Winchester Cathedral, Titanic and getting lost!

Monday afternoon saw Becky, Chrissy (a friend of Becky's) and I go to Winchester, to walk around the Cathedral. It was very beautiful in a magical sort of way. There was some entertaining moments, like a young couple sitting on the grass in the grounds of the cathedral, making out amongst the headstones in the ground. And small doorways lined with roses and ivy, just high enough for me to walk through without knocking myself out in the process.



Tuesday saw me getting - wait for it - lost... Again. In Southampton city center this time however. I caught a bus, the first bus I've caught in England so far, (not including the bus I caught for the tour of London!) and I made my way to the docks of Southampton. The driver let me stop earlier than the docks, so I could walk along the Southampton wall, a broken, ruined wall skirting around the city of Southampton. The wall walk found me at the museum for the Atlantic Ocean cruiser RMS Titanic (RMS Titanic was the largest passenger steamship in the world when she set off on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, on 10 April 1912. Four days into the trip, on 14 April 1912, she struck an iceberg and sank, resulting in the deaths of 1,517 people in one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history.)

The museum was actually quite eerie. There were relics of things brought back to the surface from the Titanic wreck, buttons and pictures, stories from survivors. When I left the museum, that's when I got lost. I found a place to eat - a huge mall - West Quay, full of shops I've never heard of, and found a post office to get stamps, then got lost. I was trying to find the bus stop I needed to catch to get back to Becky's place. There was honestly 6 bus stops I had to chose from. And they were still the wrong ones! But I finally spoke to a bus driver, and she pointed out the stop I needed to be at. So my lost feeling stopped there.

And now I am getting a little ready to go to a pub known as 'The Hobbit', a Lord of the Rings themed pub. Shall be very interesting, so here goes!

Southampton, Devon and Cornwall

It's been a weekend, and what adventures I have had!

I caught a train from Paddington Station to Reading, then Reading station to Southampton Central. And after a bit of time people watching (the train was earlier than expect on my part, and later than expected in real life because there was a trespasser on the line earlier on in the track), then Becky arrived and we went off to sort out the weekend. I met Becky (Leithall is her last name - isn't that so cool?!) at James Cook, and I am super glad I kept in touch! We went to her place to wait for her other half James to arrive from London, where we then left Southampton to go on a trip down to Becky's home county of Devon.

First off though - we went camping. I have now got the experience behind me to say I've been camping in the English country side! We drove past countless hedges, down winding country lanes, past BUNNIES, and so many full camp sites! We drove through the quaintest village yet, Corfe, where the ruins of Corfe Castle still stand, slowly falling down. But finally we came across a site with space to spare for a tent and barbeque, and that was it! Another group of city slickers arrived when we did, and it took us much less time to pitch our tent and set up our barbeque as opposed to how long it took them. We sat eating sausages and drinking cider watching the sun set over Corfe Castle.


Saturday morning saw us wandering through the little village, looking at Corfe Castle over grave yards and eating New Forest ice-cream in a little tea house. By the time we left, it was already looking like a beautiful English summer day, with no clouds in the sky.


We drove to Durdle Door - it is in various films - and I died walking up the steep chalk hill. But the view over Durdle Door, and back towards the village of Lulworth, in Dorset, was just breath taking. The beach at Durdle Door was a typical pebble beach, which was an experience to behold! And the water! The water was freezing! I did put my feet in, and they hurt beyond belief then went numb!


When we left Durdle Door, we drove and drove through little winding country roads, with hedges high around the car. We drove through the moors of Dartmoor, looking at shetland ponies and sheep asleep on the road, then stopped at Two Bridges. The road bridge crosses a stream at the same point as an old stone bridge, which has stood there for many years (A map dated 1765 suggests the origin of the name, for in those days the road crossed both the West Dart and the River Cowsic, just upstream from the point where they meet, and required two separate bridges).


My first night in Bere Alston, Becky's home village, saw us have a barbeque dinner, followed by a drive down to a small village celebration at Bere Ferrers. There was live music in the back of a truck, fireworks over the River Tavy, more cider (cider seems to be the drink of choice in the west counties) and lots of laughter and dancing. The band was led by a female vocal, and they did some great covers of known songs.


