A Trip Down the Garden Path

Hi all,
Well we found ourselves with a week's break; half term holidays they call it in the schools over here, so we packed up the car and headed up to Scotland.  Peak time for tourism in Scotland is June through to September it seems, so we thought we'd be sneaky and do it a little cheaper in off-peak time (didn't count on accommodation being closed did we...that story later).

Well we've headed up for 8 or 9 days, with the original intention to do some camping and save a little on accommodation as we travelled around the coast of Scotland. Ha ha ha ha ha, we soon came to realise that camping would not be an option when we first drove into Scotland to scenery like this:



While this is the closest we've been so far to such a great deal of snow, it is pretty chilly all the same, so camping is off the agenda.  We bought this little pop-up tent too, it'll have to do us when we head over to Europe.

We decided to bypass Glasgow on the way in. Not sure if we'll regret that later, but I figured one city is sometimes the same as the next. Though we will head into Edinburgh at the end of our trip.  Our first stop was Stirling Castle. Famous for the patriotic William Wallace (Braveheart fame) and his stand against the invading English.  The battle happened at Stirling Bridge, with the intention to win back the castle to Scottish ownership.  As you can see in the pictures below, it's how you would imagine a castle to look, stonework, turrets, archers windows, an arched entry (but no porticullis), cobbled courtyards, and cannons on the battlements; really a beautiful piece of history. 





Stirling was the home of the Scottish Kings and Queens (including the famous Mary Queen of Scots) for many years. Unfortunately the castle is not entirely authentic, having been rebuilt to match the original after many battles throughout history resulted in the last inhabitants destroying the castle so that it could no longer be under seige from enemies. All the same, it was pretty amazing to stand in the banquet hall and stare up at the timber beams criss crossing the ceiling and to think that kings and queens dined in here while musicians played on the higher deck you can see in the background.


From here we headed to the seaside town called Oban, on the West Coast.  This is the gateway to a great number of islands in the region, which unfortunately we did not have the time to visit.  We took a chance at a backpackers for that night, and it was.....interesting.  We got a private room with a double bed, the tiniest double bed you can imagine. Other than that the room was fine, apart from the other residents talking in the stairwell late at night (paper thin walls obviously), and one drunk loner stumbling along the road out of town (and passed our window) groaning and moaning (it sounded like he was dragging a broken leg or something, given the sounds coming out of his mouth - no broken leg though, just broken brain to alcohol).  So, with Glen and I sleeping with shoulders overlapped and fingers stuffed in our ears, we finally did get some sleep that night.

The next day we headed off again, not before it began to snow lightly. Little cotton-like fragments floating down from the sky, mingled with rain. Was a bit exciting to see! Further along the road there was a some older snow lying around and Glen couldn't resist a wee frollick to throw some snowballs.


Continuing along the way, we stopped at Fort William and marvelled at the size of Ben Nevis, the highest mountain peak in mainland Britain.


Apparently the average relatively fit person can walk it, five hours up and two back.  We weren't going to try it in the snow...

Look at these critters we saw along the way:


Deer lazing in a field.

We continued on to a town called Glenfiddan. This is another historically famous location, where The Bonny Prince Charlie took a stand to regain the Scottish throne from the English (I believe it's something along those lines. Honestly, there has been so much conflict, invasion and battle between the Scottish and the English over the course of history, it's a wonder they still get along).

TRIVIA: Glenfiddan is also home to this famous scene - can you guess what movie it's from? (Answer is after the photo, leave a comment if your guessed correctly please!)

HINT 1: look at my dodgy impression of the occupation of the characters in these films...
HINT 2: In the films the countryside is far more verdant, I guess they didn't shoot in winter then. hey?

Well, here are some photos of our place. It's a home not a house as I say, but I couldn't resist the title, given that I've had a nerve wracking few days going for a job interview, and then teaching a trial lesson and being observed by the Head of Curriculum - scary stuff! Anyway, the title relates to the play the school is currently doing called 'Our House'. When I was being given a tour of the school, the teacher said to me 'The school's just finished the production 'Our House', based on the songs sung bythe band Madness, you know them?' to which I replied 'No'. 'You don't know Madness??? *Sung* Our house, in the middle of the street...' Me: 'Oh yeah, now I know... (only that song maybe..)' When it comes to music, I'm pretty clueless. How many other people know Madness?

Anyway, I thought that title would be fitting, given that our place is almost in the middle of the street. So here it is....

