DAY 15 GLASGOW- LIVERPOOL

Spent the night in the hotel with millions of but -but- but hindu indians as there is a guru here, starting a retreat in glasgow, and they have all come to help him set it up. Thats fine but they are so noisy and inconsiderate- talking loudly and constantly slamming doors???

Anyhow a good brekky then on the bus at 8am and off to Gretna Green where you can elope to get married and if you find a local, it is legal for any one of them to marry you, but the blacksmoth shop was the most popular place to do this. So we married off Pete and Sharon in front of the shop this morning- albeit the local jp was kiwi Graeme Collis- was very funny!

Then out of Scotland into the lake district in England- no big fanfare when you cross borders! We stopped in some little town while some went on a boat cruise- we group (6 of us) wandered around looking in shops.

Tried on some sporty wellys for Cath- Graeme made me do so, so he could take a photo for her and 2 english women also shopping there started loudly going on and on and on about it to each other- "we wouldnt do it but obviously they would" etc. Felt like telling them to find something really important to loudly whinge about!!!

Then back on to the bus for another couple of hours. We are finding it a bit tedious at the mo as not sure if trafalgar is cutting back but much fewer things happening on this tour, you just drive for hours without much to stop and look at, that would leave a lasting memory compared to our other tours- plus we are sandwiched in the back between two sick people - one of whom is a middle aged kiwi lady who has coughed and sneezed for 3 days without cover ing her mouth.

Wont be impressed to come half way around the world to be made sick by another kiwi~!! Had a really sore throat when she was sick but managed to stop that with immunofort but now a canadian lady in front of us is really hacking and sick and we are getting all blocked up- bugger!

Cant really do much about it though in a coach, but a lot of people have come onto the tour chesty and hacking which is a pain in such close quarters.

Other than that, it is all good and we move on Ireland tomorrow with a 2 night stop in Dublin (the home of mothers milk Graeme makes me write!) We will be meeting Karl our Irish friend there, which should be alot of fun!

Note the pic of MORE lollies or sweets as they call them, in a shop window for you Danni- will make your mouth water!

Hey where the smart comments??!

Am disappointed- I expected lots of flack and comments about Graeme doing the gay gordon- WITH the proof in the pics lmao!!

Bring it on NZ!!

DAY 14- ISLE OF SKYE – GLASGOW

Had a fairly ok sleep with a 3 foot spring in my ribs last night, the beds, water pressure and smell of cat pee in the rooms all added up to the fawlty towers name- even the sign outside apparently had one of the letter held on with sellotape!! All that for £120 p.n! We all reckoned our room stunk of cat pee cos the Gestapo last night made us a wait a couple of hours to get our room primarily because she was putting all the hotel cats in our room to pay us back for taking the mickey out of her?

All happy to leave- although it had given us all lots of ammo for jokes, and off into the Scottish highlands a bit more- towering craggy peaks and waterfalls, all looked great in the rain and cloud.

Travelled to a little town for a tea break bout 10.30am and the 6 of us that all joke around a lot all ended up in a pub quite accidentally at the same time for a cuppa and this elderly welsh man next to us, starts talking cos he likes the laughing “cos its better than crying!”

Then he tells us he is Welsh and starts telling us where to visit there, Then bizarrely he is in the middle of a sentence and half way thru ups the octave and screams out the last half of it???!!! (We ‘re all going “hurry up Sharon and get out of the loo so we can get out of here”!) then the man stands up and comes over to Pete, Sharons partner and places a big heavy mitt on his shoulder and asks him if he can sing us a welsh song- like he could leave if he wanted to??!!
The man proceeds to sing this lovely-ish song which gets louder and louder and louder and everyone is now looking- We got it on video which doesn’t do it justice.

Such a bizarre occurrence that you couldn’t have planned, but so funny (although as he is finishing the last cords we are all already standing to get our jackets on as he was also just a little odd & erratic and his poor wife was hitting him to shut up!)
Couldn’t work out if he was half cut from the night before or what??

So after this we all semi-run back to the bus haha! And on to another town where we stopped at a lunch stop that I thought was called the ‘green willy’ and I’m thinking “eeeuuu, that’s not very appetizing”. Turns out it is the ‘green welly’ ………..oops!!
We had the traditional lunch there called cullen skink- a smoked fish haddock soup with potatoes and onions- Very yummy and great in this type of wet weather.

