Blog 13 - London II, the British Empire Strikes Back

Blog 13 - London II, the British Empire Strikes Back

Hi all. Here we are at N19, having already stayed at NW10, E17, E8, N8 and SE13 and then doing a lazy lap around the United Kingdom. We hired a car leaving Lewisham early in the New Year and I dropped it off yesterday with an extra 2700 miles on its speedo.

So N19 is Islington, home of London Mayor Boris Johnson and what seems like a million young families. Makes Yarraville look like its just not trying. Rows and rows and rows of white apartments symmetrically running along wide streets, differing only slightly by the colour of their doors, their blinds/curtains/shutters, and what is going on in their basements. Honestly, it's a voyeur's paradise. Looking out of the kitchen window is like a scene from Rear Window - so many windows, so much stuff going on. Pull up a chair and enjoy the show.

We are here for a few days, minding the house and dog for a family who are off to Paris for the weekend. We got the accommodation (our...gulp...51st of the trip) through a house sitting website and were punching the air that we have a few days without paying a gazillion pounds for good central London accommodation.

We have had, for the last week or so, in the middle of winter, with floods and chaos through the UK, some of the best weather we've had so far. All the bad stuff seemed to miss the Yorkshire Dales and Suffolk. Renae and I have managed to get quite a few runs in. People keep saying how unseasonably mild the winter is. Truth is, we are to thank for that. The Carolin-Vandenbergs are remarkably good at taking the weather with them. So, you're welcome Britain! Though the kids are pissed that they haven't had any snow.

First, as promised, a few more gratuitous photos of our trip to North Scotland as wittily and insightfully described in the last blog.

(Smoo Cave, in and out)

(Orkneys - Standing Stones of Stenness. Most alliterative place in the world?)

(Orkneys - Highland Park Distillery, Billie turning the malt)

 

Following Settle, in the Dales, which definitely had its charm, we spent a fairly magical week with friends of my Dads partner. (Tia, we have a lot to thank you for!). They live in a little hamlet called Fressingfield in Suffolk, where the air was clean and crisp, the fields were green (those that weren't ploughed or waterlogged) and the phone and wifi reception was terrible. In a way, that was a blessing as we had a great chance to just enjoy the countryside and each other...actually it was part blessing and part curse!

David and Carole live in a wonderful 14th century cottage with its own vineyard, big bounding dog Tizer, and Granary (which is where we stayed). Its a house with a lot of history, in fact the whole town was dotted with thatched roofs, the church had wonderfully wonky gravestones. There was a general store, a pub (good drinks, good food, and Jessie is a gun pool player - whod've thunk it?) and a (practically) Michelin starred restaurant where I ate one of the best meals I think I've had...ever. Not even just on this trip.

They took on us Aussie freeloaders and we had a fantastic time getting to know them. They are in the middle of building and renovating what will be their new home (next door) which looks amazing. I tried to walk around with a suitable level of Kevin McCloud-esque contemplative patronising condescension when shown through it, but its going to be a dream house that's for sure when it's finished.

Trouble was that it wasn't finished, and every morning we were woken to the dulcet tones of cement mixers, hammering, diggers, nail guns. It actually got kind of fun trying to identify the sounds. Like industrial bird watching.

We spent a day at the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, home of incredible falcons, eagles and owls. We loved it, and not just because it was open, though that helped. We were still being confounded by things Closed For Winter, Opening Easter, and Open Weekends Only. It was frustrating, and not only because the weather was SO BLOODY GOOD...generally.

(Fressingfield, the back yard)

(Just two of owls, but I've got a million of 'em)

We visited Framlingham Castle on a Saturday (Open Weekends Only), where Mary I was crowned Queen of England, and which has an interesting history of being run by Lords and wealthy landowners as well as the Crown, over its long history. Now it's mainly just the outer wall and a few inner buildings. The girls did a kids audio tour that was so funny that Renae and I swapped our dryer dialogue one over to their Horrible History-esque one (I've used -esque twice. I'll stop saying that now). Framlingham itself was really pretty too.

