A Year In BC (And Then Some)

Tlaquepaque

2012-02-18T09:06:00.000-08:00

There is a very upscale shopping centre in Sedona called Tlaquepaque ("the best of everything") which we had visited briefly before. On those occasions our impressions were of a dark, gloomy place with nothing very interesting in the way of shops. We took my sister and her husband there this time and it seemed to be completely different - perhaps the retail mix has changed and more effort has been made to decorate in the Spanish style, but we really enjoyed it. Lots of good quality stores and galleries, decorative fountains and outdoor sculpture. The general feel is of an old Spanish town.

More red rocks, a chapel and Valentine's lunch at l'Auberge

2012-02-17T08:40:00.007-08:00

We have been doing most of our own evening cooking since we are staying at a condo-style resort. Lunches are usually out somewhere we are exploring. For Valentine's Day we decided to splurge and have an elegant lunch in Sedona at a restaurant recommended to my brother-in-law. L'Auberge is also an inn and is in a lovely spot on Oak Creek, quite away from the bustle of downtown Sedona. We had a table overlooking the garden and a great meal. On a warmer day it would have been nice to sit out on the terrace beside the water.

The resort is in the Village of Oak Creek, which is about 15 minutes outside Sedona on the Red Rock road so we have had many good vistas of the wonderful scenery. Another day we visited the stunning Chapel of the Holy Cross which is perched high on a cliff with panoramic views. It was built in the 1950s in a very minimalist style with a huge window over the altar and has a very inspirational feeling.

Sedona and area

2012-02-16T10:00:00.001-08:00

We are staying at a golf resort just outside Sedona with my sister and her husband and are surrounded by the red rocks this area is famous for. The day we arrived it was especially beautiful, with bright sunshine and a clear blue sky. We walked around downtown and had coffee before we checked in later in the afternoon. They had flown into Phoenix from Calgary and had to drive to Sedona from the airport.

We had been to Sedona twice before but only for the day each time, so we were looking forward to having enough time to see the area properly and show them the places we had enjoyed before. The first day we took them to Montezuma Castle to seee a cliff dwelling built by the Sinagua people and abandoned in the 1400s. Afterwards we drove up to Jerome, an old copper mining town perched in the mountains with an impressive view of the valley and beyond. We had a great lunch and explored some of the interesting shops. Unfortunately it started to rain and since it was quite chilly it began to look like snow, so we headed back to Sedona with a beautiful rainbow to enjoy on the 45 minute drive.

Flagstaff, Arizona

2012-02-15T09:02:00.000-08:00

Flagstaff was our last stop on the drive to Sedona and after 5 days of driving we were glad to be only half an hour from our destination. We had been there once before about 20 years ago when we visited Arizona in early January from our home in Montreal. Phoenix had been fine and I don't think we quite realized that the weather would be different in Flagstaff since it is so much higher. We went there intending to go to the Grand Canyon, which we did, but a storm came in (aborting our small plane ride over the canyon as soon as it got off the ground). After a quick look from a couple of viewpoints, we headed back to Flagstaff. The next morning freezing rain chased us all the way south until we ended up in Tucson, where it was actually warm!

This time we had a beautiful warm day in Flagstaff and had time to walk around the old town. One surprise was a snowboarding/skiing event on the main street there. Apparently they had been stockpiling the little snow which has fallen this winter for this event. It was a bit surreal to see people in winter clothing while everyone else was walking around in shirtsleaves. We had lunch in a renovated historic hotel where the walls were covered in photos of old Flagstaff. It was fun to see this part of town, because from the highway you just get an impression of urban sprawl.

Zion National Park and the drive to Page AZ

2012-02-14T08:59:00.000-08:00

This was our first time in Utah. It's a large state with beautiful scenery and many parks and a bit tricky to visit from BC. The logical time is in winter when people are driving south and can stop on the way, but the weather usually doesn't cooperate. Summer can be too hot to spend much time outdoors and in any case it takes several days to drive there. So we were very fortunate this time to have perfect weather and a mild winter to make stopping at two national parks possible on our way to Arizona. We only wished we could have spent longer and seen more!

Our second park from Panguitch was Zion National Park, in the SW corner of the state. We entered by the east gate since that was closest and it turned out to be a fortunate choice. The 11 mile road from there to the visitor centre was a marvel of colourful vistas, leading to a one mile tunnel that lead to a road of hairpin turns down to the canyon floor. We stopped often for photos! In the high season personal cars are not allowed on the scenic loop from the visitor centre - everyone has to take a shuttle bus. We were glad to be there at a time when we could drive ourselves around and stop wherever we liked. (The same is true in Bryce Canyon)

This park is different from Bryce in that a lot of the drive is at the bottom of the canyon rather than on the rim and gives a completely different perspective. We spent several hours here and then headed to Page, Arizona, en route to Flagstaff.

The road is lined for most of the way by gorgeous red and multi-coloured cliffs and we could see off to the south what must have been the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Coming into Page we had a view of Lake Powell and we stopped for a short walk to an overlook for the dam. From there it didn't take long to get to Flagstaff and our hotel for the night.

Bryce Canyon National Park

2012-02-12T18:10:00.007-08:00

Once we got to Utah, we realized that it should be possible to visit a couple of the national parks we wanted to see. It's been a mild winter and there wasn't much snow. Bryce and Zion are open year-round anyway, but the scenery would be quite different covered in white and more difficult to access the viewpoints.

Originally we had planned to head for Las Vegas from Provo, but after getting some advice from a Utah information centre, we went to a small town called Panguitch instead. Its main advantage is its location, about equidistant from both parks. We had time after arriving there around noon to have lunch and make the 30 minute drive to Bryce, passing through Red Canyon on the way. This was a nice surprise since we weren't expecting great scenery before we even got to the park.

Once there, we spent several hours driving along the canyon rim and stopping at most of the scenic overlooks. Fantastic hoodoos and amazing colours! With the bright blue sky as backdrop, it was a wonderful experience.

South to Arizona!

2012-02-11T09:32:00.004-08:00

It’s been 3 years since we spent time in Arizona and my sister and her husband invited us to join them this winter for 2 weeks in Sedona and Scottsdale. We decided to drive there, taking our time and seeing a few places of interest on the way. Last time we hadn’t had time to stop anywhere and the weather was very cold and snowy. This year many places have had unseasonably warm and snowless winters and we were lucky. The roads were bare and aside from some icy fog in places we had no problems.
On the second night we stopped in Boise, Idaho arriving in time to spend a couple of hours walking around downtown. The receptionist at our hotel pointed out places of interest, including the Basque area. This was a surprise to us – who knew there was a big Basque influence in Boise? They originally came as shepherds and laborers in the forest industry in the 1800s at a time when people in Europe were looking for better opportunities in America. In Boise they lived in boarding houses and had their own facilities. Some of these buildings are still there, including a community centre and a museum. We went into the Basque Market and were delighted to find tapas and Spanish wine, and people sitting around clearly enjoying themselves. The pavement in front of the museum was decorated with Basque family names and poetry. After walking around some more, we had a great lamb dinner at Café Gernika, named after the town of Guernica in Spain, a twin city with Boise.
The next day we stopped in Salt Lake City early in the afternoon and had time to walk around Temple Square where most of the interesting buildings are located. We went into the Mormon Tabernacle and heard a guide demonstrate the acoustics, which are wonderful. The Choir practice is open to the public but unfortunately not the day we were there. We saw the Temple from the outside, a vast cathedral-like building with a wall engraved with inspirational texts at the front. Not visitable by tourists! The Assembly Hall is an attractive building formerly used as a church and there is a statue in front commemorating Mormon pioneers who went across the country pushing their belongings on a cart – hard to imagine. The highlight was a visit to the Family History Library, the largest collection of genealogical materials in the world. We have used their database and our genealogical society in Kelowna makes frequent field trips to do research but this was the first time we had seen the true extent of their facilities. We watched the introductory film and talked to some of the staff, who are all anxious to help. We resolved to come back sometime for a couple of days and do some research ourselves! By that time it was raining and not very pleasant to walk around, so we headed to Provo for the night.

Farewell for now!

2011-06-13T07:47:00.000-07:00

We are just finishing our week in Guernsey and it also means that we are finishing our eight week trip. We resign ourselves to heading home but we could easily start another four weeks somewhere else. Northern France is only a dozen miles away! So tempting but we should probably stick to the original plan. The trip has been wonderful in every way. We’ll sign off the blog for now and will continue when we start our next adventure. Perhaps a trip to Utah in the fall! Who knows? We’ll need a few weeks to recover and reorganize. Thank you for sharing the blog and our trip with us.

Guernsey, Herm and Sark

2011-06-12T07:31:00.000-07:00

We’ve been in Guernsey this past week. It’s smaller than Jersey with about 60,000 people. The island looks like an equal sided triangle with each side about 5 miles long. The main town, Saint Peter Port is compact, hilly and surrounds an attractive natural harbour and waterfront. Property is expensive and anyone wishing to buy must have lived here for about ten years. Like Jersey, Guernsey is a tax haven and attracts much outside investment.The scenery is wonderful; there are attractive bays, long sandy beaches and spectacular cliffs with a continuous trail around the coast. We have hiked a few miles of this trail and enjoyed every minute except those few when we are almost blown off the cliffs. These islands are open to the Atlantic Ocean and the winds can be fierce at times. Even though the trails are basically secure there is something disconcerting about being near a 200-300 foot cliff with an occasional gusty near-gale force wind.We travelled to the nearby island of Herm yesterday and Sark today. Herm has about 60 full-time residents and Sark 600. Neither island allows cars and so we walked around Herm and took a 2 hour horse and wagon tour on Sark. Both are very relaxed and attractive places.

Castles and fortifications

2011-06-11T07:32:00.000-07:00

Everywhere you go in Jersey and Guernsey you find fortifications. There are remains of ancient Iron and Bronze Age hill forts but these are hard to find because the Romans built their forts on the same spots and later the Normans reused many of the same materials to build their forts in more or less the same locations. In Elizabethan times (Elizabeth I) the fortifications were strengthened and enlarged. Gunpowder had been invented and this necessitated thicker and differently designed walls.These islands have been attacked by many peoples over the years including the Vikings, the Normans, the French (the French won several times so the English would have to retake them). Finally the Germans occupied them from mid 1940 until 1945 and decided to make the islands impregnable to a British counterattack.This involved the Germans adding to the ancient fortifications and building new ones. There are the remains of hundreds of concrete observation posts and bunkers everywhere. The guns have gone except for a few examples but the concrete understructures remain. The Germans also used slave labor, mostly from Eastern Europe to build miles of tunnels in many places in the islands to serve as underground command posts and hospitals in time of attack. Thousands died in the construction process. The tunnels now serve as museums. We have visited a couple of them. It’s a grim reminder of how fortunate we are in Canada not to have lived through an invasion or foreign occupation.

Isaac Brock, a Guernsey and Canadian hero

2011-06-10T07:27:00.000-07:00

Isaac Brock is a major Canadian hero. He was a British army officer posted to Canada in 1802. He commanded his regiment in what is now Ontario and became responsible for defending Upper Canada against the United States which had broken away from England and was anxious to add to its territory. Prior to the war of 1812 he recognized that war was inevitable and prepared his troops and the local militia. When war broke out, Canada was prepared and won two quick victories over the Americans at Fort Mackinac and Detroit. I remember reading about this from time-to-time and also visiting the Brock monument near Niagara. I don’t think Canadians give their heroes enough credit. I certainly didn’t until we visited the Channel Islands. It seems Brock was from Guernsey and we have come across plaques and a memorial in the main church here which recognize his achievements and give him credit for “saving Canada for the British Empire”.It made me reflect and think just how important this man was. When was the last time someone denied our good neighbours to the south a victory? There certainly haven’t been many of them. This was a major achievement. Without it we would probably be part of the US right now.

Food and prices

2011-06-09T07:23:00.001-07:00

English food has changed for the better since our last time here (about 15 years ago). Pubs in particular have improved. Partly because of the recession and competition from superstores on beer and wine prices the pubs have had to compete with improved food service. Most of the ones we visited during our six weeks in England featured local produce and meat. Almost everything comes with a great selection of vegetables and they are all cooked well as opposed to being well cooked. You can have chips (French fries to us) if you wish but you can also have mashed or other types of potatoes. Even the smallest pubs have reasonable choice and good quality food.Supermarkets and small local food stores also feature more choice and lots of local food. We found one or two stores where you could choose one or two eggs from a basket if that was all you needed. British lamb and beef are top quality and I find prices are generally less than I would find in Canada. Seafood is fresh and plentiful. In the Channel Islands where we have been for almost a week and a half now, the environment is much more French in character. There is less beer and more wine and more emphasis on the bistro type of restaurant.

One different thing in Guernsey is called "hedge veg". People put out fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs and anything else they want to sell at the end of the driveway or on their front step and people pay by putting their money in a jar on the honour system. We bought some beets on the way back to our apartment from downtown!

We have tried two Guernsey food specialties - "bean jar", which is a hearty bean and pork soup, and Guernsey gache, a current loaf which is toasted and served with butter and jam. Both were delicious. Almost every beach or scenic outlook in both Jersey and Guernsey has a cafe or snack kiosk. Hikers and other visitors are well served by these and other facilities along the coast.
It is wonderful to have a GST included price and if tipping is appropriate, 10% is the maximum. Pub staff don’t expect tips. The price you see on the menu is what you pay. I don’t understand why Canadian restaurants (and stores) can’t provide one price that includes all taxes as they do here. There is also no equivalent to our provincial tax here.

Driving in England, Jersey and Guernsey

2011-06-08T07:21:00.001-07:00

Driving is fun here for the most part. I haven’t felt like falling asleep here after lunch. That can be a big problem in Canada or the US with our big roads with no challenges. Here you drive on the other side of the road from what we are accustomed to and of course it is much more practical to drive a standard shift. The roads curve and there are probably a dozen gear changes in any one mile or kilometer. Often there is two way traffic on a one or one and a half lane road and you have to stop or at least slow down and pull part way into a hedge to let the other car past. You try to remember the last part of the road where there was a slightly wider area so you can back up if you meet another car. Meeting a bus or a truck makes it even more interesting. This is true in towns as well. If you miss a road there is little chance to turn around and if you want to stop somewhere to look at a map, forget about it, there isn’t much opportunity and there are no shoulders as we know them. As I say, you don’t tend to fall asleep on the road here. There are some major divided highways in England but still a lot of narrow country roads and many roundabouts which we managed to navigate using our GPS. In the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey where we have been for the past two weeks the roads make English ones look like wonderful super highways. Basically these are small islands (Jersey is about 46 square miles and Guernsey is 25), but with hundreds of miles of roads and lanes. Nothing is regular. Guernsey is far more difficult than Jersey, which at least has good signs for road names and major attractions. People in Guernsey say their signs were removed during the war and they never felt a need to put them back! The roads go around farms and houses, often turning at right angles around stone walls and barns. Speed limits in England are 60 mph on open roads of any quality. In the Channel Islands the maximum speeds are 40 on Jersey and 35 on Guernsey and we have had trouble doing that. There are also Green Lanes in Jersey and Ruettes Tranquilles in Guernsey where the speed limit is only 15mph and priority is given to pedestrians, cyclists and horseback riders. One road marking which took us by surprise in Guernsey - a yellow arrow which looks like a one-way indicator but actually means that a yellow line is coming up, indicating "stop". Our GPS (called a SAT/NAV here) has been wonderful but even it has been fully challenged.

