Iceland Summer Dispatch II - Sunday, 28th July 2013

Dear Friends, we are sitting comfortably in the Emirates Lounge this afternoon after a very long day. Wes has been writing up critiques for Trip Advisor and now is having a well-earned break while I catch up on emails etc. I left you at Budir, which was a beautiful peaceful place to visit.

On Friday we decided to walk all morning and tried to reach one of the many beautiful waterfalls within an hour’s walk. Sadly we could only get to the little creeks that they feed, but we loved the walk and after we retraced our steps back our hotel, we walked towards the shore and eventually visited the little Church, which is very popular as a wedding venue, but has a lovely little graveyard with a lych-gate entry.

We discovered this Church had only been saved in the 1870s by a very determined woman, who is buried there and much revered. Around the Church there are about 17 different varieties of fern and some wonderful rock formations caused by lava many centuries ago. We found caves, which Wes suggested could be homes for the Hidden People, which Yrsa told us about. They are the children of Eve that she didn’t have time to wash when God came to inspect them, so she hid them. He declared they would be hidden forever and they apparently live in Iceland.

That night we enjoyed another lovely meal in the restaurant and got talking with a lovely Swiss couple, who couldn’t believe that we celebrate the Swiss-Italians in our little country town. They are well-travelled and speak good English, so it was fun to share stories. Icelanders are all taught English from early school and speak it very well, with a slight lilt. They prefer you to speak English to them and if you try Icelandic phrases they answer you in English anyway. There is no tipping, but very good service.

 

Yesterday morning after getting our footy results, we set off for the long drive back to Reykjavik, detouring into a couple of interesting fishing villages and saving an hour or so by travelling down a 6km tunnel under rocks. The toll is $10, which is in keeping with most costs in Iceland…it isn’t cheap, but it is worth a visit, and we haven’t done many of the usual tourist things.

We checked into Grand Hotel, which is outside Reykjavik and is basically a conference venue. However, the very obliging receptionist was able to produce an Iceland phone book (something no-one else has been willing or able to do) and I finally saw for myself that Icelanders are entered by first names, not surnames. It was this piece of information in the first book I read by Arnaldur Indridason that made me want to visit Iceland and we are both so pleased we did.

 

Wifi was poor and only available in the lobby, so our plans to watch our footy games vanished and we caught a taxi into town ($20) and had a yummy meal at Iceland Fish & Chips (no menu as the food depends on the day’s catch). We had lightly fried fish with smashed potatoes and mango salad, and then walked back to our hotel along the shore, past all the wonderful sculptures again.

 

We set our alarms for 2.30am today so be ready for the coach to pick us up at 3.30am, so it didn’t arrive until 4 and by the time we changed coaches mid-stream and picked up other sleeping passengers, it was 5.30am by the time we got to Keflavik airport and joined the long queues. One of the advantages of being in town around 4am was that we saw everyone emerging from the nightclubs and stumbling into the waiting taxis!

Everything went smoothly at the airport, we were able to claim our VAT and change our kroner back into Australian dollars. The flight was much more comfortable than the one we took on Tuesday and we were through formalities at Gatwick, had retrieved our stored suitcase and were ready and waiting for our Emirates driver when he arrived at midday.

We took about 75 minutes to check in, go through security and collect our VAT (mostly spent in the VAT queue with only one window open), and finally collapsed into comfy chairs here in the lounge, where Wes made me a pot of tea and a smoked salmon roll for breakfast/lunch. When I finish this I’ll have a shower and start again. Our flight doesn’t leave until 10.15pm, four hours from now.

 

Thanks again for all your interest and your comments – they are all much appreciated.

4.30 am Sunrise this morning on our way to the airport

 

Iceland Summer Dispatch I - Friday, 26th July 2013

Dear Friends, we are loving Iceland and I thought it would be good to give you some impressions before we set off for home on Sunday, which will be a very long day with an early flight from Reykjavik into Gatwick, followed by a car trip from there to Heathrow and an evening flight to Melbourne via Dubai & Singapore, arriving back in Daylesford sometime on Tuesday morning.