(Framlingham Castle)

(Orford Castle)

We also went to Orford Castle. Best design of a castle I've ever seen. Basically round, central "space" and rooms and staircases lined around the outer walls. Repeat for four floors. Okay, I know I've not done that justice, but for what its worth we've decided to design our next house around that concept. When it's done and you all visit, you will finally understand. And you too can then walk around and make Kevin McCloud-esque (d'oh) supercilious observations. Or you could just Google Orford Castle. That may be faster.

Whew, what else? Visited Norwich. Was exactly what I expected a medium sized English town to be like. Though the Castle and Keep (now a museum) was interesting. How impressed I am by a museum is directly proportional to how whiny the kids get...and they were pretty quiet in Norwich its fair to say.

Spent a day on the east coast in Southwold. It had a pier with an amazingly kitsch arcade parlour, as well as a lighthouse smack bang in the middle of town. Wandered further on to Covehithe, where Renae bravely and somewhat regretfully put her feet in the English Channel. It was a beautiful spot - even the mud and pigs**t looked slightly magical.

(Renae: frostbite 101)

(Jess probably not contemplating a swim)

Oh, and just a minor thing - just out of Norwich was a town with the best name I've ever seen: Newton Flotman. It, along with Durian McFlurry (blog 1 I think) is the start of what will be the BEST BOY BAND EVER. I will have my band by the end of this trip (Rob Macdermid, I may need your help), you see if I don't. Especially as we've still got France and Scandinavia to come, so expect a bit of ø, ç and å action!

Introduced the kids to the vital, wonderful British works that are Monty Python and the Holy Grail and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. (Well it can't all be castles and museums can it?)

Of course there is homework (which we have renamed, appropriately, schoolwork). Renae checked the syllabus and we were pleased to see that we are keeping the kids on track, if not slightly ahead, on a lot of their curriculum. Maths particularly. We are doing a lot of creative writing together and that's a brilliant chance to see where their minds are at. We spend a lot of time worrying that we are breaking them. Turns out kids are fairly malleable and robust. That's a relief.

Well it's 10.30pm. The streets are empty apart from men taking their dogs out for one last poo before bed. (It's Islington. Plenty of dogs, no backyards). I wrote more than I thought I would. In-laws in three days, kids are ecstatic. Pray for me. (Only kidding :) )

Keep well, safe, happy. Lots of love, as always, from the Carolin-Vandenbergs

 

 

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Blog 12 - UK end to end (have car, will travel)

Blog 12 - UK end to end (have car, will travel)

Hi all,

I'm sitting beside an open fire on a fairly bleak UK day in a little town called Settle, in the Yorkshire Dales. Thankfully, the pint is just starting to kick in. We have just returned from an ill fated attempt to see an outdoor location from Harry Potter #7, and after slipping over, getting rained on, freezing and generally yelling at each other, we contented ourselves in saying we got "close" to it and scurried back to our accommodation.

Greenwich seemed so long ago, but that's where I left off last time. We picked up a car and for what was (we think) the 45th time this trip, packed up our clothes, shoved things into obscure crevices in our bags, threw away things we couldn't justify lugging with us (children excluded). We filled the car up Tetris-like, forced the doors closed, breathed in...and left London.

First stop was York, and we stayed at a really cool Youth Hostel with awesome family rooms. Pleasingly there were quite a few families staying as well and Renae and I tried to matchmake our kids with theirs without looking or sounding too desperate. (Renae: "Hey, go play pool with the other kids". Jess: "oh, I dunno". Renae (head spins around) "PLAY WITH THEMMMMMM" ). Think it went well...

