It was a bit of a rushed trip back to London for me to arrive on time for the Garden Party in the Buckingham Palace Gardens. We had been quick on the uptake a few months ago to get tickets, the New Zealand embassy has a certain allocation to give away on a first in first served basis. It was even luckier the Hamish, Gabs, Chris and Sara were coming as well.
There were no cameras allowed but we managed a couple of sneaky photos on our phones on the way out, and now my stupid phone has wiped them too...
We got to with 3 metres of the Queen and Prince Philip, and Prince Charles and Camilla but the real highlight was the almost limitless afternoon tea of which we took full advantage. Everything was very nice, from the cucumber and mint sandwiches to the chocolate fudge slice with a golden crown emblem. I certainly didn't need dinner!
Tuesday 22 July 2008
Sunday 20 July 2008
The British Open
We travelled from London to Liverpool on a Friday night and arrived late only to find that the hostel where we had booked had no record of our booking. After another couple of hours, we were eventually checking in to a hotel in the centre of town, all paid for by the hostel. This was a great result and got even better in the morning when we discovered that a full buffet breakfast was included.
Nonetheless, we were still rather shattered on Saturday as we made our way up to Royal Birkdale. The weather forecast was terrible but we were quite lucky, no rain but a strong cool wind. We were not allowed to take cameras in which was a shame. We saw some great players and eventually settled on a spot on the 8th green where we watched about the last ten pairings go through, including Greg Norman who was the crowd favourite and really the hero of the competition.
The wind was making it very difficult for the players and the leader board changed throughout the day. the crowds were making it difficult for us but we moved to the par 3 14th green and watched the last few play that hole before making our escape in an effort to beat the crowds.
We went out for dinner in Liverpool which was an eye opening - actually an eye closing - experience. It seemed every female in Liverpool 'dressed' the same with the common theme being to reveal all of what they did not have!
We filled in Sunday morning with an open bus tour of the city and then it was back to London a slightly different way so I could pick up my cycle trailer that I had bought on ebay.
Liverpool
We got back in reasonable time and Bevan met me at the station to take me back to the farm.
Nonetheless, we were still rather shattered on Saturday as we made our way up to Royal Birkdale. The weather forecast was terrible but we were quite lucky, no rain but a strong cool wind. We were not allowed to take cameras in which was a shame. We saw some great players and eventually settled on a spot on the 8th green where we watched about the last ten pairings go through, including Greg Norman who was the crowd favourite and really the hero of the competition.
The wind was making it very difficult for the players and the leader board changed throughout the day. the crowds were making it difficult for us but we moved to the par 3 14th green and watched the last few play that hole before making our escape in an effort to beat the crowds.
We went out for dinner in Liverpool which was an eye opening - actually an eye closing - experience. It seemed every female in Liverpool 'dressed' the same with the common theme being to reveal all of what they did not have!
We filled in Sunday morning with an open bus tour of the city and then it was back to London a slightly different way so I could pick up my cycle trailer that I had bought on ebay.
Liverpool
We got back in reasonable time and Bevan met me at the station to take me back to the farm.
Sunday 13 July 2008
Rome and the Almalfi Coast
I thought I was going to have at least a week between finishing at Johnson Matthey and starting harvest so Kelley and I booked flights in and out of Rome. As it turned out, I could have worked right through but it was a great opportunity to see some more of Italy.
I had enjoyed Venice when we went there and this trip confirmed my opinion that Italy was one of the best countries I had visited.
Rome was amazing with all its old sights and Vatican City. Our time in Rome did not start well as I badly stubbed my toe on the first morning but it didn't slow us down too much. We ticked off the main sights in Rome, the one I enjoyed the least was the Sistine Chapel because of the huge queues and the crowds, it just wasn't worth the effort.
Soome highlights of Rome:
Trevi Fountain
Pantheon
Collesseum
The huge St Peter's Cathedral
St Peter's Square
Statue's overlooking St Peter's Square
The Map room on the way to the Sistene Chapel, which took hours.....
Nuns hanging around St Peter's Square, well, where else would you expect them to be...
