TravelStream™ news feed for member uncle_davros on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/uncle_davros en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:54:41 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/uncle_davros/the_world/1258060336/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/uncle_davros/the_world/1258060336/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/uncle_davros/the_world/1258060336/tpod.html Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:54:41 -0500 Lost: One Davros and Lucinate, if found please return to ?????

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London, England, United Kingdom

Day 13Start - FinishTower Bridge - Thames BarriersDistance - 21.1 KilometresGPS Link of our walk - Click HereSo we had one day left, well kind of as this is the Southbank so realistically, two more to go as we intend walking the Northbank from Teddington to the tunnel in Greenwich, but that is in the future, and today we walk from Tower Bridge to the Thames Barriers.From now on, there would be no more bridges, Tower Bridge is the last, and now all we would see is docks. Another side of the Thames that we had never seen so far. As far prgress is concerned, most of these docks are now apartments. Some were nice, butr some were rather crappy.As we arrived in Rotherhithe, we came across the St Marys Church, and for American history, Christopher Jones, the Master of the Mayflower was buried here. It was interesting see this place. One side of the church was an old school, and the other was a pu called the Mayflower. Some others say that somewhere along here the Mayflower set out on it's voyage to drop passengers off to the new world, and it kind of made me want to go back to Portsmouth to see where the First Fleet set sail of to Australia.We walked through Greenwich and then through an industrial zone before we came across the Millenium Dome. Looking at it, it is just one big tent which has now been set up for concerts. On the otherside of this was more factories, many years ago, this side of the Thames would have been teeming with work, but now there is not much left.And not long after, we arrived at the Thames barriers. This was the end of the Thames National Trail and it had benn a great learning journey. There was only one thing left to do and that was to take the stone that I had picked up back at the Source and carried along the whole trip, and throw it in to the water, and with this done, our trip was complete, well almost !!!And FinallyTotal Kilometres so far - 327.7Bridges Seen - 0Bridges Total - 194Locks Seen - 0Locks Total - 42
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/uncle_davros/the_world/1257193800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/uncle_davros/the_world/1257193800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/uncle_davros/the_world/1257193800/tpod.html Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:30:16 -0500 Lost: One Davros and Lucinate, if found please return to ?????

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Southwark, England, United Kingdom

Day 12Start - FinishPutney - Tower BridgeDistance - 20.3 KilometresGPS Link of our walk - Click HereAfter to many leaving drinks the previous weekend, I was feeling well enough to make a move on this one. We were going to walk all the way to the Thames Barrier and finish the Southbank, but we struggled to get out of bed, and by the time we started, it was already 11:00Out of the flat and onto the track, Putney came and went. We moved on into Wandsworth where there were loads of new development along the river and it didn't stop. In Battersea, it was nice to see the old church of St Mary's situated amongst the new builds and heliport !!! Battersea park is nice, there was the Peace pagoda to be seen, and on the other side was the old Battersea power station, but is mostly recognised and being used in the cover art of Pink Floyd's 1977 album Animals.Straight through Vauxhall and into Westminster where the cameras were out everywhere as the best view of the House of Lords and St Stephens Tower could be had. There were also more people than we had seen, but this is to be expected, this is London !!!We passed the giant ferris wheel or commonly known as the eye, and we moved along the Southbank. At the Tate Modern, across the Millenium bridge is my favourite building, St Pauls. I really wanted to run across and hang out, but the Thames path was calling and we needed to finish today's walk, and not much later we did, but before we we did, we had a great view of the Tower of London and also the Tower Bridge. Amazingly, for a day spent walking through London, I had seen things that I had not seen before, and other than the people that were on the track, it had been a great short walk.And FinallyTotal Kilometres so far - 306.6Bridges Seen - 22Bridges Total - 194Locks Seen - 0Locks Total - 42
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/uncle_davros/the_world/1256674633/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/uncle_davros/the_world/1256674633/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/uncle_davros/the_world/1256674633/tpod.html Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:37:03 -0400 Lost: One Davros and Lucinate, if found please return to ?????

