Well Ive made it to Canada. I arrived in Toronto yesterday and its a lot colder than i was expecting; about -2 degrees C at the moment. Its the same sort of feeling as walking through Mt Hotham or Falls Creek or something except im in the middle of a city.
Anyways this is just a small post to say im here, Ill post about the last week in england etc a bit later.
Im going to see and NBA game tonight and Niagra Falls tomorrow then ill be flying to Calgary and bussing to Golden on friday.
Catchya later
Thursday, 29 November 2007
Tuesday, 20 November 2007
Long time no write.
Well its been a while but compared to the earlier parts of my travels I haven't been doing very much.
After leaving Cambridge, I went back to Norwich for a couple of days and then bussed it straight to London, skipping out Mulden because of a death in the family of whom I was going to stay with. I was going to stay with Anna in London again but I got a call from her a couple of days before I left saying she was away for the week and couldn't house me. Instead I called up a second cousin of mine; George who lives close to London with his girlfriend Louise. They were kind enough to take me in with a days notice so I stayed with them for a couple of nights. Unfortunately they couldn't have me on friday night so I left in the afternoon and spent the next four hours wandering around London with my pack trying to find somewhere to stay as all the hostels seemed to be booked out for the night. Eventually, after a lot of walking around and calling everyone I knew in london, with no success I found a hostel near St Pauls and spent the night there.
In the morning I left the hostel and as I was walking towards the tube noticed there were a lot of people milling around, including police etc. It turns out the Lord Mayors Parade was on so I stopped to watch. The parade included lots of horses and carriages, defence force companies and men holding spears and wearing tight pants. It was overall really cool, being very different from the parades Ive seen before (the christmas pageant for example).
After staying with Ryan for the night and seeing everyone at Wormholt, I caught a train to Purley (a suburb near london) where another of mums cousins lived; Margret and Richard. That night they had a late '5th of November' party (The 5th of November or Bonfire Night is a highly celebrated night in the UK) with all their children and grandchildren. Many fireworks were set off and quite a bit of wine consumed, it was good fun.
I spent the next few days with them and took a walk around the commons behind their house. Mostly just fields but there were a few wooded areas, I had a couple of hour walk and grabbed a cache while i was in the area.
After leaving Margret and Richard's I spent one more night in London and went to see the one and only Avenue Q Musical in the West End with Lara (a friend from Contiki). Avenue Q was absolutely AWESOME! If you get a chance to see it I cannot recommend it enough.
Anyway the next day I took a bus back down to Devon where Im staying with my aunt and uncle again. On saturday, yet another of mums cousins; Wendy and Alan took me to Dartmoor for a couple of walks around the torrs. I cant get enough of the moors, they are fantastic and its a great feeling to climb to the top of the rocky torrs and have a look around. Everytime I walk around a moor I always think: "This would be a fantastic place for wide games". Theres so many little dips etc to hide in, it would be great fun!
Well that's pretty much all that's been happening in the past couple of weeks, Im definitely slowing down a bit. This next statement may cause some of you to want to kill me but I am getting a bit sick of travelling. After almost 4 months Im looking forward to getting to Canada where Ill have a place I can basically call home and where I wont have to live out of my pack. Ah well, a week today and Ill be on the plane to Toronto, then its a couple of days there while i get my Social Insurance Number (ie Tax File equivalent) processed, a quick trip to see Niagra Falls, then a brief flight to Calgary and a bus to Golden. Almost there: bring on the snow!
Till next time, enjoy the summer.
After leaving Cambridge, I went back to Norwich for a couple of days and then bussed it straight to London, skipping out Mulden because of a death in the family of whom I was going to stay with. I was going to stay with Anna in London again but I got a call from her a couple of days before I left saying she was away for the week and couldn't house me. Instead I called up a second cousin of mine; George who lives close to London with his girlfriend Louise. They were kind enough to take me in with a days notice so I stayed with them for a couple of nights. Unfortunately they couldn't have me on friday night so I left in the afternoon and spent the next four hours wandering around London with my pack trying to find somewhere to stay as all the hostels seemed to be booked out for the night. Eventually, after a lot of walking around and calling everyone I knew in london, with no success I found a hostel near St Pauls and spent the night there.
In the morning I left the hostel and as I was walking towards the tube noticed there were a lot of people milling around, including police etc. It turns out the Lord Mayors Parade was on so I stopped to watch. The parade included lots of horses and carriages, defence force companies and men holding spears and wearing tight pants. It was overall really cool, being very different from the parades Ive seen before (the christmas pageant for example).
After staying with Ryan for the night and seeing everyone at Wormholt, I caught a train to Purley (a suburb near london) where another of mums cousins lived; Margret and Richard. That night they had a late '5th of November' party (The 5th of November or Bonfire Night is a highly celebrated night in the UK) with all their children and grandchildren. Many fireworks were set off and quite a bit of wine consumed, it was good fun.
I spent the next few days with them and took a walk around the commons behind their house. Mostly just fields but there were a few wooded areas, I had a couple of hour walk and grabbed a cache while i was in the area.
After leaving Margret and Richard's I spent one more night in London and went to see the one and only Avenue Q Musical in the West End with Lara (a friend from Contiki). Avenue Q was absolutely AWESOME! If you get a chance to see it I cannot recommend it enough.
Anyway the next day I took a bus back down to Devon where Im staying with my aunt and uncle again. On saturday, yet another of mums cousins; Wendy and Alan took me to Dartmoor for a couple of walks around the torrs. I cant get enough of the moors, they are fantastic and its a great feeling to climb to the top of the rocky torrs and have a look around. Everytime I walk around a moor I always think: "This would be a fantastic place for wide games". Theres so many little dips etc to hide in, it would be great fun!
Well that's pretty much all that's been happening in the past couple of weeks, Im definitely slowing down a bit. This next statement may cause some of you to want to kill me but I am getting a bit sick of travelling. After almost 4 months Im looking forward to getting to Canada where Ill have a place I can basically call home and where I wont have to live out of my pack. Ah well, a week today and Ill be on the plane to Toronto, then its a couple of days there while i get my Social Insurance Number (ie Tax File equivalent) processed, a quick trip to see Niagra Falls, then a brief flight to Calgary and a bus to Golden. Almost there: bring on the snow!
Till next time, enjoy the summer.
Tuesday, 6 November 2007
Horses, Robin Hood and incredibly smart people.
After Hull I took the train to Retford where I visited Joy (one of my mums old school friends) and her husband John. I spent a couple of days there and during that time Anna, who I had stayed with in London came up to visit her Joy (her mum) so I got to see her again. Joy and John keep a couple of horses and while I was there they took me out on their horse trap which was pulled by one of their mares; Chelsea. We went as far as the next village where they dropped of Anna and I from where we had a nice walk back along the canal with their 4 dogs.
Joy also took me for a quick visit to the fabled Sherwood Forrest, the home of Robin Hood, where I saw the Major Oak; where he was meant to have lived while harassing the Sheriff of Nottingham etc.
After a couple of days with them I took a bus down to Nottingham to have a look around there before going to Norwich. The original castle of Nottingham had been destroyed and so the castle that currently stands looks more like a manor house than anything. It contained a museum and its current exhibition was one centered on the currently running BBC series of Robin Hood. It was basically a rundown of the characters and the making of the series but it was still pretty cool. Along with the exhibition they had a room devoted to the Sherwood Foresters Regiment which showed their uniforms and weapons from the redcoat and musket times to the present.
There was also a statue of Robin Hood right next to the castle.
I also went for a walk along the river/canal to check out the headquarters of Games Workshop and see the 8 foot statue of a Space Marine out the front.
After a couple of days in Nottingham I jumped on a bus to Norwich where I spent a night with John and Juliet, another of mums cousins. After showing me around Norwich they took me to Cambridge where their eldest daughter, Helen had invited me to stay over the weekend as it would be more fun with her than her parents (her words, not mine). Cambridge is SO COOL, its made up of a number of Colleges where the students live and do a lot of their work. Most of the colleges are made up of really impressive and very old buildings as you might expect and Kings College where Helen lives is no exception. Many of the buildings the students live in remind me somewhat of old style mansions or even castles; Helens room has a battlement above it.
Im leaving Cambridge this evening but Ive had a great time hanging out with uni people again, its been awesome. Im loving the Autumn over here as well, the colours are fantastic! And so many crunchy leaves to step on :P.
Im heading back up to Norwich and then tomorrow Ill probably go down to Mulden for a couple of days then to London again.
Have a good one.
Joy also took me for a quick visit to the fabled Sherwood Forrest, the home of Robin Hood, where I saw the Major Oak; where he was meant to have lived while harassing the Sheriff of Nottingham etc.
After a couple of days with them I took a bus down to Nottingham to have a look around there before going to Norwich. The original castle of Nottingham had been destroyed and so the castle that currently stands looks more like a manor house than anything. It contained a museum and its current exhibition was one centered on the currently running BBC series of Robin Hood. It was basically a rundown of the characters and the making of the series but it was still pretty cool. Along with the exhibition they had a room devoted to the Sherwood Foresters Regiment which showed their uniforms and weapons from the redcoat and musket times to the present.
There was also a statue of Robin Hood right next to the castle.
I also went for a walk along the river/canal to check out the headquarters of Games Workshop and see the 8 foot statue of a Space Marine out the front.
After a couple of days in Nottingham I jumped on a bus to Norwich where I spent a night with John and Juliet, another of mums cousins. After showing me around Norwich they took me to Cambridge where their eldest daughter, Helen had invited me to stay over the weekend as it would be more fun with her than her parents (her words, not mine). Cambridge is SO COOL, its made up of a number of Colleges where the students live and do a lot of their work. Most of the colleges are made up of really impressive and very old buildings as you might expect and Kings College where Helen lives is no exception. Many of the buildings the students live in remind me somewhat of old style mansions or even castles; Helens room has a battlement above it.
Im leaving Cambridge this evening but Ive had a great time hanging out with uni people again, its been awesome. Im loving the Autumn over here as well, the colours are fantastic! And so many crunchy leaves to step on :P.
Im heading back up to Norwich and then tomorrow Ill probably go down to Mulden for a couple of days then to London again.
Have a good one.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)