Sunday - arrived in Podington to see my great aunt and uncle. David isn´t looking very well - and later that day was sent to hospital to have a lung effusion (?). Apparently felt much better after going in and being given oxygen. Apart from that, we had a rest in the afternoon - had been doig lots and not caught up on sleep for a while!! Went to mum´s cousin Rachel and Gordons for dinner, Gregory (other cousin who is disabled) was there, as well as children Helen, Jenny and Robert. It is at their place I will be staying later on.
MOnday- very quiet day, slept in, did washing, Mum and Margaret went to visit David in the hospital in the evening, and we didn´t do much else. Made bags lighter for Ryanair flight (15kg limit)
Tuesday - got up early, drove to Stansted. I was in a daze most of the way - couldn´t stay awake even though i was navigating! Lined up for ages, i did a last minute job of getting a resume in envelope to send to a school (where Jean Richardsons sister works!!) I already sent one to the school where their kids go via Rachel! Anyway, arrived in Santiago, found hotel - not bad choice. Clean and there´s a lift up the 6 floors! Wandered round shops - tahnee bought a nice leather jacket, then we wandered to old city. wandered back to find food and as we had no idea what we were ordering, had some fun... and then accidently ordered frogs legs and ears... interesting. legs were nice, but ear was sticky. Also had potato, bread, calamari.. nice normal tapas!!
anyway today we went to go to the cathedral but got there after service started. Will try again tomorrow. Had churros with chocolate for breakfast! now on for the day... OH and i sold my works that were in the Handmark Gallery! Yay!
Wednesday, June 29
Sunday, June 26
Photos
i have some photos on my other sight (one of too many at the moment!!)
www.homepage.mac.com/clareandkate
just a small selection don't worry there are more!
www.homepage.mac.com/clareandkate
just a small selection don't worry there are more!
Cambridge and Sutton Hoo
Thursday:
Arrivied here in Cambridge on Thursday by train, and that afternoon we have had a wander around the colleges. Serveral were closed to visitors but we went through Clare's which had a lvoely garden which apparently isn't open very often.
Friday: we went into town and looked at the market, had lunch with Myra and her friend Wynne at an Italian place. Then coffee, and then Tahnee and I went wandering. We found CULT a very cool shop (its has SKUNK FUNK!!). Tahnee bought a skunk funk top and i bought a t-shirt with a hood... its cool! Our plan had been to go punting, but the weather didn't look great - but then a guy asked us if we wanted a tour on a punt. We hesitated (knowing we had planned to find a bathroom) so he knocked 10 pounds of the ticket and we agreed on the condition we could stop off at the ladies room on the way (he took us into a pub!). It started raining really quite heavily while we were on board and despite being rugged up with a blanket and an unbrella we got wet. Not as wet as our half Australian (can't tell by accent) med student punter. And it wasn't as sunny as the day before so not so many shirtless males (ours wasn't as fine a specimen as some!!!). By the time we found the bus stop we were soaked, but got home in time for a quick meal and heading out to an outdoor concert. Perfect for the weather.. not! But once again, blankets, raincoats and umbrellas got us through, and the weather cleared up for a while, before raining again and then finally clearing. The concert on Kings College lawn was spectacular - Kings College Choir, Elgar something (pomp and circumstance) and Elgar Cello Concerto (very familiar from studying Hilary and Jackie), themes from harry Potter, Star Wars, ET, Schindlers List, a quartet and visually the falcon parachutists and impressive fireworks! Most Enjoyable (and our nasty complaining neighbours who complained aout not being able to see past our umbrellas to the see of.. umbrellas didn't come back after the interval!)
Today (Saturday) we headed off to Suffolk and visited the Sutton Hoo sight (burial ground from 600s-ish - some probably kings with boats and jewels and cool TREASURE). Did a tour of the sight, saw exhibition and had lunch. Then headed to Lavenham to admire old tudor buidlings - leaning sideways, and some even leaning voer the road. Then short cut (little narrow roads) to Melford to see a Tudor Manor. Looked around there, admired and then drove on more small roads back to a lovely roast lamb joint that Myra had prepared. Great time in Cambridge.
As we drove we listened to some new cd's we bought from a fairly cheap funky shop in Cambridge, as well as the radio reporting LIVE from GLASTONBURY. As soem of you many know Tahnee and I were hoping to go to this masssive festival, but missed out on tickets (they sold out in 3 hours adn we checked after 5). Although we are still sad, the footage we've seen shows LOTS of mud, (as we mentioned it rained solidly yesterday), many muddy poeple, and some tents which were flooded up to the top of the door. And a toilet block flooded, 1 man died, and apparently the main tent was struck by lightning! Coldplay are on TV now though - with fireworks!
