The Champs Élysées is a busy street!

Today was the day that we were going to see the two big icons... you guessed it the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe. We took the metro to the Eiffel Tower and when we got there the line was HUGE, we decided that we have seen it and got the photo, there is no way we are staying in that line for 2 hours, besides we had a 56 storey view of Paris yesterday.




So we walked on and got on the free Seine river cruise (Bateaux Parisiens) thanks to the Paris pass. It wasn't bad but the recorded commentary is fairly boring and the school children were super annoying (remind you of anyone... Luke...)

After that we walked to the Arc de Triomphe. It turns out that our Paris pass allows us to skip to the front of the queue, so we did just that and climbed the many winding stairs to the top. We got awesome views down the Champs Élysées and the other Paris streets.



Finally we walked down the Champs Élysées, all the way from the Arc to the Jardin des Tuilleries in front of the Louvre - just to say we have.


Jake

Location:Paris

Parlez-vous anglais?

Yesterday we got up and got on the euro star from London to Paris, IT WAS A THREE HOUR RIDE WITH NO "IN FLIGHT" ENTERTAINMENT AND MY IPOD WAS DEAD, OH HOW DID I SURVIVE!


A Paris "metro" train.

We got off the train and wham it hit us, the heat, yes there was actually heat, not just sun and light but actually heat. We could have sung and danced if we hadn't been weighed down by massive traveling packs. (It wasn't fun going up or down stairs). We got to our hotel and we were sweating, it was actually hot. We then looked for something close that we could see. We saw that our Paris pass took us up to the top of a 56 floor building with a 360 degree view. We got up there and over half of the floor was under construction! Our 360 view became a 189 degree view... I'm glad we didn't pay like the other suckers up there. Though the view was fairly awsome.



Jake

Location:Paris

Hint: Viewing Photos

A couple of people have asked us to post bigger photos for people to view.
To view larger images of the photo, just double click on the photo and hopefully it will open for you.

Good luck.

Location:Paris

If this is the worst thing that happens to us, we will be happy!!

Feeling excited about heading off to Paris, and with an hour to spare before the taxi was due to arrive, I thought I had better check how the credit card was faring.

Bang! there it was, an extra payment was taken by Hertz Car Rentals.
Right on the dot of 8:30am I was on the phone to them querying the transaction.

Bugger, a "Traffic Infringement"- for driving in the bus lane.
It was on my first day, driving in the rain in Bath,and I was totally lost, as I couldn't get a park to go and find Gayle and the boys who where in town.
The fine was £30 but the bloody admin fee from Hertz was £42.



Just when I had gotten over it!!!
Well after finally getting over the grumps about that, and with the thought of seeing the great choreography and athleticism of the Moulin Rouge Dancers ( nothing to do with scantily clad ladies) I was feeling pretty excited. But then a real downer hit us.

We had been in Paris for about 4 hours and we were heading back to the Hotel to get changed for Moulin Rouge. We were feeling good about the locals and the amount of help we had received, one lady even escorted us to our location. But within 30 seconds it was gone, as we got of the train, standing on the platform, watching our train depart, Jessie realised that she had lost or had her wallet pick-pocketed. We all felt like our stomachs had been turned inside out.

We realised quick enough to be able to get back to the hotel and call the Bank and cancel her cards, she will start sending emails to everyone else to arrange new License, Medicare card, etc. Luckily there wasn't much money in her wallet, but as you can all appreciate it is a horrible feeling, and a major pain in the butt particularly when you are in a foreign country.

Whilst Paris' "Lost & Found" Department (Service des Objets Trouves de la Prefecture de Police) were very helpful, they expect that it was stolen and aren't hopeful that she will get it back.


Now that the dust has settled, for my mind of thinking:
"If this worst that happens to us, I will be very happy"

Location:Paris

Mark's On The Ball

During my Naval career, I was privileged enough to pass across International Date Line at sea near Tonga, and the stand either side of Equator in Quito, and today I was able to finish off my trifecta by standing either side on the Prime Meridian in Greenwich.