When I last wrote we were off to see Passion Play with Zoë Wanamaker leading a sterling cast in a play about infidelity from the male and female points of view. During interval we discovered that the Royal baby had been born...at last.

We said goodbye to Jane, David, Terry and Annette the next morning at breakfast, then off to Victoria Station with a very helpful cab driver, who deposited us at the exact spot for the Gatwick Express. Once we arrived Wes took our spare suitcase and put it in storage, we checked into Wow Airlines and caught the shuttle to the North Gatwick airport, found the Emirates desk and arranged our pick-up from Gatwick on Sunday to Heathrow.

Our first glimpse of Iceland

The trip to Reykjavik was, as Wes described in Facebook, very like being in Coles Cafeteria. We were underwhelmed to say the least, and very pleased when we finally touched down in Iceland. We had tickets for the coach which dropped us off at our Hotel, where we had a comfortable bed, separate doonas, a stand-alone shower and free wifi. We asked for recommendations for seafood and enjoyed a lovely meal before collapsing into bed, exhausted, only to be wakened at 2am by the noise from the next door nightclub. Our room has no air-conditioning except for open windows, so we could hear everything from the nightclub balcony.

Breakfast was completely self-serve with some interesting food on offer – fruits, meats, cheeses, various breads, unidentifiable cereals and cold or lukewarm eggs. We headed off for a long walk around the Old Harbour in the fog. Everyone was rugged up in jackets and scarves, while we were wearing our footy polos and enjoying the feel of cool air on our skin.

Sculpture Tribute to Lost Seamen at Modern Wharf

We visited the Settlement Museum and learned that Iceland is a comparatively young country and that everyone was baptised a Catholic in the 1200s, and later everyone converted to Protestantism during the Reformation. I had thought Iceland was not big on religion, but I was wrong and there are plenty of parish churches, as well as a stunning Church on the hill in Reykjavik – Hallsgrimkirjka. Wes was worried that I would want to climb to the top, but the only option was by lift so we did that and gained stunning views of the capital. The Church contains an obscenely huge shining organ inside, which exactly matches its architecture, but was placed there some years after it was built.  

We had agreed before we left home that we would each buy an Icelandic jumper, so after our sight-seeing we headed to the shops and I easily found a black-and-white number that fitted and suited, but Wes tried on quite a few that weren’t quite right. We went to another smaller shop and found the perfect navy blue and white jumper for him, and as they are quite lightweight, there should be no problems with the 20kg luggage limit on our return Wow Airline trip.

That afternoon we were collected by a young man from Europa Cars and picked up our Suzuki Swift which we have until tomorrow. Not only is it frightening to drive on the other side of the road, but the gears are in the wrong spot, as well as indicators and windscreen washers. Wes did very well to get us back into the City Centre with the help of the GPS we hired. After parking the car we went to the Volcano House to see an hour long film on the two most recent big eruptions….we saw amazing footage of 1973 and 2010, with big advances over that time in how to combat the eruptions and clean up afterwards.

Fortunately no-one visited our nearby nightclub, so we had a good night’s sleep after enjoying an authentic Icelandic dinner at a local café near the Church. Wes parked the car as close to our hotel as he could and we were easily able to get our suitcases in yesterday morning before going back to our favourite car-park, where parking is very cheap and plentiful right on the harbour.

Traditional Icelandic Fare

We went for a long walk along the shore, admiring the wonderful sculptures and looking at the various styles of architecture. Then to the Viking Museum, which is dedicated to celebrating the life of Icelandic seamen. Apart from room after room of boats, nets, clothes, photos and information, we were able to see a 20-year old film showing a day in the life of a home to us the hardships they undergo just to bring in a day’s catch. These men were all farmers in Summer and became fishermen in Winter.

The day before when we had been wandering through the old part of town, I followed a couple of Japanese women into the only open building looking for the toilets. There were only two toilets and one remained occupied for ages until a frustrated older American woman emerged and asked plaintively Can anyone help me flush this toilet please as I can’t find the flush? I stepped in to help her and discovered she had been looking for a small button to push or wave her hand over, however the big shiny contraption that she thought was the cistern was actually the flush, so I solved her problem, used the toilet myself and went back to find Wes.