Travelled another few hours and into Glasgow after some of the group had a boat cruise, which we waited for and had a nice walk in the gentle rain (see we are accustomed to Scottish weather already!)

Had a look round town in the bus but all pretty tired by then 6pm as we had been on the road since 8am. Takem to dinner and were perked up firstly by the vinegary wine supplied then by the better grade alcohol we purchased. Spent the meal planning a wedding for Sharon and Pete- technicalities like no JP or wedding outfits- not a problem!
Then back out to the bus- after stopping for a photo with a weird statue of no historical importance I feel. He was huge and rounded like the michelin man, apart from one timy appendage!!!

Up to the Jury inn hotel and after Graeme had a word with the tour director about having views of the back of a kitchen, the road and the carpark so far in the hotels! He arranged for us to be on the 11th floor with a view of the Clyde river- No-one else is at such a height- very giddying!!

Now finally at a hotel with wi-fi internet, cheap at £5 for an hour (!) cos we need to post after 3 days with none. Now Gray has just come out peeing himself laughing cos the whole shower head came off in his hand and the water shot across the 12 foot bathroom and hit the wall!!

DAY 13 LAGGAN – ISLE OF SKYE

Woke to what they call “getting knocked up today” Literally the hotel owners walk down the corridor bashing the walls going “wake up call, wake up call”. After putting our hearts back in our chests, we were all up and downstairs for brekky.

On to the bus at 8am and we drove through Inverness to the battlefield of Culloden, which was very like Waiuoru (cant spell it?!) Very bleak with a freezing wind that lends to the atmosphere and bracken and boggy land. You could just imagine 1500 Scotsmen charging into battle, to be mowed down by grapeshot. The tour director also said an effective combat maneouvre the english were taught was to bayonet the Scot on their right not the man in front of them, to take advantage of the scotsmans swinging arm being exposed as he swung his broadsword. But it was one of the places you want to say you have visited and respected.

Then back on the bus and along the very winding road past loss ness (no “nessie” today) where we stopped beside a castle on its banks for lunch. Slight disaster for the tour director- he had rung ahead and booked us in to one of the few places that could cater for a bus load for lunch and then another Trafalgar tour guide brought his lot in just in front of us- and he hadn’t booked = a very long queue, but it was ok. Had leek and potato soup and home made bread for lunch £3.75 each which is really cheap compared to other days.

By now the weather had really closed in, you wouldn’t know it was the end of summer/early autumn here. It was far more fitting in these surroundings than a sunny bright day! Was really glad to get to the hotel though as our bus driver, who is grumpy and never speaks, was driving like he was just out of the starting gates through the hills then get jabbing on the brakes. We all reckon his tip is decreasing rapidly!!

6 of us who weren’t doing the 3 hour peninsula drive were dropped at the lobby (so glad we weren’t doing that long optional on those roads). Turned out it was a group we are becoming very comfortable with 4 aussies with lots of humour, so we were all really pleased to be free at 1pm for the afternoon. Since it was the middle of nowhere and it was raining, we had to sit in the bar for a few drinkies- of the stress of it all!!

The tour director told us prior that he had rung ahead and told the hotel who we all were, so they could get our rooms ready, but upon asking the very rude braun Hilda on reception informed us without any nice-ities that the rooms weren’t going to be ready until 3pm (none of them??)
She was then named “the gestapo’ by Gaye who is travelling with her daughter Jenny and off we went from there. Had a hilarious couple of hours at her expense and told lots of funnies in between!!! Pete and Sharon from Sydney are really lovely people and Pete can do accents like Graeme, so we had a ball !

Went back and freshened up, then back down to the bar at 5pm for a few more drinkies until a 7.30pm dinner which was lovely. We have decided that this hotel should be renamed fawlty towers as there are a lot of similarities, not the least that the bus boy who bought the bags up was also the cook and then the waiter at tea??!! Could be a scary thought!

Graeme has noticeably blossomed from the usual quiet guy everyone knows, to the life and soul of the bus- has definitely relaxed and morphed into a comedian- wearing his new tartan hat complete with horns and false hair, onto the bus which caused a meltdown of laughter to telling them that his Scottish workmate says (in a perfect scots accent) that “you are only gay if you push back” Oh dear..!!

