Five Weeks - How did it pass so quick?

Well I don’t know, but I do know that at this stage I am sitting on a plane flying back towards Hong Kong then onto Melbourne and work on Monday. In fact at the moment we are flying directly over just where the whole trip started from – Cam if you wave just maybe we can see you!! We are three hours out of London, and currently flying directly over Moscow.

As Garey (the washing fairy) pointed out in his one and only contribution to the blog, we parted company in London a couple of days ago as they went to spend a couple of days with Andy then onto Dubai and us to meet up with Gill’s rellies in London.

This trip just seems to have gone so fast. We have been to so many places, seen so many things, starting in Moscow then on to St – Petersburg back to Moscow then Belgium, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium, London, Turkey then back to the UK and London. It seems like a long way but I would repeat it again tomorrow. We have experienced every season from mid winter and snow through to temperatures that were in excess of 50 degrees; yep that’s right 50 degrees.

The highlights are meeting up with Cam, of course, and seeing parts of his world along with meeting with some of the friends that he has in Moscow. Spending time with the fairy and Sharryn and seeing our girls in Belgium and Switzerland again and catching up on just how they are getting on. And of course the time in Turkey doing nothing - they are really great people. Then meeting again with Suzanne, Andy, Charlotte, Callum, Kath and Doug, David and Doreen in London. Saying goodbye to an old friend in London who passed on when the zipper finally said NO MORE - the old blue suitcase that has travelled around the world so many times. Then finding my new Landrover Discovery at a little pub on Tawney Common, Epping, only to be told by Gill that it was too big to fit into my suitcase. (After I had rung the owner about it!!)

Really just a great trip - must get the travel organiser on to arranging the next trip. I am ready to go – not too sure about the bank balance though just maybe that will need to recover a little. I will make sure that we publish a number of pictures at some stage and also some of the Landrover along with various others on return to Melbourne.

Till next time from me Hosca Kal! (Good bye in Turkish)

Hey it has to be washed first!!!

MMMMMmmm so at least he knows what to use!!

The Washing Fairy's idea of washing - c'mon you have to move first it dosen't wash its self!!!

Garey The Washing Fairy

London

After a very “short” night we returned to Gatwick Airport and caught the train into London to commence the last few days of our holiday. We met up with Andy and her friends Del and Amy for lunch at a restaurant near Victoria Station. It was great to see Andy – she is looking great with a new hair do and looking very relaxed and very much at home. Here we said good-bye to Sharryn and Garey as they head off to Dubai on Thursday, with a three day stop over enroute to NZ and Peter and I head direct to Melbourne on Friday.

We then made our way to Upminster by train – Pete is never very keen on public transport and is not confident that I know where I am going or will get off the train at the right place. However, I have done it before (so has he, but he can never remember the finer details like where to get on and off) and before long we were in Upminster. We stayed with my Dad’s cousin Kath, and her husband Doug. Upminster is a lovely part of London, just 25 miles (or is it kilometres – I am not sure) and just 20 minutes on the overland train. However, we had caught the slow train so it took a little longer.
It was good to spend the next couple of days with Kath and Doug, and also their daughter Suzanne and her husband Andy, and children Callum and Charlotte. The children have grown up so much since our first visit five years ago, and then two years ago.

London turned on “mid summer” weather although it was a little windy from time to time. On Wednesday Peter and I “did” the High Street before driving out into the country to meet up with more cousins, David and Doreen, for a leisurely lunch at an authentic English country pub. It was just lovely and we all enjoyed it immensely. Sitting out in the garden after lunch Peter spied a Landrover for sale – oh how he would have loved it to be in Australia as he would have paid for it on the spot. It had all the bells and whistles and at a very reasonable price. Just as well it was in England and not in Australia is all I can say.

