Happy Christmas

If you're reading in Sydney Pinar went to the beach on Christmas day as well!

Sorry for waking you up with our phone call...we got the times wrong!

Wedding of the Turks

this is a turkish wedding we went to last night in london, it was very traditional. We actually had a good time.. and done abit of dancing of our own....

Empty London

Maybe it's the time of year but getting into the centre of London was unusually easy. Instead of the usual hustle and bustle, flurry of elbows and dodging of crackheads, I got an easy stroll to the station and jumped on an almost deserted train. In fact there was only one other person on it which is unheard of.

London would be a joy if it was like this every time. Still, it was only a day later it got it's own back when it took us 2 hours to drive 15 miles on a Sunday. Great.

Signs

Dubious health claims from cigarette firm and a dangerously ambiguous advert for sauce!

Old school

We went over to Beamish the other week to see how they lived in them old days. The place is a spooky reconstruction of 1914 with the whole area fenced off and set-up excatly how it was. They have actors walking around in period dress, a tram, a steamtrain and a whole village where you can basically walk around and take in the sights of vintage Britain.

The place has grown loads over the years and has a manor house, a mine!, a farm and all sorts of other things to see. You can go into all the houses/shops/banks etc and see how they did things in those days and they even have a fully working pub.

The Victorian dentist is always a favorite, but the sweet shop has all the old classics sold by the quarter.

It's pretty crazy walking round and seeing all the actors really hamming it up - I kept expecting them to mafuntion like those yul brinner robots in westworld! (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070909/)

First day in Singapore

Our first day in Singapore was a bit of an ordeal because the long flight and change of time zones meant we had missed a full nights sleep. To make things worse the hotel wasn't ready when we got there so we had to walk round like zombies for a while.

To make matters worse we got caught in a cloud burst and when it rains there it really rains. Still it was over in a few minutes and it was back to being red hot. It feels like you're getting slowly steamed.

Singapore is great though - a strange mix of old and new, modern and ancient.

back to the future

The promise of a free scarf for every season ticket holder was anticipated with a bit of trepedation - I suppose we're all used to getting it in the neck of these lot.

Surprisingly the scarfs were of a really high quality and the event seemed to do the trick.

The goal-induced scarf twirling celebrations were like something out of the 1930's, all that was missing were those old claxon rattle things.

the sleeping turtle

a sleepy turtle, a killer shark and the most dangerous beast of teh sea - the stingray!

The killer of poor old steve irwin this one looks pretty angry. Later on the trip, I'd come face to face with one while diving in Fiji. That was before the Irwin slaying and it would never have occured to me that they coule be dangerous.

The one I saw off Fiji was really playfull and seemingly harmless.

I was more concerned with looking out for sharks and when I cut my arm on some coral I would have beaten Ian thorpe's time with the speed I swam back to shore. Pinar says she's never seen anyone swim so fast but i wasn't taking any chances, the blood flowing behind me was like an invitation to jaws.

underwater world

A rainy day in Aukland and a trip to Kelly Tarlton's underwater world. It was a pretty good way to spend the afternoon and the penguin house was particularly cool. They had a good arctic exhibition as well, with all the stuff from Captain Scott's doomed trip.

back to nature

Despite our initial misgivings the midnight nature hike in NZ was a real experience.

Although the first half meant trekking through almost total darkness - and nearly falling into a river - it was all worth it.

If I had fallen into the pool I think the trout would have probably swallowed me whole they were so big.

The water was absolutely teaming with them and we also saw loads of fireflies.

I went in short sleves enjoying the mild antipodian night, much to the amusment of the Australians and Californians with us who were wrapped up like Scott of the Arctic in what they thought were freezing conditions.

The climax of the tip was getting to see the Kiwis. Apparently they're very rare now, especially on the North Island and I have to say they are one of the strangest looking animals I've ever seen. They make some crazy noises as well. Hopefully they won't go the way of the moa as they only have models of that left.

the locals....

Mauris in a Canoe and doing a war dance.....Looking at the pictures now it seems horribly touristry and colonial but it didn't feel like that doing it. In fact we were getting right into it and from their part there's a whole industry that keeps the culture (and coffers) alive.

The place was out in the sticks but they had it done out brilliantly - we were well impressed and they certainly made their money out of us. You have to take it with a bit of humour though - I especially enjoyed their response to an American who asked if they still have to hunt for food.

Day of exploring

IMG_1209, originally uploaded by rosswigham.

While Ross was slaving over a hot stove I ventured out to sterling Castle.

I even got the audio guide and went round the castle having a great time.

This is the throne of Posh and Becks....no I mean Mary Queen of Scots!

The other pictures from scotland are here too, if you click on the picture.

Port of Menteith

IMG_1202, originally uploaded by rosswigham.

This week took us up to Scotland, so that I could make use of my birthday present at the cook school.

We spent the night before at a hotel in Loch Lomand and then I went off into the unknown for my Nick Nairn cooking lesson (should I take that as a hint? - it will be housework lessons next.)

Thankfully he didn't use the Gordon Ramsey school of of teaching and I didn'get sworn at all day. I'll never snigger watching one of his programmes again - cooking in a big pro kitchen is hot, sweaty, complicated and stressfull!

All in all though it was a really good day and my food turned out okay as well.

BBQ pit

A traditional Mauri BBQ or Hangi where all the food is buried underground and cooked by the warm stones.

