Well, I am speechless!
While overseas I had to buy another phone because mine would not work, much to my extreme annoyance. I found out why today.
I had rung Telstra to find out why it took nearly two months for a missed call to appear on my phone - no kidding, it said 15 June (!) and I had cleared all missed calls and messages from my phone before I left - but completely forgot about that and had an interesting chat with an Indian woman about why my phone didn't work overseas.
Turns out... TELSTRA NEVER TURNED ON INTERNATIONAL ROAMING ON MY PHONE!!!!!
Unfortunately I don't have a record of when I spoke to them to get it set up (at least two weeks if not a month before I departed Oz). The woman checked on my account and there was no record of when I spoke to them. If there had been then Telstra would be getting a nice letter of demand with a copy of the bill for the phone I had to buy in order to keep in touch with my husband.
Telstra is definitely not my favourite organisation right now.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Home safe!
I realise it's been over a week since my last post, but I've needed that week to catch my breath, get over jetlag, get enough sleep (I've been dozing off by 9pm!) and enjoy a very unexpected and very pleasant anniversary celebration with hubby (a night at the Hilton is definitely pleasant!).
This is the other photo of the Reunion Tower - the one I took from my hotel window not long before heading off to the airport. It was pretty spectacular during the night - it has a "dome" of lights over it which flash on and off in pretty patterns.
The sky was endless blue - a good omen for the flight. I have to say that I didn't have any problems with my ears at all the whole time - I shall definitely remember to take head cold tablets with me on any future trips!
The Airbus... OMG! What a comfortable flight. The seats have been specially designed by Rocaro (not sure of the spelling - they design seats for racing cars) and have these little "wings" that you can adjust to support your head while you sleep. Good amount of legroom too. The flight was around 15 hours - thank goodness for in-seat entertainment! Even though we took off half an hour late we still got to Sydney at about the right time. I was on the aisle and close to the facilities - very handy. Dinner was served a couple of hours into the flight, then we were all given a "snack pack" which contained a bottle of water and various small packs of snacks - M&Ms, crackers etc) for munching on during the night. I didn't investigate but apparently there are also vending machines somewhere on the plane - I'd found the seating plan on the Qantas website so I could see where I was seated. On the seat when we boarded there was the requisite pillow and blanket AND a care pack containing socks, an eye mask, a lanyard (presumably to carry the care pack round your neck) and a toothbrush and toothpaste.
After dinner and watching The Boat that Rocked (yay for pirate radio - it kept me sane in the sixties!) I dozed off, and woke up with only 6hrs left to go, so I must have got a decent amount of sleep. I munched on my snack pack, watched last year's Dr Who Christmas Special (I'd taken photos of the costumes at the Dr Who exhibition in Cardiff but had no clue as to who wore them! All was revealed, so to speak!) and a couple of episodes of Thank God You're Here, catnapped a bit more, then brekkie was served.
There was minimal turbulence on the whole flight - fantastic. I think the only turbulence was when we passed over various islands, and even then it was barely a rattle.
As the sun was coming up I decided to watch the landing through the Skycam - the Airbus has a camera in the tail so you can watch the flight if you want - most of it was just the light flashing on the top of the plane - but the landing was incredible. It gives you a whole new perspective on coming into the airport and flying over Botany Bay.
I highly recommend flying by Airbus. I was nervous at first - a double-decker plane just doesn't seem right somehow - but now I've been on one I'm quite happy to fly on one again.
All in all, I had a fabulous trip. Even the rainy days were terrific. Even having to backtrack from Tintagel to Bude (only 20 miles) wasn't a hassle - although we would have missed being stuck behind the traction engine!
Now I'm home, I want to go back again but I shall restrain myself for a couple of years. Maybe even three and go over for my next milestone birthday. My cousins all think that's a great idea. Sue of course would like me to be over there all the time.
As hubby had said on one of our phone conversations, the cat did spend every day lying on my bed.
The pale pink underside of the doona cover had a distinctly grey tinge, and when I brushed it with the magic brush I had a big handful of fur! She was most unimpressed when I took that cover off and replaced it with the faux silk one (that she slides off when she jumps up on the bed!).
She's forgiven me now and spends her days back on her favourite coverlet on the chaise. At least she didn't look at me as if to say "Who are you?" when I got out of the taxi last Friday.