Thursday, Suzanne, Peter and I took the train up to London for the day. It was just great and we really felt as though we had “been” to London. We took the train to Fenchurch Street then the bus to Trafalgar Square. We watched the horses getting ready to for the changing of the guard then wandered down the Mall to Buckingham Palace in time to watch (with hundreds of others) the changing of the guard. The flag was flying so the Queen was in residence. We then wandered to Westminster Cathedral and joined the mass for a while, then on to Westminster Abby. We decided that as we had all been inside the Abby on earlier visits it didn’t warrant the twelve pound entrance fee.

We had lunch on the Embankment which is on the River Thames just opposite the London Eye. Again, we have been on the London Eye so didn’t repeat that but instead took the underground to Bow Street to visit the Bow Church and the area where Peter’s grandfather had been a “Bow Street Runner” prior to emigrating to New Zealand in 1922. Suzanne was able to point out the Bank of England, the Magistrates Court, the Stock Exchange and numerous other well known facilities as she had previously worked in the area and Andy now works near there in Coleman Street now. Coleman Street also has the London office of the company that Cam works for in Moscow so we can now envisage where he is when in London.

After lots of walking and sightseeing, and just a little shopping, we returned to Upminster for a family dinner beautifully prepared for us by Kath. It was then time to say good-bye to Suzanne and Andy and the children.

An early start for us again today, as we left Upminster by train at 7.30 a.m. to make our way (and yes, we did make it with no problems) to Heathrow Airport and check-in for our flight to Melbourne, via Hong Kong. Our holiday is over, but all good things must come to an end. We have had a great time, loved seeing so many people we care for and enjoyed some wonderful new experiences.

The last three days in Turkey

We were all disappointed as our time in Turkey was passing so quickly and we were well and truly in the relaxation mode. Even Garey who likes lots to do, was happy with the mix of sleep, food, swimming at the pool or the beach, more food and the occasional trip out to the village.

On Saturday we had a very lazy day – spent entirely at the resort. We had planned on making it down to the beach, but somehow that just didn’t happen. We attended a short “Turkish for Foreigners” language session at 10.30 a.m., then spent the next hour or so by the pool, food again because you get hungry when you are busy, then the views from the pool beckoned us again so we forfeited siesta and spent the afternoon lazing on the loungers and dipping in the pool to cool off. Some of the sights at the pool are worth spending a few hours observing – no further details to be provided. Perhaps you will just need to visit one of the resorts in that part of the world!

We have already filled you in with our evening and the antics of Garisa and Petra.

Sunday we had plans – it was market day in the local village so we took the shuttle bus down to attempt a little more bargaining. This market was much smaller than our visit to Ortica but was still interesting. Peter was keen to buy a couple more shirts and we purchased a new suitcase – not because we have bought much at all but one of our cases was certainly showing signs of wear and tear. Shopping completed, we spent the afternoon at the beach. It is so nice to be able to go swimming in the sea without freezing. Of course there is the added advantage of drinks and snacks on hand when required all at no additional cost.

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and Monday arrived. With packing out of the way, sightseeing at the pool was next on the agenda. Can you believe even I got in the water regularly? We had to fit in one more visit to the beach and lounged our way through the afternoon. To finish our time in Turkey with a bang we all went for a Turkish bath back at the resort and Peter indulged in a “peeling, foam and massage” (in an attempt to get rid of flaking skin). Sharryn and I had been earlier in the week, and I had also lined up for a Classic Facial. We had an early dinner then unfortunately it was time to head to the airport in Dalaman for our return flight to London.

This was the first of our flights to be delayed – just an hour to nearly midnight due to bird strike in one of the engines, but somehow it seems much worse that late at night. We finally arrived into London around 2 a.m. but with the time difference that was 4 a.m. for us, and we were pleased that we had made bookings at a hotel nearby.

Our relaxing “mystery” week’s holiday was over – it was great and we would have loved to have stayed on. We can truly recommend Alinn Boutique Hotel for excellent service, great facilities, wonderful food and drink both in abundance and for providing ability for total relaxation.

Garey's contibution to the blog.......

