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U.K. - Iceland - Israel
  • Mark Dennes
  • Loriene Dennes
abr. – jun. 2023

U.K. - Iceland - Israel

7 weeks exploring 3 very different locations. Brand new experiences mixed with revisiting some familiar ones.
In our usual style, it’s a packed itinerary . . . . Leia mais
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  • U.K. - Iceland - Israel
    The Lollipop lady on Penny lane DID exactly thatOn the corner is a barber showing photographs...Behind the shelter in the middle of a roundabout....Broughton HouseSkeldale houseSkeldale house at Askrigg (Season 1) - with the old Austin permanently insituThe Alderson farm at Yockenthwaite

    All Creatures Great and Small

    18 de maio de 2023, Inglaterra ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    It’s hard to avoid the whole James Herriot / All Creatures Great and Small connections when you’re deep in the Yorkshire Dales.
    But we weren’t really trying to avoid them - in fact we sought them out. We are unashamedly fans of the books as well as the 2 series that arose from those volumes as they portrayed a rural life so different to ours in Australia. Beautiful, rugged, harsh, stark, majestic - the list of adjectives goes on. What we discovered today was all of this and more.

    But first things first.

    Indeed our destination today was Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales, but as we were so close to Liverpool after departing Chester, Loss insisted 😉 we take a slight detour to capture a couple of points of interest from the most famous of all Liverpudlians - The Beatles. Two songs were released by the band in February 1967 - Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields and both of these physical landmarks were on the ‘easy’ side of Liverpool so we sought them out.

    First stop was ‘Penny Lane’ and we snapped the obligatory photos of some of the landmarks from their childhood - the Barber, The Bank, The shelter behind the roundabout etc. We even took some video with the song playing quite loudly. No one batted an eyelid as I suspect it is an everyday occurrence for the locals.
    About 10 minutes away is ‘Strawberry Field’ which was also a childhood haunt, particularly of John. It was a children’s home ‘back in the day’ with large gardens and grounds. It is now a Salvation Army centre and they do a strong trade in Beatles memorabilia.

    Although Loss was keen to seek out other places such as their childhood homes etc, I dragged her away from her 60’s nostalgia and we headed for the Yorkshire Dales. The scenery changed quite abruptly after we left Liverpool suburbia behind us and before long we were marvelling at the beauty of the Dales as they started to reveal themselves.

    On the way to Grassington, we stopped at Broughton House (Mr’s Pumphrey’s residence) and then arrived in the absolutely gorgeous town of Grassington at midday. It was too early to check in at our accommodation (The Devonshire Hotel / Drovers Arms) so after exploring the town and appreciating its unquestionable beauty we went off for a longish drive through the Dales. The roads are impossibly narrow and winding and progress is slow - but that is a bonus because around each bend lies a new vista of beautiful rolling hills, little streams, bridges, stone fences and buildings dotting the landscape creating an ‘otherworldly’ sensation.
    We ended up passing through Askrigg (the Drovers’ Arms and Skeldale house of the original series) and Yockenthwaite (the Alderson’s farm).
    We’ve just returned to Grassington, checked in to ‘The Drover’s Arms’ and been assigned room 7 - the Tricki Woo room :)
    We’re just hoping that as a result we don’t end up with Tricki’s unfortunate, recurrent affliction😳    Leia mais

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  • U.K. - Iceland - Israel
    A serious Mrs Hall breakfast - note the black pudding
    1The tradies working on the house down the end (right side)Same street looking back up from outside 'Gerard's' house'Gerard's house' getting a bit of a makeoverThrough the window of Gerard's bachelor padTotally out on its own - nothing nearby1At Tan Hill InnRibblehead ViaductBritain's tallest waterfall(!)Look closely at the log2It's a Money Tree!...and yet another one. Our kids ALWAYS believed money grew on trees😳1Realigning my ChakraStanding in the bluebellsOn the Ingelton waterfall trail

    Up hill and down (Yorkshire) Dale(s)

    19 de maio de 2023, Inglaterra ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Nothing especially amusing today, but we do have a little bit of inside info for those who might be interested.

    It is apparent that there are a number of closet ‘All Creatures’ devotees out there, judging from the private messages we have received. It wasn’t our intention to devote any more space to this, but to satisfy the interest of said ‘Herriot-o-files’ here is a little extra we discovered this morning before leaving Grassington.

    After a full ‘Mrs. Hall’ breakfast - including some traditional Yorkshire Pudding which even Loss sampled, we went for a stroll around the village and came across a little street that looked (to our untrained eyes) as if it would be perfect for the series and both of us commented along those lines - cobblestone street, perfect looking little houses etc.
    As we looked further down the street we saw some activity happening. It was a group of tradies and people from the production crew of ‘All Creatures’ preparing another house to feature in the next series. It will belong to ‘Gerard’ - Mrs. Hall’s new romantic interest(!) They were preparing the house - external painting (replacing modern colours around windows and doors with appropriate shades of brown etc.) as well as internal furnishings.

    ‘Is it OK if I take some photos?’
    “Hmmm, you’re not really meant to….but I can’t see your camera…”

    Filming to take place on Monday. You saw and heard it here first.

    Our plan today was for another circuitous / scenic drive through the Dales. Again, it was fascinating to see the ever changing scenery and the amazing houses in little villages all jammed in together around the main road through town (which was often barely wide enough to fit the little Fiat through). After heading north and east through Leyburn, we headed across the more rugged part of the Moors to Tan Hill Inn - the highest Inn in England. A ‘signature drink’ Ginger hot chocolate was had before continuing on to Hawes
    - and the impressive sounding ‘Hadrow Force Waterfall’. This also laid claim to fame as being England’s largest drop waterfall.
    We drove in, paid our entrance fee and walked along the path towards the falls. With the hype about its vertical drop etc I was expecting a Niagara Falls type of experience, however this certainly wasn’t the case. Although very pretty, the water volume and height were relatively modest, perhaps more comparable to En Gedi falls (for those who have been) than Niagara - or even Fitzroy falls or similar, for that matter.

    Next point of interest was the Ribblehead Viaduct which is essentially just a photogenic railway bridge. We pulled over on the side of the road just long enough to snap a couple of shots, then it was onwards toward our main destination for today - the waterfall trail at Ingleton.
    This is a popular attraction in this area of the Dales. It is a series of waterfalls, gullies and chutes. The trail is about 8km and we took around 2 1/4 hours to complete it. Again, the falls were relatively modest but very picturesque and thoroughly enjoyable.

    We have settled into another very historic hotel tonight in Ingleton.

    And the weather has even warmed up a little - we were down to shirtsleeves for most of the day!    Leia mais

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  • U.K. - Iceland - Israel
    Windermere
    ThirlmereThe very steep Honiston pass - the photo has flattened it outRemeber these little beauties from the 60's and 70's?The premium box setGraphite miniature artistryWorld's largest pencilThe WW2 'life saver' pencil

    Water, water (and people) everywhere . .

    20 de maio de 2023, Inglaterra ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    We woke up to another Saturday almost identical to John Owen’s description last Saturday - ‘a cracker of a day’.
    The sun was shining, the skies were blue and the temperature a little warmer.

    We left Ingelton enroute for the Lake District and as always we didn’t take the most direct route. We headed firstly to Windermere. The place was absolutely packed with people.
    Nevertheless, we enjoyed some morning tea by the lake and marvelled at the sheer number of people and the sheer number of ice-cream outlets. We have noticed this all along our travels - clearly the Brits have a love affair with ice cream beyond anywhere else we have ever seen.

    We called into the Tourist Information place as I’m a great believer in gleaning a little local knowledge from these people whenever I can. I asked the gentleman on duty what was the best / most scenic way to get to Keswick which was our final destination.

    “Well, normally I’d suggest this route” pointing to some substantially thick lines on the map. “But I know you Aussies don’t mind a bit of a drive so I’d suggest the following . . .”
    He then proceeded to highlight some very THIN lines on the map, including hand drawing in some roads that didn’t even feature.

    Of course we took his advice and wound our way through the Lake District on these secondary and tertiary roads and enjoyed it very much. Lakes, mountains, streams and quaint villages were around every bend. We eventually made it to Keswick, where again there were hoards of people in the main town. We stopped for a little something to eat, found another Information Office and asked for some further advice on scenic drives around this part of the district.

    I told the lady where we had been. She said that was quite nice, but ‘as you Aussies don’t mind a bit of a drive, I’d recommend this route . . . This is next level to what you’ve done so far’
    Next level?
    ‘Yes, especially Honister pass - it’s very steep, narrow and winding - but very scenic’

    We thanked her for her advice and newly hand drawn map, but before tackling her ‘next level’ drive we paid a visit to the Derwent Pencil museum in Keswick.

    Sounds like a bit of a yawn? Not at all. Apart from reminiscing about the Derwent pencils that were part of our lives doing projects etc all those years ago ( the pictures on the pencil sets are of local scenes here in the Lake District) and being amazed by how much expertise goes into making them, the part that was especially interesting was the role Derwent Pencils played in WW2, inventing then providing Allied pilots with pencils that concealed escape route maps from Germany and a miniature compass all concealed within the hollowed out pencil shaft. The lives of downed pilots were saved by this and other methods, and the fellow who invented the pencil was code named ‘Q’, becoming the inspiration for ‘Q’ in the James Bond movies etc.

    Following this, we headed off to drive the ‘next level’ route around the Lake District. She was right - it was very scenic - but it was also everything she had promised - steep, narrow and winding. Lots of pulling over and reversing to allow opposite direction traffic pass was all part of it, then finally we got back to the outskirts of Keswick to find ourselves in a bumper to bumper traffic jam - which could have been avoided except for an unnoticed error on GPS input.
    Our accommodation for the night was ‘Derwentwater Hotel’. It had accidentally gone into Waze as ‘Derwentwater Hostel’ which also exists, but is on the opposite side of Keswick. On our way to the ‘Hostel’ we were congratulating ourselves for travelling against the very heavy traffic we could see snaking into town on this single lane, one way in, no escape route road.
    When we got to the ‘Hostel’ and realised we had to backtrack to the ‘Hotel’ on the other side of town, the traffic we had been observing so smugly now became ours to be engulfed in.

    Despite this tedious conclusion to our exploration, it was ‘a cracker of a day’.    Leia mais

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  • U.K. - Iceland - Israel
    1An expression of excitement rather than terror
    The advertisement I had somehow forgotten to show Loss1Cooling off after our hike inOoh, that's colder than I imagined !Chris said it was perfectly safe

    A Day of Scrambling

    21 de maio de 2023, Inglaterra ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    The day started earlier than planned, with the fire alarms in the hotel going off at precisely 3am.

    Whenever we stay anywhere, the very first thing Loss does is check out the nearest fire escape and she ensures I acknowledge it also. With the Derwentwater Hotel being an older establishment, she even commented on the higher likelihood of a fire occurring in such a building as we entered it last night.

    We leaped out of bed and got ready to leave. While I stumbled around to collect a few essentials like passports, phones and IPads, Loss used these few moments for a very quick go with the hairstyler and comb (because it’s important not to look too dishevelled in the middle of a fire emergency) and just as we were opening the door to exit, the shrill noise stopped. A false alarm. As I tried to get back to sleep, the thought crossed my mind that this was our first ‘scrambling’ of the day because we were also booked to go ‘scrambling’ in the Lake District later this morning.

    When eventually we woke again at a more civilised time, Loss enquired as to what the plans were for today.
    “Memorial meeting streaming, then I thought we might try to immerse ourselves more thoroughly in the Lake District”.
    She thought this sounded ideal.

    I believed my description of the plans for today was accurate, but I had failed to show her the booking details which said we would be ‘working our way up or down a pristine mountain stream with natural rock slides, jumps into plunge pools and scrambling’. I thought it best not to overload her with too much information in one hit after last night’s truncated sleep.
    After a slight pause, I added “Probably best not to wear your pearls or your high heeled shoes today either.”

    After our streamed meeting, we got ready and headed 10 minutes out of town to the designated spot next to Stoneycroft ‘Ghyll’ (a local word for a ravine or canyon) and met Chris who was our guide and instructor for our adventure. I had been keen to ensure we had a place available for us today when working out the itinerary, so I had booked and prepaid it months ago.
    “So how many others will be in our group today, Chris?” I asked.
    “No one else - just the two of you”. Magic.
    As the wetsuits and safety gear emerged from Chris’ truck, Loss was looking for an escape route. A coffee shop? A Keswick branch of Harrods? - but there were none to be seen.
    While we got into the thickest wetsuits I’ve ever seen, I thanked him for running the activity as many tour operators would probably cancel out with so few takers.

    It was clear we were certainly going to literally get immersed in the canyon today and I enquired what the expected water temperature would be?
    “A few degrees - it’s usually about 5 or there abouts” 😳

    Once we’d donned the bib-and-brace wetsuits, jackets, thermal booties and helmets we thought we were all done. But then there were shorts and a rash-shirt to put on over the top.
    “What are these for, Chris?”
    “Ah, the shorts and tops make you slide faster down the rock chutes”. Loss would have run for safety at this time, but the thick, stiff wetsuits only permitted ‘Tin-Man’ like movements.

    Once we were all suited up, we made the 20 minute uphill trek to our starting point on the Ghyll. By this stage we were getting wet - not from the Ghyll, but from perspiration inside our arctic-rated wetsuits.

    A short descent from the track and we stepped into the water. Chris got us to take a plunge in this first pool to acclimatise us. It was surprisingly pleasant, but with 10mm of wetsuit on, we had so much buoyancy we felt like we were bobbing around in the Dead Sea. You only really noticed the very cold water temperature when you held your hands under for more than a few seconds.

    So off we went. Chris was a great guide - very professional with just the right mix of caution and adventurous spirit.
    We spent a very enjoyable 1 1/2 hours working our way down the canyon and it delivered everything they had promised, with the jumps and slides into various pools being the most exciting.

    Many people only book this first section of the Ghyll, but I had chosen the add-on abseiling section as well (which I also ‘forgot’ to tell Loss about). This entailed using ropes and climbing harnesses to abseil down waterfalls on slippery rock faces which were another level up from what we had just done.
    Loss had never abseiled before and I had only ever done it once before many years ago, so after some instruction and practice on level ground it was back into the water for our first drop. Chris stayed at the top and had us clipped in on a safety line.
    Loss negotiated this first drop really well and I followed after her. When I got about half way down I lost my footing and found myself inverted. I eased myself down headfirst the rest of the way into the pool below, much to the amusement of Chris and Loss.

    We did a total of 4 abseiling drops with some slides and jumps thrown into the mix. Eventually Stoneycroft Ghyll released us back to a climb-out section on its banks and we made our way back to the cars. The whole experienced was about 3 hours.

    By now it was mid afternoon and we felt we had earned ourselves a decent lunch so we found a little cafe near to the hotel and enjoyed a late, leisurely lunch in the afternoon sunshine. Fortunately we didn’t have any ‘wounds to lick’, (but we might be a bit stiffer in the morning than we planned especially in our arms) but spotted a family nearby with a dog who was enjoying a lick - of her ‘puppy ice-cream’. (As it turns out, the family are emigrating to Melbourne in a few weeks’ time.) I’ve included a short video of ‘Mabel’ for the kids.
    So it seems the Brit’s love affair with ice-cream extends to their K9 companions also. Google tells me its available in Australia, but we’ve never seen it.

    Tomorrow, GW, we are ‘scrambling’ for Scotland.    Leia mais

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  • U.K. - Iceland - Israel

    More scrambling videos

    21 de maio de 2023, Inglaterra

    As only 2 videos can be uploaded on any single footprint, I’ve just added a couple more here.

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  • U.K. - Iceland - Israel
    'Surfing' Hadrian's wall which extends well beyond the treeline in the distance
    Pointing (with difficulty after yestrday's exertions) at Hadrian's wall...and that was it😳A press article and photo from 1988From the February, 1989 Christadelphian magazineThe promise was for 'breathtaking beaches' on this section of the Scottish coast.... you be the judgeThis one at Sandhills Bay was definitley an improvementFrom our apartment tonight - the ferry in the distance (near the clock) is our 'ride' tomorrow.At 9pm tonightOur last view of a lake in the Lake District this morning

    Bonnie Blue Skies in Scotland

    22 de maio de 2023, Escócia ⋅ 🌬 12 °C

    Today was mainly a day of travel to get us in a position to catch the ferry from Cairnryan in Scotland to Belfast in Northern Ireland first thing tomorrow morning.

    We left Keswick with a high overcast at about 8.45 this morning after an alarm-free night’s sleep to get us to Birdoswald Roman Fort / Hadrian’s wall right at 10am for their opening time. As always, we took the slightly longer scenic route around the western side of Bassenthwaite Lake - our last lake for the district - before heading north east.

    This fortress and section of Hadrian’s wall is the best preserved and longest intact section of the wall that spans the entire island in an east / west direction (approx. 135km in length) and marked the northern border of the Roman Empire in this area.
    We were fortunate to time it well so as to join a free guided tour by one of the volunteers who took us for a walk around the site and our guide explained a lot of detail that would not be easily grasped otherwise.
    Also of note is that while Hadrian was busy shoring up the strength of the Roman Empire in Britain, he also played a very significant role in scattering the Jews from the land of Israel. His edict in 135 A.D. forbad Jews to live in and around Jerusalem and he renamed Jerusalem Aeolia Capitolina in a further effort to erase Jewish links to the country and city. Interestingly, Hadrian’s edict was not rescinded until 1856 and this was one of the small steps that paved the way for the Jews to return to their homeland.

    While waiting for the tour to start we got chatting to a father and son who were walking the entire length of the wall. They were 3 days in, with probably 3 to go and were carrying very heavy packs with all their gear. The father in particular was struggling with sore feet and they were lamenting the fact that they should have more closely followed the age-old rule of ANY traveller - take half the clothes and twice the money to what you’ll think you need.

    We headed north for the Scottish border which was a bit of an anticlimax. Apart from the obligatory ‘Welcome to Scotland’ road sign, there was nothing else to really signify the fact we had passed from one country to another. No river or lake or significant natural feature nor any observable man-made structure. Even the surrounding terrain looked identical. Perhaps the only distinguishing feature was that once we left the main motorway, the secondary roads were in noticeably poorer condition in Scotland than in England.
    And the skies started clearing almost immediately once we crossed the border!

    Our first stop was at Lockerbie which was not directly enroute to Stranraer which was our final destination.
    Both Loriene and I were interested to visit the memorial park in Lockerbie which was the site of the UK’s worst ever aviation disaster in December 1988 when Pan Am Flight 103 enroute from Frankfurt to Detroit was blown up by a Libyan terrorist bomb (hidden in a cassette recorder on unaccompanied baggage - an act which changed aviation security forever).
    The aircraft exploded into thousands of pieces directly overhead Lockerbie, and a large section of the wings and fuel tanks crashed into a suburban street killing 11 people on the ground, as well as all 243 passengers and 16 crew. It was an act of terrorism that shocked the world and I’m sure I speak on behalf of all those who remember it in saying that it deeply affected us all.
    Our Belinda was just 6 months old at the time and as new parents we keenly felt the distress of the situation. Today we had a quiet moment at the memorial park situated on the site of where lives were lost and the houses were destroyed by the falling debris, reflecting on the need for our Lord’s return to eliminate the evil in the world.
    Sadly a young American Christadelphian brother was onboard that ill-fated flight.

    After this sobering time, we continued on further into Lockerbie to re-provison and then (again) took the more scenic and circuitous route to Stranraer. We headed south to intercept the coastline.
    Given the fact we were making realtively good time, while Loriene was shopping at Aldi I consulted a website which assured me that the coastal towns in the southwest were stunningly scenic. Based on this, we detoured via Southerness Lighthouse, Sandyhills Bay and Auchencairn Bay which, to be honest, were relatively unremarkable.

    Now it was getting late so we bee-lined it for Stranraer and got to our excellent self contained apartment just over an hour later. From our living room window we can see the ferry terminal across the bay where we need to check in at 6.30am tomorrow for our journey to Belfast.    Leia mais

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  • U.K. - Iceland - Israel
    The first class experience from Scotland to Belfast.
    Texting me: "I'm expecting this on all our subsequent travel legs"The Titanic memorial listing all the names of those who perishedThankfully, the name 'Sulley' doesn't appear hereThe building is huge - the size of Titanic's hull & shaped like the 'White Star Line' emblemSome of the Titanic's fineryThis luxury tender transported many passengers onto the TitanicThe Fist Class casual dining area on the NomadicSlipway No. 3 from where the Titanic was launched - Loss standing on the 2nd funnel positionShowing the position of the inadequate number of lifeboatsOverlooking Belfast from 'The Dome'Prince Albert memorial clock, which leans about 1.5m off verticalDuring 'The Troubles' this hotel was bombed (and rebuilt/ repaired) 33 timesA very thick wall built around the Law Courts to protect it from car bombings during 'The Troubles'The republicans supported the PalestiniansWhile just around the corner, the Unionists supported the Israelis

    Belfast ‘troubles’ averted

    23 de maio de 2023, Irlanda do Norte ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    It was an early start this morning, with the alarm sounding at 5.30am- although as often happens (or it does to me at least) when you know you have a deadline to meet, I woke just a couple of minutes before it sounded thinking ‘Is it time to get up?’

    We got to the ferry check-in with a few minutes to spare and eventually drove the car deep into the bowels of the boat, parking alongside semi trailers and vehicles of all descriptions.
    We exited the car and started heading upstairs to the seating areas.
    Once again, I had been slightly neglectful in providing Loriene with full details of our journey, meaning that I had only booked ‘cattle class’ tickets to cross the Irish Sea and hadn’t disclosed this fact.

    However, in full expectation of better arrangements than that, Loss keeps climbing the stairs beyond cattle class, beyond business class, up to the top level ‘first class’ lounge.
    Before she speaks with the concierge guarding the door, I quietly manage to steer her away before any undue embarrassment occurs.
    As I coax her down a few staircases back towards steerage class, I have no choice but to explain the situation to her. She puts on a brave face.

    I speak to a lady at the reception desk who happens to be right near us at this awkward moment, explaining that I have been stingy with our tickets and ask her for guidance as to where we should be sitting. She politely tells us where the allocated seating areas are for cheapskates like me.

    There is an uncomfortable silence as we trudge off toward the doorway marked ‘Boiler Room’, with Loss still maintaining the bravest face she can.
    It could be a long, long sea voyage to Belfast.

    Then quite unexpectedly the lovely Scottish lady comes running after us, discretely presses an access code pass into Loriene’s hand and says to her quietly ‘Here you go- I think you look like you should be in first class’.
    I thank her profusely for saving my life and we climb the stairs again to the top deck….
    A pleasant voyage was then had by all.

