Mallorca (Majorca)

Hi all,

We just had the May half-term break and we headed to Majorca (Mallorca - Spanish). We wanted sun and beach and we got plenty of it! Most days were 25 C plus - even 30 C the day we arrived) Majorca is the largest of the Belearic Islands, about 100 km SE of Spain in the Mediterranean Sea. Majorca is a cross between the Gold Coast and Bali. We stayed in Magalluf, which about 10 km SW of the capital Palma, beautiful beaches but too many Poms! Everything is British - the food, bars, etc.. It seems like the Brits are too afraid to go and experience something new, so they transplanted their culture (lock, stock & two smoking barrels!) to a holiday resort in the sun! Our hotel was on the southern end of the Magalluf beach, a dated hotel but great location. We went for a half board package deal which included buffet breakfast and dinner, the food typical of British cuisine - average! the boys loved it though - how many bowls of ice-cream can you eat?

We left Cardiff at 6:30 am on Sat (23/5) and were in our rooms about midday. The first day we orientated ourselves and spent a few hours on the beach. Sunday was a quiet day on beach and walking around Magalluf and Palma Nova.

Monday we caught the bus into Palma (the Capital). The city is situated on the Badia de Palma (bay), with the massive Gothic Cathedral, La Seu, it dominates this part of the landscape. We wandered around the old city and had a drink in one of the squares -very nice - then the afternoon on the beach, dinner and an evening walk.

For the next 3 days we hired a car. It was my first experience of driving a left hand drive car. The car was very nice, about 6 months old, but it was off-putting having a pillar in your left eye and changing gears with your right hand. This made the driving very interesting considering we spent the best part of 2 days driving around the rugged mountain range, Serra de Tramuntana, which had more blind hairpin truns than you could imagine and the width of the road in lots of parts was lucky to be two small car widths!

On Tuesday we visited the Northern part of the island, we headed to Inca, after going through the city of Palma, because we missed the turnoff to the ring road! From Inca we headed to the Lluc monastery, 50,000 pilgrims visit a year, which contains a 13th century statue of the Virgin, La Moreneta (the little dark one). Interestingly there were plenty of River Red Gums here!
From Lluc we went North to the Port de Pollenca, just North of here was a wonderful lookout to Cape Boquer (see pics). Then we had a winding trip along the Formentor Peninsula to the Lighthouse at the Cap de Fromentor. Once again the coastline is magnificent and the water was a beautiful tourquoise colour. Before heading back to Palma/Magalluf we visited Alcudia. Tuesday (late) afternoon was spent at the beach, then dinner and a walk.

Wednesday's trip was to the West coast, via Palma, as I missed the turnoff again! Soller was the first destination. As we reached the mountain range before Soller we had a choice of a 7 km tunnel or the snake-like mountain road - of course we went the hazardous mountain road. A fantastic tourist road -like Arthur's Seat road only about 12 km longer - but being the driver it was difficult to see any of the views! After going over the top of Cap de Soller, we had to avoid mountain goats and headed into Soller - if you ever go to Majorca - Soller is a must visit. The town is centered around the church and like most of the island's towns everything is stone - streets and buildings. It also has a Tram that travels through the square and down to the Port de Soller, a pretty little cove and resort. From Soller we travelled South to Deia, along the narrow winding coastal road (most of the rest of the trip was like this until we reached Andratx) and then onto Valldemossa. At Valldemossa there is an old Carthusian monastery, Sa Cartuja, and a pretty town (once again stone was the main feature). From here we visited Andratx and then back to the hotel, for swim, dine and walk!

Thursday's tour was to the East and South, but not via Palma, because third time lucky, I took the correct turn for the ring road - I don't know why I didn't do this the other 2 days because it saved about 20 minutes!!! On this side of the island the landscape is a lot flatter and consists mainly of the agricultural plains. We went to Sineu, Petra, Manacor (home of Rafal Nadal), Porto Cristo, Porto Colom, Santanyi and Colonia de Sant Jordi. Then back to Magalluf for the beach, dinner and a walk!

As Friday was our last full day in Magalluf, we spent it at the beach and on the resort's sunbeds.
Then we ate and went for a walk!
Saturday morning was an early start and we were back in Cardiff about Midday. Another enjoyable trip - it was great to feel the sun on our backs and sand in our toes again! Cheers for now and checkout all the photos on the Web albums.
PS Go Pies!

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Cricket in Cardiff

Hi all,
Another quiet week, but half term break coming up and we are off to Majorca for a week of sun and rest. (Might even look up Pixie while we are there!)
I was fortunate to get into a "Super Box" for a 50/50 over match on Tuesday (Glamorgan v Essex). The match was at the Swalec Stadium, the venue for the first Ashes Test. Glamorgan were very ordinary and were beaten quite easily.
On Friday after school, we went to the next 50/50 match, Glamorgan v Lancashire. We arrived about 1 hour after the start, saw 2 overs and then the rain washed out the game. We decided to go home at about 6 pm. (The game did re-start about 7:30). I just hope this is not a sign of things to come! The weather here has been pretty poor of late - cold, wet and windy!
Cheers, keep in touch! Go Pies!

