Saturday 4 November 2005

The All Blacks vs Wales at Cardiff: An early start to the day. We left London at 8am arrived Cardiff 11.30am at the Glenmorgan Cricket Ground for a prematch function. Then to the stadium for a 4pm kick off. It was a great day and an excellent game. The stadium was amazing and the singing brilliant. Not something to forget in a hurry.

Malcolm was a little excited when we arrived, nice cape!!

The prematch function was good meeting up with lots of Kiwis from back home. It was at the Glamorgan Cricket Club 5 minutes walk from the stadium.

The flatmates, Malcolm and Pauline at the prematch function.

Suzie just outside the Millenium Stadium at Cardiff.

Malcolm was searched before entering the stadium.

The team warming up for the big match.

The stadium was huge I was blown away when we walked in.

The Haka, Im sure there was fear in the eyes of the Welsh.

The Haka was a great site to see.

The lineout that leads to the first try well done Chris Jack!!

The first try by Recco Gear. A great game the All Blacks won 41-3.

Friday 3 November 2005

Hi everyone, just a few phots of our last holiday around England before we head back home to NZ. We hired a car and travelled up to Luton to meet up with my (Mike's) Grandma's sister, Berryl and her husband Ralph. We had a lovely lunch with them, my cousin Julie and her son Jodie. We then headed up to the Lake District and made our way down through Wales and into Cornwall then back to London. The weather was not great but we still enjoyed the sights. The highlight was the Eden Project an amazing sight. Enjoy the pics.

Still impresive from inside too. This was the tropical rainforest.

Mike & Suzie at the Eden Project.

The Eden Project in Cornwall, alot larger than we had thought. At a hight of 12 double decker buses and 11 football pitches it is quite large.

This was one of the many pollinators we noticed.

Suzie and the car waiting to go.

Mike and Suzie with the Tintern Abbey.

Tintern Abbey a rather large ruin.

In the iron caves of Clearwell in Wales. The caves were made of 9 large natural chambers that had been minied for iron for 2500 years.

The Pass of Llanberis in North Wales in the Snowdonia National Park.

One of the bridges we crossed going into Wales.

A small stone circle called Castlerigg just near the town of Keswick.

The river and trees were a refreshing change from London.

Suzie at one of the many rivers around the Lake District.

One of the roads around the Lake District with the beautiful trees in autumn colour.

Natural History Museum

Well another outing in London, the museum was interesting but the building was the best thing. Susan enjoyed the museum in Brussels more.

The Natural History Museum was a very impressive building from the outside. It was a beatiful day.

The inside of the building was just as impressive (choice).

Wednesday 28 September 2005

Our visit to Stonehenge and Bath a few weekends ago was great. It was nice to see a bit more of the English countryside as we have been so busy in Europe that we have neglected the sights around England a little. We've seen a lot of the sights around London though but now need to try and get away in the weekends so we can fit it all in. We have another weeks break at the end of October which will be our last chance to see one last country. I think we might go to Spain and have a look around Barcelona, Valencia and then a little around the South of Spain (Seville, Granada and Malaga). Still not 100% on this but the flights are so cheap at the moment it will only cost us about £60 return for the two of us so it will be hard to pass it by.
Hope you enjoy the photos!

We arrived at Stonehenge on a rather freezing and misty Autumn day.

The birds flying around added to the eerie atmosphere.

Mike at Stonehenge.

Suzi at Stonehenge

We thought that Stonehenge was pretty cool. The rocks are huge, I have no idea how they would have got them there, although the myths about it were quite interesting to hear about.

Here we are with our flatmates (fellow Kiwi's) at Stonehenge. Not the best photo as Malcolm's arm was not long enough to get a distance shot.

This is the view as we drove into Bath from Stonehenge. We thought the houses looked pretty cool (the way they were set out). We thought Bath was beautiful and would love to go back again.

Here we are at the Roman Baths which is a bathing complex that was built in the 1st Century in South West England.

The complex of the Roman baths was really large. This is the main bath that is naturally heated by a spring.

The view of the Bath Abbey from inside the Roman baths.

Saturday 10 September 2005

We have had an amazing past 6 weeks travelling around all of the different countries in Europe. We got a little carried away with the photos that we put on but it was so hard to pick out the best ones as everything we saw was just great. Have fun looking at our travels and we hope it doesn't take you too long.

Our first destination in Europe was Bruges, Belgium which was very colourful. These buildings are just the restaurants in the main square.

In Brussels, Belgium we saw the Atomium which was built in1958 for the world fair.

Took a visit to a cheese and clog making factory. Just had to try the clogs on. Believe it or not they are actually really comfortable to stand in, but once you start walking it is a little more difficult.

Went to a clog making and cheese factory and Had to try this one on for size.

Just out of Amsterdam we visited this 355 year old windmill.

This is the huge Cathedral in Cologne, Germany. It is 161 metres tall.

The Rhine river cruise was lovely, lots of castles and neat buildings to look at.

We made a stop for lunch at the Black Forest so we could try the black forest cake, which I must say was outstanding. This side of the cafe/shop is actually a huge cuckoo clock.

The Black Forest is where our bus broke down for four hours. We didn't mind though as the setting was very pretty and there was food and drink to fill in the time.

Stopped at the Rhine waterfalls on our way to Lucerne and as you can see they were enormous. If you look at the trees in the middle you can see two people walking around.

We ascended Mount Pilatus in a cogwheel train which was so steep. The mountain is 7000 feet high.