Tomorrow we go to Northampton where my cousins (well mum's aunt and uncle) are. Sadly my great Uncle David has been diagnosed with cancer recently so things are all a bit unsure as to his prognosis. (lung cancer, secondaries in abdomen). My grandparents may be coming over to see him, but in the mean time they still said we could stay. It seems being given free cigarettes with the army in Korea was not a good thing.
Arrivied here in Cambridge on Thursday by train, and that afternoon we have had a wander around the colleges. Serveral were closed to visitors but we went through Clare's which had a lvoely garden which apparently isn't open very often.
Friday: we went into town and looked at the market, had lunch with Myra and her friend Wynne at an Italian place. Then coffee, and then Tahnee and I went wandering. We found CULT a very cool shop (its has SKUNK FUNK!!). Tahnee bought a skunk funk top and i bought a t-shirt with a hood... its cool! Our plan had been to go punting, but the weather didn't look great - but then a guy asked us if we wanted a tour on a punt. We hesitated (knowing we had planned to find a bathroom) so he knocked 10 pounds of the ticket and we agreed on the condition we could stop off at the ladies room on the way (he took us into a pub!). It started raining really quite heavily while we were on board and despite being rugged up with a blanket and an unbrella we got wet. Not as wet as our half Australian (can't tell by accent) med student punter. And it wasn't as sunny as the day before so not so many shirtless males (ours wasn't as fine a specimen as some!!!). By the time we found the bus stop we were soaked, but got home in time for a quick meal and heading out to an outdoor concert. Perfect for the weather.. not! But once again, blankets, raincoats and umbrellas got us through, and the weather cleared up for a while, before raining again and then finally clearing. The concert on Kings College lawn was spectacular - Kings College Choir, Elgar something (pomp and circumstance) and Elgar Cello Concerto (very familiar from studying Hilary and Jackie), themes from harry Potter, Star Wars, ET, Schindlers List, a quartet and visually the falcon parachutists and impressive fireworks! Most Enjoyable (and our nasty complaining neighbours who complained aout not being able to see past our umbrellas to the see of.. umbrellas didn't come back after the interval!)
Today (Saturday) we headed off to Suffolk and visited the Sutton Hoo sight (burial ground from 600s-ish - some probably kings with boats and jewels and cool TREASURE). Did a tour of the sight, saw exhibition and had lunch. Then headed to Lavenham to admire old tudor buidlings - leaning sideways, and some even leaning voer the road. Then short cut (little narrow roads) to Melford to see a Tudor Manor. Looked around there, admired and then drove on more small roads back to a lovely roast lamb joint that Myra had prepared. Great time in Cambridge.
As we drove we listened to some new cd's we bought from a fairly cheap funky shop in Cambridge, as well as the radio reporting LIVE from GLASTONBURY. As soem of you many know Tahnee and I were hoping to go to this masssive festival, but missed out on tickets (they sold out in 3 hours adn we checked after 5). Although we are still sad, the footage we've seen shows LOTS of mud, (as we mentioned it rained solidly yesterday), many muddy poeple, and some tents which were flooded up to the top of the door. And a toilet block flooded, 1 man died, and apparently the main tent was struck by lightning! Coldplay are on TV now though - with fireworks!
Tomorrow we go to Northampton where my cousins (well mum's aunt and uncle) are. Sadly my great Uncle David has been diagnosed with cancer recently so things are all a bit unsure as to his prognosis. (lung cancer, secondaries in abdomen). My grandparents may be coming over to see him, but in the mean time they still said we could stay. It seems being given free cigarettes with the army in Korea was not a good thing.
Thursday, June 23
Monday, June 20
Blogs
I have now changed my settings (thanks Stu for that tip) so now hopefully anyone can add comments. I still need to iron out some things and work out a better way of putting pictures on here, so i haven't decided which blog I will continue with. The other one is imkate.modblog.com feel free to let me know if you have a preference as a viewer. I haven't had a chance to make the other one look cool yet.
new blog
hi all.. despite just giving this address to everyone... i think i have a new blog because no-one can comment on this one if they aren't members. I haven't done much yet but check out imkate.modblog.com
still hot in London... hopefully this technology will get sorted soon!
still hot in London... hopefully this technology will get sorted soon!
Sunday, June 19
28 degrees
So day 3 London - already we have done so much.
After arriving wednesday we went to Oxford St and wandered around some shops. It was (in true British summer fashion) raining. After tiring of looking at lots of shops which seemed quite similar (and often expensive) we headed back down the tube and popped up again close to the British Musuem. After eating the remainder of our sandwiches from lunch on the steps of the museum we dived in headfirst (metaphorically speaking) for a tour of the Islamic art section. The tour lead by a somehow very stereoptypical pommie, slightly geeky, but very knowleadgeable guide, I really enjoyed learning a bit more about some of the beautiful items. Indian restaraunt nearby for dinner before collapsing!
Thursday, we once again took a while to get going in the morning but we enjoyed the free breakfast (mostly because it was free - cornflakes and toast are good but there's no marmite!). We went to the embankment with a few tube adventures on hte way - went halfway to wimbledon by mistake. Made it to the Embankment, thought about going on the London Eye but saw the queue and decided we didn't have time, so we wandered along, found some lunch and headed for Shakespeare's Globe.
We arrived in time to get a good... piece of ground for our 6 pound standing tickets for the Tempest. It was a fantastic show - only 3 male actors plus 3 (strong) girls in black who weren't characters but sort of assisted with the story - dancing, moving things, etc. The actors were so good - changing roles really well - Caliban/Frederick/some other character was particularly good. And not the ugly version of Caliban either!!!
From there we went to the Tate Modern to see the Frida Kahlo exhibition which was great althugh we had museum feet/head by the end (having stood for 2 hours at the Tempest). We ate dinner nearby before going to the National Theatre to see 'The house of Bernada Alba'. It was quite god but we had slip seats - ie right at the very top on the very side! So.. hard to see facial expressions which made it harder to tune into. It was well done, a particularly impressive set but i did get sleepy (jet lag doesn't help).
Friday:
Tried not to waste any time this morning before heading straight to Portobello market. Spent quite a while wandering through there - it was hot by 10am. Found a cool 'punky fish' shop - Tahnee bought a cool top but the ones on sale didn't relly fit me and I was too stingy (and hot) to buy a cool red jumper i found - you could wear it facing either direction and it had cool zips. Otherwise there was lots of jewellery and silver forks and spoons. And peole. We met up with my Mum again and went on a round about trip to the nearest tube station - mostly involving trudging a large block before getting back to somewhere we had been and getting on a bus to take us there. From there we went to Soho to find China Town for lunch - yum cha/dim sum. Very nice. Bigger range than i'd seen before.. had strange 'sweet water chestnut cake' or something - it was like fried yellow sweet jelly with water chestnut bits. Couldn't eat the whole piece but it was intriguing. Walked through Picadilly Circus, bought a cool top with london tube map so i won't be lost next time!!
Now back at London House hostel - just a moment ago there were 5 of us on the computers and we discovered we were all Aussies, and wait - one of the others from Hobart taught at GYC and knows Kate (Dads wife!). Tonight we are going to the London Symphony Orchestra (thanks to Tahnee planning) to hear a cello sonata and something else!
OH and did I mention its HOT! Its about 28-30 I'd say. Tomorrow is forecast to be max 31. And yes the pom's (or one i talked to on the train) were complaining about it!!
After arriving wednesday we went to Oxford St and wandered around some shops. It was (in true British summer fashion) raining. After tiring of looking at lots of shops which seemed quite similar (and often expensive) we headed back down the tube and popped up again close to the British Musuem. After eating the remainder of our sandwiches from lunch on the steps of the museum we dived in headfirst (metaphorically speaking) for a tour of the Islamic art section. The tour lead by a somehow very stereoptypical pommie, slightly geeky, but very knowleadgeable guide, I really enjoyed learning a bit more about some of the beautiful items. Indian restaraunt nearby for dinner before collapsing!
Thursday, we once again took a while to get going in the morning but we enjoyed the free breakfast (mostly because it was free - cornflakes and toast are good but there's no marmite!). We went to the embankment with a few tube adventures on hte way - went halfway to wimbledon by mistake. Made it to the Embankment, thought about going on the London Eye but saw the queue and decided we didn't have time, so we wandered along, found some lunch and headed for Shakespeare's Globe.
We arrived in time to get a good... piece of ground for our 6 pound standing tickets for the Tempest. It was a fantastic show - only 3 male actors plus 3 (strong) girls in black who weren't characters but sort of assisted with the story - dancing, moving things, etc. The actors were so good - changing roles really well - Caliban/Frederick/some other character was particularly good. And not the ugly version of Caliban either!!!
From there we went to the Tate Modern to see the Frida Kahlo exhibition which was great althugh we had museum feet/head by the end (having stood for 2 hours at the Tempest). We ate dinner nearby before going to the National Theatre to see 'The house of Bernada Alba'. It was quite god but we had slip seats - ie right at the very top on the very side! So.. hard to see facial expressions which made it harder to tune into. It was well done, a particularly impressive set but i did get sleepy (jet lag doesn't help).
