little misadventure

'gabba to herston via bike paths

2010-11-28T04:25:00.000-08:00

Went for a 20km ride on Saturday - 'gabba to Herston via the Brisbane cycle paths. It's a really good ride, get to go over a lovely walk/ride bridge into the city then through a tunnel and into the Roma St park lands. The rest of the trip follows the rail line and over a garden on an over pass and into yet another park land area. We turned left and into the Uni from there, but you can go a lot further north along the creek.

Not many photos - need to figure out a way to take them without stopping all the time.. takes too long to get anywhere with the camera in my bag.

It's great having my bike back in action - thanks to the HUGE effort of TK at Bike Obsession in Albert St.. nothing is standard on this bike he tells me... not a single bolt or nut. ;)

Some more photos here:

Garden update

2010-11-14T01:20:00.000-08:00

Haven't gone anywhere lately... oh wait! we went to Sydney last weekend - which was great, but no photos sadly. Was so good to see every one again. :)

The garden on the other hand is going places for sure! Lots of tomatoes and peas and even managed to grow to some brocolini.. thanks to the possum proof fence.

The sunflowers are the highlight though - I planted them along the back fence. They're so tall!

Hopefully going for a bike tour over the Christmas holiday... either in Stanthorpe or Tassie.. can't wait

making the most of the burbs

2010-08-02T01:44:00.000-07:00

So, here I am inner city burbs again. I love living close to work and close to the city.

I now have the best workroom yet. Nate made the work bench for me our of reclaimed timber. It's very light and reddish - so might be cedar. The Bunka dummy came from Japan. I've got a box full of stuff that's been waiting for 4 years to be used. :)

The ride the to work is awesome. Bike paths all the way and off the road, even get to ride over 2 foot bridges and one over the river.

The landlord's given permission for chickens which I'll get once the garden grows a bit, but they'll have to compete with the ravenous possums who live in the backyard - they've eaten all the coriander and anything else they can get their paws on.

It's not too bad in the burbs, even after the dazzling heights of London, Europe and Townsville ;)

tiny gecko

2010-04-13T04:42:00.000-07:00

There's a heap of these little geckos around at the moment. This one lives indoors.

Sea Kayaking in the Whitsunday Islands

2010-04-05T01:46:00.000-07:00

Last Easter Nate, Dana, C'zarke and I were hiking in the Scottish Highlands.. this easter we decided to do something at sea level. We went sea kayaking in the Whitsunday Islands - off the coast of Airlie Beach.

On Friday Nate and I paddled east from Shute Harbour to Paddle Bay on South Molle Island camped overnight. Crossing over to South Molle was a little bit hairy as the tide was going out and we wanted to head east not north (rapidly). Paddle Bay camping site is really beautiful - there's a toilet (pit) and picnic tables. No water though. Butterflies everywhere! Not sure why but they were all bravely flying out a metre above the water to the islands. Next day we waited for slack water and headed off to Planton Island where we were meeting Dana and C'zarke. We had the island all to ourselves - national parks only allow 4 people on at a time. It was great fun, even though it rained a bit and so cool having our own beach. The toilet on Planton Island has three sides and no roof or door... still at least there's a toilet and no roof means no nice snake to greet you in the middle of the night.

I didn't realise how stable sea kayaks are - they're great fun and not that hard to paddle. We rented ours from Salty Dog at Shute Harbour and 100% recommend them.

The water was really warm and a lovely light milky blue but still cloudy from the cyclone a fortnight ago - so no great underwater pictures of coral reef this time. Maybe in a few weeks when we go Misson Beach.

Here's some more pics

Magnetic Island with Miranda

2010-03-21T01:29:00.000-07:00

Another trip to the Island this weekend, this time with Miranda - up from Sydney. Lots of fun. Was hoping the sea would get too rough for the ferry on Sunday (on account of the cyclone that missed Townsville) and we'd all get stuck there for another day, but sadly it was not to be.

Beautiful sunset on the way over and once the wind shifted to the north the water turned an amazing luminous light blue. We took the risk of no stinger nets and went swimming in Alma Bay. I tried out my new waterproof bag for the camera, hoping to get a snap of some fish, but the water was very cloudy so I took photos of Nate swimming instead.

Managed to get a photo of a Sunbird this time - they have bright yellow bellies and kind of peep. On the way back we watched a massive container ship being manouvered by two tug boats.

The place we stayed in was so good - kind of Ballanese, wooden floors, great kitchen and a fantastic pool. Even provided a bbq. If I could I'd live on the island instead of Townsville. :)

Here's some more pics

Ross River Dam Ride

2010-03-13T15:43:00.000-08:00

Big ride yesterday - 65km return trip to the Ross River Dam. Now I appreciate why Townsville doesn't run out of water during the long dry season.

The bike path along the river is one of the best I've been on. It's paved, wide enough for 3 bikes most of the way and away from traffic. The weather was perfect - overcast and raining. And on the way back there's a perfectly placed pub for lunch with a spectacular view of the river and one of the weirs.

The wild life here is amazing. Yesterday we saw a Blue Winged Kookaburra, Rainbow Bee Eater, Rock Wallabies, a lost Galah sitting by the road and the two Jabiru who live in the wet lands in Townsville. They're huge black headed storks and we got to see them doing all their Jabiru things, one caught a huge fish, the other flew over head carrying a stick for their nest. They're big birds and walk in a funny kind of unhurried way.

It's a beautiful ride, and strangely we were the only people on the path most of the time.

Here's some pics

RIde to West Point, Magnetic Island

2010-03-06T16:44:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we all caught the ferry to Magnetic Island to ride to West Point.

The strange thing about Townsville is that the beach runs east to west, not north to south. It's really disorientating when you've lived most of your life near beaches that do the normal thing. Anyway, the road on the island runs parallel to the beach. It was amazing. The water was the clearest I've seen it so far, brilliant blue sky, fierce sun and green-blue water.

I was expecting a hot, sandy dry track and to end up in a ditch gasping for water after an hour. Instead there was water everywhere - creeks and swamps, lots of shady trees and butterflies. Big hill at the start, but after that it's mostly flat. Takes about 2 hours to ride, the track was pretty good for two thirds of the way, then got very sandy and hard to ride. The end is an amazing beach with seats under a Tamarind tree.

On the way back we saw a koala up and about in the middle of the day!

And then on the way back, off the road on an unmarked bush track is possibly the most perfect waterfall and swimming hole I've ever seen. The swimming hole has been made by someone damming the creek with big rocks, but the waterfall was natural. Every bike ride should end with one!

Was great fun and well worth the heat stroke. :)

Here's some more photos

Big Crystal Creek Waterslides

2010-02-13T06:00:00.000-08:00

Today we spent the afternoon at Big Crystal Creek.

It's hard to capture how beautiful It is in photos. The big slide was crawling with people so we scrambling over huge boulders on the bank going upstream until we got to the 'upper slides' - a deep waterhole with water flowing from some rapids over slippery moss covered rocks. The water there is clean and blue-green and was perfect temperature and no crocodiles or stingers in sight. It's the wet season now and rains nearly every day so the slides were pumping ;)

The best bit was it was just the four of us... except for irridesent blue butterflies and dragonflies of course.

It's pretty amazing... another perfect day in paradise

Here's a few more pics

Wallaman Falls

2010-01-24T16:13:00.000-08:00

Here we are enjoying the view of Australia's largest single fall waterfall - Wallaman Falls.

Impenetrable mist and rain courtesy of ex-tropical cyclone Olga.. thanks heaps Olga. ;)

It's very wet in the rainforest. Fortunately the tents stayed dry-ish. The drive there is worth it. The road winds up through lush green rainforest. We swam in Stoney Creek and had a natural spa from the little rapids above. Saw heaps of turtles, a paddy melon (a little wallaby) and a bandicoot. My friends saw an adult cassowary! Which is a big dangerous emu like bird. And some incredibly beautiful Ulysses butterflies - they're electric blue. Funny though, got back to Townsville and one flew by while I was hanging out the tent to dry! hmm...

Best of all, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but it was cold enough to wear a jumper.

More pics

I think we're going to some natural water slides next. I'll take some video of it if we do.

Magnetic

2010-01-20T14:06:00.000-08:00

Decided to resurrect the blog.. seeing far north Queensland (FNQ) really is another country

Moved into a flat - was getting too hot in the caravan. I rode to work for 10 weeks along a beautiful bike path, but the heat beat me there also. Will wait until it drops below 30 degrees at 8am to try that again.

Rode to Magnetic Island for the weekend. It's just off shore from Townsville and a short 20 minute ferry ride.

It has A HUGE HILL in the middle .. I know this because I pushed my bike up part of it. The ride down the other side was worth it though. It's a really short ride, we left the flat at 10am and were in the water at Horseshoe Bay with the tent set up and all by 2:30pm

Amazing water, but you have to swim in the stinger nets in summer, lots of fish. I'm really wanting an underwater camera so I can take some photos of the reef.

We camped at a kind of eco site, that had lots of cabins and tent sites and captive koalas. Was an interesting camping experience we were harrassed all night by curious possums and wallabies on the scrounge, searching our stuff. Not a lot of sleep. Was fun though.

The photo with the big rock above is from my balcony - people walk up that hill every day. I tried it once and ended up having to have a little nap in the afternoon.

This weekend we're going camping with some friends at the largest waterfall in Australia! Awesome. :)

here's some pics

Athens

2009-09-05T08:27:00.000-07:00

Lots to see in Athens. After the hill climb to the Acropolis yesterday, had really good turkish grilled veges and then went to an open air cinema on a roof top with a view of the Acropolis! Very surreal.

Today walked around the Temple of Zeus - must have been massive - and the ancient and roman Agoras. The museum there is interesting and there's a temple still standing at the top of the ancient agora.

Holidaying mostly involves eating though and had lunch at a cafe with an archeological dig under the glass floor in the bathroom! I guess you could do the same thing almost everywhere in the city.

Home time tomorrow, so this will be the last entry for my blog - let me know if you want me to bore you with a 2 day long slide show of the thousands of photos I've taken in 2 years ;)

Here's some pics of Mykonos and Athens

see ya

jac

Paris, Inverness, Mykonos ... home!

2009-09-03T07:36:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

Here I am in Mykonos airport - using their free internet. Packed a lot in the last few weeks, Paris, Scottish Highlands, now Mykonos Island and tonight Athens. Then I'm coming home! Yup - back to oz.

I'm moving to Townsville (much amusement at the name 'Townsville' at work) for a year. Can't wait hey - after all the snow and freezing cold we're moving to 320 days of glorious sunshine and coral sea. :)

Mykonos Island is pretty damn cool. Stayed in an apartment about 30 seconds walk to the beach. The water is clear and warm (once you get in). Can't believe Nate, Guy and I were in the Scottish highlands only 3 days ago. Such a contrast - just as beautiful, but in a wild, remote way. Didn't see the Loch Ness monster ... this time. Stayed in an amazing old house - straight out of an Agatha Christie novel. And only a few weekends ago was with Mary in Paris! Sure going to miss that kind of thing. Mary's still traveling europe at the moment. Was really sad to say goodbye to everyone in London. It's a crazy old town, but there are some great people there and I'll miss them quite a lot actually. This year's been great for having lots of people to travel with.

Looking forward to 3 days in Athens next - staying right in the middle of town, so we can walk to everything old. Been an amazing couple of years - but really feel it's time to go home for a bit.

See how long it lasts hey? ;)

jac

Marrakesh, Fez, Tangier & Granada

2009-08-11T12:06:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

Finally got 'over seas' again. This time for a whole 2 weeks for a holiday in the sun.

Caught a plane to Marrakesh, train to Fez, train to Tangier, ferry to Algercia then a train to Granada. Morocco is an amazing country - we stayed in traditional Riads that were covered in carvings and detailed tile patterns inside and plain concrete walls outside. It's very beautiful and overwhelming in detail.

The markets are crowded, noisy and lots of people trying to sell you anything they can or chasing you down the 'street' trying to show you the way back to your hotel (for a smallish fee of course). It was very hot in Morocco - 46 degrees during the day and dry. Spent a lot of time by the pool. There didn't seem to be a lot of tourists in Fez, every time we ate out we were the only people there, or maybe we were just too early. The restaurants had incredibly talented musicians playing lutes and violins. It's an country full of artists I think.

The trains in Morocco were hot, very hot and about 40 years old. Not quite the air conditioned comfort I read about on the web. But I'm glad we travelled on them - the countryside is surprisingly green, lots of orchards and produce. I loved the ferry to Spain and the train trip to Granada - we went through hours and hours of olive tree plantations.

I really love Spain - they whole siesta idea works, you get up at 9ish, have breakfast, go out looking at things/shopping, have lunch at 2pm for a few hours, go back to your hotel for a nap, then get up again at 7:30pm and go eat tapas until midnight or so. Seriously could get used to that.

The Alhambra (the palace) is spectacular and the gardens around it. You really have to go there and see it.

We spent a small fortune on dinner and a flamenco show - was worth it though- up in the cave houses on the hill opposite the Alhambra.

Anyway, was a great trip. Had lots of fun. Off to Paris this weekend... again :)

here's some more pics

see ya

jac

Riding 'round Regent Park

2009-07-18T08:15:00.001-07:00

Here I am with my new wheels.. Nate got some new ones too. It's very fast, has great suspension and a really great Brooks seat. Rode to Regents Park so we could test them out racing around the inner circle road and to see the park in flower too. :)

It's very pretty at the moment, lots of wild gardens and a sunny day. Both camera batteries were flat today so I took these with my phone.

Also went to hear TV on the Radio this week - absolutely awesome! I'd upload a video but it'll take too long on my dodgy wireless connection.

Really looking forward to going for a big ride on my bike... but off to Marrakesh, Fez and Granada for a fortnight on Sunday week first. :)

See ya

Kentish Downs Ride

2009-07-07T11:46:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

Spent the weekend in 'the garden of England'... that is Kent.

Took the train from London to Canterbury, then rode down to Dover, back up to the downs (oddly enough) along to Hawkinge and back up to Canterbury. It's about 80km on cycleways 16 and 17. Not quite as well marked as advertised on this website though, but on quite country lanes which are very beautiful. Was buzzed by two gliders and saw a bi-plane over the Dover castle.

The roads down to Dover go through wheat fields lined with poppies and other wild flowers, then other crops like corn, some kind of strange bean, apples.. all very beautiful. Dover castle is very impressive - draw bridges and turrets and secret tunnels that were used as military command headquarters in world war 1 and 2. Dover wasn't that impressive - but I guess it's really just a way to get to France and back. The white cliffs were very cool and you can see across to France.

On the way back you get to ride through wild forests along narrow lanes with hedges that almost join above you - tunnel like. Didn't seem to take that long to get back to Canterbury, though it was about 4 hours riding. We rode past a pub with a sign saying Ian Fleming wrote one of his novels there. Also through the usual incredibly pretty villages with stone houses and summer flowering gardens.

Canterbury was fun - caught up with some friends and invaded the cathedral. The choir was singing, but we didn't get to see them. Pretty amazing. Saw the place where Thomas Becket was murdered.

I absolutely recommend getting yourself a fold up bike when/if you move to London. It's a really cheap and fun way to see things in a weekend. This ride's a bit hilly though, but definitely worth it to be in the country for a few days.

Here's some pictures.

tiny world

2009-06-28T03:40:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

Haven't gone anywhere for a while - starting to get itchy feet though I have to say. Next weekend I'll be riding from Canterbury to Dover to Folkestone and back up to Canterbury again, but my bike needs to go to the repair shop first. The gears have gone funny.

Instead was inspired by Keith Loutit's time lapse tilt shift photos of Sydney Harbour and tried some fake 'tilt shift' on some of my photos using Photoshop. It makes them look like models by blurring the detail (I guess).

See - I'm not really in London - I'm really just up the road making miniatures in my shed hey ;)

see ya

jac

BIg Europe Trip

2009-06-08T13:21:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

Went with Mum and Dad and Nate to Paris, Venice and Rome. Also went through Switzerland (according to the mobile phone) on the over night train from Paris to Venice.

Wore out four pairs of sneakers walking all over the cities. Got lost a lot. Was loads of fun.

Stayed in Montmarte in Paris - poor Dad had to drag his little bag up the big hill (with a few stops). They had a view of the whole of Paris from their hotel window! Didn't climb the Eiffel Tower 'cause we'd still be in line today! But we went to the Louvre and saw all the Monets also Notre Dame and everywhere.

Venice is amazing - just like the pictures. Lots and lots of shopping (Margie!). We caught a ferry over to the Lido and stood in Adriatic Sea. It was freezing. No cars, bikes, or motor bikes in Venice so no fumes.

Rome was busy, noisy and very very old. Motor bikes and scooters with crazy drivers everywhere. The hotel was just round the corner from the Trevi Fountain. Lots of drama - Dad stopped a pick pocket from making off with his wallet and kept the gypsy in fine style with his smallish change. We did it all in Rome - from Pizza to the Colosseum and the Vatican and saw the popes (in the tombs anyway) and the Sistine Chapel. Ruins everywhere.

Back in London again. Mum and Dad off to the meridian line at Greenwich this week to see where time begins. Leave of Friday.

Here's some photos by Mum. The brick wall above is Dad's arty pic - there's a fluro spoon in the centre. I think he was inspired by the modern art at the Pompidou :)

3000 miles

2009-05-28T13:46:00.000-07:00

Mum and dad back from their UK Road trip, covering 3000 miles from one end of the island to the other, oh and side to side too.

They've went from London to Chester, couldn't find a caravan park and ended up in Wales. Went to Chester zoo then down the west coast. Crossed the country to near Brighton. Then up to London again for the Chelsea Flower Show.

Off again up to the top of Scotland, back down via lots of castles to see Doreen. Crossed Scotland to see Gatehouse of Fleet and back down to England again. Spent some time on the side of the M5 waiting for the NRMA equivalent to fix the tyre, then down to Stonehenge and back to London again.

On Sunday we're off to Europe - Paris, Venice and Rome.

Here's some pics and a map of the here

3 Days Sightseeing in London

2009-05-13T11:46:00.001-07:00

Here's some photo's by mum from their rapid 3 day tour of London.

They've clocked up at least 10 hours on the Big Red Bus (each day) and are on first name basis with the driver.

Next trip is south England and maybe Wales in a campervan and back to London for the Chelsea Flower Show, where they'll take lots of photos for Youngie. :)

More photos here

Kennett and Avon Canal Ride

2009-05-04T06:35:00.000-07:00

Just back from cycling between Bristol and Newbury along the Kennett and Avon canal on cycle route number 4

This first section is really pretty and easy - Sustran have built the a fantastic bike path along the old railway line - no cars and very little pedestrians all the way to Bath. Bath was very pretty. Didn't go to the baths though.

The next part is even more lovely, going along the canal from Bath to Bradford on Avon, a very beautiful town on the River Avon. Everything was going well until I got my bike handle bar caught up in Nate's brake line and was saved from ending up in the canal by a great big patch of nettles. ouch. Pretty funny hey.

We camped this time instead of staying in pubs/b&b's. The tent is great - it folds down to be small enough to fit onto the back of my bike. I underestimated the English weather though and didn't pack enough warm things. Was freezing! Even though the days are warmer now, it's still getting down to single digits at night. Camping is cheap and easy once you've got the hang of things. The tent sites cost only 10 pounds instead of a b&b or pub room around 50 pounds (Aussie keyboard sorry - no pounds sign).

Next day rode on from Bradford along the tow path. It's rocky and bumpy - especially after you've been spoiled by dedicated bike paths! Really pretty though, all the flowers are out. The canal is higher than the River Avon and even crosses it a few times. It's cool seeing boats floating over a water bridge above the river. Near Devizes is a kind of canal stairway - 16 locks in a row. Must take ages to get to the top.

Riding through the country roads was fun. Saw lots of blue bells in the forests and 3 white horses on the hills. One of them was the one we saw when riding around the Salisbury plains last year.

Anyway, fun trip :) Here's some pics

West Highland Way

2009-04-23T11:28:00.000-07:00

Back from sunny Scotland... seriously it was sunny for 7 whole days!

The West Highland Way is 150km of walking for a week. Pretty gruelling trek but definitely worth it. It follows the old cattle droving route from Glasgow to Kingshouse near Glencoe then the old red coat military road from Kingshouse to Fort William. Most days are 20km, the third day was a killer with muddy rocky path following Loch Lomand's east bank crossing little streams. I stuffed up my knee so caught the bus to the next day (takes 15 mins on the bus and about 5 hours if you walk ;) ) After that it's a wider, much easier to walk or limp – the 30km day was up high in the moors

Scenery is amazing. A village with 3 century old pub, moss covered pine forests, rain forests full of streams and wild flowers, huge open swampy moors and snow topped mountains pretty much untouched. It was so remote and quiet and beautiful. The hills or munros between Kingshouse and Glencoe are spectacular. You really have to go there and see it. Saw some local wild life – hairy cows, red deer and birds (that I don't know the name of). Pretty sure I have the same hair cut as the cows.

Was so good to spend a whole week with friends just walking and talking and being away from cities and cars and crowds.

The Scots are really friendly – as always. I love going there.

Caught the Caledonian Sleeper from Fort William to London – it's fantastic. The little booths are so comfortable and it's infinitely better than waiting at an airport.

Here's some photos of the trip.

Got back on Saturday and moved house. Not sure how we got it all done! Now living close to Brick Lane with incredible indian food. I like it in the new place, it's bright and up high and I can ride to work. Door to Desk in only 30 mins including stashing the bike in the work carpark. :)

Lots more exciting things coming up this month. A ride from Bristol to Reading via Bath along the canal (and a test ride on an Alex Moulton bicycle hopefully!) and then my Mum and Dad arrive early May. We're off to Paris and Italy for a week. Can't hardly wait.