(Cold War Bunker and view of York)

York is a very beautiful place, and has a lot of interesting history. We visited the Cold War Bunker, which was a location where they monitored for any nuclear attacks. Got disbanded after Reagan and Gorbachev kissed and made up. We also visited the medieval tower built to defend York from invaders. So basically we visited a building for a war that didn't happen...and a tower, for a war that didn't happen! Bu we at least got to use our English Heritage cards as these were things that were actually open. Amazing how much shuts down during Winter. Have I simply never noticed this in Melbourne?

We also saw the York Minster church and did a tour of the Rowntree chocolate factory, which began in York. Good tour, kids externally feigned interest whilst I'm sure internally chanting "Make with the free samples!". They did eventuate. Japan makes a wasabi Kit-Kat...

(Mmm, chocasabi!)

We travelled from there to Linlithgow, just out of Edinburgh. We stayed with distant family friends Larry, Mukami and their granddaughter Savannah, whom we had never met. We were made to feel incredibly welcome. Larry and Mukami have both had fascinating lives, and we spent the three nights eating their beautiful food (we supplied wine and scintillating conversation!), and discussing everything from human rights, the environment, Scottish independence, their ability to bypass disaster (in NY for 9/11, missed a ferry that later sank, missed a fire in the London Tube by a matter of minutes...), Mukami's ability to keep the Queen of England's attention... The girls were just rapt to have a 12 year old to idolise and decent movies to watch!

We did see cool stuff in Edinburgh - the castle, the camera obscura (with its optical illusions - see photos), and Linlithgow Palace was really fun for a crumbling ruin - best game of hide and seek! But we really valued our time with Larry and Mukami, so much so that we invited ourselves to Burns night (celebrating the life and poetry of Robbie Burns). There was whisky, there was haggis!!! We met their daughter Laura too and again had a great night! Renae almost remembers it!

(1 o'clock gun, things in the Camera Obscura, Edinburgh castle at night)

(Linlithgow Palace)

And North we continued. The temperature kept slipping, not much, but noticeably so. Had two nights in Inverness and went to Loch Ness. No monster, surprisingly. Jess convinced it's there, because 1000 sightings can't be wrong can they? Inverness a beautiful city and worth a few days if you're in the area. Mind you, if you're in the area and not going to Inverness, where the hell are you going???

(Inverness)

(Wait a moment, isn't that...)

(Urquhart castle, Loch Ness)

...and further North we continued, right to where you can't go no Norther on the mainland and your only option is West. We found ourselves in a little cottage called the Mill House in a town called Portskerra. This was the place we were going to see the Northern Lights!

(Arrived to this...)

(Woke up to this...)

 

...and guess what (spoiler alert)

WE DIDN'T!!!

Possibly didn't help that people we encountered were saying things like "oh they were out just before you arrived". Like a bloody pantomime ("they're behind you!!!!"). But we checked our app that indicated polar activity, and like Murphy's law, every time there was reasonable activity, it was cloudy, and on the clear nights there was NOTHING! But we still sat in our car, in the dark, getting onset frostbite, waiting...

Portskerra and most of the Scottish North Highlands was closed for winter. So we did a lot of walks, travelled to beautiful places (Lairg, Smoo Cave, the Orkneys - ill upload photos of these places next blog) and saw some of the most rugged, stunning coastal scenery I'd ever seen. I'd imagine it was a bit like the north west of Tasmania. And boy was it cold! As Melbourne struggled to day after day of 44 degrees, we added layer after layer.

(Dunnett Head, the northernest point on the UK mainland)

We saw three of Scotland's "big 5" in the wild (seal, deer, eagle) - the otter and red squirrel proved too elusive. I had a game of golf on UK's northern most course and shot a score that was not appalling (for me anyway). And grew a beard...or my poor version of one.

But it was about relaxing, cooking hearty meals, painting (where we all discovered we had talent in some form!), reading, homework etc. We made coal fires nearly every night, and bathed every second day! We were a generally contented, if slightly smelly, bunch.

We learnt that the hard slog and generally thankless task of applying for house sitting jobs in the UK (to obtain some free accommodation) was rewarded with a 5 week stay in a big house in the Devon countryside that simply sounds too good to be true. We do that post Renae's mum-and-dad visit and pre my mum's visit. Has worked out really well.

