Home again, home again, jig giddy jig

Friday, 25 September

Things are packed. The 6 bags are fairly full and we’re trusting the cheap hand scales we bought in London to not led us astray in New York. We really haven’t bought too many things whilst in NY, so we should be fine.

Our 6^th bag is 2 cheap stripey plastic bags we bought in London, one being placed inside the other for added strength. The trip to NY had one handle rip off, so we’ve swapped the inside bag with the outside for the last leg of our journey which consists of 3 flights, the transfers between flights, a taxi ride and the last car ride home. It just made it with an added 3 wraps of ‘Checked Baggage’ tape at the end. It had good, full life.

J

We spend the last few hours before the flights in Harlem with Dee going from shop to shop looking for those last minute bargains and Gene and I reading books.

Overall, the trip back to Canberra was pretty smooth. We watched one man pay US$450 for extra baggage as he bought too many clothes whilst on his holiday to NY which was quite funny as the airline staff was running around finding a plastic tub to put the clothes in and then taping it all up.

Without saying too much about the flight without it sounding like a scene from ‘The Castle’, it was a good trip with lots of movies, book reading and a few hours of sleep.

Saturday, 26 Sep.

Yes, I’m a bit weird about dates but today is 26 ½ years in the job and I’m coming back home using the last of my leave that I’ve been saving for the last 6-7 years.

Due to the changes in time zones, today was about 8 hours long.

Sunday, 27 Sep.

We were offered the opportunity to catch and earlier flight from Sydney to Canberra and spent the minutes at the airport to warn out our friend who is picking us up we’re coming home early.

Coming home was a bit surreal. We’re back to where we’ve started from without too much of a noticeable change. Normally when I go away for work, there’s a period of settling in as I get use to the flow of life that has occurred whilst I’m away. This time, we’ve all been away and we almost slot into the routine we normally have.

It’s almost like the last 5+ months have been a dream.

I started unpacking, trying to find places for the things we have, giving of gifts, and taking empty bags out of the house. 2 bags down, 4 to go. We were lucky in having food and milk in the fridge from one of our friends who stayed at our place just days before to take her children to Floriade, a flower show in Canberra. It was a great relief not having to worry about shopping straight away to have a coffee and lunch.

I couldn’t help myself and in the afternoon we went for a quick shop to buy food for the next few days and I later put some more air in the tyres of one of the cars. I noticed that one of the tyres (not the one which was the lowest) had one of my upholstery tacks in it. I didn’t believe it was in too far in, so I pulled it out and then tried to quickly stick it back as air started come out. A quick tyre change at the petrol station and I was home to 2 sleeping girls who really didn’t wake up for the rest of the day.

I went to bed about 8.30pm absolutely knackered knowing my frail mind and body will only let me sleep 7 hours and I’ll be up early the next morning.

Monday, 28 Sep

It’s now 3.45am having a coffee in my TARDIS coffee mug…..

At the start of our trip in the UK, we seemed to have caught a rolling series of public holidays on the Mondays for the first month or so. Just to have the Alpha and Omega, today is a public holiday in Canberra.

A day planned full of packing away, washing, sorting our memorabilia into some sort of order and getting the phones and internet turned back on. In a few days’ time, I’m off to a re-enactment event I had organized a year ago over the long weekend. It should be great just to mooch around.

We still have a few $ in the bank at the end. I’m back to work in 2 weeks’ time and Dee will start to looking into her job opportunities but she still needs a holiday from her holiday. We’re thinking that I should visit Brisbane next week if our finances allow it to check up on our house and property to see what is going on.

With our trip now just memories and experiences, I’m already planning for our next adventure. Maybe in 5 years’ time, I’ll walk the pilgrimage route from Calais to Compo De Stella in period clothing if my body will allow me. I’ll only be 48, so not THAT old. Dee will take the opportunity to visit all those little villages she seemed to miss out on our last one and finally have her canal barge ride and Gene will be an adult and starting her own life but hopefully take care of our place when we’re gone.

Thank you all for sharing our adventure.
:)

New York

Monday, 21 Sep

New York is a fascinating place but to visit Walmart we had to travel New Jersey as NY refused to have the store in their area. Walmart's just a Coles/Target combined. I really enjoyed looking at a social makeup of the store and every other retail business that didn't try and sell clothes for $300+ per item. Not a single Caucasian. Latino, Asian, Indian, and African are all there but I can't recall a single white person.

Everytime we smell, taste or hear something new, we call it 'Freedom'. "What's that smell?" as we pass by a manhole. 'Freedom'. "What does that taste like?' when we're trying something new for a meal. 'Freedom'.

Apologies for any rant path I may go down here.

As I was slowly getting use to the new time zone, I was up early in the mornings using the hotels internet which is in reception. I had an interesting conversation with one of the shift workers. He's an Indian student doing a degree in computer crypto or something. I was able to ask him about work hours, rate of pay and rent costs. As a general rule, whatever is for sale for US$1 you can buy in Australia for $1.

Being paid $10/hour is the norm here. There has been a fair bit of push back from bosses but the norm is still the norm. Bosses will only work you 40 hours a week because they will have to pay overtime, so many people have 2 jobs to make ends meet.

Rent is at least $1,200 a month ($300/week) maybe as high as $3,500. Just doing the math for a minimum wage earner is just depressing, leaving only $100 a week for everything else if they have only one job.

After Walmart, the girls went home and visited the Morgan Library as I had an appointment in the reading room to view the Maciejowski Bible. Unfortunately, it wasn't the original as it was being prepped for a exhibition in Atlanta but the copy they had was amazing. It felt like the original with the pages being made of parchment and the use of gold leaf. I've handled a few reproductions of it before but not in this detail.

Afterwards, I roamed around Grand Central Station to enjoy the view. There were a few soldiers on duty there just watching everything. I asked one if this was special due to the Pope visiting this week but there has a been a military presence in many of the stations since 9/11. There probably is a general low-level threat but the military presence was poorly sited so I'm assuming it's more to reassure people that the Defence Force is here but also to be a bit scared because we have the Defence Force here.

Tuesday, 22 Sep

The morning took us around to the Statue of Liberty (or 'the big Green Lady' by the girls) and Ellis Island where 12 million people passed through to enter the US. You can't help but feel overwhelmed by the propaganda surrounding the islands. I lost track of how many times the words 'Liberty' and 'Freedom' were used. As a person not indoctrinated by this sort of patriotism, it makes you question what those words mean anymore when you compare them to the actual issues the US citizens face.