    On arriving in Belfast and after eventually prising Loss out of her seat, we drove straight from the ferry into the CBD of Belfast and within 20 minutes of departing the ferry we were parked and walking to board our ‘Hop on / off’ bus from the city centre. We did a full lap of the route, listening as carefully as possible to the broad-accented Irish commentary before getting off.

    We then walked to the Titanic memorial, which lists the name of every individual who perished on that ill-fated maiden voyage. We also looked up the Christadelphian Magazine for details about Bro and Sis Henry Sulley, who were travelling on another vessel in the Atlantic at the same time the Titanic sunk. Here is a little snippet of his account:

    “Sister Sulley had been unwell for three weeks before we left England. Upon advice of the doctor the journey was delayed a week, and I began to fear I might require to take the journey alone (not to be thought of unless imperatively impelled). Towards the end of the week the prospect brightened. The question then arose, shall we delay our journey four more days, and take passage on what proved to be the ill-fated Titanic? Sister Sulley said “No; we have delayed a week, I think we ought to start as soon as possible.” So, the doctor having given permission to make the journey, providing sister S. kept in her room till the day she travelled to Liverpool, we took not the ill-fated Titanic, but the safer, and, I think, the more carefully managed Cunarder called Carmania, whose commander, under the hand of God, conveyed us safely to our destination.”

    Next we moved on to Belfast’s premier attraction which is the relatively new, multi million pound Titanic Exhibition. It has everything in it to do with things Titanic but as we had seen quite a few of these in recent years (including in Sydney) we skipped the exorbitant entry fee and just toured the ‘Nomadic’ which was the tender for the Titanic. The Nomadic delivered passengers from the White Star Line’s French port onboard the Titanic before it then set sail for New York.

    We then did another lap on The Big Red Bus, understanding much better the second time around the various sections of the city, the incredibly violent past from 1969 until 1998 and the political and religious divisions that caused such harm and bloodshed for so many years.
    A key issue was the status of Northern Ireland. Unionists and loyalists, who for historical reasons were mostly Ulster Protestants, wanted Northern Ireland to remain within the United Kingdom. Irish nationalists and republicans, who were mostly Irish Catholics, wanted Northern Ireland to leave the United Kingdom and join a united Ireland. We saw absolute evidence of this division as we drove around.

    After finishing our second lap of the city, we sought out a few points of interest on foot, returned to the car then made the short drive to our apartment for the evening. Loriene has managed to whip up an amazing roast chicken dinner (using some more ingredients brought from home - but not the chicken, thankfully) in less time than it has taken to type this out.    Leia mais

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  • U.K. - Iceland - Israel
    It was windy on top of all our mountains today
    At Napoleon's Nose overlooking BelfastCarrickfergus CastleSlemish mountain was much more challenging than it looks from the carparkWe think that's Scotalnd in the far distanceStill windyAt the very top of Slemish mountainFrom the top of Torrs Head3Mull of Kintyre in the distance under the cloud bankScotland across the way...Our dinner destination with the surprising nameThe Dark Hedges- the professional photos make it look more dramatic

    A bad hair day on the Antrim Coast

    24 de maio de 2023, Irlanda do Norte ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    We bid farewell to Belfast’s peak hour traffic this morning and wound our way up to ‘Napoleon’s nose’, which is on the most prominent hill that overlooks Belfast. The morning started a little bleak, but the strenuous climb from the carpark (an hour round trip) got the blood pumping as there was quite a bit of vertical distance to gain in order to reach the summit.
    In addition to being a bit hazy it was quite cold and windy on top, but it was good to see Belfast from this perspective and with the help of our binoculars, pick out some of the landmarks we had visited during the last 24 hours.

    Next we started heading north along the Antrim coastline and stopped in at Carrickfergus Castle for a brief inspection. This region is quite historic and many battles have been fought nearby.

    We continued our journey northward to the curiously named ‘Gobbins’ area. This is quite a spectacular part of the coastline with numerous coves, caves and headlands. After calling in to the information centre to make sure we found the intended path (attractions are quite poorly signposted here), we again undertook a fairly challenging walk along the cliff top path, enjoying the views both north and south. Again, there was quite a vertical component to the 45 minute round trip.

    From The Gobbins, we tracked inland somewhat for our next feature to tackle - Slemish mountain. I had seen good reviews on Trip Advisor about the views from the top which is why I put it on the itinerary. As it turns out, Slemish mountain is on the itinerary for many Catholics for an annual pilgrimage on St. Patricks Day, as this is where he spent 6 years of his life.
    This extinct volcanic ‘plug’ turned out to be a very steep climb and scramble but yielded the promised views in every direction from the summit. Yet again, the round trip was about an hour up and down a very rough, ill-defined path (which we lost a couple of times).

    I promised Loss that this was our last climb for the day, but I was a little premature in making that promise, as yet another climb was required when we reached Torr Head. By now the day was clearing with bursts of sunshine and after a shorter, sharper climb we were able to clearly see Scotland - the famed Mull of Kintyre across the water, as well as dramatic Irish coastline in front of us. Torr Head and the Mull of Kintyre are the points at which Ireland and Scotland are in closest proximity.

    We had intended to do the entire Torr Head coastal scenic drive, but this was cut short by virtue of roadworks that had closed a section of the road. Nevertheless the section we were able to cover was stunning.

    Enroute to Ballycastle we were held up for about 15 minutes due to a truck that had gone into a roadside ditch and the tow trucks had blocked the road completely. Traffic was backing up in both directions and we weren’t sure whether to turn around and try to find a different route, but eventually the Towtruck driver came over to assure me it was about to clear. Once he heard our Australian accents, then all he wanted to do was talk about Australia. Now the traffic was flowing again, but we were not moving because he wouldn’t stop chatting! Eventually we extricated ourselves from his questions and we continued on our way.
    We had one more item of interest to see before calling it a day - the so called ‘Dark Hedges’ but decided we should check in to our B&B first as it was now around 5.30pm.
    When arriving at the designated house, the host had no booking for us in her system even though my Booking.com reservation all looked to be in order. This was our first real glitch and as I was mentally assessing our options, our ‘host’ (who couldn’t host us) made a phone call to a friend of hers a couple of streets away who DID have a B&B room available.

    Once we got that all sorted, we thought we should organise some dinner arrangements. At our host’s suggestion, we headed down to the ANZAC Bar and restaurant (which even had a little boomerang as part of its logo😅). Of course I had to ask the maître d about the reason for the name. Apparently the founder of the establishment was an Irishman who had fought with the ANZACS at Gallipoli in WW1.

    The meal was substantial and excellent, so fortified with this we headed off for our last bit of sightseeing which was about a 15 minute drive up the hill from Ballycastle. The so called ‘Dark Hedges is an avenue of Beech trees planted in the the 1700’s by a family who wanted a dramatic approach to their Georgian mansion. They are indeed an impressive sight with their branches hanging right out across the road in a very unusual way.
    It is one of the most popular natural-feature tourist attractions in Northern Ireland and as a result during ‘normal’ tourist hours, you must park in a very large carpark and walk some distance to the avenue of trees. However, as it was now 7.30pm and all the ‘normal’ tourists had disappeared long ago, we were able to just slowly drive up and down the road unimpeded, taking the required photos without having to get out of the car at all.

    We got back to our accommodation at around 8pm - exactly 12 hours after we started out this morning. Although the 14km distance walked was not our longest, I think our 115 floors climbed today could be our most so far.    Leia mais

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  • U.K. - Iceland - Israel
    The White Cliffs of . . . Ireland
    Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge11Ballintoy HarbourBasalt columns at the Giant's Causeway1My new Leprechaun friend at the Giant's CausewayMaghearacross lookout4WD driving (sort of) on the beach at Benon StrandOld city wall, LondonderryFeelings / tensions are still very evident

    The Causeway Coastal Route

    25 de maio de 2023, Irlanda do Norte ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Today turned out to be our most beautiful weather so far in Ireland and we were able to make the most of it. Three days in a row with no rain - the locals are declaring this as some sort of record!

    Our first destination was the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge which was first built in 1775 by the salmon fishermen to access the little island off the coast where they lived and caught their fish.
    The original single rope has been replaced and maintained by the National Parks, and you need to book a time for your crossing. I had done this some months ago and booked the first slot of the day at 9am which was great as there were very few others there and no coach loads of tourists had arrived yet. And it was a beautiful, calm morning.
    The coastal scenery was spectacular and the rope bridge crossing was enjoyable - it really gets a bounce up as you walk. However, we did notice that there were a few others who had acrophobia and couldn’t bring themselves to cross the bridge, even though they had paid for it all.
    Next stop along the Coastal Causeway route was Ballintoy Harbour - a beautiful little village set around a tiny harbour. For the first time on this trip we saw significant ocean swells rolling in which were crashing against the basalt rocks in a spectacular way.

    After strolling around the harbour and foreshore area for a while, we headed off a few more km to the west for the Giant’s Causeway which is an amazing, naturally occurring cluster of hexagonal basalt columns formed from the cooling and shrinking lava flows. It is a really unusual natural phenomenon, attracts vast numbers of visitors and has been classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
    A brisk 10 minute walk from the visitor car park to the actual site on a bright, clear day was great - but the sight of hundreds of other tourists was not so welcome. This is the busiest (natural beauty) place we have visited in Ireland so far.
    We also discovered that it wasn’t necessary to again pay an exorbitant entrance fee and parking through the National Parks visitor centre. The Hotel right next to the visitor centre offered parking for £10, free access to the site AND £10 off any food or drink you ordered on return. To me, that was a ‘no-brainer’ and we certainly availed ourselves of this option.

    Next up were a few interesting viewpoints further along the coast - the Maghearacross lookout; the Portrush and Whiterocks beach (which is the seaside holiday town of this part of Northern Ireland); We drove onto the beach and did a little 4WDing in our 2WD vehicle on the sand; the Gotmore scenic viewpoint - and then a direct drive into Londonderry - (or Derry, depending on your point of view).

    After briefly checking in to our accommodation we headed into town to spend a little while ‘experiencing’ Londonderry. The evidence of the divisive, violent past is everywhere around you and is placarded for all to see. We then did a full circumnavigation of the old city walls (built in the early 1600’s) before heading back to our accommodation via Lidl for some groceries.    Leia mais

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  • U.K. - Iceland - Israel
    Dinner
    Sunny skies on the Scottish coast enroute to GlasgowLoriene and Zoe on their rooftop'You'll look at photos of the grandchildren whether you want to or not!'

    Derry Drive, Belfast Boat, Go2Glasgow

    26 de maio de 2023, Irlanda do Norte ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Pretty much just a day of transport and transiting, our goal was to get to Glasgow.

    This entailed a 1.5hr direct drive from Londonderry to Belfast, boarding our slightly delayed ferry back to Cairnryan and then making the 2 hour drive to Glasgow.
    We bid farewell to ‘the land of 40 shades of green’ under blue skies and mild temperatures without having experienced a drop of rain.
    Unfortunately, we couldn’t quite wrangle our way into first class on the very full ferry - business class was the best we could manage this time.

    Having suffered the deprivations of the business class experience onboard, the drive from Cairnryan to Glasgow was quite enjoyable along a fairly scenic coastal route for the first part.