Tait at the Tate

2009-03-29T13:51:00.000-07:00

The sun was out today so I road into the city and met my friend Tait at the Tate. The art wasn't really that engaging - except for the GIANT SPIDER. But it was lots of fun critiquing :) more pics here

Sunny weekend in Brighton

2009-03-22T09:02:00.000-07:00

Went to Brighton for the weekend - did a little ride along the coast road and back along the 'under cliff' (no hills!) path. Managed to see some white and chalky cliffs even.

Was great to be warm again - though not quite enough to go swimming.

In a few weeks Nate, Dana, C'zarke and I are tackling the West Highland Way. A walk along the west coast of Scotland from near Glasgow up into the highlands to Fort William. Can't wait !

Here's some pics of Brighton in the sunshine.

Thames Path Ride

2009-03-15T12:49:00.000-07:00

The sun came out today - so we went for a ride along the Thames Path. Not the whole thing shown in this website, that takes at least 14 days to walk.. just the bit from Battersea Park to Kingston.

It's a great ride - you go past lots of parks, Kew Gardens, Richmond deer farm, Richmond itself and through some wildish areas with birds and ponds.

All up about 30km. I'm trying to build up to 50km before falling in an exhausted heap. Hoping to go riding in Italy and Greece later in the year.

The little bag on my handle bars above is the best 8 pounds (aussie keyboard - no pounds sign) I've spent. I was looking for a way to carry my stuff easily. It's an army surplus bag and has neat little pockets inside also. I'm going to add a zipped bit so I can use it travelling.

Here's some pics :)

Wandle Trail

2009-02-22T08:10:00.000-08:00

London is covered with lots of interesting cycle and walking trails. It's a fun (and cheap) way to see all the quirky bits that you don't usually see (mostly because you're underground most of the time).

Yesterday we went on the Wandle Trail that follows the River Wandle from Wandsworth to East Croydon. At one time there were 100 or so watermills in the 20km stretch - only one left now and it's near a little market and very cool pub on the riverside.

Half way along we met the Police Reassurance Unit - who tattooed our bikes with a special traceable cycle code for free. :)

It goes past the Deen City Farm where I got to pat a curious goat through the fence and narrowly missed running over some strange tiny yellow frog that stopped traffic on the path.

Some pics here

more snow!

2009-02-02T04:44:00.000-08:00

Biggest snowfall in London for 7 years! Nothing for it but a snow fight of course ;)

Here's some pics

backyard snow!

2009-02-01T13:33:00.000-08:00

It's snowing in London again! This time in our backyard - so of course we had to all go out and play in it :)

I made a snow duck (not quite enough there for a snow person)

Stratford Upon Avon

2009-01-25T05:26:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we all went to the Shakespeare's home town - Stratford Upon Avon. It's a really pretty little town on (funnily enough) the River Avon. Lots of ducks, geese, swans and shops named after the bard himself and the folk in his plays :)

Had lunch in an incredibly old pub and afternoon tea in an appropriate tea house.

Didn't get to see a play this time - hoping to get to one in London this week though.

some pic here

Lots of Traveling

2009-01-21T15:37:00.001-08:00

Well, that was a crazy but fun couple of months. After Iceland I went home for a few weeks and traveled through UK and europe for two weeks.

We went to Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Paris, Prague, Helsinki, Levi and back to London. Everywhere we went the temperature dropped to below zero - sometimes as low as -10. Really. Very. Cold. Apparently the coldest winter in europe for 10 years. Lucky us!

Had some advantages though Paris covered in snow is beautiful. Amsterdam is a crazy place. The canals and bridges are very pretty. We did a day trip to nearby Haarlam, which is quieter than Amsterdam. On the way to Prague the plane detoured to Slovakia, where we got to freeze on the tarmac for 20 mins while they offloaded the Slovakians. So I've been to Slovakia. At Prague we went to Maze - Gordan Ramsey's Prague resturant. Really very good and cheap! Then we flew up to Helsinki - and stayed in the central area which is a pretty kind of shopping mall. Great design shops.

After that we flew up to Kittila and Levi in the Arctic Circle. Stayed over night in a Snow Hotel at the Snow Village. I seriously wouldn't recommend it.. while it's very pretty, they gave us dusty duck down sleeping bags. I stuck it out until 6am then bailed to the 'warm house', but was beaten to a bed by everyone else in the snow hotel so ended up on the couch. So, I've 'done' the snow hotel. After that we went to Levi - small ski town nearby and stayed in a fantastic hotel in a room with it's own sauna. It's a bit weird just sitting in a hot box but anyway... found an abandoned sled and we all went sledding along the road and down (very small) hills. Loads of fun.

Bit of an epic trip - here's the pics here.

This weekend we're hiring a car and going to place near London. Don't think I'll be getting on a plane any time soon though ;)

frozen iceland

2008-12-16T12:33:00.000-08:00

Iceland's a pretty amazing place. Snow everywhere, big fields of snow and ice and lava mountains.

Went in a HUGE jeep out into the countryside to see the Gullfoss waterfall - massive with ice and snow and water and a geysir in rockpools full of sulphur smelling water.. actually quite a lot of the water smelled like that.. pretty yucky.. still the snow made up for it. Lots of Iceland ponies running around. Would be a great place to go in summer for hiking or riding or something.

Here's some pics..

holidays

2008-12-11T15:41:00.001-08:00

the long drought is over! i'm going on holiday from tomorrow night!

iceland first then back home to oz then two weeks adventuring in europe.

meanwhile, while on carnaby street the other night, I got this strange, strange feeling like something was following me ;)

snow!

2008-11-23T14:01:00.000-08:00

It snowed a bit last night - all over the rapidly wilting lettuce.

Took the picture above from the back door - too cold to go outside :)

today at work I saw a shrunken head!

2008-11-18T13:00:00.000-08:00

Seriously I did!

Went on a work excursion to the Wellcome Trust and we visited the museum next door. It's full of cool and revolting things that Mr Wellcome collected during his travels, including a shrunken head - here it is (above - dodgy pic sorry - took it with my phone)

:)

the other thing i did for halloween

2008-11-13T14:38:00.000-08:00

was go on an actual canal barge from Paddington to Camden and listened to ghost stories and watch strange theatre.

was sooo spooky - cold wind, creaking boat, water lapping against the stones on the side of the canal, dark tunnels and birds flying across the water.. really very cool

here's a pic of Liz, Christine and I wearing our halloween masks and a bit of a dodgy tunnel shot :)

Hallowe'en!

2008-11-02T01:22:00.001-07:00

Halloween! I love dress up parties. Earlier in the year I went to a Steam Punk night organised by White Mischief, it was 4 floors of music and circus performance and everyone dressed in costume. This time it was a halloween dress up party in a Georgian mansion at 33 Portland Place. It's a massive place and was lit with candles and red flickering light bulbs and jack-o-lanterns. Very spooky :) I went as a kind of victorian punk cat and nate went as a jester.

The entertainment in ascending order: basement - DJ's playing anything from The White Stripes to Dolly Parton (!!??) but lots of fun to dance to, first floor live bands playing Victorian styled jazz, tribal punk and other umm.. cabaret acts.. Upstairs - avant garde performances. Some including playing a saw with a violin bow... hmmm.. it was all very cool.

Coming home was fun too - the streets were full of werewolves, the living dead, vampires, brides of frankenstein and even the ghost busters. Here's some pics

how to avoid trains, tubes and people in general.. sort of

2008-10-26T13:55:00.000-07:00

well, made a spectacular error with the change from daylight savings today.. I though the clock was saying the old time, turns out nate had already changed it back an hour to the new time and the end result was I missed catching up with people by two hours.. oops..

anyway, decided to do a trial run ride to work. here I am (above) dressed for riding in the rain or a polar expedition - either way the outfit works. was nice and dry inside my gortex and etc shell. the ride in was good - took about an hour at a very leisurely pace and there are bike ways most of the way. figured out on the way back why it was a cruisey ride in, half the way home is up hill and this trip included getting lost twice and riding over a tiny bit of glass that punctured my back wheel. i was wondering why i wasn't getting anywhere (and what the funny noise was). now know how to fix a tyre.

not sure if it's any quicker than the walk-train-tube-walk combo i've been doing, but it's cheaper and i get to avoid all the sneezing, coughing and bored looking commuters.

am in london for a while now - saving up for the trip home via iceland - can't wait :)

Wiltshire Bike Trek

2008-10-14T14:00:00.000-07:00

Hi,

Sunday was my *31st-ish* birthday ;) and Nate organised a surprise (!) birthday holiday. I love surprises.

We went on a bike trek in Wiltshire from Salisbury, with the highest cathedral spire in England, along the Wyle River to Stockton. Then up and around the Salisbury Plain to the one of the White Horses in the area, along the White Horse Trail and down to Market Lavington. Then up onto the Plain again for a bit and down to Upavon and along the River Avon to Stonehenge and back to Salisbury. Most of the time on walking and bridle paths away from traffic.

It's a circuit of about 120km in 3 days. Pretty gruelling at times, but so very beautiful and great fun. Fully tested the limits of my little city bike - but it survived (and so did I!) The picture don't do it justice. The whole region is full of little thatch roofed villages along the river side, with weirs and mill races. Grass is green and soft (to land on when you fall off). They look like miniature model villages. Every morning was misty until midday - but that was a good thing as the sun was out! Not sure how Nate organised the sun for 2.5 days, and even when it rained it was only drizzle and after we were off the gravel roads.

The white horse was cool - unfortunately it's been concreted since 1953. There are others in the region that are still chalk. I was stared down by two sheep who wanted the information sign back as a scratching post. As soon as I moved away they raced each other for it, the loser having to make do with the park bench. Was very funny. (Maybe you had to be there).

Stonehenge is very impressive.. can't get near it now though, it's all fenced off, so you walk around in a big circle. We saw a wicca of witches and psychics camped out in RVs nearby, ready to jump the fence as soon as the tourists were gone and the full moon shining.

The bridle path from Stonehenge was so thick green grass through a valley with horses and farms on either side, wild flowers in the fields then rounded a corner and a bright yellow aeroplane flew over the top of a stone country house in a little village in the valley. Very amazing and surreal.

Salisbury is pretty too - has the Wyle River running through it and a fantastic bike path away from traffic and big enough for pedestrians too.

Managed to trim the photos down to a third of the number I took :) Here they are

Couldn't find a map online so I photographed the ordinance survey maps and drew where we went.

Might ride across Europe next.. hmmm.. ;)

see ya

jac

Tower Hill

2008-10-05T11:44:00.001-07:00

Had a pre-birthday lunch this weekend (am away next weekend on my birthday). Thanks to everyone who came along and made it fun - It's cool having friends in London. :)

Today I went to the Tower of London with my cousins and their friends. It's a very old fortress near the city of London, with a history of all sorts of horrible crimes and deceptions. Pretty amazing place - mostly because it's old. Supposedly they keep the royal jewels on display and as impressive as they are I think they're not the real royal jewels.. hmmm... Very wet day today - made the tower a lot spookier and medieval like. I really liked the crown above - it was designed by a school kid in a competition, then made up into a new 'royal' crown. The ravens (which I kept calling crows) are huge! There's a legend that 6 ravens have to remain at the tower or the monarchy and the Tower will fall.. so they've clipped their wings and keep some in cages as back up. It's a bit like cheating I think.

