TravelStream™ news feed for member macpacfam on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/macpacfam en-us Copyright ©2010 TravelPod.com Fri, 07 Sep 2007 17:35:00 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/macpacfam/uk2007/1188681720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/macpacfam/uk2007/1188681720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/macpacfam/uk2007/1188681720/tpod.html Fri, 07 Sep 2007 17:35:00 -0400 Kiwis can fly

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Los Angeles, California, United States

Arrival into LAX and we were met by one massive oversized wheelchair
and a very helpful staff member. He checked our documents and
super-fast tracked us through the system. We had heard so many
horror stories about LAX airport, it was with great surprise we found
ourselves outside waiting for our hotel shuttle within 20 minutes of
having got off the plane! Boy, the advantages a broken leg can
give you!

Next stop the Hilton LAX. We decided we would
finish our world trip in style! The comfortable beds were
thankfully crashed upon.

Liz woke up in the middle of the night
feeling sick and the brain had decided it was 8am in Paris so time to
get up!. Ended up going out to explore the hotel at 3am.
Surprised by how many people were out and about at that time of the
morning - but I guess you have to expect that with an airport
hotel. Helped keep a guard awake for awhile before heading back
to the room to photograph the night lights reflected in the black glass
sides of the hotel & watch the
day dawn.

At breakfast
Shannon commented that the pilot on the table next door must get lonely
eating alone at hotels so frequently. Next time he returned from
the buffet he asked where we were from. It turns out he is an
assistant Scoutmaster in a troop that had recently started up,
Got chatting about the Jamboree & Scouting in general and Andrew
has another Scout troop
contact.

When collecting the rental
car we found we had been upgraded to a car that could have GPS.
This turned out to be a lifesaver for the rest of the trip - navigating
LA with maps only,
especially on the freeways would have been a
nightmare! The GPS mightn't have taken you on the same route as
you would have taken on a map, but it told you how to fix things when
you accidentally go shunted into a wrong turn!

First priority
was a new pair of shoes for Shannon as the swing movement on the
crutches had taken the sole of her left shoe 3/4 off. Reebok's at
$31, Nike's at $39 were a 1/4 of what we pay in New Zealand even
factoring in the exchange rate. So Shannon, Andrew & Daniel
all left with new shoes. However Daniel's were Heelys and he
spent the rest of the time at the Hilton wheeling over the marble
floors with great glee!

Next stop was a shopping mall, but by
here Liz was feeling really under the weather, so decided to return her
to the hotel to sleep it off while the rest went exploring.
Telling everyone to take lots of photos, of course. One of the
things that struck us at the mall, was the size of the people. We
no longer felt we were over-weight as we had through Hong Kong and
Europe.
In fact we felt positively slim against all the American
shoppers. When we saw the range of foods available in the mall
food-court and compared it with New Zealand and the places we had
visited, we weren't all that surprised. You can "upsize" your
fizzy drink from what we would consider a "large" to about 1.5 litres!

First
on the list, the Hollywood sign. Here we discovered the
shortcomings of the GPS unit Hertz provided. If you didn't have a
precise location, name or address to go to, the GPS couldn't take you
there! So we couldn't go right up to the sign. It did offer
a location for the "best views" which we took.

Shannon had this
real feeling of deja vu as we traveled across LA. Recognising
many of the place names and localities. Just the same comments
Andrew had made on first arriving in London. Arriving at our GPS
designated point, we were a bit disappointed the 'view' suggested by
the system was simply in the middle of a road looking in the direction
of the sign. Not really a viewpoint at all. Still, Shannon
and Daniel were satisfied.

Next the museums, Daniel had spotted
the La Brea tar pits on the way and asked to go visit. Typically
for us we arrived just on closing time and didn't get inside the museum
but even so the outdoor displays and area he found interesting
enough. On to Venice Beach where there
was no parking
available close enough for Shannon to hobble her way to the beach and
this was after 6pm on a Saturday! Our timing was up to it's
superlative best, so all feeling a bit hungry we headed back to the
hotel to pick up Liz for dinner.

