California and last few comments

Hello again and yes we made it to San Francisco, California, America. America in ways reminds me a little bit like back home only bigger and the people here are quite friendly too. I do miss being in Europe but at least here we don't have problems trying to talk or communicate with people. Oh well anyway we are on our last couple of days here and I'm trying to soak up as much of the warm weather as I can before I come home to cold Christchurch. I have really enjoyed this trip and discovered so much about what it is like to be on the other side of the world. I've learnt more than what I thought I was going to and experienced different things in my life so far. You pick up heaps and learn not only about different cultures but history, language, people and society, and even maths believe it or not. It has been one of the greatest adventures I have ever done beforeand I would love to do it again one day.
Anyway I am looking forward to getting back home and seeing everyone again coz I'm getting a little homesick, in fact I think everyone is at the moment we all miss our pets, our beds, our house and comfort, and even our friends and family. Also I'm really tired.
As far as San Francisco goes its big and I haven't seen much of it yet but tomorrow we're going to fisherman's wharf so that should be interesting. And even better Xanthe found Jeremy, that's right Jeremy the fat pigeon with his fat pigeon friends. Also did you know he has a family according to Xanthe. Jeremy has a huge family with his wife Jenny and their 15 kids. Yep you heard me 15 fat,fluffy,feathery kids. Shes funny.
Anyway looking forward to home and this is probably going to be my last blog so bye for now and next time I'll hopefully will be home. Here are a couple of pictures and I'll leave it at that.

Me with a little friend at the zoo in Portland
(no it is not Jeremy!)

Me, Xanthe and Lucas under a Californian Redwood

Me by the Golden gate bridge in San Francisco

Into California...

The amazing Crater Lake

Well according to the road signs we have passed in Oregon, and the tiny bit of California we have seen so far, they are more worried about your litter than your life! Yes, depending on which county you are in, you could be fined anything from $92 - $147 for not wearing your seatbelt, but $500 - $6250 for tossing your lolly wrapper out the window!!! Really???

Anyway, we are nearing the end of our trip now, with 4 days to go for myself and the kids, and we can finally say that taking out insurance will pay off! This morning both Stefan and I had to visit the doctor, at a cost of around $400 NZ! And what a process! When we arrived I had to fill in 2 forms, which were then entered into their computer, my ID photocopied, then they printed out some forms which I had to read and sign, (I think I signed 8 pieces of paper for them!) then we were seen by a nurse who took complete medical history, checked all our vitals etc, and then we were seen by the doctor who went through much of this history again and was incredibly friendly and helpful. Then I had to sign 3 separate forms at the pharmacy before they would hand over the prescription, and got detailed instructions of all the do's and don'ts for the prescriptions from the pharmacist. During this process though, everyone was incredibly friendly and helpful, and very interested in where we come from, and our travels.

And the reason for the visit, well at one of our scenic stops on our journey the day before, I was eaten alive by bugs and had an allergic reaction to a bite on my right hand - yes, it looks like I've had some sort of implant under my skin. Can't see my knuckles anymore, and the kids are totally freaked out by it. Every time I hold my hand up in front of them they get all squirmish! And I thought that while I needed a doctor, I better get Stefan's foot checked again as the infection is not clearing, and he is still in lots of pain. Poor kid picked up this infection in Valencia, got some cream in Italy, antibiotics in England, and yet it still is a big problem. So, I have antibiotics which I'm not that thrilled about, and Stefan has been given a different cream which is supposed to be much better than what he had been using. The doctor seemed quite surprised that he had been given the tube he had been using. And she said it would still take another 3 weeks to clear! Fingers crossed!

So anyway, back to our travelling, we left Eugene yesterday and drove further inland, first stopping in one of the many national parks, at a place called Salt Creek Falls (where I was attacked by bugs). But it was a beautiful peaceful place. We had a picnic lunch there and then walked down the trail to look at the spectacular waterfall which is the second largest in Oregon.

Di at the Salt Creek Falls

And Nicolette and Stefan

We then carried on down the road, straight into a storm (despite picnicking in 28 degrees 15 minutes earlier) and the car got pelted with some huge wild hail stones. The noise was awful and visibility was dreadful, so we crawled down the road for a while. The road and countryside around us was completely white with hailstones! Thankfully it didn't last long, and we got to Crater Lake which was amazing. Right at the top there were still several patches of snow dotted round the mountain, and Lucas and Xanthe jumped straight into it. The views of the crater were fantastic and we stopped at a few different points around the mountain to take in the views. Parts of the road around the mountain were a bit hair-raising, but spectacular scenery. We got into Klamath Falls at teatime, and the kids jumped into the pool at our motel the minute we got there.