Strangely, there were 2 SWAT members walking around as individuals on Liberty Island. I thought the Statue of Liberty would have a greater security presence than a train station but obviously not.

Regardless, 2 beautiful islands. We were thinking about visiting something else but that seemed enough for the day.

Wednesday, 23 Sep
Coney Island! Apart from the famed amusement park the biggest attraction was due to 2 songs by The Drifters 'Under the Boardwalk' and 'Sand in my Shoes' (the sequel song). The boardwalk was very quite in the morning and none of the rides were going as it wasn't a holiday period and a weekday.

We then traveled back to Manhattan and visited the 9/11 Memorial which is 2 large pools where the building were. There was quite a lineup for the museum/memorial. You can still see the raw emotion on the people who visit.

Without being too harsh, 9/11 seems to culminating point of the US policy of world management. I don't believe the Taliban thought hard enough about the repercussions of their actions either.

We also visited Times Square which was just fantastic. Dee was overjoyed to see the Naked Cowboy singing.

Thursday, 24 Sep
To Harlem and the Bronx with the added objectives of finding a Chuck E Cheese for Gene and Lane Bryant for Dee.

Harlem was great. So much has been said about the place with such negative connotations. It may have been that was but not now. Dee was overjoyed to find shops that had reasonable prices.

Chuck E Cheese is a kid's amusement centre with many options of fat, sugar and carbs. Gene has been in love with a game called 'Five nights at Freddy's' (or more more to the point some cute guy who plays the game then you tubes him playing the game). The game is based on Chuck E Cheese apparently.

We had no idea about what to see in the Bronx, so we picked one station, got out and looked about. We saw a castle and a fire engine.

We did plan to go to a jazz club that night but Dee piked so we watched '2 Broke Girls' for a few hours instead.

Friday, 25 Sep

The day has come to go home. I would rather keep on travelling but we don't have the holidays or money to keep on going. I think the girls are really looking forward to getting back.

As a farewell at 6.30 this morning, the fire alarm went off as I writing this blog. One of the people burnt the toast and the building had to be evacuated. Of course Dee and Gene didn't come down. Dee rang reception and Gene just slept through it. I was accused of not coming up the stairs to save them but there wasn't a fire for me to save them from. If I had come up, it was because the place was on fire.

Anyway, our flight is at 6.30pm so we'll leave the hotel at 3.30pm. We have to check out at 11am, so that gives us a few hours for us to kill somewhere in NY. Dee wants to visit 'somewhere' to go 'someplace' that has cheap clothes. I can see that this will end badly.
:)

Enjoying the New York Skyline from the top of a building

The pack up of all our gear went well. We even bought a hand held weighing scale to make sure the 6 bags were under the 23kg each. The taxi showed up on time, booked in without too much of a delay (a bit of confusion since we had 6 bags instead of the normal 3), pounds exchanged to US$ and we boarded. A much better time than the silly bugger who didn't get a Russian transit visa to transit through Russia; I'm not sure if I have sympathy for him or not.

Lots of movies watched on the flight (Spy was awesome) and we're in New York. We were lucky to get a large taxi in the rank that could take our baggage (me? have baggage? :) ) and we were off. Gene and Dee had a ball watching all the American things like the yellow school buses you see on TV. I found it amusing that they didn't consider them real, just because Peter Parker chases after one and the Joker uses one to rob a bank.

Our hotel is in Queens and not too far from Manhattan, the population is more Hispanic, Indian and Asian and it looks quite good. No drive by shootings or muggings so far.

With an early bed time and the change of time zones, I've been waking up between 2 and 3am. I'm not too worried about trying to sort out my sleep patterns as we're here only for a week and the early morning gives me free access to the hotel's internet computer.

Back in 1999, I wrote on the European power adaptor that it was also compatible with US power sockets. Nope. We've been using the laptop just for budgeting and quick internet checks. I'm hoping to find an adaptor here but I don't have my hope up.

Our first day's plan (Saturday) was to walk through Central Park. It was interesting; I wasn't expecting it to be so hilly and full of large rocks. The walk was wearing Dee out so we looked at the Museum of Natural Science but decided not to go in as we don't really need to see a museum right now, even though 'Night in the Museum' was based on it.

We also visited Bloomingdales. How anyone could justify $320 for a light blouse that you could by for $50 at any other place is beyond me. Dee wasn't aware about what type of place Bloomindales was but she does now.

Sunday morning started with me sneaking down to use the internet until the girls came down for breakfast. Gene came down but Dee was still in bed, so I went back up to the room on the 10th floor to drop off my nalbinding (it's a single needle style of knitting) and get ready for the day.

I thought I heard someone call out for help, so I opened the window and checked the area that I could see but I couldn't see anything on the street but there were enough tallish buildings to block my view. Whoever it was had a good set of lungs. Dee had just gone to have a shower, so I grabbed my bag that has my first aid kit in it, called out I was going for a walk and stepped out of the hotel.

I guess it's a New York thing but the locals didn't, ignored or pretended not to hear the calls for help. Walking around, I finally figured it was coming from the building that was 2 streets across from us. I saw her at the top, called up to her, asked her if she was alright, told her to stay where she was and I would be with her soon.

I couldn't figure out if the building was a hotel or permanent homes. There was no lobby as such but a coffee bar with about 10 people having breakfast. I tried talking to one of the staff, asking for the manager, who sent me downstairs. A weird place for the manager to be but I quickly went down the stairs to find the toilets...... Obviously, my Australian doesn't sound American enough for people to be understood.

Coming back upstairs and feeling quite irritable I asked for the boss (I figured that 'Manager' was too hard to understand). I saw a guy in a really badly fitted suit standing around, so I grabbed him and told him that I needed to take me to the roof top as there is a woman up there calling for help. He was just capable to do that.

The roof was on the 13th floor (lucky for some) and there I saw a women in her 50's in her pajamas standing on a chair calling. I had no idea if she was locked out, had a mental health issue, suicidal or literally calling for help. Once she saw me, she thanked God and came down off the chair and sat down. I talked calmly to her, introduced myself and told her I was here to help and I was glad she was still here. I gave her a hug and she didn't let me go for quite a while while she cried. It took her a few minutes to get her name and where she came from and what room she was staying in. Once I had the room number, I sent the bad suit guy to find the husband. I think that was the limit of his abilities.

