6 a.m.

Well it is 6 o’clock in the morning. I have almost finished my first cup of coffee and am half watching the morning tv shows and half reading my book. Anyone who knows me, knows that 6 a.m. just doesn’t exist for me. My body time clock is so out of whack, I woke up about a quarter past 5 and couldn’t get back to sleep. So I’m thinking about the house and what needs doing during the rest of the week until I go back to work on Monday.

I’m also waking up hungry. Which for people who know me, is also unheard of. My body clock says it is 9 p.m. and I haven’t given my stomach any dinner yet.

Kazza picked me up from the airport and, great person that she is, supplied dinner, a chocolate bar and a bottle of coke. I like the way she thinks. All the important things one might need when returning home after 4 months. Also, the house sitters have left me a meal. So having only eaten half of what Kazza left, I now have meal for at least the next three nights.

On the way home, we stopped at the local petrol station and got some bread, chips, butter and plastic cheese. You can’t buy plastic cheese in the UK. So basically with the coffee that has been in the freezer for the last 4 months, and the sugar that has been in the cupboard, I am set for the next couple of days.

I’m really not quite sure what to do with myself. The house looks familiar and yet totally unfamiliar at the same time. At one level, I know where everything is, I put things where they are; at another level, I have to stop and think where is my coffee cup? It’s a really interesting feeling.

The fur kids: Ally was the first to see me. She looked totally stunned and still does. She didn’t run around like a wild animal, she was incredibly subdued and quiet in her reaction. Her tail is down and her ears are down. Not a happy puppy. I wonder if she misses Jacqui and Alex who have been looking after her for the last four months. I just went outside and there she was, tail up, ears up, playing with Harry. Hopefully, she gets that I’m here to stay now, even though the suitcases are still on the table waiting to be emptied.

Harry: He came to visit while Kazza was here. Only briefly. Didn’t come for a pat, but then Harry never does. But he is hanging around and came for a pat this morning.

Sunny: I went into the cupboard after I got home and there was my cupboard cat. She’s not been in the cupboard since. She follows me around. Too hot for lap sitting, but she stays very near where I am.

Jacqui and Alex’s comments about Sunny (they’ve been thinking she is a he all this time):

“Sunny: what can I say about Sunny, only that he won our hearts. He is such a lovely cat. Likes to be cuddles lots and to be with you all the time. We gave him one of our pillows for his Christmas presents as he is not a big eater (a bit fussy only likes his tin food).”

All the fur kids got Christmas presents and they left me a photo of Ally amongst the presents. I must admit, she does not look happy.

A mossie is trying to eat me. I’ve not had a mossie bite in over four months.

Overall, I’m happy with the way they looked after the place. But it is going to take a while to get back into the swing of things. I’m going to go and try and start the car and take it in for a service. That’s task number 1.

Catcha soon, hopefully with some photos.

Madeleine

Wednesday, 28 January 2009

Leaving Singapore

Well this is the last day of my big adventure. Tomorrow at the crack of dawn I get out of bed, packed and to the airport to head back to Perth. Today I saw in the Chinese New Year, with a Dragon Dance which was really great.  Then this afternoon, I took a tour of the zoo. Both of which I will write about when I get home. I got some great photos of the Dragon and I think some great zoo photos. Other than having a nana nap between the Dragon and the Zoo, not much happened today. I've talked to some great people from all different places in the world.

So if anyone wants to come and visit me, I will be at home from Wednesday and ready for visitors I suspect. Just give me a ring to make sure I'm not having a nana nap.

So my next post will be from hot Perth.

Madeleine

Monday, 26 January 2009

Singapore

Arrived safely in Singapore. Internet access is available, but costs $5 per half hour session and must be used all in one session, so I’m writing this and will check my emails and then log onto the net and post my writings at the same time.

The trip here was deliciously uneventful and so far Singapore has been fine. It doesn’t even feel as hot as it did when I was here 4 months ago. Could it be that I was a bit feverish??

Finally managed to get most of my stuff in my suitcases and am totally wondering if I can actually lift them. M&K helped me get them to the airport and booked into Singapore and when I arrived in Singapore I grabbed a trolley and took my cases outside. Singapore customs is hilarious. I went through Immigration, got my passport stamped and all and then there were two doors – things to declare and nothing to declare. Having nothing to declare, I simply walked out of the airport.

