spell trouble for somebody. And sure enough, a few minutes afting finding each other, they teamed up with Richard to highjack a national news report on the Barmy Army. Below is a photo of the story - if you want to see the full report click on the link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtube_gdata&hl=en&v=j0vD5VB_QWI&gl=US
Day 2 - Mark attended with Richard and they sat in the top tier to enjoy some spectacular views of the game.
The unpredictable Melbourne summer weather was in full evidence as they sat shivering through the morning session, and needed sun cream for the last few hours of play. England had another great day, closing play at 444-5.
Day 3 - Mark and Richard plunged themselves into the crazy world of the Barmy Army as England continued to dominate the game.
Day 4 - Meg was back on the fourth day of the test as England took the final three Australian wickets to retain the Ashes. We sat with the Barmy Army and enjoyed a great party inside the stadium.
Most of the Australian fans had stayed away. And with the England supporters all grouped together, an amazing echoing atmosphere was created as we sang songs about England, the Barmy Army, Ricky Ponting and the unfortunate Mitchell Johnson.
After the game had ended, we stayed inside the stadium for over an hour singing. The players then did a lap of honour, followed by their unusual 'Sprinkler Dance' in front of us.
Due to our proximity to the Barmy Army, we feature in a few press photographs of the crowd.
After the game we headed into the city to the Barmy Army's 'headquarters' for a celebratory drink and a few songs.
Throughout the last few weeks, Mark's likeness to England cricketer Paul Collingwood has been stated by an astounding number of cricket fans. Meg has been congratulated for marrying 'Colly' and we were allowed to bypass the queue for a bar after a group of English fans outside began chanting "Colly" and patting Mark on the back! With all this constant adulation it was no surprise to find somebody trying to impersonate Mark. A doppel-doppelganger!
Two Collys together was always going to spell trouble for somebody. And sure enough, a few minutes afting finding each other, they teamed up with Richard to highjack a national news report on the Barmy Army. Below is a photo of the story - if you want to see the full report click on the link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtube_gdata&hl=en&v=j0vD5VB_QWI&gl=US
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