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Putney, England, United Kingdom

Day 11Start - FinishKingston upon Thames - PutneyDistance - 22.3 KilometresGPS Link of our walk - Click HereBeing inside the M25, we knew we were getting close to the finish. We had been able to get another day off so now we only had two more, well the Southbank that is.The bus dropped us at our starting point in Kingston and we hit the track. The path had changed now and and it was mainly paved. At Teddington, we had the choice between the North or the Southbank to follow. We decided on doing the South side, and returning later to do the other.Richmond came and went, and so did the last lock, the Thames was now tidal. On the otherside of Richmond was Old Deer Park and as this is the home of the first meridian line, we found it and took the photos. At the other end of the park, we hit Kew Gardens where there is another Royal Palace. If Richmond's had been there, we would have had four, but that one was long gone.Kew bridge, Chiswick bridge, Barnes bridge, the names are all from the Oxford v Cambridge boat race, plus this is also where we live. We were near our home and parts of this area I had never walked before. Under Hammersmith bridge, past Barnes wetlands and we took a detour and ended in Putney, before the bridge but at our flat.Now only one more day to go, well hopefully !!!And FinallyTotal Kilometres so far - 286.3Bridges Seen - 12Bridges Total - 172Locks Seen - 2Locks Total - 42
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/uncle_davros/the_world/1254769509/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/uncle_davros/the_world/1254769509/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/uncle_davros/the_world/1254769509/tpod.html Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:12:52 -0400 Lost: One Davros and Lucinate, if found please return to ?????

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Munich, Bavaria, Germany

September in Europe can only mean one thing and that is Oktoberfest, and practically every year, as you long termers know, we go, but last year, we were kind of a little bit fucked off with the opening weekend, so for the twelfth time, we changed formats, flying out for the last Thursday, and leaving on Sunday, hoping to beat the mad rush. And as I know you have all read the stories before, here is a point by point versionOnce again, our friend in Aus, Woggy made our shirtsPP Travel supplied us with an awesome room. It's not cheap, but this is OktoberfestOnce again we spent the most time in the Fischer Vroni tent. It is the best, with the best beer of courseAugustiner rocksBavarians are awesome people, only they could organise this sort of festThe Fraus in the Lowenbrau as usual looked after us and got us in when there were lock ins. ThanksAs usual, the Italians were fucked and couldn't handle their beerI did have the chance to have a mother/son kind of wife swap with some Poles, but Lucy wasn't into it !!!Ken, Bill, Bill and Jim, Saturday was great, a fucking laughTo all the Germans we hung out with, hopefully we will see you again !!!And FinallySo that was twelve, the dirty dozen achieved, but the question remains, will the evil thirteen come along, well orders are being taken if you are interested !!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/uncle_davros/the_world/1252013051/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/uncle_davros/the_world/1252013051/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/uncle_davros/the_world/1252013051/tpod.html Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:14:38 -0400 Lost: One Davros and Lucinate, if found please return to ?????

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Horton in Ribblesdale, England, United Kingdom