St. Donat's and Carreg Cennen

Hi all,
We've had a quiet weekend, but have managed a few drives. The temperature here is almost the same as Melbourne (it has only taken 5 months! Wonder how long it will last - I suspect about September). So good in fact we had our lunch today outside on the patio - the first time!
Saturday arvo, we headed west from Ely to Cowbridge (about 10 km)- a nice little town. From there we headed down to the coast to St. Donat's. There was a castle and church here. The Castle is now a College. From St. Donat's we headed home to Ely.
On Sunday, we first went into Cardiff and did some shopping. After lunch (on the patio) we headed west to a place called Carreg Cennen, where there is the remains of a castle ( I think this may be the last castle or cathedral we visit!) on the western edge of the Brecon Beacons. It had fantastic views and a cave to explore. (Please check Billy's blog - the alledged truthful blog - and see if he mentions what he left in the cave!!). From the castle we travelled along the top of the Brecon Beacons to Brecon and then home to Cardiff.

Cheers and GO PIES!

Somme, Flanders, Brugge and Calais

Hi all,
Last weekend was a bank holiday weekend - (i.e Monday Long weekend). We decided to visit Northern France and parts of Belgium.
We headed off Friday night and drove to Dover (~ 4 hours) and stayed the night there. The next morning we caught a (car) ferry to Calais across the Channel (La Manche), it takes about 2 hours (incl. loading/unloading). This is where the fun began, as I had to drive on the right-hand side of the road (in a right-hand drive car!! - its ok Dave, the car survived unscathed! and so did we!). I think it was probably more unsettling for Kristin sitting in the passenger seat and watching cars coming at her and unable to do anything about it! After about an hour I think I adapted pretty well - the worst was when there were no other cars on the roads to give you a guide!
From Calais we drove to Villers-Bretonneux ( we avoided the tolled motorway, this let us see lots of little farming villages and plenty of French farmland).
At Villers-Bretonneux (VB) we first stopped at the Adelaide Cemetery on the outskirts, west of the town. This was the first of many cemeteries that we would see over the next few days (apparently there are 410 scattered around the Somme containing 129,237 soldiers , just from WW1). The Cemetery was meticulously kept and immaculate (as were all the cemeteries and memorials we saw - this a credit to the French and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission). This cemetery contained over 200 Australians. As with each cemetery there was the Cross of Sacrifice, a Stone of Remembrance (engraved with "Their name liveth evermore" ).
From here we went into VB and stopped at the Town Hall (we think we ran into the mayor) and then onto the Victoria School (built by donations by Victorian school children after WW1). The school houses the Anzac Museum. The school motto is "Noublions Jamais L'Australie" - "Do not forget Australia".

Next stop about 1 km north of VB is the Australian National Memeorial. The memorial is at the back of another cemetery and has a tower as a part of it. Luckily the tower was open and at the top it gave commanding views in all directions for many miles. There were many wreaths at the memorial (Anzac Day was the weekend before). At each cemetery and memorial there is a visitor book and register for the graves.

Next stop was Le Hamel, about 4 km NW, here is the Australian Corps Memorial Park. This site has two main references: The Red Baron was shot down here; Monash's excellently planned battle (which changed how the British forces approached battles). Also here were the remains of the original trenches from WW1.

From Le Hamel we headed across the Somme river to Sailly-Le-Sec where was the Australian 3rd Division Memorial. Next was Pozieres. At Pozieres there was the Australian 1st Division Memorial, The Windmill site, The British Tank Memorial and the Mouquet Farm Plaque. Nearby at Theipval is the British Memorial. This is the World's largest war memorial with the names of 72,085 British and South African troops missing in action or with no known grave.


Next stop was about 20 km away to Peronne (we passed many other sites on the way - Sth African, NZ, Indian, etc...). At Peronne there is the 2nd Division memorial at Mont St. Quentin.

From here we went to our accommodation near Amiens. For dinner we went into the city of Amiens (the local capital) and admired the Notre Dame cathedral and the canal.

Sunday morning we headed North towards Belgium. We went through many French towns, including Albert, Bapaume and Arras. Next stop and well worth the visit was the Canadian memorial at Vimy Ridge. Here there is a huge Monument, cemetries and preserved battle site with trenches and bomb craters.

Fromelles was the next stop (although we nearly missed it - and it would have been terrible if we had as I think this was the best of the Aussie sites) and about 150 m apart is the Cobbers Park and the VC Corner cemetery (the only All Australian cemetery in France). Next was Ypres (Ieper in Belgium) - a medieval town in the middle of the region of Flanders. Ypres has a wonderful square, cathedral (as do most of these towns!) and the war memorial- The Menin Gate. From Ypres we went to Zonnebeke (5 km) and just outside of the town is the Polygon Wood Cemetery and the 5th Division Memorial.
Our next stop was the largest Commonwealth cemetery on the Western Front - Tyne Cot. This cemetery was massive! In the middle, the Cross of Scrifice is built over a German blockhouse captured by the Aust. 3rd Division. From Tyne Cot we drove about 50 minutes north to the magnificent medieval town of Brugge (or Bruges - English).

As Ralph Fiennes said in the movie "In Bruges", everybody should visit it once in their lifetime! It is like a Fairy Town!! We did a canal ride, wandered around and absorbed the atmosphere at the main square, the Markt.

We spent Monday morning in Brugge, then headed to Ostend (a beach resort of yesteryear) on the north Sea - nothing spectacular. We headed South to a small medieval town called Veurne and then we went through Dunkirk (nothing to see here folks!). We then decided to drive to the South side of Calais, to a beach town called Sangatte (The Channel Tunnel goes under the town). To the South is a large cliff called Cap Blanc Nez, where there are magnificent white cliffs - not as spectacular as Dover. There is a large obelisk as a monument from WW2. You could see the English coast and the Dover White Cliffs from here. Finally we caught the ferry and drove home to Cardiff - another busy but rewarding trip!

Cheers, all photos are on the Web Albums.

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