It is time again to go our separate ways(till we meet again) and I am looking forward to the next trip under the guidance of our tour director Gill and chauffeur Peter. It goes without saying that Peter got us there quickly and safely and on a few occasions even earlier than expected. (We await the speed camera notices)

Peter is very lucky that we insited he drive again this trip as had we chosen to use public transport he would have missed out on seeing many of the wonderful sights that Europe presented to us. He has an uncanny knack of being able to fall asleep in almost all situations. A good example of this was in Brugge where in the middle of the town square he sprawled out on a park bench with his leather jacket rolled up for a pillow. He was hard to distinguish from the local homeless. You will understand what I mean when you look at the pictures that accompany this post.

We have had a wonderful time tripping around and especially in Turkey where we were able to sleep, drink and relax. Peter has promised that his lotto winnings are waiting for him on his return to Melbourne and that we will be back in Turkey in three months. We look forward to this.

Thank you Gill and Peter for once again ensuring our trip was a memorable and fun experience.

Meet Garisa and Petra

We had a really quiet day yesterday, as afterall we are so overworked! We had gone to Turkish lessons for foreigners in the morning (as the staff are always trying to teach us some basic words) and in the afternoon we had to supervise the pool area and didn't even have time to check out the seaside.

Come dinner time it was Turkish night. The tables were set out around the pool plus the restaurant verandah area. It takes some effort to get the tables of choice in these circumstances as there are some very pushy Russians who love to elbow there way forward. However, I succeeded and got a table around the pool area and enjoyed a beautiful meal.

Then the Turkish dancers arrived and for half an hour we enjoyed some real Turkish cultural dancing. This was followed by a young belly dancer. Once she had finished her routine she went looking for a couple of "volunteers", and yes, you guessed it - Peter (now known as Petra) and Garey (renamed as Garisa) were the chosen two. Boy did we enjoy laughing!

Sorry we tried to upload a video but not enough connectivity.

Something we have forgotten to tell you!

We missed telling you about something special about our place in paradise in Turkey - one of the key factors about the choice of this resort is that .....

There are no children under the age of 16 allowed!

It has been really nice to be able to enjoy the resort without having screaming children running around the tables or the pool area, parents constantly yelling at kids and generally being child free. It is not that anyone of us dislikes children, especially Sharryn who chooses to work with them all day and get paid for it, but it is nice to enjoy a holiday without them.

So if any of you want a child free holiday, we know a place we can recommend.

To market, to market to buy a .........

We had been told by one of the waitressing staff that the market is held in Ortica on Fridays, so we decided to include that into our busy week!

The best way to get to the market is on the local domulus (bus), and as the temperatures have been high during the day we decided to head off early. We caught the 9.30 a.m. shuttle down to the beach and met the local bus. It cost three lira (about $3NZ) each, each way and the bus was more like a van and seated nineteen passengers. The trip took 40 minutes and by the time we arrived in Ortica we had twenty six passengers, with the extras standing. Most of the locals who joined us were women off to buy their vegetables we thought, or it may have been to catch up with friends.

As we arrived in Ortica, which is a reasonable size town, it was just after 10 a.m. and it was 43 deg which rose to 45 deg within the next hour.

The market was divided into two sections - clothing and miscellaneous and then fruit and vegetables. I was the first to buy - a sunhat was high on the agenda and was the only shopping for me. Peter bought a couple of more polo shirts and a pair of shorts (as the washing fairy seems to have gone on strike in Turkey). Sharryn missed out completely but Garey, who loves shopping, was in his element.

The fruit and vegetables area was really interesting - my love for cherries came to the fore and for 4 lira you could buy a kilo of succulent cherries. Half a kilo was enough for me as Peter doesn't like them and I didn't have to share!

We caught the bus back to the beach where we again caught the shuttle back to the hotel just in time for lunch - afterall we would hate to miss out on a meal.