On the trip up in the boat I leant two new nautical facts:
1) Wharf - The term wharf derives from Ole England days, when stock for transport by sea were kept in (W)are (H)ouse (A)t (R)iver (F)ront on the River Thames.




2) On The Ball - This term derives from Navigators sailing past the Greenwich Observatory and they would set their time keeping device to exactly 1300 (1PM) when the Observatory 'Red Ball' would drop. Hence, when someone is on time - they are said to be 'On The Ball'




Mark

Location:Greenwich

Good-bye Piccadilly, farewell Leicester Square ...

Today we decided to buy tickets for the hop- on, hop- off bus and do our own thing. After farewelling the rest of the family at Ripley's, I continued on the bus journey. Unlike the rest of the family I enjoyed seeing the rest of London and the icons that we had not yet covered.

With our London passes still valid, I decided to get more value for my money and visit a few more places. First stop was Westminster Abbey. Interesting but slightly creepy with all those dead people packed in. I was a Di Vinci code failure however, not finding Isaac Newton's memorial. (As an aside, on our way to Chelsea F.C. the previous day we had taken a "short cut" through the cemetery at Brompton. Space is not just at a premium for the living in London but also the dead. We were amazed at the number of headstones, not just the age of some of them but also how many there were and how closely they were together).



I had then planned to walk past the Horse Guards and down The Mall to Buckingham Palace. However, like much of the open spaces in London at the moment it was fenced off in preparation for Olympic events. Never mind, I walked down Birdcage Walk instead to the Royal Mews to look at the Queen's carriages, cars and horses.



Final verdicts:-
* Queen's can keep their cold castle's, a Princess in a Palace is the way to go! (maybe I will send Jessie around the corner to Hyde Park to try her luck kissing
frogs)
* The Underground, while generally hot and crowded, is certainly the most efficient way to get around London. I was amazed at what a whizz Jake was at getting us swapping from line to line at the right station while I was still squinting trying to read the map!

Gayle

Location:The Big Red Bus Tour- blue route

You can't always believe what you see

Today our London transport passes ran out so we decided to take a highlights tour around London on one of the many famous red Double Decker buses. The tour started off with the Marble Arch and some other icons as we made our way into the heart of London. On our arrival at Oxford Street we said goodbye to Mum (because she wanted to keep on visiting the London icons) while the rest of us made a visit to Ripley's Believe it or Not museum. It was filled with crazy and nearly unbelievable items from all across the world in the form of pictures, models (some life size) and short documentary style films. As part of the museum we also got access to a Mirror Maze (which Jessie became quite familiar with due to not realizing the black curtain was the exit) and the Laser Room, where we had commando crawl, duck and jump over the laser beams in the quickest time possible.





Still a little way to grow!



Dad legless again after yet another super strong British beer!



Trafalgar Square

After Ripley's we got back on the bus and took it around the rest of the tour- which ended up taking quite a while. Although we got to see heaps more of attractions it became a bit boring in the end, especially because of the stop start-ness of the traffic. I would recommend this tour for people on their first day in London to see what they want to do for the rest of their time in London. Ripley's, however, is a definite must see if you ever have the chance during any part of your trip.

Jake & Jessie

Location:London

Mark's tips on Muesum Tours

Being so patient and cultured like myself, I can understand how overwhelmed one can be when attending these world class museums.

So I am here to share some of my secrets on how to get around one of the UK's biggest and most prestigious museums in 60 minutes.

Hint 1: Go to the Directory Board and locate
1) Toilets
2) Cloak Room
3) Information Centre

Hint 2: Make everyone go to the toilet, we don't want to be distracted/slowed down by unnecessary stops or diversions.

Hint 3: Put your bags into the cloak room so that there are no fights on who is going to carry bags or look after food, etc.