Snow!

The kids near the Crater Rim village

This morning we were hoping to have a look round the town centre, but instead admired the inside of a doctors office, and by the time we got through that, collected our prescriptions, we grabbed some lunch then got back on the road to Crescent City, which is on the coast at the north end of California. We drove through some of the redwood forest on the way, and it was beautiful. Even the kids were overwhelmed with these giant trees. And we haven't even seen the REALLY big ones yet!

Anyway, looking forward to getting home now, and some home cooking again. All of our accommodations in the last week, and for the next few nights have been motel-like units which are comfortable, and have included a fridge and microwave! So at the moment, we are getting creative with microwave meals, but yes, really looking forward to home cooking!!! Not to mention my own bed with a few cats by my side!

Weird and Wonderful Americans

I am quite liking the American people, yes there have been some slightly dodgy ones that we have seen, but they seem to be in their own world and not really bothering anybody - like the half dressed ones in Pioneer Square in Portland who were dancing and making strange sorts of moves, but totally in their own world - possibly another planet(!), lots of homeless people holding up cardboard sheets with their sob story, and then there are the black people who seem to keep to themselves, but really fit the stereotype we see on TV. But overall, I have found that they are very friendly and polite people, very chatty, and interested in where we come from and where we have travelled to. And shock horror - I am even liking the American accent. Strangely, I find myself enjoying listening to it! I never thought I would ever say that!

Anyway, tonight we are in Eugene, and enjoying another hot evening. The coast was quite chilly, around 15 degrees, but strong cold winds blowing through. Our car has a thermometer on it, and it was funny watching the temperature rise as we headed inland again from the coast. We have gone from a cool 16 degrees to 31 degrees in less than an hour.

We had 2 nights in our log cabin in Cape Kiwanda on the Oregon Coast, and yesterday enjoyed a lazy sleep-in, and slowly sorted ourselves out. The playground was right outside our cabin, all built into a giant sandpit, and Lucas enjoyed digging his way through to the other side of the world - well maybe just a hole deep enough that he could stand in with only his head poking up! We then headed across to the beach and climbed the giant sand dune which was really steep and hard work to climb, and we hired a board ($10 for 4 hours), and the kids enjoyed surfing down the dunes for the afternoon.

So now we are on the road each day, making our way south to arrive in San Francisco on Friday night, where we have 2 nights before the kids and I fly home. We are having some interesting stops on the way though.

Anyway, now that internet is working ok again, here are some photos:

Outside our hostel in Portland

Xanthe feeding a lorikeet at Oregon Zoo

Xanthe still feeding a lorikeet

Kids outside Portland market

Our log cabin at Cape Kiwanda

Stefan (in distance) surfing down the sand dune at Cape Kiwanda

Di at top of sand dune

Glen at top of sand dune looking down at beach below

Looking at the Pacific....

Yes, tonight we are looking at the Pacific ocean, although New Zealand is still a long way away!

Anyway, Portland was absolutely lovely, and we enjoyed our time there. Our hostel was in the north-west district of Portland, which seems to be a very nice part of town, and with lots of friendly people. An older couple commented over breakfast this morning, that we have a lovely family! But I can see why Glen has chosen Portland to come back to, to continue working.

So during our time there, we went to Powells bookshop, spent nearly 2 hours in there, and only managed the first floor! And walked out with a bag full of books! We had a look round town, went to the zoo, wandered along the waterfront and visited the markets. The zoo was amazing, very large and a wide variety of animals including bears, giraffe, elephants, goats, snakes, apes, chimps, buffalo, wolves, hippos, sealions, fish, a few aviaries, an insect zoo (yes, quite creepy!) and more! While we were in one of the aviaries, we got to feed to lorikeets and had them landing on our hands, shoulders and whatever else the could. It was really cool!

This morning after visiting the markets, we got back on the road and drove to the coast and down to Cape Kiwanda. When we left Portland it was 34 degrees(!), and we have arrived on the coast where there is a very cold seabreeze blowing through and all of a sudden feel very cold! But it is a beautiful wee spot, and we are staying in a very cosy and basic log cabin near the beach. The beach looks beautiful, and we are really hoping that the wind will have disappeared in the morning. If not, well there is an indoor pool here, so the kids can still get a swim. The beach here also has this giant sand dune, and the kids have already checked out hiring some boards (quite cheap), so they can go surfing down the dunes tomorrow.