I didn't have to worry about my jute bag I'd bought at a National Trust property - it was allowed in without a problem. I've since seen someone else with one, so was all worried for no reason. I made my connecting flight to Cairns with minutes to spare - they have obviously learned a valuable lesson at Sydney Airport - AQIS people were wandering around the baggage carousels asking to see incoming passenger cards and if they were okay they'd stamp them green so you could go out through the express exit. Much more civilised than everyone having to queue up!
Now it's back to reality - writers group, writing (I did actually start a short story while overseas), working out what the ***** is going on at work (much craziness there with new systems coming in, but my stand-ins did a fabulous job and I didn't return to a desk piled high with problems) and generally getting back into the rhythm of my life. All the photos have been transferred from the Tardis to Red Dwarf (my desktop pc where I am now).
I did have a bit of fun the first couple of days with driving - Sue's car has european controls, ie the indicator and wiper stalks are switched - but I seemed to be okay with indicating for turns. The fun came when I went to overtake someone and promptly turned on the wipers! I did that a couple of days but now it's all fallen back into place. I also picked up an interesting phrase which I suspect I will manage to lose - being blue-lighted (ie in an ambulance with all lights and sirens going!). I didn't ask but I suspect UK ambulances only have blue lights on them, hence the term. Here, of course, we have blue AND red lights - and sadly I've seen too many ambulances this last week - two crashes in 14 hours in the same stretch of road!
I'm reading the book Sue bought me for my birthday - set in Avebury and all about the man who bought the village and tried to restore the stone circle - and I can "see" all of it.
I'm really glad I did this trip - it was worth every cent both physically and emotionally. Now to translate my experiences into a book - that's the fun!
This is the other photo of the Reunion Tower - the one I took from my hotel window not long before heading off to the airport. It was pretty spectacular during the night - it has a "dome" of lights over it which flash on and off in pretty patterns.The sky was endless blue - a good omen for the flight. I have to say that I didn't have any problems with my ears at all the whole time - I shall definitely remember to take head cold tablets with me on any future trips!
The Airbus... OMG! What a comfortable flight. The seats have been specially designed by Rocaro (not sure of the spelling - they design seats for racing cars) and have these little "wings" that you can adjust to support your head while you sleep. Good amount of legroom too. The flight was around 15 hours - thank goodness for in-seat entertainment! Even though we took off half an hour late we still got to Sydney at about the right time. I was on the aisle and close to the facilities - very handy. Dinner was served a couple of hours into the flight, then we were all given a "snack pack" which contained a bottle of water and various small packs of snacks - M&Ms, crackers etc) for munching on during the night. I didn't investigate but apparently there are also vending machines somewhere on the plane - I'd found the seating plan on the Qantas website so I could see where I was seated. On the seat when we boarded there was the requisite pillow and blanket AND a care pack containing socks, an eye mask, a lanyard (presumably to carry the care pack round your neck) and a toothbrush and toothpaste.
After dinner and watching The Boat that Rocked (yay for pirate radio - it kept me sane in the sixties!) I dozed off, and woke up with only 6hrs left to go, so I must have got a decent amount of sleep. I munched on my snack pack, watched last year's Dr Who Christmas Special (I'd taken photos of the costumes at the Dr Who exhibition in Cardiff but had no clue as to who wore them! All was revealed, so to speak!) and a couple of episodes of Thank God You're Here, catnapped a bit more, then brekkie was served.
There was minimal turbulence on the whole flight - fantastic. I think the only turbulence was when we passed over various islands, and even then it was barely a rattle.
As the sun was coming up I decided to watch the landing through the Skycam - the Airbus has a camera in the tail so you can watch the flight if you want - most of it was just the light flashing on the top of the plane - but the landing was incredible. It gives you a whole new perspective on coming into the airport and flying over Botany Bay.
I highly recommend flying by Airbus. I was nervous at first - a double-decker plane just doesn't seem right somehow - but now I've been on one I'm quite happy to fly on one again.
All in all, I had a fabulous trip. Even the rainy days were terrific. Even having to backtrack from Tintagel to Bude (only 20 miles) wasn't a hassle - although we would have missed being stuck behind the traction engine!
