We did get a last chance after all and Mum and I(Connor) are still sick but Dad seems to be getting better everyday. I think we are looking forward to some days relaxing and showing off our pictures. The last few days of the Irish tour were days of heavy driving with quick stops for photos and longer stops to explore Galway and other Irish Towns other than that there is not much to add other than to mention that we are meeting Lisa and Ben for the last time for breakfast this morning. We would like to thank Lisa and Ben for all the hard work they put into the WWWWWW(Woods Wonderful Winter Walkabout With Winston). So we are all looking forward to catching up with all our friends back in Brisbane.
See you all soon
The Wood Family
Saturday, 17 January 2009
Friday, 16 January 2009
Two days in Ireland left
Hi folks - the Woods Wonderful Winter walkabout is coming to an end. As I said in the last post, we are all looking forward to coming home.
Not being able to add photos has limited our blog content but we will put some up when we get back to Oz.
Yesterday we visited the magnificent Cliffs of Moher and another cathedral - they have a few of them over here!! We are currently in Limerick and we saw a statue of a famous Hogan poet who was in the Kings court, maybe a relative of Christines!
Today we travel back to Dublin via Bunratty Castle, a living museum, and the famed Galway Bay - the weather outside (8.30 am Ireland time looks good at the moment, much better than yesterday at least, so we should enjoy the views more.
With any luck we will meet Lisa and Ben in Dublin tomorrow morning before going back to London for the one night and then the long journey home.
Connor and Chris are sick again, it goes round and round the bus it seems, but I am better and nothing seems to affect Caitlin.
Anyway, time to finish packing and get on the the bus - this may be the last blog before we get back Tuesday Brisbane time so I hope you have enjoyed following our adventures
Not being able to add photos has limited our blog content but we will put some up when we get back to Oz.
Yesterday we visited the magnificent Cliffs of Moher and another cathedral - they have a few of them over here!! We are currently in Limerick and we saw a statue of a famous Hogan poet who was in the Kings court, maybe a relative of Christines!
Today we travel back to Dublin via Bunratty Castle, a living museum, and the famed Galway Bay - the weather outside (8.30 am Ireland time looks good at the moment, much better than yesterday at least, so we should enjoy the views more.
With any luck we will meet Lisa and Ben in Dublin tomorrow morning before going back to London for the one night and then the long journey home.
Connor and Chris are sick again, it goes round and round the bus it seems, but I am better and nothing seems to affect Caitlin.
Anyway, time to finish packing and get on the the bus - this may be the last blog before we get back Tuesday Brisbane time so I hope you have enjoyed following our adventures
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
Day three of tour two
Connor's hope of breaking the ice was met to some extent - we caught up with two mother / daughter groups from the last tour who are on this one again - one pair we knew about and one we didn't. A very pleasant surprise. The tour of Dublin was quick and the welcome drink brief but we found a couple to have a few more with so all was well, except Jeff's niggling cough that still hasn't gone away - difficult when we are getting on and off the bus in cold weather all of the time.
It is now Wednesday night 9.45 pm Killarney time. The accommodation here, Waterford and in Dublin is very good. Free Internet tonight so we are making the most of it.
The tour Director, Jill O'Keefe is very good, much better than the the last guy, and now that we are used to her Irish accent we understand most of what she is saying.
We have kissed the Blarney stone at the castle(the steps up to the top nearly killed me), bought more clothes (mainly for Caitlin again bit some for Dad and Mum) and found some bargains in the winter sales. What we just found out is we can claim back all of the VAT so madly trying to find all of the invoices.
The weather yesterday was perfect for touring but not so good today, in fact, the tour of the 'ring of Kerry' was mainly mist - but last night and the night before we witnessed Irish singing and dancing - once again the children starred and even won a CD for their 'brush dancing' - you just imagine dancing with a broom and you'll get the idea. I'm sure they will be happy to demonstrate when we are home, but just in case, we have it on video.
We have travelled through some amazing villages. Each and everyone seems to have this long history with various literary, political and even movies and movie star stories attached - for example - we have visited the sites where Moby Dick was filmed and where Charlie Chaplin holidayed every year (his children still own property there). We have seen where the Irish lost and and then won there independence and stood where people were hanged for being 'traitors'.