Looking for Murray's Ancestors (3)

2011-06-07T07:34:00.000-07:00

My great-grandmother on my mother’s side, Mary Luce came from the island of Jersey and married my great-grandfather in the Gaspe region of Quebec around 1880. She was one of the people in my ancestry where the tree more or less stopped. I had one or two possible sets of parents for her but nothing that I had confidence in. In Jersey’s capital, St. Helier, we found several wonderful locations for doing family research. In the first one, a special library connected to the Societe Jersiase we found a very helpful person who showed us how the indexes for baptisms, marriages and burials were organized. We had originally gone there to look up information for a friend in Kelowna who wanted to order some official certificates but once we started talking to the librarian I was inspired to try to find more details about my own family. This library is a great resource and we were lucky to get there early and have this expert help when she wasn't busy. She also told us that the library had a number of trees on file for the Luce family and ‘would we be interested?’ We of course said yes and she brought out a file with many trees for families with that surname. On the first tree on the top of the pile I looked at the bottom and there I saw ‘Mary Elizabeth Luce married to Francis George Scott’! These were my great-grandparents! This tree document was extensive and very complete and had the Luce ancestors back to the 1600’s. What could have taken years to assemble, if it could ever have been done at all, was there in one document. It was a wonderful moment and I couldn’t quite believe it. We were told that a photocopy would be very expensive and had visions of hundreds of pounds. The actual price (15 pounds) was well worth paying. Another ancestor with Jersey connections was Susan Le Gallais, Francis George Scott’s mother. Susan was born in the Gaspe in 1818 and her parents came from Jersey sometime in the late 1700’s. We were able to add some information on her mother and grandparents at the Jersey Archives and were pleased with what we found although it didn’t compare with the morning’s success.Both the Luces and the Le Gallais had come from St Brelade and St Helier and we visited the parish church and cemetery in St Brelade. It was interesting to see where people lived. We also found a memorial stone at St Aubin harbour dedicated to the fishermen of the area who went from Jersey to the Gaspe area starting in about 1760. One of the local merchants, Charles Robin set up trading operations in Pasbebiac in the Gaspe and this encouraged migration and settlement in the area.

Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust

2011-06-05T07:28:00.000-07:00

I remember reading a number of books by the naturalist Gerald Durrell many years ago and enjoying them immensely. I had completely forgotten that he eventually set up a wildlife sanctuary on Jersey until we were looking at a list of the “must dos” for the island. It celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2009. Most of the animals are endangered and they have a breeding program at the center. The aim is to re-introduce species to their native habitat and they have in-situ conservation activities in several countries. They also run courses in good conservation practices and have graduates from all over the world.We drove out on Wednesday and spent an enjoyable morning there. There were wonderful birds and aviaries you could walk through. The highlights for us were the lowland gorillas, orangutans and ring-tailed lemurs. The lemurs had just given birth and the babies were, to quote a naturalist at the site “very high on the cute factor”. There were many children around on school trips. Some just come over from France for the day! It must be wonderful to be so close to another country and a resource such as this. The naturalists took the opportunity to talk about loss of habitat, particularly for the orangutans, and they pointed out that much of the world’s current supply of hardwood comes from Borneo and Sumatra where the jungles are being cleared at an alarming rate. Every time we buy something made of hardwood these days we are contributing to the problem.

Jersey, Channel Islands

2011-06-04T07:16:00.001-07:00

The Channel Islands consist of a small group of islands just off the north-west coast of France. They belong to the United Kingdom but have a large amount of autonomy. They are a tax haven and as they lie about 100 miles south of England the climate is a little warmer. As such they are a popular vacation area. There are no massive tourist developments however and the tranquil nature of the islands is well preserved.We have spent the last week on Jersey and are just about to head for the next island in size, Guernsey. From there we may take a day trip to Sark which is only 8 miles away, about a 40 minute boat ride. Cars are banned there and tractors or horse and buggy are the only means of transport. Herm has 40 residents, electricity is produced by generators and you can’t use washing machines when the milking machines are on. Alderney is only approachable by air so we probably won’t get there.Jersey has been fun. The island is about 9 miles east-west and 5 miles north-south with a population of just over 90,000. The roads are narrow and twisting and the maximum speed anywhere on the island is 40 mph (they still use miles in the UK and here in the islands). There are rugged cliffs, coastal roads and wide sandy beaches. It’s full of history; the first evidence of people here is from 250,000 years ago. We looked at a well-preserved burial tomb dating back about 5000 years. Various types of fortifications line the coast. There are 12 parishes, each with at least one church and its own local government. The main industries now are tourism and finance.Jersey has been invaded by many groups including Vikings and French and in WWII was occupied by the Germans for five years. It belonged to the Dukes of Normandy and came under English rule with William the Conqueror. When King John lost his Norman territories, Channel Islanders elected to stay loyal to the British Crown. French was the main language until about 100 years ago when English became predominant although most of the street signs are still in French (often with English versions listed below). The French spoken was an ancient Norman version and we were able to listen to a recording of someone speaking the dialect in the main museum. There are still a few speakers around but it seems to be dying out and is not taught in the schools.

Kennet and Avon Canal

2011-06-03T07:57:00.000-07:00

Everywhere we went in southern England we seemed to be crossing over or driving along narrow canals, usually filled with colorful barges. The canals had been built in the late 1700s and early 1800s as a means to move coal, agricultural and manufactured products between inland cities and also between these cities and the coastal ports. They were very efficient for moving goods. This was in the days before rail travel and before cars, trucks and highways. Rail provided stiff competition but canal traffic continued into the early 1900’s. By the 1930s it had diminished greatly and the canal system itself slowly fell into disrepair. Around 1960 several people interested in using the canals for pleasure craft started a movement to rebuild the infrastructure. The movement caught on and today you can go through much of the south and mid England on either pleasure boats or the long narrow canal boats. A popular holiday is to rent one of these boats to spend a week or two travelling through the peaceful countryside, tying up anywhere and heading off to an English pub for lunch or supper.
There are many changes in elevation throughout the systems and of course these require locks. The lock systems are operated by the crew of the boats themselves! You arrive at a lock and need at least one person to steer while one or more get off and manually close the lock gates and open and close the sluice system. We watched this process for part of an afternoon as one boat made its way up a section which had 15 locks in just over a mile around the town of Devizes. It looks like a great way to spend a couple of weeks. Who wants to travel with us sometime?

Looking for Murray's Ancestors (2)

2011-06-02T07:49:00.000-07:00

One of the things you do when building a family tree is to try to authenticate as much detail as you can. The written trees which are handed down from older family members are interesting but they can contain errors, sometimes innocent but occasionally deliberate. Birthdates can be altered to protect someone’s feelings and marriages may never have actually taken place. In an effort to find proof that events actually took place and to substantiate the dates you look for registrations of births, weddings and deaths. You can check obituaries, gravestones and burial records, passenger lists, military records, newspaper clippings to confirm data. Family bibles provide good clues but are not necessarily a reliable source. Who would think that someone might actually falsify the marriage and birth pages in a bible, but it happens.When you live in Canada and your ancestors came from other countries it can be difficult, time consuming and expensive to get hold of registrations and certificates. It was wonderful to be in a place where the actual records exist and where you can just go into a facility containing the archives, find ancient birth and marriage records, copy them and take them with you. We found such a place in Wiltshire where some of the Marchant family and other relatives originated. They have all the county records in a big well organized facility in Chippenham.
Many things can happen to make your searches difficult. You are dealing with handwritten records and often they are difficult to understand especially after a couple of hundred years. On several of the marriage and birth records I was looking for the name Marchant had been indexed as Merchant and Marchment. It would be great to live in a community like this for a while where we could go back many times to check archives and cemeteries and speak with local historians.
We were fortunate to find a gravestone in Westbury for William and Joanna Sheppard, my great great grandparents and one for their son Charles’ three wives (all listed on the same stone and I had known about only one of them). We also found a Marchant on a list of soldiers from Limpley Stoke killed in WWI (this will need further research to see if he is related) and a Marchant listed as an archer at Mount Orgueil Castle in Jersey in 1337. Being aware of where various family members lived and died meant that we could go to the towns, visit the churches, explore the graveyards, check out any public lists or monuments and speak to the locals. You never know what you’re going to find out and it’s a fun way to explore the countryside.

Prehistoric monuments

2011-06-01T07:27:00.001-07:00

We met my cousins for lunch in Avebury, the site of a neolithic henge monument containing 3 stone circles and built about 2600 BC. It's a huge site and the village is built right among the stones. We had been here many years before but hadn't done the complete walk around the bank and ditch or the ceremonial avenue. Many of the stones are broken or missing, but enough remains to make it very impressive. Unlike Stonehenge, there is no admission fee and visitors are free to wander wherever they like and go right up to the stones.

From there it is a short drive to Silbury Hill, a 130 foot man-made mound which covers about 5 acres. It is the tallest such mound in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It is estimated to have been built about 4700 years ago and its exact purpose is not known.

To round off the day, we ended up walking across a field about half a mile to the West Kennet Long Barrow, a neolithic tomb constructed about 3600 BC. The entrance was sealed with large slabs of sarsen stones but it is possible to go behind them and into the first part of the tomb.

Connecting with my Robertson family

2011-05-31T12:34:00.000-07:00

My mother's brother Don and his wife Joan have 4 daughters. I met them all for the first and only time in 1975 on my initial trip to England. Since then we have pretty much gone our separate ways but I got back in touch with Pat, the 2nd daughter, several years ago on Facebook and email.

As soon as we got to our place in Wiltshire, which is not far from where all of them live, we made plans to meet. Pat invited everyone who could make it to her house. It was great for me to see them again, to meet their spouses for the first time, and in Pat's case to meet her children and grandchildren. Murray enjoyed spending time with them as well.

We all had such a good time that several of us met again a couple of days later at the Red Lion in Avebury and spent a couple more hours talking and catching up. I hope it won't be too long before I can see them all again.

Searching for Murray's ancestors

2011-05-30T07:24:00.000-07:00

During our stay in Devizes, Wiltshire we have been searching for ancestors of the Marchant side of the family. This includes other names from that side such as: Sheppard, Porter, White, Stacey and Hutton. In many cases we have some info from internet searches of the family history sites but it is hard to do research from thousands of miles away. It is interesting to visit towns where your ancestors actually lived and have a look around the area and get an idea of the context. You also wonder why people would leave wonderful little towns in pleasant areas after having been in them for decades or centuries in some cases. A visit to the actual places allows you to learn a little history which in some cases gives some insight into why people would have left.In each case we stop in a town, visit the local parish church, have a look in the graveyard. Often there are locals around to talk to as well. People love talking about their communities and appreciate it when someone from another country takes the time to visit. They are more than happy to stand and chat. We have met a number of wonderful people. We take pictures of churches and communities for future reference and will eventually link them up with our family tree data.The pictures included here are from the wonderful town of Ramsbury, Wiltshire where a whole flock of Marchant ancestors lived from some unknown time before 1750 until the mid to late 1800’s. We try to stop in a pub in all these places for a glass of something or a lunch in recognition of family members who have gone before.

Tides

2011-05-29T07:03:00.000-07:00

The tides in the northern part of Devon are the second highest in the world. (The Bay of Fundy has the highest.) The tide charts here show normal tides this week of between 6 ½ and 7½ meters. When tides are out in all the towns we’ve seen in this area boats are left stranded on the sand in the harbours and rivers. The flow of water during the change in tides is enormous and it would be difficult to take a boat in or out against the current so most of the activity would have to be in the few hours just before or after high tide.We watched the tide come in this afternoon and the water level in the river channel in front of the town of Appledore, where we are staying, was rising at a rate of between 1 and 2 inches per minute!

Local literary figures

2011-05-28T19:35:00.000-07:00

Exmoor is a wild and exposed area on and near the coast of the northern part of the counties of Devon and Somerset. There are fields with sheep and cattle, inland there are wild ponies on the lonely, high stretches of moorland and along the coast there are ancient seaport towns. It is an unlikely place to associate with major literary figures. We passed one site yesterday associated with Lorna Doone by Richard Blackmore and as we travelled around today we found reference to many others as we read local pamphlets and information panels in many of the local towns. Apparently Margaret Drabble lives near Porlock which we visited this afternoon. Charles Lamb was a visitor. Percy Shelley had a honeymoon and wrote some of his material here. Wordsworth and Coleridge lived locally at some point. I always associated Wordsworth with the north of England. It appears that Coleridge and Wordsworth walked together along the coast and together planned “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”. One local source states that Coleridge wrote Kubla Khan while in a drug induced state at a remote farmhouse in the area. A Dick Francis novel was based in the local town of Lynton which we visited yesterday. Just outside of Appledore where we are staying is another town called Westward Ho! I thought Charles Kingsley’s novel might have been named after the town but it turns out to be the other way around. The list of other literary personalities associated with the area is extensive. We were impressed.

North Devonshire villages and beaches

2011-05-27T08:35:00.000-07:00

We are in North Devon on this trip to visit places my parents enjoyed and also to see more of Devonshire, since our last visit (to the southern part of the county) was many years ago. We are staying in the small seaside village of Appledore, which has narrow streets running down the hill to the quay. Our street has two-way traffic, although it barely has room for a car going in one direction. We had to park outside our door, quickly offload our luggage and then park the car elsewhere. Many of the old buildings are painted in pastel shades and there are some nice little shops and cafes.
The coastal area around Braunton (see separate item) has extensive sandy beaches and dunes (called “burrows” here) and several are popular with surfers. We took a footpath to the nearby beach from the village of Croyde, admired Saunton Sands from a highpoint along the coastal road, drove out to Woolacombe to see sand stretching into the distance, and stopped at Westward Ho! (named after the novel) where the beach is fronted by a stretch of rounded rocks. (These are so regular that we couldn’t believe they were natural – they were placed there to protect the dunes from erosion.) We also spent most of a day in the unique village of Clovelly, which has one steep cobbled street leading down to the harbour and is at least 500 years old. The whole place is owned by one family, only the 2nd in its history to do so. No cars are allowed and anything being delivered has to be carried in by sledge.

Braunton, North Devon

2011-05-26T07:02:00.000-07:00

My parents Peggy and Dave were married in Braunton in 1944. Dad had been in the RCAF and Mum in the RAF and they met while on the same base. This trip has been partly about meeting new relatives and seeing where my ancestors lived and worked. Coming to the area which meant so much to my parents was also really important to me.
We arrived at our rented flat in Appledore, a small seaside village about a half hour drive from Braunton, on Saturday. I had found my parents’ church (St Brannock’s) on the Internet before I left home and had communicated with the vicar. I arranged to have flowers placed on the altar on the Sunday after we arrived in honour of my parents’ marriage there and planned to attend the service that day. We arrived early to allow time for getting lost and it was a good thing we did. I had time to speak with the vicar and several others, and since people knew we were coming, quite a few came up to us and welcomed us to the church. It was wonderful!
The beautiful church dates from the 13th century but there was a wooden one on the same site built by its patron saint in the 6th century. The most outstanding features are the magnificent pews or benches which fill the nave and date from 1500-1600. They were hewn from solid chestnut and each has two carved bench ends. There are 46 of them, all different. Beautiful to look at, not so comfortable to sit on for a full service! Afterwards we joined members of the congregation for coffee and more talk in the church hall. Some had Canadian connections or had been there, others gave us advice on what to do in the area. The whole morning was a very special experience.