Now I'm home, I want to go back again but I shall restrain myself for a couple of years. Maybe even three and go over for my next milestone birthday. My cousins all think that's a great idea. Sue of course would like me to be over there all the time.
As hubby had said on one of our phone conversations, the cat did spend every day lying on my bed.
The pale pink underside of the doona cover had a distinctly grey tinge, and when I brushed it with the magic brush I had a big handful of fur! She was most unimpressed when I took that cover off and replaced it with the faux silk one (that she slides off when she jumps up on the bed!).She's forgiven me now and spends her days back on her favourite coverlet on the chaise. At least she didn't look at me as if to say "Who are you?" when I got out of the taxi last Friday.
I didn't have to worry about my jute bag I'd bought at a National Trust property - it was allowed in without a problem. I've since seen someone else with one, so was all worried for no reason. I made my connecting flight to Cairns with minutes to spare - they have obviously learned a valuable lesson at Sydney Airport - AQIS people were wandering around the baggage carousels asking to see incoming passenger cards and if they were okay they'd stamp them green so you could go out through the express exit. Much more civilised than everyone having to queue up!
Now it's back to reality - writers group, writing (I did actually start a short story while overseas), working out what the ***** is going on at work (much craziness there with new systems coming in, but my stand-ins did a fabulous job and I didn't return to a desk piled high with problems) and generally getting back into the rhythm of my life. All the photos have been transferred from the Tardis to Red Dwarf (my desktop pc where I am now).
I did have a bit of fun the first couple of days with driving - Sue's car has european controls, ie the indicator and wiper stalks are switched - but I seemed to be okay with indicating for turns. The fun came when I went to overtake someone and promptly turned on the wipers! I did that a couple of days but now it's all fallen back into place. I also picked up an interesting phrase which I suspect I will manage to lose - being blue-lighted (ie in an ambulance with all lights and sirens going!). I didn't ask but I suspect UK ambulances only have blue lights on them, hence the term. Here, of course, we have blue AND red lights - and sadly I've seen too many ambulances this last week - two crashes in 14 hours in the same stretch of road!
I'm reading the book Sue bought me for my birthday - set in Avebury and all about the man who bought the village and tried to restore the stone circle - and I can "see" all of it.
I'm really glad I did this trip - it was worth every cent both physically and emotionally. Now to translate my experiences into a book - that's the fun!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Photo upload, fingers xx'd
I am now in LAX in their reLAX lounge, for the next five hours at a cost of $35 but it is so nice and peaceful and they have snacks etc. I have my seat allocations for the flight to Sydney and Cairns and, I do believe I can see my plane from the broad picture windows of the lounge - and it's the new double-decker one! THAT is going to be an adventure.
I shall now make a final attempt to upload those photos from the last post.
Old Red
Reunion Tower
Union Station
I took another photo of the Reunion Tower from my hotel room (out of the cleanest part of it anyway) but haven't downloaded it from my camera yet.
Now it's sit back and relax time, get myself a cup of coffee and move away from these very distracting windows (always did like watching planes take off and land) so I can do some work on the ms that has been having a lazy time in my bag for the last month.
Once my 5 hrs is up in here I'll go find something for dinner - they have an extensive food court in the terminal - and get ready to board the last but one (but longest at just shy of 15 hours) plane of this trip.
Next time I go to the UK - it's There and Back Again! Hmm, sounds like a good title for a book.
I shall now make a final attempt to upload those photos from the last post.
Old Red
Reunion Tower
Union Station
I took another photo of the Reunion Tower from my hotel room (out of the cleanest part of it anyway) but haven't downloaded it from my camera yet.
Now it's sit back and relax time, get myself a cup of coffee and move away from these very distracting windows (always did like watching planes take off and land) so I can do some work on the ms that has been having a lazy time in my bag for the last month.
Once my 5 hrs is up in here I'll go find something for dinner - they have an extensive food court in the terminal - and get ready to board the last but one (but longest at just shy of 15 hours) plane of this trip.
Next time I go to the UK - it's There and Back Again! Hmm, sounds like a good title for a book.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
They do things big in Texas...