Sometimes things are meant to be – my long absence in the loo meant Wes had been reading everything on the walls around him and found a poster advertising a talk by Ysra Sigurdardottir (the famous Icelandic female crime writer) at the Concert Hall. We had gone to the Hall, checked out that this was correct and that all we needed to do was turn up to the café at 12 yesterday and we could see and hear her. So we did just that and it was a magic experience. She has a good sense of humour, explaining that Iceland is the safest country in the world and murder is very rare, so it is interesting that she and Arnaldur Indridason have become such prolific crime writers. I bought two of her books and we chatted together while she signed them for us. What a thrill!

 

Reykjavik is the sixth UNESCO City of Literature and the only non-English speaking one to have that honour – the others are Edinburgh, Melbourne, Iowa, Dublin and Norwich. According to what we read, there are more books published per capita in Iceland than nearly every other country in the world. This talk we attended was part of the UNESCO involvement, and they were sponsoring weekly talks during July.

We then hit the road and drove here to Budin, about 180 kms from Reykjavik, where there is the Atlantic Ocean, a hotel and a church, some sheep and two Labradors and a stunning view of all these things from our room at the top of the hotel. Wifi is only available in public areas, but being able to sit here typing to you with the sound of the ocean on my right and three inquisitive sheep watching my every move more than makes up for it.

View from our room this morning

Everyone speaks excellent English, we enjoyed a very yummy meal in the dining room last night, followed by nightcaps in the bar – just about every liqueur known to man, except Dom, is available and they even have a book of Hendricks Gin Cocktails to choose from!

This morning we had a yummy self-serve breakfast in the dining room with each table laid with a different hand-embroidered tea-cloth. Sheep and dogs watched us and the odd bird swooped around outside. It rained overnight and is delightfully cool. We will go for a long walk after I send this off and perhaps a drive this afternoon. Tomorrow we take the car back to Reykjavik and spend our last night in Iceland in a different hotel before heading off to the airport for a 6am flight!

Our bed - underneath are two pillows & a doona each!

England Summer Dispatch IV - Monday, 22nd July 2013

Dear Friends, we are resting in our room before packing and then going out to an early dinner at Giovanni’s and then Passion Play, starring Zoë Wanamaker. Leigh & Jeff are joining Wes, Terry and I at the play, and Simon & Kev are having dinner with us beforehand. This is our last day in England, so I thought I would get a short Dispatch out to you as I don’t know what the wifi will be like in Iceland.

As you are very aware, Australia was appallingly bad in the Second Test at Lord’s and we were very disappointed after the exciting First Test. We duly turned up each day, sat in our seats until the sun got too hot, when we went for a walk in the shade, and usually left at tea-time which meant we were back in our hotel in time to watch most of the last session.

I usually went to the Ladies Toilets under our stand, but one day I used the ones near the picnic area and discovered they were flushed by pulling a chain – it was like going back in time – the newer ones automatically flush of course!

Wes & Terry at The Oval

Footy has continued to be a big topic with the Suns toppling the Pies, the Crows enjoying an unexpected win against the Cats, Carlton & North playing a nail-biter, ditto Port & St Kilda. I’ve come in for a lot of ribbing because of my Collingwood allegiance!

We enjoyed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which was very faithful to the book, had an excellent cast & set, and kept us spellbound. Wes and I each managed to lose our Travel Cards at some stage during the evening, so I am very pleased I packed our Oyster cards just in case. Our travel cards were given by the Premium Tours in lieu of bussing us to and from Lord’s.

On Saturday we caught up with all of my family that lives here – Jeff & Kev, Leigh & Simon, Mike, Kelly & their son, Archie. We had not met Archie before, so bought him a Lord’s cricket ball as a memento and he seemed to like it. The occasion was Mike’s 40^th birthday and we were thrilled to be part of the celebrations. Leigh very kindly booked a French Restaurant within walking distance of our hotel and we ate early which suited everyone.