When I arrived outside customs, I wandered around for a few minutes getting my bearings and made eye contact with a man who asked me if I wanted a taxi. I said yes, he said %35. I said that when I had been here last it had only cost $20. He said something about airport taxes and I figured it was worth the money. So he parked me and my bags outside the terminal while he went and got the taxi (a bus really, like a tourist bus). He put my luggage in the bus, drove me to my hotel, took the cases out of the bus, gave them to the hotel man, who subsequently brought them up to my room for me. Now how easy was that !!

You all would have had a lovely giggle at me tonight. I got into my room with one of these card things. Now remember, it’s been a while since I’ve actually stayed in a hotel. I came into the room and no lights. I flipped switches all over the place, tried the lamps etc. Nothing. It’s dark at this stage of course, so I had the door propped open with my back pack and the phone rang. I answered and it was the luggage man saying that he was bringing up my luggage. I figured I could tell him that the lights weren’t working and he could help me. As I was standing by the door waiting, I saw a white thing on the wall with a little red light and a sign that said “Please insert key card” which I did. And guess what – all the lights came on. Talk about a DUH! Moment. I guess I can get away with it as being very tired.

I slept on the plane. I had booked my seat online the night before and got a middle seat. I hate anything but an aisle seat, so when I got to check in at the airport, I asked if there were any aisle seats available. There was, so I got one!! So much better.

Lovely young couple from Melbourne sitting next to me. We chatted a bit, but not too much and I slept most of the way.

So right now I’m in my hotel room, there is a wedding downstairs, and a lovely view from my window. I can see the Singapore Eye, which is the same as the London Eye, a big ferris wheel type thing that looks over the city. Room is lovely, large, comfortable, but cold. The air conditioning is just a bit cold for my liking. I’ve taken possession of one of the lovely white dressing gowns that was in the wardrobe.

So other than taking a quick walk around the block, nothing much has happened. I am close to the Raffles Hospital where I spent most of my last visit to Singapore, and this room is far more comfortable than the hostel I stayed in last time. Worth the money.

Also, I have arrived just in time for the Chinese New Year so there should be lots of photos happening over the next few days.

Catcha all later.

Madeleine

Saturday, 24 January 2009

Endings

I have had great difficulty writing this post. I keep thinking about what to say. This is my last day here in Oxford. I’m getting organised to finish my big adventure. Looking at the stuff I bought and wondering how it will all fit in my suitcases. I’m saying goodbye to the places I’ve known for the last 4 months and knowing that even if I do return it will all be the same, but different. I’m saying goodbye to M&K for the next little while. They are planning a trip to Australia in October so I will see them then, but I’m feeling sad. I hate flying so that doesn’t help as well.

Nothing much to say. I’ve had a great trip. Probably one of the adventures of my life – and there have been a few of those during the last 62 years and there will be more.

In the mean time, this one is coming to an end and I’m feeling sad about it. It has been a great adventure and M&K and I were talking about how much I have seen over the last 4 months.

Time to start planning my next adventure.

I will be back in Perth on the 27^th January, but till then, I may or may not be online. So my Perth friends, I will be available from the 28^th if you want to drop by and say Gdday. For the rest of my friends, particularly my new ones in the UK, I will see you again one day, and do remember, there is a bed for you in Australia if you ever decide to come and visit me.

Madeleine

Friday, 23 January 2009

Norwich Cathedral

We were lucky in our guide for the cathedral. Colin (Heritage Interpretation) knows more history about Norwich than most people will ever. He had some of the most interesting stories to tell about the Cathedral, most of them involving misdemeanours of the common person of the times. Interesting as most of the history we hear about and read about is about the Kings, Queens, Bishops and the “important” people of history. We all tend to forget about the “little” people of history, and let's face it, everyone reading this blog is a “little” person in the historical sense.

This is Norwich Cathedral from Pull's Ferry.

A rather majestic structure !

This next photo is looking into the cloisters.

The Skeleton – he was apparently buried standing up so he could be one of the first into heaven. People will do crazy things for religious beliefs.

Here's the sign, translated from old English.

It's a wee bit fuzzy.

Here's a close up of the top.

One of the columns in the cathedral.

And this is the sign telling about the column.

I took some really great photos of the bosses on the ceilings. The descriptions are from Colin, and I quote him verbatim (except for tidying up typos!). Here they are:

“One of several 'Green Men' amongst the cathedral bosses. This pre-Christian figure represents the changing of the seasons and was tolerated in this space because, being outside of the sacred space of the cathedral proper, it was accomodatable.” (Colin Howey)

"A Green Man is a sculpture, drawing, or other representation of a face surrounded by or made from leaves. Branches or vines may sprout from the nose, mouth, nostrils or other parts of the face and these shoots may bear flowers or fruit. Commonly used as a decorative architectural ornament, Green Men are frequently found on carvings in churches and other buildings (both secular and ecclesiastical). "The Green Man" is also a popular name for English public houses and various interpretations of the name appear on inn signs, which sometimes show a full figure rather than just the head.

The Green Man motif has many variations. Found in many cultures around the world, the Green Man is often related to natural vegetative deities springing up in different cultures throughout the ages. Primarily it is interpreted as a symbol of rebirth, or "renaissance," representing the cycle of growth each spring. Some speculate that the mythology of the Green Man developed independently in the traditions of separate ancient cultures and evolved into the wide variety of examples found throughout history." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Man

“Typical of disorderly figures represented on the margins of Norwich Cathedral cloister, musicians had, and have, a tendency to riotous and disorderly behaviour. “ (Colin Howey)

"One of my personal favourites: here we see a washer woman giving a thief a thick ear. I wouldn't want to cross her. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that the mason may have depicted one of his work colleagues, putting his face onto that of the thief - or the woman." (Colin Howey)

"A bare-arsed figure in the cathedral cloisters. Dating from the early Fourteenth century he is one of several characters representing disorder beyond the Christian order." (Colin Howey)

“This is a Fifteenth century depiction of the Pharaoh and his soldiers being drowned in the (literally) Red Sea. Notice that the 'chariot' is a Fifteenth century Norfolk hay cart. “ (Colin Howey)

Oh, yes, and last but not least, this really tickled my fancy.

This is the font in the Norwich Cathedral.

Not a great photo, but here's the sign that tells about the font.

This, to me, is the ultimate in recycling.

That's all for today folks.

Madeleine

Monday, 19 January 2009

Louie de cat

The trip to London was interesting. I met a cat on the bus. Now I know in Australia animals are not allowed on public transport. Here is it totally different. I could write a book about dogs I have met on my travels, but a cat on the bus was a first. Why, you ask? A cat in a cage. Travelling. Yah, okay, it happens. This cat did not stay in his cage, but quite happily sat on his owner's lap the whole trip.

Let's start at the beginning. The bus to London stops at a number of places. Eventually, all the seats had one person sitting in them and people had to double up. This woman came to me, arms full of all sorts of things, and asked if I minded cats. I looked at her a bit puzzled. I hadn't noticed the cage in her hands. I said I love cats. I have two of my own and where I'm staying right now has two cats. So she sat down beside me, with a bit further chat, and place the cat cage on her lap.

Fine. Then she opened the door of the cage. I thought, Okay??? Now we are going to have to worry about this cat wandering the bus. Eventually, Louie poked his head out of the cage and started investigating his surroundings. Lovely looking fellow. Long haired.

As time went on, the cat hopped out of the cage, and she put it down on the floor and Louie started to investigate a bit further. He started to head to the floor. His owner touched him and said: No, you stay on my lap. And he did. For the next hour or so, while we were talking, she petted him, and he sat there, quite happily on her lap.

In the course of our conversation, she talked a bit about Louie and his travel adventures.

On one of his trips, train, they were sitting in one of the sets of four seats, which in the UK have a table in the middle. She mentioned that there were three business looking men, wearing suits, that sort of thing. She needed to go to the loo, so she sat Louie on the seat, told him where she was going and to stay where he was. She did say that the others in the seats gave her a bit of a funny look. When she came back, Louie had found a lap to sit on with one of the men. But he hadn't gone wandering around the train.

