Don and Joans Travels

Wow winter came early. Our first snowfall arrived on the last weekend in November. Don was like a little kid seeing something new - as the light snow settled in our back yard and out on the road outside our Ely house.

We took off in the car later that morning and slipped and slid all over the road - really put him in a panic as Joan was driving!! But he has now got used to frosty mornings and icy roads - and he is now back driving again. YES!!!!!!!!!

The cast came off straight after the Dublin trip - but he has a long rehabilitation road ahead. After a few scares, he now walks reasonable distances - just very slowly. He has progressed to using trains a lot and now he has turned 60 he gets a free bus pass!!! Even better!!! It is amazing how many advantages there are being "old" in UK.

The weekend of Don's actual birthday we moved back to Great Shelford with Robyn and Gareth (until we decide where we want to go in the new year for out next stage). Rob cooked him a special dinner for the four of us and then he had a day out in London with Grant & Mai (sadly he had to go alone as Joan had the flu - real nasty UK version). He received lots of cards and messages from family back in NZ so felt pretty happy with his lot and is quite proud to be "60".

As a reward for coping with the one-legged husband for 4 months, Joan booked a trip to Berlin. This was to be a girls weekend for Joan and Robyn. We had 3 days in total, an early flight from Stansted got us into Berlin by 9am (local time). Robyn had been there before so knew the train system etc. and we arrived at our neat apartment in good time. Still recovering from this nasty flu, Joan made a visit to the local "Apothek". I only had to cough and try to speak and the pharmacist grabbed stuff off the shelf for me. But the drugs were potent and got me through the weekend.

Our main reason for this trip was to experience the German Christmas markets - and there is plenty of them to choose from throughout Berlin.

They are very special and a real social gathering place for the locals. All wrapped up (cos it's bitterly cold in Berlin) the people stand around the market stalls consuming their mugs of Gluwein (mulled wine) or Apfel Punsch or Egg Nog (can't remember the german name for that). There's heaps of food stalls too - plenty of long sausages or goulash type stew or garlic mushrooms served in bread. Also lots of chocolate covered strawberries (they were yum) or apples/bananas. All sorts of fattening stuff.

The market in Potsdamerplatz had a good atmosphere as it is in a lively part of the city centre.

Then you start on the craft stalls...... well we did spend a lot of time (and money) in the famous Kathe Wohlfahrt Christmas shops (which are part of the markets). Her decorations are amazing and so different - we now have a good variety of Santa's. Lots of different crafts too - especially in the Spandau market (which is one of the biggest and on the outskirts of west Berlin). Spandau has an historical atmosphere - different from central Berlin - but only 1/2 hour out on the train.

The other market we visited was in the Gendarmenmarkt. In the city centre but held in a "platz" surrounded by beautiful domes (french one end and german the other end) plus a spendid opera house theatre building on one side. The markets come to life after 5pm so during the days we visited other tourist spots.

The Brandenberg gate is a must visit - by day or night.

This whole area around the "gate" is interesting with the Reichstag (parliament) and the Tiergarten close by.

The Holocaust memorial is also in this area - a striking remembrance to the suffering.

We also visited the Jewish Museum. An absolutely amazing and massive building (the design is so incredibly different). Sadly don't have a photo as it was dark when we came out. The museum is an appropriate recognition of the persecution of a race dating back to the 10th century. A fascinating (and exhausting) 3 hours spent there. We needed a drink after that and headed for a bar for my first german lager.

Berlin is a fascinating city with some deep history. The city has embraced it's history not trying to cover up the bad parts but to show the world that it is going forward.

The East Side Gallery is also worth a visit. This is 1.3km of the Berlin wall that is still standing and artists from all over the world were invited to express their talent here back in 1989 when the rest of the wall was pulled down.

But there are bits of the wall everywhere and you just come across them at odd times - unexpectedly. Even near our apartment there was a brick line accross the road with a plaque stating this was part of the original wall. It makes you realise just how far the wall stretched accross this city.

So yes - Berlin is a must visit city - but next time it will be in the summertime - and will take Donald. There is still plenty for us to see.

So summer ended abruptly for us - and in more ways than just an early exit from cricket. The UK weather turned on us too and we did not get the expected indian summer. In fact winter arrived early!!

I guess for us the period through to November was spent surviving - with Don restricted in his plastered leg. Our travel plans had to be rescheduled until he was able to walk properly again. His immobility also caused problems for him being involved in the fertiliser trial - more frustration! When Joan got offered a job in Peterborough at the start of October, this meant that Don was left at home all the time, not being able to drive and therefore house bound!!! Not a happy chappy and he does not want to experience all this again. So surely this must be the end of the cricket playing days??????? At least he is retiring on a positive note - as he keeps telling people he was "not out" on 20 runs and hitting the ball really well!! The stupid specialist at the hospital told him he would be ready for cricket again by next summer - stupid man!! But he was Indian and a cricket enthusiast - with a keen sense of humour.

Don did have his special treat weekend to look forward to mid November. The kids decided that to celebrate Don's big "60" birthday - we would make a family trip to Ireland to watch the All Blacks take on Ireland (Don's adopted heritage - as he does have an Irish passport!!). So on 14 November Don and Joan left for Dublin to spend the day being tourists (as the pseudo irishman had not been there before). By this time he had his 3rd leg cast and his foot was in a "normal" position which enabled him to walk much more freely. Thank goodness! Despite having a bad dose of "man" flu, he managed to see plenty of the city - nothing like the hop on hop off buses!!

The kids (just Robyn and Grant) joined us later that night, meeting up at Temple Bar (as you do) to share the first of many Guinness. Temple Bar at night is very different to daytime. Definitely more interesting and better atmosphere. You see a variety of people too although the Kiwi rugby supporters did stick out clearly.

It was great to meet up with Kiwi cousins for lunch the next day - more Guinness & more food. Our kids hadn't seen Kayne or Matt (and Jane) for ages (probably years).

The rugby was played at Croke Park - an impressive stadium. The pubs around the stadium were all bursting at the seams so we had our obligatory Guinness inside the stadium. We were sat next to some hilarious irish people in the stadium who helped make the game more memorable. One of the girls was very talented and painted pretty shamrocks on all our faces - well Don's was painted on top of his head.

The AB's won but were not that impressive. The irish put up a valiant attempt in the 1st half but ran out of ideas and steam in the 2nd half. We got to see the new Haka performed live - that's always exciting - and the Brits have become paranoid about the effects of the Haka on their players........ poor wee things!! At least the Welsh had their own approach with the stand off the following week.

The next day we hired a car and drove down to Killarney - in the rain..... but then this is Ireland and it rains a lot!! Drove through some interesting small towns and just stopped at odd things that appealed to us like the Rock of Cashel (medieval abbey). Killarney was a good character town and we stayed right in the middle in an old style irish pub with a B&B part of it. We had one day left to see as much of the area as possible. We took the coast road out from Killarney (the Ring of Kerry). Brilliant scenery but the weather restricted viewing (and photos) - so might go back another weekend in the summer and go on diffferent routes. At the end of the Ring loop you take in the lakes of Killarney - also beautiful. Heading towards Cork for our flight home we went through Blarney (to see where the castle etc was - for next time). We were definitely cold most of the weekend - as this photo shows.

It's not hard to find interesting stuff in Ireland. Or you just try the local pubs and food. The Irish sure know how to eat and drink - and enjoy themselves!

Overall it was a very special weekend for the four of us to be together - the first time since we did our BIG UK Christmas trip back in 1998 (I think). It was also probably the last time the four of us will do something like that too as both kids now have their respective partners now and we want them to be involved with us too.

We had some decent weather back in May and thought this was great and a hint of things to come - but we were wrong! From June onwards it all went down hill!! Mind you Wimbledon survived reasonably well in June/July, when we had the occasional day without rain but it was usually cloudy. Now we have had the wettest August recorded for several decades!! The Brits have moaned constantly and you can understand why they head off to Spain and France for their annual vacation.

The only trip away we attempted during the busy season was to the Peak District. A last minute decision and we took Robyn's camping gear. We put the tent up in dry conditions each day but by nightfall and in the mornings it was raining every time. We were hardy and held out for 3 days - the tent did not leak either. Even so we saw some amazing scenery in the Peak District. It's hard to believe that this beautiful national park lies close between Manchester and Sheffield and each city is only about 20 minutes drive away. The first night we were in the northern area (Edale). All the camping grounds seem to be on farms, and have converted the old farm buildings into amenity blocks - pretty basic but sufficient. Plus at Ebdale there was a lovely old character pub at the bottom of the drive and the food was great (beer was good after the walk too)

The Peak District is a walkers paradise and there were both Brits and overseas groups out there stomping over the hills and through the valleys. At Edale we walked some of the Penine Bridleway but the weather started deteriorating so we turned back. The next day we drove through the Derwent Valley where the British Dambuster pilots practised their low flying manouvers during the war.

Then we drove to the southern area of the Peak District, stopping at the more interesting places. Buxton is a mini Bath - with the spas and similar architecture. We also discovered Arbor Low - the stonehenge of the north - which is just part of someone's farm. Interesting history dating back to 3000BC.
The next night we stayed at a strange place called Fenny Bentley (in another farm field) after a 6 mile trek through the very pretty Dovedale Valley and the sun shone the whole time! We were amazed at the number of people on this walk (considering it was a monday) but it was mostly flat and followed the river. There were large caves and rock formations and it was so relaxing and peaceful. The stepping stone river crossing was near the end - and that's Don at the rear and yes Joan did manage to cross without falling in.

Between Ely and the Peak District we drove through places we had not been before. Lincoln was fascinating with a wonderful cathedral, a castle and a city centre a bit like York, so you felt you had gone back in time.
We also drove through Chesterfield and just had to take a photo of the church's crooked spire. Another town that we must go back to another day.

So even though we got soaking wet at times, we saw interesting places and had fun in between the showers.

Otherwise we have spent the summer doing day trips or visiting family. As Robyn and Gareth are only 25 minutes drive away, we see them quite often either in Ely or Great Shelford.

We did have a full day in London back in June with Grant and Mai. We walked for miles and saw so many places. We started at Notting Hill market, then walked for miles through to Kensington Park to get to the Natural History Museum. Lots of people walking in the park and sitting in their deckchairs around the lakes. Lots of kids in the "Diana Memorial" playground area of course.

The Natural History museum is a brilliant place to spend a few hours. The displays and information are amazing - and it's free!!! The dinosaur area especially was fascinating and the whales were also incredible.

It's great to have kids that live in London and know where to take you - especially the character pubs and good restaurants. We ended up in Covent Garden and after being fed and watered, this old couple flopped onto the train home after an absorbing and fun day out.

Over the summer there are numerous concerts held all over UK. We went to Thetford Forest (only 1/2 hour drive) to see Crowded House. Robyn & Gareth and some friends joined us for a picnic dinner to make it more fun. The band performed all the old favourites and they are so popular over here. A brilliant setting for a concert too.

Recently Robyn and Joan had a girls night out. The Newmarket Races have a summer season of racing with concerts after the last race. We went along to see Boyzone (Don wasn't keen!). Well Rob picked out a couple of names on the last race and put on a small bet. Her horses came in first and second!! Tinny thing - and won 40+ quid. So she bought the drinks. Joan's horse came in last but she enjoyed Boyzone. Really good entertainment and Rob was sure that Joan wasn't the oldest person there. In fact at least half the crowd must have been under 30!!

Well it is now September - so offically autumn (and it feels like it). The central heating has been turned on at times!!

Joan is still job hunting - very frustrating as she has had a few interviews and just misses out. With no UK experience for the senior roles and too much for the next level down (the employers say she will be bored with the role), it has been hard work and the agencies cannot understand why she hasn't been snapped up.

However, she has really enjoyed being able to follow the Olympics closely. Though we did not get to see much of the NZ competitors, we do now know a lot about team GB..... Some great competition though and the Brits are real enthused with the 2012 event in London after their success in China.

Joan has also been a regular visitor to the gym in Ely. Although the muscles and joints hurt a bit the day after, the fitness has improved greatly and she has enjoyed getting back into the gym.