I ordered lunch through Room Service yesterday. A Salmon BLT with seasonal veggies. This is what I got. I had to put my mobile phone next to the plate so you could get an idea of the SIZE of this thing. Believe it or not there's a bread roll under that slab of salmon, the giant tomatoes and the lettuce leaf. The only veg I recognised was a zucchini, so I ate all of those bits, and some red onion. There were two packets each of mayo AND mustard.No wonder America has such an obesity problem!
This morning while having brekkie the sun was coming up on a beautiful old building in the next block, so I ducked out to take some photos. I really couldn't be in Dallas and not take some photos to prove I'd been here.
We have: The Old Red Courthouse (fondly known as Old Red) which is now a museum; The Reunion Tower and the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Unfortunately all the other landmark buildings were to the east and the sun was blasting down the street, so these are all I got.
Okay, having problems uploading so I'll upload them later, probably when I'm back in Oz.
Time to get packed up for the final time. Phew!
Bye Dallas!
Catching up and catching breath...
Hi all,
I'm in Dallas, TX now. It's incredibly flat country and sprawls out as much if not more than Sydney or Melbourne.
I've decided to be a total slug this afternoon. I think the last few days in Philadelphia have filled my historical/tourist quota to the brim, plus I only have a very small window of opportunity to give my hubby a phone call and the peace and quiet of a hotel room is the best place.
Philadelphia - beautiful city, in spite of the bad rep it has regarding crime etc. After totally relaxing with my friends from Langhorne I transferred to Ardmore, a lovely leafy suburb somewhere to the south-west-ish (I'd have to look it up on a map to confirm the precise location) of the city.
My friend Grace met me at 30th St Station, which I remembered from 18 years ago when hubby and I were there, phoning our Langhorne friends to let them know we'd missed our train and would be on the next one. I recognised the public phones as I walked from the suburban part of the station to the main part to wait for Grace.
When she picked me up we went on a driving tour of the city for a while and then headed for her lovely house - 60 years old, built of stone and solid as a rock (pun intended). The next day after a leisurely breakfast cooked by her hubby Jeff, we went off to the oldest zoo in America which is celebrating its 150th birthday this year. It has a hot air balloon (tethered) that takes people on short rides, and a great collection of animals, including a mob of typically lazy red kangaroos (well, it was a very hot day), a couple of echidnas and some bearded pigs.
Why they were called bearded pigs when the "beard" is on the top of their snout I shall probably never know!
The other (reddish) photo is of the Yin/Yang Aardvarks - sound asleep in their glass-roofed den.
Sunday was Moody Blues day - Grace and I spent most of the day looking at movies, photos and just talking Moody Blues.
Yesterday we did the total tourist bit - we drove into the city and went on a Duck ride (the WW2 DUKW type of duck) around the city and along the Delaware River - on the river. We saw a 160-yr old tugboat that is still working
, and the oldest residential street in America - a very narrow lane but beautifully restored.
Then we got very historical - the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Such a change from 18 years ago. The bell has been moved into a new pavilion and you can't get close to it - a far cry from the photo taken of us beside it under nothing more than a pergola out in the open. We even had to have our handbags searched before we went into the building. There is a good display of the bell's history before you get to where the bell is now hanging.
Independence Hall was just as I remembered it from before, apart from the security (again!) and being on a guided tour - the guide was brilliant and brought the history of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to vivid life. Turns out, the Declaration of Independence wasn't actually signed on July 4. It was read out to the public on July 8th (and none of the powers-that-be who did sign it were there as they didn't know what the public's reaction would be) and finally completely signed some time in August.
Plenty of references were made to the National Treasure movie, which brought a smile to everyone's face. Also, the guide mentioned that the only State not present at the signing was Rhode Island, and asked if anyone was there in the group from RI - three people put their hands up and the guide's response was "You made it! Finally!" The whole group burst out laughing.
After the tour we went into the Curtis building to see a magnificent mural made entirely of glass.
Then it was time to head for home - we were exhausted. We had dinner out and had ourselves some ColdStone icecream - I can't recall who it is that has started doing the same thing in Cairns, but I will be chasing it up because it is a brilliant concept. I liked the cup sizes - Like it, Love it, Gotta Have It. I had french vanilla icecream with Butterfinger chopped and mixed inside and it was incredibly yummy!