We have dined out on venison stew, Irish stew, more Irish stew and salmon - lots of salmon - all very nice of course. Of course, I just had to sample the Irish whiskey - medical purposes only to be sure, to be sure. Breakfasts are all good but we are not used to eating a big breakfast so find it hard going...
Travelling around Ireland is easy pace. nothing is too far away so it is much better than last week. I am finally getting over my cough after various drug combinations.
The WWWW has been wonderful but we are all starting to think of home and what we will do when we get there, Connor is looking forward to playing with Gus and his electronic games, Caitlin wants to play with Gus and drink a nice cold glass of milk from the fridge - Chris and I, well, we are just wanting to relax down stairs or on the verandah in shorts and T-shirt.
Having said that, we are still looking forward to tomorrow and the hope of better weather.
It is now Wednesday night 9.45 pm Killarney time. The accommodation here, Waterford and in Dublin is very good. Free Internet tonight so we are making the most of it.
The tour Director, Jill O'Keefe is very good, much better than the the last guy, and now that we are used to her Irish accent we understand most of what she is saying.
We have kissed the Blarney stone at the castle(the steps up to the top nearly killed me), bought more clothes (mainly for Caitlin again bit some for Dad and Mum) and found some bargains in the winter sales. What we just found out is we can claim back all of the VAT so madly trying to find all of the invoices.
The weather yesterday was perfect for touring but not so good today, in fact, the tour of the 'ring of Kerry' was mainly mist - but last night and the night before we witnessed Irish singing and dancing - once again the children starred and even won a CD for their 'brush dancing' - you just imagine dancing with a broom and you'll get the idea. I'm sure they will be happy to demonstrate when we are home, but just in case, we have it on video.
We have travelled through some amazing villages. Each and everyone seems to have this long history with various literary, political and even movies and movie star stories attached - for example - we have visited the sites where Moby Dick was filmed and where Charlie Chaplin holidayed every year (his children still own property there). We have seen where the Irish lost and and then won there independence and stood where people were hanged for being 'traitors'.
We have dined out on venison stew, Irish stew, more Irish stew and salmon - lots of salmon - all very nice of course. Of course, I just had to sample the Irish whiskey - medical purposes only to be sure, to be sure. Breakfasts are all good but we are not used to eating a big breakfast so find it hard going...
Travelling around Ireland is easy pace. nothing is too far away so it is much better than last week. I am finally getting over my cough after various drug combinations.
The WWWW has been wonderful but we are all starting to think of home and what we will do when we get there, Connor is looking forward to playing with Gus and his electronic games, Caitlin wants to play with Gus and drink a nice cold glass of milk from the fridge - Chris and I, well, we are just wanting to relax down stairs or on the verandah in shorts and T-shirt.
Having said that, we are still looking forward to tomorrow and the hope of better weather.
Sunday, 11 January 2009
Second Bus Tour
Well our first Trafalger Bus tour is over just as the group was starting to be friendly. The family was excited to be visiting a new country again. We flew Ryanair out of Gatwick airport and into Dublin International. The flight was a little rough but good, the hot dogs were even better. when there was brief gaps in the cloud or when we dropped below the clouds we understood why Ireland is called the emerald isle. Green fields were everywhere and it was not even spring/summer.
We are staying at a hotel called the 'Mespil Hotel' and is very nice but you can only be on the free Internet for twenty minutes so this blog will have to be brief. I am writing this less than 10 minutes after our first tour of Dublin. We have seen The Book of Kells, Trinity College and other sights around Dublin. Apparently the weather has been very c-ish, Clear, Crisp and Cold but today it was cloudy and wet but clearing up in the afternoon. Ben and Lisa came to visit us on our last night in London and we went out to the Blue Lagoon, a Thai restaurant where the waiter guaranteed the best curry you will ever taste. We made plans to meet up on our last day in Dublin for breakfast and the the Guinness museum. We are looking forward to the rest of the Irish tour. Welcome drinks are tonight and hopefully the group can break the ice a little bit quicker than our last group. We are almost finished the Wood's Wonderful Winter Walkabout and looking forward to telling our numerous tales in the freezing cold temperatures of downstairs aircon (make sure to bring your scarves and beanies).