Here are some pics

lettuce mania !

2008-09-30T11:26:00.001-07:00

big clean up this weekend - the trouble with going away every weekend is things get out of control, anyway the flat's looking less like a tip.

we're being over-run with lettuce at the moment, I'm amazed at how well the veges have grown - but then it has rained a lot.

here's a pic of the backyard, taken by Benzie with a spiffy little touch-screen digital camera.. i want one ! :)

Copenhagen

2008-09-22T13:55:00.000-07:00

Went to Copenhagen on the weekend and what a fantastic place it is. :)

The main reason for going was the Pirate Festival at The Rock featuring the Pirate Punk band Dead Men's Tales. Photo above of Nate, Sharna and I being ferocious pirates. Pirate Party photos by my friend Benzie - her photos here

Copenhagen is very clean and pretty, lots of water and colourful houses and the longest shopping boulevard in the world, apparently. It is expensive though. We visited an area called Christiania, which started as an anarchist community living outside of the expectations of society, seemed to have slid a little from the original goals now though - but still was interesting.

On Sunday we went to see some real viking boats in nearby Roskilde. So beautiful. I love boats. There's a really lovely park nearby with a stream running all the way down to the fjord. Could have stayed there all day if there was time.

So that's the end of crazy September holidaying... makes it hard to want to stay in London when you go traveling every weekend.

here's some pics

Berlin..

2008-09-15T11:31:00.000-07:00

OK, so this month's crazy traveling month...

Went to Berlin.. really wasn't there long enough to see enough.. but I did see this new art in a private gallery. It kind of reminded me of the Muppets.. in a dark form. Pretty cool.

Kind of wandered around looking at stuff. It's a strange city - like it's been gutted and only now being rebuilt.. but it's like everyone can do their own thing and build it like they want. It's like you can create your own economy there, eg, the train tickets are timed - and if you've finished with it before the time runs out you can give it to someone who's asking for them on the station. That person will on sell them at half the usual price. It's still a valid ticket and everyone wins really. Nothing is wasted. Also a friend who's staying there told me about a free shop where you can go and get something you really need - for free.. mostly clothing, as long as you have a genuine need for it, but it's an honour system so no one's policing you but yourself. We went to the Museum of Technology also - to see an exhibition on the quantum physicist Max Planck.. lots of confusing experiments and really cool sailing boats.

Anyway, interesting... have to go back.

Here's some pics.

Vienna

2008-09-10T21:54:00.000-07:00

Finally have the internet on at home! Feel alive again ;)

Went to Vienna last weekend - I think it's the most livable city I've been to so far. It's small, beautifully old, amazing transport system (including a big double decker airport to city train that takes only 19mins to get there), dedicated cycle paths that are separate from the footpaths and protected from cars and there are really good indian food shops everywhere and the best bookshop cafe I've been to. It had big comfy lounges and low lighting - kind of reminded me of the Monkeys in Brisbane (a little bit) - if only I could find something like that in London.

We went to the Belverdere Palace to see the Klimt exhibition - they house The Kiss there which is spectacular, but I think my favourite Klimt is still Life is a Struggle (see Liverpool below). The palace is huge - the upper building was for state work only and the lower building the residence. This part has the most amazing surrealist collection I've ever seen, including a Bosch (we're nearly convinced he could time travel). Took ages to get through that bit. Unfortunately not allowed to take photos of the art. Also - they have a really really good cafe in the Lower Belverdere.

You could seriously spend weeks in Vienna and the surrounding area - didn't get to see even a tiny bit - that means if you're coming over here next year and traveling with me I'm going to sneak Vienna on your itinerary ... somehow.

Here's some photos...

see ya

jac

2008-08-24T06:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to Liverpool to see the Klimt exhibition at the Tate. The paintings were so beautiful. My favourite was 'Life is a Struggle' - which is so much better in life.

Liverpool takes 2.5 hours to get to and 6 hours to return to London by train - this is because they're continually working on the rail tracks on the weekends. It's a pretty quick trip across the country really. The city is under construction still - they're building a big shopping area with a 5 acre park in the middle of the town near the harbour. Will be really pretty when it's finished. Go one block away from this and you're surrounded by derelict buildings that would make great warehouse flat conversions or squats if you don't mind the cold. :) The locals have the most amazing accent - I kept thinking they were speaking another language. It's rythmic and kind of musical. Really interesting.

Was definitely worth the trek to see the painting and boats and water. Here's some pics.

steam funks

2008-08-21T12:24:00.000-07:00

Still no internet access at home - so am at a pub up the road..

Have been very busy having fun :)

Here's a photo from the Steam Funk costume house warming party - was heaps of fun - also to celebrate surviving a year in London... yes, has been a whole year. It's gone really fast and been lots of fun. Hopefully next year will be even better.

Some quick trips to europe coming up in the next few weeks and Nate's going to Germany for a fortnight - have convinced him to do a cameo on the blog ;)

Better go then.. been at the pub *way* too long.

see ya

jac

King Lear

2008-08-02T13:34:00.000-07:00

Last night (or this morning rather) I went to the Shakespeare's Globe Theatre for a midnight performance of King Lear. Very cool. My friend in the photo above took the one of us in front of the theatre. :)

It's not the real Globe theatre - but apparently is a pretty good replica of the original. The seats are all wooden (hired a cushion) and there's no roof. Not sure what happens when it rains. They use traditional instruments and costumes. The actor playing King Lear was fantastic. It's a very tragic story, but they made it happy at the end by doing a kind of crazy happy dance - take your mind off the fact that pretty much everyone dies.

Unfortunately wasn't allowed to take pics during the performance, but here's some of the theatre and of Southbank area. I love the London Bridge area - it's really old, with cobbled streets and lots of food shops, looks great at night.. very scary and victorian ;)

Santorini...

2008-07-27T06:52:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

Well, have moved house (actually Nate did the moving - can't claim any glory) and now am cleaning the flat (well, writing this and then cleaning the flat).

Went to Santorini or Thira for a week with a friend. Can't describe how beautiful it is there - the water is clear and blue and so salty you can swim out to where it's really deep and just float around for ages. The beaches are anything from red to grey to black rock, pretty much only rock. It's actually one side of a caldera - a sunken volcano crater. Last activity was in the 1950's but it could still erupt one day. Very dramatic. All the houses are made from concrete and built onto the sides of the cliffs in a big sweeping mass of white walls with brightly coloured doors. It's beautiful and really doesn't look real.

The photo above is the view from the hotel room. Unbelievable. We hired a scooter and zipped around. Scooters are fun.

Took no less than four goes to get to Ancient Thira.. the map we had was more figurative than accurate.. would have been an amazing place to live on the top of the hill.

Anyway, back in London and even have a (sort of) tan. :) The weather's pretty good here at the moment too.. nice to come back to.

Santorini pics here

So, better get cleaning.

see ya

jac

Hampton Court Garden Show

2008-07-13T04:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to Hampton Court Palace Garden Show. It. Is. Huge.

The brits sure know how to put on a show.. massive tents full of roses, lots and lots of garden displays, lots of cool nurseries to buy stuff from. We drank pims and beer and had a good laugh. Unfortunately it's a couple of weeks too early for my own garden. But I've got a lot of websites to look at before then. :) I'm also planning on going back to look at the Palace which was King Henry the 8th's country retreat and is on the Thames.

Here's some photos of the garden show.

Busy week this week, have to pack up, organise moving and go on holidays. Really glad I'm going somewhere in the middle of summer - not enough sunshine over here so don't want to waste it!

I'm still here!

2008-07-09T14:48:00.000-07:00

Hey there,

Sorry no update on the weekend.. had a fun weekend mostly out dancing out but no pics.

Anyway, true to form had a little incident with burning toast and (no less than five) fire alarms here tonight.. so after trying to block the noise with my thumb, pressing random buttons, reefing open windows and madly flapping a tea towel at them, I managed to find the fuse to kill the noise and to slink away to nearby shopping court to wait nervously for rampaging neighbours or the fire brigade. All good though - neither turned up. :) but then while I was clearing the dreaded paper pile from the table I found a letter from the real estate apologising for the recent false alarms from fire alarms. very funny.. no wonder no one ran for it. :)

Here are some pics from Wisley Garden - I didn't realise until I saw the pic but the red flowers are all bergonias! I've never seen so many planted in the ground. Also I think it says something or is the shape of something but I can't quite figure it out.. The second pic is from the alpine garden glass house. I love alpine flowers, they're so tiny but perfectly formed.

More news - I'm definitely moving to the south west of London. Am going to miss the convenience of living in town, but not the noise and lack of space. My new place has heaps of room and I even have my own little courtyard bit that I'm going to turn into a fernery complete with alpine garden :) Best part about it is that people can come and stay - at the moment any more than two visitors and this place is fit to burst.

Also.. equally great news ... I'm going to Greece! To Santorini! A whole week in the (hopeful) sun or at least near the water.. though it's not the ocean.. but who cares! it's the water and it's going to be great. :)

This weekend I'm going to a real former royal court - hopefully they'll let me take pictures inside.

see ya!

jac

Monet's Garden and Montmartre

2008-06-30T11:32:00.000-07:00

Long awaited trip to Monet's Garden and Montmarte this weekend.

I love going to Paris - it's so easy.. all you have to do is get to the train on time, get on and then you're there! It's like magic.. or train travel. Once you get there it can be an adventure though.. found a friend who's living there for a quick catch up then got lost trying to figure out how to get from the Metro to the overland trains and then once on the train managed to get stuck in a door.. again.. yes, this has happened before and actually that's what my reaction was! 'oh no it's happening again!' i said out loud.. let me tell you it's really very hard to reach the release handles when your arms are pinned in the train door.. sigh.. I don't know how it keeps happening hey..

anyway...

got to Vernon and hired some bikes to ride to Giverny aka Kermit the Frog styled. ;)(I'm actually thinking of contributing to that wiki btw) Monet's garden and house are beautiful.. delft tiles in the kitchen are a bit much but it's incredibly practical being able to hose the whole kitchen out.. inside the walls are covered in framed Japanese etchings.. his studio was so gorgeous.. huge sunlight windows and a big double door out onto the garden. The garden is incredible. Flowers everywhere, then a big creek flowing from the waterlily pond and wisteria framed bridges. No wonder he was inspired. Last trip to Paris I went to the Musee de L'Orangerie where the pictures like the one above are kept. It was so amazing to see the scene that led to them. Some pics of Monet's Garden and Giverny

Stayed in Montmartre this time. I love it there - it's hilly, arty and beautiful, lots of terraces with window box and roof top gardens and a fantastic vegetarian cafe - just have to avoid the really touristy bits near the Sacre Coeur. Had a wonderful time shopping :) lots and lots of sales. French shop assistants are very decisive when it comes to what you look good in and not. 'No I do not like it!'. I think it's a crime to walk out with something that doesn't suit you. ;) Bought a pretty little painting from a lady who was using her dog Margot to lure you close to the painting box. I'm a sucker for a cute little dog. Could have spent a fortune at the antique fete - it was full of lots of interesting things. And the food was wonderful ! Last time I was in Paris I could hardly find anything to eat, apart from bread and cheese - not this time - was prepared.. found a great krishna restaurant near the station as well as the vegetarian cafe. You really have to research before you go. Montmartre pics

It was really good to be out of London for the weekend. :)

so how much fun can you have in a weekend?

