Henley on Thames

Henley on Thames - a place for the rich, boat racers and people in NSW jumpers - absolutely stunning. It was a mere 30 miles from London so I'm not quite sure how it took 2:20 to get there, but it was worth it.

Norfolk & The Broads

When the chap you hire a boat from makes a point of saying that if your boat is making waves you are probably going to fast, you can be pretty sure its not going to be the most exhilarating day out. That said, I'm pleased we didn't go to fast as it allowed plenty of time to enjoy the views of the riverside villa's and it meant that we only had to steer the boat in between swigs of beer.

The Norfolk Broads was a relaxing waterway to check out along (albeit along with half of England). We did manage to beat the speed lock and get our boat up to at least 7mph and pass a few pasty Englishmen who were out fishing and sunbathing.


Now I know there will be a few of you who will love the sight of these wind turbines - we drove by the construction zone purely by accident and I couldn't believe how massive they are. It was a beautiful sight to see them at sunset, out at sea pumping out power. Unfortunately the photos didn't turn out too well because of the mist. If Helen Clark wasn't so busy worrying about her love life maybe she could put her manly foot down and build some of these beauties at Makara:

Bury St Edmunds & Botesdale

Bury St Edmunds: Shrine of the King, Cradle of the Law

This is where I lived for a couple of years with my parents when I was about 13-14.

The town grew up around the Abbey of St Edmund in early medieval times. For five centuries it was visited by pilgrims from all over the world, coming to worship at the shrine of St Edmund - the martyred King of East Anglia. St Edmund was the patron saint of England until the dragon-slaying George took up the title in more militant times.

And for those of you paying attention in Nigel Jamieson's first year legal history lectures: It is said that at St Edmund's Altar in 1214 AD the barons reponsible for the Magna Carta met and swore an oath that they would force King John to accept the Charter of Liberties, which later became known as the Magna Carta.

We took a walk around the town and I discovered that not much has changed!! Although it was much quieter than I remembered. One of the more common developments around the world in the last 15 years has been the rise of the Starbuck - and unfortunately Bury St Edmunds is no different. Was great to have a wander around - but I'm sure that Hamish got sick of me saying "Ohh - that was where I...." We went into the shop that Mum used to work in called the Parsley Pot. They thought we were a bit freaky when we started taking photos and came out to check what was going on, so this photo's for you Mum:

At the bottom of Abbeygate Street:


A stroll through the beautiful Abbey gardens and ruins:




Botesdale
St Catherines: Our old house. Very old. I think it is about 600 years old and it used to be a monastery. When we moved in the villagers told us that it was also inhabited by a ghost, but we never saw any sign of that. Not much has changed there either, although I am sure that it used to be pink.

The village used to have three pubs in the space of about 200 metres. Hamblyn House has now closed, so now there are two within about 20 metres! This photos is taken looking down 'the street' from where Hamblyn House used to be. And yes, the street is actually named 'The Street'!

Cambridge

Welcome. I really enjoyed our brief visit to the strange and historic university town of Cambridge. Strange, in the sense that 50m from the sparkling new "Eat" cafe where we had lunch are the historic (in fact super historic) Colleges that date back to King Henry VI.

The highlight was clearly a stroll through the grounds and the Chapel of King's College:

Outside of the Colleges, the town itself was not short on character either


We visited an American war cemetary where over 3,000 soldiers lie. In WWII a few American units was based near Cambridge.

Brugge - bikes, beer & bloody good chocolate

Hello all - seems like a while - here are a few snaps of our first bank holiday - well spent in Brugge, Belgium. We didn't really know what to expect and had a great time exploring this quaint little city biking around the canals. I absolutely loved seeing everyone on bikes - made so much easier by the fantastic cycleways (and lack of steep Wellington hills).

We also went on a Chocolate Crawl around the many specialty shops, did the standard canal cruise and a peek at the local crafts. Was great to bump into Tom and Olivia on the street and have some mates to catch up with and enjoy a couple of local beers.




We tried to bike to the coast but had no idea where to go so decided instead to return back to the comfort of more beer and chocolate.




We had a quick look at Brussels before we got back on the Eurostar - though not surprisingly all we did there was buy beer and chocolate.

The Oval - one for the cricket historians

Ah, the Oval. Where England first lost to Australia in 1886, prompting newspaper headlines that English cricket had died and providing the catalyst for the trophy now known as the Ashes. The sortof place that really floats my boat.

An appropriate place to catch up with Frasier on his second day in London and enjoy a good day of cricket. After 3 false starts, the game and the weather eventually fired up and we saw plenty of high quality cricket.

Full scorecard

First pics of Oscar Edward Elliott

New Zealand - 1 drew with Charlton Athletic - 1

It was a big day out for a few of the kiwis in the London region as the All Whites were hosted by premiership team - Charlton Athletic. Two weeks out from the start of the Premiership season, the atmosphere in "the Valley" was relaxed which meant we were able to mingle with the players prior to kick off, enjoy some Corporate hospitality and enjoy premium seats on halfway for only 10 squids.

As for the game, the kiwis played admirably for a deserved 1 all draw in a good quality game - a cracking goal from the magnificently skillful Marcus Bent put Charlton ahead in the first half before a gutsy run from Jarrod Smith (who will always be referred to as son of NZ wicketkeeper, Ian Smith), set up the kiwi equaliser.

Before the game with Denmark international Dennis Rommedahl:

A few pre match beers - fanks to Charlton's new Sponsors!

Baby Oscar

Just a quick note to tell you about the latest member of the Elliott clan.

Oscar Elliott was born at around 11am on the 4th of August. He weighs 8lbs and apparently is a bit of a cone head due to a forceps delivery - but is otherwise perfect:) Pleased to hear that they didn't name him after Blair's favourite Coronation Street character - Fred. The loud, fat butcher!

No photos yet - but will post some when they come through.

G xx

Stepney Green - a place to call home

Welcome to Stepney Green - where English is a second language and signs are written in both English and Arabic. And then there's us - tucked in our nice little flat overlooking the park:



The built in wardrobe came with Gabrielle included:



And it's the same old story with the bed:



The park across the road - home to squirrels by day and Class A drug deals by night:




Ours is the top storey sun trap: