A Boat Trip at Farncombe

Over the first long weekend in May (5-7) Daniel and I ventured to Farncombe to go on a canal boat trip with a bunch of Peta and Mick’s friends to celebrate Mick’s 30th. There were 2 boats hired, one holding 8 and one 10, we were on the 8 berth one. Headed down Friday afternoon after work and jumped on the boat to navigate along the River Wey. We accidentally ended up in Guildford that night – completely missed the pub we intended to stop at! Parked the boats right alongside a pub and then made our way in for a big night in town, ending with a big, gross kebab.

Here are our canal boats, in one of the locks and Daniel driving.

The next morning our boat was woken by the other boat who were all up bright and early. After traipsing through the remnants of the kebabs from the night before, we started the boats up and headed further along the river, cooking breakfast along the way. Manoeuvred ourselves through a number of locks, some tight turns and a bit of a race and then stopped off for a pub lunch. Saturday afternoon went along somewhat similarly, with us getting a little further than planned and so having to stop randomly along the canal. Saturday night was spent with some staying at the boats (a few people were a little under the weather…) and the rest walking into a nearby town for food and drinks.

Some random shots along the canal and Peta and Mick enjoying the scenery at the bottom of a lock.

Sunday went along pretty similarly as we made our way back to the boathouse. There were a few pub stops, races along the canal, a beaching here and there, some crazy stunts of jumping between boats, card games and what seemed like an endless number of locks. We moored beside a field for the night ready for the early morning to follow (had to return the boats by 9am).

Peta as captain and passing the afternoon with a few beverages and game of cards.

A lot of food and drink later and the weekend ended on a high, both boats were returned intact, no-one had drowned, only a couple of phones were lost in the water and we’d had a great time. Our boats seemed to make both friends and enemies along the way, I am not sure everyone appreciated our “dodgem car” attitude – we did have a few big hits but the boats bounced so nothing to worry about…

Our only friends on the canal.

An easter trip to Portugal

Over the Easter weekend Luke and I flew to Lisbon to spend a hopeful 4 days in a warmer climate and some sun. We left on the Friday morning, had to be at the airport around 5am, so made for a very early morning and straight after my birthday drinks, I was slightly under the weather and very tired. Our hotel was in Estoril, along the Coast west of Lisbon.

We spent the Friday wandering around Estoril and Cascais, had a wonderful lunch of fish and this seafood rice stuff and some very yummy wine. Friday night we made our way into Lisbon to have a look around Alfama the old town area. Spoilt ourselves with a really nice dinner, hadn't quite got the deal with the nibbles at the beginning so ended up gorging on those and then were slightly full for the rest.

Saturday we had nice weather and headed into Lisbon to look at all the sites. Visited some cathedrals, castles and lots of monuments. We ended the day with dinner and a Fado show, a traditional Portuguese opera sort of show which is performed throughtout dinner.

Sunday was our rest and relaxation day and was to be spent lying on the beach in the sun. Unluckily for us the weather switched a little, it cooled down, got very windy and the clouds were coming and going. Still was nicer than what we had in London so all good. Tried out the casino near our hotel and was very disappointed, was smaller than the Brisbane casino!

Monday was our last day and we headed off to spend it in Sintra. Caught a bus there, so got to see some nice scenery and then went to the National Palace. Was very nice though not as spectacular as some others. We then headed up to Moors Castle a ruined castle on the top of a hill overlooking the town. Climbed to the top and the view was beautiful could see out in every direction.

After the climb headed back to Estoril for the painful trip back to London. Our flight was delayed and so we didn't end up getting home until about 4 in the morning. Although the next day at work was extremely painful the weekend was great and a nice change from the usual in London.

A weekend in Paris

I was lucky enough to get whisked away to Paris on the 24/25 March. Daniel and I got up very early on the Saturday morning and caught the Eurostar into the city centre of Paris. Thought we’d try a different mode of transport to flying.

Our first destination as you can probably guess was the Eiffel Tower, though the weather was terrible so we didn’t climb it, the top was covered in clouds and mist so figured we’d be back and would do it then. Had an interesting lunch nearby where Daniel ordered a tomato salad for entree and got just that – 3 sliced tomatoes on a plate!!! After that we caught the metro over to Notre Dame and had a look at the outside (line up to get in was huge and it was raining) and then went underneath and had a look at the display of ruins of the old streets.

We headed up to look along the Champs Elysees that evening which was buzzing with people. Had a chocolate éclair (very tasty) and then wandered along the street up towards the Arc de Triomphe – the traffic at the top was insane, one very crazy roundabout. We ended up climbing to the top of the Arc de Triomphe and had a spectacular view of the Eiffel Tower and down the Champs Elysees. As we were on the top they lit the Eiffel Tower up with a whole heap of lights which was really pretty (some may say tacky but I am easily pleased).

The Louvre Museum was our first destination on Sunday morning and after we had a look at the “Mona Lisa” portrait and the Aphrodite statue, we almost got around one level before heading back down to the Champs Elysees. The Louvre was huge and you could easily spend hours and hours there and still not see it all!!!

Had our fill of crepes (chocolate and choco-banana) and then headed back to the Louvre to have a bit more of a wander around. Caught the train back Sunday night and got home around 11pm, which compared to other weekends, was a very early night.

I am heading back to Paris on the 10th May with Claire after a few days in Rome, so should be able to see a few more things then. I quite liked Paris though and will definitely be back more than once I am sure!

Beers in Dusseldorf

March 16-18 took us away to Dusseldorf in Germany. Once again it was supposed to be Luke, Michael, Daniel and I but we ended up one down – Daniel forgot his passport and realised too late to make it to the airport!!!

Hired a car for the weekend (airport was quite a distance away again). Got to our hotel with enough time to devour a giant kebab sort of thing (but tasty and not just as a homeward snack after a night out!). Drove to Cologne the following morning to have a wander around and check out the cathedral there. The cathedral is the tallest in the world and is spectacular inside. We wandered around inside and then climbed to the top of one of the spires (after 500 or so steps we finally reached the top!). The view would have been tops had the weather been better – was still good to be at the top.

While we were in Cologne we walked along the riverside - you wouldn’t believe how fast the current is there. Also did a spot of shopping and I ended up bringing a pair of very cool shoes home.

Crazy sign on our drive and photos along the river.

Ended up back in Dusseldorf late in the afternoon and so we began our “pub crawl” then. Went down to the old town section and started at one of the beer halls. Each one serves their own beer and as they see you finishing one they are ready to fill you straight up again – very good service! Had a pork knuckle for dinner; randomly went to a mustard shop and made a purchase; and then after many more beer halls had a German hot dog thing on the way home.

Michael, Luke and I at a rock beer hall and the drunken guy who fell asleep near us.

Sunday was spent driving around somewhat randomly. Went to a palace but all we could look at was the gardens which were nice. Filled myself up with a cherry waffle, had a look at a few other towns, some memorials along the way and ducked across briefly into the Netherlands.

Got back late Sunday night (surprise, surprise) and although the weather wasn’t the nicest, still had a good weekend.

Visiting the Vikings in Oslo

On February 2-4th, Luke, Michael, Daniel and I flew to Oslo, Norway to spend the weekend. Arriving late on the Friday night (stupid EU passports, no online check-in for us with Ryanair), we hired a car and drove the 2 hours from the airport to Oslo with a quick hot dog break on the way.

View of Oslo from our hotel room.



We spent Saturday driving along the coast down towards Sweden. Came across a completely frozen lake (we thought it was nifty).



Stopped in at the town with Santa’s shop, unfortunately it was about the only week all year that it is closed – I was very disappointed!!!



Stopped at a village on the fjord but due to the season, we couldn’t go for a boat ride across.



Made friends with some of the locals though, Ariel says hi.



Crossed the border and had an afternoon snack in Sweden before heading back to Oslo.

Sunset on the way home from Sweden.



Luke and I decided that we needed to try some of the local cuisine so we went to dinner that night at a pretty schmancy restaurant. Luke and I shared cods tongues for entrée and then each had reindeer for main. Cods tongues were interesting and the reindeer had a bit of a strange taste but was really nice.

Sunday was spent wandering around Oslo City, spotted some ice statues in the park and had a walk along the harbour. Had a quick look at the palace – didn’t quite make the guard change.



View from the palace.



Also drove out to the ski jump from the winter Olympics held there in 1952. The jump was huge and they use the landing area as a pool in summer!!!



Wanted to try our hand at tobogganing but unfortunately due to the run being icy we couldn’t hire any toboggans. Watched the last bit of an outdoor ice hockey game before heading to a Viking ship museum. The ships were quite well preserved – some from around 900AD.



Overall a good weekend and we had wonderful weather, sunshine the whole time, temperature low but no wind so very lucky. Was cool to be somewhere covered in snow, people cross country skiing to get around and with the boats floating in a frozen harbour.