2008-06-23T13:56:00.000-07:00

LOTS.. :)

this weekend I went with a friend to Wisley - a really beautiful garden south west of London. When I say garden I mean acres of landscaped borders and glasshouses and waterfalls, lakes.. They have an amazing alpine plant collection and in their nursery too. Can't wait 'til I move - I really love alpine plants. No pics yet - forgot my camera (would you believe) - but I'll put the ones she took up on the photo site. The tropical plant glass house was so good to be in. Nothing like a little bit of humidity.. a little bit of course.

THEN I went to see GEORGE CLINTON! who's GEORGE CLINTON? I hear most of you ask.. he's just the coolest funk singer ever! Well, maybe not ever, but he's pretty damn cool - he has rainbow coloured dreds. Was the day for forgetting my camera it seemed, so no pics - but here's Parliament's website. Awesome. That's it in one word. I love funk music. Belita Woods - amazing singer. Got so chaotic by the end - people up on stage dancing.. so damn cool. Was at the Royal Festival Hall, which is a classy 1950's styled building at London's South Bank. Combine that with west end and the glass house humidity and I'm nearly back in Brisbane.. maybe.

Not to be outdone by Saturday, Sunday had it's turn at being fun and I went on a boat party with a friend. We went all the way past the Thames Barriers to the country!! I thought we'd been tricked and were on our way to the channel. The buildings and bridges are so much better from the water - especially Greenwich and some of the dock side apartment buildings. The Thames Barriers (yup, Doctor Who and Torchwood) look like silver sailing ships. It was loads of fun once I got used to the boat moving around and dancing helped.. pretty amazing dancing on the back deck coming back into London all the lights and other party boats.. :) Boat Party Pictures here

London's lots of fun in the summer time.

Anyway, off to the continent next weekend to see Monet's Garden. Should be fun.

busy busy

2008-06-15T07:49:00.000-07:00

went out a lot this week - lots of dancing and talking. plus work's very busy too.

might have found somewhere new to live - it's in the 'burbs - but it's big and has a garden. just waiting for approval from the real estate agent. more room means more space for people to stay when they visit.

am making a sailor outfit for a party next weekend. I love dress up parties. :)

The pic above is from flat hunting last week. Lots of summer flowers out now, really pretty.

see ya

jac

ps: thanks for the parcel margie, it got here ok - still cold enough to wear the jacket would you believe!

up to mischief..

2008-06-08T05:09:00.000-07:00

Pretty eventful week this one..

Went to a free movie- Rebeca by Hitchcock - at The Scoop, a concrete amphitheatre near the Mayor's office. Amazing arrangement of buildings there - all very modern - the mayor's one looks like a lopsided onion. The view of tower bridge is fantastic. They have a giant 'telescope' there called the Telectroscope which links New York to London, supposedly through a tunnel under the Atlantic. ;) It's a very cool looking web camera and you can stand there and wave to New Yorkers. Here's an article.

Last night some friends and I went to White Mischief... it's like a giant circus, nightclub, vaudeville show. Was so much fun. Got to dress up steampunk fashion - which I love. Steampunk is very theatrical and crosses Victoriana themes with modern technology. White Mischief was 3 floors of dancing and then a long walk home in high heeled boots. :) Lots of fun. Some pics of White Mischief here. And one of me with my flatemate dressed up in steampunk/victorian style. Everyone loved his hat!

Anyway, really really tired... but happy :)

Canal Boats and Roses and Hyena

2008-06-01T13:41:00.000-07:00

Pretty interesting weekend in London this weekend.

Went to a goth club with a friend Saturday night - amazing place, sweeping staircase, huge chandelier, lots of beautifully dressed people in black and red. :)

Then today went on a long, long walk with a new friend from Old Street station along the Camden Lock canal to Camden Town via a very pretty community garden who's name I've already forgotten, then to Regents Park. Took about six hours - really didn't feel like it though. I chatted to a man who was making the lock work - he said you can go from London to Liverpool via canal in about 2 weeks if you really wanted to. That's pretty cool. Tried to snap the hyena and wart hog and some other big furry thing that live along the canal side of the London zoo, but they're a lot like the Loch Ness monster in that way.. so here's some pics of them running away or just plain leaving.

All the roses are out in Regents Park - it's beautiful. The english sure know how to do a pretty garden. Also visited the headstone of Mary Wollstonecraft - an early feminist and mother of Mary Shelly - author of Frankenstein. What was surprising was a headstone for Bach (the composer), firstly because I didn't realise he was buried in London and secondly because it's so small and unnoticeable.

Photos here - pretty random today - anything from wild animals (such as squirrels) to gardens to boats. :)

Scotland the beautiful

2008-05-27T17:27:00.000-07:00

I love Scotland.. it was sunny and warm and friendly.. and there's something not quite tame about it. The hills and coast are wild-like.. Edinburgh is beautiful and gritty. People stop to ask if you need help when you're lost (again). Maybe because it's a smaller city? only half a million people. I think I could live there - at least in Summer. They have heaps of vegetarian restaurants and cafes. Loads of music. It's just great.

I meet my mum's cousin Doreen, which was heaps fun and went to the town where my gran was born and grew up. It's called the Gatehouse of Fleet. Of course I've done everything in the wrong order and now know which island and where to go to get to it that my gran actually lived on. Have to do it next time.

Got to see two real castles and some very pretty gardens and stayed in a fantastic motel in the Edinburgh suburb of Leith right on the water. They gave me an upgrade on the rental so I drove around in the most pretentious car ever and had to keep apologising for it... 'sorry it's not my Mercedes' :) Really nice car to drive all the way across the island and back in though.

Also went to some 4000 year old graves - Cairn Holy - really spooky and amazing. Didn't get up to the Lochs to go monster hunting.. I'm definitely going back.

More pics of scotland here

Chelsea Garden Show

2008-05-20T15:46:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I rubbed shoulders with the rich and famous drinking Pimms at the Chelsea Garden Show. :)

It was beautiful! I really, really love flowers and these were so pretty. A lot of the displays had grass and flowers on the roof of the glass houses or gardening sheds. Really cool.

Hung around the aussie display hoping for an invite to the soiree - but alas none was offered, even though I could name every plant and piece of wood used and spoke in my really broad aussie accent ;) It was designed by Jamie Durie - so looked very backyard blitz, on an up-market scale. Here's an article

More photos here.

Off to Scotland this weekend - finally getting there. Very exciting. :)

Camden Canal

2008-05-12T23:44:00.000-07:00

Busy weekend organising things and having the usual clean out of ever increasing piles of paper.

I did go to Camden with a friend on Sunday arvo to look at the markets, then walked home along the canal and through Regent's Park. Forgot to take my camera with me - but I took this photo with my phone. It's really pretty walking along the canal, you can see the backyards or really big houses in Marlyborne. Also! Hyenas! Weird, but the London zoo backs onto the canal too. Apparently the wolves cage can be seen from Regent's Park - but we didn't walk that way.

I'll go back with my camera for better photos.

Now that it's warm it's really, really busy - pubs and parks full of people. It's so good not having to wear a jumper and coat.

see ya

jac

Cotswold

2008-05-05T13:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my friend Liz I got to go to the Cotswolds on Sunday. :)

It's a really pretty area with little 'model' villages made of stone and intersecting country roads, fields of canola and sheep and even ancient relics.

We spent a lot of time at Hidcote Manor Garden, a UK National Trust site, with lots of garden rooms separated by huge hedges. Lots of sheep to. The black face/leg variety. All numbered for counting.

Then we got lost and finally found Boughton on the Water. All the towns are Something on/in the water/hill/something mostly. Boughton on the water is one of those perfect little villages with a stream running through it and lots of stone walk bridges. Stone buildings made out of local stone - which is a kind of orangey colour. Crawling with tourists. (your truly included).

After that we found the Rollright stones, an ancient burial site and stone circle. The legend goes a would-be king of england was confronted by a witch and passed the test that proved he was the rightful king, but she tricked him and turned him and his men into stone. She turned into an elder tree to watch over them. Some people believe there are faeries living under the stones. Someone even left a garland of dandelions on top of the King stone. Really interesting place. Great view over a valley with a village.

Lots of castles in the area too - you could spend days wandering around looking at all the towns and sites. Really pretty.

Here's some pics.

Today was May day - public holiday - yah! and I spent it eating at Yauatcha, a great chinese restaurant with some friends then lay around in the sun at St James' Park with quite a lot of other London folk :) It was a really fun, beautiful day.

see ya

jac

Musicians Against Nuclear Arms

2008-05-03T23:29:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

Off to the Cotswolds today, so up early on a Sunday - can't say I'm awake yet.

Went to see John Williams play at a concert for Musicians Against Nuclear Arms. He's a genius. It was held in an old church near Piccadilly Circus. Beautiful old building with a balcony level and huge windows.

I took the photo with my mobile - so it's a bit grainy.

Here's more info on MANA

Gotta go - late for the train.

see ya

Cambridge

2008-04-27T04:08:00.000-07:00

I'm moving there!

Well not really, but I'd like to. It's a really beautiful city - and was an amazing day, sun shining, was warm again. Didn't even have to have a jumper! Flowers are all out too, so that along with the canals and old stone buildings made it spectacular. Everyone rides bikes and there were sports fields full of people, including a la crosse game which was interesting - never seen one played in real life before. It's like hockey with nets on sticks.

It's so hard to 'get' the age of the colleges, some date from the 1300s and that they are so well kept. Kings College chapel has an amazing fan shaped vaulted ceiling and a painting by Ruben at the altar. My favourite was Clare College though - the gardens are so pretty and it backs onto the canals. All the colleges built around a central grass court yard. No seats in the court yard though, guess you either sit on the grass in the sun or stay inside 'cause it's freezing cold. I love the halls and the way everyone eats together. Made me want to go back to uni (and go back about 10 or so years in age too I guess). The town and the uni are combined and it has great shopping, loads of cafes and pubs (I counted at least three indian restaurants!) and no cars in the central shopping area.

I didn't hire a little boat to push up the canal this time. Will wait until there are more people to tip out of it ... it looked like fun. Any volunteers? ;)

Also not very far from London - the express train gets you there in 45mins.

If I'm here next year I might seriously try getting work there or somewhere nearby.

More photos here

NEWS FLASH

2008-04-22T11:25:00.000-07:00

It's warm! Today I walked home without my thumping big coat on for the first time since October.

Maybe Spring's here at last

:)

spring-ish

2008-04-21T11:04:00.000-07:00

Well, the weather's not improving a lot, but at least the flowers are out. :)

Went to the Tate Gallery this weekend to see Peter Doig's work. Very colourful. Couldn't take pictures.. Didn't know this until after I'd take the photo above and got in trouble for it. ah well.. art should be free and for the people I say. (very quietly while the guard is walking away) ;)

Also caught up on Dr Who at a friend's place. Dr Who is very cool.

