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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Brecon Beacons

Hi all,

Survived the first week back at school - just! I must be getting old and senile because before the holidays I went to an AFL football training (Cardiff Double Blues). Having trained for over an hour I could hardly walk! The next day my left knee was extremely sore- but I managed to get through the last week of school and the extensive walking on our holidays in turkey, Greece and Ireland. The knee was sore but ok! But then on Tuesday night, at cricket training at school, I managed to really stuff up my knee I think! Yes I know I'm too old to play these sports! So the rest of the week I've been limping around.

After waking up at 5.00 am to watch Collingwood v Essendon (I wish I didn't see the last 5 minutes!), Saturday was a very quiet day (Kristin worked).

Sunday we ventured off to the Brecon Beacons National Park (about 1 hour north of Cardiff). Unfortunately it was an overcast day and the scenery probably didn't look as good as it could. We went for a walk (it was a struggle with the knee) at the visitor centre near Brecon, and then went to Abervagenny and had lunch. From there we went home! A quiet Sunday drive - I said I was getting old!!

I have obtained more storage for the photos - so all our photos from this year are now on the Web Albums - as well as today's photos, Cheers!

Zoom in on the map to see the trip detail.

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BBQ in Ely (April)

Just a quick blog. Last Sunday (Apr 19) we went over to Rich's for a BBQ - our first in Wales! Very enjoyable and the weather was very pleasant, although the locals thought it was hot and they also said to make the most of it! They don't speak very highly of their weather here!!

Ireland

Hi all,

For the second week of the school holidays we travelled to Ireland.

We started out on Easter Monday morning (this gave us 1 day to recover from Turkey and Greece) and first went to Tenby (Sth West Wales), a lovely little tourist/fishing village with the obligatory castle/stone walls etc.

Next was Fishguard where we caught the ferry(about 4 times bigger than the Sorrento-Queenscliffe ferry) to Rosslare (Ireland), about a 3.5 hour trip. On the ferry you could shop duty free, watch Sky Sports, gamble, surf the internet, eat and drink! We arrived in Ireland about 6:30 p.m. and drove straight to Dublin (~2.5 hours), the weather was poor, very misty rain. We stayed with Tina and Shay (Jason's sister) in Tallaght, a suburb of Dublin. Tina and Shay were great hosts!

Tuesday morning we caught the Luas (Tram/light rail) into Dublin (~30 minutes). We spent the morning

"rubber-necking" the sights of Dublin which included The Spire, Custom House, Trinity College, Temple Bar (drinks and food area), Dublin castle and other sights. Then we went to the Guinness Brewery. Even Kristin enjoyed this! The Guinness brewery was an excellent tour and it finished at the Gravity Bar (7 floors up) with a free pint and 360 degree views of Dublin. It was a great way to see where we had been that morning. From the brewery we had lunch and a drink at a quaint little pub around the corner. Next stop was a haircut for Deco at a Polish barber - he may have been better to have had the haircut in Athens!

Wednesday morning we left Dublin and headed for Limerick (we didn't find a girl from Nantucket!). Limerick was typical regional capital with not much to see except a castle and cathedral. We headed South to Lough Gur where there were several ancient Celtic sites including the Great Stone Circle (113 stones and built ~4000 BC - we know there is 113 because there wasn't much else to do except count them!). From here we headed to Foynes on the South side of the Shannon River(Ireland's longest river and in parts very,very wide), west of Limerick. Foynes began basically our coastly tour of South West and Southern Ireland for the next few days. We drove down to Tralee and then onto the Dingle Peninsula. We stayed the night at Anascaul at a hostel called Paddy's Place and on the front wall is the picture of the "Randy Leprechaun".

Thursday morning started with a tour of the Dingle Peninsula - spectacular scenery - a must see if you ever get to this part of Ireland. The views over Dingle Bay and to the Blaskets (no sight of Gerry Gee though!) were picture postcard stuff. We also visited the Gallarus Oratory, a dry stone early Christian church (6th - 9th century) which is shaped like an upturned boat.

From the Dingle Peninsula we travelled along the famous "Ring of Kerry" route. The route started at Killorgin and we travelled in the anticlockwise direction to Kenmare. There are so many pretty views and picturesque villages along the "Ring", this blog couldn't do justice to it is a short paragraph - so I won't try!!

From the "Ring" we head along the coast to Bantry and then headed to Ireland's most South Westerly point, Mizen Head and the sites along this peninsula were as spectacular as the Dingle and the Ring of Kerry. About a mile off the coast at Mizen Head is the Fastnet Lighthouse, which is the most Southerly point of Ireland! From here we drove to Cork and stayed at a central city hostel, Kinlay House - very nice! A very big day!!

Friday morning, we had a quick walk around Cork - but unfortunately Cork didn't have a lot to offer, so we headed to the Blarney Castle (~8 km from Cork). The Blarney Castle and grounds was worth the visit and of course we "kissed the Blarney Stone". From Blarney we headed East. The first place we visited was Youghal and then onto Waterford. We visited the Waterford Crystal Outlet and managed not purchase anything!

From Waterford we went to the Hook Peninsula via a ferry (punt) from Passage East to Ballyhack across Waterford Harbour. On the Hook Peninsula we saw Ballyhack, Duncannon (very pretty), Hook Head (interrupted some wedding photos!), Slade Castle (where some rock concerts are held) the replica of Tintern Abbey (Wales) at Fethard-at-sea and onto Wellington Bridge. As the day was getting on we headed to our B&B at Rosslare. The St.Martin's B&B is a very nice B&B.