Sunday saw something absolutely amazing. I got into the Atlantic Ocean! We went to a beach (with REAL sand) in Cornwall, a little cove called Trebawith. It was near Tintagel, where it's thought one of the many myths of King Arthur is said to have been. Granted it was absolutely freezing, and I was in a full body wet suit, but I went into the Atlantic Ocean and went body boarding. I didn't last in the water for nearly as long as James, Becky and her parents, who were in there for quite some time. But instead I wandered around taking photos and laughing at the absurdity of the English bather, the masses of people diving into the cold water and those sunbathing under the cold summer wind.


We left after another barbeque in the field at Becky's and got back to Southampton after midnight, and the weekend's adventures became something to dream about.

Hyde Park and Kensington Garden

Squirrels!










So I spent the day chasing squirrels and ugly ducklings, roses and princesses, and sunshine and cool breezes. It was a perfect, beautiful most peaceful day, with SQUIRRELS and photo opportunities galore! It was an amazing day! I found a field of daisies more than once, but I couldn't help but to put one on here! I just love daisies!













It was beautiful. The Kensington Palace which is nearby on the Kensington Garden side of the park had an exhibition on about 7 princesses who have lived in the palace. The exhibition - why is no where allowing photography?? - was spectacular! It reminded me of one of the students instillation pieces from one of my class mates from year 12. Eerily beautiful. After the palace, I sat under a tree and enjoyed the breeze and the sunniness flowing over the pond full of swans!!







After that, I went for a walk... I found a statue to Peter Pan! That was amazing! More than that, it was just incredible.

A Man and His Ferret

I forgot to write about a man and his ferret!
This man was outside the front of Paddington Station on Tuesday afternoon, the same day as my last blog when I went to Trafalgar Square. He was a real quirky character, and he had a pet (tamed and non-biting) albino ferret! I've only ever read about ferrets, and seen drawings!

Well... now I have petted a pet ferret, who was a curious, cute little fellow, who didn't bite and didn't drink beer (unlike the man's last ferret - who went gaga for the stuff)! The ferret was so funny, it was on a harness, so it couldn't go too far, but it kept trying to trip people up as it walked around, and there was a man with an old school hasselblad film camera trying to get a fancy photo of the ferret but he couldn't the ferret refused to pose!

Well, the story ends with me taking a photo of the charming fellow and his pet ferret, who I'd like to add, was a cute little thing and very soft to pet!

Yesterday was a rather lazy day for me, catching up on rest and peace from the last few hectic days! Today will be similar, a walk in Hyde Park - SQUIRRELS! Apparently there are squirrels in the park!!!!!! I can't wait to see a real live squirrel!!!

Holmes, Beatles, Nelson and Gallery!

So I survived my next day.

I went to some amazing places today. Started by getting lost trying the find the Sherlock Holmes Museum! And found out at the same time that someone had nicked about 40 pound from my wallet! That's a fair bit of money to be pinched! But in any case, the museum was fascinating, and there was a gorgeous old man as Dr Watson giving little tours and posing for photos :)

After the museum I went into this poky little store - catch this - The Beatles! The entire store was covered in Beatles memorabilia! It was just amazing! After that, catching the tube to Westminster Abbey, and I spent the next hour or so wandering around the Abbey, and then past the House of Parliament. Sitting beside the House of Parliament overlooking the Thames, absolutely beautiful! The day was just stunning!

Then off to Trafalgar Square! Admiral Nelson died in the battle of Trafalgar, somewhere overseas, and there is a giant statue in memory of him. He lost half his arm or something during the war. But his statue has both arms, and is quite exquisite! There are four giant lions made of a metal or really dark stone that heats easily, and people kept getting burnt, it was quite funny to see. After sitting and eating lunch, it was time to visit the National Gallery! I saw some of the most amazing painting, that I've only ever seen in books! They are beautiful! I am going back at some point to see more of it - I hardly got through maybe 15 -20 rooms, and the building is just full of painting! But because of how much I had already done, I was just too pooped to do any more!!!

However - it is now pretty later - after 11 pm and I am still awake...

Pics will be up soon enough! Bye for now!

I've made it!!!