But an excellent day overall and are getting to know some great people now that we are all loosening up!

DAY 12 – EDINBURGH – LAGGAN

A hot night in the hotel last night- everyone has found it very stuffy and the air conditioning cant be altered. The one thing we have all noticed too is that there are no top sheets, so it’s a feather duvet or nothing. Has been the same in both England and Scotland funnily enough.

Have to say we both love Scotland. Whether that is to do with it being so like NZ (it is true) in its landscape, or if its cos our family roots are here, I’m not sure- but it is very comfortable for us.
We were able to look up the names of the fallen Scots in their war memorial official books at the Edinburgh castle and there were many Hislop’s Dad, noticeably in the first world war- less in WWII though.

Anyhow, we left Edinburgh today at 8am and on the road to St Andrews, which the golf nuts amongst us were excited about. For everyone else, it seemed as though a huge amount of money is spent there on; a game of golf 120 pounds and pastel coloured cashmere jumpers etc!!

We then travelled on to the smallest whiskey distillery in Scotland where we were taken on a tour, interesting as their equipment as the original used since the 1920’s and the last of its kind in the country. The bales of malt you can see int hepic with Graeme weigh 1500kgs! Had a taste of the single malt and the whiskey cream- very nice too Huck da Noo!!!!!!!!!!

We left there and travelled to Pitlochry, a fantastically busy little town, full of tourists. Had a bit of an upset tummy after out Kurdish dinner last night for some reason, so after lunch we went for a gentle walk down to a hydro dam, then walked out of town a bit and found a stretch of green grass to lie down on in the sun as it was a gorgeous day- not very Scottish at all!!
We also talked to a lady who had a big long haired shepherd like Shylah- had to have a pat and take a photo. She was lovely and wished us well on our travels- they must get a few NZers over here cos they are never surprised that we have come all that way (or I don’t think they are as I canny understand a word they say!)

Words for the day in scots pronunciation – a film is a “fill-em” a DVD is a
“dev-e-dev” and a worm is a “will-urm”!!!! Love it – AYE they teach us to say instead of yes!

After 3 hours there we went another 45 mins to the hotel at the start of the highlands which is literally in the middle of nowhere and the most charismatic hotel by far as its not a chain. A family run place facing the towering peaks (although as usual we have a room facing the back- what is it with that??!).

Had a lovely meal in their huge dining room that’s all glass fronted and then an earli-ish night at 10pm! No internet here so will post this later, but wonder as we move further into the highlands if we will be lucky to have any internet access??

DAY 11- EDINBURGH

Well as you can see from the pics of last night, a good time was had!!! Graeme was teased all the way home by the jealous men (mostly aussies of course!) who didnt get to dance with the pretty scottish girls!!!

Have had lots of trouble trying to get onto the internet at the novatel- fantastic room but what a sham, with the staff- who strangely are all indians??!!. We were up till midnight trying to get onto their rather expensive wi-fi in the room as you couldnt use a hardrive on the pay one downstairs. Every staff member gave us different answers- end result, it wasnt working!! We were beginning to fret by this stage haha, so went downstairs and posted on your comments page back to everyone- hopefully you saw it??

Today we had a tour around town and then to the massive and imposing Edingburgh castle with a charasmatic scotsman, complete with kilt. He was very funny and told lots of stories as he took us round. Then he told us to move in closer so we could all hear him and it was very cold, so we crowded in and he said "oooh ye can get in closer lassies", so I did, then he said he always got close but no cuddles to the 49 strong group, and they all just stood there so I stepped in, in typical kiwi manners and gave him a big cuddle- was so funny.

Then even better- I dropped my umbrella quite innocently under his kilt- end result Uproar!! Anyway he took us round then we looked through the castle and all its buildings- so so old ("bloody old" Gray says again when I ask how old it was!!)

We were then set free and we decided to walk back as we wanted to shop. I bought a ladies kilt, very cool anmd will look good with boots (now just have to find them!!)

We are going to wander back now as are in a Mc Donalds which we dont usually eat, but found they had free wi-fi YAY! so are posting now as we wont be able to get on later. Not sure when next on but will as soon as we can. All is really good here- having lots of fun and meeting lots of people!

Meeting Michelle this evening for dinnmer which will be great. Now on to walk around and listen to more of those grrrrrrreat scottish accents!

