tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82266316829434498302024-03-13T11:10:05.178-07:00Nat & Ben Do EuropeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14968777237654833083noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8226631682943449830.post-28765896770935349022014-12-26T06:16:00.002-08:002014-12-26T06:16:25.398-08:00End of the Adventure?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<h4>
19th June - Bastogne Camperlaats, Belgium</h4>
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We drove into Luxembourg city today on our way to Belgium. We managed to get a car park just outside of the town and walked into the city through suburbia. It was pretty nice with some Victorian terrace style houses. The town centre was full of shops and restaurants and it was crazy busy, we grabbed some lunch did some shopping and headed back to BB and drove to Bastogne for the night. <br />
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20th June - Zutphen Camperplaats, Netherlands</h4>
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We drove though Liege in Belgium on our way to Holland, it actually reminded us of Amsterdam a little bit. We didn't stick around very long but it looked like a nice city, I think we are both a little anxious to get back to Amsterdam and get ready for our return to the UAE.<br />
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We headed towards Zutphen after a recommendation from Nat's mum, the camperplaats was along a small lake and the town was only 10min walk in. It was a cute town, typical Dutch style with crooked houses along the streets. We tried to have an early night which was made easier with no t.v. reception!<br />
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21st June - Geithoorn Camperplaats, Netherlands</h4>
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After a quick stop in Deventer where we each bought a large freshly made warm stroopwafel we drove onto Geithoorn. We are really starting to enjoy this country even more. Every city you visit has a really clean and tidy feel and all look really cute with water ways and little operable bridges, something out of the movies. <br />
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Giethoorn is again another really cute little town, the Venice of Holland as they say and in some ways looks a lot greener, nicer and definitely smells better (well sort of, you cant really compare against Venice). The "Venice" area was small but had all the thatched roof houses along the river with cafes and restaurants and loads of boats. Tomorrow we are renting a fluister boat which is the thing to do here.<br />
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22nd June - Heeg Jachthaven Camperplaats, Netherlands</h4>
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Luckily the sun came out just in time for us to take the fluister boat around Giethoorn. Its a little electric dingy, easy to drive and nice and quiet for the residents. We took an hour to go through the canal and around the back through the lake and back again, was very relaxing. <br />
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We quickly checked out Sneek which didn't let us down again on the cute scale, unfortunately the Dutchies were all inside eating cheese this Sunday so it was pretty dead. <br />
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We headed to the camperplaats in Heeg which was in the marina and was a pretty nice spot again. We walked into town and enjoyed the casual atmosphere. <br />
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23rd June - Enkhuisen camperplaats, Netherlands</h4>
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We drove over the Afsluit dijk today which is something I have wanted to do for a while. The dijk is 30km long and 90m wide, it was built in the late 1920's to help prevent flooding of certain areas in Holland, probably because 1/4 of Holland is lower than sea level...de platteland and two thirds of its area is vulnerable to flooding. Holland itself is apparently one of the most densely populated areas on Earth (although it certainly doesn't feel like it) so flood control here is "dam" important.<br />
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There are dikes, dams, floodgates along with drainage ditches, canals and pumping stations which used to be (and in some cases still are) windmills. One of the biggest construction projects was the Afsluit Dijk.<br />
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After we had lunch on the dijk we drove to Enkhuisen which was a really nice town with a pretty marina. Netherlands were playing Chile in the soccer world cup so we found a pub and enjoyed the victory with the Dutchies. <br />
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We enjoyed the beers, the gin and tonics and tapas while watching the sun go down and then back to BB....it wasn't hard to fall asleep tonight.<br />
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<h4>
24th to 25th June, Gaasperplas, Netherlands</h4>
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Well today is the beginning of the end for us and BB and this trip. We are heading back to Nat's mums to offload our things and get ready for our cleaning day tomorrow. So it was a day of mixed emotions. We held on to the holiday as long as we could and visited Volendam and checked it out, but it was only a wimper of a flame in the wind, the trip was over..... <br />
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We headed to the same caravan park that we started at and relaxed while we thought about the mountain of cleaning we needed to do the next day.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A slipper for a princess, a huge slipper</td></tr>
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<h4>
OUR LAST DAY IN BB : (</h4>
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Well today was a cleaning day, the outside, the inside, the garage ...everything. There may have even been a tear or two from Nat at certain times during the day. Not much else to say other than by the end of the day we had BB looking fab.<br />
<br />
We had Japanese for dinner with Nats mum and I turned to comfort eating for the night and ate as much as I could.<br />
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<u>26th June</u><br />
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We had few days left before we flew out so before leaving BB for the last time we took him to Hoorn for the cheese market which was pretty entertaining. <br />
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I couldn't help myself and had to volunteer to carry the cheese, I thought I had the true Dutch experience by marrying one but now it is complete. The elderly guys were fun but I don't think they could really understand what I was saying or why I was wearing thongs.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scale they used in the old days, they even weighed Nat when they took her around</td></tr>
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I then managed to get them to take Nat for a ride which was pretty funny, especially when Nat didn't see it coming. <br />
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We then dropped off BB at his hibernation place and visited Nats Uncle and Auntie who live nearby and then Nat's cousins Peter and Joan. On the way back to Nats mum we had one more stop over in BB to make sure the freezer had defrosted and everything was ok for his hibernation. We then drove off into the sunset with BB getting smaller and smaller in the distance...sniff.....we will miss the big guy.<br />
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<strong><u>The wrap up</u></strong><br />
<strong><u></u></strong><br />
Can't believe the year is over but what a year it was. This was the best thing we could have done and we have no regrets at all. We ignored the people who thought it was crazy for us to quit our jobs and just went out and did it. <br />
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Ignoring how soppy and typical it sounds, the trip has brought us even closer together. We definitely learned a little bit more about each other and considering we were together 24/7 and are still together we are ready for whatever comes our way. Not that every day was bliss......<br />
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Travelling for a year in a camper is not for everyone but there is nothing better than having your home on wheels with you wherever you go, plus you never feel homesick. We have talked about BB a lot throughout the blog and it may seem crazy but you really do become attached to your camper because if it wasnt for your camper you wouldnt be able to experience such a holiday....and maybe some electronics....<br />
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A holiday like this really makes you see what the world has to offer, and its so much more than the Monday to Friday same old same old that we all do every week. Life is for living and enjoying when you can because you just dont know when your days are up. <br />
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There is so much to see in Europe and you really need two to three years to see it but what we saw was amazing. We met some cool people, saw some amazing places and this trip has opened up our eyes to what is out there. A priceless experience and we are already planning our next trip!!!!<br />
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Now for the stats:<br />
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Total countries - 18<br />
Total kilometres travelled - 22,378<br />
Total tyres blown - 1<br />
Total mirrors smashed - 1<br />
Total clipped mirrors - 2<br />
Total water leaks - 1 <br />
Total run ins with the law - 2<br />
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The only thing not included in the expenses is the total cost for BB, we won't know the exact figure until we sell it next year.<br />
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Our favourite Countries and Cities keep changing and will probably continue to change, however here it is as of now:</td>
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Ben's Top 3 Countries<br />
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<li>Italy</li>
<li>UK (I know ....more than 1 country)</li>
<li>Germany/Holland</li>
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Nat's Top 3 Countries<br />
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<li>Austria</li>
<li>Italy</li>
<li>Holland</li>
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Ben's Top 3 Towns/Cities<br />
<ol>
<li>Bath</li>
<li>Barcelona</li>
<li>Prague</li>
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Nat's Top 3 Towns/Cities<br />
<ol>
<li>Avignon</li>
<li>Vienna</li>
<li>Seville</li>
</ol>
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Other awards:<br />
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Most positively surprising country Slovenia <br />
Participation award Slovakia<br />
Nicest people Slovenia/Holland<br />
Old favourite Amsterdam<br />
The Hulk award Nat<br />
Stomach churning award Squid ink ball soup<br />
Most valuable player award BB<br />
Pizza consumption award Ben<br />
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Finally, our most favourite souvenir from the trip!!!!!!!!!!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14968777237654833083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8226631682943449830.post-6005510572108291492014-09-27T08:35:00.001-07:002014-09-27T08:35:47.240-07:00Red card in Munich & METAL!!!!!!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<h4>
25th May - Bad Weissee Camperlaats, Germany</h4>
As we left Austria and into Germany we drove through some awesome scenery, past Achensee towards Bad Wiessee along the Tern See (lake). <br />
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We headed into the small town after some lunch, played some mini golf, which Nat says she won despite not including any penalty strokes when her ball left the green, twice, I mean come on!<br />
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Had a few beers as we waited for the orchestra to play, a summer evening thing here in the outdoors, after a few songs we had our culture for the day and headed back to BB for the night.<br />
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<h4>
26th May - Munich, Donaustrasse, Germany</h4>
Munich is known for the beer halls and I think that is pretty much all we did. We first visited an outside beer drinking area for a few warm ups and then headed to the Hofbrauhaus where we stayed until we went home that night. <br />
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We met an American tour guide who sat next to us and sounded exactly like my brother Jake despite being from the States. Anyway it was a conversation starter none the less. He gave us his details as he knows someone in the states that sell and leases motorhomes.....(To be continued)<br />
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We then went inside the main hall and met various people throughout the night. There were loads of Americans there and we met some young students. By that time I had a gut full of beer and began telling them to move to the UAE amongst other suggestions. We also met Mike and his son Tyler who we spent the rest of the night in the beer hall with. I tried ordering some more beers but was told by the waiter I had been "RED FLAGGED", it may have been the throwing of the beer coasters across the room, but it was more like lofting it over to a table of pretty girls, I didn't know what the big deal was. I had the last laugh.....I had loads of them in my pocket...yeah!<br />
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We were all hankering for a large schnitzel so naturally we went to bloody Hard Rock Café for a burger and eventually got home in the wee hours. Heaps of beer and heaps of fun. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our spot</td></tr>
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
27th May - Wolnzach, Germany</h4>
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<td height="19" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px black; height: 14.4pt; width: 646pt;" width="862"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Horrible hung over
TV day. Only managed a 45 min drive out of Munich.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<h4>
28th May - Concorde Factory, near Gieselwind, Germany</h4>
Today was really a planning day for the metal festival coming up, but on the way we drove through Regensburg. Bit of a rainy day unfortunately but I was too excited about the festival to care. We arrived at the venue to realise that the camper spots in the actual grounds were full. So we found a spot adjacent the Concorde factory which was only about 10min from the venue. There was a Concorde camper show that weekend so the official spot was full hence we were in the car park around the corner. We chilled that night ready for the three days ahead.<br />
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<h4>
29th to 31st May - Truckstop, Gieselwind, Germany</h4>
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<strong>OUT & LOUD 2014!!!!</strong><br />
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We received a nice bread delivery from Concord in the morning, if only they knew, and I was ready to get to the festival in record time (much to the surprise of Nat). Not much else to say here except that it doesn't get any better than this. Although the festival is small compared to others in Europe and compared to the Grasspop festival in Belgium I went to, but you were always close to the action and it was all metal with no middle ground.<br />
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We parked up in the truck stop and got Natty settled into her new home for the next few days, I then went to line up at the gate to ensure I could get myself a metal hoody and t-shirts before they all sold out. By about 1pm I was on my second beer watching the first act, Arsirus. Being the first band there it was only a small crowd as everyone is still getting things organised or hung over from the night before but they still gave it there all. They were good. <br />
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Out of all the bands on the first day my favourite was Sepultura. The second time I've seen them and I think it also helps that I knew the songs as well. I got nice and close and really enjoyed the set. I also realised how unfit I was when I was in the pit, didn't last more than 5min and had to get out to recover.....with a beer. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sepultura - Main Stage</td></tr>
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Other bands I liked were Grave, The Very End, Hate (Polish death metal band, awesome), Delain (at times were good) and Spirit Of The Future who were on the newcomer stage.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spirit Of The Future - Newcomer Stage</td></tr>
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There were three stages with the main stage and indoor stage playing in alternate times so you didn't miss anything. The newcomer stage times were the same as the indoor stage so you had to juggle that a little bit.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bit of rain on day 1</td></tr>
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The closing act on the main stage were Powerwolf, a very popular German metal band. Not too bad, pretty old school.<br />
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Day two <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We moved BB to try and get some TV reception for Nat</td></tr>
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The highlight for me was finally seeing Behemoth live. They are from Poland and are labelled the king of the underworld and had an awesome stage presence. <br />
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I also liked Suicidal Angels, Legion Of The Damned (awesome), Evil Invaders, Orden Ogan and Flotsam & Jetsam were both good at times.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Newcomer Stage</td></tr>
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I really enjoyed the newcomers Necrotted, Parasite Inc and The Last Hangmen. The closing act was Saxon, an English band that has been going for ages.<br />
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Day three <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Third and final spot, with the big boys</td></tr>
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The highlight was Amon Amarth, they were probably the highlight for the whole three days. I have finally seen them live! They had an awesome show and the crowd really got into it.<br />
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I also liked Sasquatch, Dust Bolt (awesome, currently listening to them in my car on my way to work), Vader, Iamenemy, Milking the Goatmachine (all wearing goat masks head banging, bloody funny and damn heavy, my ears are still ringing). <br />
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The newcomers I liked were Arcturon and Bleeding Red.<br />
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The closing act was Blind Guardian, a very popular German metal band, but my day was complete with the Amon Amarth show!<br />
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1st June - Bamberg Camperplaats, Germany </h3>
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After some well deserved bacon and eggs we finally (Nat's word) left the truck stop and headed towards Bamberg. We found a nice camperplaats along the river and walked into the centre. Its a really cute little town and had a nice feel to it. Many of the buildings are pre-war and untouched during the bombing. There is a river that cuts the town into two and creates a little island in the middle with cobblestoned roads and the old timber and brick buildings.<br />
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We stopped for a smoked beer and a half a litre of Fanta for Nat, with that sugar high we looked around some more and headed back to BB for some relaxation. We decided to go and have our last schnitzel for the trip and walked back into town........and then rolled home.<br />
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<h4>
2nd June - Albertshofen camplerplaats, Germany</h4>
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So after some much needed exercise we headed off via the B roads to find a camperplaats along the river main. We stopped at the small town of Prichsenstadt. Another cute and colourful cobblestone street town, one of many around here. Brenda had us on the wrong side of the river but realised she was taking us to a small two car ferry. We found the camperplaats along the river and relaxed.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rival camp ground across the river >: {</td></tr>
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<h4>
3rd to 4th June - Nordheim am Main camperplaats, Germany</h4>
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A short 20 min drive into Wurzburg and we found a car park along the river. We walked into the town across the old bridge and found some info on the city in the old market square. Wurzburg seems like a bit of a shopping town with shop filled streets everywhere. We got some info on the romantic road, had a bite to eat in the bakery and walked around some more. <br />
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We headed over the main bridge again and walked up to the Wurzburg Residence (Castle) which had a nice view of the town. <br />
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We decided to back track a little bit and explore the area a little more, so we headed back to BB and hit the road again. We found a spot in Nordheim am Main camperplaats<br />
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The next morning we got up late and got our back packs filled with lunch and took the bikes for ride to Sommerach. The wine tasting didn't really happen because the places were all shut, so we continued our ride and found a spot for lunch. <br />
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On the way back we rode through Sommerach again and this time found a place where we tasted some local wine. We rode through some winery's to a look out and then headed back to BB. To top off the day an ice cream truck pulled up next to BB when we got back. Just what we needed after a day on the bikes.<br />
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<h4>
5th to 6th June - Rottingen camperplaats, Germany</h4>
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Well last night was eventful to say the least. We were getting ready for bed at about 11:30pm when we saw the flashing lights of an ambulance drive past us. It took us a while to figure out what was happening but realised they were attending to the camper next to us. <br />
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The door to the camper next to us was on the opposite side so we could only see feet and shadows. There was some urgency to the ambos going back and forth from the ambulance to the camper but then started to settle down. We saw the lady of the camper go into the ambulance and we thought she was the one getting treatment. At the same time, Nat from the back window and me from the front, we noticed something from under the camper and Natty finally realised it was a pair of feet, which was the ladies partner we saw earlier walking past our camper having a beer.<br />
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No one seemed to be going over to him anymore and we then figured he was sort of propped up sitting there waiting and perhaps he was actually getting the treatment. The whole time we were willing the feet to move but.....they didn't. They then come out of the ambulance and put a blanket over the body. We then pretty much assumed the worst. Soon after about 5 other cars rocked up including police cars and the cops took photos inside the camper. The lady came out of the ambulance stepped over the body (body was near the door), packed a bag, stepped back over the body and went back into the ambulance which left soon after. <br />
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The next morning everyone was gone and the camper was there by itself. Pretty crazy that we saw the guy walking by with a beer enjoying his holiday and the next minute was lying on the ground dead. Natty was shocked by the fact the partner left the body and rode off in the ambulance fairly soon after the whole thing happened, although we don't know the full story. Nat did hear a faint scream but had no idea it was from the camper until we thought about it the next day.<br />
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We really didn't feel like sticking around so we took off early and headed to Rottingen which is just down the first part of the Romantic Street. We parked up along the river and relaxed for the rest of the day. We spoke to the neighbours with the cutest little sausage dog, they too had just lost a friend who had a heart attack. They're dropping like flies!! <br />
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For the rest of the day we were glad to be alive and on holiday, who knows what lies ahead!<br />
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The next day we grabbed the bikes and went for a leisurely 20km ride through some of the smaller villages in the area. We had a drink, stopped for our packed lunch and rode back, nice lazy day through some nice scenery. <br />
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<h4>
7th June - Rothenburg A. D Tauber Camperplaats, Germany</h4>
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Time for a historical festival! Rothenburg is another town on the romantic street which we were lucky enough to visit during their historical festival. They all dress up and parade the streets with local bands and traditional costumes, which I think is just bar hopping over the weekend. <br />
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They also have local markets, shows and at the end of each day there is a huge beer garden with a local band. It was a stinker of a day and made the beer taste even better. I had the Weisbeer and Nat tried the coke/beer mix, which didn't taste all that bad. It was a fun night with some music that Nat could enjoy this time.<br />
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<h4>
8th June - Nordlingen Camperplaats, Germany</h4>
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We drove on further down the romantic street through Dinkelsbuhl which also had a historical festival. There was a huge street parade again and the town was packed, we walked around the cute town, had some grub and headed back to BB. Another stinker of a day as we headed towards Nordlingen, we found some shade in the car park for BB and headed into the town for a quick look around. Not much happening here so we headed back to BB and relaxed. <br />
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<h4>
9th to 11th June - Augsburg Camping, Germany</h4>
We headed off and quickly checked out Donauworth which was also pretty dead (public holiday) so we continued onto the caravan park. <br />
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There was a large lake right near by which was definitely welcome with the hot weather, it was about the time I was on my second beer for the day when I received an interesting phone call by my ex-boss in Dubai with a possible opportunity. An opportunity that I thought I would have missed because of the holiday, so long story short, after several phone calls and emails I agreed a start date of 2nd July!!!<br />
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We ended up extending our stay here to utilise the Wi-Fi and sort out the job stuff, we also had to reorganise the rest of our trip and decide the best route for the next month. Stopping the trip in BB by two weeks and missing the cruise is a little sucky but I'm also looking forward to the job opportunity and getting back into it. <br />
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<h4>
12th June - Weil D. Stadt Camperplaats, Germany</h4>
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We finally managed to leave the campsite and drove off towards Fussen to check out the Schloss Neuschwanstein which turned into a drive by. Would have liked to actually gone up and check it out. <br />
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We stopped over in Fussen for a bite to eat and walk around then headed to Heidelburg. We didn't make it all the way there as we tried to find some BB supplies at various camper places, we ended up finding a small place for the night. <br />
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<h4>
13th to 14th June - Heidelburg, Germany</h4>
We made it to the camping place along the river, set up BB and enjoyed the surroundings. The next day we caught the bus into Heidelburg and did what we did best and checked out the town and castle, bought some souvenirs, had an enormous schnitzel and a few beers. <br />
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<h4>
15th June - Cochem Camperplaats, Germany</h4>
We arrived in Cochem after a short drive along the Mosel. Looks pretty similar to the Donau in the Wachau Valley but on a larger scale. Cochem's a nice town with cobblestoned streets and cute buildings. We walked up to the castle to check out the view, walked back down and had a drink along the river. <br />
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<h4>
16th June - Bernkastel-Keus, Camperplaats, Germany</h4>
After finding one of the many camperplaatsen along the river we took it easy in BB for a bit before riding into town to watch the Germany vs Portugal world cup match. The Germans were all very happy with the 4-1 win.<br />
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<h4>
17th June - Scweich, Germany</h4>
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After a quick cup of tea in Bernkastel (and a visit to the post office to fix a HSBC stuff up) we headed towards Scweich, on the way Natty was starting to feel a little dizzy and nauseous and we thought it was from the tea we had (sometimes I get nauseous after a tea). However she seemed to get worse and worse and just as we arrived at the caravan park.......she took advantage of one of the conveniences of having a toilet in your car and "power chucked" twice, which are Nat's words. </div>
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Needless to say Nat wasn't doing much for the rest of the day but came good later that night. </div>
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<h4>
18th June - Trier, Germany</h4>
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Nat was feeling a little better today but still not 100% right, we drove to Trier which is meant to be the oldest town in Germany, apparently. We parked up BB in a big camperplaats and walked along the river to the town centre. Looked like a larger version of all the ones we had just visited but still had a nice feel. We took some photos, bought some bread and headed back to BB. (how many times have we said that!)</div>
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Spent the rest of the day watching the world cup soccer (Australia vs Netherlands, soo close damn it!!!!!!) and again relaxing and contemplating that we have only a week left in BB.... insert sad face.</div>
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And that is that for Germany (for this trip), its a little unfortunate that we had to rush the end of our Germany leg but still happy with what we have seen. Tomorrow we head to Belgium on our way to the Netherlands for our final week in BB!!!!!!!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14968777237654833083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8226631682943449830.post-59487185200265472092014-08-08T03:50:00.000-07:002014-08-08T03:50:56.721-07:00Czech Beerepublic, Hitlers hideout and a cold Top Gear afternoon<br />
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<h4>
11th May - Camping Sokol, Prague, Czech Republic</h4>
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As expected it was a bit of a slow morning and we were glad the drive was not a long one, it was an interesting one however. We decided to take the toll road and weren't quite sure about the vignette (payed toll roads) so kind of just kept driving, kept driving kind of knowing that you need a sticker on your windshield, kept driving despite seeing the sign and interpreting it to suit us.....<br />
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Sure enough a cop van pulls in front of us and after a while a little electronic sign illuminates in their back window instructing us to follow them and pull over. It took about 10min of Natty fluttering her eye lids and pleading with them that it was an honest mistake (which it kind of was...sort of...maybe) and they eventually let us go without paying the fine but instructed to buy the ticket at the next petrol station. <br />
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So Nat buttoned her top back up and we took off to find the petrol station which didn't have any. We were told to go to the shopping mall down the road and sure enough as we arrived we parked right next to the same police men. They either thought we ignored them and went to do some shopping or they knew we were purchasing it in the mall. After I explained they said we could find it inside no problem. As we pulled in we had a crazy man directing us into the car park then showing me some piece of paper with scribble stating "meah....meah.." (I still don't know what he was on about) then another Czech man came up to me and only asked how much BB cost and walked off, so all in all a pretty weird afternoon.<br />
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We made it to the campsite and Nat researched the "to do's" in Prague and I did....nothing.<br />
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<h4>
12th to 13th May - Camping Sokol, Prague, Czech Republic</h4>
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It didn't take long for both Nat and I to fall in love with Prague. The weather was great, the atmosphere electric and we loved the general feel of the place. Its said that Prague is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe and we would have to agree. <br />
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We checked out the Old Town square, Wenceslas Square, the Jewish quarter, Letna beer garden with no beer but a great view of the city. We also saw Prague castle (Prazky Hrad) which is the top destination in Prague but I think we enjoyed the city more. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Changing of the guard at the castle</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All of a sudden I want to exercise</td></tr>
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During the two days we sampled many beers at various breweries and bars. The first stop was the Prague beer museum which was really just a pub but with loads of beers on tap. I had a beer sampler and Nat had a girly beer. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before</td></tr>
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We then went to Pivovarsky Klub (micro brewery) for lunch and they had 240 beers available. Nat had the Svickova with knedliky which is meat with sauce, cream and dunplings (4 euros) and I had a pork knuckle with sour kraut and dumplings (9 euros). It was all damn tasty and extremely good value. It was a tram ride out of the tourist area and a popular place for the well informed and the locals. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some Aussie beers in there as well</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After</td></tr>
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We also checked out the Staropramer brewery for some home brews and lunch the next day followed by another microbrewery, U Fleku, for a "vegemite beer", well actually the only beer you could buy from this place which was a dark beer. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What you see is what you get and nothing more</td></tr>
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We then went to the Pivovarsky Dum for some more beer tasting including a banana beer and fruit dumplings....... I think that's it for the two days.<br />
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Oh and some more beer back at the caravan park where I watched the Czech Vs Canada ice hockey match (world championships)<br />
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No wonder the Czech has had the highest beer consumption per capita for the last 20 years.<br />
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A city definitely on the "could visit again" list.<br />
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Number of times beer was mentioned above = 16, new blog record<br />
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<h4>
14th to 15th May - Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic</h4>
Time to leave Prague and check out what the rest of Czech has to offer. It turns out there is a lot more than we thought. We spoke to someone in the tourist office whilst in Prague and gave us a good idea of our travel path. First stop...........you guessed it another Castle!!!!! <br />
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Karlstejn Castle in the valley of the Berounka River. Built by the Bhomian King and Roman Emperor Charles IV as a place to store royal treasures...apparently. The towers weren't open for tours during the week (makes sense) and the other tours were of rooms that I have seen a hundred times so we looked around where we could and continued on our way, much the delight of Natty.<br />
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We headed towards Plzen, the birth place of the modern Pilsner beer and the beer capital of the Czech Republic. I took the tour around the brewery of the famous Pilsner Urquell while Nat entertained herself in BB. Before the tour we had a drink in the enormous beer hall and I bought a bar mat to add to my collection.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beer tasting</td></tr>
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The tour was good, nothing really that different to what I have seen before. At the end we got to have a beer from the barrel before the filtering and all that which was cool. <br />
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We continued the drive towards Karlovy Vary, the sun was out and with the blue sky it was pretty picturesque. We found a small campsite (looked like someone's back yard) with a nice gentlemen that let us in after hours. Only 12 euros and a short walk from the city so it was a good deal.<br />
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The town was really nice (used in one of the bond movies) although the sun struggled to shine like the day before when we arrived.<br />
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We walked around for a while and then grabbed our bathers ready for a spa....a spa that turned out to just be a public pool with 30% natural spring water at about 30% the heat it should have been. Not quite what we had in mind but still relaxing none the less. So after about 45 minutes and watching a very large hairy man having back sex with the water jet in one of the spa's we decided it was time to head off.<br />
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The change rooms were interesting, as I was having a shower in the open showers, as expected in change rooms, a female staff member decides to walk through and squeegee/mop the floors. Without a care in the world there she is conducting her business as nude men are washing, walking and more awkwardly bending over all around her, gotta love Europe!<br />
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<h4>
16th May - Strakonice, Czech Republic</h4>
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We took the scenic route from Karlovy Vary towards Strakonice which included a couple of u turns on small bumpy roads but the scenery was pretty good<br />
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Nat had some flash backs having been here 22 years ago which is something Nat isn't liking by the way. Not the fact that it was 22 years ago but the fact that she can now actually remember things 22 years ago. Its all downhill from here.<br />
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We drove into the campsite that she and her parents had been at and remembered it like it was yesterday. We were the only ones there, i'm still not convinced they were technically open but they let us in. We walked along the river into the town and then relaxed back at BB and enjoyed the sound of the rain and some free wifi.<br />
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<h4>
17th to 18th May - Freilessing Camperplaats, Germany (Salzburg visit)</h4>
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I woke up in the morning feeling a little off so it was a slow start as we headed off towards Ceske Budejovice where we checked out the main square. <br />
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The place was absolutely dead with most of the shops shut and there wasn't a whole lot to see. So we did what comes naturally and found the local brewery and had a beer and some lunch. Sure enough the beer helped the cold and we had some good grub. Another popular place for both tourists and locals it seems.<br />
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After lunch we headed to Cesky Krumlov, which I must say is one of my favourite city names so far! Especially when Nat says it, she sounds like a sexy Russian. We couldn't find the camper place so parked BB up where we could and walked into town. A really cool little town and set up beautifully for tourists with little shops and cafes everywhere and a river that surrounds the centre. The castle was elevated and we walked up the tower to check out the view. <br />
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Having already ticked off two towns we still had some time left in the day and decided to continue our drive towards Salzburg. We didn't get there till about 9pm but found a free spot just over the border into Germany. Having grown up in Australia I still find it awesome that I can stay in Germany whilst visiting a city in Austria.<br />
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The weather forecast wasn't great but the next day we had sunshine all day. Salzburg was pretty with some nice looking buildings and an "old school" feel to it. We actually drove BB into the city and parked on the street which was pretty easy and free on Sundays. We saw Mozart's birth place, which we then realised we had driven past in BB before looking for a park, ha...seen it twice now.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mozart's House</td></tr>
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We walked around some more, had some lunch and headed to the trick fountain at the Hellbrun Palace. Basically a garden with all sorts of water "tricks" aimed to entertain and wet the surprised guests of the Prince-Archbishop of Sulzburg. More money well spent by the upper class.</div>
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<span style="color: black;">After a short tour we visited the palace which nearly put me to sleep, enough said. One highlight was Nat seeing the gazebo from the Sound of Music. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"I am 16 going on 17..."</td></tr>
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We drove back to the campsite and decided to park in the car park over the road which had more space. We parked up and noticed three van/cars with Bulgarian plates, the guys were moving a huge stack of tyres from one vehicle to another .......<br />
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Now I don't dare make any assumptions and upset anyone so they were probably just on a boys road trip and wanted to take extra provisions in case of a flat tyre. Of coarse with no hubs on the stack of tyres I assume they had all the correct tools. Or they may all be in the tyre business and are a small company that use unmarked vans and their loading dock is the car park. Anyway i'm sure it was all legal but we made extra sure our doors were locked and welded and we also rented a guard dog for the night.<br />
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<h4>
19th May - Obernau Camperplaats, Austria</h4>
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We were on our way to Hitlers Eagles Nest but when we enquired at the local tourist office we found out it was closed today, we later found out that it had been closed for the last couple of weeks due to the late snow fall they had. So we re-grouped and decided to check out Koningsee which is a small lake within the mountains. Nice area and again set up for tourists with souvenir shops and cafes everywhere. The clouds came over as soon as we finished the short walk to the lookout spot which was nice, that meant we needed an ice cream and headed back to BB.<br />