Stonehenge

2011-05-25T08:25:00.000-07:00

On a trip to England many years ago, we stopped at Stonehenge for a view from afar but didn’t go into the site. Located on Salisbury Plain, it is managed by English Heritage and access is controlled by fencing and pathways and an admission fee. I have always regretted that I didn’t visit when I was in the area in 1975. The site was completely open then and people could walk right up to the stones.
However, even with all the restrictions it is still a spectacular sight and the audio guide does a good job of explaining the history and significance of the stones. The monument evolved between 3000 BC and 1600 BC and is aligned with the midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset, but its exact purpose remains a mystery. It is amazing to contemplate the sheer size and weight of the stones and imagine how they were moved there and installed. The lintel stones are especially noteworthy – they had a hole carved in them which matched a knob on the top of the sarsen stones. This along with grooves in each end to slot into the next lintel stone held them firmly in place. We took about an hour to listen to the guide and walk around the site. Despite the number of other people there, they gave the stones perspective and didn’t seem to be an intrusion at all.

The New Forest

2011-05-24T08:17:00.000-07:00

Last Friday on the way from the county of Kent in the east to Devon in the west we stopped to visit Susan’s cousin Lynne and her husband Malcolm who had kindly invited us to spend the night with them. They live in a village with the unlikely name of Nomansland in south-eastern Wiltshire. The town apparently got its name because at some point in the middle ages it was in an area which fell outside the control of two church districts. It sits just outside the northern boundary of the New Forest. The New Forest is a large area consisting of both forest and open meadows. There are a few towns and roads but for the most part it’s unspoiled with large parts left undeveloped.The forest was set aside as a hunting reserve by William the Conqueror in the latter part of the 11th century. It was patrolled closely by today’s equivalent of game wardens and over the centuries has built up its own set of governance practices. Residents can allow their livestock such as pigs and cattle to graze freely and it’s common to see cattle guards in the narrow roads. There are ponies at large everywhere including some of the towns. They are semi-wild and are rounded up once a year and new additions are branded or otherwise identified and are turned loose to live on their own. An interesting place and one which we would like to go back and spend some time in on a future visit.

Simon the Pieman

2011-05-23T08:57:00.000-07:00

My mother is a talented artist and among other things has done some lovely pen and ink sketches of places in England. I had scanned a number of her drawings and made them into calendars which I gave to members of the family and also kept for myself. We were in Rye a couple of weeks ago, a very old town with a lot of beautiful buildings. After visiting the church, we stepped out into the street to find a pub right in front of us where the dramatist John Fletcher had been born in 1579. After lunch we walked a short distance and recognized the subject of one of my mother's drawings - a local bakery called Simon the Pieman. I had forgotten it was in Rye, so it was a nice surprise to come across it like that. It had a very tempting window display and we went in and bought some cookies for later.

Bexhill on Sea

2011-05-22T08:17:00.000-07:00

Susan's Canadian grandfather Charles served in France during World War I and we have a copy of the memoir he wrote about his experiences. He would return to England on leave and also for further training and one of the places he mentioned was Bexhill. While we were visiting Rye we were only a few miles away so we drove over for a look. It's a very pretty seaside place and the old part of town probably hasn't changed much since he was there, which is almost 100 years ago now. We had coffee at an outdoor cafe overlooking the promenade along the water and thought of him.

Dover Castle

2011-05-21T10:09:00.000-07:00

The town of Dover at the extreme south-eastern end of England is steeped in history. You can see France on a clear day across the English Channel. Many invasions have been threatened over the centuries and as you stand on the cliffs you can appreciate the apprehension which the locals may have felt as they stared from the cliffs and wondered who might be next to invade.
We toured Dover Castle. This site has been actively manned as a defensive base for a thousand years. The fortified castle area has been added to and modified continuously over that period. Our tour started with tunnels which had been built during World War II and used primarily as a military hospital. The evacuation of Dunkirk in the early days of the war was coordinated from here and 338,000 British and allied troops were saved and brought back to England to fight again. This probably changed the result of the war.
The present Castle itself goes back to Norman times although there is evidence that the Romans and Anglo-Saxons also occupied and defended the site. There is a Roman lighthouse within the fort which is in remarkably good condition and there is an Anglo-Saxon church right next to it which is in good shape as well. The castle is intact and was interesting to tour. Most of the old Norman/English castles we have seen in the past have been in a ruinous state. This one was well worth exploring.

Battle Abbey and St Augustine's Abbey

2011-05-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

During our stay in Kent we have visited the ruins of two major former abbeys. Battle Abbey, in the town of Battle, Sussex was built on the site where William the Conqueror defeated King Harold in 1066. This major battle changed the course of English history. As an act of penance decreed by the Pope because of the amount of bloodshed during the battle, William ordered that a cathedral be built on the site where the victory had taken place, with the altar being placed at the specific location of Harold’s death. This was done over the next few decades with an abbey and monastic complex being built up around it. The church and most of the abbey buildings were torn down during the Dissolution. The Abbot’s residence was given to a notable family by Henry but was eventually turned into a private school which is still in use today. We also visited St. Augustine’s Abbey in Canterbury. Originally founded by St. Augustine late in the 6th century this grew into a major site. Augustine is credited with converting the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. There was a major abbey and cathedral on this site for a thousand years. The extensive Anglo-Saxon structures lasted from late in the 500’s to the late 1000’s when William the Conqueror leveled them to construct a new set of buildings in the larger and more elaborate Norman style. These in turn were destroyed in the Dissolution of the monasteries. There is an excellent interpretative and information center here and audio tours of the ruins at both sites make the history come alive.

Dissolution of the monasteries

2011-05-19T07:59:00.000-07:00

In the early 1500’s there were a large number of abbeys and monasteries in England. The abbeys were large and rich, controlling over 50% of the land. The bishops were powerful, administering local justice and with the abbeys often controlling or having monopolies over trade in some areas. For example they may have had exclusive rights to produce ale in some cases with local residents not being allowed to produce their own. This may not have been too popular in days when one couldn’t drink the water. The abbeys were also major centers of learning. When first formed the monks led a simple life, adhering to the codes set up by St. Benedict or St Francis. Power may have corrupted them to some degree over the centuries. By this time they had servants and appeared to be abusing their powers. They also had more money and were competing with the king for authority, not a good idea.Henry VIII had rejected the authority of the pope over the church in England and set himself up as the supreme head of the church in England following arguments over his desire to annul his marriage with Catherine of Aragon. He initiated reforms within the church which were in line with other reform movements on the continent. Henry also needed money and the abbeys were an attractive target. Between 1536 and 1540 he closed every monastery and abbey in England with the exception of a few major sites such as Westminster in London. Most of the churches associated with these abbeys were destroyed. The other buildings were sold or given to friends and the churches were stripped of everything valuable and all lead and precious metals were melted down to raise money. Bishops and priests were pensioned off and all the servants fired.These powerful institutions, some of which had been around for a thousand years, disappeared in the space of four years. Only partial ruined walls remain.

Bekesbourne, another family place

2011-05-18T08:22:00.000-07:00

My great great grandfather James Ruck married a local girl in Bekesbourne and lived there most of his married life until he died in 1892. Eight of his 10 children were born there and many of his descendants lived there for years afterwards. I had seen other places associated with early Rucks (none of them very far from Bekesbourne) and I wanted to visit this one which had featured in census records from 1861-1911 (the latest available in Britain). My cousin Nik told me about a special exhibition which was being held last weekend in the village hall and we decided that would be a good time to go. Several local authors are working on a history of Bekesbourne and were showing an interesting selection of old photos and documents relating to the village. I think the main purpose was to encourage people to contribute their stories and to provide names for those in group photos (especially children in school pictures). I spoke to one of the authors who showed me a photo of the wedding of a daughter of the local vicar in 1893. He would have been the one who conducted the funeral service for my ancestors and this photo was the oldest one they had so far. I offered to contribute one we have from about 1891 showing James Ruck and some of his family.
A complete catalogue of all the gravestones in the parish churchyard has also been done and while the Rucks must have been buried there, like many others they had no headstones. We did however find 2 with the same surname as his wife, so there might be some connection there. We had to obtain the key to the church from a local shop and were pleased we could see the inside. It dates from the 12th century and sits on a hill just outside the centre of the village. It wasn’t hard to imagine so many of the Ruck family events taking place here. Later we drove up Bekesbourne Hill where their home had been (no number was specified on the census) but only a few of the old homes remain. We had lunch at the Unicorn Pub there and then went to the nearby village of Patrixbourne where James lived with one of his brothers before he got married. It has beautiful old buildings along the main street and another ancient church.

Roman Museum, Canterbury

2011-05-17T07:55:00.001-07:00

We found an interesting museum under the City of Canterbury. Yes – under it. Historians always knew that there was a major Roman city on the Canterbury site, it was well recorded in the literature of the time and periodically artifacts would be dug up. Part of the city was bombed during the second world war, (actually there was some bombing in parts of Kent in WWI as well, we hadn’t known anything about the Germans bombing England in that war, always learning something as we travel). Some WWII damage revealed much about the extent of the Roman city. Over time people built new streets and houses on top of old ones so sometimes the remains of old dwellings are 15-20 feet below current ground levels. While rebuilding the current city archeologists were able to examine and salvage extensive Roman ruins and artifacts and this has now been turned into a museum. The old Roman city was about the same size as the medieval one and of course the city walls were kept in much the same location. The location was always important, on the main road from the nearest coastal landing points from France and on the main route to London and the Romans occupied it for over 400 years. Several of today’s roads out of Canterbury follow the old Roman ones. These tend to be very straight, very efficient for troop movements

Farm estate accommodation

2011-05-16T08:42:00.000-07:00

For our second week in the Kent area we chose a location in the countryside. It’s a complete contrast to the previous one in urban Canterbury. We are on a large farm estate quite a few miles from anywhere. We are awakened in the morning to the neighing of horses, the sound of a distant rooster and the call of male pheasants which sound something like a noisy door buzzer. There are several buildings here which have been converted to rental units. Ours is one of three above the stables. Very modern inside.The main buildings on the estate go back at least to the times of the early Tudors. The manor house is massive, at least four stories high. We can’t get to see much of it as the main estate grounds are private. Only three families have owned this property in the last four hundred years. It’s difficult to for us to imagine as we used to move every five years on the average. This estate even has its own church although it’s no longer in use except for weddings. There are horses everywhere and quite a few people riding them. A family member may have been the commanding officer of one of the Queen’s Guards units on some of the ceremonial occasions out of Buckingham palace just a few years ago. You may wonder where those gentlemen live when they’re not on parade. I think we may have found one of the places. There are contractors and repairmen everywhere around the estate office. These ancient dwellings are impressive but the cost of maintenance must be enormous.

White Cliffs of Dover

2011-05-15T08:32:00.000-07:00

The white cliffs at Dover are truly amazing. They are hundreds of feet high in places and with the sun reflecting off them they are spectacular. We went for a hike along the top of the cliffs. There are many paths which run along the whole coast of Kent but we chose a two mile long segment which starts at the parking lot for the National Trust site and goes over to the lighthouse near the next town, St. Margaret’s at Cliffe. The path goes over pastures and delicate grasslands and right now there are numerous late spring flowers. You can choose from several paths depending on how close to the cliff edges you wish to go. There are great views and endless ferries moving in and out of the nearby terminus on the way between here and the continent.In Canada we’d probably insist that the cliffs be fenced and have danger signs all over. Here there are no signs, just a general warning at the beginning. There is no retaining wall or fence, just a 200-300 foot drop to the beach if one doesn’t take care. It’s really refreshing to be able to take nature as it is.After a lunch with a view we went on to St. Margaret‘s Bay where you can view the cliffs from the bottom. No development down here except for one very large house which sits at the end of the beach. This house, we later learned, once belonged to Noel Coward and later to Ian Fleming. It must have been a great place for a party.

GPS adventures

2011-05-14T04:29:00.000-07:00

We had an interesting incident when we instructed our GPS unit (her name is ‘Lola’) to take us to Dover. As usual when we are heading for a city we like to enter some specific coordinates and in this case we picked out the postal code for a tourist information center in what we thought was the city centre.Lola has been a great help to us so far and we couldn’t get back to the remote place where we are staying without it. The roads are narrow, are often no more than one lane and sometimes are not sign posted at all. On this particular day Lola directed us towards Dover and we were all of a sudden out of the quiet English countryside and in the middle of heavy car and truck traffic headed for the ferries to Europe. The signs made us realize that we were headed for the docks but we had faith that Lola would divert us to the town proper and the tourist info site. Unfortunately not.We were headed for the ferry ramps and now down to three choices: Car boarding ramp, truck boarding ramp and Security. Not wishing to go to France on short notice we headed for Security and explained that we needed help. I guess others get lost in the same way so the guard wasn’t surprised. She gave us an "owl pass" to get back through the border entry points without having to go through immigration etc. and instructions on how to get out of the port.It seems our beloved GPS system was probably trying to direct us to the tourist info site for people just getting off the boat from Europe!

Rye, old houses and construction

2011-05-13T09:01:00.000-07:00

On the trip out of the Canterbury area, we visited the coastal town of Rye, very medieval in character. This was built on a hill and was at one time effectively an island, but is now surrounded by marsh and is about a mile inland. There is an ancient church at the top of the hill where Susan has a relative listed on a plaque on the wall as being one of the preachers in 1580/81. The town is filled with ancient buildings, many dating from the 1400s to 1600s. Some were older and were noted as having been rebuilt in the 1400s. The old buildings twist and sag but have stayed the course through the centuries. The interiors are sometimes modified and of course plumbing and electricity have been added, but the exteriors and the old timbers are essentially the same, with occasional painting and stuccoing. Over 6-700 years old and going strong! How many of our current buildings will last as long?

Whitstable

2011-05-11T08:00:00.001-07:00

East of London on the approaches to the Thames River, on the NE coast of the county of Kent, only a few miles north of Canterbury, is the town of Whitstable. The population along this coast is almost continuous. These are fishing ports which have now expanded and now contain large residential areas. There is a lot of sailing and other water sport activities and rows of colourful beach huts. In the shallow waters off this coast they harvest natural oysters and also farm them. On the day we walked along the promenade beside the beach, it was windy and a little cool. We found a beach shack that served espresso coffee and oysters and was making fresh donuts. Murray had oysters on the half shell and Susan had a wonderful donut right out of the deep fryer and dipped in sugar. Where else could you find this combination on the beach? Whitstable also has an attractive main street lined with old buildings.

English pubs

2011-05-10T08:42:00.001-07:00

Pubs in Britain are a wonderful institution and have been a center for community activity for centuries. They have ambiance and character but are now under severe economic pressure and many are closing. Most may disappear in the next couple of decades.We thought at first that it was simply the recession which was causing the problems however on talking to locals it seems that most of the difficulties coincide with the trend to larger and larger grocery chains or ‘superstores’ as they call them here. These all sell beer, wine and liquor and they feature these as ‘loss leaders’ with many deep discounts. The smaller stores have difficulty competing and the pubs are like any other small business and are suffering as well. Some pubs would sell ‘off-licence’ meaning that they could sell whole bottles to the public. They have to make a profit to survive but have difficulty doing that with the superstores undercutting their prices.The only good thing to come of this is that the pubs have to provide more and better food services to add value so the quality of pub food has improved and is very affordable. Many now feature local produce. The ‘roast of the day’ at a pub may sell for under $10 and include four different vegetables. No longer do you have to eat mounds of ‘chips’ (fries as we know them).

Another new cousin and more family places

2011-05-09T08:22:00.000-07:00

We have just spent a week in Kent, basing ourselves in Canterbury because my mother's ancestors lived in this area. I had been corresponding with my cousin Nik for several years after we connected on Ancestry. Our great grandfathers Frederick and Henry were brothers (his stayed in Kent while mine moved to Surrey) and he has done a lot of research on the early family members. We met him in Canterbury and he spent the day with us, telling us stories and showing us places relatives had lived. It was great to finally get together.