Will post some photos later - the internet connection here is very weak and we keep losing the connection, so won't attempt to post any photos now!

One week to go.....

We got to Portland!

You should see the rental car we got! It looks like a station wagon, but its huge inside, and so modern that its from the future. Yes, we have the 2011 model of Toyota Sienna! We don't even have to open the doors - we just press a button on the remote, and it will open and shut the doors for us! But anyway, you don't really want to hear about the car do you!

So we left Seattle and stopped for an early lunch in Tacoma, then continued south and detoured off the track a bit, to the Mt St Helen's visitor centre. It was a beautiful area, and the kids are now experts on the 1980 Mt St Helen's eruption! They seemed really amazed at how the eruption changed the landscape (and even the shape of the mountain) so dramatically.

We arrived in Portland late in the afternoon, and it was really hot here. Quite a contrast to Seattle which was quite a bit cooler. The temperature here is expected to get well into the 30's over the weekend!

Anyway, we are staying in a hostel close to town which is beautiful. There are 3 big old 2 and 3 storey houses which have each been turned into private rooms, and they are very comfortable and very spacious rooms, considering its just a hostel. There have been some hostel rooms we've stayed in which have been smaller than the average bathroom! So we are immediately liking this place, which also seems very homely, and is surrounded by big trees and a beautiful private courtyard, home also to a number of squirrels!

Bye for now ...

Seattle + Victoria

Since arriving in America, I've been feeling the effects of the flu and jetlag, so haven't been too excited about being here - but on the mend now. It has been a bit cooler here which has been quite refreshing, especially the mornings which have been cold and overcast every day, clearing in the afternoon.

On our first day here in Seattle we went downtown to the markets, which were very crowded, but offered so much. So much activity and choice. We also walked along the waterfront for a while, along to the Olympic Sculpture park which has easels set up on the terrace, free to use. So the kids all made themselves comfortable and started sketching the view in front of them - all except Lucas who drew an alien-monster-dinosaur-car/plane????????? And passers by all commented on their artistic talents!

Outside the Pike Place Markets




Drawing at Olympic Sculpture Park

The following day we were up really early to catch the first ferry across to Victoria, on Vancouver Island. The first half of the ride was OK, but the second part was a bit rocky, and very foggy. The boat had to continually sound its fog horn. Thankfully the kids and I had all taken travel pills and got through it ok. Victoria was beautiful, but an icy cold wind blew through the city all afternoon. We had a look round the city, and checked into the Queen Victoria hotel (we had bought a packaged deal months ago which included a return trip on the ferry, and a night's accomodation), which was really really nice and luxurious. The kids took advantage of the indoor heated swimming pool, while I caught up on some rest. We then walked down to one of Glen's friends/colleagues houses for dinner. He cooked us a lovely big bbq and was a great host. He has a big old dog which has arthritis in its hips, however was really keen to play fetch with the kids and kept them amused all night. He also has a big friendly black and white long haired cat which reminded me of my one who we lost in February, only this one was a girl. She was gorgeous!

On the ferry to Victoria

The following morning we all enjoyed a big breakfast of pancakes (first time since we left Chch), with fresh fruit and maple syrup, which was so yummy, and then went for a walk through Beacon Hill park which was right behind the hotel. We walked up to the lookout, visited the children's petting zoo, where the kids were able to get right in with the goats and play with them, and then spent some time in the playground. We also had another look around the harbour as it is beautiful and wasn't as busy as it was when we first arrived. Our boat trip back to Seattle was much smoother and the sky clearer, so much more enjoyable for all. And a wealthy looking middle-aged couple sitting alongside us on the boat commented on how lovely and well behaved the kids were! That was lovely to hear, but really, if only they had been around this morning when a grumpy old man was banging on our door cause the kids were being noisy and he was trying to sleep! For goodness sake, it was 10am! And I was grumpy too so he didn't get alot of sympathy from me! Ooops, I'm turning into a horrible person!

This baby goat really liked Lucas's trousers!