    Some few years ago, we had employed a lovely young Scottish dental assistant by the name of Zoe who had worked for us for 2 years before returning to Scotland with her partner Sean. I had lost contact with Zoe, but with the help of Steph Leckey, we were able to make contact a few days ago and arranged to meet them at their apartment in Glasgow for dinner this evening.

    After driving directly to our rented apartment - of course located on the top floor (again) with no lift - we settled in then headed off to the Southside of Glasgow - about a 12 minute drive away.

    It was delightful to see Zoe and Sean again after not having seen them for such a long time. Sean was cooking up an amazing dinner, Zoe showed us around their apartment which they are part way through renovating (including their roof top space) and we had an excellent meal with lots of conversation stretching late into the evening. They plan to be visiting Sydney in late November for a friend’s wedding in the Blue Mountains and we have made arrangements for them to come and stay with us for a few days either side of that date.    Leia mais

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  • U.K. - Iceland - Israel
    On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond - Ben Lomond in cloud
    Loch Long and the township of ArrocharThe 'Rest And Be Thankful' PassKilchurn Castle on Loch AweOn the Big Red Bus.... again!The Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum - named after Lord KelvinGlasgow's Opera House? The SEC - Scottish Events Campus - nicknamed the ArmadilloThe Cloisters, Glasgow UniversityMain Entrance, Glasgow UniversityAshton Place restaurant strip35 minutes after walking through the door- she's a wonder woman!

    Lots of Lochs then Glasgow Gallivanting

    27 de maio de 2023, Escócia ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Zoe and Sean had warned us last night that this could be a busy weekend as it was a public holiday on Monday, so we decided to head off earlyish (8.15am) for our tour of the Lochs and southern highlands north and west of Glasgow.
    The closest (and largest) of the lochs is Loch Lomond, and we followed this up it’s western flank for quite a way before branching off to follow a valley up to the ‘Rest and Be Thankful’ pass. We stopped at the viewing area for some morning tea before heading on past some other lochs and quaint towns such as Inverary.
    We arrived at the Chrauchan power station on the banks of Loch Awe with the intention of doing a tour of this rather amazing piece of engineering (a hydro power station 1 km underground).
    We, along with a number of other potential tourists were disappointed to see the sign at their closed facility indicating that tours during their high, summer season run every day- except on weekends!
    So we sat in the carpark for a few minutes and watched a YouTube video on the power station instead.
    The weather was exactly what you might expect of the Scottish highlands- cool, a little breezy, some showers and mist, not the fine weather that the forecast had promised.
    We circled back towards Glasgow via a different route, stopping at Kilchurn castle and then back down the full length of Loch Lomond.
    We found a nice spot by the edge of the lake to sit in the car and have some lunch.
    Here I also took the opportunity to serenade Loss with a solo rendition of the old Scottish song ‘On the Bonnie, Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond’, which she seemed to enjoy immensely (even though she claims she had never heard the song before).
    We could see the ‘steep sides of Ben Lomond’ and the highland hills bathed ‘in soft purple hue’ and as my dulcet tones rang out across the loch, my only disappointment was that it wasn’t recorded.
    Apart from my splendid singing, it was also a beautiful spot to have lunch.

    Fortunately we were on our way back to Glasgow and the traffic was quite light in our direction, but as predicted it was heavy heading the other way.
    We saw a number of hardy Scottish souls camping by the banks of the lochs - even a few swimming in the rather frigid water. Apart from a few kayaks and SUP’s, there was very minimal boating activity observed.
    We got back to Glasgow at about 3.30pm. In all, we passed by at least half a dozen different lochs of varying shapes and sizes.

    Fortified by a coffee at the apartment, we then set off at 4pm to explore Glasgow itself. Cars are very much discouraged within the city precincts, so we decided to do another hop on / off bus tour which worked out well.
    We walked 20 minutes to the nearest pickup point, did a full lap (and a half) of the city to eventually alight at the University. There were a number of points of interest including a big celebration by Celtic soccer fans with noise, colour (green and white), flares and police out in force.
    We walked into the university and found the quite famous cloisters area, headed out to the front of the University which gave a nice view down over the city, and then armed with some extra ‘local info’ from Zoe also found Ashton Place which is a great little restaurant precinct not far away. We probably would have stayed there for dinner but it was getting quite cold out now (although most of the Scots were in short and T-shirts) and we had already bought groceries earlier, so we walked the 25 minutes back to the warmth of our unit - arriving right at 7pm - to enjoy dinner at home and an early night, hopefully.    Leia mais

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  • U.K. - Iceland - Israel
    Loss, dwarfed by the LHS KelpieA 'Darcy size' version of The KelpiesThe 'wee' jetty 😅The Wheel allows boats to pass from the lower lock height to the higher (& v.v.)The boat starting to move into position in The WheelShaun Maher (L) and his son Luke Maher - Luke is a Scottish stonemason . ..... and was chosen to help move the Stone of Destiny back to Westminster for the CoronationWe had a Kenyan traditional lunch for the Meal-A-Day fundraiserPutting out on the 18th (old course) at St. Andrews1The Swilcan bridgePutting out at the 18th, St. Andrews Old CourseThe beach at St. Andrews beside the golf courseThe new bridge over the Forth enroute to Edinburgh

    A day of many wee parts

    28 de maio de 2023, Escócia ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Today had so many different elements I couldn’t settle on what to name it.

    We awoke at 6.50am to a beautiful, cloudless morning. Breakfast, pack up and off with a deadline of 11am to attend the Sterling meeting.
    As it happened, there were two points of interest to briefly visit on our way, and very close to Sterling which lies north east of Glasgow and North West of Edinburgh which was our final destination for today.

    We drove in the direction of Sterling and called in first to see an impressive sculpture by the name of The Kelpies. The Kelpies are not sheep dogs but rather horses - in Scottish mythology they were a beast that possessed the power of 100 normal horses. However, the horses’ heads here standing over 30m tall are based on real life Clydesdale horses which were transformative in the history of this part of Scotland’s landscape and industry in bygone days.
    After a short look around The Kelpies, we headed off about 15 minutes down the road to The Falkirk Wheel which is a particularly impressive piece of Scottish engineering.
    This amazing device was invented to replace about 11 locks in the canal system to allow long river boats to move between the significant difference in height of the canals in this part of Scotland. Nothing happens quickly here, but it all happens with great precision.

    Of course, the first activation of the Falkirk Wheel doesn’t happen until 10am, so we watched this first transfer of boats and then quickly headed off to Sterling Ecclesia, arriving at 10.45am.
    We received a warm welcome and were pleased to meet some of Wendy and Trevor Maher’s children and grandchildren. (Many would remember Wendy and the late Bro. Trevor from Rathmines days.) Loriene had been in contact with Wendy who has remarried, and sadly for us David and Wendy were ‘down south’ visiting David’s family so we didn’t get to see them.
    However, it was lovely to share a ‘Meal A Day’ lunch with the members after the meeting and to become acquainted with many other members of this lovely meeting in addition to the Mahers.
    For those who are keen followers of the Royal family and the recent coronation, you may note that Wendy and Trevor’s grandson Luke (who was chairman for the meeting today) featured prominently in one aspect of the coronation - see the accompanying photos.

    While sitting at lunch with Shaun Maher, he was able to give me some tips on the most scenic drive to Edinburgh via St. Andrews which we duly entered into Waze. We bid a fond farewell to our new friends and arrived in St. Andrews with the weather still being picture perfect. I was able to get to play a little golf on the Old Course (again see photos and video for proof for the doubting Thomases out there).
    After putting out on the 18th hole, we briefly visited the vast beach area and then developed car troubles on starting up.
    Multiple orange warning lights came on and the engine was running roughly. Although none of the lights indicated low oil levels, the dipstick wasn’t registering any oil at all 😳. It took 3 visits to service stations before a litre of oil could be purchased and thankfully the rough running and warning lights all disappeared once having provided the little Fiat with this magic elixir.

    We then continued on our circuitous coastal route towards Edinburgh (including diverting off to view the Forth bridges from below before crossing over) and the scenery was worth the extra travel time.
    We finally made it into Edinburgh and to our accommodation right on 7pm and as I am typing this last sentence, the ‘wonder woman’ is placing another beautifully prepared meal on the table!    Leia mais

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  • U.K. - Iceland - Israel
    Edinburgh Castle set high on its 'volcanic plug'
    Our kind ticket seller for Edinbugh CastleA 3D printed model of the Stone of Destiny, in The Great Hall from where it was carriedThe actual Stone of Destiny is in the Crown Jewels room (no photos allowed)Mons Meg - the mightiest cannon of the 1400'sOne of the 'Closes' with interesting / grim historyAny type of tartan you can imagineBoarding The BrittaniaIn the Admiral's seat on the BridgeIt even had a garage onboard for the Land Rover or Rolls to use at their destination1The Queen's bedroomAfternoon tea onboardThe State Dining Room which hosted many world leaders and dignitariesThe State Drawing Room with baby grand bolted to the floorNot the Royal sleeping quarters!The TenderThe engine room

    ‘Close’ encounters of the Royal kind

    29 de maio de 2023, Escócia ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    We woke to a picture perfect Edinburgh day. Mild, sunny, cloudless and calm.

    I had been very neglectful in not having pre-booked the ‘must-see’ attraction in this city, being Edinburgh Castle. I’m not sure how I’d overlooked this, but I had, and now I was kicking myself.
    Last night when trying to book some tickets online I discovered that all tickets were sold out for today for all time slots. Even when I tried some of the slightly risky third-party resellers, nothing was available for today.
    Never-the-less we thought we’d try our luck by fronting up to the Castle and seeing if there were any ‘walk up’ tickets available . If we came up with a blank, then a tour through Holyrood Palace would have to suffice as a consolation prize instead.
    We left the apartment early (is there any other time to leave?), and followed some great advice from a local lady at the bus stop to buy an all-day bus ticket. This got us down to Edinburgh Castle just after opening time and after walking around the perimeter past the sign that said ‘Edinburgh Castle Tickets Sold Out’ we approached a young gentleman on duty at the entrance.
    “We’re wondering if there might be any walk-up tickets available today?”
    ‘No sir, I’m sorry, all the tickets are sold out for today’ as he gestures toward the fairly obvious sign saying exactly the same thing.
    “So there’s nothing available at all? We are flexible - we could come back any time . . . “
    ‘It’s a very popular attraction, sir - we get upwards of 7,000 visitors per day and unfortunately all the tickets are sold out for today’

    It was time to use the last arrow in the quiver but delivered, I think, in good humour.
    “But we’ve travelled all the way from Australia just to see Edinburgh Castle and you’re telling me we’re going to miss out?”
    The young man seemed to appreciate our sense of humour and with a smile and a glint in his eye he leaned in and said
    ‘Well, there is ONE possible way - I can’t promise anything - but if you walk down the hill there to where the Hop On buses stop, you MAY be able to buy a ticket through them combined with their bus tour as they often buy blocks of Castle tickets to on-sell to their customers ’

    We didn’t want the Hop on bus tour today, and it would be an expensive way to get a ticket to Edinburgh Castle but . . .

