Crete

Sunset from balcony, Beach near our hotel, Beach at Rethymno



As the long weekend approached (weekend of 24th May) James and I began to get very sad, as we hadn't found any cheap flights to anywhere :-( BUT on the Thursday night, without having given up hope, James saved the day by finding return flights to Crete for 80 pounds all together for both of us!!! How exciting...

Anyway, we booked flights and accommodation from Sunday afternoon till very late Wednesday night (arrived home here in London at 3am last night) and had a FANTASTIC time.

When we arrived in Crete on the Sunday night it was dark, so couldn't see anything. Also we had just missed out on the dining hours at the hotel and were STARVING, but the hotel people insisted on us having a meal and opened the restaurant up late especially for us, and cooked us up a HUGE meal!!! I didn't like a lot of it though, as it was mostly traditional Greek food... and we all know what I'm like with my food! I woke up at 6am Monday morning and snapped a few photos of the Sunrise from our Hotel balcony.













The food we could not finish on first night, sunset at 6am, trying to devour as much food as possible.



The next day we had a look around the hotel/resort and then decided to rent a scooter for two days. James took an instant liking to what became known as 'Little Scooty' and if it weren't for him (the scooter) we would not have seen half the beautiful sights we saw on our adventures.











Little Scooty, me driving, James driving


The first time I hopped onto the back of Little Scooty, with James driving, I was petrified. It took James quite a while to understand what I meant when I screamed, "SLOW DOWN!" or, "BE CAREFUL OF THE LOOSE GRAVEL!"
Eventually, thank God, he learnt how to ride properly and I leant how to stop yelling and digging my fingernails into his back. I even quite enjoyed riding on Little Scooty and jumped in as driver a couple of times! It was lots of fun beeping people as we flew past :-) It was also quite tricky remembering to stick the the RIGHT hand side of the road and not the left!

The first trip we did was quite a long one. About 50km in fact. I don't think anyone else on small scooters drove as far as we did that day and by the end of it, I had the sorest bum imaginable (because James wasn't good enough at dodging the bumps). We drove to a lovely town called Rethymno where we saw such picturesque beaches and had lunch in one of the cute little cafe/restaurants. The waters were crystal clear and even though the sand was rocky, it was still beautiful.

On the way back from Rethymno, we had to stop a few times because my bum was getting very sore (as I mentioned earlier). There really wasn't enough padding on the back seat. Anyway, once when we stopped, we stopped alongside a little farm with a few goats (we saw a lot of goats actually) and we realised one little baby goat had its head stuck in a fence and was bleating and struggling to free himself. The mother goat came by after a few minutes and started bleating its head off too... and I suggested to James that he should jump the fence and try and help the poor little thing. Anyway, it didn't take much to get James in there... I think I saw a tear in James's eye at one stage, so he slid under the fence, by rolling though lots of dirt, walked up to the little goat, almost got near it, and the poor thing moved so quickly because it got such a fright, that it freed itself and ran off happily with its mother. Ohhhhhh.... what a happy story.














Photos from Rethymno beach



The next day we did some more riding on Little Scooty and found a few more nice beaches. We also decided to purchase some snorkeling equipment and did a bit of snorkeling, which was lots of fun! In the afternoon, we had a little picnic with wine, beer, cheese and olives right at the top of the peninsula where we were staying in Agia Pelagia. The views were spectacular!











More adventures and our little picnic



The last day of our trip, we had to hand back Little Scooty... James was devastated. We walked down to a nearby beach and did a bit more Snorkeling and then headed into Iraklio, which is the main town (5th largest city in Greece) and where the airport is. We had dinner there and drinks in a nice bar before heading to the airport to fly back to London.













Snorkeling pics, sitting on balcony



Well... that's about it for now, until James decides to add his 2 cents worth to this blog! Love Leah (and James)

We finally have the internet at home!!!

Hello everyone!

I'm just going to give you all an overview of what's happened over the last month (since we moved into our place).

Firstly, work has been going great. I have been going to a whole heap of different schools all over London, carrying my little back pack containing a laptop and projector, which I use to do my presentations to year 6 kids. I have also been to random parks and youth centres where I have presented 10 minute scenarios to year 6 kids about safety on the undergound tube and on buses, which works on a rotating basis with Police, Firemen, Rescue Services etc... It is so much fun and to make it even better, all of my travel is paid for, even the travel I do while not at work!!! Check out my work uniform...

Picture: My work outfit

James has done a few more weeks labouring, still coming home with paint in his hair and saw dust up his nose, as well as complaining of a sore back all the time. He's a hard worker I suppose, but I am starting to get a little tired of his complaining. However, I usually feel sorry for him when he walks in the door because his hands are, most of the time, covered in cuts and grazes from sanding and stuff.

Since leaving St Albans, we have still been keeping in touch with Chris and Kay, and her daughter Kirsty and her boyfriend Grant. So far we have been out to a pub in Camden (near our place) for drinks and dinner with Kirsty and Grant, and one weekend they took us to Newmarket, where we stayed with Grant's Mum the whole weekend and went to the races. The races were great, but I'll leave that blog to James... I'll just put a few photos here for you to look at...