Front view. It's the flat smack bang in the middle and I have the window open as its a nice sunny day.

Another front vista.

Entrance hall. You can see our door sort of, off to the left.

Lounge room. Look at the dirty smoker's couch, can you smell it from there? We thought it was a bargain over the phone at 35 pound, and when I first saw it I thought 'Yep, what a bargain'. Then I got a wiff....it's a year and a half old, but it smelt like it'd sat in some seedy smoker's lounge for a decade.  Anyway, after a proper steam clean by me, and a double washing of the cushion covers, the smell has faded lots.  Any adivce on how to get rid of the remaing smell? I think time will do it, if I remember rightly, my first car belonged to a smoker and was smelly initially, I know that faded over time...



Lounge room, there's a fair bit of space. Plenty of room to put a matress for visitors :)



Fire place has been boarded up, now it just seems like a pointless space. Not that we have a lot of furniture we have to make fit anyway.

Pretty light.

Left side of kitchen.

Right side of kitchen. Notice my little cheapie sewing machine? Couldn't resist spending some of my birthday money on it.

Laundry room, look at the clothesline!

Smallish bathroom, but surprisingly not cramped.

Nice comfy bed.

View from our bedroom window. This is a fire escape we think. We don't have access to the courtyard below, that belongs to the flat under us. I did say to Glen I reckon we could put the clothesline out here of a sunny day though.

There you have it.  A little tour for you, hope you enjoyed!

On another note, I was a lttle taken back when I got into a section of my settings for the blog to see where 'traffic' or views were coming from. I found that there are people viewing it in America (more views than Australia!) and Malaysia.  Not sure what interest others would have in our little travels, and I'm not sure how I feel about that either.... I may look at putting a password or something like that on the page.  Will let you know by email or facebook if this is the case.

Miss home lots!

Stacey

What a worrying last few days it's been for North Queenslanders. While nowhere near as frightful as your experiences, I certainly spent the last few days very concerned about all my family and friends back home. We've never seen a cyclone so severe and destructive. I can't even imagine how harrowing that long night was. Thankfully, it seems, you've all come out of it safely, and I guess it's now time to rebuild homes, yards, cities and lives.  as you all know, I am *ahem* unemployed at the moment, so I've had a lot of time to think, and fret, about all the happenings back home. Here's just some thoughts...

I've seen some aerial pictures of Tully and Mission Beach on the internet; houses smashed like card board boxes with tiny dollhouse-like furniture scattered across the lawn. How sad for these people when the sun came up this morning to reveal all their things in ruins. But, things can be replaced, houses rebuilt and trees replanted. Life is what we really must be grateful for.

Experiences like this really make you think how insignificant we are in the scheme of things. Thinking in hindsight, it's easy to fall into that comfortable groove - we live in a blessed country with a good economy, and a usually strong government. We have the right to freedom of speech, to vote, drive a car, to buy our groceries from Coles or Woolies...we have the right to control  lots of things in life. Yet, we don't have any control over the might of Mother Nature. I found myself saying to Glen the other night 'Surely scientists have invented something to stop the cyclone, like some sort of powder you sprinkle over the top to dissolve it and make it go away?'. He chuckled, 'I don't think so Darl.'

In a world where technology is advancing so fast and cures are being found for terrible diseases, in a world where people fight for the good (and mostly win), where millions and millions of dollars are gathered and spent on amazing things and where people are so powerful and make huge decisions every day, you would think that's an indication how powerful we really are.  Yet in one foul swoop out of nowhere, something unknown and far more powerful can come along and render us so powerless....

I know it's so cliche, but it's just a reminder of how important it is to love yourself and those around you and to embrace each day as it comes, with the good and the bad. So, while I'm (still) jobless, I'm going to cook a nice dinner for the working boy. It's about time we had some veggies instead of salad. It's easy to slob around and watch TV, but it's nicer to make someone else's day and to look to builiding and enhancing all the great things we already have. Maybe we have less power than we think we do, but we can have more power over things than what we do now. 

Bye bye for now :)

P.S. Something may be on the job front, but only in the works at the moment. I will let you all know if it goes beyond that. 

P.P.S I got paid for the week of work I did last week! It was more than I thought it would be, which keeps me optimistic in the so-called sad economic times over here. It wasn't teaching work either, it was work as a teaching assistant (kind of like teacher aide combined with learning support teacher), which makes me even more financially optimistic for when teaching work comes along.