Ahoy!
So the flight to England was long, tiring and really not that great, but hey, I figure you get that! Above is out of the window at Doha International Airport, figured you needed to see how dusty and hazy in was in the air!! Being in England is such a thrill that the trying flights were worth it. So much has happened in just a day and a half. I've met two Aussie, both staying in the same room as me, who seem pretty cool. The place I'm staying in is The Green Man - a refurbished pub which now has a hostel over the bar, and the character of this place is just awesome! People are very mellowed, and the pub is a CLASSIC English pub!Today I went on a tour of London with Premium Tours. But my day really started with me getting lost in the back streets, lanes and alleys of London! There is some very fancey, very expensive where I got lost! However, I did find this old church... and when I figure out how to upload, I will do so, but for now, just imagine it - it was beautiful!

In any case about the tour, I'd go on another tour of theirs any day, it was well worth it! The day started with a boat trip down the River Thames, to The Tower of London. The stories of murder, betrayal, mystery and treason are soo fascinating! I didn't get to look at everything in lots of detail, but I did manage to go into the white castle, and see the armour of Henry the Eighth, and walked past the Traitor's Gate, where traitors to the crown were brought through to be executed! And in the Bloody Tower, it is said that two princes were murdered by their uncle (I think) and now haunt the tower.

At the Tower of London is the Jewel Tower, where the crown jewels of the British Royal Families is on display. Unfortunately we couldn't take photos, so sorry. They were quite exquisite... I'm still more of a silver fan, however some of the jeweled crowns were absolutely stunning! Also, I saw the ravens of the Tower of London. The belief that if they should ever leave the tower is a strange one. In any case, they cannot leave, their wings are clipped to stop them from flying away, poor things... and all for a superstition... (There have always been ravens at the Tower of London, and some are usually seen strutting about Tower Green. They are unfriendly and it is unwise to touch or feed them. Their wings are clipped so that they cannot fly away. A curious superstition dating from the time of Charles II prophesises that when there are no longer ravens in the Tower both the White Tower and the British Commonwealth will fall.)

After the Tower of London, we went and saw the changing of the guard - the Royal Guards who guard the monarch, who in this case is Queen Elizabeth II. It was very strict, and yet they are sooo funny to watch! The Royal Guard (and the British) really know how to stand on ceremony! We stuck around after they returned to the barracks, and took a couple of photos, watching soldiers jump when their commanding officer started screaming at them practically!


We had a very short stop over to take a few snappys of Westminster Abbey and all the statues and icons around it. Then we dropped off the half day tourists at Trafalgar Square, and went on to St Paul's Cathedral. Before we went on our tour, we went to lunch. One of the ladies on the tour (whom I was lunching with) almost lost her wallet to some miscreant little deviant, who opened her bag so sneakily she didn't even feel it. However, a passing stranger and his wife caught this deviant in the act! So the lady got her wallet back! And we had lunch with Ray and his wife Shafe.


Again, not allowed to take photographs in St Paul's, however a photo wouldn't describe it properly. This in one thing you need to see to feel! The dome, the sheer size and decoration and beauty in this building is honestly just breathe taking! The detail in the art work - which was rejected 3 times by men who had to approve the design, is just amazing! Queen Mary however, thought it was a boring building, and ensured mosaics and statues went into the cathedral, which suited the architect fine as he wanted to have that beauty in the first place.
And lastly, the London Eye - eclipsed only by the ferris wheel in Singapore, the London Eye is still just amazing! It took half an hour to go around, and I think I got some ok photos of Big Ben and the House of Parliament. And then back to The Green Man, using the Underground - this way of travel is very fast and really fun!

However, now for the time being, I am very tired - its 9.10pm and I need to go to bed! I am soo tired STILL!!!

Kael

airport angst

Well well,

That day has actually arrived and I'm sitting on a comfortable chair in the international lounge at Darwin International Airport...Can you believe it?? I am still reeling that I'm being brave enough to do this! She'll be right... set my mp3 player up with music for the flight, then shut down, and get ready to go... I board at 6pm, and its 5.25pm so far. I'm going to freeze in London! And my bag - I will be able to carry it! 15.2kg, so I'm still way under the limit, but even so it's bulky as ever with my tripod strapped to it!
This is where I get into a heated discussion that the tripod is coming with me NOW! I gotta have it, there is no question! Reminding myself it's going to be great and I am going to learn so much as a photographer and definitely grown into my skin!

xo I'll write more from either Singapore or Doha International - we'll see both if I can charge my computer or if I am awake enough to want to write!

Almost time to go

One week and five days till I go, getting a little nervous...
Anyone have any suggestions of places for me to visit?