Our great great grandfather James was born in Boughton Under Blean, an attractive small village only a few miles from Canterbury which Murray and I visited twice. We had noticed a map posted in the street the first time which we hoped to get a copy of. When we asked in the village shop and explained why we wanted it, one of the clerks went and got one for us. We had visited the church the first time (unfortunately not open) and had a good look around the graveyard, since earlier ancestors had lived there as well.

The day after meeting Nik we decided to visit other small villages connected with our family, five in all. We found the churches in Upper and Lower Hardres, then made our way to Elham, where quite a few had lived in the 1500-1700s. While examining stones in the graveyard, we were asked by the couple in the adjacent house (dating from the 1400s!) who we were looking for. They consulted some reference books but couldn't find our name. As we were leaving the churchyard for lunch, we were met by someone who asked us if we were "the Canadians looking for Rucks". He was a member of the local historical society and the first couple had phoned him. In fact there were Rucks in the graveyard (4 stones) and he had a copy of the will of one of them which showed that he had probably owned the pub we were standing in front of. So of course we had lunch there, and while we were ordering another member of the historical society came in with his computer. They are working on a historical database of the village, including the graveyard and he was able to show me what the Ruck graves look like. They were amazingly helpful and we ended up joining the society! When we went back to the church to find the graves, who should be there but cousin Nik. After talking to us the day before, he had decided to come out to one of the places he hadn't already searched. After looking at everything in Elham, we went on to see the church in nearby Elmsted, then found the one in Stelling. All these places are within a few miles of Canterbury, which was amazing because they felt so out in the country, which is very beautiful.

Family history is a good way to get talking to people and everywhere we have done so, they have been wonderfully helpful, but this day was very special.

Things we've learned

2011-05-08T08:12:00.000-07:00

Travelling provides a continuous opportunity to learn. Canterbury has the Stour River going through it and this divides up into several channels in the middle of the city and provides a venue for short boat trips. The boats travel under some inner city bridges with only three feet of clearance in some cases. Each operator gives an entertaining spiel as you travel along.As well as learning something specific about the history of the city you also pick up some trivia. Examples:We had passed a restored model of an old ducking stool. People were tied to these and lowered into the filthy river water for varying periods. A scolding wife might be held under water for about 30 seconds. On coming out she usually modified her behaviour (there is no mention of any similar punishment for difficult husbands). Suspected witches could be held under for as long as fifteen minutes, if they lived it proved they had unusual powers and so were burned at the stake. If they died it proved they were innocent and a pardon was issued. Talk about a no win situation!

Business or tradesmen who were found guilty of cheating their customers would be held under for a few minutes. They would survive but the public would avoid doing dealing with them and their business would probably fail and it would be referred to as “going under”.

In medieval times in Canterbury the city was walled and all the gates were closed at a certain time every evening. The city was a major site for pilgrims coming to worship at the shrine of the murdered archbishop Thomas Becket so there would be much traffic into the city every day. All tried to reach it before the gates closed. The poor travelling on foot often arrived too late and had to spend the night outside the gate. Those on horseback could reach it on time but sometimes they had to make their horses go a little faster. This faster pace necessary to reach Canterbury on time became known as the “Canterbury pace”, later abbreviated to “canter”.

Morris Dancing

2011-05-06T08:33:00.000-07:00

In a recent visit to the English town of Rochester in Kent we encountered a May Day celebration which had a number of entertainers including Morris dancers. Morris dances are a form of English folk dance usually accompanied by drums, flutes or pipes and sometimes small accordion type instruments. They are rhythmic, usually with a steady drum beat and feature intricate dance routines. We saw sticks used in fencing type displays by some groups while others used hoops and batons. We didn’t see this type but apparently in some dances for one or two men, steps are performed around a pair of clay tobacco pipes laid across each other on the ground.While it seems to be primarily an English activity, there are numerous Morris groups in the United States with others in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. There are isolated groups in other countries as well. No one knows the origins of Morris Dancing. Some claim it has its roots in pre-Christian rites celebrating fertility and the coming of spring. Certainly there are many performances on May Day, the first day in May. Some dancers would blacken their faces with soot so they would not be recognised by the local priest, and would resemble "Moors". This may have given rise to ‘Moorish’ evolving to ‘Morris’. We saw two completely different types of dancers, some brightly made up in flowery ‘spring’ apparel while others had blackened their faces as mentioned above.I talked to one of the ‘black-faced’ members and she said their tradition involved covering their faces in black so they wouldn’t be recognized by their employers or church officials who might not approve. These particular folk, who apparently come from the west of England near the Welsh border, would go to local pubs and dance, particularly in winter months when work was scarce and ‘dance to raise money for beer’. This to me was in complete contrast to the more brightly dressed groups who traditionally dance in spring and looked like they belonged around a springtime fertility type of celebration. Perhaps there are many sources for these dances. We saw a number of groups of all types in Rochester on the May Day weekend. I counted 69 different dance groups from all over England on the program although we personally saw only about ten groups. It was a very entertaining way to spend part of a day. (if anyone is interested in further info, Google "morris dancing" to find some live events on youtube)

Canterbury Cathedral

2011-05-05T08:15:00.001-07:00

We rented an apartment which is just outside the west gate into the old walled part of Canterbury. Pilgrims visiting the tomb of St Thomas Becket who was killed in 1170 would make their way through this gate annd pay the bridge toll over the river Stour. If they were poor and had nowhere to stay, they could obtain a night's food and lodging at the Eastbridge Hospital (the name comes from "hospitality") where they would sleep in the undercroft.

In 597 AD missionaries from Rome converted the king of Kent to Christianity. Augustine, leader of the mission, was consecrated as archbishop and his cathedra (official seat) was established at Canterbury. The cathedral has been the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury ever since. The cathedral building reflects its history starting from the 11th century. It's massive and the precincts surrounding it are like a small village. We entered through the very ornate gate and it took us several hours to visit the interior, with a much-needed break for lunch!

The Altar of the Sword's Point marks the spot where Becket was killed. For centuries this has been one of the pilgrims' destinations. Behind the high altar is Augustine's Chair, where archbishops are enthroned. In the quire is the tomb of Edward, the Black Prince, who died in 1376. His gilded effigy shows him in full armor and spurs, with his dog at his feet. There is wonderful stained glass everywhere. A candle burns in the spot where Becket's shrine used to be located. It was destroyed on the orders of Henry VIII in 1538. Besides admiring the sheer magnificence of the building, there were many statues, tombs, and inscriptions to stop and look at and we also paid a brief visit to the cloisters. While visiting the undercroft, we were fortunate to come upon a rehearsal by members of the children's choir, which sounded wonderful. Later in the afternoon the organ was being played as preparations were made for Evensong.

We walked back to our place along an old street outside the cathedral precinct walls which probably hasn't changed much in hundreds of years.

The Royal Wedding

2011-05-04T08:40:00.001-07:00

When we made our plans to come to England, there was not even a royal engagement. After it was announced, we had our accommodation and travel plans all made before we found out that the wedding would happen soon after we got here. Not being avid royal-watchers, and having visited London for 2 weeks the last time we were in England, we were not tempted to spend any time there while the wedding frenzy was happening. However, we did enjoy observing all the events leading up to the big day. It seemed like every shop had a poster in the window congratulating the couple and many had elaborate displays. Most pubs offered special royal wedding meals on the day, with big screen TVs for watching the broadcast and other festive accompaniments. There was Union Jack bunting strung up everywhere and some houses were decorated as well. The main street in Windsor, which is lined with tourist shops anyway, was full of royal souvenir merchandise but we didn't see too much of it in other places we visited. We were moving out of Shepperton to Canterbury on the 29th, so our landlady invited us to watch the broadcast with her and her son and granddaughter. It was a fun small party which we really enjoyed. There were several street parties gearing up when we left and we found another one in the centre of Canterbury when we arrived. Most people appreciated the fact that this was another holiday to add to an already long weekend, after the Easter weekend the week before. We were told that many took the 3 days off in-between and ended up with 11 days off.

More new cousins and Addlestone and Chobham

2011-05-03T07:35:00.001-07:00

About a year ago I managed to locate some of the family of my grandmother's sister Annie. Using British birth and marriage records, I had figured out who each person had married and the names of their children. These are much more up-to-date than Canadian records and are available from 1837-2005. The more recent ones give the maiden name of the mother on the birth index, making it easier to cross-reference the information once you know the names of the parents. Once I knew the names of Annie's grandchildren and great-grandchildren, I thought there was a chance at least one of them might be on Facebook. I located the one with the most distinctive name, sent her a message explaining who I was, and heard back from her not too long after. She referred me to her mother, who is my second cousin. We have corresponded for a while and exchanged information. Once I knew I was coming to England, we arranged to meet.

We spent most of a day earlier this week with her and her mother and it was a great pleasure to meet them. They were easy to talk to and very helpful with family information and old photographs. It was great to connect with another branch of my mother's family.

Another day we made two short visits - one to Addlestone to see where my great great grandmother was baptised in 1845, and the other to Chobham to visit the church where her grandparents were married in 1799. We were able to see the inside of the church in Chobham, which is about 1000 years old and very beautiful. Unfortunately we arrived in Addlestone after that church had been locked for the day, but at least we saw the outside. In both cases it was wonderful to see where these ancestors had participated in special occasions. In Chobham, the buildings around the church probably haven't changed much in 200 years. Being in these places makes the names on my family tree come alive for me.

Richmond, Surrey

2011-05-02T08:03:00.000-07:00

My mother's ancestors on her mother's side originally came from Kent, where they had lived for hundreds of years. My great great grandfather James had 10 children. Two of his sons, Henry (my great grandfather) and Charles, moved to Richmond, Surrey to work at Kew Gardens, thus starting a whole new location for the family which continues to this day.

My grandmother Charlotte and all of her 9 brothers and sisters were born in Richmond. When Charlotte married she moved north with her husband. Their first two children were born in Leeds and Morecambe (my mother). The third was born in Richmond when Charlotte returned after her husband died after only 6 years of marriage. My mother spent a few years there, the rest of her childhood in another town, and then she returned to Richmond at the age of 14. She lived there until she joined the air force about 3 years later. After she met and married my father, they used to spend some of their leaves in Richmond.

After the war ended, my father returned to Canada and my mother joined him as a war bride some months later. It was quite a while before they had a chance to visit England again but once they did, they went back frequently. They always talked about Richmond and how lovely it was, as well as Kew Gardens which was one of their favourite places. My genealogical research gave me an added incentive to visit when I discovered that quite a few family members had worked at Kew and many lived in Richmond or in the surrounding area.

Murray and I spent the day in Richmond this week and it was wonderful to see it all for myself. The waterfront, the Green, all the old buildings and pubs, the fascinating laneways, the theatre - it was quite an experience to be there in person.

Towpaths and churches

2011-05-01T08:51:00.000-07:00

There are towpaths all along the Thames where you can walk as far as you want. Sometimes the path may not continue on one side and you may have to cross the river to continue. The countryside is pastoral and peaceful and very green. Flowers and flowering trees are everywhere at this time of year. The river is usually less than 100 meters wide at any point but there is much river boat traffic and lots of activity as well as water birds and interesting houses to look at as you saunter along.There are many towns which have existed for centuries to help goods and people either across or up and down the river. Each of these towns has a church and we found most of them open to the public. One such church was in the town of Cookham in Berkshire. It’s amazing to go into an ancient church like Holy Trinity. At a small desk inside a sign greets you saying “serving the community for over a thousand years”. The church was built in the 11th century and had additions made to it over the next two hundred years but has had no major changes since. An information pamphlet notes that parishioners have been able to worship in a building that hasn’t changed in 700 years. This is hard for a Canadian to relate to.There have been some minor additions however: in the aisles as you walk around there are the usual grave markers in the floor showing where people have been buried below the floor from time to time. Most of these took place in the 1600’s to 1800’s.

Order of the Garter

2011-04-30T09:35:00.000-07:00

The Chapel of St George at Windsor is also home to the Order of the Garter which is one of the oldest and most important of orders of knighthood in the world. The order was founded in the mid 1300’s by Edward III with the concept of like minded brotherhood dedicated to service and chivalry. The membership is limited to 26 people and each member is entitled to be called Sir or Lady.Membership rules require all members to assemble at Windsor on the eve of the feast day which is the third Thursday in June. On St George's Day, the members attend a lunch in the Waterloo Chamber where any new members are installed. Then all go in procession to the Chapel for a thanksgiving service wearing the full robes of the Order, The Garter stalls in the Quire were carved between 1478 and 1485. Each living Knight or Lady has his or her banner, helm and crest over their stall. Copper or brass plates bear the arms of knights from the beginning to the present day.Although the original medieval membership of the order consisted of the British sovereign and the prince of Wales, each with 12 companions, as if at a tournament, membership was expanded in the late 18th and early 19th centuries to include supernumeraries such as members of the royal family (known as "royal knights companions"), lineal descendants of George I and George II, and foreigners (known as "extra knights"). The British sovereign and Prince of Wales are always members of the order. Originally, existing knights elected new knights, but now appointment to the order is solely at the discretion of the Queen. .Some foreign monarchs have been appointed to the Order and there have occasionally been non-Christian rulers. There is provision for removal of members such as members from enemy countries during WWII. Appointment is non-hereditary. Once an incumbent dies or is otherwise removed the monarch selects the replacement.

Windsor Castle

2011-04-29T09:28:00.000-07:00

Windsor Castle looms over the small Thames river town of Windsor about 30 miles west of downtown London (yes, they still use miles here). Susan had been here many years before but it was the first visit for me and it was one of my ‘must-sees’. I couldn’t get over just how large it is. I’ve seen many castles but this has to rank as one of the biggest I’ve ever seen.Like many English castles it was built in stages. William the Conqueror built a large wooden round castle in the Norman style in the last part of the 11th century. Henry II rebuilt this in stone about 100 years later in 1180. Later monarchs added to the exterior walls and built two chapels, the larger being St George’s which is almost cathedral like in size and contains the tombs of 10 monarchs, including Henry VIII and George VI. While the major royal weddings take place in Westminster Abbey in London, many of the less major events take place in the chapel here, the most recent being the wedding of Princess Anne’s son, Peter Phillips to the Canadian from Montreal, Autumn Kelly. George IV remodeled the castle in the early 1800’s.Queen Elizabeth and her sister Margaret spent the war years at Winsor and I understand the Queen regards it as her true home. She and other members of the royal family spend much time here. When in residence, the royal standard is flown over the central tower, which it was during our visit on Easter weekend. We saw the impressive State Apartments and Queen Mary’s Doll House (obviously never meant to be played with by children). We also had a quick look at the Print Gallery where an exhibition in honour of Prince Philip’s upcoming 90th birthday was in progress. The parts of the castle we saw were clearly only a small fraction of the total and the effect inside the walls was somewhat like a small town.

Runnymede

2011-04-28T08:17:00.000-07:00

Not too far from Windsor we found Runnymede which looks like nothing more than a pleasant green pasture. It has however major historical and political significance! In 1215 the English Barons confronted King John on this field and forced him to sign what was later to become known as the Magna Carta. This lengthy document promoted the rights of the individual and reduced the right of the monarch (and the state) to make some types of arbitrary decisions. It stated that individuals could not be imprisoned arbitrarily but had to be tried under the law of the land and judged by their peers. The document was an important part of our system of constitutional law and later served as the basis for the US constitution. There are two important memorials to one side of the park area. One was erected in 1957 by the American Bar Association which recognized the Magna Carta’s importance. It seems unusual that the English have done nothing formal to recognize the site and it took the Americans to formally recognize its importance.The British government did however grant an acre of land as a memorial to John Kennedy with a small plaque to recognize his goals and achievements. On a nearby hill overlooking the site there is a memorial for all British Commonwealth air force personnel based in Great Britain or in north-west Europe during the second world war and who died and have no identified burial place. There are over 20,000 of these names inscribed on plaques on the walls of the memorial including over 3000 Canadians. My uncle Leighton Scott is included in the list. A trip to Runnymede and its memorials gives one many reasons to pause and reflect.