I don't remember all the stories she told me of Louie's travels. But she, and the cat, were both fascinating.

At one stage, the bus driver's offsider came and moved the cage, reckoned it was in the way if there was an emergency. Louie looked at him, and needed some time to resettle himself when his home went off down the bus aisle. But he did.

When it was time for her to get off, she hooked Louie over her arm, picked up her packages, popped him back into his cage and off she went. One very happy little cat and his owner.

Madeleine

Friday, 16 January 2009

London - Reminiscing

Yesterday, I spent a day in London. Shopping. Tourist. It was a long day and I was exhausted by the time I got back. I hopped on the Oxford Tube. Now there's an interesting anomaly. The London Tube is an underground train. The Oxford Tube is a bus. The Oxford Tube is a regular bus from Oxford to London. The trip there was interesting and I think that's another blog. This one is about reminiscing.

As we approached London, I looked out the bus window and realised we were on Bayswater Road and I was immediately thrown back, literally 40 years to 1968 when I first lived in London. I knew, without a doubt, exactly where I was and where I would end up. It didn't matter that the shops and roads had changed. I knew that in a few minutes, Edgeware Road would be on my left, Marble Arch would be on the right and Oxford Street straight ahead. I could even see in my minds eye, what it looked like 40 years ago. I only lived in London for about a year. I had not really spent much time on Bayswater Road, but it was all very clear where I was, and where I was going.

I got off the bus and had to retrace my steps back to 1968. First, I took photos of Marble Arch. The whole area looks different than I remember. There are more cars and I'm sure they have changed the roads around. I can't say for sure, but it's not quite the way my mind's eye sees it.

Here's Marble Arch.

I never knew the history when I was living in London. Too busy being a Londoner, working and being 22 years old. Today I discovered that Marble Arch used to be the main entrance into Buckingham Palace until it was moved to it's present location in 1851 when extensions to the Palace meant that there wasn't room for it at Buckingham Palace.

From there, I started to wander up Edgeware Road. This area looks totally different than I remember. All the shops have changed and I am sure the cinema I worked in for a short time was on Edgeware Road, but there is no sign of it now.

This was the view up Edgeware Road. Lots of traffic, noise, people and shops.

I was intrigued by this sign. That was certainly different from when I was there.

I stopped for coffee, a bite to eat (pee stop as well!!) and a chance to get my bearings. I had bought myself an all day ticket for buses and tubes in London so decided to hop a bus and head up to Clifton Gardens near where I used to live.

As I got off the bus, I looked around and nothing looked familiar. So I started walking. Suddenly, everything was familiar, but unfamiliar at the same time. I realised that somewhere in this new block of shops was where our old cafe was. The one we went to when we had a bit of cash and didn't feel like cooking. The cafe was cheap and old and obviously didn't stand the test of time. But I think it is where Cafe Rouge is today (the red sign in the middle of the photo). Maybe. Maybe not. But it definitely was somewhere in this block of shops.

This was the road I walked down most days. I would take a bus up Edgeware Road to Clifton Road and then walk down this street to our little flat on Warrington Gardens. I wrote about the flat on another blog and might dig it out when I get home and re-post it. I will see.

And then the church, on a little island in the middle of the roads.

And then there it was, the place where I used to hang my hat and call home. Or was it. I had discovered on my last trip that the old building, of cheap flats and bedsits had been totally demolished and replaced with a modern, high class, expensive flats. The old place no longer existed.

This was then:

This is now:

It used to be part of a row of terrace houses, broken up into smaller flats and bedsits. Joan, my friend, and I had the rooms right at the top, under the eaves so if you forgot and stood up too quickly you could knock your head on the ceiling.

I remember being very disappointed in 2002 when I discovered what had happened. I expected changes, but not that the whole building would be gone. Such a shame. Although it was pretty ramshackle. I remember running down the stairs one day (yes, I ran down stairs in those days), grabbing the railing as I went from one level to another, and the railing coming adrift and me falling.

There was a public phone on one of the floors. That was where I met my husband to be. In that phone box. On the floor below us lived the only man. I thought he was the bees knees and so did most women. Australian he was. One day, we heard someone go from his flat to the phone, so being the idiot I was (and still am), and figuring he was probably ringing some female, I ran down the stairs, opened the door to the phone booth, and said “who told you you could use my phone?” thinking to embarrass him. Well, it was me who was embarrassed. It wasn't Greg. It was a man I had never seen before in my life!!