    We thanked the young chap at Windsor Castle and then pushed through the rapidly building crowds heading smugly up to the Castle with their pre paid tickets. We spotted a Red bus, dashed across and spoke to the very good-humoured Scottish ticket seller by the bus.
    Slightly breathless, we ask “We are wondering if we buy one of your bus tickets is it possible to get one that gives us access to Edinburgh Castle?”
    ‘Yes, we have Edinburgh Castle tickets - how many would you like? Do you want it combined with a bus ticket, or just the Castle ticket on its own?
    “Um, just the Castle Ticket would be great thanks - and what time would that time slot be?” I ask as I hand him my credit card to process the transaction, expecting that the time available will be at a most inconvenient time later in the day.
    ‘Here you go sir, 2 tickets for entry for 15 minutes ago, but they give you a half hour window so if you rush back up you’ll just make it’.

    Well, we thanked our new Scottish friend very much, rushed back up the hill and gained access with a matter of minutes to spare.
    We caught our breath, picked up our audio guide and worked our way around all of the significant sites on this very impressive (and steep) attraction. Of particular interest was to see that the Stone of Destiny had made its way safely back into the Crown Jewels room under the safe guidance of Luke Maher and his fellow workers :)
    A 3D printed model sits where it was carried from The Great Hall - see yesterday’s pictures of Luke Maher standing beside it in that very spot.

    We left Edinburgh Castle and started our way down ‘The Royal Mile’ after a quick coffee stop before we proceeded any further. I had downloaded an Audio guide for a tour of the ‘Closes’ that branch off this famous street which runs for just over a mile from Edinburgh Castle to Holyrood Palace (which is the King’s official residence when visiting Edinburgh).

    The ‘Closes’ are little alleyways that run off the Main Street and is where much of the interesting history of the city took place. The audio guide was excellent and gave us step by step instructions, information and history for approximately a dozen of these ‘Closes’ as we made our way down the Royal Mile to Holyrood Palace and snapped a couple of quick photos through the gates.

    It was now time to head to our 3rd major point of interest for the day - the Royal Yacht Britannia, which was Queen Elizabeth’s favourite place since she named and launched it in 1953 and for which she shed a tear when it was decommissioned in 1997. The Brittania is now berthed permanently here in Edinburgh and is a major tourist attraction.
    Another bus trip, a very brief lunch stop and we were onboard the Brittania where access was given to almost every part of the ship.
    With the help of the detailed audio guide provided, seeing the Queen’s office, bedroom and relaxation areas was very interesting as well as all the areas that were used by other royal members and the crew.
    It was a special treat to even have afternoon tea onboard and think about the procession of world leaders who had been hosted and entertained in the very same area and other significant events that had taken place onboard.

    Two more bus legs back to our apartment, a quick visit to Aldi for some groceries for dinner and we were able to get back in the door before 7pm tonight…. just.

    ‘    Leia mais

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  • U.K. - Iceland - Israel
    The 'mini' Harbour Bridge at Newcastle On Tyne
    The first record of James Cook as a mariner at age 19The view James Cook would have had of Whitby harbour from his attic sleeping quartersThe attic where he lived for 9 yearsThe white building behind is tghe original house in which he livedReplica of the Endeavour in the harbourCook's residence is the white place just above the tip of the peirCrab sandwiches for dinnerWhalebone arch with Whitby harbour behindWhitby's most famous son commemorated in bronzeUnveiled by one of South Australia's favourite(?) sonsWhitby is also famous for its 'Jet' - a black, fossilised wood1This is from where the expression 'Jet Black' has come.Thankfully all the shops are now shut in our street!

    From the Harbour Bridge to Botany Bay

    30 de maio de 2023, Inglaterra ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    We started off in shorts and T-shirts in Edinburgh and finished rugged up against an arctic chill in Whitby.

    Today entailed a fair bit of driving as we commenced our home run towards London.

    We left Edinburgh on a beautiful morning again, checking out of our apartment and heading just around the corner to pick up some fresh fruit. Thankfully we did, as it was at that moment we realised we had left our entire bag of food and kitchen accoutrements back in the apartment. A quick retrace to collect the abandoned bag then off for a fairly long drive firstly to Newcastle on Tyne. Enroute we crossed the border back into England at Coldstream having had a wonderful time in Scotland over the past few days.

    The only point of interest in Newcastle on Tyne was to observe the bridge which crosses the river Tyne (obviously). It is essentially a mini Sydney Harbour Bridge, having been built at the same time and as a prototype for the much more ambitious Sydney version.
    After having driven over it and then turned off to find a vantage point, we noted that the Newcastle version’s proportions looked a little more ‘squashed’, and the upkeep was somewhat lacking.
    We found a spot to pull over a little further along for some lunch, then continued on our way south to Whitby.
    I didn’t really know what to expect in Whitby, apart from the fact that it was where Capt. James Cook did much of his maritime training before then joining the Royal Navy and moving to London. When we arrived, we found the town absolutely packed with people. Alas, England’s school holidays have just started!

    Before heading to our accommodation, we found some parking near the James Cook museum and did a tour. It turns out that the museum is housed within the very house that James Cook lived in during his early maritime training here and he would have spent about 9 years living in the attic area of the house. The displays and records were very interesting and we noted that although there was obviously material on his 1770 voyage to the east coast of Australia, they took a much more ‘global’ view of Cook’s voyages and achievements than the ‘Australia-centric’ material we are used to seeing. The Endeavour on which he sailed was also designed and built here in Whitby.
    Having finished our tour of the museum, we found our accommodation just a 100m away up one of the narrow, cobblestone streets of the old city area. No parking was to be had here, so we returned to the car, retrieved our gear and wheeled our bags up to the accommodation.

    As Whitby is somewhat famous for its seafood we decided we should have a proper seafood meal this evening and lined up for the most in-demand restaurant in the town. After waiting in the chilly lineup chatting to some other English people for about 30 minutes, we got a table and enjoyed an excellent meal - Seafood chowder, Crab Sandwiches and Halibut fish and chips (and mushy peas which is pretty much always the only extra offered).
    We decided we needed to go for a walk after this large meal but as we emerged from the restaurant, there was a really cold wind blowing up the harbour. We braved this stiff breeze and headed up to the Cook memorial and the Whalebone Arch.
    On the way there we decided that, as we had been in the UK for just over a month now and HADN’T had an icecream yet, we really should do this also. So along with all the other locals, we strode along in the freezing evening with our ice-cream cones trying to finish them before the icy wind melted them prematurely.

    We climbed the hill to the monument, snapped a few photos with shivering hands and then retreated back to the warmth and comfort of our quaint little B&B room.
    It promises to be a lazy start tomorrow, as breakfast doesn’t commence being served until 9am!    Leia mais

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  • U.K. - Iceland - Israel
    Climbing the 199 steps to Whitby AbbeyWhitby AbbeyStreets getting crowded againThe missile defence systemOn the old city walls at YorkLoss' favourite shop in York. I resisted the temptation...York MinsterA very significant development in making the Bible accessible to the peopleThe building mentioned in the previous photo adjacent to York MinsterConstantine the GreatRevelation 12:1-5

    Our favourite York(!)

    31 de maio de 2023, Inglaterra ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    It goes without saying that Darcy is our favourite York - but the city of York is pretty special too ;)

    We had our laziest start ever this morning, made some WhatsApp calls back home and wandered down to breakfast at 9.30am. We checked out immediately after breakfast, took all our bags back to the car (about 10 minutes walk along the cobblestoned streets) and then did a little more exploring of Whitby.
    The crowds were building again but were tolerable. The weather was not as cold as yesterday but there was a solid overcast.
    Loss and I went exploring separately for a bit (I was interested to see lots of people fishing for crabs off the wharf using collapsible nets with some bait secured in the base), then met up and had a look through the Museum of Jet which provided some interesting background to its use.
    It is no longer permissible to mine the material and the jewellery shops are supplied with their raw materials by locals who literally scour the beaches for bits that have been washed up on shore.
    Queen Victoria wore a lot of Whitby Jet jewellery during her 40 year long period of mourning after the death of her beloved Albert. This meant that Jet became the choice of Victorian women for mourning purposes but has more recently become a regular jewellery choice alongside any other precious or semi-precious gemstone.
    Another claim to fame for Whitby is its 7thC Abbey. Its decaying form and dramatic setting, sprawling graveyard and church surrounded by swooping bats - along with Jet being used as mourning jewellery inspired the author Bram Stoker to write the novel ‘Dracula’ in 1897 after having visited the town.
    We climbed the 199 steps up from the old town to the Abbey, took in the view and then returned to our car to commence our drive to York.

    The scenery changed dramatically as soon as we left the coast, and we saw on a hillside a very strangely shaped building which was part of a facility signposted as ‘RAF Flyingdales’. This turns out to be something ‘that provides a continuous ballistic missile early warning service to the UK and US governments, ensuring a surprise missile attack could not succeed. The RADAR is capable of tracking objects including satellites and debris, 3000 miles into space.’

    We found our accommodation in York without any issues and both the quality and location of the apartment are excellent - in a very quiet little nook but very central to the heart of York.
    Once we unloaded ALL our luggage this time (it was time to reorganise the luggage properly and start getting it ‘airline ready’ again) we had a bit of late lunch then headed off to start exploring by foot. We headed across the river, got ourselves onto the old city walls and began circumnavigating the city. The walls are not complete which meant getting back down to street level a few times to find the next section of wall.
    We were keen to have a look at the York Minster which is an iconic building but also has some significance as far as Bible history and prophecy is concerned (see the photos).
    We were also keen to have a bit of a look inside.
    Paid tours had finished for the day but we were invited in to the Evensong service which was about to commence. Not quite sure how it happened, but next minute we find ourselves seated up near the altar and the 40 minute service got underway.
    Being the third most important church in the Church of England, it was very much a ‘high CofE’ service and very foreign to us in so many ways.
    Never-the-less we got a good appreciation for the architecture and acoustics with the pipe organ and choir in full voice.
    Following this, we continued our tour of the walls of the city, bought some groceries for dinner and arrived back at our apartment just before 8pm.    Leia mais

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  • U.K. - Iceland - Israel
    Guy Fawkes was born in this building in 1570York Minster stonemasons at workThe oldest building in York (late 1300's)Start of The ShamblesClifford Tower- built originally by William The Conqueror.History repeats itselfYork has Betty the baker too !There's always a line up of people wanting to do 'high tea' at Betty'sJudi Dench was born in YorkPreparing for our romantic evening cruise. Thermals, layers and gloves.That top deck looks deadly- we need to get a seat down below"Right Loss, you distract the young familes while I deal with the elderly...."Success! At least we wont lose any fingers or toes to frostbite!Stonemasons at York minster still working with hand tools

    Cruising around York

    1 de junho de 2023, Inglaterra ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    We had the luxury of another late start today as all we were planning was exploring York in more depth and in particular visiting Clifford’s Tower.

    After some calls back home, a lazy breakfast, searching for lost sun glasses that eventually turned up and a couple of other false starts, we felt like we were ‘losing the plot’ this morning as we eventually emerged into a grey, slightly bleak day. A very light drizzle soon gave way to an overcast, cold day….
    (Just checking the weather forecast we noted that the temperature reached a maximum of 15 degrees here in York on the first day of summer - identical to the temperature back home on the first day of winter in the middle of the night🤔)

    I had downloaded an audio guide to historical York and we set off to follow this from start to finish. 22 points of interest and 9km later we had completed it, having learnt a great deal more about its history spanning Roman, Viking and Medieval periods.

    Of particular interest was observing the place (Clifford’s Tower) where antisemitism culminated in the attempted destruction of all Jews living in York in 1190. This was one of the worst massacres of Jews in the Middle Ages and in a case of history repeating itself, the Jewish community of about 150 that was finally trapped by an angry mob inside the Tower eventually chose to take their own lives in a fashion almost identical to what had taken place at Masada just over 1100 years earlier.