Hint 4: Go to the directory and ask the attendent either:

A) To look intellectual: 'I am so over whelmed by all these incredible displays, can you advise me, what are the top ten displays that I can truly absorb without becoming lost in it all'
Or
B) For the real West-family tour: 'I have a family, can you advise me what can I see within the hour, so the kids don't get too ratty'

Today we attend the British Museum and I struck it lucky Big Time, I got the 'The Top Ten in a Hour'.



All in all it was a good quick tour, that took in highlights without the kids and Gayle getting ratty, and I wasn't too over whelmed by all of the cultural experience.

The highlights were:
Rosetta Stone (No Uncle Bob, it not something front the Northern Suburbs of Hobart - It is the key to deciphering ancient hyragliphics.


Easter Island Figures




Lewis Chessmen - Ancient chess set




The David Vases - The oldest blue and white china ceramics.
The ages where authenticated by the inscriptions under vase tops. (And no Uncle Bob it doesn't say 'Made in China', I looked).


Mark

Elementary Watson

DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME!
The museum is located at 221b Baker Street, Sherlock's original house in his books. We made a mistake at the ticket sales and they were very rude to dad when he pointed out that he made a mistake. The whole museum was fairly boring, it was just a crappy remake of his house. I would only recommend this to die hard Sherlock Holmes fans (the old books not the new movies, the movies are so much better) but if you aren't just save your money.



Jake

Location:London

Shakespeare Again!

After a (not so) short walk from the train station we got to the New Shakespeare Globe Theatre. The Shakespeare Globe is a theatre that performs some of the famous playwright's plays, also it is a museum of The Globe theatre, the theatre where Shakespeare was once employed. The museum was a little meh... But the tour that we found leaving was very, very good. They started telling us about the history of that area in Elizabethan times. How people lived on the other bank and would have to pay ferrymen to take them over the Thames ( because there was a curfew on the London Bridge) to the theatres, brothels and bear baitings on the other side.Then we went down to the site of The Rose, the rival of The Globe which was pretty crazy. It was found when the previous building was knocked down to make way for a new office building. As a compromise they made the office building three stories higher so that the archaeological site could remain undisturbed. It is now kept under water to preserve it. Then he took us to the the site of the original Globe. Unfortunately it is less well preserved than The Rose site. Interestingly, the remade Globe is the only building with a thatched roof that has been allowed in London since the Great Fire.

Location:Shakespeare Globe and Surrounds

Chelsea's signed their newest super star

This morning we made our way to the Chelsea FC grounds to take a tour of the grounds (Stamford Bridge) and change rooms. We got there a bit early for the next tour so had a look in the museum of the Chelsea FC history. Once the tour was going you were shown the press rooms, the change rooms and of course the field.



The difference between the home and away change rooms was massive. The away room is fairly small, the lockers are under the seats, there are only two toilets and the play board is behind a door that must stay open at all times because it is a fire hazard. The home room is massive, showers and toilets, big lockers, a tv, a stereo and heaps more.


Over all it was a great tour and with the London pass you get free access when it is usually £25 a head.



Here we find the newest super star shaking hands, sealing his transfer deal for £2,000,000

Jake

Location:Chelsea FC stadium

Froffin!

What better to write my first blog about than Dad's afternoon of Froffin!

For anyone that knows Dad they will know how much he loves reminiscing about the good all days (his days in the Navy). When Dad's face lights up and his eye balls bulge you know he is really exited (or as we prefer to call it Froffin). This afternoon's adventures provided a prime example of Dad truly Froffin!



It started off with a tour of Tower bridge. As part of our tour we were allowed into the engine room responsible for lifting the bridge when boats want to pass under it. Dad literally started Froffin as soon as we entered this room. As well as loving the excuse to bring up more stories from his navy past he also got to delve into a lengthy explanation of how the steam engine actually worked. (This leads to Jessie's life tip number one- don't ever go into an engine room with Dad).



After finally making it out of the engine room our next stop was the Belfast- a retired navy ship now anchored in the River Thames and used as a tourist attraction. With Dad still Froffin from the Tower Bridge engine room, Jake, Luke and I really weren't too excited about this tour, but it ended up being not too bad... It could have something to do with the fact that we lost Dad to the engine room (steam) about five minutes in. (Jessie's life tip number two- if you somehow end up on a naval ship with Dad show him where the engine room is and run!)