LA was an odd collection of
experiences for us. Our first taste of Americana and we found the
contrasts with Europe quite marked. LA is built for cars, big
cars. There's not the consideration for pedestrians we found in
Europe. Nor did we see much support for mass transit, like the
metro systems of Rome, Paris and London. Seeing oil derricks
working in the middle of the city seemed really out of place. LA
seemed dirty. You looked up to brilliant blue skies but if you
looked to the horizon the atmosphere was a dirty brown haze. This
colour was also the colourings of many of the buildings.

Advertising
was everywhere, big and in your face. Nothing subtle or elegant
in sight. It made driving quite distracting. But even with
all of these things, LA was still an enticing place to be.

Finally
back at the hotel, Liz was still sleeping. Well, until Daniel
entered in his quietest manner! The dent in the ceiling was
solely due to the speed at which Liz woke. None of us wanted all
that much to eat and certainly not the fine dining offered in the hotel
restaurants, so
we walked a couple hundred metres down the road to a
Carl Jr diner, a burger joint midway between a McDonald's and Denny's
in food styles. Adequate enough to satisfy our hunger without
costing a lot.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/macpacfam/uk2007/1188608400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/macpacfam/uk2007/1188608400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/macpacfam/uk2007/1188608400/tpod.html Fri, 07 Sep 2007 17:21:30 -0400 Kiwis can fly

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London Heathrow, United Kingdom

Early start and we headed back into London, reversing our route from
the previous day... leaving Shannon & Daniel in the Underground
station with the bags while Liz went back to collect her wallet that
she had left at BP house & Andrew went to find an Internet cafe
where we could try and catch up on this blog that was now lagging
behind rather badly.

Daniel settled down on the far side of
the bags with his book and Shannon wandered over to the station shops
to buy some souvenirs. Next they know the security was checking
out the 6 reports they had received of the "unattended baggage".
Daniel objected to being called unattended baggage and denied that he
had been abandoned by irresponsible parents at the station.

Andrew
found a cafe just down the street so we spent an hour with a couple of
machines at least getting out of Italy until it was time to head to LHR
and the first flight home. When we arrived we got priority
treatment for Shannon and told to wait for the wheelchair to
arrive. We just weren't told they weren't planning on sending it
for 2 HOURS!!!! While waiting for it to arrive the teenager used
up the last of the credit on all the cell phones texting her UK
friends. Daniel & Liz went to find lunch & spend the pile
of UK coins on little extras. When the wheelchair arrived we were
whisked away to customs.... only to find that only one other person
could fast-track with her. Shannon & Andrew with hypodermic
needles didn't have nearly as much trouble clearing customs as Liz
& Daniel with empty drink bottles! Next we know we were put
in a golf buggy and screaming down the corridors (inside) the airport
to the departure gate at the far, far, far end of Terminal 3.

We
got the back row of the plane and was able to spread out to give
Shannon an extra seat for her leg. We were old pros at the
entertainment system by now..... 4 movies, a TV programme and 20 games
of solitaire - while listening to music, later and we will be in
LAX! Sleep... who needs sleep? This day is only going to be
28 hours long from when we get up until we go to bed - and it will
still be the 31 August!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/macpacfam/uk2007/1188867600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/macpacfam/uk2007/1188867600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/macpacfam/uk2007/1188867600/tpod.html Fri, 07 Sep 2007 17:19:54 -0400 Kiwis can fly

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Christchurch, New Zealand

Well, the time has finally come, we aren't really sure if we should be sad (our trip is ending) or happy (to get back home). It seems such a long time ago we gathered with the scouts in Auckland and now we're just about the last of that group to return home.

It's been a long day for us. Starting 6am LA time, we filled our last day at Universal Studios before arriving at LA airport for our 9pm flight to New Zealand. The flight was delayed departing LA and the 12 hour flight seemed longer than any we'd done so far. In Auckland we missed 4 connecting flights to Christchurch (home). The first due bureaucratic customs procedures, second as there wasn't time to travel between terminals, third when the aircraft broke down, fourth - no seats because of the broken plane! Five more hours in the airport before we were airborne on our last flight. Back in Christchurch an hour and a half later. A total of 33 hours since we woke up three days before!



Christchurch temperatures felt wrong somehow, 8 degrees, we thought there should have been a '2' in front of that number. It was COLD, it was WET but Shannon was happy as could be. Her boyfriend was waiting to greet her on our arrival!