The girls are well, getting what might be a second wind after a battery recharge in far north Scotland. Both looking forward to seeing grandparents, looking ahead excitedly to Devon and looking after a collie dog each. Jess pleased that her hair can be put back into a ponytail! Billie still avoiding nutrition like it's toxic. Renae and I haven't killed each other and frankly haven't even come close (we've certainly had ample opportunities to create "accidents" on rocky cliffs!!!). It's tiring, that's all, and hard work.

Onto my third pint now, so may end up here before the post becomes either maudlin or unintelligible. Over half way now. Still got heaps to see and do. Missing you all. Love getting the odd email to hear what's going on.

Love from the Carolin-Vandenbergs!!!

 

 

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Blog 11 - Mean Time

Blog 11 - Mean Time

Cheers all,

Actually, I never say cheers as a greeting...ever. In fact the only person I know who uses cheers as a sign off ironically hasn't had a drink in 10 years (happy 10 year anniversary, you know who you are!!). But it seems appropriate once you are in Britain to do as the British do.

We are currently in Greenwich, home of GMT. Great symbolic spot to celebrate the New Year...well, sit and drink mulled wine, mulled cider, stay warm and watch the pretty impressive London fireworks on the TV, which were being heavily rained upon.

So anyway, we arrived in the UK about a month ago and drank in the English signs, English shops and English speakers. Kids were noticeably relieved. The weather was significantly colder though, and something we are still reconciling ourselves with is the fact that it is dark at 4.00pm. It's just odd!

Our first stay was East London in a suburb called Hackney. It was a quirky, cool neighbourhood that you could just tell had a slightly soiled underbelly and was really trying to improve itself. Lots of coffee shops, lots of cool take away and a killer Saturday market where I counted 15 different cuisines on offer!!

The house we stayed at (through airBNB) was owned by an artist, had quirky little touches all over the place (light shade made of tea bags, table hanging upside down from the ceiling) - it was only half way through our stay that we learnt she was in Ireland winning the most significant art prize in the UK, the Turner prize!

From Hackney it was an easy commute in to the centre we did a heap of the "things you should do if going to London" - Trafalgar Square, London Eye, Tate Modern, Tower Bridge etc. We shopped (and hyperventilated at the prices) down Regent Street, and discovered "Hamleys", the funnest toy shop in all of funville. It was honestly like Wonkaland, I half expect Oompa Loompas to roll Violet Beauregarde out. Kids loved it and Santa was clearly watching...

Had a great afternoon ice skating at Somerset House. Visited platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station

(I don't really need to say what these are do I????)

(Skating at Somerset House)

Can I just say right now, I love the Tube. I love everything about it. The design, the colours, the general efficiency, the ticketing system. It's so funny to hear the kids working out the route "if we catch the Bakerloo line to Charing Cross, we can change and get the central line..." The British transport system (and Singapore, and Berlin, Athens, Dubai...in fact everyhere!) PUT MELBOURNE'S TO SHAME.

Okay moving on...we moved on! So we stayed in Walthamstow, Hornsey (both airBNB, both really nice) and Harlesden (thanks to our friend Tina's brother and his family, who was away for a week). We had a Christmas tree to stick presents under, a great kitchen where Renae cooked a massive Christmas dinner, and a cat to pat, which the kids loved. We skyped with family on their Christmas morning/our Christmas Eve - that was wierd. And we played monopoly where the seven year old killed us. So it was an unusually quiet Christmas, but it was nice.

We visited the Natural History Museum and Renae caught up with a friend from high school days!

(Natural History Museum)

A highlight of the trip (and this will polarise people) was the trip to the studios where they filmed the Harry Potter films. It is exceptionally well done, not overly expensive (I've paid more for crappier on this trip!) and there was just something quite exciting about looking at the real sets, the real props ("oh wow, that's the goblet of fire, that's the pensieve etc). You also got a great insight into the processes such as set design, make up, animatronics, special FX (we got to ride a broomstick on blue screen!). We all loved it but I'm moving on as I'm sounding way too nerdy.

