The journey home

Our tour buddies, had been imbibing on the second day of our tour as well. So the catch phrase for the day, was "Please facilitate yourselves" at each stop we came to.

The journey home was made interesting by one of the tour group wanting to get off the bus. Allegedly because she felt like throwing up, but she was let off the bus and she didn't throw up. The bus driver couldn't really park or stop but "___" was so insistent, he did, with the warning that anyone who got off got left behind.

What a surprise, someone got off and... got left behind. This made some of her friends very angry, who then tried to demand that the bus not only stop and let them all off, but to unload all their luggage as well.

Hmmmm $2000 fine + 3 demerit points off his licence or listening to a bunch of whining ingrates. Our driver, Guy, chose to continue driving and to ignore the whining.

Some of the older members of our group were very amused that despite their age, they seemed to have fared the journey a lot better than these young fellows. Us teachers were amused that these "adults" were worse behaved than our primary students.

Osbourne Huse

Queen Victoria’s palace by the sea. Doesn't it look just like Auckland? Boy did I feel homesick. I'm not really into looking at furniture and stuff and there was such a good outline with photo boards and everything in the foyer, that I didn't really feel the need to investigate Osbourne House. So Viv and I just stuck to the gardens. Plus, it was closing earlier than expected.

In the garden we discovered the goddess Nike. Apparently she is the Greek goddess of triumph/victory. we figured that since we'd never heard of her, she can't have been a very successful goddess.

I would have been very interested to happen upon the goddess Anoia, the goddess of "Things That Stick in Drawers") but I don't think she would've fitted in with the rest
(of the decor/history of the place.

Vivian makes a very pretty goddess don't you think? Due to Osbourne House closing early, we got to go home early too.

Isle of Wight Miniature Park

What you can't see, is the real church behind the miniature church. We really enjoyed walking around the park. apparently there something really interesting to see in the church but Viv and I didn't see it, and we only know because we met our tour guide after we'd left and couldn't be bothered going back to find this thing of great interest. It was too nice a day to be indoors.

Of course there were signs everyone not to walk on the grass especially where the models were, so we were very unimpressed to see not only the kids ignoring the signs but their parents too.

The miniature of the Shanklin Shine was fab as you can plainly see.

Shanklin Chine

We had just enough time after breakfast for a quick frolic in the surf, before starting our tour which started with the Shanklin Chine, which is in Shanklin, and the chine which means "a deep narrow ravine, formed by water cutting through soft sandstone leading to the sea." The word is apparently of Saxon origin.

It was really picturesque and the flora reminded me very much of NZ. Vivian got a guide pamphlet and we had great fun trying to spot all the different flora listed. We were really, really hoping to see some red squirrels but we didn't.

On a historically interesting note, was the P.L.U.T.O-pipeline under the sea from WW2. It wasn't terribly exciting to look at, as it was just a thin pipe. I thought I should take a photo but it was just too visually boring.

Walking on the beach.

Vivian and I got all gussied up for dinner and we looked very nice, even if I do say so myself. Afterwards we went for a lovely walk on the beach. It was so beautiful with the city lights and the waves. It really made me miss NZ.


Our companion, Lorraine decided to head in after our walk. Since it was still a little early, Viv and I headed to the Family Entertainment Centre. We played air hockey where Vivian totally wasted me. Then we entertained the locals with our cool dance moves on that dancing game. Where again Vivian totally wasted me.

Isle of Wight

Isle of Wight is really beautiful and caused me to feel homesick. Our first stop was Cowes. Lovely waterfront place with lots of shops and eateries. We got an all day breakfast, which I haven't had for over a year, so it was very nice.Even the baked beans. As you can see, it was the Beatles cafe. I didn't know the Beatles recorded a few songs in German.


The Needles. I don't have a pic, it was too far away for my cam. But we did get to see an excellent glassblowing demonstration. After that, the items on sale in the shop, suddenly seemed more interesting. fortunately, we ran out of time to do any shopping.

Embarking on the Isle of Wight tour.

Vivian had booked us into a 2 day tour of the Isle of Wight. We had another tour in mind but it left at 7am on Saturday which I thought was too early. As it was, our 8am tour was almost too early and we nearly missed it. As in they had the doors closed and the engine revving. Nothing like a bit of early morning panic to get the juices flowing.