She says that she wasn't 'planning' on jumping but you can't just take their word for it. Many self harm situations are more a cry for help from the person than the need to die.

Another lady showed up who was one of the hotel's staff and we were able to comfort her. She also knew the bad suit guy was an idiot and gave him looks and gestures when ever he opened his mouth to change feet.

What we found out was she had some argument with her husband, both are doctors and the husband had recently lost his job as CEO of one of local hospitals and they were in Queens to get away from it all. I think she had some overlying mental health issues.

With the other lady supervising, I was able to look at our hotel room's window and see Dee calling for me. I called out to her and she eventually saw me. I let her know that I was OK and I was rescuing a damsel in distress.

The husband showed up and did all the right things. He was calm and didn't react when she started to get angry at him for not coming to get her. He did want to take her home and sort it all out. Uhh, no.

We did take her away from the edge and were heading towards the elevator because it was a bit cool up there.

By then the police, firemen and ambulance came. In droves. I think the lady rang a friend in the hospital she works and they rang 911. I'm not sure what suicide management training they receive but it seems to involve using lots of numbers, testosterone and using tough talk. Not a single one used a tone that I found helpful. It took them quite a while to realise that 20 people is small area near the elevator doors was not beneficial.

They did want to do the right thing though and get her to a hospital for assessment and help. Not tat she wanted to go. I talked to the lady and drew upon the fact that she was a doctor herself and reminded her that a professional self-assessment isn't great and another person should do it. Eventually, she went down with the Ambos and myself and the lady that helped me caught the next ride down.

I found it amazing that the police didn't even want to take my details. Only one person gave me something close to a thanks.

Anyway, I came back to my hotel, said hello to Gene who was still on the hotel's internet oblivious to what I had just done and met up with Dee and let the girls know what happened. Gene's eyes were like saucers.

We had breakfast and went out for the day. We found the markets Dee was looking for which was a bit disappointing to her. She was hoping for more of second hand market not a normal artisan market. It was quite good though.

We made our way around, walking to Macy's (thankfully cheaper than Bloomindales but only marginally so) and went up on the 86 floor viewing platform of the Empire State Building which was amazing. Thankfully the lines were quite small and we didn't have to wait too long.

We also walked past The New York Public Library and made all sorts of Ghostbusters quotes. Gene scored a bobble headed doll of the Direwolf that John Snow has in the 'Game of Thrones' Series at the HBO shop.

We had planned on visiting Walmart but we ran out of time and energy. I don't like Walmart; the damage they have done to the US economy and society is far reaching but I want to experience the place.

 http://www.walmarts-egonomics.com/destructive-practices-of-walmart/

For dinner we flopped in our room and tried to eat an 18 inch diameter pizza while watching 'The Day After Tommorrow'. It was quite surreal watching a typical end of the world movie based in New York whilst in New York. I kept on saying, 'Been there' as the scenes had New York appeared as walls of water flood down or things are freezing.

Today, we should visit a Walmart in the morning and then the girls will go back to the hotel while I visit the Morgan Library and see what I can see about the Maciejowski Bible. The original is being prepped for an exhibition occurring after I leave but I'll be seeing a facsimile printed on parchment. It should be interesting.

Only 4 more days before we're on a plane heading home.

Farewell to old England for......well, a bit

With a good crossing that didn't involve vomiting, we were on firm British soil once again. After a few laps up and down the highway, we found the right turnoff for our nights stay. After making sure everything is right with the girls and Springy, I had a pint of cider with the locals and other campervaners. That didn't finish until about midnight.........

The next day we headed towards Canterbury to see the cathedral where Thomas Beckett had some unexpected brain surgery. We scraped together enough coins to pay for the expensive parking and headed into the old town, looking for the cathedral (it's amazing how quickly tourist sites disappear the closer you get to them). We stopped at a Tea room which was made in 1550 for tea and scones and went mad at all the charity shops along the way.

I may have made this point before but the Charity (or Op) shop is an interesting phenomenon in a society. If you society isn't well off in general, there doesn't seem to be any any. If there seems to be have-a-bits and have-nots, you seem to have profusion of op shops. Maybe it has something to do with the society's culture of donating excess clothing? We can't remember seeing many op shops outside of the UK except for one in Sweden. Maybe The Poms are affluent enough to discard the previous year's fashions. All I know is the clothes are predominately for women. I keep thinking the men's clothes are from someone who has passed on as men generally wear their clothes until they can't be worn again and this may take decades......

Anyway, we found the entrance to the Cathedral Precinct and they wanted to charge us 28 pounds ($60 Australian) to enter. I've been to many cathedrals in my travels but this is the first time I have to pay to get near it. Sure some charge an entrance fee to enter the building but they generally have an area where you can stand and appreciate the majesty of the building without actually getting too close to the detail.

So we decided to skip the Cathedral and head on out to the town of Battle where the Battle of Hastings took place. There has been some active discussion about actually where it actually did happen. Some say at the roundabout before the Abbey and some say a few miles away. Any which way, the place hadn't changed. You still had an audio file to listen to as you walked the path around the historical site. It still made amazing statements and then admitted that they didn't have much to back it with. Don't let the truth get in the way of a good story. They did have a new building talking about the build up prior and the weapons and armour used. It was amusing that the secured swords could be picked up to feel a blade but the shields be bolted to a metal weight that made the shield weigh 10kg heavier. Strange....

On the way to our night's stop, I saw a sight talking about a medieval fare in the district the following day. The only other medieval fare we saw in the whole trip was in Transylvania and that one was disappointing. The next morning we found the fare and Dee let me get changed into my non-Muggle clothes and do a reconnaissance. I spent too much time talking to other re-enactors and when I was walking back to Tell Dee I had organised how to get in for free, Dee had blown our cover and were talking to the front gate staff looking for me. Anyway, the event was filled with people doing very good quality re-enacting/living history and I felt like a honey bee visiting as many camp sites as possible. The interesting thing I saw was the high use of wooden framed glasses made in a medieval style.

We're now back in London in the flat we rented 4 months earlier. I was able to dig the mail out of the flat's letter box (I didn't have the key) and get our rego papers for Springy (phew!) as well as the Spanish free camping book and other bits and pieces about insurance and road side recovery.