Archie & Leigh

This morning we had a very early breakfast as we had gone to bed early the night before and set off for a walk before the temperature reached the predicted 31°. We walked through Green Park, Hyde Park and Whitehall Gardens, then over a bridge and along the Thames until we reached The Globe theatre, which I was very keen to see. We were just in time for the first tour of the morning and what a treat it was! Our guide, Val, was passionate about the theatre and she really brought it all alive.  As Zoë Wanamaker’s father, Sam, was the driving force behind its reconstruction, it seemed like a good time to visit. And now we can’t wait to come back and see a play there.

Wes loving The Globe

We continued our walk afterwards and went back to Covent Garden area to book the table for tonight and see if we could find some book bargains in Charing Cross Road. The table is booked but the bargains were not to be found. I’ll be in touch again when I can – if not in Iceland, then at Heathrow before we fly home on Sunday.

 

 

There are two opening times for Whitehall Gardens, everything else is closing times – I love it!

 

 

English Summer Dispatch III - Friday, 19th July 2013

Dear Friends, we are now in the Hilton Hotel on Park Lane, which is a very expensive & comfortable place to be, close to the Green Park tube station which is three stations from St John’s Wood & Lord’s. When I wrote last, we were about to leave Nottingham. I managed to get a bad cold, which added to my asthma, left me feeling quite exhausted and unable to sleep.

We drove to Stratford Upon Avon, checked in to our hotel and went for a walk with Terry to see how it had changed since we were all there in the 70s. It is a lovely tourist town, which survives because of Shakespeare. We decided to have lunch at The Garrick Inn, where tall Terry had to bend his head to enter the rooms.

 

I left Wes & Terry doing the red bus explorer thing, while I went back to the hotel for a rest and to do some washing. We had a lovely room with a view, very comfortable bed and good pillows and I found myself sleeping for a couple of hours, as did Wes when he returned.

That night we had great seats for It’s a Mad World, My Masters, at the Swan Theatre, where we saw the Royal Shakespeare Company at its finest. This is a Jacobean farce that was set in the 1930s and it was fabulous – great acting, costumes, lines etc. While we were having a drink before the show, we were greeted by three women from Daylesford… they were doing a tour of the theatre and couldn’t believe it when they spotted us.

The next morning we headed off to London via Oxford, where we spent a most enjoyable 90 minutes. Wes and I walked by the river for a while, then to the Ashmolean, where we learned that women were not allowed in that museum for many years and when they were finally allowed in, they had to pay sixpence for the privilege. It was felt that women with their empty heads would not be able to appreciate the wonders that were contained in the museum and that they would flitter about disturbing the important thinking of males.

Although our hotel is lovely, the wifi is ridiculously expensive, but can be obtained free in the lobby and restaurants and bars. So we have opted not to pay for wifi and are putting up with the inconvenience. However, there is free wifi at Lord’s, which also gives me a chance to keep up-to-date on my mobile.

 

Our first few hours here were spent going on a short walk, washing, and resting. I decided not to go to the Cricket Dinner at The Oval, and had an early night. Wes went and tells me that it was very ordinary with Ray Bright & Rodney Hogg as speakers.

We had a completely free day on Wednesday. John had organised a bus tour of London in the morning for those who hadn’t been here before or recently, but we decided to catch the tube to Harrods instead. I bought a new Mason Pearson brush and a new Black & White Shopping bag as the one Lovely & Malcolm gave me is nearly worn out from so much use. It is such a delight to shop there and I was able to replace my Harrod’s card which I had lost and to organise the tax refund we were entitled to for the goods we bought.

 

Then off to the National Gallery for a wander around the Impressionists and a lovely lunch at Giovanni’s, our favourite Italian restaurant here. We first ate there the night before we went to the Opera House and our host has entertained most of the operatic stars, who have all left signed photos. He plays operatic music and when we told him about our previous visit, he even remembered which opera was on at the time.

That afternoon we had tickets to see Daniel Radcliffe in The Cripple of Innishmaan at the Noël Coward Theatre in St Martin’s Lane. Poor Terry was most uncomfortable in his seat, and we swapped places when the girl next to me moved and there was a spare seat. Daniel is to be admired for tackling different and difficult roles and he is a success yet again. Wes loved the play, but Terry and I found it a little repetitive. However, the cast was of a high standard and there was much to ponder on afterwards. Terry shouted us drinks on the 28^th floor of our hotel – it has a beautiful 360° view of London – and then we went to our room, while he joined most of our group at the pre-match function.