(Costumes in Great Hall, Gryffindor common room, Diagonal Alley, model of Hogwarts)

Biggest let down of the trip was discovering that, after a lot of time, effort, scanning and emailing, training courses, and money, that I received some poor advice from my immigration consultant in Australia, and I was unable to apply for a working visa. Well not without telling the people who offered me a job and were prepared to sponsor me to hang tight while I zipped back to Oz, completed the 35 page application, sent it to Malaysia (no I don't know why either), and get a possible No in 5 weeks time.

The night we found out, we got drunk! (Well, not the kids, they were driving...) But in a way, it is what it is now. Time to commence that difficult second novel!

So the second definition of my blog title other than the GMT reference is to accept that we may need to be a bit stingy/clever/INNOVATIVE (ah, there's the glass half full) to get us to the Orlando theme parks without robbing banks along the way!

So Happy New Year to everyone from me and the other CVDBs. Coming up next episode, Scotland, northern lights, grandparents...

I'm leaving you with observations and other general miscellany from the first half of the trip. Be amazed...or be indifferent, up to you!!!

SO...

• We have been to 15 countries - 17 if you count transit stops in Thailand and Malaysia
• The money saved on accommodation with a sofa bed is outweighed by the money spent on chiropractic bills
• Our motto - Be Fearless. It's what made Renae and I jump into near freezing water in Slovenia, made Jessie go on a water slide with a near vertical drop. It's even what made Billie walk up to a shop counter with a handful of foreign coins to buy a drink
• Harry Potter feels like my adopted third child

(In response to the comment "This hotel has 3 bars and good reception")

1. (Old traveller) - "Great. Let's check in at reception and grab a drink at one of them"
2. (New traveller) - "Wow that's good wifi coverage!"

• Lake Bled could be the most beautiful place in the world
• Italy is a beautiful, historic country, but seriously needs to get its shit together in some aspects

(Response to receiving bad service at a restaurant:)

1. (Old traveller) - "Get me the manager!"
2. (New traveller) - "Log me into Trip Advisor!"

• We have seen 27 UNESCO World Heritage Sites
• The Czech and Polish languages could do with some vowels
• From Zadar to Zagreb, Croatia had me at "Dobre Dan"

(Common quotes of the journey:)

1. "Where's my hairbrush?"
2. "That's the second-biggest (insert big thing) I've ever seen" (thanks Get Smart)
3. "Expelliarmus!"
4. "Souvenirs, novelties...party tricks" (thanks Top Secret)

• Singapore - it just works! Go there
• Horrible Histories should be a mandatory text/media in every school curriculum
• The day in San Marcello meeting Emilio and Dolfiero and finding where my grandfather as shot down will remain one of the highlights of my life
• "Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans" - Beautiful Boy, John Lennon. Just cos

(In Florence)

1. (Old traveller) - does the guided tour of the Uffizi
2. (New traveller) - does the virtual tour on the app, in the hostel toilet

• Every year I have a resolution to read my age in books - never achieved. Week 24 in, 25 books read! On track
• If you want to get a sense of what post-apocalypse looks and feels like, then Dubai at midday during Ramadan is for you
• My vestibular system doesn't like water parks, my nether regions don't like running in the UK in December
• And I guess last but in no means least, I love and am so proud of my kids. They have had and seen the best of times and the worst of times, from Auschwitz to Wild Wadi Water Park. I've overheard their casual conversations "Was that in Croatia where we saw the bullet shells next to the bunkers?" "No, it was Mostar" - what 7 and 10 year olds have that sort of conversation? They have been in each others faces 24/7, and the fact that one hasn't killed the other is a credit to them. What a ride, and what a story to tell their children...or their psychiatrist. Whatever comes first.

 

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