Now the waiting begins to sell Springy. We thought 5,000 pounds was a good starting point. After a day of no hits, we had an offer for 3,000 which is the amount we were hoping to sell back to the person we bought her off, so we declined. I saw that Dee was getting nervous that we may not sell her at all, so I organised to see the previous owner and sell her. That would put money in our pocket and remove the anxiety. Unfortunately, he would only buy her for 2,000 which we accepted. A few hours later, we received a bid for 4,300...............Sigh! Such is life but I would have enjoyed having that extra 2,300 pounds (AUD$5,200). It makes me feel better that I didn't empty the toilet before selling her.
:)

So the bags are weighed and packed, the taxi is booked and we should be gone by 8am to the airport.

10 days to go before we're home. We're not planning on burning ourselves out in New York but seeing a few things, mostly the free ones. I have applied to view the Maciejowski Bible at the Morgan Library but it's being prepared for an exhibition in October but I can view my second option. Unfortunately, I don't believe I gave one......... Further discussion will occur!

But for now, Bed.

CERN

Hello guys, Gene here.

Switzerland made up for what Finland lacked: mountains. Grey and everywhere you look, constantly reminding you that they could crush you with an avalanche if they wanted. I constantly think it going to rain because heavy black clouds are circling, but my eyes travel higher to the peek, and realize it’s simply another mountain. The cloud are simmering low, curling around the peaks and tumbling out of caves and caves. Dragons, obviously. They hide in the caves, their scales shimmering in the intense fire from their jaws. Claws dig homes down to the hot dirt surrounding the molten core of our Earth. They ask riddles to passing travels in voices forged from the very flames of the hottest forge. Ebony eyes pierce even the toughest of amour of the most steel-willed of knights go weak at the knees. Tiny water nymphs swirl and sing in streams. Pixies fly with ease even in the thickest if woods, weaving magic spells unknown all the while. Earth Elementals observe all, years racing by like second, as they saw buildings rise and fall around them. They have been here at the beginning. And if I asked nicely, they might tell me their secrets. Maybe. Just maybe.

But if you want something with a bit more proof, let me tell you about CERN. Based in Geneva, CERN stands for Council European Research Nuclear. They are a very important organization in the human race’s craving for knowledge about the Universe. Basically, they get two singular particles and push them through a gigantic metal loop/tube underground, and spin them in different direction until they almost reach the speed of light, and the smash together. So what? You might ask. Why wants smushed particles? Lots of very excited scientists, that’s who. Because then they hit each other, what basically occurs is a tiny version of the Big Bang. No, I’m not talking about the show with Sheldon Cooper, when, possibly, the Universe started. (All depends on who you ask) All religious argument aside, this is a massive breakthrough for the human race, and the occurrence of Antimatter. Anitmatter, is literally, the opposite of matter. It is extremely hard to store, because it explodes in a flash of white light if it comes into contact with any Matter (which is everything). If you have read Dan Brown’s ‘Angel’s and Daemons’ you know what I’m talking about.

I did manage to embarrass myself in front of the entire tour group by asking if CERN had really found enough Antimatter to make a bomb. The tour guide laughed and said no, they had only been able to store it for a few second before it explode. (Although she did hint that she read Dan Brown’s book too, so it wasn’t so bad.)

 There was also an American dooshbag that would ask annoying question that would take ages to answer and would hold up the group. There’s always one in each group in each tour group in every museum in every part of the world. And they aren’t always American! But I had a feeling he was asking fancy question to try and show off to the rest of the group, which didn’t work because half the group couldn’t hear what he was saying anyway. There is a saying that a little bit of knowledge is dangerous. This guy was using little bit of knowledge. He had a small knife and was throwing it around like it was a sword. But it didn’t matter what type of weapon he was wielding, because everybody wanted to stab him anyway.

All though we didn’t get to see the gigantic particle smashing loop (I wasn’t expecting to see it, but a nerds got to dream), we did get to see a very early version of it. In all simplicity looked like a gigantic kiln. As we weren’t allowed to open it and look inside, they showed a holographic light show on it, explaining what parts were what and their job i.e Two D shaped magnets that kept the particle spinning and a giant spiral of wire that helped absorb the energy (I think) At first I was puzzled by the 5 meter thick concrete walls, but the tour guide quickly explained that when a particle changes direction ( spinning in a circle) it needs to release some of its energy in, the form of radiation. Luckily the radiation only goes sideways, and doesn’t drift up. So they only needed to make the roof of normal thickness.

We also saw a workroom where they were evaluating the data that they collected from a recent collision. We stood behind  a glass wall that separated us and a bunch of scientist sitting around and looking bored. One person had a respectable about of rubber ducks blue tacked to the top of his computer. Good on him.

And with the screaming of Springy’s broken muffler, we drove off into the sunset, feeling like we had learned something valuable and very stupid at the same time. Thanks for reading and hopefully your feeling very impressed right now. Are you moved? Sure you are.  Awed? Looks like it. Jealous? Yes?

Good.

From France to Dover

Thursday, 10 September

With the push to get back to the UK, we visited Rouen and Amiens today. I had hoped to see the spot that Joan D’Arc was burnt but we only saw her Tower where she was held for a while. We also visited the city’s train station because it looked fabulous.

Visiting Amiens, I was hoping for more signs to memorials but we had to drive into the city centre to find the address of the Franco-Australian Museum. The Museum was 30 minutes out of town and is situated in a school that was donated by a school in Victoria after the original one was destroyed in the war. It felt like being a rural Australian school. Not that I can compare what a French school is like but it made me a bit homesick regardless. The Museum is being renovated for the upcoming anniversaries and is temporarily housed in a smaller room.

It was nice museum but we were hoping to see a memorial or actual site. It was just an assumption that the museum would be near one of those 2. We then drove to the camping ground we had planned to stay that night for decent showers and wifi.

I was able to get some wifi, although the logging on was painful, before going out for our last French dinner. The manager of the camping ground gave us an address of the street with the good restaurants and after a bit of negotiating the roads and finding a car spot, we settled for a tapas bar called, “Mannekin Pis” or “The Pissing Mannequin” Little Cupid-like statues had the beer pulls attached to them and the toilet’s sinks had the same. Very charming. For dessert we went to another, more refined, restaurant which was fabulous. I think we offended the waitress as we found an unoccupied table and sat down. I think they normally escort the diners to their seats with tables that have cutlery. Opps.