I was still unwell, and coughing, and Wes was starting to cough too, so we decided to stay quietly in our room and read and get an early night.

 

Yesterday was Day 1 of the Test at Lord’s, so we gathered together with Jane, David, Terry, Annette & Steve (a young teacher from Traralgon on his first overseas trip) to catch the tube. Steve had not been into the underground, so we were asked to look after him. He had handed all his laundry into the hotel without asking the cost and hasn’t recovered from being charged $255 for a few t-shirts, socks and jocks. We nearly lost him a couple of times, but eventually we all got to the East Gate at Lord’s and in we went.

Lord’s is unusual and exciting, but not a patch on Trent Bridge when it comes to atmosphere. We are sitting in the Mound Stand, in the front, where there is no cover, so it very quickly gets too hot to bear. Wes and I went for a walk around, through the Lord’s shop, via Jamie Oliver’s hamper pick-up site, over to the grassed picnic area, past the Veuve Cliquot Tent ($70 half-bottle), and around by the ordinary members area.

 

We were pleased to have been there for a visit by the Queen with all the pomp and ceremony that entailed and she stayed for quite a while, until no doubt, someone suggested that she go and the wickets might stop falling. Not only can we not see The Fanatics, we can’t hear them either, ditto the Barmy Army.

Wes and I left at Tea, as did Jane & David, and we watched the rest of the game from the comfort of our room. I suspect we will be doing something similar today as it is going to be hot again and we are in the 3^rd row which will get the sun very quickly. Tonight we are off to see The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at the Apollo Theatre, so will have to rest up for that.

English Summer Dispatch II - Sunday, 14th July 2013

Dear Friends, I left you after Day Two of an amazing Test Match. Day 3 was very hot and humid, tough weather for a couple of Daylesfordites – we walked to the ground, which is a lovely form of exercise and gives us a chance to observe our fellow walkers. Our seats have all been in the New Stand, towards the back with a side-on view, but great elevation. Thanks to Glenda & Joe Rozen and the Stevensons for spotting us – I’m wearing my Collingwood polo top in preference to our uniform which resembles convict gear, and Wes is often to be seen in navy blue. Our dear friend, Jane, is appalled that we crass Victorians turn up in footy gear, and I try to explain that footy is even more important to us than international cricket – witness Shane Warne, who only played cricket for Australia because he wasn’t good enough to get a regular game with St Kilda.

The couple behind me are wearing their Collingwood jumpers

After Day 3, and drinks in the bar with friends, Wes and I came back to our room to watch the Collingwood match. I knew the result as I get quarter by quarter scores sent from the AFL, but I was keen to see the action. Sadly the video wasn’t available on AFL Live, so we caught up on emails and then watched Sherlock Holmes with Benedict Cumberbatch and had pizzas & red wine.

Day 4 was very hot again, we walked to the ground and watched the Poms get an excellent lead before the Aussies started very well and then lost a raft of wickets. We were thrilled that Agar came in up the order and the Fanatics were in their element. They are so well organised, very gracious to the opposition and are enjoying the ultimate compliment – the Barmy Army is copying some of their tactics, especially the “quack, quack” chant when a new batsman comes to the crease. I can’t adequately describe the atmosphere, nor tell you how welcoming all the staff are at this ground. We are in love with Trent Bridge with all its idiosyncrasies! (Not least of which is that it holds just over 17,000 in 10 different stands).

We had drinks at the bar again – Wes ordered a bottle of Pinot Gris and when he got back to the table with it, discovered it hadn’t been opened and had a cork, not a screw top. That is the calibre of the staff here – you want a bottle, here is your bottle! Jane, Annette & Laurie joined us for a drink, but then went their separate ways; while Terry, Wes and I were all happy to have a casual bar meal and I had an early night, while Wes & Terry stayed for a couple more hours. We had hoped to watch the Carlton game, as Wes had chosen not to know the score, but once again the internet has let us down. This is the system that Malcolm Turnbull wanted for Australia and it is pathetic.

The good news for us is that the basin now lets water out and the toilet can flush more than once every ten minutes. Our doona is a series of lumps, and we are all praying that our hotel in Park Lane will be somewhat superior. This is easily the most indifferent housekeeping service we have experienced in years. I learned today that those of us foolish enough to entrust their clothes to the hotel laundry aren’t getting them back, as they have been lost!

Today we rose early, I successfully spoke with Viva, Wes contacted Barbara, and we set off for our morning walk to the ground in high anticipation and excitement. Once again all the ground staff were most welcoming, our seats were good and there was some great banter before the game. At 10.58am the scoreboard shows exciting English Test play, while a wonderful male singer belts out Jerusalem….it never fails to give me goosebumps.

Sitting with Terry McDonald

Once we were 9 wickets down, I remembered Border & Thommo failing by 3 runs at the MCG all those years ago and prayed for a different result. Sadly it was not to be and it was such an anti-climax for the game to be decided by a referral. I am now firmly of the opinion that the captains should not be allowed any referrals, instead the two field umpires should work in conjunction with the third umpire whenever there is doubt. Otherwise our umpires will lose all confidence in their decision-making and there are only 4 of them to stand in the 5 Tests.

Wes and I walked home from the ground among victorious Poms and downcast Aussies, but we are very proud of the effort they put in, and we have witnessed one of the nail-biting, fascinating and exciting Ashes Tests in recent times.

We bought a new small suitcase on our way back to our hotel,  as we need to put all our books in a case that we store at Gatwick when we travel to Iceland after the Lord’s Test. Now we are resting in our room and I’ve decided to write to you and update you on our feelings after this Test. Tonight we hope to have dinner with Jane, David, Terry & Annette, and tomorrow we leave Nottingham en route to London via a stopover in Stratford upon Avon. Wes, Terry and I are going to see a performance by the Royal Shakespeare Company of It’s a Mad, Mad World My Masters.

English Summer Dispatch I - Thursday, 11th July 2013

Dear Friends, I am writing to you from England. We were very sorry to say goodbye to Scotland and will be back again soon …..during Summer, it offers all the advantages of Winter without the cold! When I left you we were heading off to Ayr Races, which we duly did after first travelling along Racecourse Road, which led to the Golf Course. We found the parking a challenge – no orange or green-coated men to direct you and we weaved our way to the end of the line where we parked in long grass alongside the straight. Getting tickets was fun – you pass all the admittance doors and stand outside 4 portacabins, with two men each inside. One man ignores you and the other takes your money, and then punches a hole in each ticket & threads a cord through – I can’t believe this wasn’t done in advance, always assuming you needed to wear a ticket at all.

We loved the races, although we were unsuccessful except for a place bet. The course was very clean, including the toilets, betting was a mystery and we were quite surprised to discover that our tote bet was actually with an SP bookie, who paid well it turned out. The races were run anti-clockwise, which I have not seen before in the UK and we left after the second-last race to avoid the horrible mess that would occur when everyone was trying to either walk to their car or escape in their car along the same narrow walkway (or should I say grassway).

On our way home we detoured to the pretty little seaside village of Dunure, where we enjoyed lobster and langoustines cooked perfectly. We only wished we had found the pub earlier!

Next day we rose early, breakfasted lightly, said goodbye to our very friendly hosts and headed for Bradford via a couple of Farm Shop stops, where clean toilets and acceptable tea & coffee can be had easily. We were thrilled to discover we were in Brontë country and that our Guest House was in Cullingworth, a lovely little village outside of Bradford, where Mark made us most comfortable.

Rooftop in Harwood

We spent the afternoon applying henna, then when we were both clean and tidy again, walked to the George Hotel, where Wes had a glorious meal of pheasant on couscous hotpot and I enjoyed breaded prawns with chili sauce. Wifi was free, but sporadic, so we did our best to catch up with emails, ring Viva and contact Barbara, but it wasn’t easy.

Breakfast next morning was most enjoyable, although we ate lightly as we were meeting Jeff & Kev for lunch. On our way we drove through Harwood to the Brontë Museum, which was most impressive and a very reverent celebration of that amazing family. We headed for Newark and were doing well until there was an accident just ahead of us on the A1, which set us behind about 20 minutes.

View from the Bronte Parsonage

We spent a very relaxed and enjoyable hour and a half with Jeff & Kev, catching up with all their news and telling them ours. They are both looking very well and we were grateful that they drove out of their way to meet in a spot that left us with a 45 minute drive to Nottingham.

We arrived at our hotel at the same time as two busloads of Aussies and just after our group had checked in. Wes had to return the car, so left me with the luggage in the foyer, where I met up with one of our party, Sondra, who helped me get 2 suitcases, a laptop, a bag & two coats to the lift and out again.

David, Us, Annette & Jane

Our hotel, the Crowne Plaza, is a tired old hotel, and although our room is quite big with two chairs, a Q bed and a couch; we have a few issues – the toilet flushes properly intermittently, the basin blocks regularly, there was a blown globe in Wes’s reading light and the internet, which costs an arm & a leg, is extremely unreliable. All of these issues have been brought to the attention of reception and so far the globe has been replaced and we have been given 10 free one hour internet access vouchers.

That night there was a function here, compered by Jim Maxwell, who interviewed Chris Broad, John Inverarity, Nathan Lyon, Matthew Wade and the Barmy Army trumpeter among others. We were thrilled to catch up with Jane, David, Terry and Annette. After a while, both Jane & I headed for bed, and Wes, David & Terry went to a nearby pub and solved the world’s problems.

Yesterday morning we all met in the foyer at 9am for a group photo, then caught the bus to Trent Bridge. We were very excited as this was the first overseas Ashes Test for some of us and we weren’t disappointed. All the officials were friendly and smiling, our seats in the New Stand, which looks quite weird with its wind-break roof, were brilliant and full of Aussies, and the atmosphere was magic.

A full ceremonial band played while a woman with a wonderful voice gave great renditions of both national anthems; the Red Arrows (like our Roulettes) flew by in formation, and finally the umpires walked onto the ground and play began. Australia did very well to restrict the Poms to 215, but that wasn’t looking so flash by the end of the day’s play, when 14 wickets in all had fallen.

Wes and I decided to have a quiet meal in the bar when we got home as I was too tired to go out, and a very enjoyable one it was…. King prawns linguini with chili and rocket. We were quite surprised when the helpful young man who had replaced the blown globe was our food waiter, but it is that sort of hotel.

This morning we six decided to walk to the ground instead of getting the bus, so we set off at 9.30 and discovered that the centre of Nottingham is full of pedestrian malls and very easy to traverse. We found our way very easily and were back in the New Stand a couple of rows further back than yesterday, which was good, as the sun came out today and we were sheltered from it for most of the time.

What an unforgettable day we saw – Australia was batting well, then lost 5 wickets in 8 balls and disaster loomed. Suddenly out strode our 19 year old debutant batting at no 11 and everything changed. He took control, stopped Phil Hughes from attempting suicidal runs and routed the English bowlers. When he was finally out on 98, Australia was well ahead, all manner of records had fallen and once again Test Cricket had shown itself to be the intriguing game it is.

Trent Bridge holds about 17,000 spectators, which is quite small by our standards, and today you would have sworn the Aussies outnumbered the Poms by the noise we were all making. It was one of the memorable days and being there was incredible – I can’t begin to explain how I feel being in England for Test Cricket – it is a long-term dream come true and I don’t want it to end!

Everyone else has gone out to dinner tonight, but I am tired and thought I would write this Dispatch and have an early night. Thanks again to everyone for keeping in touch and apologies that our contact with you has been so spasmodic since we arrived in England. And apologies to those of you who don’t enjoy Test Cricket one little bit…..you don’t know what you are missing!

The Fanatics in Full Cry

Scottish Summer Dispatch V - Sunday, 7th July, 2013

Dear Friends, it is post-breakfast and Wes has just gone for a walk leaving me in control of the laptop, so I thought I would update you on our latest adventures. But before that I need to explain something and make a confession. At Inveraray Castle I got very excited when I saw a herd of deer sitting quietly under a tree and pointed them out to Wes, who said they were the fattest, laziest deer he had ever seen and more resembled Scottish Highland Cattle….and he was right. I haven’t lived that down.

Also I need to explain that when I said we were getting in free at lots of National Trust places because of our Australian membership, there are just as many places that are run by Historic Scotland (previously Dept of Works) and they don’t recognise National Trust. Plus some of the castles are privately-owned and operated. However, we have more than redeemed our membership fees by visiting the many places that are run by the National Trust of Scotland.

Our last full day in Oban was wonderful. We walked Jacob’s Ladder to visit John McCaig’s Tower, which is the highest spot in town and a magnificent unfinished monument built in 1900 in the town’s botanic gardens. We strolled back down to the Museum with all its old photos and history, and finally drove for 45 minutes to Ardfern, where we caught a 5-hour Wildlife Watching Cruise into the Atlantic Ocean.

What a thrill that was! The water is clear and shining and very blue. We saw (or had pointed out to us might be more correct) red deer, seals, a nesting osprey with three babies, mountain goats and porpoises (pronounced by the locals as poorpoys, which gave us the giggles). Wes was happy to be on the Atlantic Ocean, but the highlight for me was the whirlpool at the confluence of tides, which spun our flat-bottomed boat around and around!

 

When we got back to Oban, we had a fish tea at Rick Stein’s favourite fish and chip shop, which was doing a roaring trade. We had a glass of wine in the garden of our B&B afterwards and enjoyed the stunning views. I hope we get back to Oban; it was a very enjoyable experience.

The next morning, after another lovely breakfast, we set off for Girvan, on the West Coast. On our way we detoured to Alloway, where Robbie Burns was born. They have a wonderful interactive museum, you can visit the cottage where he was born, and then walk to the Kirk where his parents are buried.

We were surprised to find our current accommodation The Auld Creamery, was actually in Pinwherry, about 11 kms out of Girvan. It is on the main road, which isn’t very busy, and is fairly basic with a bathroom the size of a large cupboard slotted into one wall. However, our hosts are very generous and we have full use of their kitchen, lounge & laundry. So we have taken advantage of all three as there is nowhere to sit in our room.

On Friday morning, Martin gave us a cable to connect the laptop to the TV, so we watched the Carlton vs Collingwood match on a big screen. Afterwards we drove to Hendrick’s Gin, one of the two reasons why we are staying here…we parked in the car park, followed the welcome signs for visitors, reported to the front office and were told no visitors were allowed! How disappointing.

We decided to park and walk the foreshore to the lighthouse and back, and were very sad to discover the current Council removed a Victorian bandstand, bathing boxes and a children’s train about 5 years ago, which is why we had the beach almost to ourselves. As well we drove to see the famous golf courses at Turnberry, where a round costs £190. We then had a late lunch at a local hotel, which is the only place around offering all day dining.

 

Yesterday we set off for Wigtown, Scotland’s Booktown, and although it is much smaller than Hay-on-Wye, we did enjoy our visit and spent 2 hours wandering in and out of the bookstores and having a cuppa in one of their two cafés. We came away with 9 books, not quite the 63 we brought back from Wales.

Our next stop was Dumfries, where Burns lived most of his adult life and where he died. We followed most of the Burns Walk around town including the Museum, his Mausoleum and his Cottage. We had a late lunch, before setting off back here via Ellisland, his farm, and then spent time at Threave Garden, with a wonderful walled garden, a secret garden, a lily pond, a sculpture garden and a woodland garden to wander through.

 

Once again Martin connected the TV for us to watch the Geelong vs Hawthorn game, and he even joined us for the last three quarters and thought Hawthorn’s comeback was very exciting. Martin cooks our breakfasts and Linda does all the cleaning & washing etc. They both enjoy chatting as they live in such a small, isolated spot. Breakfast is a very basic affair, so we have opted for soft-boiled eggs & toast each morning.

We are planning to go to Ayr Races later today and then tomorrow we leave here and have a big drive to Bradford, our half-way point on the way to Nottingham and the 1^st Test at Trent Bridge. We are meeting Jeff & Kev for lunch on Tuesday, and, after three weeks on our own it will be good to spend time with them again.