This morning it was up with the birds and off to the airport for the last leg home. I very sensibly organised a pickup by shuttle bus to the hotel and return to the airport tomorrow morning - only cost me $38 all up. Some of the transport companies were asking $40 one way!
Time to relax; I seem to have found a tv channel that's showing all my old faves - Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie and I think the next one is The Cosby Show!
I'm in Dallas, TX now. It's incredibly flat country and sprawls out as much if not more than Sydney or Melbourne.
I've decided to be a total slug this afternoon. I think the last few days in Philadelphia have filled my historical/tourist quota to the brim, plus I only have a very small window of opportunity to give my hubby a phone call and the peace and quiet of a hotel room is the best place.
Philadelphia - beautiful city, in spite of the bad rep it has regarding crime etc. After totally relaxing with my friends from Langhorne I transferred to Ardmore, a lovely leafy suburb somewhere to the south-west-ish (I'd have to look it up on a map to confirm the precise location) of the city.
My friend Grace met me at 30th St Station, which I remembered from 18 years ago when hubby and I were there, phoning our Langhorne friends to let them know we'd missed our train and would be on the next one. I recognised the public phones as I walked from the suburban part of the station to the main part to wait for Grace.
When she picked me up we went on a driving tour of the city for a while and then headed for her lovely house - 60 years old, built of stone and solid as a rock (pun intended). The next day after a leisurely breakfast cooked by her hubby Jeff, we went off to the oldest zoo in America which is celebrating its 150th birthday this year. It has a hot air balloon (tethered) that takes people on short rides, and a great collection of animals, including a mob of typically lazy red kangaroos (well, it was a very hot day), a couple of echidnas and some bearded pigs.
Why they were called bearded pigs when the "beard" is on the top of their snout I shall probably never know!
The other (reddish) photo is of the Yin/Yang Aardvarks - sound asleep in their glass-roofed den.Sunday was Moody Blues day - Grace and I spent most of the day looking at movies, photos and just talking Moody Blues.
Yesterday we did the total tourist bit - we drove into the city and went on a Duck ride (the WW2 DUKW type of duck) around the city and along the Delaware River - on the river. We saw a 160-yr old tugboat that is still working
, and the oldest residential street in America - a very narrow lane but beautifully restored.
Then we got very historical - the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Such a change from 18 years ago. The bell has been moved into a new pavilion and you can't get close to it - a far cry from the photo taken of us beside it under nothing more than a pergola out in the open. We even had to have our handbags searched before we went into the building. There is a good display of the bell's history before you get to where the bell is now hanging.
Independence Hall was just as I remembered it from before, apart from the security (again!) and being on a guided tour - the guide was brilliant and brought the history of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to vivid life. Turns out, the Declaration of Independence wasn't actually signed on July 4. It was read out to the public on July 8th (and none of the powers-that-be who did sign it were there as they didn't know what the public's reaction would be) and finally completely signed some time in August.
Plenty of references were made to the National Treasure movie, which brought a smile to everyone's face. Also, the guide mentioned that the only State not present at the signing was Rhode Island, and asked if anyone was there in the group from RI - three people put their hands up and the guide's response was "You made it! Finally!" The whole group burst out laughing.
After the tour we went into the Curtis building to see a magnificent mural made entirely of glass.
Then it was time to head for home - we were exhausted. We had dinner out and had ourselves some ColdStone icecream - I can't recall who it is that has started doing the same thing in Cairns, but I will be chasing it up because it is a brilliant concept. I liked the cup sizes - Like it, Love it, Gotta Have It. I had french vanilla icecream with Butterfinger chopped and mixed inside and it was incredibly yummy!This morning it was up with the birds and off to the airport for the last leg home. I very sensibly organised a pickup by shuttle bus to the hotel and return to the airport tomorrow morning - only cost me $38 all up. Some of the transport companies were asking $40 one way!
Time to relax; I seem to have found a tv channel that's showing all my old faves - Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie and I think the next one is The Cosby Show!
Friday, July 17, 2009
Fun in the USA
Well, they let me in the country - suckers! It was an interesting flight - stuck in the middle seat of 5 around the middle of the plane and wishing I had forked out the additional 350 GBP to upgrade! The food was okay if a bit greasy and lots of cheese. I could have upgraded - I didn't spend anywhere near as much money as I thought I would so I could have afforded it. If I get the opportunity again and it's not horrendously expensive, I'll do it - the upgraded seats were much nicer and roomier.