Look out for the next blog but we do not know when that will be.
The Wood Family
We are staying at a hotel called the 'Mespil Hotel' and is very nice but you can only be on the free Internet for twenty minutes so this blog will have to be brief. I am writing this less than 10 minutes after our first tour of Dublin. We have seen The Book of Kells, Trinity College and other sights around Dublin. Apparently the weather has been very c-ish, Clear, Crisp and Cold but today it was cloudy and wet but clearing up in the afternoon. Ben and Lisa came to visit us on our last night in London and we went out to the Blue Lagoon, a Thai restaurant where the waiter guaranteed the best curry you will ever taste. We made plans to meet up on our last day in Dublin for breakfast and the the Guinness museum. We are looking forward to the rest of the Irish tour. Welcome drinks are tonight and hopefully the group can break the ice a little bit quicker than our last group. We are almost finished the Wood's Wonderful Winter Walkabout and looking forward to telling our numerous tales in the freezing cold temperatures of downstairs aircon (make sure to bring your scarves and beanies).
Look out for the next blog but we do not know when that will be.
The Wood Family
Thursday, 8 January 2009
On Tour
here we are in Edinburgh - just to catch up, we arrived back in England via the Eurostar. A great train trip except we nearly missed the train. We actually had to run to get our carriage as we were the last ones on the the train was already late. When we got on people were in our seats and there was no room for our luggage! We finally sorted it all out and arrived back without any further incident.
The Hilton Olympia wasn't very flash but it was OK foir one night. The other people on our tour were milling about and there looked like there were some other families so there may be some company for the kids.
The morning we left was bleak, raining and cold but we set off in good spirits anyway. the tour leader - Steve - seemed a good chap but there were some very interesting fellow travellers indeed, including one very loud yank. He took a perticular liking to Mum, much to the tour bus's amusement
. we started our great 6 day tour with Stonehenge, awesome specticle, Salsibury Cathedral and the Roman Baths a great day with some giod sightseeing done. The accomodation was at a Mecure hotel in Bristol - absolutely luxurious.
Dat 2 of the tour and we travel all the way to wyndamere in the Lakes District. we saw the Wedgewood factory and Chester. The accomodation was very different - a Victorian very old hotel - very small rooms and very cramped conditions but lots of character.
Day 3 and we travelled the short distance to Scotland and to our hotel here in Edinburgh - again very luxurious with adjoining rooms for the first time. We have visited the castle,Rrosslyn Chappel (a little creepy but great) and now on our second night n town we are off to eat haggis and watch some scottish dancing.
Cheers
The Hilton Olympia wasn't very flash but it was OK foir one night. The other people on our tour were milling about and there looked like there were some other families so there may be some company for the kids.
The morning we left was bleak, raining and cold but we set off in good spirits anyway. the tour leader - Steve - seemed a good chap but there were some very interesting fellow travellers indeed, including one very loud yank. He took a perticular liking to Mum, much to the tour bus's amusement
. we started our great 6 day tour with Stonehenge, awesome specticle, Salsibury Cathedral and the Roman Baths a great day with some giod sightseeing done. The accomodation was at a Mecure hotel in Bristol - absolutely luxurious.
Dat 2 of the tour and we travel all the way to wyndamere in the Lakes District. we saw the Wedgewood factory and Chester. The accomodation was very different - a Victorian very old hotel - very small rooms and very cramped conditions but lots of character.
Day 3 and we travelled the short distance to Scotland and to our hotel here in Edinburgh - again very luxurious with adjoining rooms for the first time. We have visited the castle,Rrosslyn Chappel (a little creepy but great) and now on our second night n town we are off to eat haggis and watch some scottish dancing.
Cheers
Friday, 2 January 2009
Paris and Euro Disneyland
We are safely back on French soil now but there was also a section in a Swiss airport that was part of France(?). Again we spent two nights in Emmanuel's apartment over looking the République statue (Liberté, égalité, fraternité/Liberty, equality and fraternity)and a small park.