P.P.P.S. Photos of our new place (in all its emptiness) to be posted this weekend, I promise.

P.P.P.S. Ha, just wanted to put this one to see all those Ps in a row.

Hell-ooo,
Guess what? We have a new place. Yipeee! Spent the afternoon doing my hygiene radar some service and now the place is up to standard, I can dirty it all I like. My untidiness is ok to live in, that of other unknown people; not ok. It is a cute little one bedroom flat, with a kitchen, bathroom, and laundry/possible place for a second hand sewing machine. I will put up some photos soon, but at the moment it looks empty and messy with bags of things around the place. good news: we now have room for visitors, so if you are over this way, we would be more than happy to take you in.

I did a week of work last week at a local school. I met some great people, but had to decide, would I stay or would I go? The school was a lot like kirwan, but perhaps even more demanding. I had to decide: do I take the super challenging job? Or do I hang out for something else? Like I said, in a matter of days I'd met some great people, one even offered her holiday house in the French Pyrenees to us, if we wanted to rent it out for a cheaper price. Wow! I could have stayed at that school just for the staff, but I had to remind myself that I didn't come over here to do exactly what I was doing at home. So I worked up a lump of courage, and on Friday I met with the Principal and told her that I wasn't going to continue. She was nice about it and appreciated my honesty, and it gave me a huge boost of confidence in myself, I'd never quit a job before! Yet now I know I am brave enough to do these things- look out world, super confident Stacey is here to stay. I am delighted to say that the French bungalow is still a warm offer to us that I am sure we will take up. What a really lovely lady!

So, I am back to being jobless. Which doesn't bother me, I am pleasantly content to just float around for a little while. The desire to take a job in the local craft shop (a bit like Spotlight) still beckons me with it's advertisement for full time workers, hmmm..... We will see. If only they would pay me enough to live the lifestyle I want to live.... What do you all think? Craft shop or classroom?

Photos of our new place to come soon, stay posted.

Miss you all!
Love,
Stace

...wear lots of warm stuff, especially in winter!

Hi everyone,
A new update for you all. We zoomed off for a little weekend in Bath, so here's an account of all the exciting things we got up to.

We sort of organised this trip at the last minute. After Glen hummed and harred about wanting to have a weekend off after a long and tiring ONE week of work, we finally decided that we'd go and beat the summer crowds to see all the amazing things Bath has to offer.  So we jumped on the train at 5pm Friday and off we went.  First of all let me tell you a bit about the country trains. You have to reserve a seat if you want to sit down. Of course when you book a seat, it DOES NOT automatically reserve one for you too. Oh, no, that is an extra function you have to perform. So, unbeknowns to us, all those people cutting in front of the train doors and then squeezing themselves through the gap the minute the doors retract, were dashing on board to secure one of the extreme minority 'unreserved' seats (of which there were about 15 by the way).  So Glen was a little frustrated and I am sure his legs were having nightmares about having to stand for three hours. Lucky our train stopped at a gazillion stations on it's trek over to Bristol (the terminating stop after Bath), and we were able to dash into a seat within half an hour.

We arrived at a cute littte B and B called 'The Firs'. It was really just the quitessential country villiage manor (in my opinion - not that I am a conisseur of 'manors' by any stretch of the imagination, in fact I don't think I've ever been to a manor in my life, unless I count this one of course...). Here are a few pics:

You can see the outside view of the B and B in the first picture. Pretty little gardens that, I imagine in summer, would be a bloom with lots of happy flowers.

This was our room. Cute little bow window seat that looked out onto the town and its extension about the nearby hill.



The country style kitchen, with a big table for guests to have breakfast at each morning. I loved this idea, it was so homey and cosy eating here.



The biggest bath, steaming in the cool of winter.

Check out the water quality. Originally the baths were covered in enormous cathedral style stone roofs, so the water was crystal clear. Now, exposed to the sun, the water develops algae. It's not treated water, so no bathing allowed.

The very private King's Bath. Can you see the orange colourled tones on the wall. This is a previous water level. Obviously the Romans established the baths, but over the course of history, English royalty made changes and adaptations. So the water level you can see reflects the original Roman level, and the higher markings show later  changes made when the pools were filled in to become more shallow. I thing it's amazing that archaeologists were able to dig back and uncover this bath in its somewaht original form, it blows me away.

The art of the fan; my best 'come hither' look.