For reasons known only to my travel booker, this flight went from London to Philadelphia VIA CHICAGO! That's where I had to go through immigration and customs - yep, had to claim my baggage and then recheck it for the next bit of the flight - which was on a much smaller plane and I was in literally the last seat, right next to the toilet which didn't have a light - but at least I was by the window, even though my boarding pass had me in the aisle seat! A young guy turned up just as I was getting settled and he said he was in the aisle seat, so I swapped quite happily.
I had a reasonable view if I sat up straight and twisted round a bit - and saw a landscape when we were around a half hour away from Philadelphia that I am convinced was the inspiration for the Shiver Barrens in Glenda Larke's awesome Mirage Makers trilogy. For mile after mile there were these tree-clad ridges that went for miles and in between were flat valleys with fields and towns and then another ridge and another valley, almost ad infinitum. Eventually the ridges ran out - I shall have a look on Google Earth to see if I can locate them.
Then I got to Philadelphia, and had a major blonde moment by not recognising the friend who was there to pick me up! I walked right by him - his t-shirt should have given me the clue but he didn't look tall enough. Obviously my memory of him from 18 years ago is VERY faulty!
I retrieved my baggage and waited, and waited, until I spotted my other friend who was going away on holiday today, so she came out to the airport to say hi and have a beer - she was the one who approached this t-shirt clad man after we'd been waiting around for quite a while and found out he was my ride!
Much embarrassment!
We had our beer (well, Sue had the beer and the food, Bob and I had tea) and chatted for a while then we went our separate ways. It was really weird to be sitting on the left side of the car and not be driving! No way will I do any driving over here - too scary this time around.
This morning, when I finally surfaced (I'd been up from 3.3oam UK time and when I went to bed it was around 3.30AM UK time again!) we went and did some grocery shopping and I was gobsmacked to see, in the fish market, TILAPIA for sale.
Now, for those of you not in Qld, or even in Australia, Tilapia is regarded as a pest fish and it is illegal to catch it. I cannot understand why the state govt is not encouraging people to go catch and eat it as by all accounts (and the website that came up on Google for tilapia recipes) it is a nice fish. If enough people catch it surely their effect on the native fish will be reduced? Or am I being incredibly naive to think the state govt is capable of thinking intelligently?
Yep, naive!
This may be my last post for a couple of days as I don't know what network facilities my other friend has, the one I'm going to stay with from tomorrow until next Tuesday when I fly to Dallas, so don't panic. I have definitely made sure that the hotel in Dallas has free wifi!
Stay safe everyone!
For reasons known only to my travel booker, this flight went from London to Philadelphia VIA CHICAGO! That's where I had to go through immigration and customs - yep, had to claim my baggage and then recheck it for the next bit of the flight - which was on a much smaller plane and I was in literally the last seat, right next to the toilet which didn't have a light - but at least I was by the window, even though my boarding pass had me in the aisle seat! A young guy turned up just as I was getting settled and he said he was in the aisle seat, so I swapped quite happily.
I had a reasonable view if I sat up straight and twisted round a bit - and saw a landscape when we were around a half hour away from Philadelphia that I am convinced was the inspiration for the Shiver Barrens in Glenda Larke's awesome Mirage Makers trilogy. For mile after mile there were these tree-clad ridges that went for miles and in between were flat valleys with fields and towns and then another ridge and another valley, almost ad infinitum. Eventually the ridges ran out - I shall have a look on Google Earth to see if I can locate them.
Then I got to Philadelphia, and had a major blonde moment by not recognising the friend who was there to pick me up! I walked right by him - his t-shirt should have given me the clue but he didn't look tall enough. Obviously my memory of him from 18 years ago is VERY faulty!
I retrieved my baggage and waited, and waited, until I spotted my other friend who was going away on holiday today, so she came out to the airport to say hi and have a beer - she was the one who approached this t-shirt clad man after we'd been waiting around for quite a while and found out he was my ride!
Much embarrassment!
We had our beer (well, Sue had the beer and the food, Bob and I had tea) and chatted for a while then we went our separate ways. It was really weird to be sitting on the left side of the car and not be driving! No way will I do any driving over here - too scary this time around.