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Brenda cracked a fit and deserved a punch in the face but we found a rather nice camper place up in the mountains with a cracking view. Nat had a few words with a couple who decided to drive onto our pitch as we went to empty and fill the camper. We didn't leave anything to hold the spot but I guess a little rude of them. <br />
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<h4>
20 to 21st May - Birkenstrand, Wolfgangsee, Austria</h4>
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We drove just a short way to the car park for Eagles Nest which luckily was open today. I hopped on the bus while Nat stayed in BB for the duration, doing girly stuff. <br />
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You can only get there by bus and you can see why, pretty steep and once at the top there isn't a lot of space for parking. You walk through a tunnel and then up the lift to reach the building. The building is actually relatively small, well smaller than what I thought. There were tours and I managed to catch the end of one but you can pretty much see most of it anyway. Its actually a restaurant now so you need to use your imagination a bit. <br />
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Although it was cool to so see it, the view and the setting was almost the main reason for going up there. You could see a mile and there was still snow around which also gave it an awesome look.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back at it from a short walk through the snow</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from the base</td></tr>
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The structure was completely untouched during the heavy bombing of the area at the end of WWII. Some say because the Eagles Nest was thought to be a huge palace, they were not looking for something as small. During the bombing the Nazis also had young boys up there with smoke canisters to try and hide the structure. The tourist guide's father was one of those boys. Hitler only visited it about ten times so it wasn't a regular hangout with the fellas. It was actually a gift for his 50th birthday (and an extension of an existing mountain retreat) and is located in Germany but with a view of his home land Austria. <br />
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After the nest we drove to Wolfgangsee and again followed Brenda's directions, again taking the wrong turn and again wanting to smash Brenda in the face. We finally made it and it was quite nice, we chilled and Nat got some sun. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On our way to the camp site</td></tr>
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<td class="xl65" height="19" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px black; height: 14.4pt; width: 243pt;" width="324"><h4>
22nd May - Lend,
Camperplaats, Austria</h4>
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On our way to the ice caves</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The steep detour to Bad Aussie</td></tr>
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Today was the ice caves, the Eis Reisenwelt. The drive up to the car park was probably the steepest drive we have done with a slope over 22%. I got in a little bit of a pickle on one very steep hairpin and was stuck in first heading up a particularly steep climb, but BB made it. </div>
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Then it was time for our legs to get out of first gear, with a short steep climb to the cable car, the cable car ride, then another steep 20min walk up to the caves themselves. Something that wasn't in the brochure, by the time we got the top I was so hot all I wanted to do was walk into a big freezer...</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cave at the top left is the entrance</td></tr>
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And then we did, the tour took 90min through the caves which are meant to be the largest in the world. There were ice formations and sheets of ice everywhere, the tour guide would place a light behind or at the base of particular ice formations with a resulting glow throughout the ice, it was really cool. The entrance to the cave is actually sealed off with a door and when the door is opened there's a huge wind, that can reach up to 100km per hour, due to the temperature difference of the air inside and outside the cave. </div>
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We couldn't take any photos and even if we could it would be pretty difficult, by the end of the tour I started to get "hawkes lips" and our hands were freezing. The 90min duration I think was just about right. </div>
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We then headed to the camperplaats which was actually someones farm, again the view was awesome. </div>
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
23rd to 24th May - Nattersee, Innsbruck, Austria</h4>
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Today it was time to drive the Grossglockner alpine pass, Top Gear style. Well a slower and fatter style of Top Gear. The weather looked good from where we started and at the base of the pass, however someone didn't tell the rest of the team and we drove into winter. It was still an awesome drive and cool to see it in its winter clothes but also definitely something we will do again, in a smaller car, during the peak summer. </div>
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BB did pretty well, at one time on the way down we stopped for a break and could smell the brakes (and also see it smoking!!), so we extended the break a little more to make sure we could stop in future, pretty logical really. It wasn't necessarily the slope of the road, which averaged about 10%, but the length of it with no let up. There were minimal flat bits (obviously) so even in low gear the brakes got a work out.</div>
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After the drive we headed towards Innsbruck and drove pretty much in sun shine, damn it! It was about a 3 hour drive with nice scenery all the way. </div>
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We parked up at the campsite and chilled.</div>
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The next day we caught the bus into the city and checked it out. Nice city with mountains in the background and an upbeat atmosphere. Nat's dad once owned a jewellery store here but we couldn't locate the exact position. We had a drink along the river and took it easy for the rest of the day.</div>
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So that is that for Austria for now, definitely in the top 3 countries we have visited thus far and definitely on our 'to return" list. The list that appears to be longer than this blog by the way.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14968777237654833083noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8226631682943449830.post-10124719325510100492014-06-22T12:00:00.000-07:002014-06-22T12:00:07.035-07:00Germany Pt 1 & Stalag IVB<br />
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<h4>
5th to 7th May - Reisemobilisation, Berlin, Germany</h4>
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Somehow we managed an "early" rise in the morning and had a cuppa with the travelling family before setting off onto Berlin. The drive seemed to take for ever with Brenda sending us down various streets as we tried to find a camping spot close to the city. We actually ended up driving right through the city and right through Checkpoint Charlie. BB really has seen everything now!<br />
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We finally found a good place that was walking distance into the city and opted for a quite night in preparation for a big next day.<br />
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And what a big day it was, we walked from the camping spot down the main street and towards the Brandenburg Gate and headed to the information place to make sure we had our list of sights correct. The list that Michelle gave us the night before (thanks Michelle!!) was pretty spot on. We checked out the Reichstag and Holocaust Memorial before walking through the Potsdamer Platz. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Holocaust Memorial</td></tr>
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We then checked out Checkpoint Charlie (the checkpoint between East and West) where we visited the black box museum and learnt a bit more about the Berlin Wall and post war Germany. I found it really interesting. It was great to finally know the full story, for however long I can remember it for!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A section of the wall which we found on the way with an awesome display of the full Nazi party story</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Checkpoint Charlie</td></tr>
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After lunch we walked to the banks of the Spree in Friedrichshain where the longest section of the wall is still standing.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On our way</td></tr>
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After this fairly long walk we opted to catch the train back into the centre where we then checked out the GDR Museum (German Democratic Republic). This again was interesting but aimed at a younger audience with many interactive displays. As a result it was packed with school kids and was difficult to experience it fully.<br />
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After about 10 hours of sight seeing we decided to head home via another section of the Berlin wall which was actually close to the campsite. The campsite itself is situated where the wall once stood. <br />
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The next day we checked out the shopping district, had a schnitzel and then onto the Schloss Charlottenburg.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just a break between breakfast and lunch</td></tr>
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One thing that really stood out was the graffiti, it was absolutely everywhere. In some cases it looked good, in other cases like on restaurant walls, park benches and even the bloody kerb, it didn't. From doing a little research it looks like its a problem that they are actively addressing. In 2008 there were over 15,000 graffiti charges with people "visiting" the city to try and make a name for themselves. Cops are dressing up as graffiti artists themselves to catch the youths who are dressed up like construction workers along the railway tracks. <br />
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Another thing that stood out was the city appears to be recovering well from the financial crisis, there are cranes absolutely everywhere!! You can see government spending as well as private projects. <br />
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I think you can spend a week with all the museums and attractions if you are into that but we'd seen enough after two days and needed to get moving and check out Potsdam tomorrow.<br />
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<h4>
8th May - Potsdam Camperplaats, Germany</h4>
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On the way to Potsdam we (Nat) wanted to stop at an outlet mall just outside of Berlin. Instead of walking away with a shirt or a pair of pants we walked away with a set of Silit pots and pans that Nat has had her eye on. Just what we need for the remaining 3 month trip in BB, what with all the spare room and all.<br />
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We made it to Potsdam and found a free spot for the night, it was dark and rainy so we stayed in and would check out the town tomorrow.<br />
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<h4>
9th May - Meissen Camperplaats, Germany</h4>
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We headed off and checked out the sights. We walked through a parkland with old palace type buildings scattered through it from the Prussian era. Its at this point that I should tell Nat the parking for BB that day was actually 10 euros and not the 4 euros we thought it would be. If I had said it at the time the parking machine may not have survived. Pretty stupid that you cant pay for only 2 hours, although I don't know how we missed that. Cant wait for English signs!<br />
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So it was now time to push on to Dresden but I had an important mission to accomplish before we got there. My Dad and Uncles confirmed the name of the POW camp that Doug (my grandpa) was held during WWII, which I wanted to visit, Stalag IVB.<br />
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The first step was to find the memorial for the soldier's who died whilst in the camp. This was easy enough to find as we just followed the signs to the cemetery in the local town of Neuburxdorf which is situated between Bad Liebenwerda and Muhlberg. A small cemetery but with a dedicated section for the soldiers. Many of the soldiers had been removed from this site and taken to their home country and only a few remain which can be seen in the photo below.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Both sides of the path used to be packed with crosses until they moved the bodies</td></tr>
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Now it was time to find the camp location. I really didn't have a clue where it was and the address I had was actually the local museum in Muhlberg, which of coarse was closed. Just when I thought all hope was lost Nat says "I saw a sign on the main road that I think says Stalag IVB". After a heated exchange of "why didn't you say anything" "well I don't know what your doing I thought you knew where you were going!" we headed back and sure enough we took the turn off down a gravel road (there was a proper road right from the memorial to the site we later found out) and drove up to the location of the camp. (coordinates: <span jsl="$x 3;">51°26'45.1"N 13°16'59.9"E</span><span jsl="$x 3;">)</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Overall location</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camp location (location of the main clearing shown a few photos below)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Approaching the campsite, the forest in the far distance is the camp location</td></tr>
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The camp is now more or less a forest with only some minor remains, there was another cemetery there as well but not sure what ties it has with the camp. <br />
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The camp was close to the rail network hence its location and was one of the largest POW camps in Germany. I tried to take some photos to give an idea....<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shows the 7 layers of fencing and the selected electrified layer</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Overall plan</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Location for the next photo</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Only the foundations are left</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There was a large clearing with only the foundations of the buildings left over</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As above</td></tr>
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There were many signs with lots of information about the camp but it was all in German. I took a photo of them all and one day will have them translated. I also found a peaceful spot in amongst the trees and left what remained of Doug's ashes. Although this was not a happy time for him, it was none the less a time that he would never forget and perhaps even contributed in shaping him into the great man he was. I also think he would like to see what was a place of captivity is now actually a really quiet and peaceful place. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">VLD has the last laugh</td></tr>
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Once I finished exploring the area we headed direction Dresden and ended up staying the night in Meissen along the Elb river.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our spot</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our view</td></tr>
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<h4>
10th May - Dresden Camperplaats, Germany</h4>
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We surprised ourselves today and managed to get up and arrive in Dresden around 10ish, which is good for us. We found some parking for the night and walked into the town.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We thought this was pretty cool</td></tr>
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We found a local market thing in one of the squares and soaked up the atmosphere. We plan on getting on it tonight in town so we headed back to BB to begin the warm up drinks and put on our dancing shoes. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nat drinking a "girly" beer</td></tr>
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We headed back to the market that we found and had a beer but they were winding down and the band had finished. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The market at night</td></tr>
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We found a funky South African bar around the corner, then the Aussie "Ayres Rock Bar" and then stumbled onto a night club just across the street. After a very odd discussion with the door girls about having to pay to give them our jackets, we then asked "do we have to" to which they replied "well no but it gets hot". We said for the price of two drinks we would keep wearing our jackets and with a look of what can only be described as disappointment, frustration and "f&$ck you then" she took our cash to get into the place and told us to go on in.<br />
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When we first walked in we were the youngest by about 30 years but as the night went on it filled with a good mixed crowd. We saw a tall mean German have some altercation with a little German dude who had no idea why she was screaming at him 1 inch from his face. Nat was asked to dance by a friendly German guy who was in town to watch a footy match with his mate. He even asked me if it was alright, you don't get that down under! <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nat mid hip thrust</td></tr>
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Nat danced her little heart out in her new shoes "that she had to have" and now has a huge blister that "she knew she would get". It was a fun night and we stumbled home just before 2am.<br />
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Tomorrow we head to Czech Republic, and not for the first time we enter a new country with a self induced headache.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14968777237654833083noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8226631682943449830.post-5869845160716442172014-06-10T12:52:00.002-07:002014-06-10T12:52:43.501-07:00East meets west?<br />
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<h4>
27th April - Borova Sihot Camping, Liptovsky Hradok, Slovakia</h4>
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So its goodbye to Austria for now and on to the more eastern of the western Europe countries again. It was a quick drive along the freeway into Bratislava which is also set along the Danube river. Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia (and use to be the capital of the Kingdom of Hungary) however quite small.<br />
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We found some parking along the river and checked out the old town which took us about 1 1/2 hours and before you know it we were in BB having lunch. It was a nice little town with quite a few bars and restaurants considering the size. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Smallest tour bus we have seen so far</td></tr>
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We checked out the castle on the hill which gave us a view of the town.<br />
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After receiving some advice from the tourist place on possible places within Slovakia we again headed for the freeway and ended up at Liptovsky Hradok. It was a three hour drive with some really nice scenery and an amazing number of Kamakazi bugs. Felt like we were driving through the plague with bugs smashing into the windscreen and into poor old BB's forehead. It was quite something. The windscreen looked like BB was parked in the Collingwood's cheer squad carpark with Carlton flags on him, looked like massive lugies everywhere!<br />
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The caravan park is nice with the adjacent river and surrounded my mountains full of trees. We were close to the Tatra mountains. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our spot</td></tr>
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The toilets/bathrooms though were interesting. They were situated in the basement which of coarse had automatic lighting that lasted about 2 min. Once they shut off it was pitch black, I mean you cant see your hand in front of you. I had to finish my business using the light from the mobile to stop me from groping the walls to find my way around. Then onto the showers with the same problem, automatic lighting that gave you enough time to undress, hop in the shower, wash your pinky toe and hop out. Even then I think you would still be getting dressed in the dark. <br />
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This was however due to the location of the only private cubical which was too far from the sensor. If I chose to shower in the open, gym locker room type, showers with the chance of sharing my washing routine with a hairy Slovak then I may have been ok. This intimate moment could have then been enhanced with perhaps a nude chit chat and cup of coffee at the provided garden table and chairs in the shower room as well. <br />
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So it looked like a quick shower in the only private cubical in the dark was my best option, and yes as it turns out no one entered the room so at one point there was a shivering naked aussie hurtling across the room waving his arms trying to get the lights back on so I could at least put my clothes on the correct way around. Thank god I didn't slip and knock myself out to be found slumped over the garden chair.<br />
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<h4>
28th to 29th April, Camping Harenda, Zalopane, Poland</h4>
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The intention today was to check out as much of Slovakia as we could before heading just over the border into Poland. There was a Spis Castle in Spisske Podhradie which is apparently one of Slovakia's main attractions.<br />
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Some driving shots for the day...<br />
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Bit of a rainy day but we were lucky to see some sunshine once we reached the castle and we walked up to check it out. Nice setting with a view of the small town and distant areas from the top. This location would be as far east as we would go on this trip (about 180km drive to the Ukraine border).<br />
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On the drive we started to notice the difference in the way people looked and immediately said it was ...more...eastern. Not with the intention of labelling someone purely because of where they come from but they did have a certain look that was hard to describe. They looked...... hard, like they have been through a dryer a few times, in the end we decided it was also the shape of the head, it was more square with sunken features, probably make good rugby players.<br />
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After lunch we headed towards Kezmarok to check out the wooden churches (which are another Slovakian and Poland tourist attraction). On the way we stopped in a little town called Levoca, to check out the largest wooden Gothic altar in the world. Ordinarily this wouldn't mean much to me but having been in many churches throughout the trip I thought it would be worth the stop. It was the church of St Jacobs and the alter was 18.6m high with of coarse scaffolding in front of it!! But you could still get the idea, it was big. <br />
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We drove through some terrible weather and reached Kezmarok to check out the wooden church, we first had to hibernate in the Lidl carpark until it eased and then went to check out the church. Which of coarse was closed on Mondays and actually only opened two days a week, something they could have put in the brochure.<br />
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After a semi irritating day we drove into Poland through the rain and the base of the Tatra mountains which would have been a nice drive if not for the rain. We checked into the caravan park with the intention on seeing Lake Morskie Oko (AKA lake yoko ono until we could remember the actual name) the next day which would take most of the day. <br />
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<strong>Lake Morskie Oko</strong><br />
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The next day we hoped on the bus into the centre of town to find a ride to the lake, it was about a 45min bus ride up to the carpark and then we walked from there to the lake. The recommended time to walk up there was 2 hours and 25min. Not for Nat and Ben though, we set a quick pace and were up there (and back) in an hour and a half each way, not bad for 18kms.<br />
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Once we arrived we took some snaps of the lake, which to our surprise was still partly frozen over, and then started the walk around the lake which was highly recommended. We are glad we did! It was like a winter wonderland, well for travellers who are following the sun anyway. The track around the lake was covered in snow and with the ice on the lake and trees up the mountain it was really really pretty.<br />
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Once on the opposite side of the lake there is another steep climb up to a smaller lake that again everyone recommended. Unfortunately the path was mostly covered in snow and ice and not suitable for everyone. Luckily I had my waterproof shoes because most of the climb was through snow. It was a tough climb for an unfit traveller like myself but the view from the top was well worth it. The lake itself was just a smaller version of the bigger one but the view of lake Morskie Oko was awesome.<br />
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Some people had abandoned the climb with the possibility of rain coming and also seeing other people struggle the decent, one poor girl was in tears coming down. Nat was watching from the base which lead to some interesting text messages.<br />
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Nat: "U can see people from here that are sliding up and down the path. Be careful"<br />
Nat: " "I can see you. Its starting to rain. Is it smart to keep going up?"<br />
Ben: "Nearly there" <em>I had plenty of time to write back as I stopped on many occasions to catch my breath and my lungs as they leaped out of me and also take some progress shots</em><br />
Nat: "U r not. Ur only halfway, just be careful"<br />
Ben: "made it!"<br />
Nat: "I saw. Come down. i'm watching avalanches. Not good...." <em>Not really what I wanted to hear </em><br />
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The ride down was fun too, just put one foot out and sit on the other one and slide until you can stop yourself on a rock or a tree. The plan worked well however stabilising yourself using your bare hands on the snow turned the initial cry of "yipppeeeeeee" to "yipppeeeeee....ah...ahhh..ahhhhhhhhhhhh f&%$k that hurts!" My hands were still tingly on the walk back to the car park.<br />
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We rewarded ourselves for the big day with a cheese burger on the way home, on the same day my sister was being waterboarded by her boot camp instructor as part of her "hell week"and rewarded herself with some celery with an oxygen dip but there you go. I like my system better.<br />
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One thing I must say (and Nat agrees) is that the Polish ladies are quite attractive, well the ones we saw were anyway. The rumours are true, although I wouldn't get caught looking too long cause they are usually accompanied by a scary, buff, shaven head bloke.<br />
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<h4>
30th April to 1st May - Camping Clepardia, Krakow, Poland</h4>
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Another beautiful drive from Zakopane into Krakow although the entrance in and through Krakow wasn't so nice. As the long weekend was approaching we managed to get caught up in the traffic as everyone was leaving for the day. We then wondered if the town would be dead on a public holiday but it was packed.<br />
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The next day we took the bus into the city, we bought the bus tickets from the driver and sat down. We then see three plane clothed "bus police" hop on the bus and they started to check the tickets. As soon as I saw them I knew that we were meant to validate it right away but for some reason we didn't this time. The mean looking dude said in broken English that we should have validated the ticket, which we then apologised and said we will do it now. But that wasn't satisfactory for this guy who then called over another meat head who could speak a little better English. He then repeated what the guy said and we again said "well we can validate it now". He then asked where we were from and that we would have to pay a fine. I then stated that I'm not paying a fine, the bus driver saw us take the tickets and sit down, this is our first day in Poland......"it says there in English" the skin head says.<br />
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Which was true, on some poster behind the crowd at the bottom in small writing (although it also says it on the back of the ticket he he he). He then suggests to get the police involved! Nat and I just sat there and said fine but we bought the ticket and didn't think we had to do anything with it. Eventually, with the thought of more trouble than its worth (for a 1euro ticket) he validated the tickets and they hopped off at the next station. If this is the security for bus tickets I don't want to be breaking any laws here that's for sure.<br />
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After our brush with the law we checked out the town and it was absolutely packed with locals and tourists. It was nice to see actually. There were some markets and stalls at the base of the castle and we tried some sour kraut and kebabs. We also checked the old Jewish part of the town but wasn't overly interesting.<br />
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We then headed for the bus, and again it was annoying. We were told the cost for the bus ticket by the caravan site and although we paid more for the trip on the way in (we thought the bus driver made a mistake) we had just enough cash. Once on the bus the driver insisted it was the next grade up and we fell an agonising 80 Zloti cents short for the bus ticket but he wouldn't budge and told us there was a ticket machine at the next station, so we hopped off and walked to the next station to then find out it didn't accept large notes and the credit card wasn't working. So we had to purchase a mars bar and a coke, for about 1 euro equivalent, got some change and finally made it home.<br />
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<h4>
2nd May - Osweicim (Auschwitz parking), Poland</h4>
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We tried to get up early and head off for Auschwitz but it didn't really happen. We took to the secondary roads and were restricted to 50 and 70km/hour which further delayed our arrival. We made it eventually and saw the HUGE line up. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our spot, the weather suiting the occasion</td></tr>
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Apparently between 10am and about 3pm you cant go into the Auschwitz camp without a guide. We decided to wait until 3pm, walk through (for free by the way) and check it out and then do the tour first thing in the morning to avoid the line up which worked pretty well in the end. <br />
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We have heard of the Auschwitz concentration camp but there are some interesting facts that we learnt from both the tour we did and our own walk through the next day. <em>(This might be a bit long for those who are not interested but I need to document so I can remember later on)</em><br />
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Auschwitz is the German name for the town Osweicim, where the concentration camps were located. The camp location was chosen due to its railway network (for ease of transportation), its relatively obscurity to the rest of the world and the existing army barracks which could be used and renovated for the new camp. <br />
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The Auschwitz camp actually refers to three different camps in the one area. Auschwitz 1,2 and 3. Auschwitz 1 was the first camp originally built for 10,000 men. At its conception it was not an extermination camp but a prison for polish political prisoners, as the war raged on it was used for all "Enemies of the state". It received its first prisoners on June 14, 1940. The number of prisoners swelled to almost 20,000 by 1942 and hence the requirement for a larger camp. <br />
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Many prisoners were shot, hung or starved to death in Auschwitz I, they then experimented with Cyclone B (used in the camp to kill vermon) on 600 POWs and 250 of the sick from camp hospital. They needed to find a method that was quick and "less bloody",they found it and used it in the larger gas chambers of Birkenau. They did build a "small" temporary gas chamber at Auschwitz I to I think further perfect the method, it was not used once that larger Birkenau was built.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The wall (reconstructed) where many executions took place before the gas technique was used. The first gassing was in the building to the right which they called the "death block"</td></tr>
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In some of the exhibitions you got to see certain belongings of the prisoners such as suitcases, glasses, prayer rugs, shoes, cooking pots and pans. You also saw piles of hair that the Germans used to make cloth and clothing and empty Cyclone B canisters (used for gassing). All eye popping to say the least.<br />
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In 1941 construction of Auschwitz II Birkenau (and Auschwitz III which is the smallest of the two) commenced with the purpose of mass extermination which was in full swing in 1942. Auschwitz II - Birkenau is only about 3km from the main camp and about 20 times bigger with over 300 buildings. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the watch tower at the entrance of the camp</td></tr>
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The number of prisoners grew to 100,000 in August 1944. We got to see the accommodation buildings and the sanitary block. A cool story about the resistance involved the cleaners of the sanitary block (literally scooping the waste from the "seats" into buckets) as the SS commanders and officers would not touch them or be near them (fear of catching something) and they wouldn't supervise the sanitary block so they were pretty much on their own which allowed them to receive and deliver information between prisoners.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Female living quarters, the guide asked which layer would be best to sleep. The Answer is the top, although you may get the water from the rain, you don't get the <span style="background-color: white;">faeces</span> from the people above dripping on you. Their diets were very poor and food such as their morning soup was made with a mix of faeces which of course made everyone very ill.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The amenities block, the concrete "toilets" are literally just hollow containers that require emptying</td></tr>
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The tour guide was great and had some stories that we didn't pick up from the day before. The Jews (and other prisoners) were told that they could start a new life here and so they brought pots and pans to cook and timber to build their houses. As soon as they got off the train (which travelled right into the Birkeanu camp) they were told to drop all their belongings and the healthy went to one side for work and the sick, old and young went to the other side for extermination. Around 80% were exterminated and had no clue until they were locked in the gas chamber. It was unbelievable to be standing on the platform that we have seen in so many photos. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Typical cart used for transport, some journeys were for days on end. Some mothers smothered their child to death cause they new they would not survive the trip. Many adults also perished before they arrived.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In between the platforms looking back at the entrance</td></tr>
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They were told they were going for bath and asked to strip naked but to keep their shoes together with their clothes and use the hooks so they could easily get them when they got out. Once naked the officers left the room and they were gassed. The crazy thing we learnt was that the SS employed certain prisoners to work for them, called Capo from the "special detachment" group. Basically Jews that had to comfort their fellow man into the gas chambers and then drag the bodies into the crematoria, sometimes their family members all with the knowledge that they will face the same fate the next week. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the remains of the gas chambers, entrance to the left and the main room in the middle of the picture. </td></tr>
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Before the crematoria's were used, they used to burn the bodies in the open air (due to the stench and smoke they opted for the crematoria to further conceal and protect the secret) which is why they told the Jews to bring timber, they used it to stack on top of the bodies when burning it. They used the ashes for agricultural purposes as well.<br />
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The tour guide got angry at one tourist for smiling when getting a photo taken, I guess its not really the place for a smile. We even saw one lady take a selfi in front of the camp which we thought was kind of odd.<br />
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All in all nearly 6 million Jews were murdered during the war (just under 3 million were from Poland with the next biggest being Holland with just over 1 million) and over 1.3 million jews, poles, gypsies, soviet prisoners and other prisoners were deported to this site and 1.1 million were killed, 90% of these were Jews. <br />
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"<em>Unknowingly I was a cog in the wheel of the great extermination machine created by the Third Reich. The machine has been smashed to pieces, the engine broken and I, too, must now be destroyed. The world demands it"</em><br />
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<em>"..But whenever use is made of what I have written, I beg that all those passages relating to my wife and my family, and all my tender emotions and secret doubts, shall not be made public. Let the public continue to regard me as the blood-thirsty beast, the cruel sadist and the mass murderer; for the masses could never imagine the commandant of Auschwitz in any other light. They could never understand that he, too, had a heart and that he was not evil"</em><br />
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<em>Rudolf Hoess - Commandant of Auschwitz. </em>(Taken from his autobiography I purchased at the site)<br />
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<h4>
3rd to 4th May - Camping Olimpijska, Wroclaw, Poland</h4>
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I don't think Poland got the message that it was spring, it was damn cold last night. I had a clingy koala on my back for most of the night.<br />
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We made our way to Wroclaw, which is sort of pronounced "<em>vrotzlav", </em>it wasn't all that big and didn't take us long to park up BB and check out the town. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our spot</td></tr>
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The main square was really nice and similar to Krakow. We walked through the island of churches, had some sushi (recommended on trip advisor) and then headed back to BB where we would meed Dave and Michelle.<br />
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When the travelling family arrived Dave and I went to check out the speedway which is apparently big here in Poland. Nats dad actually went to a similar event when he was travelling last year. What looks like a football match, sounds like a football match isn't necessarily a football match. Although you wouldn't know it with security checks at every door (security that you don't mess with by the way), fans with supporter shirts and flags and singing their songs across to the rival fans, who of coarse are allocated a caged section far removed from the home team. You know your approaching the East when the common form of crowd control is this......<br />
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We then headed back to BB to find the girls on their merry way to a merry night, had some awesome grub (prepared by the one and only Michelle) and had another fun night in Frosty. We'll miss these little catch ups with only one more planned catch up to go.<br />
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The toilets in the camp site were interesting, I think some of the gang chose for a bush toilet instead of going in as it looked like a scene out of the latest Saw movie. Add some flickering light with the faint buzzing sound, some old doctors utensils and a trail of blood and you've got yourself a thriller. As Dave pointed out, it was something about the hat rack....<br />
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Tomorrow we would head to Berlin and finally start to explore Germany. I think if I was to stay here any longer I would be forced to shave my head, look scary and head to the gym.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14968777237654833083noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8226631682943449830.post-71323326284893173722014-05-02T00:36:00.000-07:002014-05-02T00:36:25.675-07:00The travelling family and Wachau Valley<br />
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<h4>
16th April - Free Camping, Lake Balaton, Hungary</h4>
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Today we joined Michelle and Dave to check out a fun park for the kids in Maribor (Slovenia) but it was closed, so we headed into the centre of Maribor to check out the city in our first convoy with the travelling family.....it turned out to also be one of the last convoy efforts.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Convoy!!</td></tr>
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The first car park was unsuccessful (and a bus depot), the second the spot was no good and after u-turns, sudden manoeuvres and us leading the convoy past the nice motor way onto the small B roads (thanks Brenda) it was decided that we would set the final destination and each party would make it there on their own, which worked out pretty well. <br />
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So off we went towards Hungary, or should I say <span lang="hu"><i>Magyarország,</i></span> with the first stop being Heviz, which is known to be a thermal spa town. Myself, Dave and the kids enjoyed the natural spa while Michelle pampered herself and Nat checked out the town (to research ice cream prices - 50 cents apparently). <br />
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The natural spa, as it turns out, was also a popular healing clinic used for people who are suffering from certain illnesses. Needless to say our mood was quiet different to theirs and it felt kind of odd to be walking through the clinic, on a holiday, in your boardies, through what actually looked like a hospital in some areas with different wings and rooms off to one side with a big smile on your face ready for a nice relaxing dip. In saying that there were loads of tourists so I'm sure the patients were used to it. <br />
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The natural springs were not all that hot until you were inside where the warmer waters from below were localised in the one area. The depth of the thermal spring went to 30m apparently. After the swim we headed along lake Balaton in search for a free spot with the possible option for a fire. <br />
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We left this up to the professionals, Dave and Michelle, who would camp in a tree house if they could get Frosty up there. Wouldn't you know it, as we followed Dave he all of a sudden got a scent of a good spot and took a left turn up some random street. He found a small clearing with some bins, running water and you guessed it, a ready made fire pit. It was liked he knew it was there all along. Perfect site and exactly what we were looking for. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The spot with fire pit on the right</td></tr>
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The fire was lit, dinner was had but more importantly beers/wine was consumed and marshmallows were burnt, seared, roasted, grilled, rotisseried and demolished. Another great night with the whole travelling family and a special memory of the trip.<br />
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<h4>
17th to 18th April - Budapest, Hungary.</h4>
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Aahhhhhhh, nothing beats the smell of burnt wood on your clothes in the morning. After a furrowed brow from Nat when she saw my "little boy like" grubby clothes after my wood hunting, fire poking and what must of been some messy eating we headed off to Budapest towards the chosen campsite where we would meet up with Michelle and Dave. <br />
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We have been on some bad roads but the ones in Hungary are near the top, I almost needed a bra. We drove through some.....interesting.......places with .......interesting...people on the side of the road and began to miss Slovenia already. <br />
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After a few wrong turns we arrived at the campsite (met up with the family on the way) and we checked in and got settled. The campsite was an old train station with very friendly staff who gave us all a welcome drink when we arrived. We decided to have some typical Hungarian Goulash at the camp ground (highly recommended by the owners of coarse) which was pretty good. <br />
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Next day we caught the bus into Budapest and began to explore the city. The city is divided into two halves by the Danube river with one side being the "Buda" area and the other the "Pest". Almost like the new town and old town but there was a mix on both sides. <br />
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We checked out the Mathias church and we all (except Nat) went and visited the "rock hospital". This was a cool attraction and consisted of a hospital that was built in existing caves. The hospital was used during the second world war and the revolution and was also improved during the cold war amid possible nuclear attacks. One cool story was the method in filling the fuel tanks for the generators, they would have secret pipes that lead up to the street and into certain flower beds. As the story goes the "water" tanker would stop there often to water the plants (and fill the fuel tanks), it is said that these flowers were the best looking in the city!!<br />
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After this we ventured towards the central markets for lunch but ended up having it at a nice out door restaurant along the main shopping street. After lunch we checked out the central markets and then went on the mission for ice cream. <br />
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The family were keen to head home so we parted ways and Nat and I walked to the City Park to check out Hero's Square and Vajdahunyad Castle. It was a long walk and we wondered if it was going to be worth it but to our delight it was the start of the Easter festival so there was music, beer, sausages, huge sausages, enormous sausages and the sausage I had. There were all kinds of stalls also. We were even treated to some "Greece Lighting" in Hungarian.<br />
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We caught the metro back to the centre and were lucky enough to find the "Tram No. 2" which is said to be one of the most beautiful tram rides around......it was ok. Perhaps in the light of day it would have been better.<br />
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<h4>
19th April - Free Camping, Behind Gasthoff (Guest house) in Siederfeld, Austria</h4>
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The whole travelling family left the campsite and headed towards the Memento Park, which had some cool statues from the communist dictatorship era. Not quite what I was expecting but still kind of cool none the less. <br />
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We left Michelle and Dave for the day as we continued on through Hungary and along the river Danube and towards the Danube bend. We drove to Szentendre and then Estergom which is just on the Slovakian border. <br />
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Szententre is a small medieval town, where we had yet another ice cream, with some nice buildings and streets with cafes etc.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Szentendre - main street</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">100% made from marzipan</td></tr>
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We drove along the Danube Bend and were glad we did as it kind of lifted our opinion of Hungary since our very first drive. We visited Ezstergom which has the 3rd largest Basilica/church in Europe. It was pretty bloody big. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's me in front of the column</td></tr>
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The best view of the Basilica was from the bridge which linked Slovakia and Hungary. With me being me I had to then cross the bridge, set my foot on solid Slovakian ground and walk back, just cause.<br />
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We then started the drive back which ended up being south of Vienna to meet up with Michelle and Dave who had an awesome home cooked meal waiting for us. On the drive over we were a little concerned that perhaps they wanted to spend Easter alone with the kids and at the same time they were concerned because they "were making us" drive all the way back into Austria for Easter, so at the same time we both wanted the same thing!! It was then time for great food, more beer and of course more chocolate.<br />
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<h4>
20th April - Free parking in outer Vienna, Austria</h4>
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I managed to buy some Easter eggs in Slovenia and hid them in the garage of BB, so this morning I gave widdle naddy a widdle easter egg hunt just as she likes it. The interior of BB is great for hiding eggs but I also made her go outside to hunt as well. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The hunt!</td></tr>
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We then joined in with the rest of the group for the egg hunt and Michelle even gave Nat and I a bag to join in. I could see Nat get very excited and perhaps a little "white line" fever was kicking in so I warned her that the hunt was for the little ones and no hip and shoulders please. I actually think I ended up with more in the end!!<br />
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After the hunt it was bacon and eggs and then off to the city for the day. We found the free spot, hopped on the bus and then metro and headed into town. Vienna is a really nice city with beautiful buildings and lots of people.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The free spot</td></tr>
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Nat and I managed to secure some tickets to the dancing horses and then we headed to the Easter markets that boasted 40,000 decorated eggs. <br />
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Shortly after our much deserved beer we all decided to head home for some R&R and Nats spag bol. Its always great when you ask people to join you for dinner and then ask for them to bring a pot and some extra pasta so their own kids won't starve. <br />
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
21st April - Free parking in Krems, Austria</h4>
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Today we all headed towards Klosterneuburg which is a short drive from Vienna. Well its a short drive if you ignore your stupid GPS and take the main roads and not go through the centre of Vienna, thank god it was Easter Monday.</div>
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We walked around the little town, had some lunch and said our good byes to the family as this was where we parted ways. We would hopefully see them again soon though, even if its just for BB and Frosty's sake.<br />
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We headed off along the Danube and towards the Wachau Valley, we found a free spot in the suburbs to empty and refill and then decided to press on towards Krems for the night. We found a street along the river and it ended up being an early night.<br />
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22nd April - Danau Camping, Austria</h4>
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The camp site was just down the road from where we were so we checked in early, received some much needed power and walked into Krems. Nice town with cobble stone roads and pretty buildings all with different colours. We walked up as high as we could to try and get a nice view of the town and the river and ended up in some ones vineyards, not quite the view I had in mind so the search is still on.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nat's favourite street in Krems</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not the view I wanted but still nice</td></tr>
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After some lunch and washing at BB we took the bikes and rode into Durnstein. A really cute little town about 8km away. It was a good thing this region of Austria is known for its apricots and not tree bark because otherwise we would have bought 30 euros worth of tree bark products. It was the first store we came to and for some reason everything we tasted was awesome and we had to get it. We ended up with chocolate coated apricots, apricot liqueur, apricot juice and apricot gummy lollies. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W8KVIMpkiu4/U2KqyRUu_JI/AAAAAAAACEI/A0jiwdNPUls/s1600/DSC_0002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Approaching Durnstein</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The apricot shop</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our apricot products<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The town from the other side of the river (taken the next day)</td></tr>
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That night we looked at the map and realised that there is a lot to see in the region and we may not have enough time given that we had to be back in Vienna by the 26th for the Horse show. There are several towns all along the river, world heritage walking trails and the Melk Abbey. I decided that I wanted to do two walks of about 17km each over the next few days which should give us time to get back to Vienna.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of the Stift (he he) from the campsite</td></tr>
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<h4>
23rd April - Free Parking in Gusthoff Plaika, Erlauf, Austria</h4>
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So with a big 17km walk and some questionable weather forecasted we set off early for a spot to park BB no longer than 15min did we decide that due to the sunny weather (which we really wanted for Aussichtswartre, highest lookout point in the region) we would drive up to the Stift and then quickly make our way along the river towards the look out point. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What's wrong with crocs and socks?</td></tr>
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The Stift Gotteig looked better from the campsite we were at and since we were going to go inside the larger Melk Abbey we left soon after we arrived and headed towards Spitz. In true Nat and Ben Style we drove through Spitz in record time (no easy park for BB) and headed towards our camping spot so we could do the climb up to the look out. We decided to take the scenic route once we past Spitz and began to climb quite steeply. Before you knew it we were driving past the car park that was only about a 20min walk to the lookout, again worried that the weather would turn we decided to park up BB and "hike" for 20min to the lookout. Thus completing our two days of walking within the first half of the first day!<br />
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Jauerling park is really nice and the lookout was cool, although a little overcast and hazy and not quite the view I was after so the hunt was still on. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the lookout</td></tr>
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There was also another look out point, which was about a 40min walk from the lookout tower, which was meant to have a café with outdoor seating. So we took off in anticipation to find that it was closed for another week. However the view was what I was looking for.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finally, the view I wanted</td></tr>
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We then headed down the mountain towards Melk and still had some time in the day to check it out. To our delight the whole town was being pulled up and re-done (or so it seamed) which kind of took the gloss away from a pretty city. We decided to check out the Abbey which is meant to be one of the main draw cards here and it was actually pretty good. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YWyFSjeX1SM/U2NB5BuSLDI/AAAAAAAACKc/na8r8EOJEc0/s1600/DSC_1046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YWyFSjeX1SM/U2NB5BuSLDI/AAAAAAAACKc/na8r8EOJEc0/s1600/DSC_1046.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ah, lovely Melk</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Melk Abbey (driving shot unfortunately)</td></tr>
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Since 1089, Benedictine monks have continually been living and working in Melk Abbey. The monastery is responsible for 23 parishes and the Abbey school is a secondary school with over 900 pupils. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All the little rooms were presented as nice as this</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The library (sneaky shot)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Creepy</td></tr>
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Afterwards we had a drink in the street that wasn't torn up and enjoyed some good WIFI. We contemplated the fact that we had done three days of planned sightseeing in one day. The only conclusion we came to was DON'T GET UP SO BLOODY EARLY! <br />
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We then headed off to another gasthoff for a shnitty and a beer. With the deal being you don't pay for the parking provided you buy dinner.<br />
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<h4>
24th April - Free camping in Krems, Austria</h4>
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Having completed the three days of sightseeing in one day yesterday we had some time to check out Krems a little more and then Vienna the day after.<br />
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Bit of a nothing day although once again we managed to buy another 30 euros of apricot products from the Bailoni distillery. We parked BB in the same spot as our first day, went for a jog and were rewarded by getting drenched in the storm. <br />
<h4>
25th April - Free park in Kritzendorf, outer Vienna, Austria</h4>
Having walked through some of Vienna a few days earlier we tried to focus our time on some different areas. We caught the train (which was literally 90 paces from BB) into the city and began our own walking tour. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our spot near the station</td></tr>
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Nat had written down some cafes and markets that she had read about and we managed to find the food market in the south west corner of the city. Loads of stalls, cafes and restaurants. We bought some various goodies and stopped at a wine bar for some refuelling.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Huge barrel of Sauerkraut and Pickles</td></tr>
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We then continued the walking tour through the city. The next refuelling stop was the famous Sacher Hotel café for some Sacher Torte and apple strudel (also on Nats list), fully satisfied we then headed towards the Aussie bar for a few ANZAC day beers. <br />
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After more refuelling we headed to the so called "Bermuda Triangle" area which is meant to be full of pubs and clubs but it was pretty dead. We found a restaurant and had some grub for tea which left us wondering if Macas would have been a better option.<br />
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When we arrived in the morning with BB we were delighted to see the train station so close, at 5am however we were not so delighted. My God, any nice dream I was having about Jessica Alba was soon interrupted by a thunderous goods train at 5am and then several passenger trains soon after. Looks like my date with Jessica will have to wait.<br />
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So the next day was my Horsey day, the famous Lippizan Stallions showing there stuff in a tradition that has been going for over 400 years. They perform in one of the wings of the Hofburg Palace which in itself was a really nice building. <br />
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The show itself was pretty cool although they could have compressed the 70min show into probably 30min. Nat's favourite move was the "dancing on the spot" move, which they did a lot. It was kind of odd seeing the horses doing such controlled movements. "I want to break free!!" is all I could think of. <br />
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Sometimes they looked like they were enjoying it, like a kid when they are skipping, other times it sometimes looked like they wanted to break free and go nuts or just walk properly, it almost looked unnatural but I guess that's the beauty of it and shows the immense training and control required by the riders. They also did some cool jumps and things as well. <br />
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I'm glad we went and also glad we were only able to get standing tickets as anything more may have been too much cash for what it was, but that's from me who is not a horse dancing enthusiast. <br />
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It was a little drizzly when we left the show so we sought some cover and found a café and waited for the sun which eventually started to break free. We hopped on the metro out towards the Schonbrunn Palace. <br />
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We were planning to head towards Bratislava (Slovakia) tonight but come 5pm when we got back to BB we opted to stay the night and start tomorrow fresh after another 5am wake up call by the trains. <br />
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Its obvious to see why Austria is one of the big boys with the holiday makers, its closely creeping up towards Slovenia in our rankings and we will recommence our Austria experience in a few weeks.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14968777237654833083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8226631682943449830.post-30712760003928596522014-04-17T08:42:00.001-07:002014-04-17T08:42:54.490-07:00I FEEL sLOVEnia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">I FEEL</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">S<span style="color: red;">LOVE</span>NIA </span><span style="font-size: small;">is the clever marketing campaign they have on all the tourist brochures and signs around the country and both Natty and I really do love this place. Slovenia has surged to one of our favourite countries on the trip so far and it started immediately on our first day. </span></div>
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They are very much into the environment and sustainable development and you can see why when you drive through the country. Since I knew nothing of this country some of the info I read was quite interesting (and if I don't write it down I will forget), so....... some interesting <em>Green</em> facts that we have learnt:</div>
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<li>Slovenia is the most forested country in Europe with 58% of its surface is covered in green forests and thus every year they plant areas with 1.2million tree seedlings to contribute sustainability to the preservation of the forests</li>
<li>36% of Slovenia's surface area falls within protected zones</li>
<li>Slovenia has the oldest grape vine in the world, a more than 400 year old black velvet!!!!!!</li>
<li>Slovenia has some of the cleanest water in Europe (and one of the most water rich countries in Europe) with little to no treatment required, it was once sent to Rome and used as medicine</li>
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With a population of only just over 2 million, all the cities are fairly small and all very pretty. Driving on some of the non toll roads was a little "white knuckle" but because the roads are not overly busy it really wasn't too much of an issue. </div>
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Anywho, on with the show..</div>
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9th to 11th April - Bled, Slovenia</h4>
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The plan was to head for a camperplaats on a lake just outside of Tarvisio (Italy) which is near Fusine in Valromana. To do this we actually cut through the top of Slovenia and then back into the very north west part of Italy. It was on this drive where we both fell in love with Slovenia and its scenery. </div>
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Our Italy stop was in the mountains and through some stubborn snow (well ice mainly but for now we will say snow) and it was actually law to have snow tyres for another week. However all the roads were clear so we weren't fussed. The roads were very tight and the other drivers didn't really slow down when passing. One British couple were hooning down around a tight bend and despite me slowing down and moving over as far as I could he still clipped my mirror on the way past. Lucky there was no damage to the mirror and we just pushed it back out and kept on trucking, BB is tough.</div>
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We eventually made it Tarvisio and we decided to have our last Italian meal before we leave Italy. I of coarse had a pizza and Nat the risotto. </div>
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After lunch we headed towards the lake and through some awesome countryside, at one point we actually drove through the ruins of a small castle. It was all very nice and green with some snow on the sides, we admired the view and decided to move on.</div>
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Our next stop was Bled in Slovenia which was really nice, we were some what relieved to end up there as we had again travelled through some very small roads causing some drivers to have to back up and move out of the way, and so they should as we are bigger. We set up camp and checked out the lake which included a beer and the famous Bled cream cake. </div>
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The next day we walked around the lake and through Bled which was on the other side. We must have taken a hundred photos which were all pretty much of the same thing. Still hard to capture it all with a photo but we certainly gave it a shot!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bled castle on the left</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Assumption of Mary Pilgrimage Church on the Island</td></tr>
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We noticed a campervan, a few pitches away, with some Aussie flag stickers on it and struck up a conversation with them at about 5pm. Well that conversation, with a small half time break for dinner, ended after midnight with the main source of energy coming from the bottles of wine and good company!!</div>
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Dave and Michelle, with their son James and daughter Abbie, are also travelling for a year around Europe in their campervan, which they call "Frosty". Frosty and BB became good friends and at one stage Frosty, jokingly of course, called BB a feminine looking camper with a small fridge. To which BB replied "at least I don't have a big head and a large trunk", oh how they laughed through the night. BB laughed so hard one time windscreen cleaning fluid sprayed out. They also compared horror stories like when Frostie's arse had bottomed out and when BB nearly had is ears ripped off by a passing truck. They both love their owners but at certain times wonder what the hell they are doing. </div>
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The second day we also had a few drinks after dinner (so we weren't just a part of their 30 day challenge, cool!! <em>sorry inside joke folks</em>) and although there was an attempt to have an earlier night, some how it ended up going later than the night before. Since we had known them for at least 24 hours, we decided to talk about poo poo and wee wee and certain tactics when using the toilet. So you can gather the gist of most of the conversation, very funny. Michelle summed it up well, "they are our kind of people". We hope to catch up with them later on too, I know BB will be happy. </div>
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<h4>
12th April - Ljubjana, Slovenia</h4>
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In the morning, despite the headache, we walked up to the look-out point just near the campsite for yet another great view of the lake and the island (thanks Dave for the tip!). </div>
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We then said our goodbyes to Dave, Michelle and the kids and took to the road to the capital of Slovenia, Ljubjana. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So Green!!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The joys of driving photography</td></tr>
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We checked into the campsite and rode the bikes into the city. It is quite small but really pretty with a river flowing through it and cafes and restaurants on either side. We took the cable car up to the castle and walked around and then headed for a drink to see out the small thunder storm before we rode back. </div>
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Showering was interesting that night as we had to go to the nearby sports centre to use their showers. We walked into the room with our crocs and towels and received an odd look from the two massive gym goers who were having their protein shakes and admiring themselves. We were directed down to the basement and eventually found the showers with no doors or curtains or anything. Thank god there was no one else in there that's all I can say. </div>
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<h4>
13th April - Dolenjske Toplice Camper Plaats, Slovenia</h4>
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Today was a big day and something I have been looking forward to for a long time. We finally get to go to the Postojna caves which are located in the town of Postojna. </div>
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The caves are more than 20km long and consist of three levels with a flowing river on the bottom level. During heavy rain the second level can also fill with water. These caves were formed by these rivers many millions of years ago. 5.3 km of the cave are open to the public making it the longest publicly accessible depth of any cave system in the world and has seen over 30million visitors since it was open to the public.</div>
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You take a 10-15min train ride into the cave and then a tour guide takes you the rest of the way. Your not meant to take photos until the very last "concert hall" but I managed a few on the way.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the formations, Nat immediately said it looked like an ice cream</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Concert Hall - 10,000 capacity for events</td></tr>
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As we were walking through the caves, all the lights went out and it was absolutely pitch black. At the same time the group of young girls in front of us all screamed at the top of their lungs like they were being attacked. Now I know what a stun grenade would feel like. Loss of vision, hearing and orientation all at once. I have never heard anything so loud. Later they actually all sang in the concert hall and sounded quite good. </div>
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After the caves we checked out the Predjama Castle which is ranked amongst the most fascinating castles in the world as it is built in front of a cave. It is one of the best preserved "cave" castles in Europe. </div>
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The Castle itself was cool with various rooms, many with open sections and not sealed so would be bloody cold in the winter. The best bit however was the passages into the cave itself. Inside the cave there are two other stairs up and out of the cave (not accessible) but were perhaps possible escape routes. The nature of the setting and surrounding made it very difficult to attack and had resisted a year long siege at one stage. </div>
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After the visit we went to find a place to stay for the night and headed towards Novo Mesto. Yet another beautiful drive through the country side and ended up at a 10 Euro camper place.</div>
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We met some fellow Germans and they invited us over for a drink by their fire, it was really nice. She was from East Germany and he was from West Germany so we also got a little bit of a history lesson, mainly because we were asking so many questions. They gave us some spots to check out whilst in Berlin also. </div>
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They live just near Koblenz and invited us to stay when we travel through there which we will probably try and tee up considering she makes her own alcohol and he makes his own bacon!</div>
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<h4>
14th to 15th April - Kekec Camping, Maribor, Slovenia</h4>
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On our way to Novo Mesto<br />
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We looked around Novo Mesto this morning, it wasn't overly interesting however. The whole town is surrounded by water and kind off looks nicer from the outside looking in. The streets didn't really focus on the water as a frontage, well not like we have been use to anyway. </div>
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We drove to Slovenska Konjice but again not really much to see and no need to even get out of BB, but we still enjoyed the scenery on the way.</div>
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We then headed to Maribor to check out the campsite, nice little site right near one of the many ski slopes which provided a cool background. Bit of a wet evening so we stayed in BB with Nat researching and me on the guitar.</div>
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The next day was a washing day, enough said. Although it was much better when Dave, Michelle and co rocked up in the afternoon which included a soccer match, some home cooked ratatouille, thanks to Michelle, and more booze and laughs.</div>
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And so this is the end to Slovenia (well until the short drive tomorrow to the border) and I can say that it will be very hard to top!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14968777237654833083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8226631682943449830.post-23619543336409547312014-04-11T08:27:00.001-07:002014-04-11T08:27:05.691-07:00Pizza, Gelato and the hunt for the lucky boob<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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20th March - San Remo, Italy</h4>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Time to leave baguettes, cheese and pastries and head for the land of carbs!! Italy here we come!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Wea havea only beena ina thea countrya fora aya shorta timea and cana alreadya speaka Itlaina.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We left fairly early and took the non-toll roads through Nice and Menton and<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> then over the border into Italy and the Italian Riviera. Pity we couldn’t stay in Menton because it looked like a really nice town with beautiful buildings and a long promenade with restaurants. The town square looked somewhat familiar to Nat, we think we may have bought an ice cream here last time we drove through in 2007. Nat’s ice cream memory never lets her down. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After a 2 1/4 hour drive along the coast with some great views we made it to San Remo. We parked up at the camper place and walked into town along the bike path. Pretty nice town with again beautiful buildings all around and then within the first half hour of being in town we had our first gelato for the trip. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No. 1 - Straight to the thighs</td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Sooooo goooood!!!! We had three flavours in a cone and Nat was prepared to leave me for an Italian and live here for ever. </span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We checked out the harbour and walked back through the streets to BB. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">21st to 22nd March – Diana Marino (Al Roseto Camperplaats), Italy</span></h4>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Arrived into Diana Marino after a fairly easy drive but then we had to find the camperplaats we wanted to stay in and brenda didn’t really have the right idea. Tried to take us through a 1.9h x 2.2w bridge which doesn’t work with BB. We headed down a narrow road, small bridges and finally found the flower farm with the campsite. Needless to say we weren’t turning back to look for another one. To Natty’s dissapointment none of the flowers were in bloom, didn’t really bother me to be honest.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We checked in with a friendly Italian lady and received two small cappuccino cups as a welcome gift, how nice. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our spot</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our welcome gift<br />
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We walked into town which was only about 800m from BB and walked along the esplanade. There was some regatta on at the time so a bit of activity in the area. We had a cuppa tea down the main street (which was served with two little biscuits and some other biscuits for free!!) and then headed back to BB. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My prediction once we leave Italy</td></tr>
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In the evening we walked back in again for dinner and a drink. We stopped at a small bistro for a drink and again we were served with a plate of peanuts, olives, small sandwiches and quiches. After the Portugal experience we figured we'd be charged for it but it was again all for free! Even on the second beer they wanted to bring out more food and were surprised that we hadn’t finished the first lot. We are starting to really enjoy this place!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All the food shown was for free!</td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">For dinner we found a small (hopefully typical) Italian restaurant and I had my first margarita pizza and Nat the lasagne, both really good. Then we indulged in a chocolate tart with ice cream.... we could have licked the plate it was soo good!! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The second day was a rain so we enjoyed the free wifi and chilled. </span></div>
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23rd March – San Rocco (near Portofino nature park), Italy</h4>
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Today we are heading north, direction Portofino. It was a sunny morning so a great day for driving. Headed to Albisola Marina, just above Savona to stay for the night. The parking was with a view out to sea. Unfortunately it started to rain so we had some lunch, a cup of tea and then I went out to watch the bike race that would have held us up anyway if we didn’t stop.</div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">After that it was time for a bit of rummikub and i'm NOT happy to report the result was 2-0 in favour of Nat. I need to add another 55 points to my ever growing tally.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me before getting flogged</td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We decided to keep on driving that arvo to the spot just outside of Portofino. It took us another hour along the coast, through Genova (which looked like a cool city) and some very small streets winding through the mountain to …a……..car park, but it was free and with brilliant views of the Italian Riviera we had just been driven along. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View just down the road from our spot</td></tr>
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24th to 26th March – Agricampeggio Cascina Gaggioli (farm just outside Milan), Italy<o:p></o:p> </h4>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We rose fairly early and followed some of the walking paths to some more stunning views of the coast. This was after laughing at the young couple touring in a small van who had to head into the woods to do a number 2, we love BB.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We really got lucky with clear blue skies again and enjoyed the views.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View whilst on the walk</td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Afterwards we parked BB up close to the view for lunch and then drove up the autoroute to Milan. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our view for lunch in BB</td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">This was much easier than the SS1 routes which we did yesterday (although still glad we did yesterday to up close in the small towns). I think we saved at least 2 hours of driving considering the mountains we had to get through. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">In the end it only took us 2 hours and had some more beautiful scenery and a changing scenery as the mountains gave way to more rolling hills with snow-capped mountains in the background. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We headed for a camperplaats which turns out to be a kind of farm only a 30min tram ride from the centre, Perfect! </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BB and friends</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The farm house</td></tr>
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<br /><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The next day was unfortunately a little overcast and cold but we headed in to check the out the city. It’s actually not an overly big city. The only things that we really looked at was the Duomo, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II (one of the worlds oldest shopping malls) and then some sort of castle turned museum and another arc de triumph. We sat and had some pizza's (No. 2) near the square and then just walked around. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II on the left and the Duomo di Milano on the right</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Duomo di Milano</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the shopping mall</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watching them get down is the funniest</td></tr>
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<br /><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Next day we went in again without the camera for a walk around. Had some lunch in a cafe by the uni and then we found all the shopping streets full of super expensive brands which we managed to avoid. Had a gelato (No. 2) and finally managed to get some wifi to check the possible cruise details (for the end of the trip) and then headed home. </span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
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27th to 30th March – Butterfly camping, Peschiera del Garda, Italy</h4>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Having seen Rome, Florence, Pisa, Cinque Terra in our last ‘express trip’, we decided this time to explore the north of Italy a little further and headed to Lago di Garda which is the largest lake in Italy. In our humble opinion we think this region is better than the Italian Riviera, perhaps we were caught up in the moment of it all though.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We drove for about 2.5 hours to Lago di Garda and found our butterfly camping site and set up BB, awning and all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The camping is set along the edge of the lake. We chilled for the day and rode our bikes for some food shopping and I made Nat a nice camomile and milk tea.... yummy.</span><br />
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The first full day we went for walk along the lake, the views across the lake are just stunning hence my opening paragraph.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We came back for some lunch and then explored the town a little bit, also very nice.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Second day we caught the bus to Bardolino and Lazise, two small towns along the lake (north along the eastern side). The sun was out again and even though the bus ride was a little uncomfortable, Nat car sick and me with booze sweats from the night before, we were certainly not disappointed once we got there. Beautiful little towns with lake frontage areas with small harbours and cafes/restaurants everywhere...plus more gelato which always puts a smile on Nat's face! (No. 3) </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We walked along the water front at Bardolino and found a camping that is right on the water. We then immediately decided that we would drive up here and stay to soak up the serenity. <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><br /><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Third day was a bit of nothingness. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">31st March to 3rd April – Camping San Nicolo, Bardolino, Italy</span></h4>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We had to get some more food before we headed to Bardolino. It was only a short 20min drive up the road to reach the camping we found the other day and we managed to get the perfect spot along the water. The weather is nice and warm again, about 20 c so we just hung out and enjoyed the view and cooked up some patties for hamburgers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Next day we went for a walk along the coast and then stopped back into Bardolino for an ice cream (No. 4). We went into a store to check some pants for Nat and we stumbled on some possible shoes for me. So after lunch we went back to the store and sure enough I walked away with two paris of shoes and Nat also bought a pair of the “had to have them” kind.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Day three we caught the boat all the way to Riva del Garda (the northern most city on the lake), the boat stopped along both sides of the lake, we stopped at Portese, Salo, Gardone, Maderno, Brenzone, Malcisine, Limone and eventually Riva 4 hours later! Limone and Salo looked nice from the boat, might have to check them next time we are here. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><br /><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Riva was nice, we enjoyed some lunch (Pizza No. 3) and had a quick walk around the town and then headed back to BB on the bus for just over an hour. It was a long day out but an enjoyable one. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">4th to 5th April – Camper plaats, Verona, Italy</span></h4>