Prague

2008-04-15T14:40:00.001-07:00

Back from Prague!

Such a pretty city... red roof tiles, cobbled streets and a river with amazing bridges.

Was only there for a little while - but covered a lot of ground. Staying in town helped heaps. Got to see a lot of synagogues - they have some pretty amazing legends. One of them is off this creature called a Golem who was made of clay and brought to life by Rabbi Loew in 1580 a mystic ritual inspired by a dream. The Golem protected the Jewish people from the anti-Semitic mob set out to destroy them (yet again). The remains of the Golem are supposed to be in the attic of the Old New Synagogue. How cool is that!

The Mucha Museum was amazing. I love Art Nouveu. Couldn't take any photos though because it was a private museum. More about Mucha and some of the posters and paintings from the gallery here.

Prague Castle is like a little town. All the doors are really small and the church is HUGE! If the people used to be as small as the doors then they'd feel like ants in the church. The whole town is mostly in tact as it wasn't bombed in WW2. The locals smile at you and it feels very friendly. Though a homeless guy did try to flog my beanie.. but it was pretty cold so I can understand that.

Some more Prague photos here.

So I've decided that doing short trips using planes is not a good idea... feeling too guilty about all the carbon I'm contributing too.. new plan is to do short trips in the UK or anywhere I can get to by train and then hopefully do a big holiday at the end of the year to quite a lot of Europe and then back home for December. Seriously hoping this all works out. Depends on finances and work of course. Anyway, see how it goes.

see ya

jac

everyone's famous in Soho

2008-04-10T11:32:00.000-07:00

On the way home today, via Leichester Square, I saw Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson at the opening of Fools Gold. He looked like he was wearing fake tan. Could only get a pic of the back of Kate Hudson - that's her with her hair in a bun.

:-)

Yes, that is him.. squint at it..

jac

SNOW!

2008-04-06T01:54:00.000-07:00

Least I think it is..

Woke up this morning and it was snowing/sleeting. Had to run around in it of course.

Here's a pic of me in the square near my house.

:-)

jac

Brighton

2008-04-05T13:49:00.000-07:00

It was a dark and stormy day at Brighton, then the sun came out ... oh, and then it hailed ... and then the sun came out again. :-)

Brighton is very beautiful. Feels like a holiday. I actually love the rocky beach - you can walk on it without getting sand in everything (of course) and the water is really clear. First time I've been to the beach in the UK and was pretty impressed. Saw one brave lady take to the water - way too cold for me at the moment, I'm still wearing my beanie and gloves everywhere. But I will go back there when it's warmer. Didn't get to the Pavilion or any of the other famous things in the area - just wanted to see the water today. It only takes 50mins on the train from London. Roll on summer and swimming weather.

:-)

Weird weather here - was summerish on Friday (made it to 15 degrees!) but then they're predicting snow for Sunday/Monday!

More Brighton pics here.

An Aussie Bilby in London

2008-03-30T11:33:00.000-07:00

Ok.. so all week I've been thinking, what's going to top photos of Barcelona and the Costa Brava? and was completely blank until!

A BILBY ARRIVED IN THE MAIL!

So, here's some pics of Mr Bilby in London.. taking a tour, making an impact on the fourth plinth in Trafalar Square, seeing the sights from the lofty heights of the London Eye.. :-)

Had a good weekend - joined the Tate Art Gallery and saw the Duchamp, Manray and Picabia exhibition - which was interesting, especially how signing a urinal makes it an art work.. hmm.. interesting. Also went to a dinner party and had lots of fun and then showed the Bilby around of course.

Daylight savings started here today though.. which is unfortunate 'cause now I'm 14 hours behind home, but there is more daylight after work.

Barcelona!

2008-03-24T02:18:00.000-07:00

The thing about the Catalonian people seems to be they have a strong sense of national identity.. and they're also completely fearless when it comes to architecture. I mean, they build colourful and strange buildings right next to gothic and art nouveu ones, it makes Barcelona fascinating. Lots of wide streets, apartments on all sides.

The Gaudi building 'Casa Batllo' looks like it should be under the sea - like it's made up of pirate jewels and fish scales and sea shells. The Casa Milia la Pedrera is like a sand castle and the cathedral - still being build 120 years later - is like a huge candle outside. It's so complicated and detailed. The inside looks like a stone forest. I loved it. Graffiti art and art in general is a big deal in Barcelona too - I'd loved to live and work there for a while.

They still do the whole siesta thing there and everywhere. All the shops shut around 2:30 to 5:30pm and are open until later. Everything goes really quiet for a few hours. Which makes it easier to walk around and see things - less chance of getting run over looking the wrong way at roads. ;-)

I didn't have enough time in Barcelona to see all the museums and art galleries I wanted to see. Just have to go back again.

You'll be happy to know I culled the 606 photos down to a mere 400 odd.. if you're really stuck for something to do, you can see them all here or just Barcelona here.

Got back to London on Sunday and it was two degrees! Could even see snow on the hills from the train. Very cool. Today it's snow-sleeting in Soho even! I can see it floating around outside my window here.

Anyway, Prague in three weeks time. I really like this working holiday thing.

Girona

2008-03-24T01:55:00.000-07:00

Girona was even better than I thought it would be.

Didn't really have a plan so we walked around the old city looking at the churches and arabian baths and walked along the top of the city wall. London always surprises me with how old things are, like the building I live in has a sign on it saying 'so and so artist lived here in 1690something' but then I went to Girona.. I think it's more amazing because the city has been fought over and bombarded over and over and it's still standing. Some parts date back to 11th century.

I really wanted to see El Call - the old Jewish Quarter - as I've read a bit about it. It was beautiful and very sad.

Had tapas in a tapas bar! Very authentic.. and pretty much the only vege option if you don't want to eat pizza :-)

Girona pics here

Empuries and Costa Brava

2008-03-23T16:05:00.000-07:00

Hi,

Back again.. reluctantly :-)

I loved Catalonia. It was warm and sunny (most days) and the sea was beautiful (but a little too cold to swim).

But better start at the beginning, in true 'jac' style I packed my bag, waved goodbye to the flat, walked out the door and slipped down the stairs on my bum.. so.. went back inside got changed (the stairs were wet) and left again, this time holding onto the hand rail and walking down the stairs one at a time and very carefully.

After that it was ok, managed to drive from Barcelona to L'Empuries on the 'wrong' ie the right side of the road, but got a bit lost following google maps (never again) and flagged down a couple of local coppers out for a stroll who then provided a police escort to the motel. Nothing like a great first impression.

Next day I took some photos of the sunrise from the balcony and then went up the coast to Cadaques - which is where Dali and Picasso hung out. I can fully see why. It's a small town, pretty remote so not very touristy and at the end of a long and windy road through acres of olive groves and wild lavender and wildflowers. Pretty amazing. L'Empuries

Visited the Greek and Roman ruins near the motel. They were huge! The town would have been so beautiful when it was standing. Even got to see some archiologists at work - digging up some ancient dead greek person. Scary.

Drove around to see other towns and villages in the area. L'Estratit on the coast, Castel d'Empuries with a really old Cathedral (actually they all had really old cathedrals), Pals which was like a 'model village' - unbelievable perfect, cobbled streets, flowers in pots everywhere. Photos here.

Also got to go for a bit of a hike up a mountain (ie very large hill) to see a castle that was never completed. Apparently the rich and overbearing overlord in Barcelona lost interest 30 years or so into the project. The path up was windy and rocky and the view amazing. Could nearly see Africa. (nearly). Castel d'Mortgiri

After a few wrong turns managed to find Casa de Gala Dali - Salvador Dali's wife's house, which he restored and decorated for her. It was her own private hideaway - no weekend cottage though, it's three stories high. The ceilings and some walls were painted by Dali and he made the elephant sculptures in the garden also.

Girona next...

traveling jac

2008-03-15T06:09:00.000-07:00

Hi,

I'm off to Spain tomorrow.

If you need to contact me - have to use the mobile, doubt I'll have internet access.

Happy easter!

jac

Victoria & Albert Museum

2008-03-09T13:23:00.000-07:00

Went to the Victoria & Albert Museum today. It's a really interesting and strange collection of things - anything from Rodin sculptures to couture clothing to asian artifacts to model buildings and even a room full of glass things.

The clothing was beautiful. Can't believe how tiny the waists were on the 17th and 18th Century dresses.

They had a bench there that was amazing - had tiny little lights set in a conductive gel so there were no wires. Looked like stars. I want one. More photos here.

Seven sleeps 'til Spain!

Moore at Kew Gardens

2008-03-01T15:39:00.000-08:00

Today I went to Kew Gardens.

It was amazing. Over 300 acres of gardens, big trees, fields of daffodils, crocus and snowdrops, huge Victorian glass houses and a Henry Moore sculpture exhibition.

I've never seen Henry Moore sculptures up close before - they're surprisingly detailed.

I was there for over 5 hours, wandering around taking heaps of photos. My favourite things were the alpine garden - with really pretty tiny flowers in clay pots and all the daffodils and the 'temples' everywhere. Loved it. Seriously wanted to move into the Palm House - tropical rainforest.

It's a really pretty area too - and just 30 minutes from the centre of London!

see ya

jac

how to impress the Chief Operating Officer (aka The Boss)

2008-02-29T05:23:00.000-08:00

So, at my new work they're really concerned with being environmentally friendly including recycling everything and reducing energy use. I think it's cool.

Something they forgot to tell me though is that every now and they do a surprise 'green audit'.

Anyway, so yesterday I'm sitting at my desk, explaining away some crazy thing I'd done to a colleague and notice two people walking around the office with a clipboard. Thought they might be the 'space savers' (space is tight too - so they're hiring consultants to figure out how to fit everyone in without building a mezzanine floor). Anyway, I make a wild gesture with my elbow and knock all my papers off the table and straight into the bin. Disaster. The guy sitting next to me leaps up and goes 'jacs their doing an audit right now!' laughing his head off and retrieves the stuff from the bin. I'm in a mild state of panic now, wondering what kind of audit they're doing and hear Clipboard say 'tidy desk'. Look around at the desk I'm sitting at and see it's littered, absolutely covered in paper and pens and plastic bottles. But it's not my desk see - the space issue means I hot desk everyday. So I panic and grab the plastic and drop it into the bin about 5 seconds before the auditors arrive and peer into my bin going 'oh dear, that's not good. That's plastic - it's recyclable'. Equally disastrous. When they leave the guy next to me, laughs and goes 'I dunno jac, FAIL the audit!' and takes the plastic to the recycling bin.

I then ask him - so who's the guy with Clipboard anyway? He nearly fell off his chair laughing then, and says 'oh that's just the Chief Operating Officer, you know - THE GUY WHO PAYS YOU'.

*head desk*

all over london

2008-02-24T10:38:00.000-08:00

Well, that cold was not much fun! Hopefully won't be doing that again soon. Think I might have eaten my body weight in vitamin C.

