Coffee

I've found that all the Mocha's I've had, they've all been really chocolaty. I know that it's supposed to have a chocolate flavor, but only a hint. I think that the best Mocha should be a nice coffee flavor with just the slightest hint of chocolate to make it sweet. That is how it usually is in Australia, but I haven't yet had one like it in the UK.

The Cardiff Weekend!!!!!

I've Just come back from a FANTASTIC weekend in Wales. More specifically, the area of Cardiff, visiting my cousin Clare, her husband Justin, their children and the rest of that side of the family. ( 51°30'53.87"N 3° 6'11.01"W)
For those of you who are ignorant, Wales is part of the United Kingdom (UK) and is a country just west of England. You wouldn't know the difference between England and wales except for the fact that all the street and road signs are in Welsh and English. There are I'm sure also a number of other differences, like the accent of people but I just haven't written them here.

It took four hours to drive to Cardiff, but it wasn't too bad. I wasn't feeling to well at the start of the journey, headache, sore muscles and joints, dizzy, but I improved over the course of the trip and felt fine once we arrived at our destination. We made one stop at a big stopping place, they call them services. We got brunch there and then drove onto Wales.

No passport is needed to enter Wales, it looks the same as driving anywhere else. It's like entering a state in Australia. Though, the scenery changes, to give a beautiful countryside, lush, green and somewhat dramatic.

We arrived at my cousin's house ( 51°30'53.87"N 3° 6'11.01"W) to be greeted by her and her husband. It was a fantastic day and as we walked into the house, we saw that Justin's side of the family were all outside enjoying a drink and a BBQ. We joined them for the afternoon and evening having lunch and dinner whilst catching up. Because it doesn't get dark until 21:00 - 22:00 hrs, I don't take any notice of the time.

We organised to stay in Cardiff for the weekend, thus booking a place to stay. It was a very nice Japanese/Korean place. At about 22:30 we drove back to the place we were staying to retire to bed.

In the morning after breakfast, we headed out to Clare and Justin's place to meet again for lunch. We me the rest of the family at the Mason's Arms, a pub. ( 51°31'57.80"N 3° 4'1.50"W)

We had organised with Clare and Justin to go to Cardiff bay after lunch. Cardiff Bay is where the TV program Torchwood is filmed. Cardiff is also the production place for Dr. Who. There is a Dr. Who exhibition on in Cardiff, so I couldn't be there without going.

The exhibition was really good! I saw all the monsters and creatures from the latest series. I've seen all of series 3...the one on at the moment in Australia, so it meant more to me than if I had just seen the ones that had aired in Aus.
Justin was nice enough to take Mum and I to the exhibition and take us round the bay, while Clare was taking Nan, Granddad and her children. We met up at the Millennium Centre and I took photos of it and the massive water tower! We went inside to have a look round the Millennium Centre (The Welsh National Opera House). Personally, I think it is better than our Opera House. The design inside is better.

Our visit to Cardiff bay came to an end and it was time to say goodbye. We left Wales onto our four hour journey back to Newark.

I had a FANTASTIC time and a great experience, from not knowing what it would be like to enjoying it greatly. We were lucky to have super weather, the whole time was really sunny. Clare and Justin said that the best weather that they have had for a month was on that weekend!

I also realised that in that week I had been in 5 different countries scattered around the world: Australia, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, England and Wales!! Cool.

Below are some of the photos I took while in Wales. Have a look at my Picasa Gallery to see the full extent of my photographs.


Oliver, the son of my cousin. I'm pretty sure this makes him my Second Cousin


Chloe, my Second Cousin, sister of Oliver


Group photo of us, I'm sitting with my cousin next to me, her husband is not in the picture but his family all are, my mother and grandmother are the bottom right people.


Chloe and Oliver


A panoramic photo of the (left - right) Welsh National Opera House (millennium centre) Office Blocks (Red church-like building) and the Water Tower. A familiar scene for all those Torchwood viewers.


A picture of Me standing next to a real TARDIS


Me with (right - left) Dalek Zec, a Pigslave, and Dalek Zec in half human, half Dalek form. These are from the episodes: Daleks in Manhattan and Evolution of the Daleks, soon to grace ABC screens in Australia, already aired in the UK. Good episodes to add....


A view of Cardiff Bay, mmm what a lovely day we had! The main building in the picture is St. David's Hotel (5 star)


A sign welcoming us into the City of Newport, notice that it is multi-lingual.