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<br /><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Verona, the town of romance. Well apparently if you believe that Romeo and Juliet were real. The camper place was just out of town, about a 15 minute walk from the centre square. We first had some lunch in BB and then headed in. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Nat was still getting over the flue so we had an ice cream (No. 5) to help with her throat. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No. 5</td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Nice town with all beautiful buildings in what is now familiar to us as Italian style, all coloured with different warm colours. The square is quite large with another roman arena (still used for opera shows) and lots of restaurants around the perimeter of the square. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The main square</td></tr>
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You then follow the main street, full of shops to another square which was also very nice with water features and various statues. We were, of course, on the hunt for the lucky boob but didn’t find it today and headed back to BB to regroup and get ready for the hunt tomorrow. <o:p></o:p><br />
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Natty crashed almost as soon as we went home and had a good 14 hours in bed until we headed off the next day. After translating the info with the new cold and flu tablets she had bought it turns out they cause drowsiness.... more like a coma as it turns out! <br />
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It was kind of a rainy day so we headed off into town for a quick hunt for the "lucky boob" and some lunch. We finally found the lucky boob which was located in the ‘court yard’ type thing of Juliets residence which also had the famous balcony. The court yard had all sorts of love messages on the wall, a chewing gum wall, a pad lock wall, all meant to bring good luck for love. <br /><br /></div>
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<br /> But perhaps the best ‘good luck’ charm was to rub the right breast of the bronze statue of Juliet. Nat and I are covered.<br /></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We found it!! and I rubbed it good!!</td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We found a nice kind of modern restaurant away from the square which had shelves of different wines from different regions in Italy. It looked pretty cool. Nat ordered some typical Verona risotto, with meat and I had the carbonara with pig cheek bacon. Both were excellent and pretty decently priced at only 10 euro each.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More food</td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">After that we went back to BB and had a round of rumikub. I am now happy to report that I won and in one game clawed back a whopping 73 points, oohh yeah. So after my 3 recent losses I was 80 behind and now looking at overtaking very soon. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span></span><h4 class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">6th to 7th April – Camping Rialto, Venezia, Italy</span></h4>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Time to check out Venice again. Today we found a campsite and enjoyed the sun, I can nearly juggle with 4 balls now, mum’s so proud of me!</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">I got stuck into my book (I know, me reading again, crazy) and Nat nearly had to read but got a phone call from her dad so she was saved. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The next day it was a big day out in Venice. Caught the bus in from the camping and spent from 11 till 4.30 walking around getting lost. Bit the same as last time except it was a nice warm and sunny 22c and packed out with tourists. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Italians have lovely legs</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My favourite view in Venice</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The main square</td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">8th April – Camper plaats, Cividale del Friuli, Italy</span></h4>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">This place is meant to be where the Italians go on gastronomic holidays, so we thought we'd better check it out. The Camper plaats was down a side street and walking distance to the town centre. It’s a small medieval town and falls under the unesco world heritage (we think). Nice town with cobbled stone streets and old buildings. Stopped at a cafe for some drinks after a visit to the tourism office who recommended a restaurant for authentic food from the region so we are off later to give it a go. Well we were until my head started to look like Mr Potato Head, my ears were sooo read they looked burnt and my stomach was queezy, so unfortunately we stayed in for the night and Nats Sweet ravioli will have to wait.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">So it was only a short time in Italy and we were fortunate enough to have seen a lot in our last trip that we don’t feel we are missing out on too much this time around. However we could easily spend many more weeks in this region and we have already labelled the lake district in the north of Italy as a definite return trip at a later date. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Soa itsa ciao fora nowa! </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14968777237654833083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8226631682943449830.post-87142762627656924092014-03-30T07:46:00.000-07:002014-03-30T07:46:22.911-07:00Breaking out of hibernation<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">14th - 16th February – Villasoy
Camping, Benidorm - Spain<o:p></o:p></span></h4>
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Benidorm! During our travels through the UK and parts of
Spain and Portugal (when the satellite picked up the signal) we were “lucky”
enough to watch an English comedy show called Benidorm. Basically showing the
English behaving badly in all matter of sticky situations usually involving
booze. We can now say that they are not far off at all. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rgbo4B4ksHk/Uy2kMBdBIcI/AAAAAAAABa8/VxR9jplU7QU/s1600/IMG_3395.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rgbo4B4ksHk/Uy2kMBdBIcI/AAAAAAAABa8/VxR9jplU7QU/s1600/IMG_3395.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Spot</td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This place is a crazy town full of old and young people out
to have a good time no matter what time of the year (although was a little
quiet this time of year). We arrived on Friday afternoon and managed to get a
camping within walking distance to town and beach. We booked the show at the Benidorm
palace for 8pm so we headed to the esplanade for a beer before we got ready. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The show was amazing! It started around 8.30 with dinner
and then the actual show started around 10pm. Very similar to the shows in
Paris, they had flamingo dancing, Irish dancing, some boobies naturally, a juggler
(ping pong balls out of his mouth) and an awesome laser light show. It was
pretty damn good. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After being cooped up in the Marjal camping for a few
weeks I perhaps celebrated the beginning of our next chapter of the trip a
little too hard and proceeded to get very very drunk. So after few beers, a few
bottles of red and that damn <span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;"><span style="background-color: white;">Bourbon</span></span>
I was apparently providing Nat with as much entertainment as the show. The only
reason I know this is because she was filming me for most of it. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Anywho, Nat escorted me home after I was going a few tired
nods at the table and tucked me in. It was still a good night even if we missed
the very end of the show….<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s5qefM-m1kU/Uy2j-ZQuHPI/AAAAAAAABa0/dgq7kGKbJJs/s1600/2014-02-14+20.46.15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s5qefM-m1kU/Uy2j-ZQuHPI/AAAAAAAABa0/dgq7kGKbJJs/s1600/2014-02-14+20.46.15.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Before</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CwrhvZAXBik/Uy2jNuoGwYI/AAAAAAAABak/R5K-_iiSypw/s1600/2014-02-14+23.47.33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CwrhvZAXBik/Uy2jNuoGwYI/AAAAAAAABak/R5K-_iiSypw/s1600/2014-02-14+23.47.33.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">During</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-elNjNWs9yPQ/Uy2kbUbqQyI/AAAAAAAABbE/7MpNygulKz8/s1600/IMG_3401.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-elNjNWs9yPQ/Uy2kbUbqQyI/AAAAAAAABbE/7MpNygulKz8/s1600/IMG_3401.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">After (apparently)</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The second day we headed to the beach and grabbed some lunch on the esplanade and enjoyed the sun. The group behind us last night was sitting on the table next to us. Apparently I was joking with them last night signalling that Nat was crazy but can’t really remember. We kept to the main beach for much of our stay but walked to the lookout to check <span style="background-color: white;">the second one out. In the process we saw the largest seagull in the world. They make ours look like </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;"><span style="background-color: white;">robins</span></span>.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Second beach</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_nO7e5SZ_F8/Uy2juVw6OII/AAAAAAAABas/1vVVDo0fIzY/s1600/DSC_0091.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_nO7e5SZ_F8/Uy2juVw6OII/AAAAAAAABas/1vVVDo0fIzY/s1600/DSC_0091.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rgbo4B4ksHk/Uy2kMBdBIcI/AAAAAAAABa8/VxR9jplU7QU/s1600/IMG_3395.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Main beach</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">That night we headed into town to try and find some bars
and clubs but was a little quiet. We had a couple of beers at the Aussie bar
and then stumbled into a Rock n Roll bar which had some live music. Full of
oldies but the music was alright until some guy was just standing up there
singing to a backing track, getting all emotional with the classics, not the
most entertaining but it was ok. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--u-YeGlct7U/Uy2kscXAvoI/AAAAAAAABbU/AlWX_X5U9iA/s1600/IMG_3404.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--u-YeGlct7U/Uy2kscXAvoI/AAAAAAAABbU/AlWX_X5U9iA/s1600/IMG_3404.JPG" height="320" width="239" /></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The next day we set out for a bit of a picnic on the beach……which
mainly contained ham wraps and <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a packet
of Doritos, we went all out. With the intention of sitting and relaxing for the
day, we lasted about 20 min, got restless and headed to the busiest bar for a “couple”
drinks and ended up staying there most of the day. It was enjoyable watching the
drunk brits. After the drinks we (Nat) didn’t really feel like cooking so we
headed out for some chinese (cheap and nasty but ok). </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--u-YeGlct7U/Uy2kscXAvoI/AAAAAAAABbU/AlWX_X5U9iA/s1600/IMG_3404.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We've decided to leave Benidorm after our 3 nights
otherwise we will just continue going out ruining our budget and liver. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">17th<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>-
20th February –<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Calpe, Spain<o:p></o:p></span></h4>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">On our way to Calpe we drove through Guadalest and Altea.
Guadalest is up in the mountains with an old castle. Small cosy town with some
great views. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aXkaPmI1gr0/Uy2nUZID-6I/AAAAAAAABbw/lODMJ-hJUGU/s1600/DSC_0108.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aXkaPmI1gr0/Uy2nUZID-6I/AAAAAAAABbw/lODMJ-hJUGU/s1600/DSC_0108.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">View from the town of Guadalest</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After we drove down through Altea where we wanted to stay
but the camping was packed out and not much in the way of free camping
available.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So we continued our drive to
Calpe and on the way to finding an actual camping place we found a pack of
campers parked on the street so we stayed there for the night. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uQWfN-Hkk74/Uy2ogHelvFI/AAAAAAAABcQ/xugX_1Yvytw/s1600/IMG_3425.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uQWfN-Hkk74/Uy2ogHelvFI/AAAAAAAABcQ/xugX_1Yvytw/s1600/IMG_3425.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;">Our free camping spot in Calpe</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After a bit of lunch we walked towards the Calpe harbour. Brought back lots of memories for Nat who had been there with the family for a few months many years ago. Now I could finally picture it. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
</span></span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Just by chance the fishing boats were coming in so we watched them unload all types of fish and then checked out the fish auction they had going in one of the buildings. Basically the fish travel through on the conveyor belt, the screen details the catch and shows a close up of them (all cleaned up) and the price starts counting down until someone, on their automatic remote control thing, presses the button. I imagine many or all of these are buying for restaurants and shops. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vyzKIimbId8/Uy2oHrJjW_I/AAAAAAAABcA/lTvVMF4jjgw/s1600/2014-02-17+16.38.40.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vyzKIimbId8/Uy2oHrJjW_I/AAAAAAAABcA/lTvVMF4jjgw/s1600/2014-02-17+16.38.40.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The Ifach</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xDtU0CYwEWE/Uy2oDeuCzqI/AAAAAAAABb4/cScro2OqHPk/s1600/2014-02-17+16.50.51.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xDtU0CYwEWE/Uy2oDeuCzqI/AAAAAAAABb4/cScro2OqHPk/s1600/2014-02-17+16.50.51.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Fish auction</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The next day we were intending on the climbing the Ifach but it was really overcast and some of the clouds looked pretty dark so we opted to wait till tomorrow. We checked into the campsite just up the road from the free parking and then headed into the town. We walked through the small streets and followed some tourist route through the town, Nat seemed to recognise a few of the streets and buildings. Some painted stairs and a 3d painted wall in particular. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Caravan Spot</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The next day we climbed the Ifach. We headed off about 11am from the camping and it already took us 30 min just to get to the bottom of the Ifach to start the climb. The first bit up until the tunnel was pretty easy going with a path but as soon as we got to the other side of the tunnel it was extremely rocky and close to the edge of a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">deathly fall</i>….ooooohhhhhh<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OTMVgq0WPj4/Uy2pBBV4usI/AAAAAAAABco/goG2tbK7pM0/s1600/IMG_3448.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OTMVgq0WPj4/Uy2pBBV4usI/AAAAAAAABco/goG2tbK7pM0/s1600/IMG_3448.JPG" height="320" width="239" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Tunnel before the climb</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> On the way up</span> </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Rf5FHeUPZFk/Uy2pyBIQBfI/AAAAAAAABdI/xAomXzNQCJ0/s1600/IMG_3469.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Rf5FHeUPZFk/Uy2pyBIQBfI/AAAAAAAABdI/xAomXzNQCJ0/s1600/IMG_3469.JPG" height="320" width="239" /></a><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Took us an hour in total to get up there and it wasn’t really too difficult but it was cool in some areas as there were no designated path and you had to climb up some rocks every now and again. So although you weren’t rock climbing you did feel like you were climbing the rock if you know what I mean. It felt good to reach the top, felt like we conquered something, until you see the oldies up there as well then you realise anyone can do it. Once at the top the view was amazing, the day had turned into a sunny one with blue skies and scattered clouds. Perfect really. (Luckily Ben listened to Nat and went today and not yesterday) <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The top was pretty smelly from way too much seagull poo and random homeless cats. There is nothing really up there for the cats expect tourists with their lunches I guess.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">View from the top</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After a bit of a rest we headed back down, testing the knees and drivers. There were so many seagulls on the Ifach with some very strange noises, in peak breeding season they say they can swoop and attack. The Ifach is actually part of a national park. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Al in all, it was a 2.5 hr trip up and down with 30min rest but then we still had to walk back to the camping. Considering the amount of ‘points’ earned we treated ourselves to a lunch on the esplanade. </span></span> </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GBzL8Olt45g/Uy2piGEq8vI/AAAAAAAABdA/Kw2pDgG9Lv8/s1600/IMG_3462.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GBzL8Olt45g/Uy2piGEq8vI/AAAAAAAABdA/Kw2pDgG9Lv8/s1600/IMG_3462.JPG" height="320" width="239" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">That's actually a grimace not a smile</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Don't know what that is...</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After finishing our clothes washing and emptied and filled
BB, we thought we would head down to the same free camping spot down the road
for the night. Weather was nice but Nat was feeling a little sick so we just
stayed in. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">21st February – Free camping, (near Valencia),
Spain<o:p></o:p></span></h4>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We arrived at a free camping spot by the beach, again a
bit of a nothing day which involved a nap and eating….pretty nice
actually.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nat was still feeling a little
sick too <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">22nd - 23rd February – Coll Vert
Camping, Valencia, Spain<o:p></o:p></span></h4>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After all the campers left the free camping spot early
this morning, we thought we'd better park BB up at a camping rather than leave
him by himself while we ventured into Valencia for the day. Arrived at the
camping around 10ish and then took the bikes into town. It was a nice ride
along the beach, all on bike lanes and then through a park way that went from
the coast right into and through the town. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Valencia spot</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There was a collection of nice architectural buildings (3d
cinema, museum, exhibition hall etc.) on the way into town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We checked out the square by the cathedral
and then walked towards the central market. Kind of similar to ours in Adelaide
so we left for some lunch. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The market</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Our first Paella's in Spain, apparently the paella’s dish
originates in this region. I went for the chicken mix and Nat had the authentic
one. Pretty nice but small for the cost. It did give us the energy to ride home
into head wind (which we also had on the away into the city??) <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The second day we stayed in BB and watched the Canadians
win the men’s ice hockey gold medal. We bumped into Steve who we'd met at Cabo
de gato after they arrived here this morning and caught up with them in the afternoon.
No nap today damn it!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">24th - 25th February – Spa Natura
Camping, Peniscola, Spain (Cataluna)<o:p></o:p></span></h4>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Short drive to Peniscola camping which Nat’s Dad had told
her about. Camping with a “heated” pool but shrank me to a peanut, although I
did enjoy going down the kids slide to Nat’s amusement. They had various farm animals
here, cool colourful parrots and random monkeys, donkeys and horses. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Working girl, we would have seen at least 6 to 8 in one drive</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Our spot</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Peniscola</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span> </div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">26th - 27th February – Artcava Winery
Near Villafranca, Spain (Catalunya)<o:p></o:p></span></h4>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Arrived at the winery (recommended by a friend of Nat’s
Dad yesterday) to be met by an older Spanish guy who couldn’t speak English. He
welcomed us in and after we told him we were Aussie he came out with a
didgeridoo. Very Random! </span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Our spot for a couple of nights</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The man took us into the winery and showed us his
collection of sand pretty much from all over the world including Bondi beach and
Uluru. We sort of got talking to him which was difficult considering the
language barrier. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The collection of sand</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">He broke out a bottle of cava for us to try and brought a younger guy in to chat who could luckily speak English. We got talking about Spain and various other things and he told us some interesting stuff about the history of Spain and how Catalunya is similar to the Basque land in that they want to separate from Spain (As they originally were a few hundred years ago). He said 25% of the government income from tax comes from the Catalunya region but they only spend 6% within Catalunya. They have their own prime minister and can decide a few things within the region but not how to spend their money.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">He said their customs are very different from the rest of Spain (we didn’t really see a huge difference mind you). On the 11th September this year, it will mark 300 years since they were their own country. Last year on the 11<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> September they formed a human chain along the full length of Catalunya, some 4 million people took part for a 400km chain, a world record. From the border with France down to just north of Valencia. You can see the Catalunya flags everywhere. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Anyway, 2 hours later we bought some cava and got back to bb, it was freezing. Luckily for us we'd just manage to fill up the gas so the heater went on!! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Trying some cava</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Not the first time Nat has had a couple of eager males at the door</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The next day we took a walk through the vineyards and then
decided to head to Montserrat which they said was a popular tourist
destination. We had no idea what this place was or what was at the top. We
drove through the hills and found the gondola station and parked BB. Nat was
still feeling a little sick so she was going to stay in BB while I hopped in
the gondola and checked it out</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">View from BB, didn't look like much up there</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I thought there would be a small café or something up there with an awesome view. It turns out to be a whole village on the top with hotels, schools, cafes shops etc. The train (very steep cable car type train) and bus both head up there and back. So I convinced Nat to leave BB and catch the gondola up and we looked around. Awesome views and a cool church dedicated to the Virgin Mary. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Once at the top, there are other trams that can take you further</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">At the entrance to the church, more photos bellow</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">That night we headed back to the winery for the night
ready to head to Barcelona the next day, when we rocked up the same old guy
greeted us and had no idea who we were.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">28th – 29th February – Villanova la
Geltru, Barcelona, Spain (Catalunya)<o:p></o:p></span></h4>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Barcelona, where do we start?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">BB resting in Barcellona</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">First day we caught the bus into Catalunya square and made
our way to the Sagrada Familia, the famous cathedral designed by Gaudi. This
was the one more cathedral/church that Nat was willing to go into and she was
not disappointed. It was amazing. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It has been under construction since <span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;"><span style="background-color: white;">1882</span></span> and it’s still not
finished. Apparently it relies on donations and the entry fees. It was also
slowed down due to the Spanish Civil War</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Sagrada Familia</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Windows everywhere made the inside much more bright than other cathedrals</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The inside looks like trees</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">We are in front of the façade that Gaudi saw finished</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">At the moment it has 6 towers but when finished it will have another 12, including at massive one in the middle. It will be amazing when finished which they say will be in 20 years. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <span style="color: red; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: black;">They are actually aiming for completion by 2026 to mark the centenary of
Gaudi’s death. </span></span></span>Gaudi's inspiration for many things was nature which you can see all through the interior. Each facade represented a different theme. The birth of Christ, death of Christ, passion etc. Guadi only saw one façade complete, “Birth of Christ” before he was killed by a tram at 76 years old. Poor bastard. He knew that he would never see the finished product and the work since his death is from his drawings and descriptions of his vision. After this, we caught the bus back home.</span></span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">1st – 2nd March – Catalonia Diagonal
Centro Hotel, Barcelona, Spain (Catalunya)<o:p></o:p></span></h4>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Today we got off to a late start but we've booked
ourselves into a hotel for 2 nights to enjoy Barcelona to its fullest. This not
only saved 2 hours of commuting every day but gave us a bit more freedom at
night as the last bus was at 8pm! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">To Nat’s delight the hotel was in the middle of the
shopping district, yee haa! Managed to find me a t-shirt and jumper and Nat
bought a colourful scarf from Desigual. We then headed back to the hotel for
our champagne for an early anniversary celebration in town. Dinner at Brown on
the shopping street and then down the ramblas for a night out. We caught the
metro and popped up in a place that wasn’t too happening, then walked through
the gothic area to a small pub for what we since realised were really cheap and
big sprit mixes for only 4 Euros. We then found some obscure rock/metal pub
with headphones throughout should you want to listen to the song. I was in
heaven!!! Especially since beers were 2 euro as well. Needless to say the
headphones stayed on most of the night.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">oohhh yeah</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">I think she was enjoying the song, seems to be in the moment</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After many hours (and Nat filming me again!) we made our
way home around 3.30am. Sunday was a complete right off, I haven’t seen Nat
like this for a while. Which was bizarre since she was drinking water at the
metal bar. We both think the enormous cheap vodkas and gins we had at that
place was the tipping point. It couldn't have been the number of drinks we had after that......</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Come 5pm we were feeling a little better so we headed out
for some lunch and then back to the hotel to get ready for the soccer. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">FC Barcelona vs Almeria in Camp Nou. Really good game
(although one sided), with 5 goals, one of them by Messi from a free kick
outside the penalty box. The atmosphere was awesome, although I think 20 to 25%
of the crowd would have been tourists. One of the highlights of the trip thus
far.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Camp Nou</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">3<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup> – 4<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> March – Villanova la Geltru,
Barcelona, Spain (Catalunya)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I finally get my “hop on hop off” bus tour. Got up at 9am
and didn’t get back to BB until 9pm that night. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We saw the sights of Barcelona including the Olympic area, gothic area, las ramblas, port vell (walked out of a restaurant for our second time ever because they hadn’t even noticed we were there) and to Park Guel which for 8 Euros each didn’t really give you any more access than the free areas. The park was originally going to be an English Garden style residential development but didn't take off, there are only a few buildings and structures but were all designed by Gaudi.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">At the end of the day I visited the Casa Batllo (also known as the house of bones) while Nat
grabbed our bags from the hotel. It was a house/apartment block designed by Guadi which is
evident from the outside and the inside. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Nothing in the building was "normal" or straight</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The next day we relaxed and got things ready for our
journey north, bring on the cheese and baguettes once again!!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">5<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> March – Carcassonne, France<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So the hibernation in Spain for the Winter had finished and it was
time to head north into France and then into Italy. The 3 months in Spain has
been good to us for the winter with only a few days of rain and with the
temperatures we are experiencing in France now, we seemed to have timed it perfectly.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We managed to wake up early today and leave by 9.30am to get
through the 'scary' route from Barcelona to France. Apparently this is bandit
country and many camper goers have been robbed. We usually don’t get sucked
into the hype but have heard many stories from people who have heard it from
the victims. One guy stopped because he thought he did a tyre but the little
bastards threw sack full of something at the back of the campervan to make it
sound like a blown tyre. When he got out to inspect they stopped and robbed him. I’m sure
it does happen but there are hundreds of campers on the road so I don’t think
it’s very common. In saying that we had all our doors locked, out battens and pepper
spray at the front and ready!<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We drove through Vic and Olot and then back to the coastal
route through Figures and into France. It was a nice drive in the end. We
wanted to stay just outside of Narbonne but the place we had in our books was
just a supermarket. We then tried just outside of Carcassonne but it was closed
so we finally drove into Carcassonne and found one close to the old town walls
and castle.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;">Our spot just a short walk from Carcassonne</span></div>
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We headed into the town and tried to take some night shots of the
perimeter walls. Pretty cool place. <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The town is surrounded by Europe’s longest walls (nearly 2 miles, although
we have seen some larger walled cities so we are not sure about this.)</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">6<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> – 7<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> March – St Pierre de la
Mer, France</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Got up early-ish to walk around Carcassonne by daylight
and then headed back to Narbonne to find a place to overnight. Not much in
Narbonne so we headed to the coast to an aire. Not a bad one, open and near the
sea. Just hung out all day. Got the juggling balls out for a bit, got some sun
(pretty nice weather at moment, clear blue skies and about 16 degrees),
finished the last beers in BB and relaxed with much the same the next day. <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The day also<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>included some
bird watching, well what we thought were birds turned out to be bloody
mosquitos, they were huge!! Thankfully they were also slow and stupid.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span><o:p></o:p></span> </span> </div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">8<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> March – Private property, Nimes, France<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Left around 10ish for our drive to Nimes. Somehow it ended
up taking us all day again, not arriving at our final sleeping point till 3pm.
Got to Nimes and unfortunately there was nowhere for us to leave BB to go in
and check out the town, so we kind of drove through it to get to our sleeping
point. Our sleeping place ended up being someone's farm land. We parked up for
the rest of the day. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oEu8bb-Wcgc/Uy3DSryn-MI/AAAAAAAABkc/zECrfgUr6Fo/s1600/IMG_3580.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oEu8bb-Wcgc/Uy3DSryn-MI/AAAAAAAABkc/zECrfgUr6Fo/s1600/IMG_3580.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">9<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> March – Aire (free camping), Avignon,
France<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Left direction Orange today. Stopped through to check out
Port du Gard, a 2000 year old roman aqueduct which was awesome. <span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">It
was constructed in the 45 B.C and used until the 4<sup>th</sup> Century, it
carried water more than 30 miles from the Eure River to Nimes.</span> It was a really
nice setting with lots of families having picnics. If only we'd known to bring
a sanga. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We then headed to Orange, there was meant to be an aire but it was a
carpark in the town so we parked BB, had a quick look around and headed onto
Avignon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Orange seemed nice with lots of
little cafes and some old roman amphitheatre and an arc de triumph. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">First impressions of Avignon were good. Looks very pretty
and parked BB just over the river in a free spot for the night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DXCOe8q7eVQ/Uy3GBhKfz-I/AAAAAAAABlY/Ej28tUun5UM/s1600/2014-03-09+18.00.56.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DXCOe8q7eVQ/Uy3GBhKfz-I/AAAAAAAABlY/Ej28tUun5UM/s1600/2014-03-09+18.00.56.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Avignon</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">10<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> – 12<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> March – Camping,
Avignon, France<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We checked into the campsite which was just down the road
nice and early.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hooked up and then
walked across the bridge into town. It was another beautiful day, about 20c with
blue skies and full sun. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We walked around the town, up to the Popes Palace and then down to a large square. There were three artists selling their work which we checked out and walked away with a water colour painting of Avignon with the Pont de Avignon (old bridge) and the Popes Palace in the background.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We walked back to BB to drop off the painting and then headed back to check out the Popes Palace and bridge which are the two main attractions in town. The bridge was built back around the <span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;"><span style="background-color: white;">1100’s</span></span> (there was a roman timber bridge before this) to cross the rhone river which back then was a lot more vicious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They build the bridge because some guy was instructed by God, true story.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Most of the bridge got knocked away with now only 4 archs remaining. Where the camping site was is actually on a river island (one of the biggest around) and the bridge extended over this island an over the river on the other side. The bridge was knocked down by the severe flooding which seemed to occur up until the mid-90’s. Now there are damns and pumping stations to control the river and I don’t think they have had much trouble since.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zWv5SnDF0c4/Uy3G2cNSVzI/AAAAAAAABl4/2Z_4UiYoZOQ/s1600/DSC_0726.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zWv5SnDF0c4/Uy3G2cNSVzI/AAAAAAAABl4/2Z_4UiYoZOQ/s1600/DSC_0726.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">After the bridge we checked out the Popes Palace which was also pretty
cool. Apparently it was home to 7 consecutive popes at odds with the courts in
Rome through the 14th and 15th centuries and thus became the Christian capital
of the world at the time. Massive rooms all with their set functions. Where the
pope changed his jacket, where the pope put his funny hat on, where the pope
watched the footy, you know the usual stuff. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
Once</span> the Popes wanted Pizza instead of Baguettes, the palace was used for a <span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;"><span style="background-color: white;">prison and army barracks</span></span> which saw some of the palace knocked down. They are now trying to restore it back to its original glory.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The next day was chilled, took a bike ride along the river
and found a spot for lunch. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Day three we headed back into town to complete some of the
recommended walking routes but it turned more into a shopping spree again. Nat found
a shoulder bag from Longchamp with a matching purse which apparently she had to
have. The purchase was actually cheaper than what you would pay in UAE. Even
cheaper again when she managed to get her dad to pay for it for a birthday
present. She wasn’t the only lucky one, I went to Celio to buy a jumper and
walked out with an entire wardrobe of clothes. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">13<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> – 14<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> March – Free camping,
Arles, France<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was pretty easy drive to Arles today and for once the
camper place was decent and had room for us to stay. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We had some lunch and then
walked around town. Nice place along the river as well. Van Gogh spent time
here and painted some 200 pieces while he lived here in 1888. This is where he cut off
his ear and you can even visit the hospital where he admitted himself. It wasn’t a
big place so it didn’t take us long to tick it off the list. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The next day we set off for a drive around the <span style="background-color: white;">Camargue</span>
national park which is a 30min drive south of Arles. The sun was out again so
it was a beautiful day and we managed to finally find the road that took us
along the waters edge where we saw pink flamingos, ducks, coots, bulls and
white horses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We headed back to the airs
in Arles for the night and decided to head into the town for a drink. We found
the famous <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;"><span style="background-color: white;">Place du Forum
of which Van Gogh painted <span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">the
iconic Café Terrace on the Place du Forum, apparently</span></span></span>.</span> We enjoyed some wine and felt quite lucky to
be where we were.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">15<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> – 16<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> March – Aix en Provence,
France</span></span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Aix en Provence, which is pronounced ex orghn proughhhfffffffooouughnnnnce
whilst swallowing your tongue, was again a nice town and we opted to at a
caravan park about 8km from the centre. This was great because we were then
close to the Montagne Ste-Victoire (big mountain) which we ended up hiking the
next day.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fyDDlif5w5I/Uy3D0UOWMoI/AAAAAAAABk0/O6IltSfUclc/s1600/IMG_3602.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fyDDlif5w5I/Uy3D0UOWMoI/AAAAAAAABk0/O6IltSfUclc/s1600/IMG_3602.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span> </div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
But</span> today we parked up BB and headed
into town for the afternoon by bus. Our ‘1000 things to see before you die’ book said this was perhaps the most perfect town in the Provence. We walked around and stopped for a drink to soak it in. Nat found a Longchamp store again and wanted to exchange her large purse for a smaller one (one which the previous store said didn’t exist) Luckily longchamp said she could swap it despite Nat not buying it from a Longchamp store which I thought was pretty lucky. Good move by them because in the morning the next day we walked out with the smaller purse and yet another bloody hand bag!!!! No help from the father in law on this one unfortunately.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Our exercise the following day</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Our view for lunch</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">17<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> – 19<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> March – Villeneuve
Loubet (Hippodrome Caravan Park)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After we turned Nat’s frown upside down with the exchanged purse
we drove towards Cannes. We had picked out a caravan park to stay
but when we got there they said the ASCI spots were gone and they only had
large ones for 30 euros, she then dropped it to 25 which was still too high so
we went back to the supermarket up the road where we saw lots of campers
parked. When we arrived the police were there and unfortunately for us they
said you couldn’t stay overnight so we were off searching again and again and
again. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We went further towards nice for 15 kms to find a
camperspot in the book but it didn’t exist or we couldn’t find it but it was
nowhere near anything and in some suburb area. We then thought we'd try another
one further up which was absolutely choccas and again not is a nice spot to
explore the area. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We soon realise that the nice small villages with rolling
farm land that we have become accustomed to in France has disappeared as it was all a lot more dense. We
eventually found a campsite which was almost central between Cannes and Nice so
it was good spot to explore the area. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IzVOoM81sD0/Uy3D5qzNmwI/AAAAAAAABlE/7ud2REweYHI/s1600/IMG_3605.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IzVOoM81sD0/Uy3D5qzNmwI/AAAAAAAABlE/7ud2REweYHI/s1600/IMG_3605.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The next day we caught the longest ever bus to Cannes.
Cannes was nice but not really overly interesting. I think the best and only
time would be during the film festival. We walked up the main street and down
along the promenade, had a drink and caught the bus back. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7OFNEIl1OPU/Uy3D38FAXKI/AAAAAAAABk8/RIcTC8UAyEw/s1600/IMG_3611.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7OFNEIl1OPU/Uy3D38FAXKI/AAAAAAAABk8/RIcTC8UAyEw/s1600/IMG_3611.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dQAEMqS9f78/Uy3EBbAG3CI/AAAAAAAABlM/Sp7ZFKd1b6I/s1600/IMG_3629.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> </div>
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The next day we rode our bikes into Nice, nice ride with a
bike lane all the way. We walked around Nice, saw some sights that somehow we
completely missed last time and had our last croissant in France overlooking
the harbour. We continued our loop and grabbed some lunch in the centre and
started our hour long bike journey back home. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QDAWfnOqO9g/UzgXVMKTaRI/AAAAAAAABpE/hyZFcss6LgM/s1600/IMG_3622.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QDAWfnOqO9g/UzgXVMKTaRI/AAAAAAAABpE/hyZFcss6LgM/s1600/IMG_3622.JPG" height="320" width="239" /></a></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9HgiHkDCfOU/UzgXf4rvE1I/AAAAAAAABpM/7hZdOTtGvvg/s1600/IMG_3630.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9HgiHkDCfOU/UzgXf4rvE1I/AAAAAAAABpM/7hZdOTtGvvg/s1600/IMG_3630.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p></span> </span> </div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dQAEMqS9f78/Uy3EBbAG3CI/AAAAAAAABlM/Sp7ZFKd1b6I/s1600/IMG_3629.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dQAEMqS9f78/Uy3EBbAG3CI/AAAAAAAABlM/Sp7ZFKd1b6I/s1600/IMG_3629.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">This is about the only place I remember from last time</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NN4DWB3sVlI/Uy3KqnjwsJI/AAAAAAAABms/12qtoY_nYwE/s1600/2014-03-19+15.07.39.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NN4DWB3sVlI/Uy3KqnjwsJI/AAAAAAAABms/12qtoY_nYwE/s1600/2014-03-19+15.07.39.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Tomorrow will see the end to our France chapter (for now
anyway) and we will soon enter Italy where my Pizza craving will be my priority.</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14968777237654833083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8226631682943449830.post-67680380861736514952014-02-14T01:48:00.003-08:002014-02-14T01:48:50.517-08:006 months gone, 6 to go!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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Thumb Update </h4>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E6KdC5hmIG4/UvvK18MVQ6I/AAAAAAAABR8/y5l6hCvk8ak/s1600/IMG_3190.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E6KdC5hmIG4/UvvK18MVQ6I/AAAAAAAABR8/y5l6hCvk8ak/s1600/IMG_3190.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
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Better</div>
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16th December – El
Rocio, Spain<o:p></o:p></h4>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We left Portimao
for good this time and headed towards El Rocio which is a village within the
city area of Almonte. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZNfynZatfkE/UvvIQKCnuPI/AAAAAAAABRA/5BBf7MOauDo/s1600/IMG_3160.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZNfynZatfkE/UvvIQKCnuPI/AAAAAAAABRA/5BBf7MOauDo/s1600/IMG_3160.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We decided to check
into a campsite for the night and check out the village tomorrow, so we relaxed
and enjoyed the warm showers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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17th to 19th
December – Seville, Spain<o:p></o:p></h4>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Today we checked
out the village which did look like something out of a western film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To travellers like us this is what it’s
famous for. On weekends it’s packed with horse and carts and quite lively. Good
thing we were there on a Tuesday. </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eIke_yoUS_I/UvvHtVVwWQI/AAAAAAAABQc/kgoql75hGEU/s1600/DSC_0883.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eIke_yoUS_I/UvvHtVVwWQI/AAAAAAAABQc/kgoql75hGEU/s1600/DSC_0883.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">As it turns out,
it’s more well known due to the Hermitage that is located in the village. Which
is, very quickly, “</span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">commonly
used to mean a settlement where a person or a group of people lived
religiously, in seclusion”. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Apparently within
this building lies the Virgin of El Rocio which is a small, carved wood statue,
and is one of the destinations on an annual procession/pilgrimage. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The specific name for the visit to the
Hermitage is, I think, the Romeria de El Rocio. Anyway, this pilgrimage </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romer%C3%ADa_de_El_Roc%C3%ADo" title="Romería de El Rocío"></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">h</span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">as brought together roughly a million pilgrims each year.</span></span></div>
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The Hermitage</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">So although we
didn’t realize it at the time, we actually went inside the Hermitage (the open
bits anyway) and I think saw this statue. We weren’t allowed to take photos but
I did manage to take a couple.</span></span></div>
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Haven't seen electronic ones in a church before</div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We then headed to Seville.
The camping was about 25min bus ride from Seville in a small harbour/wharf. Not
flash but good enough for what we needed. We arrived, set up and headed into
Seville. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Nat and I both
liked it as soon as we got off the bus and decided to scope the place out and
see what we needed to do tomorrow as we only got in at about 2pm. Had a drink
before catching the bus back home.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The next day I visited the Cathedral (Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See), which I think is the largest gothic cathedral (by area) and the third largest church in the world. Nats Cathedral days are over so she went and had a coffee while I explored. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">It was awesome! I have seen a few but this was huge. </span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">The cathedral is also the burial site of Christopher Columbus. </span><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Throughout the day we enjoyed many Tapas, including some ox tail which really tasted like beef stew. We continued bar hopping and by the end of the day had some further tapas for dinner although opted for less rich options, still very tasty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
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20th to 21st December – Granada, Spain<o:p></o:p></h4>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We left Seville and drove to Granada, more of a stopover before our final destination for the year as it was about 350km. The campsite was up in the mountains with snow on the mountain next to us. With a limited bus service and no parking for BB in town, we had to stay there an extra night and visit the town the next day.</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As always it was a nice little town with old cathedrals and squares with shopping and cafes, as it was a Saturday it was pretty busy.</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After lunch we went on to find the Alhambra which again involved us walking the long way and only on the way back realising we had indeed walked past the direct path. We were a little confused as to what it actually was but we walked around and took in the sights….and an ice cream. It turns out it was a Moorish citadel and palace and was actually quite nice.</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This was the last night of our fast past portion of the holiday as tomorrow we would arrive at the Marjal camping in Catral and that will be it until the new year.<o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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22nd December –
Marjal Costa Blanca, Spain<o:p></o:p></h4>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We arrived at the
camping and were surprised as they did not have our reservation, even more
surprising was that we were in fact at the wrong camp ground which has the same
name. </span></span></div>
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Home for a few weeks</div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So we finally
arrived at the correct camp ground, which was 20min down the road, checked in
and went to set up. We were glad it was this camp ground because it looked a
lot nicer and from speaking to people over the last few weeks most agree.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We decided to hang
both Aussie flags to attract other Aussies and make it clear that we were not
German. Which seemed to work pretty well as we were on the main drag where a
lot of people had to drive or walk past. </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span> </div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hoQJzekgju0/UvvLiLMMCpI/AAAAAAAABSE/2mHy3V-B9fs/s1600/IMG_3192.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hoQJzekgju0/UvvLiLMMCpI/AAAAAAAABSE/2mHy3V-B9fs/s1600/IMG_3192.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></o:p></span></span></div>
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Our first site</div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The plot we had was
on the corner so we only had neighbours on one side and we had the full day’s
sun on our “outdoor” area, but the WIFI was shite which was a shame during the
festive season.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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23rd December – Marjal Costa Blanca, Spain<o:p></o:p></h4>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Decided to check
out the gym for the first time in 5 months, pretty good facilities and both Nat
and I soon learnt how un-fit we were. We booked to use the indoor spa
facilities for the following day. The only real downside to this camp ground,
due to the 1500 plots (yes you read correctly), you have to book for the indoor
spa because it’s too small for 2000 people and the outdoor pool is far too
cold. We also learnt that you have to pay for the gym on the weekends and
holidays.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After lunch we then
headed to the basketball courts, shot some hoops and completed the days
exercise. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">later we met a
Scottish guy, Alex, who was funny and outgoing and lived just down the road a
little bit. Nat got to talking with him and he mentioned that they were
organising a new year’s eve party at a restaurant in Catral which is a 25min
walk from here. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As we had already
booked in the restaurant here and weren’t sure what to do but the “warnings”
from Alex about not having any English speaking people at the party made us
think about it and said we would let him know tomorrow.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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24th December<o:p></o:p></h4>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We found out that
the 24th is a holiday here in Spain so the facilities were closed, so it was a
day of relaxing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We let Alex know
that we would join his group for the party and cancelled our booking at the
camping restaurant. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Aussie flag
worked again as a loud English man by the name of Jeff stopped his car and
shouted through the window “so you’re proud to be Australian are ya?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">He ended up staying
and chatting for about an hour and invited us over for drinks that night with
his wife Maria. It turns out they are moving to Perth in the new year. They
have been on this site since it opened 2.5 years ago and know everyone and
anything there is to know. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Jeff was a
character who liked to joke around and the whole camp ground knew him. His
“Italian wife” Maria, as Jeff liked to call her (who is more English than a
cream tea but had Italian parents), was the grounded one of the two. We soon
learnt to refer to her when Jeff was storytelling to gauge which parts were
true and which were “jeffisms”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But a
super couple whom we had many laughs. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">They showed us the
suckling pig they are having for Christmas lunch the following day, needless to
say the sounds of “aawwhh he’s so cute” could be heard from Nat. </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span> </div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GftAf0kqkzc/UvvMiyvMgVI/AAAAAAAABSM/p6Evc7TyLgk/s1600/IMG_3198.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GftAf0kqkzc/UvvMiyvMgVI/AAAAAAAABSM/p6Evc7TyLgk/s1600/IMG_3198.JPG" height="320" width="239" /></a></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Their plot consisted
of a caravan with the side awning attached, a “shed”, clothes line and driveway
for the car. This was pretty typical for the long term guys.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">They invited us to
come over for drinks after our Christmas lunch as they would have the outdoor
fire going.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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25th December<o:p></o:p></h4>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Christmas Day!!!!
Yeah!!!! Exciting!!!!! …………..and ended about 10min from when I got out of bed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Insert Sad Face<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As we had been
buying ourselves things throughout the trip we did not give any presents so the
Christmas tree was looking rather bare. There was one present for Nat which she
bought herself (some glitter eye liner or something) so the gift giving was
short. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WNdOKammjVA/UvvMzFnXINI/AAAAAAAABSU/jeCmuzXrxAg/s1600/IMG_3199.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WNdOKammjVA/UvvMzFnXINI/AAAAAAAABSU/jeCmuzXrxAg/s1600/IMG_3199.JPG" height="320" width="239" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">To add to that it
rained, all day. It was sunny a week before today and a week after.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OiXl3KMIzAs/UvvM84lNegI/AAAAAAAABSc/x0LpSybiJh8/s1600/IMG_3206.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OiXl3KMIzAs/UvvM84lNegI/AAAAAAAABSc/x0LpSybiJh8/s1600/IMG_3206.JPG" height="320" width="239" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We headed to the
Christmas lunch in the restaurant in the camp ground and enjoyed some pretty
good food and a bottle of wine. The oldies to the table next to us were loving
it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-k5Qw4qZQJWo/UvvN_QKD1KI/AAAAAAAABS4/OoQ7VcLrPcU/s1600/IMG_3209.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-k5Qw4qZQJWo/UvvN_QKD1KI/AAAAAAAABS4/OoQ7VcLrPcU/s1600/IMG_3209.JPG" height="320" width="239" /></a></div>
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My sexy date for lunch</div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We joined Jeff and
Maria and their friends in their awning and continued the festivities. Their
neighbours, Barry and Sharon were there and Nick and Karen. Karen being Maria’s
sister. Nick and Jeff were pretty funny together giving each other grief. A
funny night with various levels of conversation from politics, to personal body
parts which I won’t go into. We stumbled home at about 1am. </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span> </div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rmtwSMkZ5nk/UvvN_EckgkI/AAAAAAAABS0/YM6Cc-fm-aU/s1600/IMG_3214.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rmtwSMkZ5nk/UvvN_EckgkI/AAAAAAAABS0/YM6Cc-fm-aU/s1600/IMG_3214.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></o:p></span></span></div>
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Boxing Day<o:p></o:p></h4>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We woke up a little
“dry mouthed” and headed to the boxing day buffet that we also booked in the
restaurant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ok food and opted for no
booze this time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We were pretty
shattered and opted for comfort of BB for the rest of the day.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We decided that we
would extend our stay a little further as leaving on the 2nd January seemed too
early to fully take advantage of the camp ground. In order to stay on we would
have to move site which didn’t really bother us as we could then get a site
with better WIFI. As it turns out we moved to the same street as Jeff and Maria
and just a little further down the road. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2-58_q5PSwk/UvvOKOE725I/AAAAAAAABTE/IOl2-LE8lU8/s1600/IMG_3220.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2-58_q5PSwk/UvvOKOE725I/AAAAAAAABTE/IOl2-LE8lU8/s1600/IMG_3220.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
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Our second site</div>
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Days leading up to
New Years<o:p></o:p></h4>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We took to the gym
and pool when we could, played some tennis and enjoyed the camping site. Being
so close to Jeff and Maria and Sharon and Barry there was always someone to
talk to when you walk to the shower block or to the other facilities, it really
was like a little community. We also heard that there would be a big Marque
with music at the camping ground as another option for New Years. Having
committed ourselves with Alex we decided that we would go to the dinner and get
a taxi back at about 10:30 to join in the party here. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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31st
December<o:p></o:p></h4>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Relaxing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The dinner was at
Café Uno with Alex and his wife and some of their friends also from the camping
ground. There was good food, beer and just as we left Karaoke. Actually before
the real karaoke started our table started their own sing along which also
included waltzing matilda just for us.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9tmY1eV2ov4/UvvPltjxJsI/AAAAAAAABTc/V0lRBrqJGyg/s1600/IMG_3224.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9tmY1eV2ov4/UvvPltjxJsI/AAAAAAAABTc/V0lRBrqJGyg/s1600/IMG_3224.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
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Dinner in town</div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We arrived at the
other party at about 10:45 to a very drunk Jeff and the rest of the night is as
you would expect, more drink, fireworks, met new people, Jeff dancing with an
80 year old and doing the reach around…you know the usual stuff.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PusGJtIZHmY/UvvPxg4xaAI/AAAAAAAABTk/i8md_OAsKTc/s1600/IMG_3232.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PusGJtIZHmY/UvvPxg4xaAI/AAAAAAAABTk/i8md_OAsKTc/s1600/IMG_3232.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NHB6sMzOXGc/UvvROxvuJTI/AAAAAAAABTw/isPwF3sFQkM/s1600/IMG_3233.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NHB6sMzOXGc/UvvROxvuJTI/AAAAAAAABTw/isPwF3sFQkM/s1600/IMG_3233.JPG" height="320" width="239" /></a></div>
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Doesn't really capture what they were like</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jvp_rj_Px_Y/UvvG0SdDGTI/AAAAAAAABPg/UZrCwRl-jYs/s1600/2013-12-31+23.30.22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jvp_rj_Px_Y/UvvG0SdDGTI/AAAAAAAABPg/UZrCwRl-jYs/s1600/2013-12-31+23.30.22.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-137yrv4jul4/UvvG4tsOYiI/AAAAAAAABPw/unfNX6CXtxY/s1600/2013-12-31+23.32.44.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-137yrv4jul4/UvvG4tsOYiI/AAAAAAAABPw/unfNX6CXtxY/s1600/2013-12-31+23.32.44.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oonPRNI93v0/UvvGpIH99GI/AAAAAAAABPY/ObRrLYDnNHU/s1600/2013-12-31+23.44.11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oonPRNI93v0/UvvGpIH99GI/AAAAAAAABPY/ObRrLYDnNHU/s1600/2013-12-31+23.44.11.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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Take 1</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-07CaLgsqsBo/UvvG2a0ZIVI/AAAAAAAABPo/KtWXTUQQzng/s1600/2013-12-31+23.44.32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-07CaLgsqsBo/UvvG2a0ZIVI/AAAAAAAABPo/KtWXTUQQzng/s1600/2013-12-31+23.44.32.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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Take 2</div>
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Not sure...</div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">All in all it was a
good night and we are glad that we stuck to our plan and went to both events. I
also surprised Nat with a Massage for her birthday at the spa facility.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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New Year’s Day<o:p></o:p></h4>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Watched movies and
ate chocolate all day. T<em>he Sound of Music was on!!!! Ben loved every minute </em></span></span></div>
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2nd
January <o:p></o:p></h4>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Not much different
to the previous day, headed to Jeff and Maria’s place and helped them plan
their Dubai stop over (on their way to Perth). Nat also helped Maria get on
Facebook, she’s like a kid with a new toy now.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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3rd
January<o:p></o:p></h4>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Jeff and Maria
invited us to a restaurant in the hills called Rancho Blanco, it was off the
beaten track and in a very obscure location. Jeff and I had the largest T-bone
I have seen and Nat had the good old chicken shnitty, was a good night. Nick
and Karen were also there but were at the other end of the table so didn’t get
to spend much time with them. Jeff and Tanya were there who we had met from New
Year’s eve.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Nat and some kid</div>
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Natty</div>
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4th
January to 16th January <o:p></o:p></h4>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Can’t remember,
probably relaxing for most of it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">On Sunday we headed
over to Jeff and Maria's for a few drinks with their Dutch friends. Again
enjoyed Jeff’s beers once mine were finished and again the conversation was
below the waist for most of the night. One of those nights that gets away from
ya and we ended up getting home after midnight.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We had dinner with
the “gang” on Monday night at an Indian place in the town before Jeff drove
back to England the next morning. Maria to follow at the end of the week. We
have their details and might catch up with them if we make it back to Adelaide
at some stage.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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My Second Student</div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Els arrived on the
7<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> from Amsterdam, we booked a taxi through a guy who lives in the
camping site (25 euros both ways instead of 60 euros one way), we waited at the
airport but realised her plane had been diverted to Valencia due to the fog. I
saw the fog as we drove into the airport but thought nothing of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was quite low and didn’t look like
anything bad. A new announcement on the board said that her flight would be
arriving from Valencia at 10pm (instead of 8pm). Of course at 10 o’clock the
flight was cancelled and they were to bus them all to the airport (about 1.5
hours). So Dave and I went back to the camping and Els took a taxi when she
finally arrived, which was at about 2am. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It turns out that
her plane was about to land and was only 60m from the ground when all of a
sudden the pilot couldn’t see a thing and had to immediately pull up. As Nat
was telling me this I realised that I think I saw that same plane as we drove
in. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">On the bus ride to
Alicante they drove past a semi-trailer which was on fire, Els could feel the
heat from her seat! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Although the weather was meant to be good. I think Els has
jinxed us again because now its overcast and cold with rain forecast for the
next couple days. Anyhow, we are just hanging out in the cabin eating, drinking
and watching daytime tv. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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17th to
19th January - Guardamar (Marjal Camping), Spain<o:p></o:p></h4>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Finally left our posting at Marjal for a 10 day round trip
down to Almeria. First stop was Guardamar at another Marjal camping site to
visit Nick and Karen. Unfortunately the camping stuffed up our booking so we
only had one night on the camping. Spent the first night with them after they
invited us over for lasagne dinner. Couldn’t say no to that!! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Had a really good night with them until nearly 2am. We
talked about all the weirdo's in the camping, mainly old grumpy farts. Some of
them have actually labelled there street within the camp site as “Lilly pod
lane – Private Road” and question people when they walk down it, they have
their own committee for the street. They have been there far too long.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Next day we parked BB just outside the grounds and walked
to the beach, not much around really. That night we joined Nick and Karen for a
korean wok dinner at some restaurant they had heard of from other campers. It
was a buffet but also had a cooking station and was pretty good for 8 euro
each. Again, nice to be around people more our age. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The next day was overcast so we hung around BB and used
the free wifi in the restaurant for much of the day, we are already missing the
daily showers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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20th to 21st January - La Manga Mar<o:p></o:p></h4>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Left Guardamar for Torrevieja after Nat managed to get a
booking for a haircut that afternoon. Drove through the town to where we had a
camper place listed but it wasn’t really suitable to park. Then we drove to
where the hairdresser was and parked up there. I hung in the camper while Nat
got pampered. We then drove towards La Manga Mar caravan park for 2 nights. The
caravan park wasn’t very good when you compare it to Marjal but had a nice view
down the end. Still 16 Euros per night with smaller pitches which were awkward
to get into and the showers were crap. Not hot enough at all! </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We rode into town along the beach front and then down the
strip of land with water on each side. From a distance it looked like the stem
of a palm and similar to the gold coast but once in there it didn’t look all
that great. All the buildings were shut up for winter and some weren’t occupied
at all. After we got back we headed to the caravan park cafe on the beach with
the nice view. They also had line dancing for the oldies which was entertaining
to watch. </span></span></div>
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22nd January - La Azohia, Spain<o:p></o:p></h4>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Arrived here after only an hour drive through a ‘B’ type
road, although the road was pretty good and gave us a great view as we headed
down towards the coast. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span> Yet another shot of BB</div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We found the camper place which was just opposite the
beach next to a restaurant. The parking area went up the hill and the top part
was all used up so we tried for something more on the flat. Trying not to
impair anyone’s view we stopped lower down kind of in the middle hoping not to
upset anyone. Lots of campers kept coming in so we assumed it might fill up
around us. Just as we had lunch ready a grumpy old German guy who obviously
thought we were German came to tell us that we couldn’t park there because we
were in his view and we should move. Then there was another guy parked up the
hill a bit and shaking his head. So I went up to him to ask what the issue was
and he said we shouldn’t park there because the police might tell us all to
leave. I think it was bullshit but at least a better sob story than 'you're in
my view'. It was an illegal parking area anyway so perhaps the cops (in the low
season) don’t mind few around as long as we are not in the lower, easy
accessible, car park bit. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h7hmDfMag_k/UvvYc0xcz2I/AAAAAAAABVQ/7MNRp1KsJgI/s1600/IMG_3288.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h7hmDfMag_k/UvvYc0xcz2I/AAAAAAAABVQ/7MNRp1KsJgI/s1600/IMG_3288.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
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Our first option - Grumpy was in one of the campers in the background on the left </div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So we moved up alongside the other campers who were parked
along the side and even still the grumpy German came down, walked past our
camper shaking his head. I asked him in a slightly more aggressive tone (as now
I was starting to get pissed off) what the issue was and he just waved us away.
If we were still blocking his few then he would have to move the 4 other
campers between us and him first anyway.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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Our second place - picture taken across road beach side</div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">At the end of the day we moved into what was the best spot
in the whole area and watched the sun go down over the water. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Grumpy didn't get this</div>
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23rd January - Cabo de Gato, Spain<o:p></o:p></h4>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We took a leisurely drive down the coast towards Almeria.
Stopped off at Aguilas for some lunch which was a small town along the coast
and then continued on. We plan to stay in Cabo de Gato just to the east of
Almeria after Nick and Karen said it was nice. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Aguilas</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Camping is ok but most importantly the showers are nice
and hot. We walked down to the beach to earn some ‘points’ for a beer. We got
talking to our English neighbours (Steve and Lorraine) for a bit before heading
in for dinner. Nice couple who hate what England has become… Interesting
conversation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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24th to
25th January - Garrucha, Spain<o:p></o:p></h4>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We drove down to Almeria and parked up along the
esplanade. We were meant to stay here for three days but after walking up and
down the esplanade and back a few streets into town it didn’t look overly
interesting so we headed off after lunch towards some spots we have listed for
wild camping. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bv-mwE5mKgc/UvvbA3YU_eI/AAAAAAAABWE/VBB3pK_n8RE/s1600/IMG_3306.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>Almeria - BB on the right </div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We ended up in Gurracha at the harbour. A small town with
a bit happening so we stayed for two nights. Lots of campers here in the “no
camping” car park as well which was nice. We walked to a cafe up the road and
had some g & t's. They must have been doubles cause little Natty was pretty
tipsy and it snow balled….in a good way. We got back to BB and continued in which
Natty got happier and louder with each sip. We went out to dinner after we had
realised we'd just passed the halfway mark of the trip. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1F7559M2e1A/UvvbhbZH6FI/AAAAAAAABWM/HxTXQLIyB0Y/s1600/IMG_3330.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1F7559M2e1A/UvvbhbZH6FI/AAAAAAAABWM/HxTXQLIyB0Y/s1600/IMG_3330.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The next day we just hung out in the area and relaxed.</span></span></div>
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26th January -
Mojacar, Spain<o:p></o:p></h4>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was only a short drive down the coast to the town of
Mojacar. Drove through town to camper place which was on the beach. Had a small
waddle in our crocs, (I got some nice blisters) and then soaked up the sun at
BB for the day and you guessed it…relaxed.</span></span></div>
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BB shining bright</div>
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Didn't get it right - first attempt</div>
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27th January to 2nd February - Marjal, Spain<o:p></o:p></h4>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Arrived back at the main Marjal camping site. Didn’t
really do a hell of a lot. Used the gym, played some tennis and once again
relaxed. Our goal is to stay here until some sites are open towards Barcelona.
Then we can commence our trip north along the coast through France and into
northern Italy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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3rd – 9th February – Marjal, Spain<o:p></o:p></h4>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We went over to Dave and Carolines (taxi man) to see if he
could take Nat to the airport and back for her trip to Amsterdam. We told them
they had met Nat’s Dad when he was here last year which started us talking. Although
we had the best intentions of going to the gym that day we ended up on a 12
hour drinking binge.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QkBkdSbxNiQ/Uvz7fe2kuNI/AAAAAAAABY4/mJV3XP9slVk/s1600/2014-02-04+19.43.30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QkBkdSbxNiQ/Uvz7fe2kuNI/AAAAAAAABY4/mJV3XP9slVk/s1600/2014-02-04+19.43.30.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Fun day/night with them. Caroline has a terrible
degenerative blood disease which is slowly attacking all her internal organs
and basically doesn’t have long to live, hence she is living large now!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Devastating being only 52 years old but she
seems to be in very good spirits even with the pain. Dave had been working on a
car years ago which fell on him and crushed his pelvis. First they thought he
would die but after pulling through they said he would never walk again.