Eton

2011-04-27T09:12:00.001-07:00

Across the Thames from Windsor is the smaller town of Eton. It is home to a very famous school of the same name. Founded in 1440 by Henry VI, Eton College’s original role was to provide education to 70 ‘poor scholars’. Henry provided funding for these 70 at Eton and also enabled them to continue their education at King’s College, Oxford. At the present time scholarships are provided to 70 students but there are an additional 1200 paying students.We explored the town of Eton and part of the school property but weren’t there at the right time to have a tour of the individual buildings or the massive chapel. We managed to look through the windows of one of the ancient classrooms. The ‘Lower School’ classroom was the only one for the first 200 years from 1443 and is still in use today.

Exploring the Thames

2011-04-26T10:28:00.002-07:00

Seeing the Thames River in London, one has no idea of how attractive and accessible it is even a few miles away. It is only 50 miles from Pangbourne to Eton but it took us the best part of 3 days to explore most of it. I think if we lived here we would definitely have some kind of boat.

We started in Pangbourne, the home of Kenneth Grahame, author of The Wind in the Willows. It was used as the setting by artists Ernest Shepard and Arthur Rackham and as we travelled along the river it was immediately recognizable. We walked from the centre of the village to the river and over a toll bridge (in operation since 1792) to Whitchurch on Thames where there was a lovely 11th century church with fascinating ancient tombstones in the floor and scattered around the churchyard.

Our next stop was Sonning. We walked to the bridge and along the towpath to the lock (self-service!) which was very busy with holiday traffic. Although there was a tea room, we decided to head back to the village and found The Bull, a very old pub near another ancient church. It was draped in wisteria and had outdoor tables which were very popular. Afterwards we walked down the main street of the village to admire the many old buildings and then drove on to Henley.

This is the town famous for the Royal Regatta, held every year since 1839 except during the 2 World Wars. It has a very attractive town centre, a beautiful church and lovely waterfront.

It was Good Friday and the weather continued to be like summer. Everyone was clearly taking advantage of the holiday with lots of boats on the river and people in the outdoor cafes.

Guildford and Jane Austen's house

2011-04-25T10:11:00.000-07:00

We had to go by train to Guildford this week to pick up our rental car. It would have been very expensive to get it at the airport, since a large surcharges are applied to the total rental. We had a look around the central part of Guildford, which has an attractive cobblestoned main street, many historic buildings and a beautiful guildhall dating from the 16th century. The massive clock on the front is dated 1683.

While reading about Guildford in our guidebook, we noticed that Jane Austen's house wasn't far away and decided to take our first jaunt to the village of Chawton where it was located. It was only about 20 miles and when we were almost there, stopped for lunch at an attractive roadside pub. There is no lack of places to eat everywhere we go and we are finding the food much better than the last time we were in England 15 years ago.

Chawton is a tiny place with one main street lined with ancient cottages (many with thatched roofs), a pub and a tea shop. Jane's house is right in the centre. She was born in Steventon in 1775 and lived in the rectory where her father was vicar until they moved to Bath in 1801. Rev. Austen died in 1805 and Jane and her mother and sister lived in Southampton until they moved to Chawton in 1809 to a house provided by Edward, one of her 6 brothers. He had inherited the estate of his fourth cousin Thomas Knight and this house was part of his extensive holdings.

Jane had not been happy leaving her home in Steventon and had not been able to write much before settling in Chawton. Here she either revised or wrote most of her published works. She lived there until her death in 1817.

It was easy to imagine her in the house, which is quite a large one with a beautiful garden, and taking walks across the fields. We watched a short movie about her life and there was a group of 3 musicians in costume in the parlour, playing music on various instruments and really adding to the atmosphere. The rooms were furnished with items she and her family had owned, or others typical of the period, and there were several costumes on display which had been worn in movies based on her books.

New cousins and family places

2011-04-24T10:27:00.000-07:00

One of the features of the Ancestry website is an ability to match names you input on your family tree with all the other names people have entered on their trees. When it finds a common name, you get a message suggesting there may be a relationship and allowing you to get in touch with the person whose tree the matched name appears on. In this way I have found about a dozen new relatives on my mother's side.

One of these (Zena) I had heard about from another relative, but was matched with her daughter on Ancestry and thus was finally able to get in touch with her. Although very interested in the family history and owner of many old photographs and documents, she does not use a computer. She is the granddaughter of my great grandfather Henry's brother Charles. They lived within 2 houses of each other on Alexandra Road in Kew and both worked at Kew Gardens. Zena lived with her parents and grandparents in the same house until she was 21. In the early 1900s the 2 families were very close and were in and out of each other's houses all the time. I have a copy of a wonderful memoir written by another relative describing how they lived. Henry and his wife Mary Ann died in 1926 and 1910 respectively.

I have been corresponding with Zena for about a year and have had several telephone conversations and we met for the first time last week. She and her husband Peter, who live near Kew, took us to Richmond Cemetery to show us her parents' and grandparents' graves and to help me look for the graves of Henry and Mary Ann, and also of my great great grandparents Charlotte and James. It's a very large cemetery and although I had the grave references, I couldn't find them. The office was very helpful and verified that 2 of the graves had no headstone and the one that did was in such bad shape that no lettering was visible. This was disappointing, but at least I had seen the cemetery and knew where they were buried.

Afterwards we visited Alexandra Road to see the houses of Henry and Charles. It's a short narrow street with one continuous row of houses on each side. Many have been renovated and according to Zena's husband Peter are now worth 650-725 thousand pounds! The original owners would be shocked. Wonderful to stand in front of where my great grandparents and all their 9 children lived. With only 3 bedrooms and no indoor bathroom! Afterward we went to Raleigh Road to see the house where my grandmother and mother lived and where my parents used to visit during leaves during the war. A similar sort of street to Alexandra, with rows of attached houses.

After lunch at a local pub, we went back to Zena and Peter's place and I spent some time looking through Zena's old family photos. It seems she has the originals of most of the photos which have been shared by various relatives. Her mother Violet was a real custodian of family documents and information. She died in her 90s not that long ago and I wish I had been able to meet her.

Chertsey

2011-04-23T10:32:00.003-07:00

Only a few miles from Shepperton is a small town called Chertsey. My great great grandmother Trigg was born there in 1845 and her mother was the youngest of at least 9 children, all of them born in Chertsey. Her parents were married in nearby Chobham in 1799. I hadn't been able to find any living relatives of this part of the family while I was doing my research, but since we were so close, I thought it would be interesting to spend a little time in the town and see what it might have been like when my ancestors lived there.

Chertsey Abbey was founded in 666 and the monks were responsible for the establishment of the town in the 12th century. The name comes from "the island of Cerotus", a notable person after the end of Roman Britain about whom no further record survives.

Right in the middle of the most historic part of town is St Peter's Church, the first mention of which was in 1310, although there was a place of worship on the site before then. It has been renovated over the years but the tower and chancel are original. There are some beautiful stained glass windows and 8 historic bells. It was interesting to think that my ancestors were probably baptised in this church using the font which is still in place. There are some old gravestones in the church yard, but none we could see with the family name.

We also visited Chertsey Museum and bought some historical pamphlets for my collection. We then walked to Chertsey bridge, had lunch at the Kingfisher pub and afterwards walked back to Shepperton along the towpath beside the Thames, a distance of several miles. It was a beautiful sunny day and well worth the effort.

Kew Gardens

2011-04-21T21:30:00.001-07:00

I have always known that Kew Gardens in Richmond is one of my parents' favourite places. While doing family history research, I was surprised to find that my great grandfather, his brother, several of his sons and various other relatives all worked at Kew in the 1890s and early 1900s. On our last trip to London about 15 years ago, we stopped briefly in Richmond but didn't go into the gardens. I had a lot of incentive to visit this time.

The gardens cover 300 acres, became a World Heritage Site in 2003 and celebrated their 250th anniversary in 2009. They contain the world's largest collection of living plants, are internationally important for botanic research and have a staff of over 700.

There are several interesting buildings on the grounds, including Kew Palace (built around 1631), the Orangery (1761, now a restaurant where we had lunch), the 163 foot Chinese Pagoda (1762), the Palm House (1844, made of wrought iron and hand blown-glass), Queen Charlotte's Cottage (given to her on her marriage to George III), the Princess of Wales Conservatory (1987)and the Temperate House (the world's largest surviving Victorian glass structure). There are also several small temples.

It was a huge place to walk around and we spent several hours exploring most of the outdoor areas. Most of the early spring bulbs were finished, but there were still a few daffodils and narcissi. The bluebells (native only to Britain) were wonderful, and so were the azaleas and rhododendrons. There were also a lot of purple camas lilies, which we had seen in Victoria but these were a lot taller.

If we get a chance to go back, we will visit some of the collections in the greenhouses.

Hampton Court Palace

2011-04-20T01:10:00.003-07:00

Murray and I have been to England several times but somehow we never got around to visiting Hampton Court, so we made it a priority this time. It was only a short train and bus ride from Shepperton.

Starting as Cardinal Wolsey's country residence in 1514, it was given to Henry VIII in 1528 and extended twice, first by Henry and then by William and Mary in the 1690s with Christopher Wren as the architect. The location is magnificent beside the Thames and the gardens are spectacular. We started with coffee at the Tiltyard Cafe, the site of jousting and other competitions in Henry's tim. It was Palm Sunday and we went to the 11 AM service in the Chapel Royal, the only way to see the chapel on a sunday. The lovely interior and the excellent choir made it a really special experience.

Afterwards we toured Henry's apartments, William and Mary's separate apartments and then spent quite a lot of time in the gardens. There was too much to see in one visit, so maybe we'll get a chance to go again.

We finished the day with a boat cruise back to Kingston to catch our train. Lovely walking path all along the river and lots of boats drawn up along the banks.

Sunbury

2011-04-19T00:39:00.003-07:00

On our second day in England, we needed to buy a mobile phone. There was nowhere to do this at Gatwick Airport, and no shop in Shepperton, so we asked a couple who struck up a conversation with us over lunch where we should go. They suggested Tesco (a big supermarket) in nearby Sunbury. When we asked at the library how to get there, the librarian said we could walk. This is what we did, but it turned out to be much further than we expected. Fortunately this Tesco is like a huge Wal-Mart and it had a cafe in front which we immediately headed to for some much-needed refreshment.

We found a very obliging salesman in the phone department and ended up with a 10 pound basic phone and 10 pounds to top it up. Very simple. When we asked him for suggestions for lunch places, he directed us to the riverfront and a pub called the Magpie. To get there we had to walk down The Avenue, a nice street lined with chestnut trees and substantial houses. We finally made it and found ourselves in Old Sunbury, a much more attractive part of town. The Magpie hade a nice outdoor patio overlooking the water and the Mid-Thames Yacht Club was directly across. We were told that that morning there had been a sail-past of local boats commemorating Dunkirk. Too bad we didn't know in time to see it.

After lunch we decided to walk further along the Thames and came across a local park called the Walled Garden. Inside was the Sunbury Embroidery Gallery which was opened in 2000 to house the Sunbury Millennium Embroidery, a project started in 1996 to celebrate Sunbury Village at the turn of the millennium. It's a wonderful piece of art and we recognized most of the buildings it depicted. The main piece is about 9 feet long and there are side panels as well. The gallery also hosts other exhibitions and has a tea shop. It's a beautiful spot.

We carried on down the river and across to Shepperton, ending up walking the entire loop. The second half was much more scenic than the first!

Shepperton

2011-04-17T11:10:00.001-07:00

A village of about 11,000 residents in Surrey near London, its name was derived from "shepherd's town". We chose it as a place to stay because we wanted to be near Richmond and area and we were able to find an apartment to rent online which fell within our budget. I exchanged a number of emails with our landlady and she was friendly and helpful. She was also the only one of all the accommodation owners we made arrangements with who didn't require payment in advance, not even a deposit.

We arrived by train from Gatwick and it was only a few minutes' walk to the apartment. All we had to do was collect our keys, which the landlady had left under the doormat at her home around the corner. We are in a small block of apartments with a courtyard in the centre and just off the main street. There is a good selection of cafes and restaurants, 2 grocery stores, drugstores, other small shops, a library and post office. This is the newer part of town, which grew up around the railway station.

People have been very friendly, although everyone assumes we are American and a couple of servers seem to have had trouble understanding our accent! One couple in the cafe where we had lunch struck up a conversation and made some suggestions about places to go. One of these was Church Square, the site of the original village about a mile away. We walked there later and enjoyed the 16th century church, several picturesque pubs, a row of ancient cottages (one had the date 1695 over the door) and a lovely view of the Thames. We will definitely be back.

Flying to London from Kelowna

2011-04-16T10:47:00.002-07:00

This was the first time we had flown to Europe since we moved to Kelowna almost 5 years ago. We decided to fly to Vancouver, stay overnight to visit with Bill and Matt, and then fly to London the next day. We booked a charter, Thomas Cook Airlines, through Canadian Affair, which advertises very reasonable fares (although taxes almost double the rate once everything is calculated). Aside from a slight glitch with the online confirmation, everything went well. We were able to book two seats together at the back, in an area with no 3rd seat on the sides, and this gave us extra room. We were also pleased to find that our leg room wasn't too bad either. After arriving early at the airport, we were among the first to check in and had time to appreciate the amenities of Vancouver airport which is better than many as a place in which to spend extra time. Our flight left on time and took about 8 1/2 hours altogether. We flew over a lot of northern Canada, including Lake Athabasca, northern Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait and Baffin Island, then Greenland, south of Iceland and in over Ireland and the Hebrides. As a discount airline, there are no frills, but we did get 2 meals (done up in paper bags and most items brought over on the previous flight from England) and pillows and blankets. There was a charge for headsets and drinks, but it wasn't outrageous. Gatwick Airport is under construction, presumably to be finished in time for next year's Olympics, but ours was the only plane arriving at that time so we got through immigration very quickly (contrast that to long lineups and lengthy waits at Heathrow the other times we have come to England). Unfortunately we had to check our bags (Thomas Cook allows only 5 kg for carry-on, compared to 10 kg on most international flights), so waiting for them took the longest time. Our landlady had suggested taking the train to Shepperton from the airport, so we were able to figure out how to do this (the station is right in the airport) and about an hour later, after one change of trains and a short wait, we arrived at the apartment we will be staying in for the next two weeks.

Home again

2011-02-13T21:56:00.003-08:00

We're now back home after a wonderful 5 weeks in New Zealand. Check back around April 18 for our next adventure. We're off to England and the Channel Islands for 8 weeks.

Abel Tasman National Park

2011-02-12T09:01:00.000-08:00

Not too far across Tasman Bay from the city of Nelson lies Abel Tasman National Park, the smallest national park in New Zealand. The park occupies the whole coast on the west side of the bay and almost all of it is only accessible by foot or boat. The park is mountainous and filled with a number of bays and beautiful beaches.
We took a boat ride up the coast and were dropped off at one beach in Bark Bay and hiked for two and a half hours up and down over high coastal terrain to another beach at Torrent Bay where the boat picked us up again four hours later. We had lunch on a log in Bark Bay before we started our walk to Torrent Bay. Half way through we had to cross another high swingy, suspension bridge. We don’t like these very much but are getting used to them. It was a tiring day and we’ll take it easier tomorrow but the experience was wonderful and we are sad to note that we leave in two days for home.