We came home about 10pm and the girls went straight to sleep. I tried the wifi to get a Paypal account created check our bank account and see if I can make another ad for Springy as we haven’t had any hits yet on Gumtree. Unfortunately, the wifi connection, that I paid 10 Euro for, didn’t but I was able to mooch some connection off an unsecured wireless network and do some FB things but it wouldn’t let me do the important things.

Friday, 11 September

The five things we had hoped to do today we did with various levels of success:

1.       Visit Azincourt.  Our first touristy thing for the day. We decided to have a late morning tea which turned into an early lunch before seeing the museum. The museum was great. Very interactive and informative and gave the visitors a good understanding about the situation before and after, as well as during. We also looked at the fields that the battle took place 600 years ago.

2.       Return the French Gas bottle we bought/contracted. Much more difficult to return the bottle than I had thought. The main problem was we contracted the bottle through one company that didn’t have many branches that actually sold/swapped gas bottles. The rest of the day was spent looking for the shop with the bottles. At the end, I just handed the bottle over and told them to tear up the contract. If they actually could swap bottles, I could have received a small refund on the contract price but at that time, I just wanted to get rid of it.

3.       Visit Ypres. This we did without much trouble. The Flanders Field Museum had an upgrade 3 years prior and came with nifty wrist bands and good displays. Dee thought the display we saw in 99 was better but I found it hard to say. They had different styles certainly but I enjoyed the new museum as it gave the history as well as the personal stories. We could have spent much longer there but we were hoping to catch the 6pm ferry from Dunkirk to Dover.

Springy played silly buggers with me, saying she was running out of fuel when really she had a quarter tank left. It’s little things like that I don’t need to happen when racing to catch a ferry and also just before trying to sell her.

4.       Catch the Ferry to Dover. As we had a flexible return fare on the ferry, we could try and catch any ferry 3 days either side of the original date. I had hoped to catch the 6pm but with the various delays during the day, we caught the 8pm instead. So far the crossing is pretty smooth which I’m very grateful for but the wifi is awful with hundreds of people probably trying to use it at the same time. Hopefully, the pub we’re staying at is really only 10 minutes away as advertised.

5.        Spend the remaining Euro we have. All except 47 Euro cents have been spent on Toberone, a power adapter and a bottle of water. Buggered if I know where the Australian to European adaptor went to. I’ve a horrible thought I left it in the wall at a service station 500km away. To work around this, I’ve bought a UK/Europe adaptor to plug into my Australia/UK adaptor. It seems to work so far. I wouldn’t be so concerned but we’ll need it when going to the US next week. It’s a shame as we bought the original adaptor back in 99 for our first trip.

Anyway, time to pack up and get ready for the docking happening soon at Dover. I’m looking forward to a British cider!

Mont St Michel to the Bayeux Tapestry

Sunday, 06 September

I headed for the Eiffel Tower for my morning walk but couldn’t make it in the hour I had. I did see the top third when I turned around. On the way back, I realised I was running through dry, brown leaves on the path. Autumn was here! Well, Autumny enough for the leaves to fall and to have a chill in the air.

The previous night we made friends with a Canadian family cycling through Europe for an entire year. They have a 9 year-old son and 11 year old daughter and have been on the road for the last 5 weeks. So far, they have had an excellent time, even when they have to cycle up to 70km a day, cycling for 6 hours a day. It pales the girl’s complaints of sitting in Springy reading their books for a few hours a day while drive in comparison.

The day was spent taking the backroads out of Paris. We initially intended to visit the massive market in Paris before we left but the lack of parking and the acres of stalls, mostly knockoff clothing and shoes, put Dee off. So we then had to negotiate  our way out and back onto our original path.

Luckily, we came across a small local produce market and stocked up again, buying some yummy food from one vendor. So impressed with the food, I went back to buy more for dinner tonight. I also gave their young daughter, who had tried to translate for us, a few Australian coins.

We found our farm for the night that had geese, chicken and other poultry. SO, me acting a goose was perfectly acceptable.
J

Monday, 07 September

Taking more backroads, we finally arrived at Mont St. Michel. After a quick bit of math, I figured it was 16 years, 3 months and 3 days since we had been here last. We noticed the changes that had taken place, mainly the massive carpark a few kilometers from the Abbey. With the high level of tourism, it’s not surprising this occurred.

Unfortunately, the who day had a shadow cast over it by the behavior of the guide directing us to the relevant parking spot for campers. I don’t expect the staff to all speak English, that would be arrogant and ridiculous. I would expect that the guide not to be smug about not being to help us if we didn’t speak French and dismissive of us. It infuriated Dee to the extent that she didn’t want to visit the site at all.

After lunch and an afternoon kip, we took Dee to the Abbey but she didn’t tour through as the steps would be too much effort on her heart.

As the abbey was over 3km from the carpark, a free bus service was available that operated from 7am to 1am. If you have ever read, ‘Dr Doolittle’, there was a creature with a head at either end of its body called a ‘Push me-Pull you’. This buses were like that with a driver’s seat at each end as there wasn’t enough of a turn around space at the Abbey or the information place.

I took Gene through the Abbey and we enjoyed it immensely. We had come at just the right time as the Abbey closed its entrance just after we left, an hour earlier than normal. We had planned to dine on the island but all the restaurants didn’t open until 7pm an hour and half later. We decided to head towards the ‘town’ (more of a supporting complex with restaurants and hotels). We had a wonderful dinner and spent the night in the carpark, especially considering parking was over 20 Euro for a 24 hour period.

Tuesday, 08 September

My walk took me back to Mont St Michel, enjoying the sight of sun rising a multitude of tourists taking photos of it. 

More backroads took us to Omaha Beach , a museum and the cemetery of the fallen American soldiers. Dee really didn’t want to be here but I felt it was important for Gene to see and experience the site.

In the afternoon we visited the Bayeux Tapestry (noting it is actually an embroidery). It had been moved from the last place where we saw originally. Much less of an explanation about it at first with an audio guide that shuffled you along until it deposited you at the souvenir shop. At least we weren’t on a conveyor belt this time. It was wonderful to see the embroidery again. Strangely, I was the only person dressed like the people in the art……….

We loaded the GPS with our rest spot for the night which was only a few kms away. The GPS wanted me to drive 1 ½ hours, so I knew something was wrong. After triple checking the co-ordinates, we realised they were incorrect in the book, so we had to decipher the directions and make our way to the cider farm.

From Southern France to Paris

Sunday, 30 August

With a little bit of a sleep in (OMG! The sun is coming up at a civilized time now!!!!), we drove into the city of Beziers, most famous for the eradication of the Cathers, a Christian religion that believed a normal man could commune with God directly and they allowed women to be ‘Perfects’ a person of high respect. Obviously, these 2 things were heretical to the Catholic faith and therefore must die.

The castle in Beziers (now a Monastery) was the stronghold of their faith and was besieged. It ended with total slaughter of the Cathers and some nice new property titles for a few Nobles.

Luckily, that wasn’t our problem. Ours was we couldn’t find a place to park within relatively sane walking distance. We finally gave it up as a joke and continued on our way. From what we saw, as we negotiated through narrow, one way streets with the gentle sound of Dee occasionally screaming in the tight parts, was quite nice.

We continued into the French countryside, heading for a town which was holding a market that day. It was very nice market and we prudently decided to let Dee go browsing by herself and Gene would follow me. We decided to meet at 1pm. The added bonus was about 200 bikers showed up with horns, big revs and bikie moles. It did explain why there were so many stalls selling American merchandise, leather goods, knives, and black tshirts.

We had an extended afternoon kip and didn’t make our night time stop until almost 9pm. The backroads may be scenic but they also take quite a long time to drive.

Monday, 31 Aug

Today was spent enjoying more French scenery. For some reason unknown to us, the area we were in didn’t have many camping grounds but we eventually found one after checking out a free area with services and  a GPS led point that didn’t have anything remotely resembling a camping ground down a steep, narrow street.

As it was the first day of school, not only are the camping spots wonderfully vacant but they are at least half the price of the peak period which finished the day before. We used the washing and drying machines to great effect, their cost almost equaling the cost of camping itself. We also used the internet to its full extent. We also had a great storm pass over with thunder and lighting. Those 2 last points don’t always go well together but I like living on the edge.

Tuesday, 01 September

A nice pleasant drive to Mont du Chalus brought us into town right when the Tourism Office closes for lunch. We’ve done this a few times, looking for a vital service right on their afternoon siesta.

After gaining the required map and finding out some pertinent information, I took Gene off for a walk to the Castle that King Richard the Lion Heart was sieging when he was killed with a crossbow bolt.

Old Dicky was conducting a reconnaissance of the besieged castle to find the weak points dressed in a gambeson (padding worn under armour) and his shield. One of the castle’s crossbowmen took a pot shot and hit him in the shoulder. His medical team wasn’t really up to it and made a botch of the job to remove the bolt and he died a few days later. Before he died, the crossbow man came to him and received forgiveness from Richard, just before Richard’s men hung him and flayed him alive (by some reports).

The pertinent information for us was the castle was open to the public during the months of July and August, aligned with the school holidays. The problem was it’s the first of September. Sigh….

So, Gene and I did what King Richard did (with fewer fatalities) and walked around the perimeter of the castle, trying to find a way in.

We’re now resting in a ‘French Passion’ site (ie free site for camper vans) and the owners have just come home. We picked the site as it was owned by a blacksmith which would be very cool. What actually happened was we used the GPS coordinates of another site, just below the planned spot in the book. Luckily, they’re very close geographically, so we may visit tomorrow. We’re heading towards a medieval castle which is being made from scratch with period tools.

From there, Paris! But now, dinner!

Thursday, 03 September

We were able to visit the blacksmith we had hoped to stay with the previous night. The blacksmith and his wife were wonderful and we had a great conversation half in gestures that Marcel Marsou would be proud of.

Our main point of interest was to visit a site called Gudelon, sounding like ‘Get-along’, an enterprise when people are building a castle from scratch using period tools. The concept was started in 1997, the year we started re-enactment, and isn’t planned to be completed until 2025. The site was amazing. They still have a fair few things to complete but what they have done is astounding. My only gripe would be the lack of correct medieval clothing for the workers there. I’m not concerned about the safety stuff of steel capped boots or hard hats but just the basic tunic and not a tabard looking thing with a rope belt.

Our nighttime stop was a wonderful little farm 100km up the road and getting closer to Paris.

Friday, 04 September

With only 100km to Paris, we made our farewells and made good time, reaching Paris by 11am, even with the traditional, big city congestion that was a quarter of our total driving time for the day.

We decided to rest for the day and see the Arc de Triumph and Eiffel Tower in the afternoon/evening. This was mainly influenced by the shuttle bus not running from 1 to 5pm. The Arc was very impressive but we didn’t bother getting too close due to 9 roads of traffic converging at the roundabout.

The Eiffel Tower was fantastic. For some reason, I thought was green but it was more of a light brown. We decided to have dinner first before joining the long que to travel up the elevators. All things considered, it was a relatively short wait when you compare the probable lines during the recent summer holidays.

I had a brain fart getting ready for the day and brought my leatherman pocket knife which I couldn’t take with me. I cunningly wrapped it in a brown paper bag and stuck it under one of the concrete block seats before I went up. Luckily, it was still there when I came back.

With a shaky ride up with a few scared cries by other travelers, we made it to the 2^nd level then onto the top to enjoy the views.  The trip down was much easier.

Making our way to and from the Tower we had a multitude of African men selling various Eiffel Tower souvenirs who had the ability to quickly pack up and move when the police showed up. There were also the ball and cup games happening with 3 or so helpers pretending to part of the crowd. It was lots of fun to watch.

Saturday, 05 September

An early morning start had us at the entrance of the Louvre with only 30 people in front of us. We were able to see the Mona Lisa and escape far from the maddening crowds and see the other cool things in the museum.

After a late morning tea we caught trains to see Notre Dame but halfway there Gene realised she had left her night time braces at the cafeteria. As we had already lost he day time ones in the UK, we had lunch at MacDonalds and I went back and went hunting for them. Luckily, the staff had put them away and I was able to quickly collect them and join up with the girls again.

We visited Notre Dame and the crypt next door to it but not the catacombs which we though was the latter. Bugger. The Cathedral was amazing and the stained glass fantastic. I don’t know how old the rear windows are but they look close to the 13^th century but I’m thinking that they may be actually 18^th Century…… I’ll have to google it.

So we’re back safe and sound with French berets, of course. Tomorrow, we head towards Mont St Micheal.

Trying to muffle the muffler.

Friday, 28 August

On starting the motor on Tuesday morning, I knew something wasn’t right. It started fine but it was just LOUD. We moved out of Geneva, the city of perpetual red lights, and onto the highway entering France and free camping for those so informed.

After a half hour, I pulled over and checked the exhaust (or Auspuff in German) system. It looked OK but I noticed a crack very close to where the exhaust connects to the engine. Bugger. Since it was raining, I didn’t want to spend too much time outside and we kept on going to our end destination at Cogin les Gorges.

I can only speculate that the crack was caused when the Bologna mechanics lifted the muffler too high to the body of Springy. It could have also been damaged by poor hangers (the rubber rings that hold up the muffler). Any which way, it was beyond my abilities to fix, so we took her to the local mechanic just down the road from our night’s stop.

The mechanic was able to weld close some of the cracked muffler but not the top part of the pipe as he couldn’t reach it. At least it was going to stay on for a bit longer. We found the camp site and met the owner, a lovely lady who became a Godsend for us over the next few days.

We visited another local mechanic (our new friend’s mechanic) and they organized to have the required bits sent and they would have it all fixed the following day. Facing the fact we were here for a couple of days, the camper owner took us to the local sites of the Abbey of St Anthony, where you could still see his bones and up into the mountains where the WWII French Resistance fighters were based.

Unfortunately, the mechanic couldn’t fit the new pipe to Springy, something about it being incompatible with her due to her age. It was a bit confusing to me as I couldn’t see the actual connector to the engine with the parts that were shipped. I then asked if the top part of the crack could be welded close if the pipe was removed. They could have a go but we had to bring Springy in the next day.

With that decided, we spent the day relaxing at our friend’s place waiting for the phone call from the mechanics. It was quite a relaxing day overall. I even started and finished making one medieval shoe, something I had been hoping to do for quite a while. We even watched, ‘Monsters Vs Aliens’ in French which was quite entertaining as we had seen it a thousand times before and wanted to listen to the translated version.

With the phone call from the mechanic, we picked up Springy. They were able to weld up the crack but they said it was still a bit loud. Turning on Springy, she sounded just as quite as she was before and we were all quite relieved. That night we celebrated our time with our friend by going to a very nice local restaurant. They even made me drive her left hand drive manual car, something that I had never done before. I thought I went fairly well.

Unfortunately, we now had to change our plans and not visit Spain at all since we had lost so many days. We’ll spend the rest of our time in France and maybe come back to the UK a day or so earlier.

Friday morning came and we had to finally say goodbye to our new friend. There were tears from the girls but we will keep in touch, even if we have to do it old school via email as she doesn’t have Facebook.

As the highway trip from Geneva to Cognin leg Gorges cost us 32 Euro in tolls, we decide to keep off them whenever possible. This will save us some money and Dee can enjoy more of the countryside. It’ll just take us longer to get to the end point in the afternoon. And wear me out a bit as highway driving is less mentally taxing compared to narrower streets, mad on-coming drivers and constant roundabouts

Along the way we visited an amazing antique shop which tempted us greatly, more so if we actually lived in the area and hand a few more dollars.

We also pulled off the road and found a shady area near 2 rivers to have lunch and bit of a siesta. Even though it wasn’t a main road, there did seem to be a bit of traffic some of it very close to us.  As we recovered from our kip we realised the locals were thinking we were prostitutes (remembering in Bologna some prostitutes were making good us of Springy-like campers) We quickly packed up because Dee was starting to panic that someone was going to proposition us, even though she was still saying ‘Bonjour’ to everyone who came by making it sound like she was a welcoming prostitute…..

And someone was practicing with automatic fire somewhere in the locality (not at or near us though).

AT 5.30pm, we finally arrived at Vallon Pont d’Arc (A little valley with the arched bridge). 20 years previous a massive cave system with beautiful 36,000 year-old drawings was found. What the French government had done was create an amazing replica of the site so you can visit the area without damaging any of the actual structure or paintings. I think the last book from ‘Clan of the Cave Bear’ series actually uses the site as part of the story. We didn’t have dinner until 8.30 at night.

Tomorrow, we travel to Beziers the sight of a Crusade where the Gnostic faith was eradicated back in the 12^th century.

Saturday, 29 August

With an 8am start, we saw the Pont d’Arc, a natural landmark of the area. Water has eroded a hole through one side of a valley wall and has created an arch the current river goes through. They have evidence the area has been used for over 36,000 years and I’m has been used a clear reference point since then. It’s nice to think that almost all of the people I know should have ancestors who went, ‘Oh! Ahh!’ just like us.

The back roads to Beziers were nice and we saw some lovely country side but it took ages……

We found antique shops and large Saturday market just outside of Ales. I was able to find a set of small screwdriver heads which was exactly what I was looking for. The supporting screw for our water heater was loose (I blame the Eastern Bloc roads) and I couldn’t tighten it as it’s in a very confined space. With a short screwdriver head and my multi grips, I was able to get some tightness to it. Tomorrow we’ll see how much it rattles.

We made the executive decision and get a French gas bottle. I don’t believe our last English gas bottle has enough inside it to last the next fortnight. After the normal charades I had signed a contract for a bottle and then found out they were out of full bottles for the one I wanted. I then signed another contract for a different bottle, received my gas regulator then went in search for an adaptor to connect my rubber gas hose to the new regulator. I had to buy a complete, outdated, regulator to get the little piece I needed to connect to the hose.

After all that, I decided we’re going on the highway for the last leg (bliss) and we’re now parked in an olive farm in Beziers.

Australians in Austria

Well, I think we're in the Alps? Lots of mountains and it's cool? That'll do!
:)

As we drove to Austria, we passed the area where the 'Otzi the Ice Man' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%96tzi) was found. It's amzing to think that this area was populated for so may thousands of years.

Innsbruck was great. A nice wander around and enjoy the sights. The ongoing fun of trying to find a non-undercover parking spot for Springy and local businesses that don't want your business because I don't speak their language were the only mars of the day.

We also found some Mustache wax.....
:)


We found some cheap but awesome apple juice that is thick and tastes amazing. We noticed a bee had come in and was making circles around an empty bottle of one, so I put a dreg of juice in the lid and set it aside for the bee who fell upon it and had his fill. Within half an hour, we had 3 more bees in the camper, so I moved the lid outside.