Luckily after 6 months of rehab he was back on his feet. They are lovely people
and despite all the shit life has handed them they are very positive and
enjoying themselves. You can’t sweat the small shit and just be
grateful for every day you have. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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10th to 14th February – Marjal, Spain<o:p></o:p></h4>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Our last week here and with Nat visiting her mum in
Amsterdam it was just me with BB. Nothing really to report. Used the gym,
watched the 6 nations rugby and the winter Olympics and that was about it. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Marjal camping site has been great for our purpose of
hibernating until we progress north. However it’s time to move one and start
seeing new things.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Nat planning</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span> <span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If I have to engage in any more small talk or listen to
other older couples tell us what to see or what we should have seen in our
previous travels or tell us how to do certain things with the camper I will
take their walking frame and oxygen tanks away.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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I think this sums it up very well</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14968777237654833083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8226631682943449830.post-49472756313705439232014-01-07T09:16:00.001-08:002014-01-09T11:03:05.754-08:00France, Portugal and a Squid Ink Ball<br />
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">21st October –
Vouvray, France<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Due to the extent of the rain we have been having and the
earlier leak we found, we thought we would get the camper checked over for
damp, we left early to get to the service place in Tours which was shut for all
of Monday so we back tracked to Vouvray for the night. Nice spot in a quiet
town just off the main road. Practiced our juggling, went for a walk, had a
shower and drank wine. Nice relaxing day</span>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span id="goog_1600027216"></span><span id="goog_1600027217"></span><o:p></o:p></span></span> <span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">mmm relaxing in the carpark (we later found out that setting out chairs in a free site is illegal, but everyone does it)</span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">22<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup> to
23<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup> October – Oradour Sur Glane, France<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We got moving early again to get to service centre.
Through German, English, French and a whole bunch of hand gestures we got it
figured out. She tested BB's walls and seems like there is no moisture in there
so we celebrated by buying a bike cover, fly screen for the door, heater, blue
loo stuff and a door stop, it’s like x-mas for BB.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">With dark clouds
coming we couldn’t be bothered going into tours so we headed south to Oradour.
The next day we headed into the burnt out old town of Oradour. Not to give a
history lesson but this village/town was burnt to the ground by the Germans
during WWII on June 10, 1944. 600 something people were killed including women
and young children. Apparently the men were separated and shot in different
areas of the town and the women and children were burnt inside the church. The
worst thing was that this was when the Germans were being defeated and beginning
to leave parts of France. People were shot in the legs so they couldn’t get
away and when some managed to get out of the church they were shot. I guess the
town has been left alone as a reminder of what war can do.</span> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-okBKE448Rg0/UswKlaeMwyI/AAAAAAAABDA/w8I5Kb3_0cU/s1600/DSC_0219.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-okBKE448Rg0/UswKlaeMwyI/AAAAAAAABDA/w8I5Kb3_0cU/s1600/DSC_0219.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Back at the camper spot and we relaxed in the sun for a
bit, got chatting to our English neighbours before the thunder, lightning and
rain started. Soon enough after it was sunny again followed by more rain and
then sun again which is apparently normal for this region. Better than all day
rain in any case.</span> </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">24<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> to
1<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup> November – Sjef & Roly’s Place (Nats Uncle & Auntie),
Payrac, France<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We ended up spending a fun 9 days at Sjef and Roly's
place. BB stayed out by the house which we still slept but we were treated with
great home cooked meals for the 9 days. We especially had fun with all their
animals that rule the house. The extended family included: Boy, Beau, Gizmo,
Kootz pootz, sheba, chanel and lady, 3 dogs and 4 cats.</span> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pguXry2inYM/UswLE8EGldI/AAAAAAAABD0/OMt6T4PRhPQ/s1600/DSC_0379.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pguXry2inYM/UswLE8EGldI/AAAAAAAABD0/OMt6T4PRhPQ/s1600/DSC_0379.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Our home for the 9 days</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Nat took boy for a walk most mornings and I joined when I wasn’t hung over. Nat gave BB a good clean while I helped Sjef remove a tree from the top of the block so they could have access during the winter as the entrance is steep and difficult when slurry. It took us three goes to get up and I had BB swinging left to right on one occasion. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">BB with new bike cover, more professional looking now</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Working (still time to pose though)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yuVEpYdHBKA/UswLCzScPbI/AAAAAAAABDQ/6lPX3pEwbDQ/s1600/DSC_0272.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yuVEpYdHBKA/UswLCzScPbI/AAAAAAAABDQ/6lPX3pEwbDQ/s1600/DSC_0272.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Drinking after working</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Eating after working and drinking</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Best seat in the house</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ij8xvJ7MyJA/UswLEuoD0iI/AAAAAAAABDw/jpln3J9X8l8/s1600/DSC_0329.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ij8xvJ7MyJA/UswLEuoD0iI/AAAAAAAABDw/jpln3J9X8l8/s1600/DSC_0329.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">More drinking and relaxing after working, drinking and eating</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-czLIKnVu5yg/UswLFzPF1dI/AAAAAAAABEM/bzGaJOo8_jQ/s1600/DSC_0420.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-czLIKnVu5yg/UswLFzPF1dI/AAAAAAAABEM/bzGaJOo8_jQ/s1600/DSC_0420.JPG" height="320" width="212" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">After all the working, drinking and eating</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There was a lot more dutch talk than English so lucky I had
my sexy translator, although towards the end of most nights (after a few hours
of drinking) the translating was a bit sloppy!!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Moie tieten (nice tits) being one of sentences that I learnt after some
raunchy TV. This was after an advert for a show on an adult tv channel called
HIV house….yes that was the name of the program. We didn’t have access to the
channel though…. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We got stuck into “The voice” and “Hollands got talent”. There
are a lot of gay guys on tv in Holland, not that there is anything wrong with
that, the shows are quite funny. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We went out to lunch and dinner on a couple of days and we
were treated to a 5 course meal at a Belgian place which was really tasty.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sjef and Roly took us to La Poopie (he he he he) which is a
beautiful town on the hillside. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">So basically the 9 days was full of good food, good drink
and laughter, and lots of love from the extended family. Be warned, there are a
lot of animal photos, I couldn’t help myself. </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"you should have seen the other guy"</span> </span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1nAN2ukuvI8/UsqsAxGgiPI/AAAAAAAAA5o/T6xHkOeJjp8/s1600/IMG_2928.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1nAN2ukuvI8/UsqsAxGgiPI/AAAAAAAAA5o/T6xHkOeJjp8/s1600/IMG_2928.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Apparently Boy didn't eat for a day when we left.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A big thanks to Sjef and Roly for having us and not
allowing us to do the dishes.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup>
November – Saint Cyrias, Dordogne, France<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">On the way to Saint Cyrias (rained pretty much all day) the drive was still very beautiful and despite the rain we stopped off in Sarlat La Canade which was a nice
town. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Some shots on the way to Sarlat la Canade</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Mi260aqR3C0/UswOum65ilI/AAAAAAAABFA/NFbM3QstzZI/s1600/DSC_0446.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Mi260aqR3C0/UswOum65ilI/AAAAAAAABFA/NFbM3QstzZI/s1600/DSC_0446.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We then stopped at a nice aire (free camping) in the middle of the Saint Cyrias. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">3<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup>
November – Bergerac, Dordogne, France<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the morning we walked through the markets and bought 4
sausisons (like a small salami). Garlic, pepper, fig and duck were our choices.
We even tried a donkey sausison, although it wasn’t as good as the others. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We left St Cyrias after the markets and managed to stop at
Maccas to get on the internet after quite a while. Managed to get the guitar
books (which we bought from Amizon and had them sent to Nats mum place,
although she didn’t recognise it and sent it back!!) sent back to Nats mum again
for free which is pretty good considering our mistake. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We made it to Bergerac and we followed Nats Dads coordinates
for a place to park but it was kind of an odd place next to some industrial
plant or something. Anyway we thought we would continue and see what else was
there. We drove up a hill to some other place where there was no one and in a
very small village with not much happening so we continued onto an aire in a
new suburban area. We were the only ones there for the night but still felt fairly
safe.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <em>no one can hear you scream!</em></span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">4<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> to 5<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
November – Dax, France<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We left Bergerac for greener pastures, well hopefully a
place with less rain so we continued south. We drove through several places but
the sites didn’t look too interesting so we kept going all the way to Dax. We
ended up staying for 2 days, mostly in BB as it......yes continued to rain. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"> Roman baths</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Dax is a thermal spa city, not that we took advantage of
it. It looked as though most of the spas were within hotels and a bit expensive.
Once we were sick of the view of the carpark we headed further south towards
Basque land. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">6<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
November – Anglet, France<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">You could see the landscape and housing change as we
entered the Basque land. More kind of spanishy. We stopped off in Bayonne for a
bite to eat and a walk around and then went on to the camper place in Anglet. Driving
from the city to Anglet was like driving from France to QLD, the streets were
all of a sudden full of palm trees and surf shops with places to eat and drink,
it really felt like we were at home. </span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The camper place was up on a mound
surrounded by hedges and just 100m from the beach. It was a pretty good spot
actually with free water. There was a small community of campers and finally
two days of sun. Even with the sun out everyone else still just stayed in their
campers. Crazy. Some of them ventured out for walks. They walk past our GERMAN
plate camper with an AUSTRALIAN flag in the window and still talked to me in
French! <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We made the most of the sun by practising our juggling,
beach walks, reading and relaxing and then it started raining again. It was then time to head further towards San Sebastian in anticipation of Nat’s mum
arrival and my first taste of Spain. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Our day trip to Biarritz<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Not sure where this was</span> </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">9<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> November - Camper plaats, San Sebastien<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We were planning to stay in Hendaye but the camper place
was being renovated so we had to keep on going. Couldn’t find the camping site
that Nat’s Mum had given us the details of just over the border into Spain so
we went to a free site in San Sebastian which was just a car park. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">BB with friends</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">10<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> to 15<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> November - Igueldo
Camping, San Sebastian. Spain<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Els (Nat’s Mum) was arriving today so we checked her bus
drop off in town which looked easy enough to reach and then checked into the
camping. The camping was up in the hills with some not so nice driving but it
was nice to finally have some power and internet so time to update the blog,
photos, facebook and fully charge everything. We picked up Els from the bus
stop and then just hung out in the cabin that night away from the rain and
cold. <o:p></o:p></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">With an 80% chance of rain the next day we decided to stay
in the camp site and took to the comfort of food and alcohol. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><span style="font-size: x-small;">Watching two liquored up Dutchies trying to put the pillow case on the longest pillow in history was the main source of entertainment.</span> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">second day</b>
of the visit looked promising so we caught the bus into the city but it did not
stop raining all fricken day. Nat lost her battle with her umbrella but we won
the battle of the tapas which was awesome. Thanks to some research from Els
and google maps we started our tapas crawl through the city. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The first one was pretty good, we had rabbit and garlic, quinoa and some other chicken dish I think. All very tasty and cheap but not to the extent that we thought. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The second tapas was what I will be expecting when I enter the gates of heaven. You had an option of meat, tomatoes with oil and salt, red peppers with oil and salt and that was the extent of the menu. The waiter came out with two huge slabs of beef, each around the kilo I reckon. The waiter looked and smiled waiting for an answer from us. </span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We looked at each other and I asked if there was something smaller, to which he replied “noh….thisa one or thisa one”. </span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">I then asked can we have half of that one, to which he replied “noh…thisa one or thisa one”. </span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So after finally getting the gist of it we chose the smaller one and sat down wondering exactly what we have ordered. How can we go wrong in this place anyway, if it’s good enough for the couples dog next to us (which was being fed whilst in his little purpose made doggy bag) then it’s good enough for me.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So we started to tuck in to the salted tomatoes and paprika which were nice but incredibly salty, the water was fleeing my body with ever mouthful. Then the meat came out, sliced and still sizzling on the plate. It was just the beef with salt and nothing else and was bloody awesome!! Whatever water I had left in my system was now gone, so much salt but so good! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Natty getting directions from the locals</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It was then off to the desert bar where we stuffed
ourselves again and then headed home to dry ourselves off. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Day
three</span></b><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> was the tasting menu day. A special treat given to us by
Els who herself always wanted to do something like this in Spain. She had
booked the three of us at Martin Berasategui’s 3 Michelin start restaurant for
lunch and what a lunch it was!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The tasting menu consisted of 12 plates accompanied with
their chosen wine, we only asked for one change which were the oysters, we
changed them to roast pigeon and natty also made a small change to the desert
so she could have some ice cream (no surprise there). They even gave us each
our own copy of the menu each with the necessary changes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">First dish was smoked eel which we have never had,
actually tastes a lot like smoked oysters (which we do like), it had a
caramelised apple top. I think this was probably my favourite dish of the day. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">After having this dish I thought that perhaps this menu
won’t be so bad after all. My positive thinking soon vanished when confronted
with the next dish. “Squid soup, creamy squid ink ravioli served with squid
crouton” Now for someone who doesn’t eat or like squid the word “squid” was
mentioned far too many times in the title. As the dish was placed down, it
looked like a thin bowl of semi clear liquid with a round ball in the middle.
When the plates were placed the waiter explained that we must keep our mouths
shut when eating the squid ink ball and to eat it in one go. </span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As I had conquered the smoked eel with great success I was
feeling rather confident, I was also trying not to think about the ink ball. Nat
was the first to try and…well…we now know why the waiter explained to us that
you must keep your mouth closed. The black ink was everywhere, her wine glass,
plate and the very white tablecloth (I’m pretty sure I saw some on the back
window). It was pretty funny actually, especially with her frozen ink face look
she had when it happened. I believe her next statement was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">“I don’t like things exploding in my mouth!”</b> (I will leave that one
alone….but damn its hard…..not to) <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">A small portion of the ink, the rest was on her chin</span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After Els finished her ball it was my turn and I think my
face was as white as the ravioli ink ball itself. Probably the worst thing I
have ever eaten. It really didn’t taste all that bad but the texture was
all wrong. Felt like we were drinking the ink…..i really had to concentrate as
my gag reflexes were in full swing. The good news was ,how can it get any worse
than this!!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Another highlight was Els dropping her camera into her
soup, we put it down to the alcohol, we were all pretty drunk by the end of
the meal (which took about 2.5 hours) and were the loudest in the room by far.
There were probably about 16 guests in the room and about the same number of
waiters and staff. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Nat enjoying her sweets</span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For those interested the dishes were:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Smoked eel, foi-gras, spring onion
and green apple<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Squid soup and squid ink ravioli<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Hake with stuff<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Sauteed black garlic with beet
ceviche, ice radish and raifort cream <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Raw fennel and risotto <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Foie-gras with seaweed <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Corrotxategi egg on herb liquid
salad<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Veggi salad with seafood<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">9)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Red mullet with edible scale
crystals, soybean sprouts <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">10)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Roast pigeon<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">11)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Desert of apple lemon, celery,
cucumber, gin and mint<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">12)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Mist of coffee and cocao over banana
with whiskey sorbet and slush (Nat had chocolate souffle’)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">I still don’t know what half of it was but most were
pretty tasty.</span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">The great man, thought he'd be taller</span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After our cab ride home we cracked open the champagne
which gave us all a headache the next day. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">On <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">day four</b>, we
went into town again. This time we ate some of the food which they present on
the top of the counters in the bars. It all looks very good but you can’t help
think about the germs and bacteria getting breathed on it. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span> <span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Day five was raining and cold so we just hung around the campsite again.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
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</span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The view that made us get a move on</span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">16<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> November - Bilbao, Mums holiday inn
carpark<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Left early for Bilbao. Tried to find the camper place
first but the roads have changed a lot and brenda hasn’t been updated recently
so after several attempts we decided to drive to the hotel and look for a plan
B. We parked BB at the hotel, had lunch and then caught the bus into town to
visit the Guggenheim. The building is very unique with a brass like colour and
all curved edges. Its set along a river and has the rest of the city in the
background. It was pretty nice even with the overcast sky. (pictures don't really do it justice)</span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The so called 'modern art' that was on display was the
funniest ever for all the wrong reasons! We each received an audio guide which
spoke about each of the pieces and if you didn’t know any better it could have
been a comedy act. Some of the explanations for the art work were absolutely
bizarre and hilarious. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The first display were large paintings of women’s faces on
all four walls. This was a unique room because the painting were large and of a
passport type photo (um ok if you say so). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The next room had the “The Matter of Time” sculpture which
you could walk through, the spaces shrank and grew and kind of had a cool
effect. Although I wouldn't go this far “..these sculptures create a dizzying,
unforgettable sensation of space in motion” ha! Hilarious.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The funniest of them all which had the two dutch ladies
cracking up the most was the collective works of Antoni Tapies which included
the following:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Chair with clothes thrown on it<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">A wardrobe with messy clothes<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">A pile of plates<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Old couch<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Rolled up mattress<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The discussion on the plie of plates was pretty funny too,
“why that many plates stacked in that way” “these objects mark the birth of a
language of three dimensional objects”. Looks like a pile of plates to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact the whole thing looked like something
from a very poor bachelor’s house.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Another 'art' piece was a collection of photos a lady took
of her computer screen which was dusty with fingerprints. Each photo had an
image on the screen of a different photo of a museum. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Another crack up was photos of empty billboards taken in the
US. Maybe we are not open minded and appreciative enough of 'modern art' but
this stuff is surely pushing the “art” category. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At one point I was looking at some fabulous art which
involved cutting people out of magazines and separating their arms, legs and
head from the body and sticking them into the grid, next to the visual
illusions that we have seen via emails 10 years ago. “you get the sense that
they are trapped behind the grid” Ha! Funny! But at one point I turned to leave
and the camera bag knocked one of the stands (there were about 6 of them lined up),
luckily Nat was there and stopped it from falling to the next one creating a
domino effect for the rest of them. THERE’S YOUR ART!!!! A big pile of rubbish,
should fit right in!! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">After the comedy we had dinner at the hotel, bid mum
farewell and slept in the car park. No one even noticed!</span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">17<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> to 18<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> November - Salamanca,
Spain<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Driving from Bilbao to Salamanca took us about 5 hours and
there really wasn’t much to see. The first part was through mountains, rain,
fog etc and then into a sort of desert area. We stopped along the side of the
road at a petrol station for lunch and it felt a bit like we were in a place
on the movie 'the hills have eyes'. We were happy to finally get to
Salamanca and checked out the camper places but they were empty so we opted for
the camping which was only 16 euro with pretty good WIFI. </span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The site</span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">First lesson (Still no better)</span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The next day it was
actually dry and we rode into Salamanca which was a nice town with lots of
churches. </span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">They are expecting -1 degrees tomorrow so we shall
continue west in chase of the warmth <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">19<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> November - Aveiro, Portugal<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">After food shopping and a quick petrol top up we headed
West for the sun. The landscape from here reminded me of Aus in the desert.
Quite dry with the odd bush or tree. Then we headed into the mountains and soon
over the Portugal border. You can see the difference almost immediately with
lots more shrubbery/bushes everywhere. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After a couple hours through the mountains we came to Aviero near the coast.
The parking place is next to a canal and in front of an overpass - not overly
peaceful. Especially when the local choir group decide to practise under the
overpass at midnight, at one point we didn’t know if they were some young
hooligans that like to sing, but apparently it is common.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">20<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> November – Coimbra, Portugal<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So it was a lazy wake up this morning, quick chat with the
swiss next to us who said Lisbon was nice to visit so we ditched Porto and
decided to go further south towards Lisbon. The swiss couple had been
travelling for 2 1/2 years. They looked like real easy going hippy types living
the life. They told us about their travels to Morocco two years ago where they
were unfortunate enough to be attached by 3 youths while the streets were empty
because of a football match. They held them at knife point for their money
which they wouldn’t give. They screamed and two ran away but the other one
smashed the guy in the face with a broken bottle. Not good! They also had a
more entertaining story of a Moroccan climbing into his trailer to try and get
onto the ferry to Portugal. He found him sitting on his scooter! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Moving onto our drive, we went along the coast which had
some nice spots but there was no one around so we didn’t want to risk it.
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Continued to try find another spot but got caught on shitty roads which turned
to dirt so we ditched that idea and headed for Coimbra instead. Coimbra camping
spot is along the river near some sports halls. We think that the owner of one
of the sports halls was dealing in campers that he had parked there as well,
kind of weird.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We set up and took it easy.</span><br />
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</span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p>The Site</o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">21<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup> November - Batalha, Portugal<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Headed into Coimbra for a walk around this morning. Nice
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</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Afterwards it was time to find another place to camp out
which ended up being Batalha, also in the hills. There was a cathedral which
they were cleaning and not much else to see but we camped out for the night. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">22<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup> to 24 November –<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nazare, Portugal<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Finally back to the coast again after a short drive. The
camping spot is in the town only 250m from the beach. The spot itself is not
very nice, just a car park on the side of the road with a large dirt car park
behind it but the esplanade of the town is nice. Rained a little today but
still not as cold as it has been. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We walked to the esplanade the next day and enjoyed some
beers to the setting sun. Not much else you can do really. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><em><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">(Jake, this is where we spoke to you on Ella's B'day)</span></em></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Day three was another walk on the beach, some relaxing
teas by the harbour (4 teas for 4.4!) and then towards the square for lunch.
Mid arvo we headed back to BB to find the pack of Portuguese neighbours sitting
out in the sun. Girls to the left of BB all sitting around knitting and boys to
the right of bb playing cards. We sat in the middle of them for a read and
headed in when the sun started to set. </span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">"stuck in the middle with you"</span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">25<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> to 26<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> November - Cascais,
Portugal<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Visited Obidos today. Small village on yet another hill
with a castle wall surrounding it. According to the “1000 places to visit
before you die” book it wasn’t meant to have cars driving through it but they
were everywhere. In any case it was a very picturesque village with cobble
stoned streets, small alleyways and different coloured buildings. We tried some
Ginja which is a cherry liqueur. Pretty nice so we bought a bottle with some
chocolate shot cups. When you have it together it tastes like an alcoholic
cherry ripe – don’t mind if I do! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Arrived at camping in Cascais which was a sandy place with
trees everywhere. Trying to find a place with some sun Nat reversed into a
branch and snapped a piece of the bike rack. Another thing on Nat’s list. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Next day I had this amazing idea of walking along the
coast into the town. After two hours, 12 kms and a disgruntled wife we arrived. We
had lunch and then due to the many blisters on Nats feet caught a cab back
to BB. Lunch was 6 tapas dishes for 15 Euros, but then they put bread, butter
and cheese on the table which you assume is free just like anywhere else... but
not here. 5 euros for the cheese thing and 2 Euros for the bread and butter,
they saw us coming but at least we know now. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">27<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> to 28<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> November - Lisboa,
Portugal<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Today we visited Sintra, also known as the village of
queens. Again on a hillside or maybe even a mountain. Pretty town with all
princess style houses around. Walked up a road all the way to the castle. Or
should I say I dragged Nat up the road who on several occasions wanted to turn
back (perhaps the 12km walk the other day had a part to play) but “benny being
stubborn” wanted to continue on and to my delight (and Nat's!) we made it to
the entrance of the castle, after an hour. Castle number 3,204,830 i think this
is. Anyhow, the castle was cool with amazing views so the walk
was well worth it. (and those were Nat's words!!)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We then discovered there was in fact a waking trail
between the castle and the town so the walk back was much easier. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We headed onto Lisbon for the night and the journey
reminded us of home with gum trees everywhere : (</span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The next day we headed into Lisbon which was a nice city.
We only went in for one day and ended up doing mostly shopping. We took
advantage of the hot showers and got ready to head further south which was
hopefully away from the cold and the wind. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">29<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> to 3<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup> December - Albufeira,
Portugal<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After lunch, and some skype sessions with the family, we
left for the south coast. We found the camper park which is just outside of
Albufeira. Pretty nice actually for 6.5 Euros with wifi, power and service
facilities. Its nice because its only for campers, not just a car park like we
have been on in the past. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iLHIvWRckYM/UsrCbb19geI/AAAAAAAAA_c/vBl_dCh6X-M/s1600/IMG_3098.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iLHIvWRckYM/UsrCbb19geI/AAAAAAAAA_c/vBl_dCh6X-M/s1600/IMG_3098.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">First morning they had aerobics which we joined and I
killed it! Despite the 3 months with minimal exercise I was leading the pack
and showing the way……..then I realised that everyone else was 30 years older.
“ohh I can’t get back up” “this is going to hurt in the morning” were just some
of the comments coming from the elderly group. Actually the whole thing was
more of a laugh then anything, very little movement required. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That night an English lady that Nat had met invited
us to watch the end of a wales vs aus rugby match. We had a few drinks with
them in their camper which was nice. Peter and Leslie have been travelling for
2 years and plan to go another 6 months. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The camping place was nice so we stayed longer than
expected. We rode many hills into Albufeira one day and another day rode
towards another town along boardwalks. This was our 8 year anniversary so we
splurged on some tasty massive pork satays and marinated chicken for the BBQ.
Pretty good night listening to music and drinking wine. Good way to start our
9th year! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Lunch time on our anniversary</span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Our neighbour, been doing this for many dog years</span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">The BBQ I am forced to use whilst on this trip, doesn't look like much but does the trick</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Our anniversary dinner</span></em><br />
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<em></em> </span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">With the thought of entering the 9<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> year with
Nat I tried to end my life by slicing a corner of my thumb off, or was I trying
to get the milk open, I can’t remember. Obviously I used the sharpest knife we
have which actually sliced through the carton of milk and continued through my
thumb. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The funny thing was the knife was so sharp it didn’t
actually hurt. While nurse Nat was stopping the bleeding I said “is that my
thumb in the sink?” “yes Ben, it is” Nat even picked it up and dropped kicked it
along the floor, I wanted to keep it but Nat wouldn’t let me. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That night Nat said to take the bandaid off but I knew
better and wanted to leave it on…. wrong move.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">4<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> to 11<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> December –<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Portimao, Portugal<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Arrived in Portimao after a short drive. Parked BB in the
Dutchies and english group. They have a bus pub here which gives it a bit of
atmosphere and everyone is sitting outside enjoying the very good weather. Also
less wind here which is good. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">My thumb had the band aid stuck to it and I couldn’t rip it off, Nat couldn’t either because it sounded like she was chopping my head off. It was fused to my wound and hurt like hell. Bandaid pulling off a fresh wound…makes my legs go like jelly just thinking about it. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So we went to the doctors and was able to go straight in. The doctors visit was pretty entertaining for Nat. I ended up seeing a young Portugese nurse who could speak pretty good English. I sat down and asked her if I had to remove the bandaid or if we could leave it and it would magically get better. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">She said “no I have to remove now” </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“but can you numb my thumb or something it really hurts”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“no”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“but cant we…….”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rrrriiiiiiip<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Oh my god it hurt like hell and I had the sweats going. I received no sympathy from the nurse. “yeah, I know, you are a man, it must hurt” Nat was loving it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The blood just started pouring out again which wasn’t good. After making fun of me she bandaged it up in a massively oversized wrap and sent us on our way with appointments to come back a 2nd and a 3rd time for new dressings. Nat took me to maccas for a treat after this ordeal. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Don't know why everyone kept stopping to ask if I wanted a lift</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">My reward</span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Neighbours across the way, massive dog sleeps in the garage of the camper</span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Nice spot along the beach for dinner one night</span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We are kind of just relaxing here in Portimao, talking a
bit to our neighbours who know Kees and Rinnie where we bought the camper. Walked
along the beach boardwalk one morning which is very nice and into town another
day. We had an Aussie/nz couple approach us because of our flags who invited us
for a drink and a chat over at their place. Nice people who have been traveling
for 5 years on and off and are now on their 3rd camper. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">One day we drove into Lagos for the day to recharge BB and
see something different. Although it was Sunday and all the shops were shut,
the town wasn’t overly interesting and the camper place wasn’t the nicest so
glad we are hanging in Portimao for now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">12<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> to 14<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> December - Silves<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Arrived in Silves to find a large parking place full of
campers. Walked around to find Kees and Rinnie. By chance its Rinnies birthday
today! They said the camper place with power we were looking for was just up
the road so we made our way to find the Aussie/Kiwi couple we had met who
invited us over again tonight. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We went to visit Kees and Rinnie and ended up staying
there late. There were some gay dutchies there also and the night was
entertaining. </span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Nat in her element with other cheese heads</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We stumbled to the Aussie/Kiwi couple and watched a DVD about the
pilgrimage in the north of Spain. Nice movie but a little odd watching it in
the camper with them…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">15<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> December – Back to Portimao<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We headed back to Portimao which is only about 25min
drive. I wanted to go back to the restaurant we ate at along the beach for my
birthday dinner tonight. This was after a very competitive game of pool against
Nat who won best of 5 because I potted the 8 ball. I have learnt to play sober
against her now.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Tomorrow we will head to Spain and will probably be there for a couple of months so its goodbye to Portugal for now.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14968777237654833083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8226631682943449830.post-12935325341348875742013-11-11T10:51:00.000-08:002013-11-11T10:51:06.848-08:00From bangers and mash to baguettes and smelly cheese<br />
<h2 style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">17th
September - Clifdon, Ireland</span><o:p></o:p></h2>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Again,
rain and very windy. Tiny roads which make for scary driving as we worry about
our huge mirrors and tyres. Missing all the scenery with this
rain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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18th to 20th September – Kilarney, Ireland<o:p></o:p></h2>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We got up fairly early as it wasn’t
raining and I drove us off the scary “red” roads through to Galway. The scenery
was beautiful, kind of rugged wilderness with reds and oranges of autumn,
greens and lakes. Drove on as the weather was clear, through Galway with a stop
in Ennis for a quick sausage roll and a stop in Adare (known as the prettiest
town in Ireland) for a scone in a thatched roof coffee shop. Not too sure about
the title “prettiest town in Ireland” though, there was one section of the main
road (where we stopped) that was prettier than the rest but that was about it. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TC3t_h64dXA/UoEU81gU9YI/AAAAAAAAA0c/_05vJFoV1NQ/s1600/DSC_1671.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TC3t_h64dXA/UoEU81gU9YI/AAAAAAAAA0c/_05vJFoV1NQ/s320/DSC_1671.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We kept on going to Kilarney which
turned out to be a very touristic town. To our delight, we managed to book a
tour for the Ring of Kerry so we can leave BB in the safety of the caravan park
and not tackle the tiny roads again. Took a relaxing day off (from nothing...), slept in, cleaned
a bit, I de-rusted the bikes and we went round for a ride. We found a place to
fix the spokes on my back tyre and headed back to BB<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Our Campsite</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--HKqxR6QE3M/UoDLkjYZ06I/AAAAAAAAAnE/-ywrn8OfoX4/s1600/DSC_0004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--HKqxR6QE3M/UoDLkjYZ06I/AAAAAAAAAnE/-ywrn8OfoX4/s320/DSC_0004.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">On the ring of Kerry tour the roads were pretty tiny so we were happy we were in the bus and someone else was driving. The tour took us all the way around the ring with a stop off for some baileys coffee... which Nat liked. Its normal black coffee with a shot of baileys and a layer of cream on the top. Apparently you are not meant to stir the cream in, but drink the coffee through it. Anyways, Nat was sold! </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <br />
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Stopped off at some sheep dog show. Three border collies who are trained to round up sheep. The show only had 5 sheep but demonstrated the different commands. They each have different command signals so one guy can control the dogs at the same time. It was pretty cool if you like that kind of thing.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Yeah the picture doesn't really do it justice, the dogs were moving and not just napping next to the sheep, you had to be there I think.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lHW0cyhwBNw/UoDLsCxAMxI/AAAAAAAAAnk/vC1TErPawVU/s1600/DSC_0083.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> </div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We stopped off for lunch which was amazingly
expensive, 35 euro for lamb stew and boiled ham (both of which tasted better
than they sound), although Nat nearly broke a tooth with some hard rock like
thing in her mash. The tour was ok, but I would have to say that Isle of Skye
was heaps better. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">That night we went into town for dinner
and drinks. We ended up seeing a lady from the tour in the pub (michaelagh) and
joined her for a few drinks, turns out it was her 50th although she looked
nothing like it! Finished around 1am when the pubs closed and both felt like
shite the next morning.</span></span><br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This one is for you mum!</span></o:p></div>
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21st September – Dungarven, Ireland<o:p></o:p></h2>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I think Nat was feeling the effects
from last night as the drive seemed more difficult than most. We ended up in
Dungarven after passing through Cork where we couldn’t stop because they have
bars across all the car park entrances, even the park and ride system, we think
it’s because of the Irish travellers (gypsies). The sun was out, it was an
amazing day with beautiful beaches. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Unfortunately the caravan park along
the beach was shut so we ended up in another one down the road. Sun was out so
it was time to give BB some loving and clean all the tar off him, I think it
took us about 2-3 hours. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">As I was cleaning I heard this almighty thud, at first
I thought Nat had broken something again but instead Nat cracked her head into
an open window and really twisted her neck. Nat went through her typical 4
stages after something like this: the initial pain, absolute HULK-like anger,
sadness and then to Benjy for a cuddle. I have learnt not to go in too early
during the HULK- like anger stage……nothing stands in her way and she takes no
prisoners……. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Nice View</div>
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22nd to 23rd September – Wexford, Ireland<o:p></o:p></h2>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Tried to stop in Waterford but again no
parking and it didn’t really look interesting. Camped up in Wexford for two
nights, again with foggy, drizzle weather. Since our internet package didn’t
include Ireland we enjoyed the strong wifi connection and had a family Skype
day. We also extended for an extra day to hopefully see some sun when we left
for Dublin. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The foggy weather was a shame as we
couldn’t really see some of the country side, I think we may have missed a bit
of the scenery. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Our location for the family Skype day</div>
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<h2>
24th to 26th September – Dublin, Ireland<o:p></o:p></h2>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Arrived in a pretty nice caravan park
just outside of Dublin. The sun was kind of out so even though it was 3pm, we
headed into town. After a 45min bus ride we made it. Walked down O'Connell
street which is just like a mall then went back across the river to the other side
of town called the Temple Bar. Cobblestone streets with lots of nice pubs and
restaurants. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We checked out a pub for some drinks
and live music and then onto the Old Stonehouse for dinner and more drinks. I
had my first Irish Bangers and Mash which was awesome and Nat had her favourite
cottage pie. There was an awesome Irish band, one guy on the guitar and another
on a flute and whistle. The flute guy was bloody crazy, so fast with his
fingers. They worked the crowd really well, even had a screen that showed the
lyrics for some of the songs. I was that impressed (and perhaps drunk) that I
bought their CD. We are hoping that it still sounds good when we are sober. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We caught the last bus back around
11.30pm. The caravan park was absolutely swarming with rabbits, they were everywhere!!