This bit is right at the end of the process where they dig it all up.

Very nice.

Waterworks

Much of New Zealand is powered by this Hydro-electric projct we saw on the way down South.

A dam forces a natural river down a a series of massive rapids to get power through turbines.

Seems a really clean way to get power, although this year they were getting really worried because of the lack of rain.

The water below this bridge was runnning faster and more violently than any river I've ever seen. Good job Pinar didn't fall in.

Lake Taupo

After a long and really enjoyable drive in the trusty fiesta rental we got to lake Taupo in pretty much the centre of the North Island.

It provided one of the wierdest sights of the trip because the edge of the lake is an outlet for some hot springs, while behind you can see the snow topped mountains. Even though it's a pretty popular tourist destination it was almost deserted when we went so it made for a good full-day. Apart from a crazy woman in a kanoe we hardly saw anyone at all. The water at the edge was really hot, but deeper was much colder.

The lake is ringed by some really amazing houses, where you could literally open your back door and step out into the lake.

Hot and cold

Here's where the hot water from the underground springs meets the cold water in the lake.

The Lost world

New Zealand is used for loads of film locations now, because they can provide almost any kind of scene - countryside, coastline, forests, lakes, mountains........

From the air you can see how the volcanos have shaped the landscape. The hills and forests just seem to go on and on - the little island on the right hand picture is an ancient mauri burial ground.

Boiling lake

Again, taken from the air this is a lake of volcanic water.

Deep impact

This is a huge crater made by a metior strike on New Zealand.

I took the photo from our plane and the pilot said many people say it looks like a map of the world.

Can't see it myself, but we'd need more than Bruce Willis and his team of hardened metal workers to save us if one this size hit again.

Budget airline

This was easily the best flight we took on the whole trip. Even though we spent a total of 53 hours on aircraft during our travels - the flight in this small sea plane was totally different.

It's hard to understand how airlines have made something so exciting become such an uncomfortable chore.

This was like flying in a transit van but a really enjoyable experience, partly cause the scenery below was like the lost world. This part of NZ is really great to look at, expecially when we went over the volcano.

wimpys of the world!

Pinar wanted to pose with yet another wimpy - this time in Rotorua, New Zealand.

Regular readers will remember her other wimpy pictures from south africa and Australia.

I had no idea that the special sauce was such a global concept.

Back to the travels

With everything that's been going on we've sort of forgotton about our pictures from the trip - which was the reason for having a blog in the first place.

Here's another mud-pool from NZ. We did have a bath in a specially adapted one, but this one would have been too hot.

Apparently you can cook eggs in these and they're considered a delicacy in Japan, although having been to Japan that's not saying much. I still have bad dreams about the Jellyfish and cows tounge I ate their!

We are Blyth

Grassroots football at it's very.....worst!

Could have been a decent game but the fog made it a bit more difficult and some of the players froze in front of the 2,000+ crowd.

Still some amusing moments and plenty of the enthusiam and warmth that's missing at St James these days.

£6 a ticket is a bit steep though.

In at last

After weeks of sepculation, point and counter-point we're finally into the new house. they aren't joking about the stress involved. I though organizing a wedding was supposed to be the most stressful thing, although I did cheat.

After lugging everything here I think the worst part is unpacking everything and getting it all set-up.

Goodnight and goodluck

Good luck to Quent and Nic who are going back to New Zealand via a bit of traveling.

We're very jealous , as our travelling days are probably over for a while now. Good leaving do on Friday apart from the £4 an hour parking charges in London (until 11pm).

You're best off out of that place before it sucks you completely dry!

Enjoy the deep fried locus and you'll be having beer for breakfast in Fiji - they won't let you have it any other way! Top tip -stay off the tuk tuks!

Here we are aboard the Aurora a long time ago, getting ready for some hard drinking and furniture throwing - deck chair overboard.....

Pinar's new car

S2020004, originally uploaded by rosswigham.

As we've now got the house Pin had to get something a bit smaller.

Ross's 30th Birthday

It was Ross's 30th Birthday on the 11th September, as we were in Cyprus at the time, we didnt get to post anything on...

We had a lovely day at the beach and drinks at the harbour then a lovely meal of every kebab you could think of, im not talking about a horrible kebab when your drunk, but a posh meal.

Hen pictures

You can see all the pictures by clicking here

Pinar's [very] belated hen

SSA40221, originally uploaded by rosswigham.

Pinar had her hen night on Saturday, even if it was nearly five months late!

From what i heard - and saw the next morning when I was the taxi driver - I think a good time was had by all

Flag day

The TRNC and Turkish flags carved into the hills near Nicosia.

Escape

This area, as well as having an amazing beach, is where the Turkish Army landed in 1974. Here's Pinar with a tank.

Belly dancer

Pinar's dad shows me how it's done.

I couldn't get the money to stay in - but that's another story.

The way of the gun

Here I am all tooled up and ready to get into action.

I went shooting with Pinar's dad and all the kit, including the gun is borrowed.

What you can't see is the extreme heat and the panic behind my eyes as I slowly realized that the person showing what to do doesn't speak English.

Probably the most dangerous thing you can do is give me 50 bullets, a gun and no instructions. Luckily all went well and although none of the other blokes spoke English they kept me right and were very keen on my England cricket sunhat.