This morning, when I finally surfaced (I'd been up from 3.3oam UK time and when I went to bed it was around 3.30AM UK time again!) we went and did some grocery shopping and I was gobsmacked to see, in the fish market, TILAPIA for sale.
Now, for those of you not in Qld, or even in Australia, Tilapia is regarded as a pest fish and it is illegal to catch it. I cannot understand why the state govt is not encouraging people to go catch and eat it as by all accounts (and the website that came up on Google for tilapia recipes) it is a nice fish. If enough people catch it surely their effect on the native fish will be reduced? Or am I being incredibly naive to think the state govt is capable of thinking intelligently?
Yep, naive!
This may be my last post for a couple of days as I don't know what network facilities my other friend has, the one I'm going to stay with from tomorrow until next Tuesday when I fly to Dallas, so don't panic. I have definitely made sure that the hotel in Dallas has free wifi!
Stay safe everyone!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
You want *how much* to post one box???
Okay, so my baggage will be heavier than anticipated. I packed up all the books and souvenirs and booklets and brochures etc into three boxes, wrapped them beautifully, addressed and stuck customs labels on them then we took them to the local post office.
And brought all three back again! Just the first box, the lightest of the three, was going to cost 55GBP to send by ordinary mail. Not airmail, not express mail, just plain old ordinary sea mail which would take a couple of months to arrive.
Luckily my sister has a small suitcase she can give me, or I shall see if it will all fit into my carryon bag which I will check rather than take on board because it will be quite heavy. Umm, on second thoughts, maybe not. I don't have a spare padlock for it! Hopefully Sue has a padlock for the case (crosses fingers).
Here is the Uffington photo I promised. Not very visible, I know, but it is there, left of centre just below the brow of the hill. We drove closer and walked up to see it, plus Dragon Hill which is just visible below and to the left of the horse.
The photo of me was taken by a woman who saw me walking up from checking on the horse - a small part of it can be seen just below my right hand - and Dragon Hill is to my right. I didn't walk down to that because it was very steep both down and up!
The crop circle search was fruitless, sad to say. There had been a circle spotted in that area, a very simplistic one which both Sue and I are positive is man-made. I have emailed one of the crop circle websites to let them know what we think of that one and that there was another one in the area which nobody seems to have noticed (!) - I shall report on results if any are forthcoming.
Unfortunately the party on Sunday ended on a very sour note - my eldest nephew's pushbike was stolen during the evening. He had it double-locked and reasonably out of sight, but some enterprising low-life picked it up and walked off with it.
Now to go pack my suitcase(s) and have a relatively early night as we have to get up at 3am tomorrow to make sure we get to Heathrow.
See you in the USA!
And brought all three back again! Just the first box, the lightest of the three, was going to cost 55GBP to send by ordinary mail. Not airmail, not express mail, just plain old ordinary sea mail which would take a couple of months to arrive.
Luckily my sister has a small suitcase she can give me, or I shall see if it will all fit into my carryon bag which I will check rather than take on board because it will be quite heavy. Umm, on second thoughts, maybe not. I don't have a spare padlock for it! Hopefully Sue has a padlock for the case (crosses fingers).
Here is the Uffington photo I promised. Not very visible, I know, but it is there, left of centre just below the brow of the hill. We drove closer and walked up to see it, plus Dragon Hill which is just visible below and to the left of the horse.
The photo of me was taken by a woman who saw me walking up from checking on the horse - a small part of it can be seen just below my right hand - and Dragon Hill is to my right. I didn't walk down to that because it was very steep both down and up!The crop circle search was fruitless, sad to say. There had been a circle spotted in that area, a very simplistic one which both Sue and I are positive is man-made. I have emailed one of the crop circle websites to let them know what we think of that one and that there was another one in the area which nobody seems to have noticed (!) - I shall report on results if any are forthcoming.
Unfortunately the party on Sunday ended on a very sour note - my eldest nephew's pushbike was stolen during the evening. He had it double-locked and reasonably out of sight, but some enterprising low-life picked it up and walked off with it.
Now to go pack my suitcase(s) and have a relatively early night as we have to get up at 3am tomorrow to make sure we get to Heathrow.
See you in the USA!
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