    A little shopping also took place during a wander through ‘The Shambles’ which has been a shopping precinct for about 1000 years. It was called The Shambles because it is the street where the butchers plied their trade (cf. 1 Cor. 10:25) and the buildings still in existence here date back to the 1300’s.

    We made it back to the apartment mid afternoon for some late lunch and reorganisation of bags etc.

    Last night, in the expectation that today was going to be a pleasant, mild day I booked an evening river cruise - I had a foolish, romantic vision of a lovely, balmy cruise with the sun glinting off the water in the late afternoon with a suitable beverage in hand.

    The harsh reality was of shivering by the dock in the bleak, overcast conditions waiting for the boat to arrive; mentally estimating that there appeared to be insufficient seats for everyone to be inside the covered lower deck and that some would be exposed to potential hypothermia on the open top deck; and that this, unfortunately could necessitate pushing aside elderly, feeble folk and young nursing mothers so as to be able to rush to a coveted seat in the enclosed cabin.

    Fortunately, this plan did not need to be actioned because a few locals in shorts and t shirts CHOSE to go to the upper deck because, hey, it IS the first day of summer and they were going to treat it accordingly!
    The cruise was somewhat informative but underwhelming and as we disembarked an hour later alongside the crying baby and restless teenagers into the frigid, gloomy evening I couldn’t help but wonder why I willingly subjected ourselves to that.

    Loss was much more gracious about it than she needed to be….    Leia mais

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  • U.K. - Iceland - Israel
    Loss discovering gravity (apple on head) outside Newton's room, his apple tree (RHS)
    Henry V111 set up Trinity College- students replaced his gold sceptre with a chair legFrancis Crick's collegePointing to Sir Isaac Newton's roomKings College ChapelWaiting for our free Evensong serviceThe 'fan' vaulted ceiling, Kings College chapelNote person confidently striding accross the sacred grass of Kings College quadranglePunting on the River CamThe Bridge of Sighs.... again!1Prince Charles lived in the upstairs area of this CollegeKings College from the river (chapel on left)Rooms at bottom where Alan Turing cracked the Enigma Code, WW2Pub on right where CS lewis and JRR Tolkein would meet every Thursday to exchange ideas

    Taking a punt on the gravity of Evensong

    2 de junho de 2023, Inglaterra ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    We’ve become evensong junkies. Today we actually organised our afternoon around it so there’s really no denying it.

    After some more calls and messages home this morning, we packed up and emerged into a beautiful morning in York. It was a shame that we would spend the next few hours driving to Cambridge, but that’s just the luck of the draw.
    Arriving at our accommodation around 1.30pm, we filled in half an hour buying some groceries and lunch to return at 2.15 to activate the self checkin process which wasn’t available until then.
    We unpacked, recaffeinated and then caught the bus into the Cambridge university area.
    Once again, our downloaded audio guide allowed us to tour around the points of interest at our own pace.
    Observing the place where Francis Crick is memorialised for solving the mysteries of the DNA double helix and seeing where Sir Isaac Newton lived, worked and wrote his theses on mathematics and philosophy was especially interesting. The apple tree outside his window was not where he had the lightbulb moment about gravity- it was at a country estate. However, some of THAT apple tree has been grafted on to this tree outside his window.
    We continued following the audio guide, until it was time to head back to the Kings College Chapel for 5.30 evensong, which allowed us to see the majestic building and avoided having to pay for a tour tomorrow.
    The organ playing was a little disappointing this time, but the singing by the male Kings Choir - much of it a Cappella - was amazing, as indeed is the architecture of the famed ‘fan’ ceiling.
    As it was such a beautiful evening, we decided we should also do a punt ride on the river which runs through many of the colleges. We sat in the afternoon sun by the riverside and waited for our 6.45pm slot.
    The punting experience was excellent- a far cry from our river cruise last night.
    Our knowledgeable skipper (poler?) Ethan described all the relevant details of the colleges we passed such as where Steven Hawking lived and worked, the rooms where Prince Charles stayed when he studied here etc.

    We walked back to our bus station in the rapidly cooling evening, bought some groceries for dinner at the local supermarket, and got back in the door at 8.45pm. Loss is now cooking up a storm as I finish this…..    Leia mais

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  • U.K. - Iceland - Israel
    Geting ready for tomorrow's flight to Iceland
    On the bridge over the River Cam, CambridgeBoth Newton's 'Principia Mathematica' and Milne's 'Winnie the Pooh' original manuscripts house here.Fitzwilliam Museum, CambridgeWooden coffins, just like Joseph would have been taken in from Egypt to Israel1

    Closing the U.K. Rings

    3 de junho de 2023, Inglaterra ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    5,200km by road and 350km by foot - its been quite the journey.

    Summer seems to have finally settled on England, with today being warm and sunny.
    We packed up at Cambridge, loaded the car and then bussed back into Cambridge to finish our audio walking tour before returning late morning to commence our drive back to Heathrow where we started 5 weeks ago.
    Once again, a slight diversion was made to satisfy Loss’ particular interests - this time in the field of aviation.
    We drove to the Royal Airforce Museum, London which is quite near Heathrow and spent an hour or so going through 6 hangars of aviation history - from pre WW1 to the Cold War days. I had to agree with Loss that it was the finest collection of aircraft and other related items we had ever seen and it was difficult to drag her away as she was so interested in every aspect of the displays ;)

    By late afternoon we had navigated to the Sofitel at Terminal 5, Heathrow and checked in. I left Loss there to get things organised while I drove around the perimeter of Heathrow to return the hire car, then bus and tube it back to the hotel. These things always take longer than you would hope, but on the bright side I had just enough credit left on my ‘Oyster Card’ to complete the journey back to the Sofitel without having to top up.
    Final reflections on the UK over dinner brought back some great memories of amazing experiences and it was impossible to settle on a single, favourite experience.

    A 7.20am flight to Reykjavik in the morning means a pretty early start even though we are staying adjacent to the terminal.
    Thank you UK for a wonderful 5 weeks and we are very thankful we have been given care, protection and health during this whole time.    Leia mais

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  • U.K. - Iceland - Israel

    U.K. Observations

    3 de junho de 2023, Inglaterra ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    We noted down the following observations as we went along and they may be helpful to anyone (especially from Australia - Mike and Ruth?) planning to tour the U.K., based on our personal experiences. Some of them you might find in the guide books, some you won’t.
    They are in no particular order.
    Obviously ignore this if it is of no interest to you.

    * Credit card will suffice for 98% of the time. There are still just a few times when you will need some cash (e.g. some of the Parking meters, The Kurdistan Barber).
    * Public toilets very often require payment, especially in the tourist districts - usually 40p. Some take card, some cash (coins) only. Don’t get caught short.
    * Use a card that has no foreign transaction fees. We used Latitude 28 degrees Global (yes, the company that just had the major data breach a few days after I signed up with them!) and it was great. Foreign transaction fees on your regular credit card will add up to a significant cost.
    * Just be aware that if you are paying for some items online, your card provider will want extra verification. If that is an SMS they send you with a code - and you’re not using your normal Aussie SIM - then it will be an exercise in frustration. Change your verification contact to email (or some other means) before you leave home rather than SMS. I didn’t even think of this and got caught out a few times.
    * Expect to pay for parking almost everywhere you go - even at hotels you are staying at. Very annoying.
    * Hire the smallest car you can mange for your needs. Narrow roads, tight parking etc make it very difficult for larger vehicles.
    * Work out driving times in advance - not by distance, but by paying attention to the times Google Maps gives you - it was pretty accurate.
    * Lots of traffic / bottlenecks / roadworks creating slow progress on a number of occasions.
    * We found Waze gave the superior driving instructions (which lanes to be in, speed limits and warnings etc) compared to Google Maps, but occasionally we would revert to Google Maps if Waze didn’t have a destination or feature in it.
    * The ‘Derestricted’ road signs mean: 60mph for undivided roads, 70mph for dual carriageway roads. You only get numbers on signs when the speed limit is 50mph or less.
    * There are almost NO speed guidance signs for bends etc. I hadn’t realised how valuable these are until you don’t have them!
    * Don’t speed! There are lots and lots of speed cameras, including ‘average speed cameras’ that cover large sections of roads.
    * The U.K. has a love affair with roundabouts
    * Drivers are generally quite courteous
    * Watch out for / plan to avoid ‘clean air zones’ and ‘congestion zones’. If you drive into these areas it will incur a fee.
    * We only came across one toll road - the bridge into Liverpool. Pay the toll within 24hrs online or your rental car company will probably charge a large handling fee on top of the £2 toll when they get the bill later.
    * Get a good mobile phone arrangement. We pre purchased SIM (30GB data) cards and used the ‘3’ carrier which was fine for major areas but a bit flakey in some regional areas. Speaking to locals, they would recommend Vodaphone or EE for best overall coverage. (Seems like Vodaphone to them is like Telstra to us.)
    * Vodaphone Australia do quite a good deal if you don’t want to get a UK SIM- AUD$5 per day global roaming with the same plan you have at home - which would be economical if you were only here for a week to 10 days. Telstra global roaming is awful - $10 per day and minuscule amounts of data allowance.
    * We used about 5 or 6 Gb of data per week, using the phone for everything including hot spotting etc.
    * Every place we stayed at had free WiFI
    * Almost no places we stayed in have airconditioning - except for major chain Motels. Wasn’t a problem for us as weather was cool to mild but ……
    * Almost nothing in the UK opens until 10am so you need to plan around this.
    * Buying a ‘London Card’ was invaluable and great value
    * Download the TfL Go app for getting around London by public transport - this made it a piece of cake.
    * Don’t hire a car until you are finished in London.
    * Fuel is expensive - Diesel generally a little dearer than unleaded. You will pay in £ about what we pay in AUD$.
    * Food, coffee, eating out is expensive. We saved heaps of time / money by having a Nespresso machine. It was usually our best coffee of the day first thing in the morning. Generally the standard being served is quite poor, and you pay a fortune for it.
    * Avoid Nero Caffès at all costs - they are truly awful
    * The best coffee we had was from. . . . McDonalds ! (Apart from at John and Sarah Owen’s place)
    * We found having a self contained apartment every few days very useful. It allowed you to catch up on washing etc and gave the option of eating in if you chose.
    * The weather is very changeable - 4 seasons in one day.
    * Pre-book attractions as much as possible as many get sold out.
    * If you are visiting the Christadelphian Office, contact them well in advance to request an appointment / visit.
    * Everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) has either lived in or visited Australia or has a relative or friend living there.
    * Brits are very friendly towards Aussies and will often ‘go the extra mile’ for us
    * The ‘Find Penguins’ app was great, but if you turn on the ‘Always Tracking’ feature, it drains your phone battery VERY quickly (don’t believe their claim that it only uses an extra 4%). I did want the feature on, so had to buy a ‘power pack’ to get my phone battery to last through the day.
    * ASDA stock Vegemite
    * There are no shortage of Fish (Cod) and chips outlets
    * There are more ice cream vendors than people
    * Dogs are omnipresent and also eat ice cream. Many places are ‘pet friendly’ so be careful if you have allergies.
    * Days are very long in the summer, but very short in the winter (not light till 9am, dark again at 3pm)
    * If you are older than 60 in England (65 in Scotland), you qualify for Seniors discount at most attractions, no questions asked.
    * If you do a Red Bus Hop on /off tour, keep your tickets from the first one because you will get a discount at subsequent ones in other cities.
    * Be super careful stepping out of the shower in the bathrooms. Almost all of the shower bases are the moulded acrylic trays built up above floor height and some are quite slippery - which also means you are stepping down on exiting which is less than ideal. One slip / fall could ruin your day / holiday / life.
    * Every place we stayed at provide a very warm /thick doona as your bed covering. We dislike these - way too hot - and generally places are kept warmer than we would keep them at home. We brought a cotton blanket with us and remade the bed using only this above the sheet and found it an ideal temperature almost 100% of the time. Excessive? Perhaps, but a good night’s sleep was enjoyed.
    * Everyone (except us) seemed to use walking poles - especially in the Lake District !
    * Hat and sunscreen hardly ever used. Even when out on full, sunny days you just don’t get burnt like we do in Oz.
    * We loved the self guided audio tours of cities of interest- generally you pay about £6 to download and keep. Much cheaper and more flexible than a fully guided walking tour. Use some EarPods and set your own pace at a time that suits you with full GPS guidance and lots of great info.    Leia mais

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  • U.K. - Iceland - Israel
    The miserable BA International breakfast- even the water bottle was undersized!Loss and I at far leftLoss (L), me (R)1Touching 2 continentsThe change in colours at various depths was awesomeShowing where we were touching both continentsWith our guide, LillianOxarfoss fallsAt GeyserGullfoss31

    Between a Rock and a Hard Place

    4 de junho de 2023, Islândia ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    At 4.30am the alarm went off and at 5.10 we dashed out to Heathrow, checked in bags , cleared customs- all the usual stuff. Navigate by internal train to correct gate- had about 10mins of down time until boarding.
    The flight got away just a few minutes late and all was looking good- except for the breakfast on British Airways (see photo).
    We arrived pretty much as per schedule at Reykavik and as we emerged into the arrivals hall, the promised car rentals people with a sign were nowhere to be seen.
    This was a cause for concern as we had a reasonably tight schedule- a 1pm snorkelling booking at Silfra ponds, which was 1 hour 20 minutes drive time.
    After a lot of running about back and forth, phone calls and checking of my watch, eventually the rental guy turned up. THEN we had to be shuttled to their off- airport office, paperwork etc- it was 11.40am by the time we actually drove away.
    The car is an absolute dog.
    It’s a Suzuki Vitara with 220k on it and a transmission that makes more noise than forward motion. It can maintain a steady pace on the flat, but I’m getting overtaken by farm tractors and council graders on even very gentle inclines.
    I have my doubts that it will make it through the next 4 days without totally dying.

    We’d had no breakfast to speak of and now it looked like no lunch either- except Loss had the presence of mind to ask the guys at the rental place for some boiling water to fill up our thermos.
    We had intended to buy some provisions enroute and had very little with us except a few sachets of instant porridge as well as some hot chocolate and instant coffee.
    Picture the scene as Loss is making up porridge and literally feeding me and herself Quaker Oats as I’m trying to coax the Suzuki over the next hill, washed down by a hot chocolate/ coffee mix drink as we had no milk either.
    We made it to the snorkelling rendezvous with 2 minutes to spare.
    Fortunately the car was already going slowly enough that Loss could simply step out of it as we saw the ‘Troll Snorkelling’ van then I continued on to park 150m down the road and run back.

    Now it was time to relax and enjoy the 4 degree water temperature as we snorkelled in pristine, transparent glacial meltwater between the North American and European tectonic plates. At one point we had the obligatory photo taken touching both sides of the divide.
    The dry suits kept us dry and warm enough, but lips and fingers felt cold as they do get wet. It was a thoroughly enjoyable and unique experience.
    Next it was off to the nearby Oxarfoss waterfall and lookout, followed by a half hour drive to the Geyser National Park to see the thermal pools and geysers. Fingers were freezing as we poised with phones ready to capture the unpredictable water eruptions.

    20 minutes further up the road was one of the most spectacular sights - the mighty Gullfos waterfall- truly phenomenal.
    We bought some groceries at a little store, coaxed the car back to life after the engine stopped while idling, then drove on to Fludir for our overnight accommodation, arriving there at 8.30pm.
    Loss has just rustled up an amazing dinner from the skillet and we enjoyed that at 9.15pm.
    I think it’s fair to say that was a pretty big day.    Leia mais

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  • U.K. - Iceland - Israel
    Never seen this at home - it was deliciousThe Suzuki - beneath that mild-manned exterior lurked the beating heart of a slothBehind Seljalandfoss fallsGljufrabui falls - hidden in a canyonSeljalandfoss falls againTurf roofed building1Skogafoss fallsThe DC3 wreck on the lava beachSkaftafellRealigning Chakra - take 2The Subaru repalcement to the SuzukiTaken at midnight from our hotel window tonight - it never gets dark . .3

    Foss Loss

    5 de junho de 2023, Islândia ⋅ 🌙 7 °C

    The word for waterfall in Icelandic is ‘Foss’ - and today Loss (and I) got up close and personal to quite a few.

    We slept in until 6.50am, got ready and headed down to our breakfast where we discovered a new favourite spread (see photos). As we headed out to the car Loss commented “I’d like to try to finish a little earlier than we did yesterday - if we could get in before 8.30pm that would be great”. Noted.
    I approached the Suzuki with a little apprehension as I wasn’t confident of it’s ability to withstand a night out in the open. To my mild surprise, it started first try . . .

    We left Fludir at 8.30am heading south to pick up the ‘circle road’ and to circumnavigate the island in an anticlockwise direction.
    A bit like ourselves, the Suzuki decided to have a leisurely start to the day. It was quite happy in first gear and could sometimes hold its own in top gear on straight and level roads, but any of the gears in between were about as useful as a chocolate teapot.
    By a combination of (a) turning off the airconditioning (b) working the accelerator in a fashion to try to avoid all those ‘in between gears’ and (c) tucking in to the slipstream of a cement truck - I was able to get us up to the legal limit of 90 kph after 22 minutes of driving.
    All our driving to this point had been at sea level and we were trying to convince ourselves that this was a manageable situation until we had to climb our very first hill. As our speed gradually reduced to about jogging pace it was clear (a) (b) and (c) were not working so I had to employ option (d) as well which was to reduce onboard weight by asking Loss to get out and walk behind the car on such hills.
    This seemed to be satisfactory - I was now able to hold a steady 10kpm up this gentle incline.
    However, I shortly realised I had to do something more drastic when I glanced across to see Loss smiling and waving at me from the passenger seat of the combine harvester that had just overtaken me at the crest of the hill. That was simply too much to bear.
    A phone call to ‘IceRentals 4x4’ a little later elicited a sympathetic response and they promised to send a replacement vehicle from Reykyavik (4.5 hours driving time) to meet us at our destination (Foss Hotel Glacier Lagoon) this evening. I was pleased but slightly sceptical at the same time.

    Before our first ‘Foss’ was a brief visit to ‘The Lava Centre’ which had lots of interesting information about the whole geological profile of Iceland including a display showing how many earthquakes had happened in the last 48 hours! We then drove on 20 minutes to Seljaalandfoss which was spectacular. You are able to actually walk right in behind the falls and armed with all our waterproof gear we did exactly that.
    10 minutes further walk up another pathway led to Gljufrabui waterfall which is hidden in a canyon. Again, we were pleased we had brought all the waterproof gear for this as the spray from the falls would have soaked us.

    Next up was the DC3 plane wreck on the lava beach at Solheimasandur. The plane crashed there in 1973 and ‘simply had to be done’. I had assured Loss that it was a 40 minute round trip walk out from the car park. Unfortunately I had misread my own itinerary - it was 40 minutes each way. The silence on the return walk from the wreck to the car was only broken by the roar of the large 4WD bus zooming by that could transport you there but we were too stingy to pay the $80 for the privilege.

    We then drove on 30 minutes to Skogafoss which is an absolutely beautiful waterfall. By this time the sun was shining and we got a great rainbow effect from the mist when viewing the falls from above.

    Continuing on, we drove around past Eyjafjallojull volcano (the one that erupted for several months in 2010 and shut down aviation across much of Europe) to Fjadragljufur which is an amazing river canyon that has carved out a deep path in the landscape. We stopped here and had a little lunch in the car at 4.15pm before continuing on across the Eldhraun Lava field - the world’s largest lava field that just looks like a black, lunar landscape.
    Although my itinerary called for us driving out onto the Renyisfjara black sand beach at Vik, we decided that it would be difficult to explain to IceRentals that they not only had to take the Suzuki back - but they also had to retrieve it from the beach because it had become bogged in a footprint that it was unable to climb out of . . .

    We weren’t done for the day yet as we still had quite a bit of ground to cover - next on the list was one of Iceland’s gems - Skaftafell. This is a combination of bush walks, waterfalls and glaciers which attracts people from around the globe. I had planned that we would do one walk here this afternoon to see ‘The Black Falls’ and then another different one tomorrow morning to get up to the head of the glacier.
    We parked and got ourselves ready and headed off at 6.25pm for our hike.
    It had turned out to be a warm, clear day (albeit a little hazy from time to time) and given the uncertainty of the weather here, we thought we should make the most of the conditions. So we did both hikes this evening with a combined time of about 2hrs 15 minutes. The glacier looked fantastic in the evening sunshine and the haze dissipated significantly during our walk to reveal a memorable view of the region.

    By the time we got back to the car and then drove another 25 minutes we were very pleased (and surprised) to see our replacement car waiting for us and then checked in to our accommodation at about 9.30pm. Dinner at 10.30pm. Finishing this blog right on midnight.
    As we have already done tomorrow morning’s walk, I have promised Loss a sleep in after 30k steps and 24km walked today.
    Her final words tonight? “And one more thing - if we could get in before 9.30pm tomorrow night, that would be great”. Noted.    Leia mais

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  • U.K. - Iceland - Israel
    On Diamond BeachA new diamond ring at Diamond BeachOn lake JokulsaronWhere the glacier meets the lakeAlong the coastlineOut the window as I write the blog this evening

    Reverting to a more Glacial pace

    6 de junho de 2023, Islândia ⋅ ☀️ 8 °C

    Yesterday’s gruelling program meant that we did actually have the luxury of having a very lazy start to the day and were able to enjoy the beautiful facilities at the Glacier Lagoon hotel.
    After some calls home and breakfast we headed 20 minutes up the road to ‘Diamond Beach’.
    Loss rather liked the sound of this place when I had previously mentioned it and I had promised that you could actually pick up ‘diamonds’ that were just lying on the sand.
    ‘Diamond Beach’ is a volcanic black sand beach so named because the chunks of ice that have calved from the nearby glacier run out to the sea and then get washed back up along the shore making it look like the beach is littered with sparkling diamonds of all shapes and sizes. Although the reality wasn’t quite what she had been secretly hoping for, it was a unique spectacle.

    Just a few hundred metres away was our meeting point for our main activity of today - a Zodiac ride out into Jokulsaron lake to experience the beauty of the glacier that calves directly into the lake. The ice floes that float in the lake make for an amazingly beautiful scene - and we had a picture perfect day to go with it as well.
    Our skipper and guide Marcus was very knowledgeable and witty and a really enjoyable 1.5 hours were spent out on the lake. We got up very close (well as close as is safe) to the glacial face. Although we could hear the sounds of the glacier groaning and cracking, we didn’t witness any of the face calving off - however late in the trip we did see one of the icebergs nearby in the lake shed a sizeable chunk from below the surface and shoot up to the surface.