Trip to Sherwood Forest and Ollerton

Today Mum, Granddad and I went to Sherwood Forest. ( 53°12'16.66"N 1° 4'20.97"W)
I was really pleased about the weather. It was a bit dreary all day but it became really nice when we went out.
Just being out there walking on the path surrounded by trees was fantastic. I love being somewhere like Sherwood Forest because it somewhat inspires me.
I've found it to resemble the Elwynn forest of World of Warcraft:













This is probably because of the fact that it was based on this forest or ones like it.
We walked around on the path admiring the scenery until we got to the Major Oak. There, we took photos and relaxed for 30 seconds and kept walking. It's about a 10-20 minute walk to the Major Oak and about that going back. The cool thing, is that the path continues on and heads back to the main area with the shops and cafeteria. That way, you can see more of the forest.
After we got back to the main area, we had an 'All day breakfast' which consisted of Bacon, Egg, Hash Brown, Sausages and Tomatoes . MMMMM, though, to note, it was just after lunch!

We left the forest and went to Ollerton, a town which is just down the road and on the way home. ( 53°11'58.90"N 1° 1'24.31"W)
There is a water mill at Ollerton, we decided to pop in and have a look as I had been there before and thought it would be nice to go back. Sadly, it wasn't open, so we looked round the premises and at the water wheel, then had a look at the park across the road.
The park had the stream running right through it. Very nice park.

We went home after that to watch Countdown and then have dinner.
Below are the photos I took when I was at Sherwood and Ollerton. All my photos can be viewed and also seen on a map in my Picasa web gallery at this address: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/swilli.cool

Mum and I at the Major Oak park


Sherwood Forest


The town of Ollerton


Near the water mill


The park at Ollerton


Mum and Granddad on the wall overlooking the park

For more photos and other photos of my trip, go to: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/swilli.cool
These photos are also placed on a Google Map in the location of where they have been taken.

P.S. Sorry to Dialup users, coordinates now have links!!

I'm in England

For the past week my Mum and I have been in the UK. It's been great, though.... I haven't really done much, it's rained on and off all week, but it has mostly been a great time! I'll try and post the longatude and latitude of the places I went.

The Flight
It was ok... for a plane trip in economy class that went for about 22 hours.
We left Sydney at 19:30 hrs and flew in a Boeing 737-300 ER for about 8 hrs to Bangkok, ( 13°54'49.46"N 100°36'21.35"E) had a toilet stop there and got back on the plane for another 5 hrs to Dubai. ( 25°15'3.50"N 55°21'34.91"E)
At Dubai customs I got my scissors confiscated, they were in my pencil case in my backpack. It was strange, no one else at Bangkok or Sydney said anything about it... the customs lady was a HUGE POO!!! She made me so angry. All she said was, "It's not allowed." To whatever we asked, she wouldn't even put it in an envelope for us to receive once in the UK. Apart from that, Dubai was ok... more of a cultural experience. They are extremely materialistic, there was no other type of shops but duty-free, and there were heaps of stalls in the Airport that sold gold things, to the amount that could make you sick. There were people sleeping on the floor outside the terminal, I don't know how they could sleep with people constantly walking round them, but I do realise that it's a totally different culture to the one we experience in western society.
Back on the plane and to the UK.
I really liked the meals! They were brilliant. So delicious and there was just the right amount. I have come to realise that I seem to like all different types of food on a plane, even if I don't normally like it.... hmmm. The plane entertainment was fun, there were screens on the back of all the seats. The idea was to select the show or movie or music you wanted and then watch or listen to it. Together, there were over 500 games, music, tv programs and movies!

In England
My Mum's parents (my grandparents) met us at Manchester airport. We drove back to their house, ( 53° 3'30.21"N 0°47'47.42"W) stopping for coffee half way...of coarse, then sat down and rested after the ride.
Jetlag wasn't too bad, as I slept all the way through the night. I did start to feel tired towards the middle of the afternoon, but it's all fine now.
On Wednesday night, we went out for dinner at a pizza place looking over Newark and the castle. ( 53° 4'44.54"N 0°48'40.36"W) It wasn't one of those crap pizza places, but a really good one. I had some type of chicken pizza with pepper and something else, nice and hot...mmm good.
Today, mother and I went for a walk round the lake next to the house, I will post some photos of that walk at a later date.

My Grandparent's House