On the other hand, Don has pursued his desire to play village cricket in UK. With brand new whites purchased, he ventured out to play for an Ely team. Attempting to cut a ball on his first outing, he managed to rupture his upper arm muscle and had to retire hurt (1 not out). Thankfully an operation was not required, and he had physio and exercises to assist recovery. That kept him out of the game for 3 weeks but his enthusiasm could not be thwarted and he played again for a village social team. He was so enjoying himself, batting and on 20 runs, as he went for another quick single he came up short as his achilles gave way on him!!!!!!!!!!!! I was visiting my brother in Saffron Walden and thought the phone call was a joke - but no!!! The achilles has a full tear and Don is now in plaster for 10 weeks!!! No driving either so presents a few issues....

His cricket playing days are surely now over and he has promised that he will now only umpire or coach.

And that is definitely the end of the English summer!!

As soon as we had recovered sufficiently from the "flu" bugs we started exploring the area for places we would like to settle. We had "inherited" Grant's car - a neat red Peugeot 307 - which he no longer needed since shifting to London. So in the first 3 weeks we drove all sorts of routes throughout Cambridgeshire and in fact the whole of East Anglia. The quaint villages were endless - and each one had something different to offer (but there was always a welcoming pub of course).

We visited Weston Super Mare early on too, as my brother Roger had his deferred 60th birthday party for the family. It was a good opportunity to catch up with them and other family. We drove accross country to avoid the road chaos of a bank holiday weekend on the motorways, but found some more lovely parts of the UK countryside via Gloucester, Cheltenham, Aylesbury and back to Cambridge.

The next bank holiday weekend we took a long day trip around the Norfolk Broads. Don wanted to check out just how flat East Anglia really was - and it is very flat. We first went north to the coast, near "The Wash" and stopped at the seaside spot of Cromer. It was another sunny bank holiday weekend and the Brits were out to celebrate the start of summer!! There were even crazy people swimming in the North Sea!! Some interesting places along the coast though.

The real treat was to check out the sailing on the Broads. And we came accross a boating club having an afternoon race. Not quite NZ style but fascinating to watch. The starter used a huge rifle (made one hell of a bang), all the boats were Gaff rigged and small old style sailing vessels. Most of them were husband/wife crew and it looked a very pleasant way to spend a sunday afternoon.

We went on to find so many other sailing spots and river cruises, plus pretty and easy walks (because it was all flat!). There is some interesting history of the Fens and how it was formed. So all in all a very enjoyable day and we intend going back there to explore more both on land and on water.

Living just outside Cambridge means that you don't have to go far to see interesting and historical places. While Don's sister Margaret stayed with us for the last 8 days of her Europe trip we were able to do all the tourist stuff around the area. Margaret was fascinated with British history and so we gave her many cathedrals to visit and heaps of villages to see - and she still wanted more! It was also special that we could show her around Saffron Walden (Joan's home town). We even showed her where we had met - all those years ago (in a pub of course - The Kings Arms)

In fact we made it a special family day, when Grant and Mai joined us from London and with Robyn & Gareth, plus my brother Brian, we all met up for a family lunch at the Cross Keys pub (where Don's parents stayed when in UK for our wedding). The owners even let Margaret visit the so called haunted room where their Mum & Dad slept!!

Just before Margaret was due to fly back to NZ we received the sad news that their Mum had passed away in NZ. It's a strange feeling when these things happen, but it was special that we could each be there for each other to cope with the emotions at that time. Don felt it the hardest as he was torn with the decision of heading back to NZ for the funeral or just savouring the special day we spent with Mum the day before we flew out only a month before. After much anquish, he decided not to go back.

So it was now time to throw ourselves into the task of settling down in the UK.

Don was already heavily involved with the UK fertiliser company, either helping them with their existing operations or putting together the joint venture agreement for the new project. This meant that he was all over the country, as they had sites in Runcorn (near Liverpool) and the Wicken one (near Cambridge) plus their head office (and factory) in Guerney Slade (near Bristol). Driving around UK is great as long as you have a Satelite Navigation system, so that was the first thing Don purchased. "Maud" is brilliant though. Even so, driving here is much easier than NZ. The road signs are clearer to follow, the other drivers are more courteous and generally the roading system is built to work for the volume of traffic.

Joan started the hunt for work, but that has not proved easy. She did find a job with an agricultural group (out in the sticks from Ely!), helping to piece together their end of year audit files and statutory accounts. That lasted for 6 weeks. The place was a disaster zone and the accounting systems were abysmal. The company could not keep office staff, one guy only lasted 1 week. So we parted company at the end of July. I was relieved to see the back of it but at the same time did learn quite a lot about the UK accounting system!!