Looking over Victoria Harbour

Anyway, today back in Seattle, Glen gave me some time off from the kids (the first time in over 8 weeks that I have had more than 5 minutes away from them - and much needed!) We all walked into town, and Glen took them on the monorail out to the Seattle centre, to visit the sci-fi museum, music centre and space needle, while I stayed in town and wandered around the shops in peace! However my joy soon turned to horror, when Jeremy (haha) dropped his load on my shoulder as I walked across the road! Only a little bit of it got me thankfully. Maybe this was karma for wanting to spend some time without my children! However when I turned my head - there was Macy's, and so I just HAD to go there to buy myself a new top! A few hours and a fresh latte later, I jumped on the monorail and joined them for the rest of the afternoon, and we continued to look around the Seattle centre, which is a big outdoor area with park like grounds, the space needle, various other attractions, museums, fairground activities, foodcourt, gift shops etc, and we had some dinner before heading back to the hostel for the night.

Kids at the top of the Space Needle

Kids at bottom of Space Needle

Tomorrow morning we pickup our rental car and drive to Portland, where we have 3 nights.

Thought for the day: Cats are like potato chips - you can't stop at one!

Yes, we're in America!

Wow, we left Lisbon yesterday morning, but that seems like so long ago now. And I am now in my 41st hour without sleep, so I'm totally wiped out at the moment too!

We got out to Lisbon airport, and it was a real mission checking in. Thankfully they were able to check our luggage, and print all our boarding passes right through to Seattle, which was great, but the lady at the check in counter had no idea what she was doing, and we stood at the check in counter for more than half an hour while she roped in extra help to get it all sorted for us! Never mind!

We got to Frankfurt airport and stayed there all night, had some supper, watched the planes coming and going and looked through a few shops. Stefan, Xanthe and Lucas all dozed for a few hours early this morning on the seats in the airport before we had breakfast, but the goal was that we would all be tired and sleep for our journey across the Atlantic, and feel alive enough to enjoy the afternoon here in Seattle, as we arrived before lunchtime - we left Frankfurt at 10am and arrived here just after 11am. (we are 9 hours behind Europe). Poor Lucas was asleep before the plane even backed away from the terminal! Everyone else (except me) managed to get at least a little bit of sleep on the plane. I put my seat back, grabbed a pillow and blanket and shut my eyes for a few hours, but was not able to fall asleep - despite the fact I felt that I was struggling to keep my eyes open, my brain wouldn't shut off!

 Things to do at Frankfurt Airport - sleeping and plane watching...

Arriving in America and going through their border patrol was no where near as bad as what I expected it to be. It was quick and painless, and the customs officer had a great sense of humour! But to our total horror, when we collected our luggage, one of the suitcases has been damaged somewhere between Lisbon and Seattle, beyond use and any hope of repair. The frame at the front is completely bent and buckled, and and the top of the case has been completely cut open and the zips wrecked. Thankfully nothing appears to be missing from the case, but we are totally horrified at the state of it. At least we have a spare pack we can use, as I picked up mum's large case from Jolanda, which has my original pack, AND all my stuff in there.

So anyway, now we are just hanging out in the hostel, will find an early dinner, march through the showers and all benefit from an early night. Its quite comfortable here, with a huge kitchen/living area, with a computer room, library, tv room, laundry and games room, all modern and spacious.

Tomorrow we will have a look around Seattle, perhaps at the markets and a few things downtown, and on Sunday we are taking the ferry out to Victoria (Vancouver Island) for a night. Glen knows people who live out there, who have invited us for dinner, which will be lovely. Then we have a couple more nights back here in Seattle before starting our trip south towards San Francisco.

Looking back at what I've just written, I'm quite amazed as my brain isn't functioning very well from lack of sleep, so I'm going to go now. Its only 4pm here now, but I think I'll say goodnight!

Probably our last post in Europe - next stop - America!

The last few days have gone really quick. Hard to believe that we leave Lisbon today, fly to Frankfurt this afternoon, when we get there, we are checking in our stuff straight away for our flight to America early tomorrow morning. And once we have gone through security etc, we will get some supper, and relax for a few hours before heading for our departure gate. Our aim is to sleep on the plane, as we arrive in Seattle at lunchtime(!) their time, and we want to last until bedtime!

Anyway, while Glen has been attending the conference here, the kids and I have moved at a more relaxed pace, generally spending the mornings sleeping-in and slowly getting ourselves sorted, and then heading out to explore Lisbon for the afternoon. Poor Glen is a bit tired though!

We walked up the hill behind us, looked at the cathedral on the way, then up to Castelo do Sao Jorge, (St George Castle), which was amazing. The courtyard areas were really lovely, and thankfully very shaded with big trees, as it was a hot day. We had a late lunch at the cafe up there, joined by numerous pigeons (including Jeremy), and lots of peacocks, and a few cats! The kids loved it. The kids had fun climbing in and out of the castle itself and thankfully most of it was accessible. We spent about 3 hours in there!