With a long weekend coming up, I gave Lucy a few choices, one of which was finishing off the Thames Path, but what she wanted was three days in Istanbul, but as I coujldn't find a good deal, I decided to throw her a line which I thought might tempt her. Three days in Yorkshire might not be the most fun, but there was a challenge to be had. Walk the Three Peaks of Yorkshire in under twelve hours, and as it was a 42 Klm walk, Lucy decided that it had to be donePlanningI found an ordinance survey type map for the GPS and also a route for the walk, a book was also bought and we decided to say fuck it to a map. From the pictures I had seen, it was a highway out there, just like the Annapurna Circuit !!!SkiptonArriving early on the Saturday, we headed over to Skipton to see a castle. It had been built over 900 years ago in a Norman sort of way. It looked should from the outside with a couple of big old turrets, which certainly helped during the Civil war in the 1600's as it was the last Royalist stronghold to remain before the fall of the North of England. For a time, it even held Mary, the Queen of Scots. Inside was pretty small, or what they let you see, so not long after, we moved onwards.Back outside, we hit the local pork pie shop. There was a line so they had to be good, and they were !!! We took a few more photos before we hit the road again, towards another castle.RichmondWe had been to Richmond years ago, even to this castle in fact, but as we were in the area, we took another look. A Norman castle built over 900 years ago, this one was in ruins. The Keep was altogether and had been used during WW1 as a prison for 16 men who refused to fight. It's a nice place, glad we had come back.The Three Peaks of YorkshireThe next morning, we set off from Horton on Ribble. We headed straight for Pen-y-ghent, GPS under my jacket, and after 15 minutes, I looked at it and realised that we were going the wrong way. I had majorly fucked up. We turned around and went back, found the correct track and marched on. We went up straight away, until we were scrambling up rocks, and not long after, we found the trig point at 694 metres, took the photos and moved on downwards.Fuck up number two happened not long after, and again it happened because I wasn't looking at my GPS. We turned around again, but met other people who had maps and they said no, the way you were going was right. After another five, I turned around and walked back as it was the wrong way. We headed down and encountered fields of peat bog. I kept sinking up to my ankles, and was slowly getting covered in mud !!! Not long after, the ground gave way, and I was in a bog hole, water up to my waist and I couldn't touch the bottom. Lucy was freaking as she couldn't get to me. I manage to pull myself out and realised I had fucked my phone and drowned my camera !!!We walked through the bog for a long time, and once out, we power walked 15 K's over to Whernside. This was the highest peak at 736 metres, but the easiest of climbs. There was one problem though, it was also the longest. It seemed to go and on and on and eventually we reached the top under a misty rain. We took some photos and then checked the GPS. We were halfway along the walk and had been going for 5.5 hours, it seemed like we had loads of time with one mountain to go. On the way down, it was a different story. Basically it went straight down, but it wasn't the easiest of trails as it was really wey and muddy. Once down, we had a quick break before we moved on, but we didn't have far to go efore we were climbing Ingleborough. At 723 metres high, it is the secong highest peak but the hardest to climb. Even though there were stairs, they went straight up, and never stopped !!! After what seemed like an eternity, the stairs stopped and we were on top of the peak. It was so foggy/misty, we couldn't see a thing, so we followed the line of the GPS until we found the trig point. And with that, our hike up to the peaks was over, and now we had to make our way down, and compared to the other two peaks, this one went forever. I kept checking the altometre on the GPS, and it was not going down !!! And then the rain came !!! After around an hour of walking in this, we arrived back at our starting point, soaking wet but happy that we had made it under twelve. Our GPS stated 11 hours and 6 mins, but the clock in the cafe where you clock on/off said 11 And with that, our trip was over, so we headed off back home to LondonAnd FinallyWhat a walk. I love this walking, but we should have done it in a minimum of 10.5. Next time, hopefully in the dry, we will beat 10 hours !!!Oh, and here is the route from our GPS - Three Peaks Walk
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/uncle_davros/the_world/1251483430/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/uncle_davros/the_world/1251483430/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/uncle_davros/the_world/1251483430/tpod.html Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:48:24 -0400 Lost: One Davros and Lucinate, if found please return to ?????

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Kingston upon Thames, England, United Kingdom

Last time I wrote, I spoke about how we had managed to knock a day off of the walk. Looking ahead, we were now in Windsor, and finally we were able to catch public transport there, but getting back was a bit of an issue. Looking at the options, if we were to walk longer than ever before, we could catch a bus home, plus knock a bit more time off, maybe !!!Day 10Start - FinishWindsor - Kingston upon ThamesDistance - 38.4 KilometresGPS Link of our walk - Click HereArriving in Windsor at 06:50, we had the castle to ourselves, we were the only tourists. Amazing to be at one of England's premier sites and it was empty !!! Down the road were houses and on both sides were signs stating that Christopher Wren had lived in them !!! One looked new, so we disregarded the sign. As we walked on, we got some great views of the castle but it made me think of the people here and why would you live in this area. Here we were in one of the richest areas of England, super large houses everywhere, but the planes were taking off from Heathrow and flying over the top. The noise was awful !!!As it was so early, the Thames was very still. There wasn't much birdlife to be seen though !!! We left the track and made our way through to Runnymede. Very historic place, somewhere around was where the Magna Carta had been signed. X didn't mark the spot, but there was a memorial for it !!!Under the M25, we were now in what some people say is London, even though we were in Surrey !!! Then along came Staines. There were some interesting sculptures of swans. Bit different to the ones we had been seeing. Into Chertsey, which for you cricket lovers out there, it is known as the home of the middle stump !!! On the other side, we walked through, we encountered our last water meadow scene, we were now getting closer to suburbia !!!We walked on past some large houseboats moored on the side, and at Shepperton, there were two tracks, so we jumped on our first ferry of the trip, and walked on the otherside to Weybridge where we stopped for a quick bite. We still had a long way to go.Next up, we saw our second palace of the day. Hampton Court, and as it was later, the place was teeming with tourists, so we took a few photos and moved on, until we came to our final destination, Kingston. We had finally finished, so we hopped on a bus and went home !!!And FinallyTotal Kilometres so far - 264Bridges Seen - 26Bridges Total - 160Locks Seen - 8Locks Total - 40
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/uncle_davros/the_world/1252253921/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/uncle_davros/the_world/1252253921/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/uncle_davros/the_world/1252253921/tpod.html Sun, 06 Sep 2009 14:03:48 -0400 Lost: One Davros and Lucinate, if found please return to ?????