Saturday morning saw us start the day with a full Irish breakfast, which included juice, cereal, coffee/tea, toast, bacon, eggs, sausgaes, and black and white pudding. We caught the 9.00 am ferry back to Wales (Fishguard). We decided to have lunch at Newport (10 km North of Fishguard) but couldn't find a suitable place on the beach, so we backtracked to a place called Pwllgwaelod via some very tiny lanes and ended up at a lovely little bay looking directly across to Fishguard Harbour at Dinas Head. After a quick lunch we headed back to Cardiff.

A long and enjoyable trip! As usual, pics available at the Web albums link. I've also added a new feature (woopee!), travel maps - see link above. Cheers!

Turkey & Greece

MAP: http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=6588
Hi all, it has been a very busy week!
We left Bristol airport on Sat. arvo and arrived in Instanbul about 1:00 a.m. Slight problem - only 3 of our 4 bags arrived - I'm not so sure why Kristin seemed upset - Andy, Billy and Declan had clothes!
Sunday morning, we got up and had breakfast at the rooftop cafe over looking the Marmara Sea. Our tour group numbered about 20, a mix of Aussies and a few token Kiwis and some from Trinidad. The ages ranged from 20 to 60. Most of the young Aussies were living and working in the UK. We spent the day walking around Instanbul and the popular tourist sites. The area was spectacular.

Before we went in to the AyaSofya, I managed to get an ATM to swallow one of our debit cards - not a good start! The Ayasofya is a magnificent building and full of history. Next we went to the Topkapi Palace and it was very grand and also had great views of Instanbul. For lunch we went to a Turkish restaurant and next stop was the Hippodrome. The Hippodrome is a giant square (rectangle?) where they apparently had horse/chariot races. In the square there are 3 columns, one being an obelisk from Egypt. Next we went to the Blue Mosque - truly impressive - after paying our respects to Allah, we went to the Bascillica Cistern. All these sites are within 300 metres of each other but took most of the day to visit.

At this point, the Day's tour concluded but our guide Paulot took a small group of us for an extra trip and drink. This allowed us to see more of Instanbul and included the Egyptian Bazaar, a tram trip, a train trip and a couple of drinks!

Monday morning saw an early rise because we had a long trip to Gallopoli (~300km) and we had some bloke called Obama coming to Instanbul and the city was going to be shut down!

When we arrived at Gallopoli I was unsure what emotions I was going to feel, after seeing the Museum we went first to Anzac Cove. The first impression looking along the coast is what a nice beach it is, then you look at the land and think to yourself - why the hell did they land here? the landscape reminds me a lot of what you see at Point Nepean, Cape Schanck or even the West Coast of Victoria. It is hard to imagine the poor soldiers who had to jump into the water fully rigged and attempt to climb the sheer cliffs - the futility of war is never more evident!



There were preparations for Anzac Day going on - in the photos the red blocks are seats. From Anzac Cove we went to Lone Pine (I lost my Wales cap here - very windy), The Nek and Chanuk Bair and some of the Turkish memorials. At the end of the day we went across the Dardanelles to Canakkale - here we saw the Trojan horse they used in the movie Troy. We stayed at a very nice Hotel in Guzelyali.

Next day we visited the Troy ruins and then a long trip to the acropolis at Pergamum - a renowned cultural and political centre in its time - very good. We then went to Kusadasi for our hotel and arrived at about 8:30 pm, had a meal and a few drinks.

On Wednesday we started the day with a visit to a carpet factory - some of the carpets were brilliant - but I was successful because Kristin didn't buy anything! From the carpets we went to the ruins of the Temple of Atremis (one of the 7 ancient wonders of the world) - not a lot there!
The next stop was Ephesus - a restored/excavated Roman/Greek city - magnificient!! We spent over 2 hours here and it was worth the visit! After a late lunch we visited a leather factory and then back to Kusadasi (a beautiful holiday area).

Thursday morning we left Turkey (this was the exciting part of the trip because we were all on our own and were organising it ourselves) to go to Samos (a Greek Island) on a ferry (~1hour 30 min). Vathi is the capital of Samos, and we had a lazy day there waiting for our overnight ferry to Athens. I thought the ferry trip (through the Greek Islands) was ok, but our 4 bed cabin was very cramped. We arrived at the Athens port of Piraeus at 7:30 a.m.

We caught the Metro (train - in peak hour!) to the middle of Athens and a short walk to the hotel. We were able to check in and have a shower etc..

We went for a walk towards the Acropolis (~2/3 km) and did all the sites: Parthenon, Agora, Temple of Zeus, etc.... - fabulous! Late in the day we bought some beers and ouzo (& ice) and had a few drinks back in the room - put the ice in the sink to cool the beers! After this we went out for a haircut, shave and a Giro (souvlaki)!

Saturday morning we went to the Archaelogical Museum -lots of marble and bronze statues. for the next couple of hours we wandered the streets and markets of Athens. Managed to get back to the hotel and caught a couple of buses to the airport and arrived back in Cardiff about 11 pm!!

That's all for now. All the pics have been posted!

cheers!