Late in June we moved to Ely (north of Cambridge). Ely is famous for it's grand cathedral and also where Oliver Cromwell lived for a large part of his life. Ely is a city (only because of it's cathedral) but it is really just a small market town and a tourist centre. The rivers Ouse and Cam run through the centre and that is a lovely part of the town. It also has a small marina. A 10 minute walk from home and we can sit outside the "Cutter Inn" with a warm beer and watch the narrow boats and other vessels go uo and down the river. As you would guess, we do that quite often!!

We have rented a 3 storied townhouse in Ely. It's fairly new and a pleasant area of town, with good neighbours.

The golf course is accross the road too, but sadly our golf clubs are back in NZ. There is a public walkway through the golf course which we use often as a short cut to get down to the river area.
Ely does have all the necessary facilities we need - except for a movie theatre - so it's not a bad place to be.

It was a crazy week before flying out of NZ. Lots of people to see and we managed to see most of the Bay of Plenty people, but sadly did not have enough spare time to travel out of the Tauranga/Auckland area. So many things to tidy up before leaving.

As Don said his sad farewell to "Cool Change" and with the help of John & Lyn, we bundled all our bags and meagre belongings into the car to set off for Auckland. After last minute checks on the storage unit, our car was delivered to it's proud new owner! Fran, you've been a special friend in the few months we've known each other and I'm so pleased you are still enjoying the car. Just letting any other Aucklanders know to watch out for a speedy white Mazda Sports on the motorways!! Not very often you can find a buyer for your car who takes possession of the car, cooks you a yummy lunch and then delivers you to the airport on time to catch the plane. Thanks for everything Fran.

Oh how we hate airports and those long haul flights. And entering USA again for Don was a bit scary after being detained for "unknown reasons" last time. This time he got some suspicious looks from passport control and they took a while to confirm his passport details, but eventually they let him in and he could stop sweating....

We definitely recommend San Francisco as a great stopover place. And we only saw the city spots. There is so much more to see in the surrounding area - next time!! In any city you tend to head off on foot to find your bearings - but Don had trouble with the hills. Joan had time to take the photo while waiting for him to catch up. Also notice that the cars are parked sideways - otherwise they could end up at the bottom of the hill!

SF was a fun city. As 70% of it's income is from tourism you can guarantee that there is heaps for visitors to do. The city itself is diverse, with the older cultural side and then a modern financial district with some amazing architecture. We did the major sites - Times Square, Maceys, Cable Cars, The Waterfront and Pier 39, Chinatown and of course the marina area. We saw the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz from a distance but did not have time to travel to/over either of them. Had to have a photo taken in Times Square - next to the "Hearts" left in San Francisco on each corner of Times Square.

We started off on the open double decker bus and got a good feel of the city layout. But then converted to the cable cars. They are a must and the drivers are hilarious. Interesting sensations going up and down those hills though!

One interesting hill was the most crooked street in the world (seen from the bus). Those residents must get sick of the tourists walking up and down all the time.

Great food in SF too and so much choice. Can recommend a great little Italian place where we had my birthday dinner. And must not forget the "Cheers" type bar with 60 different beers on tap. You just enjoy sitting in those places watching other people, especially any locals.

Take all types of clothing to SF too. The temperature changed between mid 20's down to about 12 degrees during the day - and that wind off the artic is real chilling.

So it was pack the bags and force ourselves onto another long flight. It's weird when you have a birthday that lasts 2 days while you're travelling round the world in different time zones, but we arrived in UK on my birthday also - which was nice. So we started off with a family dinner (Rob & Gareth and my brother Brian) to celebrate me being another year older.

Of course then the "plane flu" and jetlag hit us - real nasty and took a few weeks to recover from properly. But our kids were brilliant and took turns in looking after us. Not sure how we got round London in such a state but we had to go there to sort out our bank accounts etc. We ended up staying with Grant & Mai (in their cosy warm apartment in Camden) for about 4 days until we were in a condition to travel again.

The great thing was that we had bought a "one way ticket" and did not have to get back on that plane again for (hopefully) quite a while......