Siesta was next on the agenda for me before down to the beach for yet another swim. It is a very busy life we are living. It is now pre-dinner drinks time and while I type, Peter and Garey are playing pool and drinking beers, and Sharryn, well she is just relaxing.

MMMmmmm wonder what they are doing!!!

We are in Paradise!

We arrived to at approx 10.30pm on Monday to food and drink waiting for us and have had a constant supply ever since. The temprature yesterday was 39 in shade and 50 on the beach. We were on the beach. The breeze helped a little.

Relaxing is very easy as it is too hot to do much else. On Tuesday Peter and Gill wandered to a nearby village and then back to the beach and Peter said it was long and hot. Garey decided he would decide for himself and walked to the village and caught a tractor back to the beach. Yesterday in Garey's enthusiasim for walking he decided I should wall to the village and then the beach. I agree with Peter it is long and hot! I think it is less than two km but have to say I was very ready for a swim when I arrived at the beach. Not planning on walking again!

Our day looks a little like this

Breakfast at 9-10ish lots of choice so have to keep going back

Quiet time, emails blog reading etc.

Beach (they serve beer, water, juices, wine and food at beach too)

Lunch 1-2ish lots of choice so you have to keep going back

Beach, pool or siesta

Snacks if required

Coffee and turkish cakes

Pre dinner drinks

7.30 -9.30 dinner lots of choice so you have to keep going back

Post dinner drinks

As you can see there is food and drink available from 7.30 am till 1 am (soup from midnight to 1am) and have I mentioned it is all covered in our original charge. That is right we are not paying for anything!

As you can see from the pictures we are finding it all quite stressful!!!!!!!!

We have lovely staff wandering around continually bringing drinks and picking up empty glasses.

The next day or as some would refer Monday 16th June

Bit of a bugger really. As I stated yesterday this holiday, has really flown. Well over half way now!! Anyway who cares for today we are off on the supposed mystery week. For those of you who are familiar with flying today was to be a day spent with lots of airport time. We left the hotel in Brussels at about 6:45am yep that’s right jolly early and headed to the airport – Gypsy packed a shit and wouldn’t log in for ages (God knows why) but we were at least 15 minutes into the trip albeit in the wrong direction before she told us!! Arrived at the airport finally at 8:10, checked the car back in after having successfully clocked up some three and a half thousand k’s and headed for check-in – BA to London.

Arrived in London at 10:30 British Standard time recovered baggage and caught pre booked hire car to Gatwick from London. (You know the trip organiser (Gill) didn’t do too badly all this stuff really just flowed – mind you don’t want to praise too much as may go to her head!)

The trip Heathrow to Gatwick took just about an hour which in the scheme of things wasn’t too bad apart from the fact that now we had 4, yep that’s right four, hours to wait before the next flight to mystery destination. Oh that’s right, I still haven’t told you where that is!! Lined up for check in at the Easyjet counter and got processed – no where near as bad as they make out on telly. Finally flight is called. We are in group “A” for boarding as we had checked in so early. Easyjet you see do not issue seat numbers so at boarding time that the scrum actually starts – thousands of people at the boarding ramp all just waiting to be the first on board – well believe me they had not met Gill, she is really just like a little ferret. She wound her way through the throngs when group three was called which in fact was the ‘a’ group (after the disabled and those with babies) and managed to get on I am sure almost before any of the other groups. By the time we arrived we had been organised with the best seats ever exit isles for both. God knows how this was achieved but it was and who am I to complain as we actually had three seats in the end a spare one between us and Garey and Sharryn had the exit row on the opposite side too.
So we were off on the mystery holiday on Easyjet with a packed picnic lunch/dinner on a plane where you actually rely on the fitness of passenger to get the best seat. Rather a new experience one might say as with all the travel that I do I have never in my life before not been allocated a seat!! – that’s right I still haven’t told you just where we were going to weeeeelllllllll its Turkey. That’s right Turkey another experience as I haven’t been here before either.
Arrival in Turkey wasn’t that stressful. Garey’s bag was broken but hey that didn’t affect me. We caught a taxi car to the hotel which is called the Alinn Sarigerme (www.alinnboutiquehotel.com) Now this place ain’t too bad you see its all inclusive – that’s right all inclusive apart from tips and god know just how the tipping will work as Gill & Garey both hate doning it!. We checked in at 11pm at night and headed for the dinning room where they had kept some snacks for us then directly to the bar for our first experience of all inclusive. BTW it’s not a bad way to go from what I see. Well that’s it. We are here and I am sure will report on Turkey as the week proceeds so for now I am off to an all inclusive breakfast so till later see you.

Is it Sunday or Monday

Well this holiday just seems to have flown by. We have been in, and visited so many places, seen so many people that it’s kind of hard to keep up – although I must now admit to actually being on holiday.
Sunday – well we left the mountain (Grindelwald) as you have been told by numerous people – talk about fantastic, it was bloody fantastic. We went through whilst we were in Grindelwald to visit with Sarah and Nina, both important people in our lives. Catching up with Nicole, her boyfriend Simple!!, Marcus, Nicole’s Pappy, Maggie and of course Kira the dog just have made this holiday something special.
After leaving the mountain, as seems to be my duty, I drove the 550 – 600 k’s to Luxembourg. Bloody washing fairy can get away with light duties but the poor old driver, speedy Pete can’t. There were not too many incidences apart from the one where I nearly dozed off and but for one coat of paint on the car I would have hit the centre barrier!! Skill however kept us on the straight and narrow and speeding towards our destination – we didn’t make many stops on the way apart from to water the trees, have the odd coffee and get gas the objective was clear – Luxembourg and dinner. We had arrived so the rain started.
Next morning we headed into Luxembourg central for a leisurely walk around the town and as we didn’t have much time caught this little train for a quick tour of the sights. The best part about Luxembourg was listening to the two bands playing in the market squares.
On the road again with the next stop Brussels. On arrival put the car into garage then explored a bit – really a lot like we had seen elsewhere, then ate again of course. Went back to hotel for a repack of bags as you see we were off on our mystery holiday tomorrow via Easyjet to some exotic place where apparently all the birds would be chasing particularly me and a whole week of R&R – no driving therefore no back seat drivers or passenger seat drivers and apparently the beer, food and all will be free. Well kind of free, as I guess that we paid for it at some stage.
Had dinner in the market area of Brussels was great too – actually must comment - managed to have the biggest beer of the trip at dinner tonight surely getting into practice for the mystery week. Got told just where the mystery week was at dinner but am not telling you until tomorrow – so there!! (Me thinkest that Garey had more of a need to know than I – as he had declared that he had absolute knowledge in the morning to Marcus (Nicole’s Pappy) as apparently Sharryn had accidentally stated or as one could say spilt the beans about said place during the packing process during the morning – mental note to self don’t tell Sharryn where family jewels are hidden!!)
I will report further from holidays.

Time for our mystery holiday

Sharryn let it slip to Garey accidentally the destination of our mystery holiday when they were packing their suitcases to leave Grindalwald - trust Sharryn. She felt terrible about it but it didn't really matter by that stage.

Peter showed no interest whatsoever in where we were going, as long as their is plenty of beer and it is free. Anyone would think he has an alcoholic!

So last night at dinner in a lovely little arcade in the centre of Brussels near the central market we decided it was time to share. Peter still showed no interest but Garey was a little uncertain by that stage as to whether he had it correct.

So we are off to Turkey today. For the first time in our holidays we had to get up at 6 a.m. to make our way to the airport, return the rental car and check in. Next stop London for a quick trip from Heathrow to Gatwick then an Ezijet flight at 4 p.m. today for Dalaman in Turkey.

More updates to come I am sure.