The definite highlight of the afternoon was as we left the Belfast, walking along the South Bank. When Dad stopped to turn around for a moment, a busker dressed up as the Grim Reaper snuck up and stood right behind him. When Dad turned around to keep walking he got the fright of his life (exemplified by his girl scream and a short but super speedy sprint away from the busker).

Jessie

Location:Tower Bridge and H.M.S. Belfast

The Eye and Tower of London

Today we had booked our tickets for the London Eye. We got there half an hour early because we had heard of the famously long queues for the Eye. We waited in the pre booked line and that was still fairly long. Once on the Eye it isn't much of a thrill ride as it moves at 1 mile an hour but once you reach the top it is one hell of a view, on a clear day you could see up to 30 miles away.




After our river cruise to Greenwich (see Mark's on the ball) we used the London pass to get in to the Tower of London. We got in and saw the Yeoman guards taking tours so we followed that around and learnt about the tower and about theYeoman guards and what they do. Did you know that the Yeoman guards actually live inside the tower with their families.



At the end of the tour we were able to see the previous and present crown jewels as well as the worlds largest armor found standing at over 2 meters tall.

The tower is a defiant must do if you ever come to London because the tours are great and the exhibitions are nearly as good. The Eye how ever isn't a must do but I recommend it if you want to truly say you have been to London.

Jake

Location:London

Jessie's Here!

Today was the day that our big sister, Jessie, arrived for her month in Europe. We picked her up and took the underground to our hotel to drop off our bags. We looked at our schedule and we had the changing of the guard at 11:00am so we went to Starbucks for a drink. While we were there Dad looked up the changing of the guard and it turns out on Sundays it starts at 10:00am! So we quickly ran down to Buckingham Palace (as you do). We got there at ten and we watched the royal horses walk around and then absolutely nothing happen till 11:30am.




So we watched the changing of the guard and then went to the world famous Harrods department store. It was MASSIVE, it is a 5 floor store and each floor was different.




After Harrods we made our way to the British Museum, we weren't sure what we should see so we purchased the top ten items to see guide which dad will expand on in the next blog. To sum up our day it was really fun and a great experience, we can't wait to see what tomorrow holds for us.

Jake

Location:London

A ghost, his house and a lock

Today, on our way to London, we detoured to visit Shakespeare's birthplace Stratford-Upon-Avon. We walked around and soon found Shakespeare's home.



Whilst walking down the road back to the park we stopped and looked at this interesting statue engraved "Shakespeare's Ghost". As we were inspecting it, it jumped to life. It scared the bejaayzus out of us.



We made our way to the park and when we got there we saw a boat moving through a lock in the canal by going into a common area where one gate would be opened whilst the other was closed so the water level fell. It was actually pretty cool.







Luke

Location:Stratford-Upon-Avon

A Magical Experince

This evening we went to "The Making of Harry Potter" tour. We got there and straight away we had a 1/2 a hour wait in the mammoth line, while waiting we saw a little girl in her Hermione costume and a few moments later a 30 year old man dressed in the full £249.99 Harry Potter costume who was ecstatic about a seeing a picture of J.K.Rowling.



The entrance to the exhibition

We walked in and immediately were blown away, we had walked in to the Great Hall where Harry was put into Griffyindor by the "Sorting Hat" and many more famous scenes.


Inside the Great Hall

We saw all of the famous sets, props and CGI characters being made. Half way through the tour you were taken outside and were given a chance to taste the famous Butter beer. It was really nice and quite unique, if you ever come here Butter beer is a must try.



Butterbeer a must try

Walking towards the end we saw the makeup and costume section were they make the masks and models for the Gringotts' Goblins, the Werewolf and of course... DOBBY


DOBBY!

At one point you come upon the greatest feature in the whole exhibition... The 1:24 scale model of Hogwarts.