Anyway, out and about again this weekend. Went to Brick Lane, which is a very long lane full of Indian food shops. Last time I went it was packed! But the bleak weather must have kept them all away I think, either that or something much more exciting was on that I didn't know about. hmm.. They have a really cool vespa shop there that I love looking at, actually drooling at is closer. I'd love to buy one of those and take off into the unknown.. I'm convinced I could almost ride one home - just have to transport it for the last leg across to oz. hmm..

Today I visited some friends down near Wimbledon, of Womble fame. Didn't see a Womble, but it's a very big park. Have to go back when the trees are all green I think. Little self portrait above of me in Wimbledon Common... I really should brush my hair before leaving the house hey.

The daffodils are all out in the parks, the pic above is from St James' Park. Took the best pic of a squirrel too - this time it didn't attack me.

Three weeks 'til holidays! Can't hardly wait.

:-)

see ya

jac

:-)

2008-02-23T04:54:00.000-08:00

Enter the ICHC online Poker Cats Contest!">

I love cheezburger

update

2008-02-16T04:51:00.000-08:00

Hi there,

Not a lot to report from the last two weeks... just been settling into my new job (which I like very much).

Here's a photo of the Soho China Town Chinese New Year decorations. I took it with a camera on a mobi phone. I bought a dragon from the old guy at the front of the pic.

I've joined a gym! Yup - you won't recognise me when you see me next. I'll be SUPER fit and muscley.. maybe..

Have caught a cold, so am a bit miserable at the mo. Never mind - nothing that mountains of vitamin c and echinacea and garlic won't fix.

Catch ya later!

jac

midsummer midwinter

2008-02-02T15:10:00.000-08:00

Went to the theatre tonight to see A Midsummer Night's Dream.

It was in an amazing unrenovated building tucked in behind a renovated one. Was the kind of place I want to move into. Huge windows, parquetry flooring (needing sanding), old brick walls. The players were all really young and wonderful, really funny, dynamic and gritty. They used the whole space, right around the seats. The pic above is of the waiting area - they started the play there and led us all into the other room for the rest of the play.

I loved it. Also loved that it was just down the road. :-)

sunday things

2008-01-27T05:11:00.000-08:00

True to form, this weekend I managed to trip over a piece of string on Tottenham Court Road.. much to the amusement of my friend I was with. ;-)

More excitingly - I'm going to Spain in March to Barcelona and the Costa Brava. Flights, accommodation and car all booked. Bit nervous about driving on the wrong side of the road in a manual car though - it's going to be a slow drive up the coast I think.

the temple

2008-01-21T12:23:00.000-08:00

Hi,

Back on the tourist circuit. :-)

This weekend I went to the open weekend of the Temple, home of judges, barristers and would-be barristers. They're celebrating 400 years of stewardship. I'm still struggling with how old things are over here.

it's divided into four 'inns' the main two are the inner and middle temples. they are all amazing buildings surrounded by really pretty gardens.

the Round of the Temple Church (above) is a close copy of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and was built by the Knights Templar in the 12th century. I liked how simple it was - no banners or fancy carving, just stone and huge stained glass windows. Must look amazing on a sunny day.

Also went to the Royal Courts of Justice for a look - very austere - don't ever want to visit them for any other reason than being a tourist. Huge hall with a massive ceiling - very Harry Potter. It's the same building that the Lord Mayor was signed in at a few months ago, so was very cool seeing the inside.

More photos here and some more info on the Temple here.

Planning the next over-channel trip to Barcelona in March - that's just weeks away! Really looking forward to it.

jac

famous people week

2008-01-13T09:18:00.000-08:00

...and then, while shopping with my friends jo and v on saturday, i saw Kelly and Sharon Osbourne on jermyn street. that's what happens in london apparently :-)

didn't do a lot this weekend, so here's a pic of me in my winter woollies, the coat was a bargain in the new year sales and my hat's been a permanent fixture for a few months now.. am becoming a tiny bit obsessed with the weather again. roll on spring.

that's my prized umbrella hanging on the chair there. have i talked about my umbrella before? it's from James Smith and Sons, manufacturers of fine umbrellas and walking sticks since 1830. it is one seriously good umbrella, doesn't blow inside out, wraps very neatly and has a cherry wood handle that smells beautiful in the rain. ok, so a little obsessed with the brolly too hey? ;-)

see ya

jac

here comes johnny!

2008-01-10T11:22:00.000-08:00

I saw Johnny Depp! No really - that's him there in the pic.

I joined the crazy teenagers (and not so teenagers) at Leicester Square in front of the Odeon for the opening of Sweeny Todd - AND I SAW JOHNNY DEPP! ok, ok, so I was a fair way away.. but still..

:-)

pretty cool

twelfth night

2008-01-06T10:11:00.000-08:00

Hi,

Today I went to the age old pagan twelfth night celebration. This one was organised by the lions part, a theatre group from south London and held near the Globe Theatre.

Twelfth night celebrates the end of Christmas, or the end of the midwinter celebration. The green man, dressed in his winter disguise as holly man, brings about spring. I like the green man. :-) He came up the Thames in a boat and was joined by a violin playing bear and The Mummers, who herald wassails or blessings on the day and the globe theatre and the year. Later they did a bit of improvised playing - a fight by St George, the patron of Britain, and the Turkish Knight, then the doctor reviving St George with mince pies when he was defeated by the Turkish Knight, Prudence symbolising the discipline needed to get through freezing cold winter and, thankfully, also defeated and Father Christmas sweeping away the old year. Was very funny, but maybe you had to be there.

Was a beautiful day today - sun was out, really clear skies. Some photos of the celebration here.

Hope everyone had a happy new year. I joined 300000 others in London to watch the fire works in front of The London Eye. HUGE, scary crowd.. fun though.

see ya

cheshire christmas

2007-12-27T11:27:00.000-08:00

happy christmas!

I went to Warrington to visit Miranda and her family. Had Christmas day in Lymm. Was lots of fun and ate heaps, her mum put on a pretty amazing vege feast. Lymm is a proper english village complete with cross - photo of the cross above. Was good to see some countryside for a while.

We did some sight seeing in Chester, county town of Cheshire. It was amazing - tudor buildings everywhere, walked along a medieval wall and looked down at roman ruins. How much history can you fit into one town?? More on Chester here. Took quite a lot of photos - but culled them down to these.

Missed everyone heaps though, was good to hear from you all.

ghost buses on piccadilly and other weird things

2007-12-23T14:25:00.000-08:00

Hi there,

Didn't do anything exciting this weekend - just braved the crowds in some last minute christmas shopping.. think that was enough!

BUT! It was a week for seeing weird stuff, including:

- a man riding a unicycle past St James park, not your usual form of city transport, maybe parking's charged by the wheel?
- a serious looking pilgram wearing a brown woolen cloak, complete with hood and carrying a staff and a proper looking sack
- ancient celtic enthusist wearing a kilt at the below freezing hour of 10pm, swirling tattoos all over his head and legs and a styrofoam replica of a druid like monolith under his arm
- and a squirrel leaning against a tree trunk on one arm surveying the passing crowd. They know more then let on those squirrels.

of course, not a single photo to back all these up! I will be ready with my camera in the future though.

Hope you all have a great christmas - I'm off to the freezing north. Can't wait hey.

see ya

jac

winter walking in westminster

2007-12-16T09:55:00.000-08:00

I'm back! Just like Arnie, yes. Bought a new camera yesterday and went for a walk with it this afternoon - I'm very impressed with what it can do. Some pics of Westminster, West end, The South bank and The Eye above. Also one of the Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square. It's donated by the Norwegian people each year. More pics here.

Was going a little stir crazy this week, so decided to get my hair cut short. (It was that or move continents again.) Little pic there of me in my favourite hat - found it in a 2nd hand shop in Covent Garden - I'm standing on the Embankment bridge with Big Ben in the background.

Only nine sleeps until Christmas.. good news is I'm getting out of town.. not exactly sure where - think it's called Cheshire.. will check that.

See ya

jac

belgium...

2007-12-10T03:04:00.000-08:00

so, just back from Brussels and Brugge.. talk about epic journeys.. cheap flights are great - except the airports are all about an hour away from the actual destination you had in mind.. so this morning, got up at 4am, walked in the rain to Brussels Garde du Nord station, caught a train to Chareleroi Sud station, hung out in the info booth waiting area avoiding the 4 degrees freezing cold, caught a bus to the airport, plane to London Standsted airport, train to Liverpool station, tube to home.. that'll take you 7hours.. my advice - book early early on the eurostar and save yourself 4 hours..

anyway, took lots of photos of Brussels and Brugge, unfortunately i lost my camera in Brugge, so someone out there has some pretty cool pics of amazing stone buildings, christmas trees, fields and farms houses and about two or three pics of me doing my 'Wallace and Grommet' smile in front of stone bridges and an ice skating rink.

Brussels is an interesting city - the heart of it is a square surrounded by gothic looking stone buildings. Walk two blocks in any direction though and you're surrounded by tall glass office buildings that turn into light shows at night. Was so cold and wet over there - even went to a museum to escape the cold, which had a very strange room full of replicas of this statue dressed in national costumes from all over the world, they're a little obsessed with that statue tell the truth.

Brugge is like a postcard. Must be amazing when (if?) it snows. Canals and bridges and stone cathedrals and shops full of chocolate and beer. It's very christmassy. So beautiful.

Can't tell you how sad I am about the camera. Held a wake for it in the bar of the Husa Presidential Hotel in Brussels and reminisced about all places the camera and I had been, the things we'd seen. Ah well.. just as well it's Christmas... have to get a new one from Santa.

See ya

jac

and then

2007-12-05T14:33:00.001-08:00

i went to a 'women in technology' christmas do and WON AN XBOX 360!

was so damn exciting!

he he he

:-)

anyone wants me, i'm 'working from home'

Southwark Walk

2007-12-02T03:25:00.000-08:00

The sun came out yesterday - it was beautiful hey, so decided to walk over to Southbank and Southwark to the Borough Markets.

It's a really pretty walk - went over the bridge near Embankment, past the Royal Festival Hall and along Southwark street where there are heaps of interesting old warehouse buildings. Oh, something about Southwark - so many things over here are not pronounced like you'd expect them to be, Southwark is said like 'Suthick'.. you learn this the first time you say 'south wark'. Best thing to do is just leave out all the vowels.. then you're at least close 'sthwrk'.. ;-)

The Borough Markets are great, don't be misled by the photos on that website - it's really crowded, but heaps of cheese and vege and food lots of food, flowers, all sorts of stuff. Have stocked up for the next week. Wouldn't mind living over that way actually.

But the weather's pretty unpredictable here - so on the way back it was freezing and started to rain. Went back via London Bridge which has a great view of Tower Bridge and back past St Pauls Cathedral.

I keep getting confused with the time too - it's dark by 4pm so when it's 6pm I think it's heaps later.. anyway, end result is something like yesterday when I turn up for a movie an hour and a half early having misread the time and figured it was dark enough for 7pm.. but was only 5:30 or something.