Kaikoura

2011-02-11T09:21:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Hanmer Springs after driving from the west coast in the pouring rain. Since we are not particularly fond of spending time in hot springs, the next morning when the weather looked promising we decided to make a jaunt to the east coast. It was further than we expected, about 1 3/4 hours' drive over winding roads, but well worth the effort. Kaikoura is a small town in a beautiful location on the water with mountains behind it. We found a great place for lunch near the pier and then drove out to the end of the peninsula just outside town. This is the location of a seal colony and a scenic lookout on the hill. There is also a lovely cliff walk with spectacular views. After spending several hours there we drove back to Hanmer Springs by an alternate route partly along the coast. We found out later that the whole route we took is called the Alpine Pacific Triangle and is promoted in tourist brochures.

Hokitika and encounters with Kiwis

2011-02-10T09:06:00.000-08:00

Last year the weather during our time on the west coast of the South Island was grey and often drizzly and while we enjoyed the scenery we didn't get the best views of it. This time we planned only one day on this coast; after crossing through Arthur's Pass we moved on the next morning to Hanmer Springs. It rained all the way to Hokitika from Arthur's Pass Village but we did get a brief interlude when it was possible to walk on the beach (dark sand and really wild surf) and do a little shopping in town. There was a nice little bookshop and a sock museum (which also sold a wide variety of socks).

One of Murray's friends sent us an email that day telling us he had a cousin in Hokitika, so we looked him up in the phone book and gave him a call. He and his wife invited us over after dinner and we spent several hours with them. Very nice friendly people. We have talked to quite a few people on the road, both locals and travellers, but it's always fun to be invited into someone's home and get to know a bit about their lives.

We remembered this area for another odd thing: a one lane bridge with a railway track running across it! There are lots of one lane bridges in NZ, but this is the only one we have seen where you might have to yield to a train. There are two roundabouts in the same area and both have the tracks running right through them.

Kea sighting!

2011-02-09T09:30:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in our Mt Cook posting, we have been looking for kea (alpine parrots only found in certain places on the South Island of NZ) with no luck. So imagine our surprise when we were sitting in a cafe (The Wobbly Kea) in Arthur's Pass Village on the way to the west coast and Murray saw out the window a kea sitting on the gas pump across the street. Our server said there is a gang of about 8 birds which hangs around the village. Kea are very friendly inquisitive birds but they can also be destructive. Their long hooked beaks are useful for tearing windshield wipers off cars or ripping leather seats on motorcycles. The kea in my photo had only one foot but that didn't seem to slow him up at all.

Lake Tekapo, Mt. John and the Astro Café

2011-02-08T09:50:00.000-08:00

After spending most of the day at Mt. Cook, we decided to take advantage of the wonderful weather and detour to the nearby village of Lake Takapo to visit Mt. John. From the top there is a 360 degree panorama of valley, lakes and mountains. This is the location of a University of Canterbury observatory and also the Astro Café. It was a fabulous spot to sit with our coffee and admire the views.
We had to pass through Lake Tekapo again the next day after we left Twizel, so we stopped to see the small Church of the Good Shepherd, built in 1935 on the shores of the lake. The original stained glass window over the altar was damaged some years ago and replaced with clear glass which gives people in the church a wonderful view over the lake.
Near the church is a statue of a collie dog, to commemorate how important these dogs were in the settling of the Mackenzie District.

Mt. Cook

2011-02-07T09:40:00.001-08:00

Last year part of our trip took us to the west coast of the South Island and two famous glaciers, Fox and Franz Josef. Our weather had been wonderful until then, but as soon as we approached the coast the clouds rolled in and what we could see of the glaciers didn’t look very inspiring. We had thought of perhaps taking a flight over the glaciers and also seeing Mt Cook (since there was no access to the mountain from the west coast) but the weather prevented all that.
This year we thought we would spend 2 nights near the mountain and hope for better weather. We chose the small town of Twizel, about a 45 minute drive from Mt. Cook Village, because it was very expensive to stay right there. After a fine start to the day, by the time we got to Twizel it had turned gray and drizzly and then started to rain. We decided to drive to the village anyway and check things out. We could see vague shapes of mountains as we arrived and wondered if that would be our experience of Mt. Cook. Our hotel host had told us that the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre at the Hermitage Hotel (a historic resort something like the old CP hotels in Canada, although more modern since it was rebuilt after a fire) was worth spending time in, so we visited the museum which is full of Hillary memorabilia and planned to see some of the movies on offer if the rain continued the next day. At the Information Centre a guide used a postcard to show us where Mt. Cook would be if it wasn’t hidden, and the other mountains normally visible.
Later that night the rain stopped and we had a beautiful sunset. Murray was able to see a sky full of stars as he went to bed (it was very dark since our hotel was outside town with nothing else near it). We woke up early in the morning, opened the bedroom curtains, and Mt. Cook was clearly visible with a bright blue sky. It was an exciting moment.
We made the drive again and this time it was completely different. For much of the way the road followed Lake Pukaki, which had been carved out by the glacier 17000 years ago. It’s a beautiful milky green and Mt. Cook can be seen in the distance. The scenery got more and more spectacular as we approached the village and we lost no time checking for a recommended hike and getting started. The one we chose, Hooker Valley, took us across glacier debris to 2 swing bridges across a rushing river (made more so by the torrential rain the previous day) and a rock face that had to be scaled using a narrow path high above the river’s edge. Fortunately it was securely fenced and there were study guardrails to use for handholds. To make matters more interesting, parts of the path were extremely wet. Waterproof hiking boots would have been a good idea (many people did have them, although some people wore flipflops or really flimsy shoes. I don’t know how they managed to cope with some of the conditions.). This hike was more difficult than we anticipated but we completed most of it. By the time we got to the head of the valley and were close to the end point, which was the lake in front of the mountain, it was too wet to continue so we sat on a rock and admired the great view of Mt. Cook and then started back.
We had lunch at the Hermitage Hotel on the deck looking out on the mountains and took another short walk to see if we would be lucky enough to see a kea. These are alpine parrots which are only found on the South Island and we have seen them in aviaries, but no luck in the wild.
Later that evening we could see the mountain lighted by the sun as it went down, another magical sight.

Cromwell and Arrowtown

2011-02-06T09:27:00.000-08:00

On our visit to NZ last year we spent two nights in Queenstown, a wonderfully scenic town filled with young people doing extreme sports. We enjoyed seeing it but didn’t feel the need to go back this time. Instead we stayed in the smaller town of Cromwell and were glad we did. On our approach we stopped at an outlook which gave us a panoramic view of the town, two rivers, the hills and Lake Dunstan. When the Clyde Dam was completed in 1992 it flooded the original town centre but fortunately many of the historic buildings were saved and moved uphill to be restored and reincarnated as Old Cromwell Town. This is a nice little pedestrian area and an interesting place for a browse through history and some modern businesses, including a good café.
Cromwell is in a fruit growing area and much like the Okanagan, there are farm stalls lining the highway. As well as wonderful produce, most of them also offer lovely fruit ice cream, made on the spot. As we drove to Arrowtown, we passed through a beautiful gorge and then a wine district and the road there was lined with wineries. We stopped at one for Murray to taste their 4 varieties of pinot noir (he thought they were very impressive). Interestingly, this place was also a “cheesery” and we tried several different samples. If we had wanted a meal, there was also a beautiful restaurant. Quite a package of attractions.
Arrowtown is a former gold-mining town founded in the 1860s. More than 60 of its historic buildings have been saved and restored and it is an attractive place to spend a few hours. It was a beautiful day and we did a walking tour around town and out to the Chinese Settlement, which is now in ruins. As in BC, many Chinese men came to New Zealand to work in the mines. Most of them ended up going back to China when the gold ran out, but a few married local women and integrated into the community.

Invercargill and Stewart Island

2011-02-05T08:02:00.000-08:00

One of the things we hoped to do this time in the south was visit Stewart Island. This large island lies an hour south of Invercargill by small passenger ferry. It’s a wildlife sanctuary and there are several other small islands which are home to endangered birds. We had booked 4 days in Invercargill to give us a chance to go there. It was going to be expensive. The ferry ride is $66NZ per person, one way, for a total of $264.00. We would have had to rent a small vehicle or hire guides and go on an excursion to Ulva, another island to really get the full experience.
Unfortunately the weather wasn’t good. The gale force winds we encountered coming through the Catlins (see previous blog) continued. The hour long ferry ride over open ocean with heavy swells and periodic rain squalls which were blowing the rain sideways made it difficult to commit. If it hadn’t been raining we might have succumbed but to wander around the island wet while trying to arrange other parts of the trip wasn’t a very enticing prospect.
We hung around Invercargill for a couple of days waiting for the weather to improve. The first day we went west along the coast about 40 km and visited the town of Riverton and the tiny community of Cozy Nook (4 rustic houses in a cove on a remote beach). Riverton had a good restaurant for lunch and a coastal walk with good views of rocks and flowers.
The second day we stayed in town, visiting the local museum which was well done and checking out the local mix of Victorian, Edwardian and Art Deco architecture. We also headed south about 25K to visit the seaport of Bluff which serves as the port for Invercargill. There is a major Rio Tinto aluminum smelter across the harbour which we might have visited if we had had another day. We had lunch at The Drunken Sailor which had great views of the wild ocean south which goes on to the Antarctic. We walked around the headland for about half an hour just making it back to the car before the next squall hit. We were fortunate as we walked in a number of places when the sun came out and each time made it back to safety before the next batch of rain.
We left a day early as the bad weather was going to continue. We’ll try for Stewart Island again if we ever come back this way.

Where is New Zealand?

2011-02-04T09:30:00.000-08:00

We noticed that the UV index is very high here, usually off the scale at the top. It got us to wondering just where New Zealand would be if you placed it on a map of North America. It turns out that the furthest northern part (i.e. the warmest area) is about on the same latitude as Cape Town in South Africa or to compare it with similar latitudes in the northern hemisphere it would be about equivalent to Los Angeles or Atlanta in distance from the equator.
The other end of the country is Invercargill which we just visited. It’s at about 46 degrees south, similar in latitude to Seattle or Ottawa, so all of New Zealand would be closer to the equator than the BC/Washington State border.
The country sits in the range of latitudes known as the “roaring forties”, labeled as such by the people in the early sailing ships. Further south you have the “furious fifties”. There is no land at these latitudes other than the extreme end of South America so you have prevailing westerly winds with absolutely nothing to stop them. In the 40’s latitudes there is a little more land such as the lower end of Australia but still a lot of water and wind wanting to travel east. This means that on many days it can be quite windy on the coast.
It was also interesting to note that New Zealand is slightly larger than England, Scotland and Wales but that the population is only 4.3 million here compared with over 61 million in the UK.

Dunedin to Invercargill

2011-02-03T09:24:00.001-08:00

Last year when we were in Dunedin we had to make a long drive to Te Anau on the west side of the island in one day and didn’t have an opportunity to see the southernmost part of the South Island. This year we took extra time so we could explore casually. We left Dunedin in windy, rainy weather and had coffee in the farming town of Balclutha.
South of there is a rugged coastal area called the Catlins. There is some farming but the area is quite natural with some stands of virgin timber. There are a number of hikes along the coast and also through the forested areas to see waterfalls. A forty minute return hike to see waterfalls in a damp forest in the rain isn’t too appealing so we stuck to the coast. The rain stopped and there were some sunny intervals but the wind continued at gale force levels. The trees on the coast are very exposed and most of the branches on the ocean side are small and twisted from the constant barrage of salty ocean winds.
Fortunately we took picnic supplies with us as there are no places to eat for about 60-70 km along this coast. We then explored Porpoise Bay and Curio Bay, both with very strong winds, almost impossible to walk. We found the odd cove with a little shelter but winds down here go for thousands of miles as there is no land mass to slow them down. We then went on to Invercargill, a city of 50,000, possibly one of the most southerly cities in the world. Only Chile and Argentina extend further south.

Royal Albatross colony at Taiaroa Head, Otago Peninsula

2011-02-02T07:53:00.000-08:00

The first royal albatross came to this location in about 1920. The nearest other colony is on Chatham Island, about 1000 miles to the NE. The one in NZ is the only mainland albatross colony in the world and is managed by the Dept. of Conservation as a nature reserve. Each bird is banded and carefully monitored and public access is limited to guided tours to an observation hut overlooking part of the breeding area on the cliff.
Royal Albatross usually mate for life and they can live for over 60 years. They lay one egg every two years. Both parents share incubation duty, which takes 11 weeks. After the chick hatches the parents again take turns feeding and sitting on it for 30-40 days. Once the chick fledges in 12 months, the parents take a one-year “vacation” at sea. The young albatross go out to sea for 4-6 years, returning eventually to find a mate (this might take a couple of years) and start their own cycle. The older birds come back after one year, reestablish their pair bonds and begin again.
There were 26 nesting pairs at the site when we visited and we were able to see 4 birds sitting on their nests from the window of the observatory. It’s a matter of luck whether one sees much activity on the part of the birds, since the one staying behind mostly sleeps during the day until the partner comes back later. It also depends on which part of the breeding cycle the birds are in. Occasionally one can see the birds flying around the cliff from the parking lot but that didn’t happen the day we went (although we had seen some out at sea in Tasmania). Our guide told us a bird landed in the parking lot not long ago and one of the naturalists had to go out and rescue it. Because of their enormous wingspan (up to 3 meters), they are awkward at taking off and since they spend so much time at sea they often crash land when they first come back to land.

Driving, escalators, walking and trundlers

2011-02-01T08:42:00.002-08:00

Driving on the “other side of the road” is different and often dangerous. Old habits die hard and while straightforward driving isn’t difficult, pulling out from a parking area back on to the highway definitely is. After spending your entire driving life looking left you automatically tend to edge slowly out onto the road and only then look to your right. Here when you do this you find a car coming from your right at about 80K or so which narrowly misses your front end and you utter a silent prayer of thanks that you hadn’t pulled out a little further. Your fate sometimes hangs on such a small margin.
Some roads are dangerous in their own right; no shoulders, very narrow and winding, no guardrails and either sheer drops down a cliff or right into the ocean. There’s seldom a worry about having a nap. Real driving.
Other things are different too. Escalators! Here the ones on the left go up and they come down on the right. We automatically think “right” when we approach a bank of escalators.
Walking is sometimes different as well. When you approach people on a street they normally expect you to swing to your left as you pass while we would usually go to the right. To complicate things a bit there are many Europeans here at this time of year and of course they tend to do as we do. In a crowded street you look at people and try to guess which way to go and end up dodging one way or the other at the last moment.
The odd word catches you unaware as well. The first time you go into a grocery store parking lot and see a sign which says “trundler parking” you think, is this for expectant mothers? Perhaps mechanized scooters? Baby strollers? What else could it be? It turns out this is the name for shopping carts! Lots of fun and learning every day.

Otago Peninsula

2011-01-31T08:32:00.001-08:00

Just outside Dunedin is a wild and wonderful peninsula about 60 km long. It’s a haven for wildlife and has fantastic views. As usual in some of the more remote parts of New Zealand the roads are exciting and are part of the day’s entertainment. We were pleased that we hadn’t decided to stay out there. It’s lovely but would have been difficult to drive in the pouring rain which we had on the day we arrived, particularly later in the day when we were a bit tired.
We headed out to the end of the peninsula along the coast road to see the Albatross sanctuary (see a previous blog). We stopped for coffee at a quaint little community, Portobello, on a quiet cove. We could have taken a number of tours to see penguins, including the rare yellow-eyed ones, but having recently seen these we decided not to pay another $40-50 each. Any tour we’ve been on has been well worth the price but the dollars add up so we don’t want to duplicate many of our experiences. We could also have taken another cruise to see dolphins and whales but had seen lots of those.
We started back along the coast road again but then branched off to an alternate route along a high ridge. Again the road was narrow and windy but the views were fantastic. We took a side road to Sandfly Bay and walked to the viewpoint overlooking a gorgeous sandy beach and dunes and high cliffs. When we were almost back to Dunedin we spied a veteran’s memorial monument at the top of a hill. Of course we had to walk up the steep rough track to the top. This completed our quota of physical exertion for the day and it was well worth the effort. The view was wonderful. Murray likes to get to the top of something like this where you can experience a 360 degree view of the whole peninsula, the city of Dunedin and the rough seacoast on the west side of the peninsula.
Another great day in paradise!

