Sam's Spot: 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....