We crashed out and had a lazy day the next day, food shopping and clothes
washing. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We were lucky enough to be in Dublin on
Arthurs Day, which was first celebrated about 5 years ago marking the 200 year
anniversary for Guinness , the day was so successful that they have it every
year (named after Sir Arthur Guinness…apparently). It has caused some criticism
by the “drink aware” group but by looking at the Irish people, if it’s not
Arthur’s day it will be something else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We headed into town just after midday, checked
out the castle and some old buildings around the town, we had lunch at the oldest
pub in Ireland, The Brazen Head which has been getting people drunk since 1198!! We then checked out O’Connell street again and took
some photos of the O’Connell monument for Mum.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We then headed to the temple bar area for Arthurs day, we both got some face painting done and "cheered" to Aurthur at 5:59pm as per the tradition, we met some Irish birds and a Canadian couple who are living in Dubai. We had dinner at an Irish pub where I started to sweat due to the ridiculous burger I was eating, and forgot about my <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>face painting, we continued the pub crawl and also met an Aussie bar owner from Perth here on a three day pub conference.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The atmosphere was really good with
loads of people drinking on the street and live music everywhere, was a good
way to say goodbye to Ireland.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<h2 style="margin: 24pt 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">27th September – Chester, England <o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We got up super early, 6am. Very
unusual feeling for us on this trip so far. It was still dark and there was a
thick fog in the air. Not making it easy to see at all when combined with
sleepy eyes. Good thing Nat stuck with to her “no drinking” policy last night.
We eventually made it to the port after Brenda took us on a very annoying route
through town. We ended up stuck down a small street confronting a semi that
wasn’t going backwards and couldn’t get past us. It took some manoeuvring as I
directed Nat backwards into a small space. Had one scary moment when I was
trying to signal Nat to stop reversing (as we have no back windows) but she
wouldn’t stop, my gestures were more and more serious and I couldn’t understand
why she wasn’t stopping. Finally, before our bike rack came into contact with
the parked car, the truck driver honked the horn. I then realised that I had
folded the passenger mirror in and Nat couldn’t see me. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The ferry ride was better for Nat with
the new sea sickness tablets and some sleep.</span></span><br />
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</span>We arrived in Holyhead and the sun was out! England must have known we
were coming back, we drove into Chester, which we both thought was the best
town we have visited so far. We walked all the way around the town on the old
Roman wall, finally a “walled city” that was true to the name. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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old style streets and buildings with the surrounding walls and 1000 year old Cathedral.
It almost felt like a movie set. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We found a caravan park nearby which
looked a little dodgy but we stayed anyway. There were many……long term campers.
We may have only thought like this because of the Irish gypsy show we've been
watching but they seemed to match the stereotype. We stayed with BB and kept
him under lock and key all night.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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28th to 29th September – Bath, England<o:p></o:p></h2>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We had another semi early start to
leave the scary caravan park. I drove us down the motorway for about 3 1/2
hours. Booked caravan park on the way which was just outside of Bath. We set up
camp and went for a walk through the nearby streets. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></o:p></span> </div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The next day we rode our bikes into
Bath which was along the river Avon to the Pultney Bridge. It is a beautiful
bridge with shops along the top. We walked through the Bath Abbey and checked
out the town. Already was on par with Chester for our most favourite city in
the UK.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I checked out the Roman baths while Nat
continued to check out the town. The baths were awesome, the exhibition took
you through all the exposed ruins which included the main larger bath area and the smaller steam rooms and smaller baths. They had heated floors and
all. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We stopped for yet another cream tea,
rode out of town to check The Circus and Royal Crescent, designed by John Wood
back in the late 1700's. All very nice. Rode back to BB, and enjoyed some red
and more Doritos (I can’t help it, only 1 pound for a bag)</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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<o:p> </o:p>30th September – Torque, England <o:p></o:p></h2>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We headed down south towards the
Dartmoor National Park but the weather was super foggy and then we saw on the
map that it wasn’t suitable for caravans so we opted out. Drove down towards
Torque instead. (the English Riveira) Stopped off, walked around the harbour,
had a huge ice cream and then headed back to BB. We drove on through Paignton
and to the caravan park. Unfortunately we followed Brenda into very small one-way
farm roads, Nat was not liking this one bit and needed a drink when we arrived
at the caravan park. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">1st October to 2nd October – Brighton, England<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We'd been chatting to our neighbour a bit
last night and this morning we were rewarded as he gave us a copy of his book.
The book is called “When was Jesus really born?" He said he'd seen us reading and thought we
might be interested. Nat kindly said it’s not really our thing but then he
mentioned he'd written it. What can you say, have to take it. Maybe we looked
lost and he thought we needed to find god... hmmm. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We left late, weather was grey and
foggy again. The roads turned skinny towards Dorchester</span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> where we stopped for a
walk around and lunch. Nice little town. Have to say the English towns appear
to be more appealing than the ones in Scotland and Ireland. I took over the
driving to give Nat some stress free travelling and we continued on to Brighton
so we could stop over for two nights instead of having to drive again tomorrow.
<o:p></o:p></span></span><br /></div>
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then walked to the marina for lunch. We bought loads of vegemite and some
fosters ready for the Frenchies. </span></span><br />
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<h2 style="margin: 24pt 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">3rd October to 6th October – London, Abbey Wood <o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We arrived at Abbey Wood caravan park and
the weather wasn’t overly good. We hung around BB for the afternoon and planned
our London trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Next day we left early on the train
into the city. We bought a day ticket which allowed unlimited trips on the bus,
train or tube. We first visited HSBC who skilfully sent the replacement security
key to Australia instead of the London bridge office as per our request. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We took the tube to the War museum. Some
of the exhibitions were closed but still had some interesting stuff. The <span style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); mso-highlight: yellow;">Holocaust</span> exhibition was
really good, it really went into detail, very easy to be depressed once you go
through it all. We learnt that the hatred towards the Jews all started from the
hatred by the Christians, they were killing Jews long before this. They blame
the Jews for killing Jesus who was apparently was also a Jew….yet again another
awesome side to religion that makes no sense.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We continued on to Big Ben, the cathedral,
10 downing street (well it’s a gate at the start of downing street) and other
common attractions in Westminster. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Nat’s feet were apparently “killing her”
and started to show signs of a crazy person with unbalanced hormones who didn’t
know what she wanted but whatever I said wasn’t it………so I took her home and put
her to bed. It was a long day after all. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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My first tube trip</div>
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Steepest and longest escalator I've been on</div>
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heading for the portabello markets. This place was packed out and mostly with Spanish
or Italians. We walked the full length and treated ourselves to some cake on
our way back into town. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We walked through hyde park, saw Buckingham palace which wasn’t overly interesting. It was almost underwhelming in the end but we can cross it off the list. We continued into town, Trafalgar Square, m&m world which was insanely busy and we still couldn’t find any pretzel m&m's. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Luckily Nat was feeling better today so we had a few beers at a small pub and had some awesome Thai food at the Banana Tree for dinner. A few more pubs and tried to take some night shots of London. We even treated ourselves to a ride on the merry go round. I don’t think I’ve seen Nat laugh that much before, I think you had to be there and to be drunk. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The next day I was finally going to get my Ferris wheel ride, the London Eye. Although very touristy, it was pretty damn good. We had an awesome clear day and could see all of London. Nat and I both enjoyed it. We would even do it again next time we are here but perhaps at dusk as the city lights are coming on. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We caught up with Matt (old school
friend of Nats) and Tommy for lunch at a Mexican place. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Nat really enjoyed catching up with Matt, still
the same nice guy as he was in school apparantly. Seems to be enjoying life in
the UK. Tommy left for errands and we continued to Southbank with Matt for more
drinks. Had a good laugh, reminded Nat of a party she had a her house when they
were younger and he got drunk the first time and feel asleep on the pool fence.
Funny! maybe we'll see them again during the year.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p>Nat and Matt</o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">7th October – Le Crotoy
– France<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Another early morning to drive and
catch the ferry. Approaching the border control I drove straight past the first
booth to a shouting French man, pretty funny. He stamped the passport with no
questions asked, phew! I don’t know if it’s because of Nats passport but I
wasn’t going to stick around to find out. Then we managed to get on the earlier
ferry cause we were 1 1/2 hours before our departure. Bring on the French
pastries and baguettes!!!!!!!! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We found a caravan park along the coast and
we now realise that we were spoiled by the sites in the UK, this will take some
adjustment. Weather was pretty nice. We walked along the beach and I then
started to teach Nat how to juggle with some balls we bought while in London.
It’s a lot easier than it looks and Nat started to get the hang of it. </span></span><br />
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Nat's first juggling session</div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">8th October – North of
Euro Disney, France<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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Amazing Cathedral in town. Very gothic and different to the ones in UK. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We found a caravan park just north of Disneyland and again we are still getting use to the lower standard. If you wanted to use the toilets you had to bring your own toilet paper, soap, paper towel and in some cases even a bloody toilet seat! </span></div>
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9th October – Disneyland!!!!!<o:p></o:p></h2>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Thanks to a generous gift from the
Frenchies, we had tickets for Disneyland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We finally found the car park where we could stay overnight after
driving around in circles. We didn’t realise that the camping spot that we
found in our camping book was the actual car park for Disneyland. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nat took her motion sickness tablets (which
seemed to work) and headed in. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We aimed to do all the fast rides that
were marked in red on the map and then any other family attractions we could
fit into the day. It was an awesome day!!<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">First ride was space mountain, fast as
anything in the dark with loops and drops and lazers…really cool…well really
cool for those who keep their eyes open. Nat was not looking too bad but was a
little pale on the way out. We did the tea cups, Indiana Jones ride, Peter pan,
buzz light year, Thunder mountain, Aerosmith rocken roll rollecoaster and the
ghost hotel which was the only one that I felt a bit queezy afterwards. In saying
that it was still awesome. It’s based on a haunted hotel, you are seated in a
lift in total darkness, you feel it rise up to the next floor (which is really
about 5 or 6 floors), the doors open and you can see down this long corridor
and ghostly figures at the end, the doors close and you are in darkness again
as it continues upwards, the doors open and another ghostly figure appears, the
doors close…..its black…..and then …….BOOM you free fall and then stop….then
free fall to the bottom, it then takes you all the way to the top and when the
doors open you at the top and see outside and then …BOOM down you go again. So
cool but was very glad when it stopped. Similar to other vertical drop rides but in the darkness with the haunted theme made it the best for me.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We also saw a stunt show which had cars
and motorbikes doing crazy tricks, was pretty good but I was hoping for people
to jump out of windows and stuff.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My feet were soaked through by the end
of the day, it wasn’t cold just a little damp. It was a good day to do it
actually because the crowd was down and we didn’t have to wait more than 5 to
10 minutes for any of the rides, the next few days were freezing too so we were
glad we went. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Thanks Frenchies!!!</span></span><br />
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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Our campsite</div>
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Signed Metallica guitar at the Aerosmith Rock n Roll Rollercoaster</div>
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I think I look more goofy than goofy</div>
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10th to 11th
October – Beauagency, France<o:p></o:p></h2>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Three hour drive south and we entered
Loire valley. Staying at our first proper camper spot along the river which was
absolutely free and somewhat better than the previous ones we paid for,
although there was no toilet. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We went
into the small town where we found a hot water bottle for natty, thermometer
and shoes for Nat also, Finally!!!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">This is when the true camping starts,
using our water and toilets more frequently and learning how to sit on the
toilet such that you get a hole in one on most occasions!!</span></span></div>
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Our first real free campsite along the river</div>
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It was a popular site</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Nat being a scarecrow in the crops....love the expression</span></div>
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12th October – Soinge
des Sologne (Frenchies Party)<o:p></o:p></h2>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">On our way to the party we stopped at the Chateau de Chambord which was amazing.</span></span><br />
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Chateau de Chambord </div>
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We also came across these guys<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q8Iy-D4BcuI/UoEQFrPA9yI/AAAAAAAAAyc/1X6PFYxYuFU/s1600/DSC_0168.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We arrived at the party location before Aude and somehow we had the right place. We met Aude’s brother Tibo and his partner Anna who live in Zurich Switzerland. Made it sound pretty good so who knows, maybe we can find work there next. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We were starting to be known as the gypsies as during the party we brought some washing in from BB and used the machine in the house, felt a little strange but you gotta take the opportunity where you can.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Party was fun, full of Frenchies most of whom are very French. We hung out with Tibo, Anna and the two Sebastiens or “brick shit house and the builder” in the kitchen most of the time. Was a very entertaining night, especially trying to explain that being built like a brick shit house is a compliment ….he was huge. By the end of the night we were hearing “shit house brick” “shit brick” and some other funny alternatives. I even treated them to some fosters, not sure why I bought it but I think I wanted to bring some “Aussie” beer to the Frenchies, went down well actually, although even they know we don’t drink it at home. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We finished around 2am and it was the coldest we have experienced so far. Our new thermometer read 6 degrees inside BB in the morning, I woke up half outside the covers in a state I have not experienced in a while, thank god for the beer. From what we read it was about 1 degree outside. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<h2 style="margin: 24pt 0cm 0pt;">
13th to 14th
October – Blois, France<o:p></o:p></h2>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The next morning we left the house
around midday and headed for Blois. The camper place was right in town and was
only 5 Euros. The sun came out for first time in a while so we managed to hang
out the clothes we had washed at the party and dry them out. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The next day it rained all day again. We
both had our first shower in BB, it takes about 30min to heat the water and
about 6 min to use it all. However the shower is just big enough and at 3 min
each there is plenty of time. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We caught up with Aude in town and went
to her parents place for dinner. Nice cosy two storey house where Audey grew
up. Dinner was really nice, had a laugh with her mum and headed home around
10.30pm. </span></span><br />
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15th to 17th
October – Bracieaux, France <o:p></o:p></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">With plans to catch
up with Aude at the end of the week, we decided to explore the area a little
bit. The plans didn’t quite work as I woke up with a mean man cold. So we
decided to head to the </span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">caravan
park only 20min from Blois so we had power and showers. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">An engine light came on when we drove
out which is never a good sign. Luckily we drove past a fiat dealer so we
stopped and booked BB in for a check-up the next day. The garage was opening
from 2pm onwards and we were there at 5 minutes to 2, raining with the door
locked they looked at as and continued on their way. 5 min past they finally
unlocked the door and let us in. When we asked if they spoke English (in
French) they then asked if we spoke French….why the f---ck would we ask in the
first place!! They were a bit rude and started to talk to another customer
without finishing with us. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Despite the attitude the day before we
dropped BB off at hospital around 2 to a much friendler atmosphere, I think
once you cut through the crap they are mostly nice to you. By 3pm he was
finished. Luckily it was only a split air hose. The computer in BB must be pretty
sensitive but just happy that he's ok. We drove back to the camping and Nat
cooked me some chicken soup. Again rain today so not much to do. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5zc2xxJahzI/UoETVTd8bkI/AAAAAAAAA0A/cZ6gMDaD8fs/s1600/IMG_2840.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5zc2xxJahzI/UoETVTd8bkI/AAAAAAAAA0A/cZ6gMDaD8fs/s320/IMG_2840.JPG" width="239" /></a></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p>Nat made some new friends</o:p></span></span></div>
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18th October – Blois,
France<o:p></o:p></h2>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Left just before midday to check out the
Chevenry castles. It was pretty nice, I think it was the one featured in the
Tin Tin Cartoon. They also had about 100 hunting dogs in an enclosure….very
smelly. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We stopped off at Aude's place for hot drink, goodbyes and to pick up
the much anticipated security keys from HSBC. When we got there we realised
we'd left the cap to our water tank at the camping site so our water had been
splashing out everytime we turned right, so we drove back and thankfully it was
still there. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NnsQbVhkVL8/UoET0d1sMlI/AAAAAAAAA0Q/_3B1EzVrBBE/s1600/IMG_2851.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NnsQbVhkVL8/UoET0d1sMlI/AAAAAAAAA0Q/_3B1EzVrBBE/s320/IMG_2851.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>
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Damn you....but thank you for still being there</div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Meanwhile Audes mum was kind enough to
dry our clothes as well as yet again the dryer was not working and the clothes
didn’t dry overnight. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So we finally had our cup of tea and
Audes place, said our good byes to her parents and then was invited for dinner
and drinks in town with Audes friends so we stayed in Blois again. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We met some more of Audes friends and
had dinner in town, nice night with mixed French and English conversation. We
said our final goodbye to Aude (I think this is number three now) and headed
home. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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19th October – Amboise,
France<o:p></o:p></h2>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Walked into town to check out the music
store. We finally bought my guitar which is a mixed classical and folk guitar.
It was about double what I thought I would spend but was mindful of buying some
cheap rubbish thing….which this thing could still be anyway. Another goal for
the trip in addition to the juggling task. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We walked through the markets on
Saturday and grabbed a baguette, some croissants and a millefeau for desert and
headed back to BB. We drove into Amboise which is a nice small town along the
loire river. We parked BB in the second camper place we found (not the one
tucked away behind some buildings inhabited by a Mohawk skinhead).</span></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14968777237654833083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8226631682943449830.post-71212172540059575142013-09-23T14:22:00.001-07:002013-09-23T14:22:26.347-07:00Into the Highlands and Ireland<span style="color: #4f81bd; font-family: Cambria;">30th August - Abelour, Scotland</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was time to head to Abelour via the whisky trail which was also just after the Victorian heritage trail. We stopped at the Glenfiddich Distillery for a tour. Out tour guide was great and very enthusiastic about the whole whisky making process. By the end of the tour she had both Nat and I convinced that whisky was a fine, smooth drop.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Huntly Castle (on the way to the Distillery)</td></tr>
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The whisky is still "duty free" until they bottle it due to the evaporation loss they have over the 12 years till bottling. </div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Interesting for us (as we had no idea how it was made) they only need three ingredients: barley, water and yeast. All the sugars are extracted from the barley through a heating and filtration process. The yeast added for the fermentation to begin and then put into the barrels. The interesting thing which we didn’t realise is all the flavours and colour of the whisky are determined from the barrels. These guys use previous bourbon barrels from the States and/or cherry barrels. Sometimes they keep the whisky in the bourbon barrel for 12 years and then swap it into the cherry barrel for the last 6 months or so. Anywho, interesting to hear the different techniques. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">It has to be barrelled for a minimum of 3 years in Scotland to be called Scotch whisky. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">So off we went at the end of the tour with the thought that the whisky was going to be smooth after the tour guides enthusiastic speech… mmmmm not really. You still have to love the stuff to appreciate it I guess. Although, the older the whisky the better it was, we tasted 12 years (youngest they do), 15, 18 and 21 years. Nats words “when we got to the tasting it was still gross. I think I burnt out some nose hairs just by sniffing some of it.”</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">They say to add water until it doesn’t burn when you drink it, we didn’t have a big enough glass. I guess we are not whisky drinkers just yet.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #4f81bd;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">31st
August to 1st September - Inverness, Scotland</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We left Aberlour via Glen Grant distillery for another tour and
again in Nats words “more gross tastings”. We did another tour with similar
aspects to the one yesterday and tried some more whisky, hard stuff for
12:30pm.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We arrived at the caravan park just outside of Inverness. It was extremely windy here with the whole camper shaking. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">I checked out the Culloden battlefield which was the last battle to be fought on British soil. There was an uprising by the Jacobites against the Government. (House of Stuart trying to overthrow the House of Hanover). The Jocobites were undefeated until this battle. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Feature wall with every protruding piece of stone representing lives lost</div>
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They had blue and red flags to show where they stood in battle</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">They had an exhibition centre with a small room that projected a
re-enactment of the battle on all four walls, it felt like you were right in
the middle, really cool. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
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<span style="color: #4f81bd;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">2nd
September - Morvich, Scotland (near Isle of Skye)</span></span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Drove down Loch Ness to Drumnalochie castle. I didn’t realise
but Loch Ness is the biggest lake in Scotland, by volume, and equates to all
the lakes in England and Wales combined, it’s also 230m deep. No siting of
the monster, just something in the passenger seat…….</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The roads were very tight and winding which again is not well
received. We then continued on to the west coast towards Isle of Skye. The
landscape drastically changed to rugged mountains, streams and small
waterfalls everywhere. Very beautiful and totally unexpected. We stopped
off at Morvich caravan park for the night before going to Skye. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Even though
it was misty with low lying dark cloud it was a nice setting and not too
cold. Nat cleaned BB and rewarded herself with some of the scones we had
left, I hope by now she has had her scone fix, but for some reason I don't
think that's the case yet.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><u1:p></u1:p><span style="color: #4f81bd;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">3rd
to 4th September - Portree, Isle of Skye</span></span></span></h2>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><u1:p></u1:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Left Morvich for Isle of Skye, unfortunately the
weather was terrible. Overcast, foggy, constant rain, and couldn’t really see
any of the scenery. We decided to stop in Portree for a couple of days and
hopefully continue the drive with the sun out. (a very good decision in the
end) </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We walked into the town and rewarded ourselves with a few beers in a very simple pub, just so happened to be playing “Bens music” so we stayed a little longer. We walked down to the harbour where we had some hot chips and ventured back up to the town square to another pub which was just for a couple but ended up being for the rest of the night. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><u1:p></u1:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Nat ordered a house red which ended up being about 300ml in one glass, needless to say “red wine” Nat with rosy cheeks came out for the night. We ended up having dinner there and tried our first Haggis meal with neeps and tatties. It was a starter which wasn’t actually too bad. I think it was mixed with a lot of herbs and spices but you could taste the "odd" meat flavour occasionally. </span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">After dinner they had a band on, just a simple drum and two accordions. I think it might have been true Scottish style band but without the bagpipes. However they did have bagpipes out in the street for a bit which was pretty cool. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Then we walked back up the hill to BB, well we actually speed
walked, very funny, I believe Nat may have won but I was carrying an
extra 4 litres of beer. Next day the weather was still atrocious so we stayed
in all day and watched whatever was on the box. We actually watched Breakfast
At Tiffany's - first time for both of us. Was kind of weird, can’t work out
if she was a pro or not. She was pretty annoying actually and I
wished the taxi pissed off with her in it at the end. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #4f81bd;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">5th
September - Dunvegan Stopover (forced stopover!)</span></span></span></h2>
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<span style="color: #4f81bd;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><u1:p></u1:p></span><o:p></o:p></span></span> </h2>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The sun finally came out so we started our trek around 9.30ish.
Through to the top of Isle of Skye, past old man storr, Uig and into
Dunvegan. The road was mostly single lane with passing points, got very dodgy
is some spots but the scenery was definitely worth it. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Narrow road for most of the trip</div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><u1:p></u1:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><u1:p> </u1:p></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We made it into Dunvegan and thought we'd head to the castle to
stop for lunch. Unfortunately we didn’t make it that far as the back right
tyre completely blew out on us. By completely I mean off the rim,
unrepairable and totally f*&#@d. Lucky for us we didn’t have a spare, the
discussion “we really should by a spare tyre” we had a few weeks ago is
useless unless you actually buy the bloody thing!! </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><u1:p> </u1:p></span><o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">So I stayed
with the camper explaining the situation to everyone who stopped, who were
mainly German because of the license plates, while Natty road into town on
the bike to find a garage. The road we were on didn’t have any emergency lane
or a spot where we could crawl off the road, so there we were on the road
with the hazards lights on while buses and semi’s drove around us, luckily
there was enough room for a single lane.</span><o:p></o:p><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Neither the garage here or in Portree had the replacements so we
were stuck on the road until the morning when the tyre was due in. We
couldn’t get a tow to a safer place because we too long. We were only about
200m away from a parking spot but we couldn’t make it there without causing
damage to the rim so it was a road stop for us tonight. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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The view for the night...</div>
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Our campsite for the night</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">So a nice sunny day ruined but we made the most of it by setting
up our chairs on the side of the road and had a few beers. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><u1:p> </u1:p></span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">It was a very nervous night considering we could see the
oncoming headlights beaming into our camper every time someone drove by. We
just wanted it to be morning and light so we weren’t such a hazard. We placed
a reflective vest on the right mirror and kept the hazard lights on for most
of the night. A few people stopped throughout the night but they couldn't help
us. We didn’t get much sleep that night….</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #4f81bd;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">6th
to 7th September - Onich, (just below Fort William)</span></span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #4f81bd;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span></span><o:p></o:p> </h2>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Can you believe they had the tyre in and were with us by 9am to
fix it, because its not Abu Dhabi!! We got out of there by about 10am and continued the drive off Skye
and all the way through to our Caravan club site in Onich. Again awesome
scenery and we were lucky to see some of the sights that we missed out the
other day due to the weather as we essentially did a big loop.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We continued on to Onich which was a really beautiful caravan
site, overlooking the lake with mountains behind it. We were rewarded with an
awesome sunset that night. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><u1:p></u1:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Next day we fixed the leak that we noticed in BB, to the best of our abilities, by filling it with silicon, a lot of silicon. Then off for a walk on some of the nearby trails. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Our camp site</div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><u1:p></u1:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4f81bd;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">8th
September – Oban<u1:p></u1:p></span><o:p></o:p></span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Before we headed to Oban for the night we decided to take a trip
on the Jocobite steam train to Malaig and back from Fort William, it is
stated that it was voted the best train route in the world. It was pretty
good although not sure how it would compare to the one through the Rockies. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">In any case we enjoyed it, got some coal in our hair, face and
eyes while leaning out the window to take photos. On the way there "the little
train that could" actually ran out of steam, literally, whilst trying to
climb. We stopped in Malaig for lunch and then travelled back. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><u1:p></u1:p><span style="color: #4f81bd;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"></span></span></span> </h2>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #4f81bd;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">9th
to 10th September - Balloch (on Loch Lamond, Scotland)</span></span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #4f81bd;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span></span><o:p></o:p> </h2>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Drove down to Oban in the morning to check it out and it was
stunning. Small harbour town with amazing views to the nearby islands. It was
made even better from the stunning weather we had. Blue skies with some
beautiful white fluffy clouds. Really nice. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Then continued driving into Loch
Lamond national park and down the loch to Balloch. Again, we were greeted
with stunning scenery which reminded us of Canada. Mountains with trees and
large lakes. Only down side was the damn tiny roads again. </span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><u1:p></u1:p></span><o:p></o:p><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We checked into Loch Lamond woods touring park, which is just
around the corner from Macca’s and walking distance to town. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #4f81bd;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">11th
September - Stirling, Scotland (FREEEEEEEDOOOMMMM!!)</span></span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #4f81bd;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span></span><o:p></o:p> </h2>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We drove into the caravan park to secure our park and then drove
into Stirling to check out the town. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Caught the park and ride in, walked
around the old town to the castle and then down again to the main shopping
street. We headed back to BB in the bus and then checked out the William
Wallace memorial. We walked up to the memorial, I went in and Nat headed back
to BB. The Memorial is close to Stirling Bridge which is where Mr Wallace,
outnumbered, defeated the English and is one of the well-known battles.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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I could take him...</div>
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Due to the size of the sword, they reckon he would need to be 2m tall...</div>
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Views from the monument</div>
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The Monument</div>
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Old Stirling Bridge</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><u1:p></u1:p><span style="color: #4f81bd;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"></span></span></span> </h2>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #4f81bd;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">12th
to 14th September – Glasgow</span></span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #4f81bd;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span></span><o:p></o:p> </h2>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><u1:p></u1:p>We
left Stirling for Glasgow via the Falkirk Wheel which was pretty cool, it’s
like a Ferris wheel for boats between the two canals. It lifts boats about
35m up to the next canal which replaced the 8 locks that were once required. </span><o:p></o:p><br />
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View from the top canal</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> Ben playing on kid stuff</o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Continued on to Glasgow where it kept raining so we stayed home
and sorted out laundry etc before meeting up with our friend Billy the
next day. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">We packed our
overnight bag and caught the bus into town to catch up with Billy. We went
for teppanyaki dinner after polishing off a bag of Doritos and about 5 beers.