Fleur's Place

2011-01-30T08:17:00.000-08:00

In one of the official New Zealand information sites and at one of the places we stayed, we were told about a fabulous restaurant about half an hour south of Oamaru in the little fishing village of Moeraki so we decided to have lunch there on our way down to Dunedin. We were very pleased that we did.
The restaurant is called Fleur’s Place after the owner Fleur Sullivan who had become known for another restaurant elsewhere in the South Island. While she was deciding on a name for the new one, everyone wanted to know where Fleur’s place was, so that is what she called it. It would have to rank as one of the best seafood restaurants we have eaten at anywhere in the world. Murray had a whole baked sole served with lemon and caper beurre blanc and Susan had a baked salmon fillet done with a gremoulade. Both came with a medley of fresh local vegetables.
The restaurant is in a rustic building down at the dock where the fishing boats come in. Inside it is all wood with rough-hewn timbers and stairways. Part of the outside is corrugated sheet metal. The effect is really pleasing. Many of the recipes are her own and she likes to use food that is readily available including seaweed and fish right off the boats. The restaurant has a website ( www.fleursplace.com ).
The restaurant has received many excellent reviews. Apparently one English reviewer, Rick Stein, when given a chance by an English newspaper to go anywhere in the world for a restaurant to review, picked Fleur’s. The restaurant was full on a Wednesday at lunch and it’s at least half an hour from any major town. Fleur was there when we left and we told her how much we had liked the food. We recognized her from a photo in a book about the restaurant which we had read in our hotel in Oamaru. It’s a place we’d love to go back to sometime.

Timaru and Oamaru

2011-01-28T08:38:00.000-08:00

We are on the South Island now. We decided not to stay in Christchurch as it had an earthquake just about the time we were booking our accommodation. We weren’t concerned about actual earthquakes but more about the fact that the city might be in the middle of reconstructing itself and there might be a disruption of services.
We decided instead to spend some time in the town of Timaru (we walked through a big park and aviary near the waterfront and had lunch at an outdoor table with a view to the sea) en route to Dunedin and to stay for several nights in another town a little further south called Oamaru. We had driven past both these towns last year but the way our holiday had been organized we had no time to stop. Both towns are attractive coastal communities; both are working towns with Timaru having 26,000 people and Oamaru about 12,000. Oamaru is more of a tourist town with many visitors coming to see the penguins (see an earlier blog).
Oamaru has several wonderful streets of Victorian dockside buildings which are still being used although not for their original purposes. There are a number of other late 1800’s buildings around town which have been well preserved as well. Locals told us that they have the best set of intact Victorian buildings in the southern hemisphere. Like a few similar communities in the Pacific Northwest (BC, and Washington and Oregon states) the main reason for old buildings to be left intact was because they went through a long period of recession or economic depression and no one had the money to tear them down and redevelop them. The result is fortunate and we spent two great days here.

Penguins

2011-01-27T07:49:00.000-08:00

One of our reasons for visiting Oamaru was to see penguins in the wild. We had seen them in Australia last year but the experiences weren’t very satisfactory. Hours waiting on a beach from just before dusk to about an hour after dark to have a glimpse of half a dozen penguins struggling up the beach from a distance and trying to use your binoculars in the dark when it has started to get cold and damp was less than satisfying. We were also later in the season last year and there were fewer penguins nesting.
This year the timing was better. There are many penguins nesting. Last year in Australia we were only looking at one type of penguin, the Little Blue. Here in Oamaru there are two different penguins; as well as the Little Blue there is also the rare Yellow-Eyed Penguin. We were fortunate to see both last night. The Yellow-Eyed is a bigger bird, about 70cm tall, about twice the size of the Little Blue and is on shore and visible about two hours before dark while the Little Blue only comes ashore at sunset and for an hour after.
We paid for a tour with the Penguin Express Company which took us around to the right spots and saved us time and parking problems. Yellow-Eyes nest in the banks behind beaches and can come quite high up the cliffs, often using their beaks to grab on to brush and plants to help them climb. We saw one in the distance on the beach, probably waiting for its mate to come back in from feeding and then we were fortunate to see an adult and its chick high above the beach about twenty feet below us.
After this we went to a viewing area where we could sit and watch the Little Blues come in from the sea to their nests and chicks. The area was lit with orange light. The Little Blues cannot see light in the orange spectrum so it does not interfere with them. No photography is allowed as it might spook the birds and they would go back out to sea and their chicks could starve. The numbers of birds had been lower than usual for the past couple of days because of rough seas, but we still saw dozens of penguins. It was a great experience.

Inter-island air travel

2011-01-26T07:48:00.000-08:00

The flight from Wellington to Christchurch was a pleasure, at least compared with air travel in Canada. It would be very user friendly travelling for work or pleasure within New Zealand.
First of all the country is quite small with the longest flight from one end to the other being about an hour and a half. They don’t have snow or ice except in very rare circumstances and that would be only in higher elevations where there are no major airports. There are also only a little over 4 million people in the country so there are fewer people travelling. You also fly within one time zone for domestic flights so there is no jetlag.
Flying is more like flying internally within BC with small planes flying over mountains and with fierce ocean winds causing some bumps and turbulence.
The big difference is with airport security. It makes one realize that our security procedures are dictated by the US and that we have no autonomy in this area. For international flights from New Zealand there is a little more formality but for domestic flights the procedure is more relaxed. Last year when we made a similar flight on a turboprop there was no security inspection at all. This year we were on a 737 and we went through a brief screening procedure but no need to take off shoes or belts etc. We were able to take bottles of water and wine with us and we also carried half a bottle of olive oil. The procedure is fast and efficient. Security is not a single, large one for everyone but is done for each individual flight and is performed right at the gate. We got to the airport about 50 minutes before flight time, check-in and baggage labeling was done quickly at a kiosk and we could have arrived half an hour later.

Wellington, NZ

2011-01-25T07:40:00.000-08:00

We were in Wellington (the NZ capital) briefly on our trip last year and liked it enough to come back and see more. It's located at the "bottom" of the North Island and is the jumping off point for travel to the South Island, either by air or by ferry. Last time we were staying in a motel outside town and it was late Friday afternoon when we arrived. After doing a quick tour of the outskirts along the shore road, we thought we would park downtown and see a few highlights. This was easier said than done! Wellington is very hilly and most of the streets are quite narrow. It's a good idea to know where you're going (which we didn't). After heading down a one-way street and finding ourselves back on the motorway out of town, we made sure to plan our second visit more carefully.

We stayed in an apartment hotel on The Terrace, a street high above the main shopping area, but quite accessible with elevators and staircases. After driving in (again on Friday afternoon), we checked in and then returned the car to the rental agency. It was much better to be on foot for the weekend. Most of the major sights are on or near the waterfront. Wellington has a huge harbour. We visited Te Papa, the national museum and also the city museum. Both were very interesting and also free of charge. We admired the 3 parliament buildings, each a different style, and the 2 St Paul's Anglican churches. One was built in 1866 all of wood and has beautiful stained glass windows. It was replaced in 1964 by St Paul's Cathedral but is still in use. The Cathedral is a completely different style and it was quite a contrast to see them one after the other.

We had brunch on the waterfront with an old friend of Murray's and her husband and they generously drove us around to see more of the city from Mt Victoria and the hill where a windmill now stands. It was great to get some panoramic views. We had a drink the first night overlooking the water and lunch in the same area later on. The waterfront is full of interesting old buildings and there was lots going on. Even when we had a rainy day we could still walk around because most of the shops have a continuous overhang. This tends to be the case in most shopping streets in NZ.

Meeting people on the road

2011-01-23T09:32:00.001-08:00

Last year when we were in New Zealand and Australia we made a point of looking up friends of friends and distant relatives, figuring that after weeks on the road it would be nice to talk to some locals, even if we had never met them before. We had some memorable visits.

In Wellington this time, Murray decided to ask a friend in Vancouver for the email address of his sister. She and her family had been living in NZ for a long time, and Murray remembered her from the time in the 1960s when they were all living in Ottawa. She responded positively and we had a lovely brunch with her and her husband on the waterfront. They then very generously gave us a car tour of the highlights of the city. It added tremendously to our visit in giving us an overall impression of Wellington and hearing what it is like to live there. It was also great fun!

Travel oddities

2011-01-22T09:23:00.002-08:00

We arrived in Wellington to our apartment hotel after two one-night stays and were looking forward to our own laundry facilities. To my dismay, we had a combined "washer-dryer". We had encountered one of these in an apartment in England about 15 years ago and I was about to find that the current one didn't work any better (i.e. not at all). The washer was fine, then I turned the dial to "dry" as per the housekeeper's instructions, and the machine proceded to spin for 60 minutes (the minimum time). At the end of the cycle (which it announced by playing a tune Murray thought was from Mozart), the clothes were still as damp as when they started. I can't imagine who invented this machine and why anyone thinks it is a good idea. We ended up hanging all the clothes up and waiting for them to dry overnight.

One thing I keep forgetting to do is turn off the electric plugs when they aren't in use. I suppose this is a good safety feature, but completely foreign to a North American. Quite often I plug something in and wonder why it isn't working, only to realize that I have not also turned on the outlet.

Every hotel we have been in has talked about its environmental savvy, and one of the things they want you to do is reuse your towels by hanging them on the rail or indicate you want fresh ones by leaving them on the floor (quite like North American hotels now). However,
even though we always leave them on the rail, they are replaced every day without fail.

Gisborne

2011-01-21T09:28:00.000-08:00

A delightful small city in the northeastern part of North Island. It’s on the coast and was the first area visited by Captain Cook in 1769. He was the first European to set foot in the country and from this area he circumnavigated the whole of both main islands and did extensive mapping of the coasts. The lookout who first saw land was a young boy and Cook commemorated his discovery by naming the point of land the boy saw after him. The point, Young Nicks Head, is visible in the distance from parts of the town.
We arrived in mid afternoon after driving through a deep mountain gorge (I don’t see how people can pull trailers or drive big vans through these difficult twisting roads) and eventually coming out into valleys full of sheep and cattle and finally the vineyards of the coast. Gisborne is noted for its Chardonnays. Temperature was 34C after about 24C on the Bay of Plenty coast. It cooled substantially overnight which was good as 34 is hot for outdoor stuff. We had a great supper on the waterfront. Only our second supper out!
Gisborne promotes itself as the 1st city in the world to see each day. This is true. When it’s 1am here on Tuesday for example it’s 4am on Monday in Vancouver, 7am Monday in Montreal and Toronto and about noon Monday in England. It seems that the last area to see each day would be Hawaii which is just east of the international date line whereas Gisborne is the first city west of the date line.

The boat trip to White Island

2011-01-20T09:44:00.000-08:00

The excursion on White Island was exciting but so was the boat trip itself. Both on the way to the island and then on the way back we saw dolphins. We find the sight of dolphins swimming around, under and in front of a boat to be a magical experience. They love to play and are clearly intelligent. These were Common Dolphins, smaller than the Bottlenose variety but still about two meters long. For further details have a look at http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/common.htm
We also saw three Orcas on the way out. On all our trips around Victoria and the Gulf Islands we had never seen Orcas. These are magnificent animals and it was so special to see them even if we had to come all the way to New Zealand to do so.
Getting in and out of Whakatane was also fun. There is a long sandbar forming a boundary for the harbour. One of the local rivers flows into it and then out to sea. The exit from the river and harbour is no more than 15 meters across and on either side are dangerous rocks. Our boat was a reasonable size holding about 55 passengers and looked massive when going through this narrow passage. There is no breakwater and the ocean swells come right in to the mouth of the river while there is a strong flow going out. There was a heavy swell that morning and we were delayed by about an hour waiting for the wind and swells to subside a little. The boat rose with the swells and fell back heavily with a loud thud as we rode each of the incoming waves. It was a relief to get into the open ocean but even then the ride was quite rough as we were going into the wind. It was a long hour and a half out to the island. The return was easier coming back with the wind but the reentry to the harbour was difficult as well. The skipper had to keep the boat more or less stationary at the mouth of the harbour while waiting for a gap in the swells and then accelerated the boat through.
A great trip!

White Island

2011-01-19T09:28:00.000-08:00

One of the main attractions we looked forward to this time was a trip to White Island in the Bay of Plenty. It’s the only active marine volcano in New Zealand. There are hundreds of other small islands which are volcanic in origin but they are all extinct or dormant. It’s probably one of the few in the world where you can visit and hike around.
The island is about 60 km offshore from our starting point in Whakatane harbour. The exit and reentry from the harbour was dangerous and exciting but that trip is another story. The trip to the island takes an hour and a half. The access from the boat to the island is by zodiac and we had to climb primitive ladders on the side of the remains of an old concrete jetty to get on to the beach.
Once on the island we had a 2 hour guided tour. The route is around the floor of the old caldera. There are fumeroles spewing forth steam and pots of bubbling mud everywhere. There are many yellowish sulphur covered mounds or ‘blisters’. These are dangerous as they are thin layers of ground which have been pushed up by heat and pressure from underneath and could easily collapse. You would fall through if you walked on one. We were issued with hardhats and gasmasks. The hats were mandatory, the gasmasks were for optional use but were welcome when the strong smell of sulphur made it difficult to breathe.
At one time sulphur was mined on the island but many miners were killed in eruptions or slides (parts of the caldera collapse every once in a while) and this was abandoned about 75 years ago. The island is privately owned. A family invested in it in the early part of the last century for sulphur mining purposes but it was never really economical for them. There are no residents other than gannets, shearwaters and a few Polynesian rats. Our guide explained that this type of volcano has no regular lava flows but will blow molten material up in the air with virtually no warning but with lots of damage. The last major eruption was 10 years ago. You sign a waiver before going on the trip. A wonderful experience!

Karangahake Gorge

2011-01-18T09:25:00.000-08:00

From our hilly retreat in Te Mata we left the Coromandel peninsula by way of the town of Thames and headed south over the base of the peninsula to the Bay of Plenty. We took a route that led through the Karangahake Gorge. Our host said we should stop in the gorge and gave us a little of the background of the area.
Now the gorge is steep, spectacular and green but in the late 1800’s it was a major gold mining area with tunnels, trains and stamping mills where quartz gold bearing ore was pulverized for further processing. There are only a few foundations remaining from the dozens of original buildings.
There are hiking trails through some of the old mining tunnels. Some of these were close enough to the walls of the gorge that it was easy for the miners to cut through the walls to create “windows” through which they could throw out rock debris into the gorge below. These now allow light in and make it relatively easy to walk in what would otherwise be pitch black holes. Similarly other trails now exist where the old rail lines edged along the gorge walls. Small, suspension, pedestrian bridges go across the gorge in a number of places to connect the trails.
We had a strenuous but delightful hike along these trails and up and down the many steps. One exciting moment came on one of the bouncy bridges. A sign said a maximum of 10 people but when we were half way across a bus load of German youth came charging from the opposite direction. At one point there were probably 30 people on the bridge and we wondered briefly if the whole thing was going to collapse with the lot of us falling to the river below. However, the bridge survived and so did we.