Friday:
Tried not to waste any time this morning before heading straight to Portobello market. Spent quite a while wandering through there - it was hot by 10am. Found a cool 'punky fish' shop - Tahnee bought a cool top but the ones on sale didn't relly fit me and I was too stingy (and hot) to buy a cool red jumper i found - you could wear it facing either direction and it had cool zips. Otherwise there was lots of jewellery and silver forks and spoons. And peole. We met up with my Mum again and went on a round about trip to the nearest tube station - mostly involving trudging a large block before getting back to somewhere we had been and getting on a bus to take us there. From there we went to Soho to find China Town for lunch - yum cha/dim sum. Very nice. Bigger range than i'd seen before.. had strange 'sweet water chestnut cake' or something - it was like fried yellow sweet jelly with water chestnut bits. Couldn't eat the whole piece but it was intriguing. Walked through Picadilly Circus, bought a cool top with london tube map so i won't be lost next time!!
Now back at London House hostel - just a moment ago there were 5 of us on the computers and we discovered we were all Aussies, and wait - one of the others from Hobart taught at GYC and knows Kate (Dads wife!). Tonight we are going to the London Symphony Orchestra (thanks to Tahnee planning) to hear a cello sonata and something else!
OH and did I mention its HOT! Its about 28-30 I'd say. Tomorrow is forecast to be max 31. And yes the pom's (or one i talked to on the train) were complaining about it!!
Thursday, June 16
LONDON... what more can i say?
The land of red telephone boxes, double decker buses, castles, and black cabs. Thats right folk - we're n London. That means we survived the flights to Melbourne, Singpaore and then London. Having left home at about 9am Wed 15th, we arrived at our accomodation in London about 7:30am Thursday London time - 31.5 hours later i think. Body clock is munted. Flights were ok - long! Food was ok. Had a nasty (tall and decently large) man behind me who thumped my seat so hard when i put it back just a tiny bit that i was scared to do it again (until there was a flight attendant talking to him and i leaned back just a tad to sleep!). Movies... watched robots, million dollar baby... and some other bits and pieces. Now London.. what to do... palaces? gardens? London eye, british museum, tate modern... what fun! Is just like being in a monopoly board.
And i'm hungry... its not my fault my first breakfast was at 4:30am UK time! And so the adventure begins....
And i'm hungry... its not my fault my first breakfast was at 4:30am UK time! And so the adventure begins....
Wednesday, June 15
The day has arrived but it is still night.
'Am I excited?' People keep asking this question so there is obviously something big happening... what could it be?! Oh yes. Today. I'm going to England. Yikes - Sometimes I think it has registered and sometimes I think I'll wake up in the morning and have vegemite on my toast and go about the day as usual. However as I have a flight at 10:10 I probably shouldn't be too laid back! That and its after 1am and I'm nearly packed and ready... a few stresses due to my last minute decision to get a Britrail train pass which I have not yet quite organised.. but if it doens't work... um oh well! Otherwise CV is done, packing is done, most htings on my list can be ticked.. just have to zip up my pack and put a lock on it! Oh and shut down the lap top which is still exporting last years 8426 photos so i can fit some more! Probably should have done that before tonight but it is taking longer than I expected! So... next time I post I will be upside down in the summery Northern Hemisphere. Wahoo. Goodnight.
Friday, June 10
falling into place
Just now seems to be a fairly hectic time - I'm finishing up at work tomorrow before heading to England next week. This might explain the slight looming deadline feeling I have mixed with uncontainable excitement which expresses itself as far too many things going round my head at once. So I've got some things organised - SERVAS, British Passport (yes I am British Citizen now and am therefore entitled to whinge enough to make up for 18 years of not being a pom), flights, accomodation etc. There are other things on my 'list' which have not yet received attention, but finally I have a blog, and while avoiding the other things I can enjoy the satisfaction of knowing I went into the source html of my blog in order to make links, and random comments on my site. I have yet to make the photos work but it is coming! Hooray.
Thursday, June 9
FRINGE05
Well - I as the expert blogger wrote a post yesterday, then when I tried to be too smart and add pictures using my non-user friendly mac somehow it got lost in the dark void of deleted text. So - as I had said written, last week (Wednesday till Sunday) I was involved in running a year 7/8 camp. We had 25 campers and although the girls were rather outnumbered everyone had a good time. We had a fun filled and action packed programme - with crafts (including making hackey sacks, felt whales, big bubble blowing, hot air balloons, card making, cartooning etc), archery, war canoes, volleyball, maypole, war canoes and dodgeball (and our variation: Glennball). Through the camp we talked about the story of Jonah - although if you ask the campers you may hear a version which includes perhaps unfamiliar characters such as the oompaloompas, squeaking porpoises, and the mississippi steam ship! With or without these guest appearances we now all now the story quite well. As well as the year 7/8 campers we had a ring in year 4 boy (my cousin!), a year 6 junior camper, some grade 9 senior campers, a grade 10 junior leader, and the mostly year 11/12 leaders. With the support of a few more experienced old hands, these college age leaders did an absolutely fantastic job at running games, studies, small groups, crafts and generally making camp a success! So my first camp as a director seemed to go off well (and I've nearly caught up on sleep) and I'm keen for my next camp... which I believe will be in August :)
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