Then went to a bar in an old building with a modern interior but keeping the
old school cornices and ceiling finishes. </span><o:p></o:p><br />
<o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">We saw a few
Glasgow slags and immediately felt for our single friend Billy. All in all a
good night although with my carb overload I was done by about 1:30am. The
next day we walked around town some more, had dinner at a Thai restaurant
followed by a pub with live music. Had a good laugh with Billy who was a
great host for out short visit. </span><o:p></o:p><br />
<u1:p></u1:p><br />
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<span style="color: #4f81bd;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span> </h2>
<h2 style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: #4f81bd;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">15th
September - Coleraine, Northern Ireland</span></span></span></h2>
<h2 style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: #4f81bd;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><u1:p></u1:p></span><o:p></o:p></span></span> </h2>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">After arriving back to BB around 1am we got up at 7am to make it
to the ferry </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">at Cairnryan. We made it in good time considering the shocking
weather. Foggy and nonstop rain plus really strong winds. The water was soooo
choppy, well for Nat anyway who spent most of the trip in the foetal position.
The pressure point bands did not work and when she went to the toilet feeling
like she had to vomit she managed to keep it in despite someone next door not
having so much luck. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<u1:p></u1:p>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><u1:p> </u1:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><u1:p></u1:p></span><o:p></o:p> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">When we arrived the sun was out and we continued the drive to
Coleraine towards the Giants Causeway. The weather was crazy here with super
strong winds, rain, hail and sun. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<u1:p></u1:p><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><u1:p></u1:p><span style="color: #4f81bd;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"></span></span></span> </h2>
<h2 style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #4f81bd;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">16th
September - Ballyshannon, Ireland</span></span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #4f81bd;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span></span><o:p></o:p> </h2>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We made a slow start after doing some food shopping. We checked
out the Giants Causeway, again, raining with major winds. The Causeway was
pretty cool, a geologists playground (thinking of my mate Kane).</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<u1:p></u1:p><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Nat thought it was hilarious when I looked like a minion…..i
don’t see it though.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>I cry with laughter every time I see this photo! </em>Nat</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<u1:p></u1:p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We drove down to Ballyshannon and the weather was not getting
any better</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14968777237654833083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8226631682943449830.post-70902680132323163552013-09-01T15:47:00.001-07:002013-09-01T15:47:53.215-07:00Two lots of Ashes and G'day Scotland
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<h2 style="margin: 24pt 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: windowtext;">10th August - Manor Farm, York</span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Left Mansfield early for York as we had
been told it was a very nice town. We set ourselves up and then road into town
along the river. Nice but super busy. I went to a Jorvick tour
which was about the Vikings who apparently used to live in the northern part of
the UK many years ago. The set up was pretty good, they even had a "ride" that took you through a typical Viking town, including someone taking a "no 2" in a typical out door toilet at the end, with sound effects...classic.</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The “shambles” is
this little street that apparently is always filmed if anything is in York, I
didn’t really see the big deal but I guess it was kind of cool with the little
shops and old school streets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Shambles</div>
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York Castle</div>
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<h2>
<span style="color: windowtext;">11th August – Durham Tees Valley Airport,
Durham<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After a long think of where I could spread the ashes of my
Grandad I had finally found the perfect place. The Durham Tees Valley airport
(which just so happened to be on the way from York to our next stop in Durham) and was also known as the Middleton St George airfield which was used during World
War 2. As it turns out, papa Doug actually flew out of this airfield during his
service with the 419 RCAF squadron. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The St George Hotel in the background of some of the photos
was apparently the officers mess back in the day, the actual air strip was a
few miles from here. Some old buildings are scattered around the area but is
difficult to tell what they were or if they were in use during WW2.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Every year the remaining survivors and relatives would stay
at the hotel for rememberance day, some stay for a week. We got talking with
the one of the employees there who seemed to know a bit about it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<h2 style="margin: 24pt 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">11th to 13th August – Forbes
Manor, Durham <o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After our beer in Doug’s Memory we
drove to Steve and Michelle’s place (their in-laws). They took us to Sedgefield with James,
Molly and Joan (Michelle’s mum) for a typical Sunday lunch. A great roast with
Yorkshire pudding and after a few pints we went to their friends house, Gavin and
Kate, for drinks……..whether they liked it or not. This was after Michelle damn
near rolled out a moving taxi to run up and scare the shit out of Kate whilst she
was parking her car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">They had a beautiful home with large
windowed ceiling above the living area and beautiful kitchen but most
importantly a kick ass back yard which I immediately explored. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7BCMv70IYF4/UiOy1_3u_3I/AAAAAAAAAPM/E3UDig0eHi8/s1600/IMG_2421.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7BCMv70IYF4/UiOy1_3u_3I/AAAAAAAAAPM/E3UDig0eHi8/s320/IMG_2421.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The backyard</div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Ashes Day 4<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Nat went on a girls day with Michele to
Whitby (which apparently was a slight let down for all as it was packed out
with yobbos) and then went onto Runswick which was a beautiful seaside town.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I on the other hand, thanks to Steve
and Gavin, was able to go with the boys to the fourth day of the fourth Ashes
test. It was a fantastic day out, the ground was small ish with a capacity
crowd of around 17,000, so you were close to the action no matter where you
were. </span></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OqeOoBUEb9E/UiOyzlUNA9I/AAAAAAAAAPE/N91DQ3Qhtg4/s1600/IMG_2428.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OqeOoBUEb9E/UiOyzlUNA9I/AAAAAAAAAPE/N91DQ3Qhtg4/s320/IMG_2428.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7iktpTV9ZbI/UiOyxwBAEVI/AAAAAAAAAO8/0dPlAgDGcfQ/s1600/IMG_2433.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7iktpTV9ZbI/UiOyxwBAEVI/AAAAAAAAAO8/0dPlAgDGcfQ/s320/IMG_2433.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span> </div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The morning session was great, was able to see the Aussies bowl out
the English after some spirited batting by the English tail whilst enjoying a fosters (which is bloody everywhere and brewed in
England). It then rained
during the lunch break and delayed the start by 45 min or so, which I chalked
down as yet another typical English experience. After a burger and a few more beers
I enjoyed the great opening spell by Warner and Rogers, by tea I was pretty chuffed
and Steve and I were talking about the next days play. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Some more beers and a burger at tea, cause why
not when your team is finally showing some form, and by the time we left to catch the taxi at
about 6:15 it was 2 for 160 odd and the fifth day was looking to be a
cracker…. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span> </div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The game was extended to 7pm because of the rain, by
the time we arrived at Gavin and Kates place to meet the girls, it’s the
damndest<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>thing,……….. I have no memory of
what happened next and so I say again was a fantastic day!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Actually I spent most of the night
sulking outside or in the next room NOT watching us loose the last wicket in
what I think is one of the worst loses for us in a while. To be in such a
strong position and crumble at a critical moment in the game and at a point
where we needed to show some fight and gain some momentum into the Australia’s
series is worrying.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Despite all that the actuall day, which
I spent mostly with Steve as there were two seats by them selves, was actually
pretty amazing. It was my first ashes experience and what a day. Typical Aussie
style I wore shorts and thongs because "since when is it that cold at a cricket
game", all<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can say thank god for the
beer blanket. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Special mention must go out to Steve
Forbes. Despite him being English the day at the cricket with him was bloody awesome, terrific bloke. The decision to grab the pre-booked taxi which prevented me from seeing the
forgettable black afternoon (with the English crowd) has made me forever greatful. I think
however his son is still not talking to him……….<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Gavin and Kate again made us feel all
very welcome (again) and put on a fantastic spread. We look forward to meeting up with Malcom (Gavins Dad) in Sterling. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Cathedral in Durham</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zuKELlXo3D8/UiO0jgMEthI/AAAAAAAAAPg/fTLaTckw8IE/s1600/DSC_0677.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zuKELlXo3D8/UiO0jgMEthI/AAAAAAAAAPg/fTLaTckw8IE/s320/DSC_0677.JPG" width="212" /></a></div>
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<h2 class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">13th August – Acomb (Near
Hexham)<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A stop over really ready for Hadrians
wall tomorrow. It wasn't a very clean site. I had started my old man
routine and went back and had a snooze, then we walked down into Acomb and had
a drink and game of pool in a small pub, again something here about Nat beating
me but I can’t remember. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<h2>
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">14th August – Dunstan
caravan park, Hadrians Wall!!!!!<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Drove out to the Housestead Roman Fort
along Hadrians wall. Walked through the ruins of the old fort and along some of
the wall. It was very beautiful and scenic with surrounding countryside. We became
a member of the English Heritage which means free entry to hopefully all the
castles in England and some discounts for the ones in Scotland and Ireland.
Again much to Nats delight. We paid 84 pounds and as I write this we are down
to 44 pounds already with many more to visit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
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That side.....bad </div>
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We arrived at the caravan park and then headed down to the beach to check out the Dunstan Castle, we are going in tomorrow so we took some shots from the beach<br />
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Not a bad back drop during a game of golf! JB and the Force would like this</div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">15th to 16th August, Alnwick Farm<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We got up early at Dunstan Caravan park to actually walk down to the Dunstan castle and check it out. </span></span></div>
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This is actually taken inside the castle grounds</div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We then headed to Alnwick which was a small certified site for two nights. Site was quite nice with power and great views. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The site</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KLrl4aVjczI/UiO4pmiinEI/AAAAAAAAASg/erqktBNosGs/s1600/IMG_2459.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KLrl4aVjczI/UiO4pmiinEI/AAAAAAAAASg/erqktBNosGs/s320/IMG_2459.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The view</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Unfortunately it was too far out of town to walk it so the next day we drove in to see Alnwick Castle. Nice castle, still lived in by the Percy family (whomever they are). We saw a birds of prey show, did another dungeon show (not as good as Warrick but also didn’t cost anything either) and then left for a walk around small town.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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Viewing point on our way to the Castle</div>
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We park with the big boys now</div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We arrived at Elford farm around midday, just hung out in camper, did some clothes washing. Bit of a non eventful day.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y0TGFBsIb78/UiO4pTEgePI/AAAAAAAAASc/xgK-9OXW1lY/s1600/IMG_2460.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y0TGFBsIb78/UiO4pTEgePI/AAAAAAAAASc/xgK-9OXW1lY/s320/IMG_2460.JPG" width="239" /></a> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">18th August – Seahouses Caravan park, Sea Houses<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Because the Elford farm should have been 21 pound per night but for some reason we only paid 15, we didn’t want to stay there another night to pay full price as the facilities were not so nice so we went down the road to Seahouses Caravan Park. Before that we drove to Bamburgh where I checked out another castle, Nat walked around the small town, bought some steak and pork/apple patties from the butcher and headed back to caravan park. We walked into the town after we arrived for a beer, nice small coastal town. Really nice coastal drive on our way from sea houses to the next location. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<h2>
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">19th August – Berwick upon
Tweed<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We drove down the road (30km) to
Berwick. The caravan park was on hillside overlooking town and harbour, quite
nice. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Walked into town, checked out old barracks and had a hot drink at Café
Nero. We didn’t do too many long drives as we had tickets to the Edinburgh
Tattoo on the 21<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup>, so we took our time heading north<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">20th August - Dunbar,
Scotland (just outside of Dunbar) <o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span> </div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Scotland!!!!!! We drove to Dunbar for
the night because we were unable to change booking in Edinburgh. A small certified
location on a farm yard. Stopped off in Dunbar on way for sandwich. Seems to be
slightly colder again after just having crossed the border into Scotland. I hopefully
fixed the step into the camper, we kicked the footy and played some badminton
and even a couple games of rummikub, just relaxed and enjoyed the peace and
quiet. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CBS3SkizQe4/UiO7NSJzjII/AAAAAAAAATE/-sB53GZfRC8/s1600/IMG_2472.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CBS3SkizQe4/UiO7NSJzjII/AAAAAAAAATE/-sB53GZfRC8/s320/IMG_2472.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">21st to 23rd
August – Edinburgh Caravan park, Edinburgh<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Good old Edinburgh. Found the caravan
park fairly early because you could arrive anytime after 9am. I think we
travelled through the ass end of the city as it looked a bit dodgy. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The lady who checked us in was some crabby
sarcastic rude english biatch. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Sun was out, we found a nice spot,
put the awning out and relaxed a bit before catching the bus into town. It was
pretty busy with the tattoo, fringe and comedy festivals on. Nice old and new
town areas. We had a beer with a view of the new town before the show and some Italian
dinner where Nats prawn head (the one she was eating that is) exploded over her
top, jeans and jacket, pretty funny from where I was sitting. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We headed to the tattoo which was
awesome, we didn’t miss anything even with our “restricted view” seats (only seats we could get!). The
groups were from Korea (south), NZ, Mexico and Scotland. The story of the night
was told over the four seasons. Excellent show, would do it again if we came back.</span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
The Lone Piper</div>
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day was a bit misty and cold so we just wandered around town and did a bit of
shopping. The next day we went to the castle, great views from the castle of
the city although it was a bit foggy again so it wasn’t very clear. They shot
the gun off at 1pm which they have been doing forever so everyone can have
their watches set at the same time. I liked it, bloody loud…Nat didn’t see the
point of it at all.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We left the craby biatch at around midday from Edinburgh and found our certified location (farm) for the night, we rode the bikes into town but there wasn’t much to see.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We could see across to Dundee over the water on the other side. We rode back and stopped off at the Scotscraig golf clubhouse for a drink. It’s the 13th oldest golf course in the world. We then had a new goal to find the oldest and soon realised it was in St Andrews which was a town that we sort of drove past already. We would head there tomorrow.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">25th to 26 August – Forfar<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Drove into St Andrews before heading to Forfar after the CL owner said it was quite a nice town, which it was. Unfortunately it was foggy again which always makes everything look very dull. Walked around the town, golf course, club house. This is where golf all started (well in this region anyway) Golf was actually banned for a while because it distracted the men from there day to day responsibilities, then they realised how shit boring it was and let it go. There are about 8 courses in the area and "the old course" is apparently the oldest around, mission accomplished.</span></span></div>
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Many of the photos and paintings are of this little bridge with the buildings in the background, got no idea why but we followed.</div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After lunch we left for Forfar and arrived late in the afternoon. Excellent caravan park, beautiful and green with fantastic and clean facilities. We are situated just next to a lake as well so Nat and I went for a jog and enjoyed the scenery. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">27th to 29th August – Stonehaven<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Stonehaven, small town along the coast just below Aberdeen. We visited the Dunnottar Castle which was awesome. This has been used everywhere including one of the Microsoft screen backgrounds I believe. Just past the castle was the caravan park which was situated along the coast.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The next day we caught a bus into Aberdeen, walked along coast, stopped for a coffee and saw dolphins jumping out the water. Pretty cool and so many of them. I ordered Nat an “English breakfast equivalent tea” and later realised that they thought I meant the full English breakfast, I quickly told them (although this was about 20 min later) and to their disgust they stopped cooking and gave us the tea. We walked through the town, had lunch at Jaime Oliver's Italian restaurant which was nice and then headed back home. The city was very grey looking with all the buildings having the same type of façade, this added with the grey skies made the city look pretty depressing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14968777237654833083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8226631682943449830.post-37047586561497842372013-08-17T13:07:00.000-07:002013-08-17T13:07:10.697-07:00England here we come...
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<span style="color: windowtext;">1st to 2nd August -
Daisy Farm, Littlehampton, England<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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Views from the night before</div>
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Similar to what took us over</div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Heading into Dover</span></o:p></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></o:p> </div>
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We left “early” to ensure we could buy
the ferry tickets, most people at the caravan site had already pre-booked. No
problem in the end. We arrived in Dover at about 12:30 (1.5 hour on the ferry)
and began driving on the “wrong” side of the road (compared to UAE) whilst left
hand drive. To be honest, the left hand drive is actually very easy. Just keep
your mirror as close as you can to the gutter, fence or trees on your left and
let the other motorist get out of the way!!<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We took the advice of our GPS, called
Brenda or Stupid bitch, and ended up on the ‘B’ roads, which are narrow, rough, bendy and not
ideal at all for BB. She was Stupid bitch that day. What should have
taken 1 hour took about 3 hours. Mind you we did some nice scenery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So from now on, we use Brenda in the
background and stick to main roads until we need to head to our
destination….campervaning 101 really.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There was one incident where I was glad
to be wearing underpants when I underestimated a very sharp corner (poor signage
really…) with a steep decline and then steep incline. I managed to break in
time but as I was turning the beast I pretty much took up the entire two lanes,
was close to stalling it whilst still blocking both lanes. I just caught first
gear and slowly crept up….no harm done. I have realised, although obvious, it
takes a lot longer to stop this thing when at speed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Thanks to Brenda we drove through
Hastings, which was actually pretty nice, and then through Brighton. We were
going to stop and stay but all the campervan sites were fully booked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So we kept on trucking to Littlehampton (we
will hopefully stay in Brighton on the way back). We stopped at a caravan site
which is part of the “caravan club”. Long story short, to get discounted rates
and in some cases be allowed to stay you have to be a member. So we are
officially part of the grey haired army. There are other sites around but with
this membership you can book on line and there are certified locations too
which offer less facilities but also cost a lot less, some are also only for
members.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Daisy Farm site had some showers so
I was able to have my first shower in three days, on nat’s request, although I
was starting to itch….<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We walked into the town and had our first
fish and chips on the beach….well I think it was a beach. Couldn’t see the sand
through the rocks and seaweed but a nice atmosphere none the less. The seagulls
here are massive and put ours to shame.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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My first BBQ of the trip and it had to rain</div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">At this point I’m supposed to say something
about Nat beating me at mini golf which included a hole in one but I can’t
really remember the details. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<h2>
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">3rd to 5th August - Stratford
Upon Avon via Marlborough and Bourton on the Water</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We left Daisy Farm direction Stratford. Drove through
Salisbury and stopped off to visit the Cathederal which has the biggest steeple
in UK. Quite a nice town (not like ours!) although we hadn’t booked anything so couldn’t stay.
Went on to the stonehenge. Had lunch in the car park before walking to the henge. They
wanted 8 pounds per person, apparently it costs a lot of money to keep 4000 year
old rocks from wear and tear.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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On our way to Salisbury</div>
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Salisbury Cathedral</div>
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Salisbury Cathedral</div>
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and again...</div>
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Oldest working clock in the world</div>
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more shots of inside the cathedral (above) <br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After a few phone calls we managed to get a place just
outside of Marlborough (Kingston farm). Arrived, played our first game of badminton
and then un-did all our good work and went looking for a pub. We took our bikes
and rode them into town, typical English summer it bucketed down on the way but
made the first beer taste even better. After four the ride home was fun but
much harder! Was out our first real English pub and pretty much as expected,
beer with cricket and soccer on the tv. For the record, 1 pint and 1 shandy was
about 6 pounds…not too bad.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p>Our first English Pub</o:p></span></div>
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Our view from BB</div>
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Enjoying "Fat Bastard", a full bodied French Red with a Screw Top!! Frenchies, can you believe it!!</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Well I knew this time would come but the Kingston farm did not have any toilets or showers so we had to do our first……..no. 2's in campervan toilet. I then had the pleasure of emptying the toilet into the chemical disposal point before we took off the following morning, as the “dumping” point (he he he) was outdoors the smell was minimal so was ok…..it was the visual that I didn’t need but I will spare you the full details. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The 4<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> to the 5<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> August was spent at Monk Farm in Stratford Upon Avon via a quick stop at Bourton on the water.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Arrived at our site in Stratford Upon Avon (Monk Farm) late in the afternoon. We stopped off at Bourton on the Water which was just the cutest little town (Nats words). Had our first cream tea (tea and scones) which were pretty damn tasty. Weather held out just in time for us to get back to car.</span></div>
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On the way to Stratford we also stopped at the Avebury Stone circles (above three photos)</div>
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Bourton on the Water</div>
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mmmm</div>
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Nat's favourite ice cream truck</div>
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More Bourton on the Water</div>
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We took a large amount of photos here but were all kind of similar..</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After arriving to monk farm we did what was becoming a trend and went to find a pub. We were told there is a public path that leads to the village. The public path involved about 100m of gravel road and 800m of sheep and shit paddock which was great in my thongs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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The public path</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We found a pub and I ordered a local beer which was warm, flat and tasted like piss. The real welcome to England!! I fixed the nasty taste with a Carling (becoming my beer of choice) and headed back. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Next day we walked into Stratford Upon Avon and visited Shakespeares house (up the road from a subway…gold!) and then walked down the river to the church where he was buried, which for some reason was quite a nice experience being there.</span></div>
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The main tourist street</div>
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Shakespeare's house...well sort of</div>
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Me, undertaking some deep level reflecting......or just taking a break</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We also had what was apparently the “world’s greatest pasty” which was almost as good as a balfours in SA.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The walk to and from Stratford was about 80min…….justification for the beer after a long day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Some more pictures of the city.<br />
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Found somewhere to leave Benny while I scoot around to the shops :)<br />
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<span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: large;">6</span><sup><span style="font-size: small;">th</span></sup><span style="font-size: large;"> to the 8</span><sup><span style="font-size: small;">th</span></sup><span style="font-size: large;"> – Warwick (CASTLE TIME!!!!!)<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Had a lazy morning before our 15 min drive to Warwick. Beautiful day with the sun out so we hung around the camper all day. I actually started to read my book which has been sitting by my bedside for the past 12 months. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Next day we spent the whole day at Warwick castle (much to Nat's delight). Awesome site with sword and jousting shows. Also did the dungeon viewing which had different areas with different scenes based around the 1300's. All based in small, dark and dank rooms, it reminded me of the classic ghost train at the fair, they used the element of surprise to shock you. During the tour a few young kids had to leave because they were scared, it was done pretty well. Actors would play the part of the town doctor or tourcherer and would describe what they did, the whole time they treated us like we were the peasants, pretty funny. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">During one of them Nat was put in a cage for the duration and some guy was used as a prop to show how they used to torture people (twist and pull the tongue, cut little Johnson etc) . The day finished off with a demonstration of the trebuchet or catapult. “Benny was happy”, check out the video, it takes a little while, I need to work out how to trim the videos. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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View from inside the castle grounds, one of the shows that they put on through out the day</div>
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View from one of the castle towers</div>
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The Gaol was actually kind of creepy, they had sound effects and left it dark and dank, they use to lock someone up in a cage to die and rot<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I think this video is for the guys, hope it worked</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The second day in Warwick was used to check out the rest of the town, nothing worth mentioning after the awesome castle experience. However we did visit the old museum in the city centre. It had many uses before the museum, hospital, school and some army headquarters. I took some photos to see if Mum recognised some of the old Victorian kitchen and class rooms…..<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Recognise this mum?<br />
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<span style="color: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">9th August – Tall Trees Caravan Park,
Mansfield<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Arrived at Mansfield around midday, just a stopover so not much to
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Next update, black Monday (4th Day of the Ashes)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14968777237654833083noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8226631682943449830.post-16522348453699626112013-08-08T07:57:00.000-07:002013-08-08T07:57:32.020-07:00The adventure starts<br />
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Day 1 - 25th July 2013</h2>
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After spending 4 days in sunny Amsterdam (with more "short shorts" than I have ever seen), it was finally time to go and pick up the Campervan. But first some photos of Amsterdam.<br />
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Smallest House In Amsterdam (just the RED brick)</div>
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Scoping out the real estate</div>
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Going Dutch</div>
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Burger vending machines, luv Amsterdam!</div>
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Nats Mum's Car - The ugly car of Amsterdam</div>
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YES I AM!</div>
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So we set off at 8.30am from Amsterdam to collect the camper, and after bus, train, bus and walk (including a pit stop for Nat which involved a near tetanus scare and a crouch behind an abandoned building) we arrived to pick up BB (Big Bastard) in Emmerich, Germany. Then off we went, first stop petrol station which cost a mere 120 Euro to fill him up. Then gas for cooking...another 30 euro. Filling up the gas bottles was not as scary as we first thought, very simple actually. Drove back to Amsterdam in a rush to grab all our stuff from my mums place to get to the caravan park in time. 30 minutes to grab suitcases and literally empty them out on the bed. It was a mess! </div>
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We made it to the campsite and started to pack things away, it was very warm and by the time we finished it was time to test the local bar and beer. We can report the beer tasted great. The great thing about this time of year is that its not dark until 11pm, so having beers and watching the sun go down takes about 5 hours.......longest happy hour ever. </div>
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We introduce BB!</div>
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My initial thoughts were, shit this thing is big, then you walk inside, shit this thing is small, then you drive it and its back to shit this thing is big! After a while you realise that we have more than enough space, it will take some time to get use to it though.</div>
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26th to 28th July – Gaasper Plas
Campsite – Holland (25min drive to Amsterdam)<o:p></o:p></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The first three days in the campsite was getting use to the
beast and checking that everything works and had been fixed as requested many
months earlier. At the moment the lights in the toilet/bathroom don’t work, the
tv won’t turn on and the warning lights for the toilet which tell you when it
is full and if the container is not in properly was also not working. It was no
biggy as we had to go back to Emmerich to make the final payment and sort out
some paper work. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We also found out that the campervan is not really catered
to hot temperatures. We have windows everywhere so we can get the breeze, but
when there is none the temperature only has to be in the high twenties for the
inside temperature to be almost unbearable. This is generally ok as we have an
awning attached to the campervan that slides out so we can site outside in the
shade, and 30 degrees in a relatively dry climate is an improvement from where
we were. Thankfully the temp at night dropped to about 20 degrees so sleeping
was not problem, actually quite nice without the air-con.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We also had some heavy rain…….like sitting in tin shed! Very
loud but again a welcomed change from the UAE, as long as it doesn’t rain for
12 months.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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28th to 29th – Almere Holland (40min
drive from Amsterdam)<o:p></o:p></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We drove to Almere which is close to where Nats Uncle and
Auntie live, from there we visited her cousin Peter and his wife Joan. Awesome
place on the water where we had chips with mayo and satay sauce (they even had ketchup
for the guests) and <span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;"><span style="background-color: white;">croquettes</span></span>
which is typically Dutch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">They took us out on the boat and showed us some of the
houses and developments, the whole area is all reclaimed land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I attached video of Peter feeding the swan, purely because I
had no idea Swans made that noise, wait a little bit and you will see. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dy4kwzgqufreA5e3bRzxQYYf0YW25GMTu2Z03wCD1vPkB-OZKSJ5xbkS_R4XxnJ-QgZzzgNk5GnUO10Z9SVbg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The next day we set off for Emmerich and was my first go at
driving the thing. Lesson number one, don’t try and take off in third gear….it
doesn’t like that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> For someone that doesn't drive manuals I think I went pretty well...to quote one of my favourite comedians " ...........third is great, once I get into third I'm not slowing down for nobody, I'll run over a guy before I go back to 1st..."</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">29th - 31th July - Oostkapelle (Holland) to Calais (France)</span></h2>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">On our way to Calais where we took the ferry over to the UK, we stopped over in Oostkapelle for a couple of nights, checked the local town...and that's all I have to say about that.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">We stayed in Calais before we took the ferry over to the UK, the campsite was all hardstand and pretty basic but it gave us the whole next day to sort our selves out. We hadn't got any tickets for the ferry and would wing it the next day. Photos of the campsite.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Next, our UK adventure starts!!!</span></div>
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