Unbeknowst to us, the majority of our travelling companions were typical English sportfans, (I have to say sport cos I can't remember which game had them all excited. It was some kind of final, maybe rugby.) loud, inconsiderate, unable to hold their liquor....Consequently, we made a pitstop which they never do, which then led to us cooling our heels on the dock for an hour or so because we missed our ferry.

Hence, Jayne and Vivian entertaining themselves with babel cheese wax.

The 1 pound meal

After our cruise down the Thames, which ended by the Tower of London, we were feeling a little frozen. So we decided to look for something hot to eat. Fish and chips were for sale, and I would have been keen since that seems to be the English specialty, but we couldn't turn down the 1 pound meal.
On reflection, instead of taking a photo of the meal, I should have taken a picture of the sign. Since I knew that no-one would be believe that we could get such a cheap and tasty meal for 1 pound in England. Apart from Madara, I also have sight verification from Cecelia.

Jewel Tower

Located just behind West Minster Abbey is the Jewel Tower whose name misleads people into thinking that the crown jewels are kept there. It was small but quaint and it was nice to get in out of the cold.

I love these little places. It had a fig tree which was sadly fruit free which made me want to rebuke it. A moat which was disappointingly water free. I understand why they do it, but come on! Where's the ambience in a dirt filled moat?

Tripping around London

Our sugarmama aka Vivian, got us tickets to tour the city on one of those "hop off, hop on", double decker buses. It was for 48 hours, included a couple of free walking tours, a cruise and a tour commentary provided via earphones which we didn't know about, so missed out on.

But it was another nice sunny day which we enjoyed immensely atop the double decker. I was disappointed we didn't get any of the undead boarding our bus.

We saw Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, Hyde park, went down Baker street and took us a while to remember why it was so famous.
I was surprised by Big Ben. It was a lot prettier than I remember any pics being. Then I was freaked out by the guns the guards at the Parliament buildings were carrying. They didn't look so friendly. The guns I mean.

Whilst waiting for West Minster Abbey to open, we popped into St Margarets which was a small church next to where I'm standing. Although small, it was abounding in history and appeal.

West Minster Abbey got struck off my list of "Might-sees" and put onto the list of "not interesting enough for me to shell out that kind of money for".


But, as for a lot of these historical buildings, the outside alone is worth viewing.

London here I come.

For Vivian's big 3-0, she very kindly shouted me a trip to London and a tour of the Isle of Wight.

Vienna had been having lovely sunny weather until the day I departed. Then it was very "English weather. I must have taken the sun with me, cos when I arrived in London it was sunny and relatively warm.

I'm such a "good" friend that I didn't even know that "today" was Vivian's birthday. We went straight home to Aunty Mai's. Of course we got stopped and asked for our tickets 3 times on the way home. But apparently unusually, it wasn't crowded and we had no delays travelling home.

We celebrated Viv's birthday with Chinese takeaways(yum), and 3 different types of cheesecake and ice-cream and lashings of cream.

The Rathaus/ Town Hall

Yeah, it's not the best photo but it shows how pretty the Rathaus is. I thought Greg said not to use the flash but he said not to use the flash....when I'm taking photos of the building. Oops.

This was a dinner put on by the WWTF. Note the cool t-shirts worn by Greg and his fellow colleagues. Cool eh?

Initially i wasn't that keen to go so Greg asked Jordy if she wanted to go instead. I was rather taken aback by how excited Jordan was at attending a potentially boring dinner. Just goes to show she's smarter than me. Jordan was eager to see inside the Rathaus and understood that the likelihood of this opportunity happening again was slim.

In the end we all got to go. yay.

Karaoke Greg

Greg's work have a "Happy hour" twice a month. This is a Happy hour as in, a group supplies all the grub and drinks with some sort of theme. I like them because it's one night I don't have to cook dinner. Please there might be an opportunity for dancing. unfortunately, usually the music is so bad, no one wants to dance. But hope springs eternal.

Not that long ago a group did karaoke for their party with a 50 euro prize for the best singer. Jordy and I had our hopes up and we did sing better than the rest even if I do say so myself. but it was singstar so if you knew the system you knew how to beat it.

A different group provided karaoke and apparently Jordy really wowed the audience with Aretha Franklin's "Respect". I was attending a German language course, so I missed out. But when I did turn up, for some reason, there was no sign of my usual nerves and Jordy and I sang, and danced and had a great time. Perhaps it was the vodka.

Finally, Greg spotted a song that he thought worthwhile to sing, something by Offspring. He sounded good and I can definitely say, that's not the vodka speaking.