Sunday 15 June Luxembourg to Brussels

We spent this morning wandering around Luxembourg city, visiting the Grand Palace and taking a small train trip around the old town. While wandering around the market squares we fell upon Brass Bands playing. There was a music festival on. We first came across a band playing with a male singing (in English) and the second band was an army band. For Peter it brought back lots of memories from his cornet playing days and he has declared he would like to join a band and we are all very encouraging. (So long as he does not live next to us when he wants to practice) We could have stayed all day as it was very enjoyable. Peter and Garey had to have a Bratwurst as they we selling them and it looked like a sausage sizzle. (Neither is known to turn down a sausage sizzle)

We walked back to our hotel and picked up our car for what was to be the last car journey of this part of the trip. We arrived in Brussels to rain! We are getting very used to rain although it has not really stopped us from doing much. After settling into our hotel we wandered out for a look at Brussels. The architecture is beautiful. The market square is surrounded in buildings built in the 1600’s.

Tomorrow we are off back to London and then to our secret destination. Although both Garey and Peter think they know where we are going they do not think the same thing so either one or both of them are wrong.

Saturday 14th June Gill had had enough and tried to jump off a cliff!

Nicole had organised for Gill to go paragliding this morning. Unfortunately we woke to rain and we all decided it was not to be but went along just in case. Marcus (Nicole’s Father) dropped Gill and I at the paragliding company and the pilot said he felt the rain had stopped and the cloud was clearing so we went up the Gondola to a point called First which is 2,200 metres up. We climbed down to the jumping platform and waited and waited and waited for the cloud to clear but it did not. The pilot received a phone call and it was suggested we went back down the mountain to the previous gondola stop as the weather in the valley was clearing. This time it got very exciting, we could see the valley floor which was the criteria for the flight. Gill was strapped into the harness and her helmet put on. The glider was opened onto the ground and spread out ready to go. The pilot (Kirt) then strapped himself to Gill and the glider and they stood on the edge ready to go. By now the cloud had come back in so they were just waiting for a “window of opportunity”. They stood and they stood, Kirt with his hands in the take of position ready to go at anytime Gill knew to run when he counted down. Well they stood some more and I have to say it was getting colder and colder and colder and colder. After about an hour of them standing ready to take off I noted white stuff falling on my jacket and we all realised it was beginning to snow and the trip was called off. It was very disappointing when they had been so ready for so long. Kirt stayed up and we went down on the gondola, just as we left the window opened and we could see the valley floor alas too late!
We said our goodbyes to Nicole, Marcus and Grindelwald and set off on a long trip to Luxembourg. It took us about 6.5 hours to get there and the final part of the trip had a few hiccups as Luxembourg was not loaded onto the GPS and we ran out of instructions. We reverted to road signs and found a hotel eventually. We had dinner in and a quiet night as we were all tired.

Sharryn And Garey’s Day on Jungfraur (the top of Europe) Thursday 12th June 2008

Entered by Gill but written by Sharryn

Gill and Peter were going to St Gallen and Zurich and we planned to go up a mountain to the top of Europe. We boarded a train at 9am which ground it’s way up the mountain. It took a over an hour and we chugged up hill the entire way reaching a height of 3571 metres or 11,722 feet. Bloody high and not much air. The railways are cog rails to stop them slipping on such steep tracks. The views are not matched anywhere that you can go without a Sherpa or a helicopter. When you get to the top there are signs everywhere saying take your time as the air is so thin that you get very puffed very quickly. We were able to play in the snow and it was very soft as there had been a fresh fall the day before. We went tobogganing but although it was heaps of fun we could not do it for too long as climbing back up the hill was exhausting. I climbed up the side of a bank to go on a flying fox. That was very cool but I did start to worry when I could see the snow getting closer and I was not slowing down at all. I soon realised that my feet and my bum were the brakes! Also at the top were huskies taking people for a ride but the idea of making a couple of dogs tow us around on a sleigh did not seem fair. The weather up there was outstanding; we had blue skies and views for miles. The trip down the mountain took equally as long and most people on the train were asleep.
We had a quite night back in Grindelwald with wine cheese and bread for dinner.