Getting cool with a Ferrari in the Ferrari shop
One of the many Squares or Piazzas
It was super hot the whole time, 35 degrees plus, and our train to and from Naples and then on to Sorrento had little and no air conditioning respectively.
Sorrento is the start of the Almalfi Coast and we based ourselves there for the remaining days, tenting on a dry dusty ledge on a side of a cliff near the sea. We filled on our time with day trips:
- Pompeii to see the ruins. we were hoping to walk up Mt Vesuvius but it was far too hot.
Ruins with Vesuvius in the background
A well preserved body
More ruins....
Half dead dog (these were everywhere) in one of the more well preserved houses
- Hiring a scooter and driving down the Almalfi Coast. This was the best day, weaving along the narrow, windy road, stopping off to cool down in the sea (we saw Kyle Mills at Almalfi) or to fill up the scooter with 6 euro of fuel.
Scootering in our trendy yellow helmets
469 steps down to this beach, worth it though
Umbrellas for hire
Crazy Italians drilling out a rock face above the road
- Hydrofoil to Capri and swimming in the clear blue sea which was like a warm bath.
Stunning Capri
Of course we ate more than our fair share of pizza and gelato - another big plus about Italy...
The trip back was a bit of a nightmare, over 12 hours of travelling and arriving home at about 3am. I had to get up and repack to be ready to meet Bevan and go down to the farm.
I had enjoyed Venice when we went there and this trip confirmed my opinion that Italy was one of the best countries I had visited.
Rome was amazing with all its old sights and Vatican City. Our time in Rome did not start well as I badly stubbed my toe on the first morning but it didn't slow us down too much. We ticked off the main sights in Rome, the one I enjoyed the least was the Sistine Chapel because of the huge queues and the crowds, it just wasn't worth the effort.
Soome highlights of Rome:
Trevi Fountain
Pantheon
Collesseum
The huge St Peter's Cathedral
St Peter's Square
Statue's overlooking St Peter's Square
The Map room on the way to the Sistene Chapel, which took hours.....
Nuns hanging around St Peter's Square, well, where else would you expect them to be...
Getting cool with a Ferrari in the Ferrari shop
One of the many Squares or Piazzas
It was super hot the whole time, 35 degrees plus, and our train to and from Naples and then on to Sorrento had little and no air conditioning respectively.
Sorrento is the start of the Almalfi Coast and we based ourselves there for the remaining days, tenting on a dry dusty ledge on a side of a cliff near the sea. We filled on our time with day trips:
- Pompeii to see the ruins. we were hoping to walk up Mt Vesuvius but it was far too hot.
Ruins with Vesuvius in the background
A well preserved body
More ruins....
Half dead dog (these were everywhere) in one of the more well preserved houses
- Hiring a scooter and driving down the Almalfi Coast. This was the best day, weaving along the narrow, windy road, stopping off to cool down in the sea (we saw Kyle Mills at Almalfi) or to fill up the scooter with 6 euro of fuel.
Scootering in our trendy yellow helmets
469 steps down to this beach, worth it though
Umbrellas for hire
Crazy Italians drilling out a rock face above the road
- Hydrofoil to Capri and swimming in the clear blue sea which was like a warm bath.
Stunning Capri
Of course we ate more than our fair share of pizza and gelato - another big plus about Italy...
The trip back was a bit of a nightmare, over 12 hours of travelling and arriving home at about 3am. I had to get up and repack to be ready to meet Bevan and go down to the farm.
Tuesday 1 July 2008
Wimbledon
Kelley and I were fortunate to get tickets through the ballot to Centre Court at Wimbledon. We were a bit unlucky with the programme (ladies quarter finals) but we were very lucky with the weather. We packed a huge lunch and settled down to watch Dementieva beat Petrova and Serena Williams and the Blake brothers from USA both win. I had small bets on all 4 quarter finals and 3 won and the 4th was still live so that made for a good day too! We saw bits of a few other matches including some entertaining over 45's and enjoyed our day in the sun.
Catching an official steward posing in front of the logo
Crowds watching the big screen on Henman hill
Demntieva serving on Centre Court
Catching an official steward posing in front of the logo
Crowds watching the big screen on Henman hill
Demntieva serving on Centre Court
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