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Windsor, England, United Kingdom

After walking 30 K's last Sunday, I will be the first to say that my body was pretty fucked up on the Monday, even my brain seemed a little fried, but we had a problem. Lucy had arranged to go out on a party bus, so she was going to get pissed, and as I didn't want to really walk on the Sunday, we decided to go on Saturday, as we only had around 25 K's to doDay 9Start - FinishMarlow - WindsorDistance - 24.8 KilometresBy the time we had dropped the car off at Maidenhead, and arrived in Marlow, it was just after 13:00. We walked back to where we had left the bridge and started again. Even though it was cloudy, it was pretty humid. Not far from the bridge, we turned off from the track and checked out what the book called the classical Thames view. The Thames, the bridge, the church. Snap !!! We followed the river along as usual, and even more people were out. There was no solitude and the bird life was disappearing fast, however, the houses were not. They were getting bigger and someone had even manage to build a replica castle !!! As we walked out of Maidenhead, we came to another of Isambard Kingdom Brunel bridges, with this one being quite famous. At the time of it's building, it was the widest and flattest in the world, and it is still in use.We walked under the M4 and then in the distance we could see Windsor, but first, we had another Brunel bridge. This one is classed as the World's oldest wrought iron bridge still in regular service. We were learning more and more everyday. We passed under this one and then we saw the view that is the most majestic one that we had seen so far. Windsor Castle. Now I have never been inside, but Lucy has and says it is better from the outside !!It was close to 18:00, and our walk had ended, so we boarded a crowded train and made our way back to Maidenhead.And FinallyTotal Kilometres so far - 225.6Bridges Seen - 11Bridges Total - 134Locks Seen - 4Locks Total - 32
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/uncle_davros/the_world/1251399083/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/uncle_davros/the_world/1251399083/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/uncle_davros/the_world/1251399083/tpod.html Sun, 06 Sep 2009 12:15:40 -0400 Lost: One Davros and Lucinate, if found please return to ?????

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Marlow, England, United Kingdom

Now according to the book, we were meant to walk to Tilehurst, but as Reading was only 5 K's down the road, we decided to continue onwards. Because of this, our next day was only going to be around 11, so we ditched day seven and change our walk from 15 down to 14 days, but it did mean that we would have the biggest walk that we had done in our livesDay 8Start - FinishReading - MarlowDistance - 29.2 KilometresWe left the car at Maidenhead, trained it to Reading and hit the trail. It was good to be back walking and I decided to break in some new boots. They felt good and I was confident that I wouldn't get any blisters !!!Once we were away from Reading, the track wasn't as boring as it had been. I think it was that suburbia thing again !!! We also passed another canal walk, this one being the Kennet and Avon canal, which you can follow to Bath and Bristol, but finishing the Thames was our goal.At Sonning, the middle of the bridge represents where the counties of Oxfordshire and Berkshire. A plaques is there to recognise the fact.Back on track, we arrived at Henley, home to the Royal Henley regatta. The only reason why they have a regatta here is that in 1829, the first Oxford v Cambridge boat race took place. It lasted one year before it was moved to Putney, and ten years later, this regatta begun. Actually, all along the Thames, regattas take place, but this one is the most famous. Two K's down the road is a tiny temple on an island which marks the beginning of the regatta. Photos taken, move onMaybe it's because we are now getting closer to London, there are now more people on the track. Bit disappointing, but at least there are some others seeing the area. In Hurley, we saw our first field of dandelions. Snap !!! The houses were also getting bigger, we even passed one witha huge garden railway with a station stating St Moritz !!! Not much further, Marlow bridge came into view. It is a smaller copy of Hammersmith's, which is to e expected as they were designed by the same guy. So we made our way up to the station as our walk was over and amazingly, after 30 K's, the new boots had worked, and there were no blisters to be seen !!!And FinallyTotal Kilometres so far - 200.8Bridges Seen - 15Bridges Total - 123Locks Seen - 7Locks Total - 28
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/uncle_davros/the_world/1250875061/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/uncle_davros/the_world/1250875061/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/uncle_davros/the_world/1250875061/tpod.html Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:57:03 -0400 Lost: One Davros and Lucinate, if found please return to ?????