As we were getting ready to leave Innsbruck, we struck up a conversation with another Aussie who was travelling with his wife. It's amazing how good it feels to listen to a person with the same accent as you.

The mountains are still awesome and gene has secretly fallen in love them.

We made our way to Lichtenstein and stayed in the nation's capital in the parking lot of their soccer stadium. We even had a clear view of the Royal abode.

Today, we drove to Lucern in Switzerland, hoping to see a library of medieval books that we saw in the 1999 trip. Our memory must be failing on us as the library is in St Gallon instead. Bugger. It's still a beautiful town. I took Gene for a walk to find the library that didn't exist and found awesome stuff instead as Dee had an afternoon rest.

We decided to stay the night in Lucern and push on to Geneva tomorrow so we're at CERN bright and early for the Monday morning tour we're on.

I even did some laundry, de-rusted bits of Springy, fixed the exhaust pipe and did the washing up. Quite a balanced day of chores.
:)

Leaving Italy

Today, Dee was released from hospital at about 4.30pm with a nifty bag of drugs that will almost get her through to our return to Australia. It was a bit of a decision whether to stay in Bologna for another night or head towards Austria. In the end, Dee was happy to move on, so we did. It's great to be all together again.

She's taking it very carefully and we're not letting her do anything stupid.

Once we were on the highway, we noticed the smell of exhaust fumes in Springy and Gene was saying how hot the back was, even when it was quite cool. We pulled over for dinner and I realised when the mechanics looked at the exhaust pipe, they used the small rubber hangers that hold the exhaust pipe up. The problem was it was too high up and fumes and heat were coming in. I took off 2 of the rubber rings, lowering it down to where it was before. No problems with heat an fumes now but it still needs good long rings to keep it at the distance required and stable.

The mountains we're passing between are amazing with castles and medieval towns all along the way.

We found our campsite for the night, a place at the top of another mountain, this time with wet roads.It's a nice place but horribly expensive due to the high season. We should be in Innsbruck, Austria tomorrow.

Prepare for the confusion of having Australians in Austria!

It all sounds like Baloney

Tuesday, 18 August

The days have been filled with visiting Dee twice a day, getting various bits of Springy seen to and trying to rest. It hasn’t been bad, just not static.

The good news is that Dee is being released tomorrow but we don’t know when. We’re hoping it’s before lunch but you can never tell.

I love making connection to English words from the local words. Whilst Dee is in hospital, I found out that 'Floor' in Italian is 'Piano' and 'Room' is 'Camera'.

One of our friends, who has been taking care of our place whilst we’re gone was a Godsend today. To ensure we didn’t have to pay any of the hospital costs and allow the reciprocal arrangement between Italy and Australia national health services occur, we had to provide Dee’s Medicare card. First I thought it was in Dee’s purse that was stolen in Hungary but Dee had left it back in Australia with all the other bits and pieces she normally carries. Our friend was able to get to our place at night and find it (the latter bit the major concern, trying to remember where we put it 4 months ago), take a photo of the card and email the hospital. It was a massive relief.

The current plan is pick up Dee and start driving to Austria. We’re hoping its cooler up in the Italian Alps.

With Gene and I driving the length and longth of Bologna visiting Dee ad doing various odd jobs, 2 things have gained our notice.

1. Roadside prostitution is quite common in the city. Not only are they at various roundabout and such but they have campervans.  I think it’s quite inventive but they all look like the same style and age as Springy. I would hate for anyone to think of me as fat, furry man whore judging me by the vehicle I drive. It was also a good opportunity to talk to Gene about prostitution in today’s society.

2. Traffic light windscreen wipers. These guys come out when you’ve stopped at the red light and ask if you want your windscreen wiped. Even if you say, ‘No’, they still do it and then ask for money. Canberra has them but if you say no, they don’t wash your windscreen or do it and not ask for money. These Buggers do and it drives me insane. I picked up the local technique of stopping about 5m from before where I’m supposed to stop and when they come up to my window, I drive forward, leaving them behind me. The fact that I still had suds on my window from the previous window washer should indicate that I don’t need his services. I don’t mind beggars though, they are a bit different. They don’t provide a service you don’t want and then expect payment.

I’d rather see more prostitutes on the road than window wipers.

Today, we also found a locksmith to try to open the safety box we found underneath our cupboards drawers. We have no idea what’s in it as we never received a key. Unfortunately, he couldn’t open it, so the mystery continues.

I love the idea of businesses closing for the summer break but I do hate the fact that all the businesses that provide items for camper vans and caravans are closed during the high season  when caravans and campervans are visiting and require a bit of TLC.

Now for some stupidity from me.

About a fortnight ago I wrote above our water tank port ‘Lock’ and ‘Unlock’ with arrows pointing in the relevant directions as the girls could never figure out how to open. Then they got miffed that I wrote it as it indicated that they couldn’t open a locked nozzle which they couldn’t. I also did the same with the little back hatch that holds our water hose and fold up chairs). The next time I tried to open the port, I thought I opened it the wrong way and I had written the lock and unlock directions the opposite way. Today, I tried to open the port doing the opposite of the incorrect markings for quite a while but to no avail. I thought the lock was busted somehow and I had even prepared to visit a professional the following morning to sort it out. Then I tried following the actual arrow directions I had originally drawn and it opened easily. So I was smart to draw it in the first place but an idiot (twice over) to think I had drawn it wrong then follow my incorrect assumption. The good thing is I know now which way is correct…….

Ever since we bought Springy, we had been using gas to run the fridge when we were stationary and the leisure battery when we were on the road. Most of our overnight stops didn’t supply external power, so we didn’t worry about that third option. Coming into countries that didn’t condone free parking, we tried the external power but it didn’t seem to work. We just figured that the fridge just didn’t work that way and we just accepted it (figuring the cost of getting the electrical system was a bit too much). When we replaced the fridge, we realised it didn’t run on external electrical as well, reinforcing our original thoughts. About a week or so later, Dee is sorting out her clothes cupboard which is situated next to the fridge and notices a power point at the back with a cable half plugged in and the switch turned off. When she pointed it out it finally clicked that the fridge wasn’t hardwired into the electrical system but just plugged in. Plugging the plug in and throwing the switch gave us a cold fridge in a couple of hours.

Gene now has a Hello Kitty Wonder Woman watch thanks to a McDonalds Happy Meal.