Today we travelled to Euro Disneyland and Euro Disney Movie Studios for some thrill rides, tours, sighteeing and some cool hats! We are having some problems uploading photos so you may not see any for a while but we will show them at the first opportunity. Both Caitlin and Connor's favourite ride was "Space Mountain, Misson 2" a blast of a ride into the furtherest reaches of our galaxy. We blasted out of the Columbian Gun Club's massive cannon at a speed faster than gravity. Then it became a fast rollercoaster with several steep drops, 2 loop the loops and 1 corkscrew. This was all in the dark with the occasional light effects, supernovas, meteorites and planets all on our route through outerspace. Luckily we chose that ride first because it was only a 30 minute wait in the morning and around 2 hours in the afternoon. Every other ride including teacups to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril had hour to 2 and a half hour waits.
For lunch we ate at the Hakuna Matata (The Lion King)and wandered around Adventure Land and Frontier Land and quickly staked our places for the Once Apon a Dream Parade down Main Street. While Dad held our positions we raced into a crowded Emporium and bought 2 Hats, 2 Pens and a Pin for Winston. It was magical and something I will never forget!
Today we travelled to Euro Disneyland and Euro Disney Movie Studios for some thrill rides, tours, sighteeing and some cool hats! We are having some problems uploading photos so you may not see any for a while but we will show them at the first opportunity. Both Caitlin and Connor's favourite ride was "Space Mountain, Misson 2" a blast of a ride into the furtherest reaches of our galaxy. We blasted out of the Columbian Gun Club's massive cannon at a speed faster than gravity. Then it became a fast rollercoaster with several steep drops, 2 loop the loops and 1 corkscrew. This was all in the dark with the occasional light effects, supernovas, meteorites and planets all on our route through outerspace. Luckily we chose that ride first because it was only a 30 minute wait in the morning and around 2 hours in the afternoon. Every other ride including teacups to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril had hour to 2 and a half hour waits.
For lunch we ate at the Hakuna Matata (The Lion King)and wandered around Adventure Land and Frontier Land and quickly staked our places for the Once Apon a Dream Parade down Main Street. While Dad held our positions we raced into a crowded Emporium and bought 2 Hats, 2 Pens and a Pin for Winston. It was magical and something I will never forget!
Thursday, 1 January 2009
Happy New Year
Days 14, 15 and 16
The trip to Giron was long but uneventful, except for the snow encountered about two-thirds of the way. Thankfully salt and sand had already been put on the highway so the driving wasnt too dangerous. The scenery was beautiful but hard to see with all of the mist, rain and snow. Arrived abut 4.00 pm. We settled in and then enjoyed some French Champagne.
Giron is close to Saint-Germain de-Joux and is a small ski resort. After a good nights sleep we all hired sleds to try it out - great fun but the walk back up the hill was murder. In the afternoon we paid for a dog-sled ride complete with lots of 'mushing'. It was bitterly cold and the dogs had been going all day so were a bit grumpy and disobedient. None-the-less, a great experience.
New Years Eve was a lot of fun. Enjoyed escargot and venison, lots of cheese and, of course, lots of wine. We danced until 2.00 am before crashing but many of the French folk kept going until 6.00!
After a late start, breakfast at 9.00? we packed, had a last play in the snow and left for the train to Geneva for our flight back to Paris - what travellers we are!
Photos uploaded tonight.
Au revoir.
The trip to Giron was long but uneventful, except for the snow encountered about two-thirds of the way. Thankfully salt and sand had already been put on the highway so the driving wasnt too dangerous. The scenery was beautiful but hard to see with all of the mist, rain and snow. Arrived abut 4.00 pm. We settled in and then enjoyed some French Champagne.
Giron is close to Saint-Germain de-Joux and is a small ski resort. After a good nights sleep we all hired sleds to try it out - great fun but the walk back up the hill was murder. In the afternoon we paid for a dog-sled ride complete with lots of 'mushing'. It was bitterly cold and the dogs had been going all day so were a bit grumpy and disobedient. None-the-less, a great experience.
New Years Eve was a lot of fun. Enjoyed escargot and venison, lots of cheese and, of course, lots of wine. We danced until 2.00 am before crashing but many of the French folk kept going until 6.00!
After a late start, breakfast at 9.00? we packed, had a last play in the snow and left for the train to Geneva for our flight back to Paris - what travellers we are!
Photos uploaded tonight.
Au revoir.
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