From the courtyard of Castelo Do Sao Jorge


Lunching at the Castle


Walking/Resting on the castle walls

We also successfully navigated our way through the subway system (2 different trains), and without Glen's help, to get out to the aquarium. However once we stepped outside of the subway at our destination, we had no sense of direction and no idea which way we were supposed to go from there. After half an hour of walking round in circles and getting frustrated with eachother, Stefan proved that he is just like Glen with his ability to navigate through a foreign city and convinced us all that he knew what he was talking about, and sure enough, he was right! So we got there (we were actually never that far away from it), and it was an amazing aquarium. Quite big, and a huge range of sealife to look at. We all liked the sea otter, which was very playful and about 4 times the size of the otters that we see at the zoos in New Zealand.

The playful Sea Otter



Looking at the main tank

We also found a shopping mall to look around, and spent a few hours looking round the old streets of Lisbon, and at one stage managing to end up miles from where we thought we were! I'll stop short of saying we got lost, because we easily backtracked to where we wanted to be! So anyway, Lisbon is quite an exciting and vibrant city, and I've probably seen more tiles in the last few days than I've seen in my life to date, and the weather has been rather hot too! Average of around 30 degrees! (sorry to rub that in)

Refreshment stop on the streets of Lisbon

The hostel we have been staying in here is really interesting. It is an old building, but updated inside, and the service has been excellent. The staff have been really helpful and friendly, and nothing has been a problem. However it is also one of the noisiest places we have stayed too. Despite the fact that our bedroom is on the other side of the building to the bathrooms, we can hear the showers running as if they were in the same room as us. The noise from the street is constant, and all the floors creak too. Lots of the floors don't seem very "level", and some parts sag a bit. And the guests are amusing too. When we first arrived, there were a couple of young ladies here who liked to spend lots of time parading around the bathroom naked! There was also a very strange looking old lady hanging round for a couple of days, who was really weird, but liked to clean up after people, there are a few young couples here who are really lovely, and a youth group from France, most of them being teenage girls, and they seem to "take-over" the place when they are here.

Anyway, we must sign-off for now, as Glen is due back soon, and we will then be making our way to the airport.

Next time - AMERICA!

Helro again

Well hello again I'm back ........hehehe
Anyway did you notice I spelt hello differently I said helro

Well I feel like doing another blog since we have a bit of time here in Portugal. So yesterday we saw the Lisbon castle Sao Jorge and had a look round there. It was quite good and also not a bad price for entry fee BONUS! But while we were there Xanthe found Jeremy and his fat feathery friends. In fact while we were having lunch yesterday the people who were sitting sort of across us once they had finished there meal they got up and left with all there scraps behind, next thing you know a huge flock of pigeons came rushing down on to the table eating as much as they could. It was quite funny. Also there were peacocks hanging round and even baby ones! But they also went under the table and got all the scraps that fell down.

Anyway today we went to the Oceanarium and had a look it was quite good although I thought it was going to be bigger and have more exhibits but it was okay by the fact that it had different types of animals and sea creatures that you wouldn't normally see on an everyday basis.Unfortunately the pictures we took didn't turn out so great because of the lack of light and the water in the tanks. And the ones that did turn out good or okay haven't been downloaded on to the computer yet sorry.
Oh well. Here are some photos of me and the castle yesterday.

the pigeons eating the scraps off the table with the peacocks underneath them

me at the castello Sao Jorge

I'm not up to date with my blog!

A special moment with mum

Since we were in Italy, we have been to Switzerland, Austria, back to Germany, Copenhagen, Legoland, Holland, England, and now we are in Lisbon.
The places I liked the best were Legoland, and Tivoli which is in Copenhagen. The bus tour in London was awesome, and we had McDonalds and KFC for dinner in London. I liked Big Ben and the London Eye.

I liked Jolanda's budgie, and I liked Ziggy the dog, and Jeremy the pigeon and all his friends.

We watched the football and Spain won the world cup. I have a Liverpool FC t-shirt, an FC Barcelona top with Messi No: 10 on the back, and a Portugal goalie top with Ricardo No: 1 on the back. Stefan has about 7 or 8 football t-shirts.

From Castelo Sao Jorge, looking over Lisbon
I wonder if I can see Jeremy from here?