Glen in front of the ever-so-cute Pultney Bridge.

Glen starts a work trial tomorrow. I am so pleased unhappy with myself for not having organised work yet. I will spend the day playing housewife, and hunting down that ever elusive fabric shop (just how I get there I don't know, change buses about 5 times perhaps), I better cook dinner too, being the good wifey. Glen's working as a teaching assistant in a local high school, I think he's keen to give it a good go and has a four day trial to see how it is.  He's also met with a local ambulance service and they're keen to take him on too, though they say that he will need to get a car down the track (the station is about half an hour away).  So here's the score:

Glen: 2
Stacey: 0

I try not to let it bother me too much.  It's tough being free all day, reading in bed, taking a stroll along the beach (in the face of icy winds), checking out said craft shop, cooking dinner, I really don't know how I will manage it all - I will soldier on beacuase I am made of the tough stuff :)

On a side note, I am seriously considering doing a little bit of study, yes seriously.  I have always wanted to get a qualification in teaching English as a second language (ESL) and I have discovered there are a few places here who offer a diploma through the Cambridge University.  It'd be 1 month full time, or 4 months part time and cost me about $1500 AUD, which I think is not too bad.  Brighton attracts a lot international students and I think there are about 30 facilities here where they can learn English.  Apparently in summer the language schools can't get enough teachers to run the courses, so there is plenty of work around.  This sort of thing takes my fancy for something different.  Who knows, maybe I'll look into doing the course on my very busy day tomorrow. 

Finally, Glen and I booked our first overseas trip. We're heading to Turkey for a 9 day your which will culminate in the dawn service at Gallipoli on ANZAC day. We're very excited and have heard it's a really special experience.

Miss home a lot!
Stacey

Hi everyone,
We've just got back from a weekend in London, ahhh *puts feet up on a chair* lots of walking and lots to see, we will have to head back there again and again and again... We managed to do a few mainstream touristy things. A visit o Tussaud's museum was a must.  What fantastic work lives on as a legacy of a profession she made famous. The wax figures are so real it's a little scary.  I stood face to face with JLo, and literally felt nervous that any minute she'd blink and tell me to stop staring.  Glen got caught too, he was going up to get his pic taken with the waxy Will Smith and there was a lady standing there taking a photo. Glen, used his manners and waited for her to get her picture before he took up a pose next to it, and he waited and waited.... turns out the lady taking the photo was a wax figure 'planted' in the crowd to trick you up, clever!  Here are a few pictures.....


I have a soft spot for all things HP.



Glen showing Jim Carey how it's done.



Henry VIII, a fascination of ours all thanks to 'The Tudors' TV series box sets...

 We loved the museum and spent close to three hours wandering around and taking photos. I even got to immortalise my hand  in wax, though what I am going to do with the fragile thing now I do not know....

We also visited the other much publicised tourist attraction of 'The London Dungeon' - an impressive foray into the dark and seedy past of the city: crypts, the great plague, the fire of London, Jack the ripper, executions, Sweeny Todd and all sorts of other scary things.  It was really well done, kind of like a mini theme park. No pics allowed though, so nothing to show you.

Yet, by far the highlight was seeing 'Wicked' the musical.  Flawless acting, amazing sets and costumes and a fascinating plot (I am such a sucker for the sequel/prequel thing), made for a great experience. I think even Glen secretly liked it. I'd like to think we could zip up to London to see a musical every now and again now. It's only 40 mins by train and they run late into the evening...could be very dangerous for the pocket....

At the Gold Souk (Market). Too much choice is certainly limiting.  After street upon street of gold shops, I bought... nothing.



Glen just lounging around in the Arabian Desert.



A sunset Toyota Jump.

My henna tattoo. It looks really nice there, Unfortunately not so nice now when it's fading and brown. I scrubbed my had raw in the shower tonight to not avail. I have to go for a job meeting tomorrow, will have to keep that had under the desk.

Glen at the Burj Al Arab, the 7 star luxury hotel in Dubai. We went there for afternoon tea.



Afternoon tea in the sky bar with a perfect view. Glen's drinking champagne, quick take a photo!



Just one part of our afternoon tea, which consisted of: champagne, a beef wellington, this arrangement of delecacies (plus top ups if you wanted), a personally selected pot of infused tea, plus scones and jams and cream to finish it off.

The Burj Al Kahlifa - tallest tower in the world!