DAY 10 – YORK – EDINBURGH

Up at 6.15am today after a good sleep and we decided to go for a walk before brekky. Went down to the race course- Danni you would have loved it, very posh stables and massive!

Then breakfast- again full English if you wanted it - and yummy. Then off at 8am into the centre of York where we were set free for 2 hours. It is a beautiful city, so very old with a wall running around some of 9it which we were able to walk- like being on the rampart (?right word?) where they shot the arrows thru the slits during battle. The cathedral (s) was pretty amazing too and so many of them apart from the main one.

Back on the bus at 10am and off down the road. We stopped at a piece of Hadrians wall, but not the one I remember the photo of Mum holding it up when they went as our one today was very low due to people taking bits away! But the tour director said it is 75 miles long.

Then we walked up to the pub called the Swan at “Heddon-on-the Wall” which was very quaint for lunch of vege soup and sandwiches and of course an ale!!

On to Edinburgh- took about 3 hours- haven’t travelled as far but there are no motorways at all in the north and driving towards Scotland its all long narrowish roads that were like a rollercoaster, up and down!

We have contacted Michelle my cousin as the highlight dinner night has been changed to tonight so we are going to meet her tomorrow for dinner. We are going to a “true Scottish night” (for tourists though I bet!) where they have the ode to haggis and tasting before dinner and a cabaret show- not sure but will give it a go (the haggis) – will report back tomorrow!! The internet has been very expensive in the hotels, hence why no posting yesterday. It was 15 pounds!!!! Today in Edinburgh only 6 pounds for an hour – eek! But know the kids/especially are waiting for the blog and we feel as though our right arm has been cut off if we cant get on regularly!!

10.30pm- just back from the Scottish night- was excellent food, angus beef was melt in the mouth stuff! We had haggis so now we can say we have tried it!! Very strong and peppery. Graeme loved it- I was very allergic to the sausage meat as I thought I’d be, but it was worth a wee bit of an itch!

Then Gray was pulled up to dance the “Gay Gordon” Lmao ! wont let him forget that!! He was pulled up for all the dances- I say because he was at the front- he says it was because he is so good looking!A great night they put on anyway- thoroughly enjoyable- I loved the piper the most, cannot explain what the sound of a lone piper does to me inside…..

DAY 9- Start of Trafalgar Tour. LONDON-YORK

We were up bright and early this morning, we are still waking early but now at 5am, so not too bad at all. The hotel were great and let us have breakfast before it officially started, then we walked over to the tour office ready for a 7.30am start. But they had 5 hotels to pick up from for those getting the transfer so we didn’t leave until 8.30am. But luck is on our side- the bus seats are allocated and we have to front seats, bodes well for the luck as I think even with the seat rotation we will end up back at the front at the end of the tour!

Getting through the London traffic was a bit slow, but we were soon off- passed a residence on the edge of London city where Margaret Thatcher lives and apparently she has 24 hours security for the rest of her life. Poor cops who do it- SO boring standing outside the gates.

A full bus of 49 – nationalities were 34 from Aussie, 4 Kiwis, 2 Americans and 9 Canadians. Our tour director Richard seems like a nice guy, very professional. He looks very much like Adam Clayton- the bass player from U2, even down to the smile!

We stopped in Stratford-upon-Avon at Anne Hathaway’s cottage for the tour group professional photo then on to Shakespeare’s birthplace at 12pm for lunch.

Had a 2 hour stop there and looked thru Shakespeare’s birthplace (house) and around town. Danni I looked everywhere down the streets for that giant teddy bear we took the photo of you with, I went into a travel agents and asked the man there and he said the shop it belonged to closed down L We consoled ourselves with some lovely fresh fruit on offer at the local shops!

Then back on the bus and to Coventry which has 2 amazing cathedrals- one old and just the outside shell from being bombed during the war- the roof was wood and burnt but the stone walls remain. Coventry was pretty much flattened during WW II as it housed an ammunition factory which made it a target.

There is also a big military funeral on today for a local soldier who died in Afghanistan, so there were lots of older soldiers- think they were the Lancashire` Fusiliers’ regiment with the tall red and white plume on their cap. (Dad was my great grandfather in this regiment?)