Kiwifruit

2011-01-17T09:07:00.001-08:00

On our drive along the Bay of Plenty from Tauranga to Whakatane, we stopped in the small town of Te Puke for lunch. Its claim to fame is “The Kiwifruit Capital of the World” and we couldn’t resist stopping at Kiwi 360 to see the world’s largest kiwifruit and visit the information centre. We discovered that there are two types of kiwifruit, the green fuzzy one we get in Canada and a smooth golden one which is a fairly recent variety, doesn’t store as well, and isn’t as widely exported. We had a look at some of the fruit growing on vines beside the centre – quite like grapes. Harvest time is May and June so the fruit is not fully formed but is still quite large. Kiwifruit is worth over a billion dollars a year to NZ.

It was Captain Cook who named the Bay of Plenty when he landed there in the 1770s because it seemed so fertile.

The area near Whakatane is full of berry stands and it was a welcome break to stop and buy fresh blueberries and have a fruit ice cream made on the spot.

Mt Maunganui

2011-01-16T09:59:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Tauranga, a lovely city of about 110,000 on the Bay of Plenty (part of NZ’s north coast) in the mid-afternoon and after checking into our hotel we headed straight to the main attraction – Mt Maunganui, a small town just across the bridge and the massive hill (an extinct volcano) which dominates it. It was a summer Saturday and very busy with all sorts of water activity on the two beaches and a bustling café scene. We managed to find a place to park and took the walking path around the base of the hill, 3.4 km in length and very scenic. Thankfully there were many trees which provided welcome shade, since the temperature was in the high 20s and it was very sunny. There are also more strenuous paths to the summit (232 m) but we decided to leave those to others. We started on the calm inner beach, walked around to the Pacific Ocean side (which was windy and rougher) and ended at the foot of the surfing beach. Quite a variety of scenery to look at and a nice café back in town to reward ourselves with!

Signs

2011-01-15T12:38:00.000-08:00

Some fun signs we've noticed so far as we've been wandering around.

Coromandel Peninsula

2011-01-14T12:26:00.002-08:00

About 1 ½ hours’ drive from Auckland, this is a rugged and beautiful part of NZ that we completely missed on our last trip. No one at the travel agency told us that we couldn’t see it on a day trip from Taupo! We learned that time that most of the country’s roads are narrow and winding and it is difficult to go any distance very quickly. This encourages the visitor to slow down and see smaller areas in more detail.
We stayed for 3 nights in a small place called Te Mata, about half an hour from the town Thames, which acts as the gateway to the Coromandel for people coming from Auckland. Lots of tourist resources but we had chosen somewhere a little more remote. The drive up the western side of the peninsula gave us a taste of what would be in store for the rest of our visit – a very narrow and extremely winding road with gorgeous vistas of sea and beaches. No shoulders to speak of and I was on the outside the whole way. Fortunately Murray adapted quickly to driving on the left as we left Auckland and he enjoys challenging driving. The odd lumber truck added to the excitement.
North of Thames are a string of small settlements and just before Te Mata was a very unassuming café where we had a wonderful dinner on our first night. We ate outside looking across to the shore and the owner gave us advice on what to see during our visit.
The next day we drove north to Coromandel Town, about half an hour away on a continuation of the same road, which hugged the coast and then climbed over a ridge before dropping down into the town. We stopped and explored several beautiful beaches after leaving the town and heading east, and had a memorable ice cream and coffee at a tiny hamlet later in the afternoon. One massive scoop of ice cream for $2.50 had to be the best deal we’ve come across in NZ and the store was crowded with people with the same idea, most of them having 2 or 3 scoops of different flavours. Everyone is on their summer holidays right now and there were lots of people on the beaches and in the towns.

Hobs and other horrors (cooking on the road)

2011-01-13T09:59:00.000-08:00

On our first night in Auckland we were exhausted and Murray decided to cook using the limited facilities in our studio apartment. We had a two burner cooking surface, two small pots with lids and a plain larger fry pan with no lid. There was also a medium size microwave. He always gets a funny expression on his face when confronted by new and unusual cooking situations particularly when they have severe limitations, but he has always risen to the challenge.
We had arrived at the hotel about 7am and had spent the day exploring the downtown by foot. The only places we could find for food were convenience stores with no fresh vegetables but we did find one that had a few decent packages of vacuum packed meat. Murray found a rack of lamb that looked possible but the only things we could locate on short notice to go with it were a pack of plain rice and a can of corn (whole kernel). We also found a jar of decent mustard and a little box of mixed herbs. Since there was no oven Murray improvised. He bought a large oven baking bag, put the lamb in the bag, spooned in some mustard and spices, salt and pepper and coated the lamb. He microwaved the lamb for about 8 minutes. This produced a great tasting lamb with liquid in the oven bag which he poured over the rice and lamb. An amazingly good meal!

Ponsonby (Auckland)

2011-01-12T09:53:00.000-08:00

We started from our hotel one morning and walked to the Ponsonby section of Auckland. This is a more exclusive area which runs along a ridge affording wonderful views of the downtown. People in the late Victorian era evidently thought so as well and at one time there were a large number of big houses along Ponsonby Road. The few that remain have been converted into small office buildings. There are side streets which have beautiful residences. Ponsonby Road itself has attractive shops and restaurants and the area would be a great one to live in if one were working in Auckland.
There is good bus service to the city core and you could probably reach it in about 15-20 minutes. Our walk was a roundabout one of about 10km and we were happy to stop for lunch at a pub called The Cavalier with a great view of the city from its deck. Getting back to the hotel and putting our feet up at the end felt good too.

Auckland the second time around

2011-01-11T09:30:00.001-08:00

We landed in Auckland at the beginning of our trip last year, but we spent only one night there before heading north. We decided then that it would be worth coming back and seeing more. It’s by far the largest of New Zealand’s cities, with about a third of the country’s total population of 4 million living there. It‘s the biggest Polynesian city in the world and has a large Asian population. Surrounded almost entirely by water, it was built on 50 extinct or dormant volcanoes, which makes many of the streets extremely steep, including the one our hotel was on!
There’s an interesting mixture of architectural styles, from high rise buildings to Colonial and Victorian houses, restored industrial buildings, small shopping arcades and narrow alleyways and cul de sacs. Above it all is the Sky Tower, the tallest in the Southern Hemisphere. Something like the CN Tower in Toronto, it has an observation deck and restaurant and various types of entertainment at the base.
There is a lot of green space. Our hotel backs onto a park donated in the early 1900s by a former mayor of the city. Included in it was a kindergarten for educating the children of Auckland. It is still in operation and the park itself is well used, as we can see from our apartment balcony. The major city park is called The Domain and it is also the site of the Auckland Museum, which we visited this time, although there was so much to see that we only managed to take in about half of it. It is also the War Museum and we saw some very moving displays of the NZ contribution to World War I. Its participation rate for men of military age was the highest of any Allied country including Britain itself. Amazing for such a small place.
We spent some time on the waterfront, watching a P&O liner being moved out by 2 tugs, seeing some of the Maritime Museum (the display of living quarters immigrants endured during voyages of up to 6 months and the massive yacht which won the America’s Cup for a New Zealander were 2 of the highlights) and having lunch on a deck overlooking the water. Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf contains many islands and there is a wide choice of tours and ferries leaving from the Quay.
Auckland has several interesting neighborhoods which provide a change from the downtown core. We walked through Parnell Village, a lovely mixture of older buildings, green spaces, bricked alleyways and small shops and cafes. After finding a place for lunch, it didn’t take us long to find another nice spot for gelato and espresso! We thought at first that the brightly coloured deck chairs set out in several small parks were art installations but then realized they were meant for sitting.

Back in Auckland

2011-01-09T19:28:00.002-08:00

Just a quick note to get the blog started for our 2011 trip to NZ. We arrived in Auckland on Sunday morning and will be here for 3 nights. The flight was good but Murray lost his carefully selected aisle seat (booked months ago) and had to sit in the middle of 3. No reason for this that we could see. The entertainment system stopped working early in the evening so there was nothing to do but sleep, which we did quite successfully and didn't feel too terrible when we arrived after a 13 1/2 hour flight. We did some walking around, found some of the places we liked last time, visited the Maritime Museum and had lunch overlooking the harbour. Winter seemed very far away. We're staying in an apartment hotel near the main shopping street. It's a chain we discovered in Australia - good facilities and reasonably priced. So much better than a simple hotel room in the city.
I will post more details and some photos shortly.

More coming soon!

2010-11-11T18:43:00.001-08:00

We liked New Zealand so much we are going back on January 7, 2011 for 5 weeks to spend more time in some places and see others we missed the first time. Check back around January 10 for the first instalment!

Home again!

2010-03-27T10:29:00.000-07:00

Arrived back safely after a 14 hour flight from Sydney to Vancouver, then a 3 hour layover before our 1 hour hop over the mountains to Kelowna.

Thanks to all of you who have read about our adventures and made comments - we enjoy sharing and keeping in touch.

Until next time!

Sydney

2010-03-26T09:05:00.002-07:00

Sydney is the last stop on our trip of almost 11 weeks and what a finale! We have enjoyed visiting other cities in both NZ and Australia but Sydney is in a class by itself. Our hotel is in the old part in an area called The Rocks near the waterfront where the first fleet landed in 1788. There are lots of old buildings which have been renovated and are now used for hotels, shops, museums and restaurants, with cobblestone alleys, small arcades and green spaces. People seem to like their outdoor cafes and they are everywhere.

The waterfront at Circular Quay is a hive of activity with ferries, tour boats, water taxis, jet boats and yachts constantly coming and going. We hadn't seen so much happening on the water since we were in Venice. Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House dominate the view in both directions.

We took a walk through the central business district and found Hyde Park with St Mary's Cathedral on one side. The park is a lovely spot in the midst of the bustle of downtown. There is a fountain dedicated to French-English relations during WWI in the centre, and a number of ibis walking around in the flowerbeds. The cathedral is one of the world's largest Gothic Revival churches. Built in 1865, it has wonderful stained glass windows. We also had a look in the Queen Victoria Building which dates from 1898 and is an amazingly beautiful shopping arcade.

There are many transit options in Sydney and we were fascinated to see a monorail running right through the downtown streets just over people's heads.

We spent several hours one afternoon at the Sydney Aquarium, a first class facility devoted to Australian marine life. Walking through clear tunnels with fish and sharks swimming over and around us had to be the next best thing to deep sea diving. One interesting creature was the rare dugong, a relative of the manatee.

Another day we took the ferry to Manly half an hour away across Sydney Harbour. It's a funky seaside community with a pedestrian mall called the Corso, a beautiful beach with more swimmers and surfers than we had seen in our entire trip (although it is not high season now), and a nice walking path along the coast.

Our last day was my birthday and we had a great meal at the cafe of the Park Hyatt which is right on the water overlooking the Opera House and all the boat activity in the harbour. A really special evening at the end of a wonderful trip.

Sydney Opera House

2010-03-25T09:48:00.000-07:00

What a thrill it is to see something in person that you've only read about or seen in photographs! The Sydney Opera House is amazing and so right for its location. We took a tour and saw four of the performance spaces - two theatres, the concert hall and the opera hall. We also heard the story of its design by Danish architect Jorn Utzon, the construction difficulties posed by its unique shape, and the politics around time and cost overruns that ensued. However, as everyone knows it put Australia on the world cultural map and changed the perception of the arts in Australia, no mean feat for one building.

We were lucky to hear the Sydney Symphony rehearsing in the Concert Hall, which has great acoustics. There is a vast number of performances held over the year of every description. The public spaces outside the theatres make great use of views over the harbour and Sydney Bridge. Our guide described how people come out on the balcony at the interval for the New Year's concert and watch the fireworks over the water.

It is easy to take dozens of photographs of the building from every angle. The colour of the tiles on the roofs changes depending on the light and there are always boats in the water in front of it.

The Freycinet Peninsula, red rocks and crescent beaches on Tasmania’s East Coast

2010-03-24T03:43:00.001-07:00

To finish up our Tasmanian experience, we spent 3 nights in the small town of Bicheno. From there we took a 4 hour cruise around the Freycinet Peninsula starting at Coles Bay, about 25 km south. A major feature of this area is pink granite cliffs covered in red/orange lichen and they are only visible from the sea or the air. They were quite spectacular in the morning sunshine. We saw seals and many types of birds, from shearwaters and albatrosses to pelicans and cormorants. Our destination was Wineglass Bay, a beautiful crescent of white sand with clear blue-green water. It is possible to hike to a lookout to see the bay at a distance (1.5 hours return) and walk down to the beach (3.5 hours total return). We decided on the boat option! We anchored in the bay for half an hour and enjoyed snacks and champagne, a lovely experience. On the way back we found a pod of bottlenose dolphins which swam and jumped close to the boat. We had never seen them that close.
The second day we drove north from Bicheno about 80 km to the Bay of Fires. The beaches along the way were similar to Wineglass Bay, lovely white crescents of powdery sand and beautiful shades of blue and green in the water. Many of the rocks on the coast are covered in lichen in vivid red/orange, yellow and green. Binalong Bay was a particularly attractive small village and we drove to a feature called The Garden which was at the end of the road. On the way back we went out to the end of St Helens Point and climbed up to the light. From there we had a terrific view both ways along the coast.
Bicheno is a nice small town with a lovely coastal walk. It has lots of spectacular rocks and a feature called the Blow Hole which was fun to watch. Even though the sea looked calm while we were here, there was often quite a swell and surf on the beaches. This produced the geyser of water regularly coming from the crack in the rocks which formed the Blow Hole.

Tasmania's Northwest Coast (2)

2010-03-21T11:10:00.000-07:00

Another day we drove east from Burnie, stopping at the small town of Penguin to see all the related artifacts. There was nothing much else in the town, but a large penguin on the waterfront, several others in front of stores and the visitor centre, and a café called The Groovy Penguin. We went on along the coast to Ulverstone, another old town with more going on and a good café called Retromania where Murray commiserated with another man who obviously was also suffering from back pain, and the owner came out and chatted with us about our trip. We have found almost all Australians very friendly and interested in what we are doing. Many have been to Canada and don’t automatically take us for Americans. In fact, we have seen very few people from the US anywhere we have been in Australia or New Zealand.
We headed away from the coast and up the Mersey River to Latrobe. The big attraction here is the platypus, many of which live in the river and can often be seen on its banks. However, like the penguin they are usually visible only at dawn or dusk. They are quite shy and don’t like bright sunlight. Latrobe was a nice lunch spot anyway and we also visited a local chocolate factory which had a small history of the industry and provided free samples. (Those who have used Baker’s Chocolate might be interested to know that Mr. Baker was a real person.)
We had heard that the nearby town of Railton was noted for its collection of topiary, which we thought would be interesting to see, but it was quite overrated. Even with a map they were hard to find and most of them were suffering from a lack of maintenance.
The town of Sheffield was more successful with the gimmick it used to improve its fortunes in 1985. It copied the idea the BC town of Chemainus used and covered many of its walls with murals depicting country life and the history of the town and area. There is an annual mural competition around Easter which attracts thousands of spectators and contestants from across Australia. We saw most of the 55 murals as we drove and walked around the centre of town. One painting portrays the inside of Slater’s Country Store in its early days. It is on the wall of the actual store, which doesn’t look much different now than it would have a hundred years ago. Another is an old soldier’s memories of going to a dance at the drill hall. The mural is on the side of the arts centre, which was once the drill hall.
We took some back roads returning to Burnie and were surprised to find a platypus warning sign, the only one we’ve seen. We wondered how likely it would be for one of them to be out on the road. The other amusing item was a signpost to the village of Nowhere Else. A strange place to say you’re from!