Silly season has erupted here.. last night's street shenanigans went until early morning.. silly drunken people, but that's what you get living in the middle of town. Pretty soon I'll be able to sleep through anything.

anyway, looking forward to next weekend - going to Belgium. Have to pack the woolies.. it's going to be freezing!

more walk photos here

see ya

jac

Portobello Road

2007-11-25T03:50:00.000-08:00

Here I am on Portobello Road, Notting Hill, of "Notting Hill" the movie and Mary Poppins fame.

Little story about the photo:
1. It was FREEZING! I'm never going out without woolen tights on again.
2. I'd blinked in the last two attempts hence the 'have ya taken it yet?' somewhat 'wallace and grommet' face
3. Really wanted to get that lady on the right in the pink and white fake fur outfit (complete with matching crochet bubble shoes) in the pic and she was beating a retreat up the street pretty fast. ('quick quick take the photo')

It's a great market - full of (ridiculously expensive) antiques, so many amazing things I wanted to buy, starting with about a million cool leather suitcases perfect for weekend trips to the continent. Busy though, super busy, can't imagine what it's like in summer. Really busy in Soho last night too. Had a fun night sitting in a pub eating tapas and chatting with some friends. That's the advantage of living in central london.. everything you want is just outside your front door and down the street a little. :-)

speaking of sneaky squirrels

2007-11-21T12:50:00.000-08:00

it's him! it's him!

30 days until the winter solstice, my favourite day of the year.. sigh..

:-)

sneaky squirrels...

2007-11-17T09:06:00.000-08:00

Today I was attacked by a squirrel. I'm not kidding! I was walking across Hyde Park, on the way to the Royal Albert Hall and this squirrel starting running towards me. The St James Park squirrels do this in hope of food - I suspected the 'cute' little thing was doing the same. It stopped at my feet and looked up 'oh look - how cute is i- arrghhh get it off me! get it off me!' That's how it went. Yes, I'm ashamed to say I squealed - but in all fairness it did grab my leg and I really wasn't sure if it was going for the jugular or not.. lucky enough for me my squealing attracted attention and two ladies were seen videoing me with their mobile phone, so no doubt I'm going to appear on the youtube shortly. It let me go eventually and bounced away, snickering to itself I'm sure. hmmm

so, watch the squirrels my friends, despite their chaotic and seemingly innocent behaviour, they're organised... ;-)

Went to the Royal Albert Hall to look around and to see the Royal College of Art - Secret show. They ask famous people to do a postcard sized art work and then sell then off for 40pounds a go. The secret is who made the card, you don't know until you've bought it and you could end up with something collectible I guess. It's very popular apparently. On 'sale day' they're lining up down the street (and possibly across Hyde park). Some of them were pretty cool. All together they look great, anything small in repetition always looks effective I think. I like this one

Hyde Park is huge! So is the Royal Albert Hall too. Very impressive. Didn't see anything on that I wanted to see at the moment. Plenty of time. And I have to go back that way because it's cultural corner - museums and galleries all over the place.

It was freezing today - didn't actually see the sun. Thank crumbs for gortex and beanies.

Some exciting news - I'm going to Brussels in two weeks! Managed to get some of those 'really cheap flights' people always talk about. can't hardly wait.

Catch ya later then.

jac

giants and gilded carriages

2007-11-11T05:55:00.000-08:00

I saw two giants yesterday! Well, straw giants really. Gog and Magog - the defenders of the City of London with a very interesting and conflicting history. Each year they're released from Guild Hall and paraded around in honour of the annual Lord Mayor of London swearing in ceremony. The strange thing is the Lord Mayors down the ages all look the same. Definitely some profiling in the selection criteria there! ;-)

The parade was great - lots of horses and uniforms, dangerous looking maces and swords, strange people with baskets over their heads, silver trumpets blowing fan fares and bagpipes.

Here's some photos of the parade.

Hampstead Heath

2007-11-04T09:40:00.000-08:00

Hi,

I went to Hampstead Heath today. It's an amazing place - 791 acres of mostly uncultivated parkland and ponds. Some of the ponds are for swimming in. There are concrete paths to walk on or just dirt tracks or .. just grass.. lots of happy people and their dogs. lots of squirrels playing in copses. lots of pigeons rusticating in the woods. had lunch under an oak tree on the top of a hill, in the sunshine. You'd never know it was heading towards winter, except all the trees are amazing colours. Coming mostly from coastal towns I've never really seen autumn 'en mass' before. It's really pretty. And when you're in the middle of the woods there you wouldn't even know you were in a city.

Also, they have an allotment near the heath. I love the allotments - you can rent them for a really small amount and grow veges and flowers all year. Seriously want one hey.

Was great to get out of the city for a day and the best bit is it only takes 25mins on the tube to get there. amazing.

Also got to talk and chat to home this weekend.. was so good to hear from you all.

catch ya later,

:-)

jac

on the way to work..

2007-10-31T11:23:00.000-07:00

Here's some pics I took on the way to work on Tuesday. It was the sunniest day I've seen for a while and London in the sunshine is really very beautiful, especially from the 12th floor looking over towards Westminster Abbey.

Anyway, the squirrels in the park are very funny at the moment - they seem to be burying things - then carefully sliding leaves over what they've buried. They scorned the currants I offered them in favour of the almonds. Very particular taste. And they give you one chance to come up with the goods, if you lure them to you under false pretenses they'll stare at you incredulously for a couple of second then leap away - no amount of calling and persuading is going to get them back again. Busy squirrel schedules I'm guessing.

I've been listening to TV on the Radio lately - they're really very good and, well, suit where I am at the moment... still in transition.. looking forward to the new job on Monday, it'll be good to settle in for a while, especially with winter coming and it getting darker.. nine hours of sunshine today.. and it gets even shorter they tell me. See how it goes. :-)

see ya

jac

it's alive!

2007-10-29T11:48:00.000-07:00

I have an active phone line! unbelievable..

apparently it was a broken wire somewhere nearby..

sigh

anyway, this means I can prank call you all in the middle of the night FOR FREE!

just kidding.. maybe..

bit about time differences.. if you're on daylight savings you're 11 hours ahead of me.. so.. if i want to call you at a reasonable hour.. like 8pm your time, then I have to call at 9am my time.. i think.. but if you're in Queensland, it's 10 hours.. so to call you at 8pm I have to call at 10am my time..

I think.. umm.. is that how it goes??

guess it'll take a couple of calls to find out. ;-)

see ya

jac

new job...

2007-10-26T00:20:00.001-07:00

I know, record time for me, but I'm starting a new job from Monday week. It's a BA job this time, and weird for a city this big, two doors down from where I work at the moment.

Went to the loveliest pub, called The Speaker for tea last night with my cycling-through-france friends. It's so good to have them back in town. No sky tv at the pub, no loud and annoying music, just warm and comfy food and big windows to sit near. Very nice. London sight seeing this weekend..

Better get going to work.

see ya

jac

NIN

2007-10-24T15:02:00.000-07:00

no, not the band, this is the National Insurance Number saga.. :-)

so, it's a bit like a tax file number.. not sure if it has some medicare-like function though.

anyway, here's how to get one...

1. get a job. yes, you have to have a job before you can apply.. of course the first thing your new employers ask for is your NIN, so it's all a bit chicken and egg at first.
2. make an appointment for an interview. :-) this is England my friend, they like to see you when you apply for something, well, anything really
3. wait 6 weeks. I kid you not, 6 weeks until your interview date.
4. now it get's a little more jac-adventure. day before the interview get a phone call from 'geoffrey' asking if possible could I come in earlier? sure, what time? any time between 9 and 11:30 (my original appointment was at 12). anytime between.. sigh.. ok..
5. get there at 11am.. yeah, slept in, couldn't sleep last night.. go to the counter.. the security guard calls me over and looks at my form, figure out he's standing in for the receptionist, and says 'come back at 11:30'.. explain about geoffrey.. doesn't register with the security guard.
6. take a seat on the carpet behind the queue of about 40 people.
7. spot the receptionist, bolt to the counter.. explain abou geoffrey.. receptionist goes nuts 'what did he tell you! what! they're always stuffing it up! he was supposed to tell you to get here at 9:30, but he did his own thing didn't he??' explain that i have to be somewhere at 4pm and get advance to level 1 receptionist
8. number 2 receptionist on level 1 takes my form and says 'take a seat'
9. wait 20 mins, just getting into my book and hear someone calling my name and i swear it's the smallest woman i've ever seen.. smaller than my gran was even! this lady just makes it to my waist. i felt like a great gangly giraffe walking next to her.
10. sit at the desk and the lady correctly discerns that I'm the daughter of a ten pound import to oz, then explains that she's here to fill in a form that'll be sent off to glasgow where someone else will enter it into a database, or maybe just manually create assign me a number. 'just the form, that's what you do?'. 'oh and copy all your documents'. the list of documents for the interview included passport, contract of employment, payslip, alternative photo id, evidence of address, evidence of lease, letter from the employer (because a contract's not enough). the form's a pre-printed 6 page booklet on larger than A4 and she pretty much copied everything from the 'evidence' onto the form.. sigh...
11. chat to the nice lady while waiting for the photocopy lady to finish photocopying stuff.
12. sign the form, then get returned to the waiting area and told to wait for my passport to come back
13. wait and wonder where my passport went in the first place.
14. more waiting
15. more waiting and watching the door anxiously as all the NIN workers are going off for a group lunch (that's why I was supposed to be there at 9:30)
16. finally! passport is returned.. still no idea what they were doing with it

and now..

I wait up to 7 weeks for my number to be sent to me...

and that's how you get a National Insurance Number

:-)

oxford and stars

2007-10-21T12:42:00.000-07:00

Hi,

Here's a photo a friend took on our trip to Oxford... he has a very nice camera and lens (I think it's a 10 or something) anyway, nice pic hey.

Went to see Stardust today (have this unlimited movie card thing see), it's fantastic! You should go and see it really.

Can't believe the weekend's over already!

:-)

jac

foiled again!

2007-10-20T11:14:00.000-07:00

eagerly awaiting the phone connection so I can talk to everyone again (instead of type).. finally, the big date is here! welcome pack arrives, modem even makes it through the mine field that is the Royal Mail delivery service, plug it all it, plug in the phone and.....

nothing..

nada

silence...

no dial tone, zippo communication.

feeling rather PO'd I phone British Telecom and they say 'sorry but our systems are down so we can't check if your line's working right now.. we can take an alternative number though and phone you later ..'

maybe hell is going to freeze over after all..

this afternoon went on a spontaneous walk to the Tate Modern and looked at London's newest piece of modern art. It's called Shibboleth and is, pretty much, a big crack in the concrete floor of the gallery.. it really is a literal interpretation of the word Shibboleth though, meaning using words to divide one group of people from everyone else, well according to the wiki, so I guess, in that space the shibboleth, being the crack in the floor, means you are on one side or the other or you're uncomfortably trying to bridge the two.

hmmm.. who wants to take sides though? but maybe that's the real point of a crack in the floor.. better to mend it or, perhaps, make some part of it narrow so it's easy to switch from one side to the other.

if only I could get British Telecom on my side ... sigh.. hmm.. maybe there's a magic word. ;-)