So there you go. I did a bit more wandering around the area, took a few more photos, and then caught the tube to my next stop.

That's all for now folks.

Madeleine

Friday, 16 January 2009

For KazzaB

I keep hearing from KazzaB how much she likes foggy photos so this morning I went out, in the fog, and got some photos for her. Enjoy, Kazza. Let your imagination run wild !!! You could write me a story about the foggy photos.

I took a second one without the man, but felt this one would really spark your imagination!!

The river looks particulary spooky. I reckon, Kazza, there's a body down there somewhere!!

 

Botley Road

And more of the river

Hope you enjoyed these.

Madeleine

Wednesday, 14 January 2009

A day at the beach

I'm finally getting around to writing about our trip to Norwich. Our first full day there, the lovely L suggested we go to the beach. She also reminded us to rug up nice and warm as it was pretty cold. She was right. Very cold and windy, but “bracing” - which in English terms means fucking cold, politely of course!!

This shows the overall greyness of the day. What it doesn't show is the strength of the waves and the wind and the brownness of the water. In Australia, our oceans are really blue/greens. This water was incredibly brown. I guess that's why they have the groynes, as the waves seem to pick up a lot of the sand and move it around. This was the first time I had heard of groynes. They are apparently used to reduce erosion.

Here's a photo of the waves against the groynes.

 

The next thing that caught my attention was the row of beach houses. You can see the tops of them in the first photo. They are all painted different colours, many of them have names. They were originally bathing machines, used by beach goers so they could get into the water without showing naked body parts.

 

Here's one with wheels. They are very small wheels

and this one is from the net and shows bigger wheels.

http://www.beach-huts.co.uk/imagery/bath_machine.jpg

The idea was that the bathing hut was rolled into the water until it was deep enough that the people could get into the water without showing their bodies. There's a great article on them at http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A3371591

Nowadays they can cost up from ₤10,000. I've just found one on the net that is going for ₤140,000.

Although the day was mainly overcast, there were patches of blue. I managed to photograph the sun shining through the clouds. I like these two.

As at many English beaches, there was a pier. I'm not sure of the purposes of the piers on the beaches. Often you can't fish from them, so that rules out fishing as a reason. I do know that doing a Google search, turns up piers as being an attraction. Then when I search a bit further, Wikipedia says:

“Pleasure piers were first built in England, during the 19th century. At that time the introduction of the railways for the first time permitted mass tourism to dedicated seaside resorts. However, the large tidal ranges at many such resorts meant that for much of the day, the sea was not visible from dry land. The pleasure pier was the resorts' answer, permitting holiday makers to promenade over and alongside the sea at all times. “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piers

This was it from a distance.

Maybe I should get a job taking pictures and comparing all the piers on English beaches. How fun would that be??!!

These were some of the attractions on the Southwold Pier.

These include:

• Being frisked like you've never been frisked before

• Unravel the secrets of your DNA

or

• immerse yourself in a total eclipse

just to mention a few attractions available.

Here was one of the possibilities

I must admit, I don't get the attraction. The others thought it was great. I think it's cultural.

On this pier, there was also a water clock. I found this fascinating but the others didn't.

It is a crude metal sculpture featuring two men wearing metal trousers. On the hour and half hour, they perform by dropping their trousers and watering the tulips below. This attracts quite a crowd in anticipation!

http://www.seasidehistory.co.uk/traditional.html

This sign explains the clock:

I waited to see it work, but must have been one of the days the wind was too strong. Here's the whole thing:

I took pictures of the details of each part of the clock. I really wish I could have seen it work.

From the beach, we headed into Southwold town to find some lunch. Spotted the “Corn Chandler”. I loved the look of the shop. I have no idea what a corn chandler is so time to do a Google search I think.

That makes sense, a corn chandler is someone who deals in corn and meal. If you want to read a Norfolk tale, check out this site:

http://norfolkcoast.co.uk/myths/ml_aclebridge.htm

We didn't go in, but I reckon it would be a great shop to browse around in.