Picture: James and I at the pub with Kirsty and Grant

Picture: James and I at the races in Newmarket

Picture: Kirsty and I at the races in Newmarket



Last Sunday, we went and visited the Queen at Buckingham Palace. It also was the warmest weather we've had since being here, and the Londoners refered to it as a Heat Wave!!! We went on the London Eye and walked through Green Park to the castle, where thousands of people were half naked, sunbaking in the park! Yes, they show off their white meat by stripping down to their underwear... such a strange sight! The Monday after, there were so many Lobsters getting around. It is like they've never, ever seen sunlight in their whole entire life. Unfortunately for us though, this 'Heat Wave' didn't last all that long, and now we're back into our 10-11 degree days :-( I do think I'm becoming more tolerant to this weather though, believe it or not. Oh, the guards that we saw at the obligatory were very scary... I tried to have my picture next to them, but I was very hesitant to stand too close to them. James called me a scardy cat, but he was just as scared (although he'll never admit it).

Pictures: In front of the guards, up in the London Eye and Buckingham Palace (where we had tea with the Queen).

That's all from me, for now :-)
Leah x x

Our new place in Camden

Well we have finally moved into our new place in the Camden area. It is very tiny (as most of you have already heard) but it is nice. The area is great because it's next to heaps of public transport and loads of pubs and places to eat (mostly unhealthy food though).

So far we spend most of our time lying on our bed watching the TV as it is literally RIGHT THERE in front of us (see pictures). I suppose the food shops around here, in combination with what we will usually be doing while at home (lazing on the bed) will mean we'll be coming home a few Kg heavier.

For any potential visitors, your spot is that tiny bit of floor board area in front of our bed... But don't worry, we do have a BLOW UP MATTRESS! Our apartment isn't actually this messy any more (so don't stress Mum and Diane). It was just like this as this was the day we were moving in. Promise.

Ireland - Dublin

We flew to Dublin during the week which was good. We found a couple of cheap flights and thought we would duck over there before Leah starts her job.

Whoever said that red heads are a dying species obviously has not been to Ireland. They are everywhere. I would go so far as to say that it is an epidemic over there. I would see parents with Dark hair, blonde hair and red headed kids. Very strange. I thought I saw Digger at least 6 times and John it doesn't look like your idea of becoming a stallion to keep the species alive will be needed as there are plenty.

The people were really nice there but there seemed to be more Eastern Europeans there than Irish people.

We did the usual sight seeing stuff which normally bores me but was pretty good. Mainly because we went to the Guinness factory which was great and the Jaimesons whiskey tour which was also good. At the Guinness tour they give you a pint of Guinness at the end but half way through they give you a small taste which is about half of 1/3 pint. I managed to sneak in about 10 of these as i would just sneak back around and take another, and another thinking i was some kind of Chameleon as i would change my appearance each time. Hat to no hat to jumper off to jumper off hat on you get the drift. Leah says she was embarrassed but she was in awe of my stealth. I was on fire but the girl was on to me and stared me down on my 11th attempt so i back out.

Walking around Dublin was very nice but freezing. They had a cold snap and the temp was around 4 degrees but with the wind chill factor was minus 70, Leah reckoned.

We ended up going out one night, found a few really cool traditional pubs and drank Guinness and ate pies then Leah dragged me into this dodgy night club where all drinks were 2.50euro. We had a good night and Leah made me dance. The only reason I danced is because no one knew me there so i could bust out the most Gnarley (is that spelt right) moves ever and people wouldn't know me. I also felt sorry for her as her usual dancing partners were not there (Jill and Jodie) I kind of felt like some cheap dancing substitute, I think she even called me Jodie once.

The next day we went to a little town called Howth which was on the coast and it was even colder there. When we got there we were going to have a look around but it was too cold so we found a pub and had a few beers and Lunch. (I ordered the Pot Pie and Leah had the Fish and Chips and as usual she liked my pie better so she ate most of it on me the thief).

That's about it, we did plenty of walking and i did plenty of ferrying Leah away from shop windows and door ways.

I will try and throw some photos on when i have the chance as this dumb internet cafe doesn't have usb ports for my portable HD.

Later,

James and Leah.

Leah at Howth








St Patrick Catherdal








Spotted either a white power ranger or Raiden from Mortal Kombat.

Snow in St Albans!

Hi everyone!

Well firstly, we found a place to rent!!! It is a little studio apartment (room rather) with our own little kitchen and bathroom. For those of you who have seen our Sydney unit, the whole studio is about as big as our lounge room... so VERY small. But, it does mean that when we get visitors there is room for a mattress on the floor beside our bed!!! It's in between Camden town and Kentish Town, north of London (but still really close to city). We don't move in till the 20th April though and James has a week of painting work this week, so, the plans are to stay with Kay and Chris for a week and then do a trip somewhere for the second week. Then, we move in!