This is one of the greatest tours and attractions I have ever done! This is a definite if you ever come to the UK!

Jake

Location:South Mimms

Robin Hood- a day of stealing from the rich and eating it ourselves

Today we are in Nottingham, the home of Robin Hood. We started off our day by looking at the Rodin Hood statue outside of Nottingham castle, home to the dangerous sheriff of Nottingham.



We then made our way to Sherwood Forest, Robin Hood's hideout. We found that the local orienteering club had made a permanent course around Sherwood forest. So after we looked at the Robin Hood exhibition and watched the information movie we went for a walk around the orienteering course and also did a spot of geocaching.The course took us to the highlight of the whole forest... The Major Oak, said to be the hideout of Robin Hood and his Merry Men.



We found a hole in the fence for dogs to get through.


This was an enjoyable day out only to be cut short by the terrible weather.
Jake

Location:Nottingham

An Australopers training run

Today after our personal tour we were taken to a local orienteering event. We saw the maps and decided that we would do the short technical just to get back in the game with the exception of Dad, Mark and Amy (who is just crazy because she went for a 10km run this morning) who did the long technical. We all did fairly well (that means no one got lost for 3 hours... Mum) but I did fall over going down an earth bank and cut both of my arms. It was a very fun and enjoyable course and experience, it has definitely been a highlight of our UK trip.



Jake

Location:Newby Bridge

The homely smell of slurry

Today we were taken on a guided tour of the Lakes district by some of it's residents... The Buckerfields. Janet showed us the highlights of the area and talked about the history of the area and it's famous residents (such as Beatrix Potter and Wordsworth, just to name a few). She also shared her personal experiences of growing up in the Lakes district. During winter all livestock is housed in barns. The manure and hay from the barn floor is then stored and used as fertilizer in the warmer months giving the area a distinct or if you Janet a familiar, homely aroma.


Throughout our journey we have criss crossed the path of the Olympic torch, usually being a day ahead or behind it. This is Windemere Lake where the torch will be traveling by steam boat tomorrow.

We walked up to the top of Gummers Howe to get an amazing view of the Lakes before we made our way down to the car and drove on to Windemere for a massive picnic lunch.



We were taken out for dinner at the local pub and HOLY CRAP their meals were HUGE! I ordered a gammon and it was bigger then my face!


So much food!

Once again we would like to thank the Buckerfields for their hospitality and letting us sleep under an actual roof.

Jake

Location:Broughton Bec

A vet's tour of Broughton Beck or Time flies when you are walking with vets

We were invited by the Buckerfield's to stay at their house in Broughton Beck. When Luke and I heard this we jumped with joy, FOUR WALLS AND A ROOF THAT CAN'T BLOW AWAY! We got to the town near by and almost immediately we were lost. So mum read out the instructions and dad followed them and we kept coming to these tiny alleyways and drive ways. Mum eventually gave in and called Mark Buckerfield to save us. When we finally pulled up at their house we were greeted by warm smiles and a nice pot of tea.

When we had finished catching up we were offered the opportunity to go for a guided tour around the local area. We jumped at the opportunity. We were taken past amazing 300 year old stone fences, walked through people's paddocks past all their sheep, cows and pigs - no we weren't trespassing as we were using the public footpaths. We even walked past the horizontal tree (it grows horizontally because of the wind... Thank god we aren't camping
here).


The horizontal tree



A sheep hole - the rock is removed to allow sheep to move through the fence into a different paddock.
Below is an example of the ingenious stepping stones built into the wall so that you can climb over them.


When we finally returned from our one hour walk that started at 4:35pm it was 7:25pm, our one hour walked had turned into a three hour walk (for all those smart allecks in my Maths class, Tom ,Eddy, Connor and the rest of you, I was rounding off).





A public footpath that allows you to walk through farm paddocks.

It wasn't bad actually, it was quite enjoyable really. Once we got back we were served a massive helping of ratatouille and sticky toffee pudding. We would like to thank the Buckerfield's for their hospitality.

Jake

Location:Broughton Beck