Three hours up to York as the traffic was slow- the bus is like riding on a silky cloud compared to the megabus and other public buses on offer !!! Get into the hotel- a holiday inn and lucky again- we have a room right at the end which is quieter! Nice room, standard hotel but the rack rate here is 184 pounds a night What?? Ridiculous!

Then down for a drink and welcome dinner at 7.30pm before hitting the hay- tired!PS/ The meal was fantastic, pork chops or salmon with lots of veges and cheesecakes for dessert- washed down with a few beers of co

DAY 8 Proper

After all the too’ing and fro’ing of this morning finding another hotel (and meeting the lovely and very funny hotel manager Patel!) Graeme decided we were going to walk walk walk today- and boy did we. We were buoyed half way through by stopping for lunch (prawn and avocado salad for me and hot meatball tortilla for Gray) and stopping for a pint each in a pub (after 12pm




at least!) and walked for 6 hours today, around 20kms. It even looked impressive on the map.

We walked up to Hyde park and saw the NZ memorial, then up Park Lane (oh la la) to Oxford street (yes it is still Very long Danni!) then through all the back lanes which were delightful. Due to the oyster transport cards absolutely disappearing- no doubt to be found back in NZ we walked the whole way and it was great.

Walking back through St James park, which is beautiful we discovered our first squirrels- charismatic, cheeky little things with amazing fluffy tails and then later another first for dinner- we went to a Dim Sum restaurant. Not knowing what or how to do it, the food was great- and apart from needing a knife and fork for me, we did admirably. Dim sums are SO delicious. Definitely on the list to take the girls to when we get back as I think there is one in Hamilton.

So a surprisingly great day and a few firsts today- Graeme absolutely loved walking around all the back lanes and discovering what was down them, then people watching out the window of the pub.

Now packed up and ready for our tour, we are going to walk to the Trafalgar centre as we are 4 blocks closer now to it, so shouldn’t be too much of a problem with the suitcases. It is literally half the price of the other hotel and while not quite as finished, is really clean.

The reception area when we walked in this morning smelt just like it used to when we stayed up in Awanui at Grannies and they had soaked the oats for porridge and cooked toast! The other omen that it was the right place to stay was our room has the exact same photo as we have at home of all the steel workers back in the 1930’s, sitting miles up on a beam having their lunch!

Day 7 Birmingham-London & Day 8 London

We had an easy morning this morning- Matt had to go to work poor guy, but we mooched around then Michelle took us into Worcester and we wandered around the shops for a bit.

Then across to Birmingham with our massive prawn and salad sandwiches for our lunch on the trip- thanks again Matt!! They were fanstastic!

The trip this time cost us the princely fee of 2 pounds in total for the 3 hour trip back to London- Megabus is like the Naked bus at home- cheap but more like travelling in a toyota than a BMW but absoulterly fine and very comfy! Cannot complain at that price!

We got back to London in 2 hours 45 mins thanks to our kamakazee driver (these guys should get stress money for fitting the buses through Londons narrow streets!) and got our next apartment back at the hotel- Huge in comparison to the loft flat last time but OMG - smelt like there were dead bodies under the floorboards- it was overpowering sewege/blocked drains smell. Being a basement aparment it is more prone I guess?

We went out and met Leanne and Jim from home and had a great meal and a catch up at an italian restaurant- so weird to be together here at the same time (they both work in the new born unit at Waikato hospital), then we all came back to our apartment but the smell was no better and you just couldnt breathe anywhere in it. We went back to reception and ended up moving to another hotel room for the night, then today they offered us another room as they are all booked up- but it has single beds- NO way we are on our honeymoon!!!

So we went out and walked around, stopped in a few hotels and found one with a very funny indian man who asked us to come back in 15 mins as they were fully booked but may have one come free- which it did- a great triple roon with large sash windows closer to where our tour starts and 40 pounds cheaper.

So we are now in the process of packing up again! Gray is not particularly happy to have to do all this but it is so much easier to just wander aorunmd when you are here and pick where you want to be. I quite enjoyed it!

A last day in London then we are meeting to start our England. Ireland, Scotland, Wales coach tour tomorrow at 7.30am, so might not be bale to post for a day or 2, but all is well!

Cya

Haha Danni you have just emailed us as I do this saying no blog today!!! be one tomorrow tho I think cos we will beon the bus all day. !