Secondly... what I've been waiting for and checking the weather reports for... SNOW! It snowed here in St Albans last night and early this morning so James and I woke to find a very pretty covering of snow on the tops of houses, cars, trees and grass. I had even put money on a horse called 'Snowy Morning' yesterday in the Grand National, in hope of it to really snow. It came 3rd (and I won some money... a huge £3 profit) and then it snowed!!!

We went outside later in the morning to check it all out and now James is in my bad books...

This afternoon (Sunday afternoon) Kay's two children Kirsty and Rob are coming over. Kirsty is 25 and Rob is 27 so we're looking forward to meeting them. We are watching the football and then having a roast!!! Yum... Thanks Kay!

St Albans

Hello,

Leah and I are still staying in St Albans with Chris and Kay. Went for a walk around the town yesterday and i found (pilfered) a ball in the park which i named Frederick. It was round though so I didnt have much use for it.

(Chris and Kay's House)

Its a very old town which is apparently used to be the second largest city out of London. It was built by the Romans but something happened and they got shooed away. There are heaps of walls and stuff which are still kicking around from the olden days and there is a massive church which was built after the Romans were dominated (They smashed up the Roman buildings and built the church out of their remains to rub it in their noses).

We also visited possibly one of if not the best pub in the world called the 'Ye Old Fighting Cock'. It is the oldest public house in the UK and maybe the world. If you cant guess by the name it was used as a cockfighting stadium back in the day (1400s). They have a stuffed rooster at the pub and John is lucky that it is rocky that tried to maul him and not one of these buggers otherwise he would have perished.

I am also a bit worried as the longer my beard gets the redder it gets (thanks Mum) and Leah has started calling me 'Fanta Face' which is a little annnoying.

Oh and today I had a few pints of beer called the 'Bishops Finger' which is possibly the strongest beer known to man and i reckon more potent than Dads stout. I have also taken over Leahs journal and started to rate all of the different beers I have tasted. Im gettign a bit of a taste for the ales but i think they would be much better a bit colder. Bishops finger rated 2 cocks out of 3.

St Albans church made from Romans

Some kind of watch tower

Ye Olde Cock (Me with Frederick)

More good times with Frederick

Original Email!

(Plese note that I do not proof read or edit posts as i reckon that it is time that could be spent doing fun stuff. Its Leahs job to do the boring stuff so until she learns to edit the blog there is going to be a massive amount of mistakes. Sorry Mum.)

We flew to HK last week sometime, flight was good and people werefriendly. I tried to dominate Boonies record but the challenge of having to get up and go to the toilet twice ber beer became a bit of aburden so i called it quits. Leah however had quite a few wines andended up spilling her noodle soup stuff all over our laptop. Somequick thinking of a fellow (not drunk passagner) saved the day as hequickly turned it off and pulled the battery out.

Honkers was pretty amazing. I really liked it. We did a lot of walking and sight seeing. Went to the markets and stuff and i thought i wasthe man when i got the best deal on a camera ever in the existance ofdeals. Leah also got dominated by a lady at the markets who wanted tosell us a dressing gown thing, when we were denying her she went crazytime and hit leah on the arm.
We went to the wet market where they were cutting up pigs and stuff inthe street, I loved it but Leah put the blinkers on and pretended shewas in her happy place. Went to the peak, botanical gardens andmarkets which were all great. Honkers was a bit of a surprise and i reckon we will go back there one day to try and see a bit more. Leah hated the food which we expected.

(Hostel and Knobs in boats on a 5degree day)
We flew into London on friday and it has been a bit of an adventure.Staying at a hostel in piccadilly which is a great location. (got evacuated at 3am on the first night as some spanish cock decided to have a dart under the smoke alarm) The Underground is awsome and easy to use (Morrie Iemma needs to get over here and have a peek at apropper rail network). We went to the Oxford Vs Cambridge boat race onSat, It was mayhem thousands of people along the river in the rain and wet trying to get a look at some knobs in row boats racing each other.

Yesterday we went looking at places to stay for more long term accomodation. It was a bit of an eye opener. I reckon you could use the monopoly board as a bit of a guide for price and area worth. We went all over the shop from Fulham to Islington. If anyone has wondered why old kent rd is the cheapest on monopoly thats because it is shit house. We answered an ad online for a room there. We turned upand long story short it is a homeless people project which gives rooms to homeless people. This one homeless lady ( a bit of an entrepenaur)who must get her room for free from the council was trying to rent itout to us on the sly and make a profit. We saw a few rooms from A weird spanish couple to an Aussie share house In a great spot but you would definately need a rabies shot if you were going to staythere. The beer is good and cold contrary to popular belif and its not that expensive. The expensive stuff is accomodation and transport. The food and beer isnt too bad. Once we are working everything should befine. We have been doing heaps of walking and my new set of pluggersare pretty worn in.

Leah loves the food here. More chips than you can poke a stick at. I had a hot dog last night and they deep fried the dog. Tasted kind of weird.

We are going up north for a few days now to stay with Leah's Aunties friend from Wales so it should give us a bit of time to try and findsomewhere to live and for me to apply for some jobs.

Oh did i mention it was 6 degrees here on Sat.

(Leah and Kay our lovely host)