Trips abroad

Well we have had a great 2 and a half months since I last posted.
M's mother Daph stayed with us for a month after we got back from Norway.








Daph in Prague.








We went for a weekend in Prague, then a driving week in Scotland (also with M's sister Jo).
(Photos of Scotland in later post).

Then on to a weekend in Bruges.








M and Daph in Bruges.







Then a weekend in Paris where we met up with my brother John and his girlfriend Tammy.






John and I at the Louvre in Paris.












M, Daph and Me, riding the big bus in Paris.









Daph departed back home and a few days later my mother Marg turned up from 9 months working in Liberia.


Then we met up with John, Tammy, and Marg for a weekend in Ireland before John and Tammy went home.





John and Tammy in Kilkenny.















Me, Mum and M in Ireland.








The next weekend Marg joined us for a trip to Guernsey.







Me going fishing in Guernsey. No bites!

















M in Guernsey











Mum went back to Bris and it was down to me and M.
A few days later my mate Timmsy stayed over for a few days while we watched the first leg of the Football playoff with Uruguay.

We then had a lovely weekend up in the midlands (Hednesford) visiting family (grandad's cousin) and then are final weekend in Amsterdam, staying at the Swissotel in the middle of town.





M and I in Amsterdam. (My famous extended arm shot!)








There was going to be a trip to Barcelona next weekend, but we just can't be bothered anymore, it's nice just to be able to relax in the weekends without the stresses of travelling.

We leave for OZ on Monday the 19th Dec, we both only finish work the previous friday so things will be hectic that weekend.

Good thing is I have 3 work christmas parties the previous week, monday is the IT party, wednesday is the Libraries party (IT is part of the Libraries department), then the big Museum Christmas party is on the Friday night.






Awesome ice rink at work at the moment,.











Well hope you enjoyed the photos.

Awesome Trip to Norway

Last weekend was a long weekend and so we went to Norway. It was fantastic trip, Norway is a very beautiful place. We arrived Friday night at Torp airport which is at Sandefjord, about 2 hours from Oslo. The next morning we took the train to Oslo and were met by Erik, a norwegian mate of mine who I played soccer with/went to Uni with in Brisbane. We stayed at his place in Kopke for the next 2 nights and he was a great host - taking us around to all the main attractions in Oslo. We went to the Viking museum, sculpture park, fortress, walked around Oslo, among other things but my personal favourite was the Kon Tiki Museum. This guy Thor Heyerdahl was a pretty amazing dude and he did a lot of stuff in his life. Because he spent a lot of time in the pacific there was some stuff about the Solomons.

Norway is such a clean, friendly place. The tap water was the best water I have ever tasted, it was unbelievable stuff, of a sweetness and purity I have never tasted before - and this was just the tap water. The only downside was the expense. We are used to high living costs from London but I was blown away at the cost of some things. A 6 pack of beer from the supermarket was 16 pounds! All in all I could definitely live in Norway for a while. So we had a great time in Norway, and many thanks to Erik and his mum and stepdad for their hospitality.


View of the harbour from other side of town, very nice houses in this area, near the museums.


Me and Erik at the Viking museum.


One of my famous extended-arm-self photos in sculpture park.


Oslo harbour with seriously massive cruise liner. Over 400m long.


Centrepiece of Sculpture Park in Oslo.

Sculpture Park: At first I was lost as how to identify with the art.

I looked for an answer and discovered it among the sculptures.

Me and Erik

M and I enjoying traditional Norwegian food.

Out of Barking - into Wimbledon

We moved into Wimbledon about 6 weeks ago.
Our new place is pretty cool.
I better rename the blog now that we don't live in Barking anymore.
Check out the pictures of the new pad.

The living room and bedroom at the back.

The kitchen.

Another view of the living room with kitchen at the back.

M is asleep on the couch.

There is a spare bed to the right of the photo.