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Reading, England, United Kingdom

Now the majority of us in life like leaving do's. There's the talking of bullshit whilst drinks are being quaffed !!! They go on into the night and then eventually, you know you have had enough and it's time yo go home, but you always do have one more, and it's that one more that kills you when you wake up in the morning !!!Day 7Start - FinishCholsey - ReadingDistance - 26.1 KilometresTo be honest with you all, I was feeling like shit and we had 26 K's to walk. Trust me, just starting off from Cholsey was hard. No it was fucking hard, and Lucy just walked off and left me !!!We walked on, and I started to feel better !!! There were a few pill boxes around, hidden this time. A couple of hours into the walk, it started to drizzle, and then pour, so donned the gortexes and carried on. The Thames was also getting wider and we saw our first working barge boat. It was quite interesting as the Thames use to carry loads of goods many years ago. We also saw our first bridge designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Built in red brick, the Gatehampton Railway Bridge was built in 1838. It was nice, but we couldn't get a good shot of it !!!After walking for six days, we finally came to our first hill. The Chillterns come all the way down to the Thames so we had to climb up. It was quite nice ands dry and up at the top in Whitchurch-on-Thames we saw another wild deer. It was the biggest we had seen so we took the snaps and movd on into the village, and what a lovely place it was. In the church of St Marys, we were given a tour by a local. Amazing. OUtside was the second toll bridge on the Thames. This one cost twenty pence, realisticall it wasn't worth four times more than the one in Swinford.According to the book, at Mapledurham lock there is a sign that states how many more miles to go till the end, but the track was blocked and we were forced away. The trail actually moved us into Tilehurst. There was no track, just roads and houses !!! Eventually we did come back onto the track beside the Thames but now it was muddy, it was hard going. After a couple of K's we arrived at the Thames Side Promenade. There were fields to our left where the Reading festival was being set up and over the river were some massive houses. Trust me, the boatsheds were bigger than our flat !!! Thirty minutes later, we were in Reading and the end of day Seven, the halfway mark, so we jumped on a train and went back to Cholsey and drove home.And FinallyTotal Kilometres so far - 171.6Bridges Seen - 8Bridges Total - 108Locks Seen - 3Locks Total - 21
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/uncle_davros/the_world/1250191544/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/uncle_davros/the_world/1250191544/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/uncle_davros/the_world/1250191544/tpod.html Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:52:41 -0400 Lost: One Davros and Lucinate, if found please return to ?????

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Cholsey, England, United Kingdom

Now we've been doing this walk quite regularly, but last week I died. I'm sure I had swine flu again !!! Message to self, stop kissing pigs !!! A week later, I was better, so back on the road we wentDay 6 Start - Finish Culham - Cholsey Distance - 26.6 KilometresThe taxi that we had booked was not there to pick us up, so what was meant to be an early start, kind of fucked us up quite early. We found another number, rung it and another shitter turned up not long after. Actually, this one was cheaper, so once at Culham Lock, we took off.As usual, the water was super still, so we took the bridge reflection photos and then moved on into a field of stinging nettles. Every time we think we have lost them, they re-appear !!!The track was beside the river, but with fields backing onto it. It kind of was a little boring but for some reason, the pill boxes returned. Maybe because we were in Oxfordshire, they were slightly posher !!! And also, the boats were bigger. Maybe it was the penis effect as mine is bigger than yours but with the size of the river, they were a little outrageous !!!Towards the end of the walk, we arrived in Wallingford, and as it was Sunday, we thought the churches would be open. They were nice on the outside, but were all locked up. Maybe Christianity had gone on holidays ???And not long after, we had finished our walk for the day.And FinallyTotal Kilometres so far - 145.5Bridges Seen - 10Bridges Total - 100Locks Seen - 3Locks Total - 18
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