Nobody knew our exact arrival time (except Shannon's boyfriend, she had texted him from Auckland), yet within 15 minutes of us walking into our home we had visitors on our doorstep and the phone was ringing!


All the medical services we had visited since Shannon fell down the stairs in Paris, had told us to get Shannon's injuries checked when we arrived home. Our GP took one look and sent Shannon off to a specialist. The result.... he didn't think Shannon had any broken
bones and the cast wasn't needed. Shannon's response, YES!!! One might think she didn't want to be in a cast. Though the specialist did say that the cast would have been beneficial
to the muscles and tendons she had damaged and probably been a 'good thing'.

Now back home, Daniel has to rewrite his diary - 'lost' in transit, his schoolwork for the term and what he needs to report on to his class when he goes back on Monday. Shannon has a
rude return to reality, her year group are starting exams Friday (two days after our arrival) and needs to be back for them. Andrew is back to work Monday and preparations for New Zealand's Centennial Scout Jamboree (Christmas 2007). Liz plans on taking a few weeks
'holiday' before looking for a new job. She will probably work herself silly making sense of all the memories and souvenirs we brought back.

We hope you've enjoyed our travels. It has been an exciting and enjoyable time for us all. We have been to places both familiar and new to us. Seen sights we'd only heard about
before and many places we didn't expect to see. Met many new and interesting people. Made many new friends and looking forward to when some of them visit us in the future or we get a chance to return to visit them.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/macpacfam/uk2007/1188505740/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/macpacfam/uk2007/1188505740/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/macpacfam/uk2007/1188505740/tpod.html Fri, 07 Sep 2007 17:16:27 -0400 Kiwis can fly

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Orpington, Kent, United Kingdom

After an hour on the phone going around in circles with the NHS we
decided we would head through to Mike's place in Orpington and see if
we could sort out the medical situation in a smaller place. Mike
gave us a phone number for the local hospital and they seemed surprised
that we had bothered to ring... "just come into the A & E & we
will sort it out". Tube to Victoria, train to Orpington &
taxi to Mike's and we were there. Mike is a friend of the family
who has been making frequent pilgrimages out to New Zealand over the
last 20 years. When he was out in February staying with Andrew's
mother, he had invited us to come and stay. He also looked after
all our Jamboree stuff, so we weren't carting the extra weight around
Europe. As we repacked our gear we found out we had gained an
extra 20kg of baggage since we left home! Just as well we were
flying back via the USA with their higher baggage allowance.... we had
been so proud of going away with only 15kg each when we left.

Mike
then dropped Shannon & Liz off at the hospital. Ten minutes
later we were being seen by a doctor.... 20 minutes later Shannon
discovered she really didn't like the look of a power saw cutting into
her leg! Then we were all done in and out under an hour with no
charge! Oh boy how easy!

Meanwhile Mike was preparing a
home-cooked meal for us. You don't realise how you miss the
simple things like that when you haven't had them for a while. It
was delicious! A nice relaxed night with no pressure to do
anything except have a wine, enjoy a meal and chat was just what we
needed.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/macpacfam/uk2007/1189017120/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/macpacfam/uk2007/1189017120/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/macpacfam/uk2007/1189017120/tpod.html Fri, 07 Sep 2007 17:04:05 -0400 Kiwis can fly

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Calais, France

With Shannon on crutches our plans now have a lot less walking. This has resulted in our stay in France being shorter but with nebulous plans for activities in London that we missed out on previously.

Leaving St-Just-en-Chaussee we are now all beginning to realise just how far we have come and the imminent return to England marks the end of our European stay. Sticking to smaller roads we make our way through Breteuil, Grandvilliers, Poix, Airaines, Abbeville, Montreuil, Samer to Boulogne (where we got geographically embarrassed again). Along the coast through Wimereux (and our first sighting of the White cliffs of Dover!) to Calais.

As we passed each of these places new sights and differences struck us. Not the least being
- the decorated roundabouts, each town seemed to be competing for the most elaborate roundabout to mark either entry or exit. We found gardens, boats, windmills, bushes shaped like birds, buildings, people etc
- farms, with no fences
- haystacks made into buildings, animals, vehicles just as whimsy along the roads
- very few farm animals (3 or 4 paddocks in over 200km), yet signs for deer everywhere
- wind generators in small clusters throughout the area
- very gently rolling hills, not the steeper slopes of New Zealand (though these did appear closer to Calais).

If we'd all been mobile it would have been tempting to stop and stay longer. Calais, as we arrived seemed just a sleepy seaside port. The busy ferry terminal was not visible in the first views we had. Seafrance were very accommodating in changing our tickets and re-booked us on the 5pm sailing. Shannon again received special treatment and was whisked away in her own special wheelchair and transport through customs and onto the boat long before the rest of us.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/macpacfam/uk2007/1188442800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/macpacfam/uk2007/1188442800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/macpacfam/uk2007/1188442800/tpod.html Fri, 07 Sep 2007 17:03:41 -0400 Kiwis can fly

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London, United Kingdom

The Doctors in France had advised us that, due to the blood thinners that we had been injecting into Shannon each night, we needed to get blood tests done before we flew. Air NZ had also advised us that we needed to get her cast split for the flight and the insurance company required that we get everything in writing to say that she was okay to fly!

We had tried to get this done while in France as the instructions were in French. However the language barrier caused so much frustration that 3 hours later Shannon & Liz walked out without the tests being done.

Round 2 London.... they speak English here, so it should be easy... Right?
Well..... the Brits have this system that you have to go to the closest doctor or hospital even if it really isn't where you need to go to. We went via the NHS help service to find out where we should go. Two hours later they got back to us. Go to the Chelsea & Westminster A&E
department. Caught a taxi there.... they didn't want to know us.... go to this clinic in Victoria, catch the double decker bus from across the road.... Private clinic that our insurance company will not pay for as NZ has a reciprocal agreement for treatment with the NHS... give up and catch the tube back to the hostel as we are going out in a couple of hours! Try again tomorrow! ARRRRRGH!!!!

While we were waiting for the NHS to call back and Andrew & Daniel had gone to buy our tickets for tonight's show, Liz & Shannon decided to visit the Natural History Museum across the road from BP House. Another wheelchair and we were off. We wandered through the dinosaurs (the life sized model of a T-Rex that roared at you and swung his head around to look at you was cool). Next was Shannon's favourite of the mammals - with a lot of animals that even Shannon had never heard of! The display where you walked into a room to see the "big" animals of elephant, rhino, giraffe.... then as you came around the corner you saw a life sized model of a blue whale behind them and you realise how small the land animals are. A
quick look at the sea creatures and a live broadcast lecture given by a marine biologist who had been to the Antarctic and we were ready to call it a day.

Meanwhile Andrew & Daniel were visiting the Museum across the road from BP House.... it just happened to be a different Museum than the one Liz & Shannon were in! They had
found the Science Museum. Daniel's comment..... "It was AWESOME!!!" The same as the girls, they only got to explore a tiny fraction of the Museum in the 4 hours they were there. Space & Rocketry, Technology advancements through the ages, Marine & Navigation, Computers and Aviation Halls took up their time.

Thunderbird2 toys, a Dalek, a water computer (built by a New Zealander), a Cray 1 (super-computer), the first rocket powered aircraft (Me163 Komet) were some of their highlights.

Next dinner and Shakespeare's Globe theatre for Merchant of Venice. Well if Andrew hadn't got lost that would have been the plan. Just as we were leaving we realised the camera had been left in the room. Andrew raced up to get it while Shannon, Liz & Daniel headed to the tube station two blocks away. When we reached the station we waited for Andrew to
arrive.... and waited... and rang the phone back in the room... and sent Daniel back to see if he could find him....and went down and checked the tube line itself. 45 minutes later we decided we had to go to the show or we would miss out. As we crossed the Thames guess who was there demanding to know how we had got so lost - he had been waiting for ages. We finally figured out that he had run in and run down to the station getting there before us and going
straight down to the tracks and deciding we hadn't waited. So jumped straight on the tube that was just pulling out. Meanwhile we crossed the road and walked at Shannon's slow pace and waited outside, not realising that he had already passed us.

No time for dinner so we ate the Jaffa cakes that Kaye had asked us to buy for her.... Sorry Kaye we will get you some next time we are in the UK (just kidding we replaced them for you). The show was brilliant. We were in the "Gentleman's Box" that was on the side close to the stage so we looked across the stage rather than at it. A tad more expensive than the five pound "stand" area below the stage that we had tried to get the last time we were in London but worth it. The whole show is put on in the Elizabethan style that would had been in the original Globe. The place has been re-created about 1/2 mile down the river from where the original stood and is the only thatched building in London. The only concession to modern day building practice is the fire sprinklers, otherwise it had been created as faithfully to the original as possible. The actors also try to perform in the same way as they would have in Shakespeare's time - with a lot of interaction with the audience, period musicians and
costume. The main difference being that there were several female actors - not just males dressed up as females (though there was actors doing that too). Even Daniel was fixated by the performance. He commented he didn't understand everything that was being said - but
neither did the rest of us, but we all understood enough. The fact that it was set in Venice, where we had been so recently really added to it. It made you realise that Shakespeare must had traveled widely or had researched the countries that he wrote about well.

Tea was Burger King sitting on the steps of the Underground at 10pm. It wasn't the meal we had intended, but the buzz from the show made it so it didn't matter. It was a highlight and both Shannon & Daniel think it will give them good kudos with their English & Drama teachers when they get home!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/macpacfam/uk2007/1188352800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/macpacfam/uk2007/1188352800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/macpacfam/uk2007/1188352800/tpod.html Fri, 07 Sep 2007 16:53:46 -0400 Kiwis can fly

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London, United Kingdom

The Return to London! This is the third time we've been in London this trip but only the first entry in our blog marking it!

The ferry crossing from Calais was smooth and we kept Shannon and Daniel amused with games of Rummikub. The views of Dover as we approached were magnificent, with a clear blue sky and the brilliant white of the cliffs. Crossing the busy English Channel was another new experience with so many large ships visible in the area and the ferries cris-crossing the traffic flow.

The crossing itself flew past quickly and before we realised it we were back in England at Dover. Shannon's first comment, during the short shuttle trip to the railway station, was 'I can read the road signs again and they're driving on the wrong side of the road!'

We had decided we would stay in Baden Powell House, Kensington (Scout Hostel) for the next two nights but were unable to phone ahead to make a booking (having the telephone numbers would have helped but directory services couldn't provide it. BP house is not listed under that name. Rather under the hotel management company that runs the hostel). So we took a train and headed to London in the hope rooms would be available. Thankfully at 10pm there were.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/macpacfam/uk2007/1188873180/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/macpacfam/uk2007/1188873180/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/macpacfam/uk2007/1188873180/tpod.html Fri, 07 Sep 2007 16:42:14 -0400 Kiwis can fly

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Paris, France

Well, we thought we had it so well planned. We checked our route to Marco Polo airport, Venice. We bought all our water ferry and bus tickets the day before. Set the alarms (correctly) for a 4:40am start. Planned our early checkout and it all went according to plan..... until we got to the airport to find our flight tickets had been booked for July instead of August! Last week of European school holidays and nearly all flights were booked out. The only tickets to be had were 1200 Euro. Bummer!
Hertz came to our rescue with a relocation vehicle, 24 hours to return to Paris.
We took it! 1200 Km, 2 drivers, it was no longer dark, we had the sunglasses, we did it.

We saw an incredible amount of Europe in the next 16 hours - unfortunately most of it off the toll roads flashing past at 130km per hour! It felt so funny to be doing that speed legally (and still being overtaken like you were standing still).

The only time we really saw the spectacular scenery was as we climbed up through the Alps betwen Italy & France (counting the tunnels as we went). Here you were up at 3000 metres and the mountains still towered over us. You would pass by villages that no longer looked Italian, but had a "alpine" look to them with a high pitched roof and small windows. There were also vinyards clinging to the side of the mountain in little terraced lots and suddenly a gondola going over the road or turn a corner to a glacier.

As we climbed up towards France, we got plenty of time to appreciate it as our flying ascent suddenly came screaming to a halt with a 90minute crawl up the mountain with lots of handbrake starts as we hit the queue for the Mount Blanc tunnel! You cross the border from Italy to France inside this (very expensive tolled ) 11km long tunnel. Out the other side and you quickly learn to translate the road signs in French not Italian... in fact you go through Monte Bianco and come out Mont Blanc! Going in from Italy there wasn't even any signs to France, come out the other side and there were signs to Paris 600 km away - just what we needed at 6pm at night. We had planned on just dipping over the border to Switzerland & back into France, but decided to follow the French direction to Paris signs instead that kept us in France.

As the night progressed we were changing drivers more frequently with Shannon in the front seat doing the navigating, but by 2am we were about 80km short of Paris but we decided we couldn't go any furthur and pulled into the next truck layby off the road. Here we put the seats down got out the sleeping bags and all settled down for a rather cramped sleep for about 90 minutes. We then then continued onto Orly Airport arriving at 4.40am. As we were sorting out the Hertz documents - to our horror we saw they had put down the car hire as "per km rate" not unlimited km's like they had told us verbally. This ment that we couldn't just drop the keys off in the after hours box but had to wait until 6am until the staff started work for the day.
Plenty of time to work out our metro transport.... off an automated machine in French.

I think that we looked so shattered with our tale of woe, the Hertz staff were quick to convince us that they would contact Italy and get the contract changed to unlimited kms.

We found the Paris Metro a lot more confusing than Hong Kong, London or Rome's versions (especially when we were really tired and carting suitcases). We eventually made it to the apartment we had rented, to find a building with 22 apartments over 5 floors with a steep winding staircase. When we opened our parcel with the keys we found a sheet that said to 'print out the instructions at this website link to be able to find your apartment'!

Daniel and Liz stayed with the luggage and Andrew & Shannon went looking for an internet cafe. Eventually got directions to a bar with an old machine for hire that enabled them to print out the 10 page instruction booklet on getting into the (thankfully 1st floor) apartment. We all decided we needed a shower and to crash for a while. As Andrew was having his shower, the shop owner from downstairs came up to tell us that the shower was flooding out his shop.... could we contact the apartment management! WHAT NEXT?????
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/macpacfam/uk2007/1187779140/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/macpacfam/uk2007/1187779140/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/macpacfam/uk2007/1187779140/tpod.html Fri, 07 Sep 2007 16:36:57 -0400 Kiwis can fly

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Venice, Italy

We wound down the mountain overtaking lots of racing bikes going up and the odd little old lady with her bike and basket going downhill with a big grin on her face. The mountains flattened out towards the coast and the holiday traffic started to build up. We had been told all the Italians go to the beach in August so we decided to see what all the fuss was about. Moving cars all but disappeared and were replaced by bikes and pedestrians and shops. We walked to the beach only to find we couldn't get on because of all the fences and shops on the sands edge. We managed to find a gap and sneak on only to find, you couldn't see the beach anyway because of all the umbrellas and deckchairs! Some serious sun-worshiping was going on, like you'd never see in New Zealand. In our shorts and t-shirts (and Shannon's leather jacket) we were WAY over dressed. But we can now say we've walked in the Adriatic Sea. And their icecreams weren't nearly as good as the rest of Italy! :(
It was again time to get on the road to Venice. The only real trouble we had was needing to fill up the car. Between 1pm and 3pm Italy closes down for siesta time. We pulled into the petrol station at half 2 and tried to use the self-service machines but it ate our money and gave out no fuel. We had plenty of time then to re-pack our cases and wait for the attendants to come back.
Returned the car (to the rental cars own parking building) and caught the water ferry. As soon as we stepped off at our stop, the streets narrowed. They were hardly 5 stones wide and you could reach both walls with outstretched hands! From the main street (all of 10 stones wide!) we saw a sign to our hotel (3 stars) turn the next corner and another sign (2 stars) on the doorway (1 star) its amazing what photo-shop can do to brochures, but we weren't planning on spending much time there anyway.
Shannon was excited to get out and go SHOPPING?! Not her usual style.
The maze of little streets, canals and bridges was really amazing and they were made all the more smaller by the tall buildings each side of the road that is a totally different style to anything we've seen before.
The next morning, we started off early to get to the main tourist square (San Marcos) before all the tourists got there. Except, by wandering and going into every second or third store, we managed to go in the totally wrong direction (twice) and by the time we had walked past the square (not seeing it) and around again, it was filled with tourists and pidgeons.
We did a lot of shopping and got most of the last gifts we needed and really had lots of fun. Next stop was to fly to Paris...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/macpacfam/uk2007/1186947720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/macpacfam/uk2007/1186947720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/macpacfam/uk2007/1186947720/tpod.html Fri, 07 Sep 2007 16:14:39 -0400 Kiwis can fly

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Reading, United Kingdom

Right, now we shall attempt the impossible.. to fill the gaps of all the blog entries and bring you up to date.

Highlights of the Jamboree:
All the ceremonies and parties! So many people celebrating the same thing! And the massive moshpits. Everyone waving their scarves above their heads and turning the arena into a mass of movement and colour.
The minute of silence during the Closing Ceremony from absolutely everyone remembering what had happened 100 years ago, what scouts all over the world are doing to remember it and it was just awesome because nobody spoke in the giant arena.
Gilwell Park because of all the heritage and the activities were awesome. It was really cool seeing BP's Rolls Royce (Jam roll) and caravan given to him from the scouts of the world who donated 1 penny each to celebrate the 1st world jamboree! It had been the first time the car and caravan had been together since BP died as they lost track of the Rolls for a while.
Shannon's interviews and media fun.. Oh the tales she has to tell...
The NZ Contingent's Haka! We might have even got onto the Jamboree official DVD (ooh aah)
Darren (Volcano sub-camp leader and the organiser of Daniel's stay) giving us updates each time we saw him on the increase in his power and authority that his greenstone toki was giving him (much to the laughter and enjoyment of his sub-camp team).
All the friends we made! Everyone in the family has places to stay in at least three different areas of the world each (shall we ever be over that way) and has returned the offer to numerous people. It shall be interesting to see who actually takes it up!

Things we love to hate:
'Jambo!' 'Hello!' - This was the greeting they had, if someone yelled 'Jambo!' evryone within hearing yelled 'Hello!' back.
The Jamboree song.. it just got stuck in your head and they played it all the time! (Jambo! Hello! It's a world scout jamboree.. 100 years to date.... lets all celebrate! ARGH! Eurovision at its worst)
'Do you want to trade scarves/neckers?' 'No, sorry, there's none left!' New Zealand scarves were gold around your neck! Best offers were something like and entire US uniform, a stack of badges, several scarves (including rarities) and the woggles. Andrew's friends laughed at his complaints about the demand for his scarf. When he finally traded it, the receiver was complaining that within 15 minutes they had been asked for the scarf 3 times!
Curfews supposed to be 10:30pm (there's lots to do tomorrow) but does an all night vigil to watch the sunrise count?
Liz being a steward and having to try and clear out the adult bar so they scouts nearby could get to sleep and then trying to sleep after night shift with a claybird shoot in the next paddock.

But all of us agree these were only minor inconveniences to the best scouting experience we have all had.

We finally met up with Daniel again the day after the Jamboree finished. He was full of exciting stories from his Essex centenary camp and home-stay time. He had had great fun during his home-stay being one of five boys.
Some of his highlights were -
-visiting Grangewater Aquatic centre for kayaking, rock climbing and high ropes,
-his two visits to the Jamboree site (with his special sponsored guest pass)
-trying out a dart gun on a firing range.

After Jamboree we all met again for dinner with the people who had helped us and Daniel have a fantastic time so far. The 14 of us went for a 'pub-meal' at the 'Running Mare' in Chelmsford, a convivial and spirited evening was had by all.
By now it was way too late to travel to Reading, so Darren offered us his floor to crash on (and a genuine hot shower!) for the night. Yet another example of the fantastic scout hospitality we have found.

Next stop Reading. The AA advised 2 hours travel, our friend in Reading (Jane) suggested 3 hours, it took ...... 6 HOURS!!! All the jokes about the M25 being the largest car-park in the world are true. We managed 10mph for much of the journey with nothing to see causing the delays. We get to do the same journey in reverse tomorrow as we move to Stansted to depart for Rome - OH JOY.






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