Tonight I cooked dinner. I cooked bacon and pasta and broccoli and cauliflour, and we had that with salad. And there is a flower painted on the wall in our hostel.

Bye from Lucas

My adventures with Jeremy the Pigeon

Leaving Rome was sad but flying to Denmark was awesome! Denmark was hot. Most of the people could speak English and were friendly. Our hotel was totally awesome! It had lots of room and big comfy beds. On our last full day in Copenhagen we went to Tivoli which is a big amusement park. The first ride I did was a really fast awesome rollercoaster. We did lots more fun rides then had dinner on a pirate ship restaurant. We were at Tivoli until 11.15pm.

The next day we got up early and got our rental car and then drove all the way to Billund, which is home to Legoland. When we found our cabin, we dumped all our stuff and got back into the car and headed for Legoland. When we got to Legoland most of the rides were closed because it was nearly closing time, but we still had a good look around. The next day we went to Legoland again and actually got to do some of the rides. First we booked for the traffic school where you drive around in mini cars on a mini road with a petrol station. It was hard at the start but it got easier and exciting. Me Stefan Lucas and dad did a pirate ship battle where we had to squirt the other pirate ships so we got totally soaked. Then we had lunch by the pirate ship battle then joined the queue for a raft ride. The raft ride had a big drop at the end which was really thrilling. We did a couple more rides, and we bought a medieval lego set, and then went back to Copenhagen.

We flew to Amsterdam where we met Jolanda at the airport and got a taxi to her apartment. And for that day we just cruised in her apartment, with her budgie. The next day we got up and went to Madurodam which is a miniature version of Holland. We took lots of pictures, then we had lunch at the restaurant at Madurodam. When we finished lunch we drove to the beach and dug a canal river through the sand. We woke up early the next morning to get ready to go to Utrecht which is the city where my Grannie was born. We looked around some shops and then took a long hot walk to the Dom Tower, and then followed some little streets to the house where my Grannie was born. The house used to have a bakery underneath, but the new owners turned it into a drycleaning place, but they let us in to have a look around. Then we had lunch by the Dom Tower at a nice cafe, and me and Nicolette had crepes.

Walking along the canals in Utrecht

Before we walked into the church that was beside the Dom Tower, we met a friendly pigeon and we named him Jeremy. The church was big, old and fun to look around. Later on we visited the train museum which was absolutely awesome. We got to see a lot of trains and walk inside the different types. There were ladies walking round in big fancy dresses that greeted us and made up funny stories. We had afternoon tea outside the train museum. Then we walked back to the train station and went home. The next day we took the tram to the Hague city and had a good look round all the shops and pretty sites. And we saw Jeremy a couple of times!

The next day we got up early and went to the airport and flew to London. It was fantastic. And we even got to take one of those original double decker bus tours around town. I learnt alot in that tour like, did you know that the great fire of London burnt 80% of London city but only killed 9 people. The great fire of London started in Pie Lane and ended in Pudding Street. How weird! After the bus tour we went to the park and saw some squirrels and fed them peanuts.
The rest of the day we just blobbed, and saw Jeremy!

The next day we went to Kettering and stayed with Colleen and David, and Ziggy the dog. Ziggy is a black fluffy dog and she is adorable. While we were in England we also visited Cambridge, Leeds, York, Bristol, Bath, Manchester, Oxford, Swindon and Reading.

York Minster Cathedral

Then we flew to hot Lisbon. We found our hostel and went out for dinner, with Jeremy and his fat pigeon friends. Since we have been in Lisbon, we have seen a very awesome castle, and a few old monuments and buildings. We went to Lisbon's aquarium and it was very exciting to see. There was a tank the size of 3 olympic swimming pools. It was filled with sharks, rays, and of course fishies. But no pigeons.

Feeding Jeremy and friends in Lisbon
Which one's Jeremy??

I can't wait for more adventures to come, and more pigeons to see.

Previous weeks

Well in the last few weeks a lot has happened. I'll start with legoland. Legoland was really cool. it took millions of bricks to build. We did a few games and rides which were really cool. It was a HOT day. The one I enjoyed the most was the pirate ship water fight.

Then after Denmark we flew to Holland and stayed with Jolanda. We got to see where our gran was born, the Dom Tower and Yoodieschnoopvinkle which was a cool lolly shop. But the best thing about Holland was there football madness.