    The magical hues of blue and white, harbour seals swimming and basking on their own little floes, and the thrill of running at high speed through the ice field hearing the occasional bump agains the fibreglass hull made for an unforgettable experience.
    The beauty and splendour of creation never ceases to amaze.

    At 2.45pm we drove off to continue our anticlockwise circumnavigation. The coastline and mountains were ever changing and never dull - and all accomplished in the luxury of a car that could actually hold its speed on a hill, had a functional cruise control AND Apple CarPlay. Bliss!

    After a fuel and grocery stop at Djupivogur we continued 20 minutes up the first of the fjords on the eastern side of the island to Lindabrekka - an idyllic little cabin perched between a volcano and the end of the fiord.
    And we arrived there at the very respectable time of 6.30pm!
    After dinner we are off for a post prandial stroll in the beautiful evening - there’s a ‘foss’ nearby to take a closer look at.    Leia mais

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  • U.K. - Iceland - Israel
    "Lady in bright jacket - would you please stand THERE?'
    Last night at Sveinsstekksfoss at 10.15pmFolaldofossFardagafossGufufossThe Blue Church at SeydisfjordurLunch with a view at SeydisfjordurThe Seawolf was delicious!1Inspired by watching other tourists, Loss is getting into the spirit of how to pose for photosClimbing the mountain pass into SeydisfjordurPartially frozen lake at the top of the pass at 90kphSelfossDettifoss - Europe's most powerful waterfallBoiling pool at NamafjallMyvatn hot bathsDettifoss

    Hot and Cold Running Water

    7 de junho de 2023, Islândia ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Today started early - last night, actually.

    Just as we were winding it up for the day I thought I should check over the itinerary for tomorrow (today) and I found that (a) it was going to be another busy day and (b) the first point of attraction to visit was a slight backtrack to our intended route of travel for the day. It was a waterfall called Sveinsstekksfoss and access was open 24 hours, so we jumped back in the car at 10pm and checked this great little ‘Foss’ before heading back to Lindabrekka for the night. We were ahead of the game before it even started!

    Alarm at 6am, out the door just after 7 and drove to our first waterfall for the day - Folaldafoss. This one didn’t require much walking and we snapped a few shots in the cold morning air and headed off to the little town of Stodvarfjordur - tucked away on one of the fjords that are a feature of this part of the coastline. Nothing was open as it was only 8.30am - so ‘Petra’s Rock Collection’ museum would have to wait for another day as this was the only real feature in the town and Petra was sleeping in until 10am.
    We continued snaking our way along the dramatic Fiordland coastline and then turned off the Ring Road to visit the very quaint town of Seydisfjordur - again as the Icelandic name suggests is situated on another fjord.
    On the way in were another two ‘fosses’ - Fardagafoss and Gufufoss - both sensational but the first one requiring a steep and strenuous climb from the car park. This definitely warmed us up for the day but the effort was certainly worth it.

    At Gufufoss, Loss in her bright jacket was seconded by a German photographer who asked her to pose in front of the waterfall for her shots. All of a sudden it dawned on me that I could have been utilising this as an income stream all through the trip. What a missed opportunity!

    The drive in to the gorgeous little town of Seydisfjordur required climbing up over a mountain pass and then descending down the valley on the other side leading into the fjord. The low cloud and overcast that had been lingering earlier started to burn off and we were treated to a beautiful morning and the picturesque little town looked stunning. The way the vibrantly painted houses cluster around the harbour make it look especially attractive and the ‘Blue Church’ is a famous feature of this town.
    We spent a little time wandering around, treated ourselves to coffee and lunch at an excellent little restaurant with views up the fjord and then we returned back up over the mountain pass to rejoin the ring road and continue on our way.

    We now had quite a long drive towards our destination for tonight (Myvatn) with a detour off to see the most spectacular falls of the northern part of Iceland - Selfoss and then just slightly downstream, Dettifoss (which according to Google is Europe’s most powerful waterfall). They were indeed spectacular and the spray from Dettifoss wet us considerably even though we were well away from its plunge point.

    We continued driving towards Myvatn and just before arriving we crested a hill that was spouting steam and sulphurous fumes. This of course required further investigation and we pulled into the parking area for Namafjall - Iceland’s version of Rotorua. Steam vents, boiling pools of water and mud and lots of sulphur dioxide - what more could you want?

    It should then have only been a short drive to our destination for tonight (Myvatn Guesthouse) - but there happened to be two of these on opposites sides of the lake to each other. I managed to enter the wrong one into Waze and drove half an hour past the correct one before realising my mistake.
    It wasn’t all bad, because our backtrack took us around the beautiful Myvatn lake again which wasn’t too much of a trial to endure.
    Tonight, it is as close to ‘camping’ as Loss has gotten in a long time. We are staying at a large campground and although we have a private room, it is a shared bathroom and cooking facilities. While I’m sitting in the communal dining area typing out this blog, Loss is a few metres away in the shared kitchen cooking up some dinner. I was keeping a mental tab on how long I thought it would take before she stuck up a conversation with the Germans in there as well. She was a bit slower than I had expected tonight - it took her exactly 3 minutes and 30 seconds before they were all best friends, sharing stories and being subjected to photos of the grandchildren.

    Dinner was done by 8pm - just in time for the perfect way of finishing a day in Iceland - a visit to the open air hot baths. These were about a 10 minute drive from our accommodation and were very well set up with good facilities and two different pools of different temperatures. We chose the hotter one - and then found the hottest part of that where the water was flowing into the pool. It was quite special to be out in daylight at 9.30pm enjoying this experience. Quite tranquil and much less odiferous than Rotorua.

    Loss has just finished hanging out the washing in the daylight at 10.40pm. Tomorrow is our last full day in Iceland and at this stage it looks like the good weather should hold out.    Leia mais

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  • U.K. - Iceland - Israel
    In hot water again
    The volcano on approachLoss part way upAt the rimThe tiny red dot is our car in the carpark, steam from a vent top right.The lava field that has flowed from this volcanoKolugljufur CanyonKolugljufur Canyon carved out of the lava fieldThis place was idyllic, despite the inclement weather11Please excuse the commentary (aimed at a 3 year old Willow who LOVES volcanoes)

    Finishing up in Hot Water again

    8 de junho de 2023, Islândia ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

    Back in Reykjavik after about 6.5 hours of driving today means we have completed our circumnavigation of Iceland.

    When planning the trip, I booked the flights in and out before working out exactly what we would be able to cover in 5 days.

    All the resources I looked at said that 10 days was ideal to do the full circle route - some said it could be done in 7 at a pinch. Any search of ‘5 days in Iceland’ yielded the comment “Can’t tour the whole island - just stick to the south and southeast - aka ‘the Golden Circle’. Try as I might, I couldn’t find any itinerary that would allow the whole island to be covered in a 5 day period. Rather than seeing this as a red flag I saw it more as a challenge and put together such an itinerary. It was busy with long days but . . . It was achieved.

    Today the alarm went off at 5.50am, checked out at 7 and by 9am we had done our first 3 points of interest.
    It was just a few minutes drive to the nearby Hverfjall Volcano where we parked and started the very steep 15 minute climb up the side of the volcano to its rim. Despite the expectation of one more day of good weather before cold and rain returned, we found the first of these on the climb up and the second of these starting shortly later.
    After catching our breath at the top and snapping some shots we were quickly back down for another short drive to the associated Dimmuborgir Lava field.

    Next up was about a 40 minute drive to our last ‘foss’ of the trip - the Godafoss waterfall - so named because in the year 1000A.D. the chieftain of Iceland was entrusted with the decision as to whether Icelanders should adopt the Christian faith. When eventually he made his decision in favour of this he went home, collected all his pagan gods and threw them into this waterfall.
    Godafoss has derived its name from this event.

    Following Godafoss, it was now a long drive back to Reykyavik, punctuated by a little diversion to the Kolugljufur Canyon (although in my opinion it could also be classified as a ‘Foss’). This remote, poorly signposted spot was quite spectacular. By now the wind was up, the rain was falling in earnest and it was a good time to spend a few hours inside the car travelling back to Reykyavik.
    Although our booking for the relatively new Sky Lagoon thermal pool was’t until later in the evening, we decided to drive straight there and see if they could bring our booking forward. This they kindly did so at 4pm we found ourselves luxuriating in the beautiful hot springs with an infinity edge onto Reykjavik harbour. Eventually we dragged ourselves away, drove 15 minutes back to the heart of the city, found our apartment and settled in for the evening.
    We had some ingredients for dinner but no ‘real’ meat. Unfortunately we missed the closing of the local supermarket by just a few minutes and neither of us had the energy to go searching further afield, so Loss got some things out of her ‘Mary Poppins Carpet Bag’ and rustled up something which could be best described as a tuna risotto. Although not fine dining, it was edible, but Loss assures everyone she won’t repeat the recipe on any future visitors.
    Next will be some rearranging of bags for our early flight to Tel Aviv via Helsinki tomorrow morning, then hopefully an early night.
    Tomorrow will be an entire day of travel and we arrive at Ben Gurion airport around Midnight on Shabbat (worst possible time as far as transport etc is concerned but that’s just how the flights worked out) - so there may not be a blog until after we are settled in Jerusalem the following day.

    Iceland has exceeded expectations, and Jerusalem never disappoints.    Leia mais

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  • U.K. - Iceland - Israel
    Our flight parh around Ukrainian airspaceNo one flies over UkraineNorwegian lakes aplenty

    Iceland to Israel

    10 de junho de 2023, Israel ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Our journey from Reykjavik to Jerusalem was tolerable.
    Alarm at 5am, out into the morning drizzle, refuel the car and then a 40 minute drive to Keflavík airport, return the car, wait for shuttle to airport proper, spend the last of the bit of Icelandic Kroners.
    The flight to Helsinki was pleasant enough with the whole row to ourselves. A few glimpses of Iceland and its snow capped peaks was seen through the cloud.
    By the time we had reached the Norwegian coastline the weather had cleared to a fine day and it was interesting to see the thousands of fjords and lakes in central Norway transition to more forests and farmland as we passed over Sweden.
    We had a few hours to kill at Helsinki airport before our next flight to Ben Gurion so we utilised the Priority Pass lounge to get some food, drink and Wifi as none of this is provided enroute for either leg. It seems Finnair are just as stingy as British Airways.

    I was thankful for noise cancelling headsets to drown out the endlessly repeating ‘Baby Shark’ song coming from the tablet of the child in front, but the headsets were doing nothing to dampen the thuds from the seat-kicking child behind. Thankfully it was only 4.5 hours and we kept busy with writing, reading etc as well as a little shuteye as circumstances would allow.
    The route did of course keep us well clear of Ukrainian airspace- see the screenshots showing that nothing flies that route.
    The lights of Cyprus were visible off to the left as we commenced our descent and we landed at about 11.35pm.
    Electronic passport processing made entry a breeze with the little blue Visa printed out and no questions asked about ‘why don’t you want your passport stamped’ as happened in the past.
    Outside into the humidity and negotiations / wrangling with a taxi driver got him down from ILS 400 to 275 for the fare into Jerusalem.
    All went smoothly, access to apartment just next to Ben Yehuda street gained 1.45hrs after landing- pretty good all things considered.
    It’s nice being ‘back home’.    Leia mais

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