This is St. Edmund Church in Southwold. Just across the road from where we parked the car.

From there we went to a town called Dunwich. That's another blog.

Madeleine

Tuesday, 13 January 2009

Oxford in Winter

January Snow Looking into the allotments

Fog Looking into the allotments

Community Centre, with snow

 

Community Centre car park with fog

This morning I went for my constitutional and saw something. I had forgotten my camera, so went home, got M&K moving and we all went to see.

These were very hard to photograph. With the white of the water and the clear of the icicles, they only showed up in this photograph. We tried to find another spot to get a better photo of them, but couldn't. How kewl is this??

This was some ice on leaves.

This photo's from the Osney Bridge looking towards the lock in the fog.

This is ice on Osney Lock. M&K went out late one night to see this. I stayed home but went down the next morning to check it out.

This one's taken from a bit of a distance.

We've all been fighting the flu and colds which is why I've been so quiet. Getting back on deck again so hopefully I will be writing about Norwich soon.

I'm rapidly running out of time so I'm also getting all the goodies I've picked up organised. I'm going to have to buy a new suitcase - one of my old ones has died.

Cheers

Madeleine

Saturday, 10 January 2009

Working backwards

I seem to be working backwards this morning. There has been so much that has happened over the last couple of weeks that this seems to be the only way to keep some order in my brain. Also the most recent are in the top of my brain so I figure if I take off the top few layers of thoughts that the older ones will come up again.

The travelling to and from Norwich has been really interesting. M had to work on Friday, K had Friday off. So K and I drove up to Norwich on Thursday leaving M and the cats behind. As they had no one to mind the cats and it was a long weekend, the plan was that M would come up (down, across) to Norwich on Friday night by train and then K would head back Saturday night by train so that cats didn't starve to death. M & I would drive back on Sunday afternoon/evening depending on our mood. Plan worked really well.

M's train was totally late. Apparently there was a power surge or something that knocked out all the signals from Didcot, so he sat on the train for several hours while it was fixed and just as it got fixed there was another power surge and they all went out again. He didn't get in until about 12:30 a.m. Instead of arriving at 6:30 pm. So by the time he got there he was buggered. And this was after going back to work after being off for a couple of weeks.

Driving in the UK is an experience in itself. My first glimpses of the UK motorways was exciting and I've written a bit about it in English Countryside. The drive to Norwich was probably the longest drive I've taken since I've been here. Along the major highways, at regular intervals, they have "services" where you can stop, get petrol and a bite to eat. Some of them are quite small; others are almost like small shopping malls. In fact, I just discovered there is a whole website about Motorway Services which doesn't appear to have been updated in a while. It talks about best/worst services for 2007 but nothing more recent.

On the way up, K and I stopped at a "Little Chef" one. It was quite small, Burger King, Little Chef and another coffee/sandwich eatery. Toilets, of course, are a main target for long distance drivers.

I took a photo of the one M and I stopped at on the way back. It was a pretty big one, had a bookshop as well as the usual fast food places. I was cold so wanted something really warming so I went for hot soup and a toastie. I went to the counter to order, and was told that my toastie was in the fridge – over there – I thought about that for a couple of seconds and then realised that in good English fashion, the sandwiches were already made up. I went and got one and gave it to the lass to toast, and ladled out my soup – almost cold. By the time I got to the table, the sandwich was almost cold as well. So much for that idea.

These are some photo of the place. You can see a number of different places to eat, a book shop, plenty of seating and even a television to entertain travellers who didn't want to talk to each other or were travelling alone. Burger King (Hungry Jacks to Australians) even had a pay in advance with your credit/debit card where you made your order, paid for it and then went to collect it.

 

WH Smith in the background is a bookstore chain that you often find in train stations and sell sandwiches, cold drinks, packets of chips etc.

That, I think is where my toastie was waiting for me.

We have similar things in Australia, but not on the same scale as here in the UK. In Australia, mainly there is one main highway going from Point A to Point B with side roads which are local roads. Yesterday, we were on three motorways, and about two more major highways all linking in via roundabouts, large roundabouts.

All just very interesting to the intrepid little traveller.

Madeleine

Monday, 5 January 2009