I believe I can fly!
Outside the Royal Palace in The Hague

After Holland we went to England, had a bus tour round London and stayed with Colleen and David. They had a very friendly dog named Ziggy. But most of all the MANCHESTER UNITED MUSEUM, STADIUM AND MEGASTORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was so awesome. I got my name and number on my shirt. It was an experience of a lifetime. The time we spent there was well used.

This is why we travelled around the world!
Old Trafford (Manchester United Stadium)

Anyway, after England we flew to Portugal and it is soooo hot here. I have got more football shirts to my collection. YAY! And Nicolette likes to wear my Cristiano Ronaldo one. HAHA. Looking forward for the Oceanarium. The 4th biggest aquarium in the world.

Stefan.

Hello again!............since Rome!

Me in Utrecht, Holland

It seems like ages since my last post ......... wait it has been ages! I think it was Rome when I did my last post (god that seems like while ago!) Oh well, anyway the trip is going well and and the weather has been nice so that's good. At the moment we are in our last European country (not including Germany for when we fly to America) which is good and also quite sad. So while I've been in Europe I've enjoyed France, Italy, The riviera, Denmark, Holland, and England the most so far out of the countries in western Europe. As for the least I don't know, I didn't necessarily have a least favourite country or countries. Although there were some that I thought were okay (they had there good points and bad)

But at the moment we are in Lisbon, Portugal and it is quite nice, the waterfront is really pretty though.Today we just looked round to see some of the monuments and the waterfront. Also my sister is in heaven with all the pigeons hanging round. Its quite funny really. Shes had like an obsession with them since we've been round Europe and thinks there one of the funniest creatures on the planet! Especially the way they bobble their heads round. She calls them names like Jeremy (mainly) Its really funny.

Anyway I'm starting to miss home a little bit and some aspects with living in a house like cooking food and having home cooked meals, sleeping in my own bed, and missing my pets. But give it three weeks and I'll be there again.

We made it to Lisbon!

Well hello again, we are now in hot sunny Lisbon in a hostel with fantastic and friendly service, but rather "interesting" facilities and guests!

Anyway, our last few days in England went quickly, and we didn't get up to too much. Glen had a day working in and around Bristol, and the kids and I had a quiet day at the motel, catching up on some rest. The following day we drove to Reading, which is just outside London, but went via Bath - which was beautiful, then Swindon to see the magic round-a-bout, which is 5 roundabouts all in one (yes, very odd, but fascinating to Glen), then up to Oxford where we spent an hour walking round the old colleges, and finally to our lovely Hotel in Reading. It felt like a night of pure luxury, however it was the same price as our very basic old hostel in central London.

At the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol

Walking around Oxford

In the morning we got sorted quickly and dropped our rental car off at Heathrow with plenty of time to check-in, however it was very efficient there and we had heaps of time at the airport to have a bite to eat and spend our last few pounds. When we arrived there though, the first check-in desk we saw as we entered the building, was the Air New Zealand desk, and my instinct was to head straight for that! Hmmm, 3 more weeks! For this flight, we were flying with TAP Portugal, and were very impressed with the service. Stefan hasn't coped well with any of the flights since we left Christchurch, and I'm dreading the last 2 flights that I have to do without Glen's help with him, however the entire flight crew bent over backwards to try and help. They were all concerned for his wellbeing, and spent ages chatting to him, offering him yummy food, drinks, toys, and even offered him the opportunity to sit in the cockpit with the pilots. Sadly he declined! But really impressed with their service anyway.

One last UK pic: Chasing a squirrel up a tree in St James Park, London

We arrived in Lisbon to 30 degree heat (sorry to all those at home) and once settled into our rooms, had a look round the waterfront, and then sat outside at a cafe in one of the pedestrian streets with some light refreshments and watching the football, with the slowest service on the planet! Yes, 45 minutes later Xanthe and Lucas got their milkshakes! And they even had the nerve to try and charge me for the orange juice which I ordered but never received - and yes, I asked! And right behind us in the street were a couple of drug dealers doing business too!

Praça Do Comércio in Lisbon

Today we took the tram along the waterfront to where some of the more famous monuments are, such as the Belem Tower and the monasteries. In the next few days while Glen is attending his conference, the kids and I hope to head out to the aquarium which is one of the biggest in the world, plus there is a famous old castle and church on the hill right behind where we are staying, and have a look round the city.

Anyway, my life lesson in the last week - never ever enter into an argument with an middle-aged English-man over Kiwi vs English accents!