Fish and chips for lunch. No sand on the beach!

We then did a spot of shopping, which, may I add, is very, very good. Glen got a new wollen double breasted coat and some boots - out with the bulky and fleecy Aussie Ripcurl jumper and sneakers.  He does look quite the part now. I picked up a thick brown coat for about $80 AUD, which  I thought was quite good given the quality.

Today (Monday) was chore day, we opened up a bank account (that most impressively includes the perks of full international travel insurance, roadside assistance and life insurance, woowee). We then headed off to get mobile phones organised. No fuss for me, new sim card, new number, but my old phone is as good as gold. Glen's getting a newie - spoilt, I may just take his old iPhone before the month's out.

Tomorrow is our first meeting with the job agency.  We'll keep you posted and let you know how it goes.




Beautiful day! You can see the old West Pier in the background. I would have assumed it was similar to the Brighton Pier (pictured above - rides and amusments), but burnt down and they never re-built it. I feel sad when I look at it :(



I know the title of this post sounds corny, but the thing is, it is so entirely true. Dubai is a city that proudly does everything BIG. From enormous shopping centres (500+ shops, not only one of these centres exists, but there are a number of them). A ski slope in the middle of the desert, a man made island shaped like a palm tree, a number of islands shaped like the world map (FYI if you're keen to buy your own island in "the world islands" you'll just need to fork over a minimum 10 mill thanks very much, that'll probably buy you a scaled down Tassie. Oh, and you will most likely be living next to some movie star's holiday home - how bout that?) Not people to do things by halvsies are the Emaritis. Needless to say in a country of plenty, there was certainly no disappointment. Here's a run down of some of the things we enjoyed most.

1. Things are pretty cheap. Our accommodation was a measly 4 stars of super luxury, especially after a free upgrade. You know you've hit the jackpot when they are supplying the very spesh l'Occitane soaps and hand creams in the bathroom. Shopping was unbelievable, especially given the immense number of shops, and meals were cheap too. We ate in an Italian restaurant on our last night that was situated just to provide for panoramic views of the world's largest water fountain, ALONG WITH the world's largest building - the Burj Al Khalifa. We walked out at the end of the night paying a bill the equivalent of $50AUD. And, most impressively, the waterfall performed a lights and music show every 15 minutes. You know you're in a special place when a giant water fountain is dancing along to Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'.

2. History is fascinating. Loved, loved, loved learning more about the lifestyle of a people so completely different to our own. It might be the teacher in me, but I love going on a good tour. I'm the one who sits up straighter straining to hear what the tour leader has to say, following close behind her for fear I may miss some very important fact and I'm never backward in asking a question or two. I also fancy myself an artsy photographer, to which Glen comments 'not another photo of flowers/bricks/food.' Yet, what I was amazed by was the multicultural makeup of the population of Dubai. 20% Arab, and 80% immigrants: Indian, Pakistani and Asian most commonly. And for a city that's a building Mecca, it's difficult to think that 20 years ago, people still lived in huts made out of palm leaves. Also, the place of women in society is totally different to what I'm accustomed. Being an Islamic country, women aren't allowed in most mosques, only the larger ones, of which there are only a few. Also, there a banks that advertise women's only banking, and there are recreational clubs for only women, so they don't feel uncomfortable around men. I find this fascinating; I think I'll have to do a little more reading about these things...

3. 4WDriving to a Bedouin camp in the Arabian dessert was by far a highlight. Up and over sand dunes, wheels spinning to get traction, sand flying everywhere. It takes sheer skill to manoeuvre a car over sand (geez, it takes all my skill to manoeuvre myself through the sand at the best of times). A camel ride, dinner under the stars, a belly dancer (who performed for longer than was possible to bare) and a henna tattoo that is still hanging onto my had like a brown mess, all make for great memories of the evening. My henna tattoo was done by the more amateur of the artists, and while it's tolerable, it's certainly not something I want stuck to my skin for 2 weeks (so the German tourist tells me excitedly). And so it is that no amount of scrubbing will remove the wilted brown flowers, they will just have to fade under some long sleeves and a glove for the next 2 weeks.

I thought seriously about staying in Dubai, teaching in a local school. You know I could really do it. Yet, we've moved on to Brighton, and that my friends, I will save for my next post.

Good night!

P.S. No photos of Dubai yet, Glen needs to work out the internet probs with our laptop, I'm very proud of myself for having typed all of this on the iPad.