Work and Play

One of the challenges of this trip has been to juggle the "fun stuff" with the "work stuff". I only have so many weekends and annual leave days to play with, so the trips to Legoland or touring around London in a bus have to be balanced with visits to see people and places that are useful to me work wise.

Luckily, being in the transportation field, I can legitimately claim that much of my actual travelling to/from/around one place to the next is "study tour" as I'm constantly finding things that are really interesting from a transport perspective - these are duly noted in my journal book and appropriate photos taken. So it is that I've been able to check out the amazing inter-island bridges in Denmark, the car-free cityscapes in The Hague, the park-n-ride in York, and the excellent cycle facilities around Bristol. And it has only taken a little bit of diverting from the shortest path to also take in the cycle/pedestrian friendly features of Odense (Denmark), the "magic roundabout" in Swindon, and the pedestrian-friendly streets of Oxford.

I've also been lining up visits where possible to meet various colleagues at different places who have shared interests. So far I have visited researchers and Govt transport officials at SWOV (Inst for Road Safety Research) in The Hague, academics at the Inst for Transport Studies at the Univ. of Leeds and the University of Bristol, as well as an old friend now working for Cycling England in Bristol who showed me around the area by bike. Unfortunately my fluctuating schedule and the vagaries of other people's has also meant that I have missed out on catching up with a few other people I had hoped to say hi to. Certainly in the future, longer visits to each place will be desirable to increase the opportunity to catch up with people and spend more than a rushed "hi how are you" chat with them. But part of this trip has been deliberately a "reconnaissance" exercise with future travels in mind.

All this constant travelling has taken its toll however; there's often not been much time at the end of the day to anything work-wise once arrived and settled into another new place and having sorted out a meal (and often trying to still arrange some of the future accommodation options). It got to the point in the Netherlands where I left the rest of the family to go and visit Utrecht without me one day, just so that I could work my way through the growing pile of "to-do" items. A shame, since I would have liked to have visited the city, but then the Netherlands overall needs a much longer visit next time (e.g. we never did manage to get into to see Amsterdam).

I knew the Netherlands were small but this is ridiculous... (Madurodam)

Visiting road safety/design colleagues at the SWOV Institute for Road Safety, The Hague

A typical street scene in The Hague - PT, bikes, pedestrians

Me and old friend Tricia Allen (Cycling England) after a ride from Bristol to Bath

Imagine living in.....

• Leek
• Redcar
• Cockermouth
• Loggerheads
• Wyre Piddle
• Chipping Sodbury
• Puddletown
• Baggy Point
• Start Bay
• Berry Head
• Ash
• Eye
• Seahouses
• Golden Pot
• Black Head
• Lizard
• Rugby
• The Needles
• Warboys
• Sandwich
• Isle of Grain
• Foulness Point
• Duck End
• Braintree
• Dorking
• Swineshead
• Leatherhead
• Hook
• St Bees

Yes, these are some of the odd/funny place names we have seen while travelling through, or searching the map, in England. Personally, I don't know if I'd boast about my address if I had to put some of those place names on the envelope!

Anyway, yesterday we took a day trip to York, which is another city surrounded by a wall. It has quite a colourful history, and at a tiny little gift shop inside the wall, the owner was very helpful telling us all about the history of the area and wall. We walked along the wall for a while, had a look through the city streets, found a castle to admire, and we even found a mince pie for Lucas! He has been missing his mince pies! We didn't have time to detour to the Yorkshire Dales, but were quite impressed with York.

Walking along the wall in York, England

Taking a break in York

This morning we got sorted and headed south again to Bristol. We stopped at Manchester so Stefan could look at the Manchester United Football Museum at Old Trafford. And yes, we finally have some photos of Stefan smiling! He was in there for a good couple of hours!

We then carried on south, stopping at a roadside service centre for some dinner, and didn't get into Bristol till nearly 8pm. So we weren't even close to having time to detour through Stratford Upon Avon. Glen was supposed to meet some people in town around 8pm, but because of the long day travelling, and a slow process getting into our motel room, (which is about 10km south of Bristol), he has called it a day!

Tomorrow Glen has meetings in town, so the kids and I might just rest all day. We are all starting to feel the effects of constant travelling and lack of sleep, and some of us have been feeling off-colour in the last few days. As much as we are enjoying all the things we are seeing and doing over here, we are also looking forward to being in our own home again and living a normal life again.

However time is flying now, we head to Lisbon this weekend for 5 days, then America for just over 2 weeks, which will go quickly, and then home.