ICELAND 2

Above is a picture of an Iceland Horse -while looking like a Shetland, this breed is home grown and a remarkably strong animal. It can easily carry two people (as long as their legs are not too long!) and they survive the climate becaue of their long thick shaggy coats.
Next to it is another photo of the Gulfoss waterfall which although partly frozen is still a most spectacular sight. At the right is a picture of the Horses Main waterfall and you can see that a salmon ladder has been constructed at the left hand side of the falls. This was the first attempt to build such a structure and it was unsuccessful for two reasons. It did not have the right inclination for one and there were no salmon in the river either!! Carol was unfortunately sick in the bus shortly after this which was a bit embarrassing for her, but the driver was up to the task and cleaned everything up with no fuss. Not sure what caused this, but while she felt it was the carrot cake she had eaten at Gulfoss, our lovey guesthouse lady told us later that a virus was going around which seemed to only last for 4 hours -and certainly Carol had no ill effects the next day.

So on Sunday we picked up a hire car - left hand drive Renault station wagon at a cost of $160 for the day! We had arranged to go dog sledding on a glacier which was 180kms from town. After giving Carol several very bad moments by nearly sideswiping parked cars, and mounting the footpath on her side of the road, I finally got the hang of it and we drove with no further mishaps.

We eventually arrived at the track which led from the main road up to the glacier - and when I say track I mean goat track. But by being very careful we manage to avoid the larger rocks, crossed a couple of ice and snow patches and finally (and thankfully) arrived at the site. There were dozens of 4wds parked there with trailers carrying snowmobiles which seemed to be the most popular sport.After as short wait we saw a teams of dogs pulling a sled hurtling down the hill towards us so we knew were in the right place.

Having been kitted out with zipper overalls and introduced to the dog team, and the leader "Gandi" in particular, we took our seat on the sled and the "Musher" shouted out and we were off. The dogs are not Huskies, which the musher assured us were the racehorses of dogs. Ours were Greenland sled dogs bred by the army in Greenland as pure working dogs and capable of sustained power. We went up quite a few slopes, and while the dogs only walked they kept us moving. Going downhill was exhilirating and the musher put ropes under the sled to act as brakes so that we didn't run up the dog'd bums!!At the top of the glacier we had a break to take in the panoramic views of mountains and out across the Atlantic ocean which shimmered in the background. Too expansive to attempt to photograph. While resting we were encouraged to pat and fuss with the dogs who acted like great big sooks. Then it was back on board and off to the base. In all we had about an hour on the trip and it was a once in a lifetime experience. At the base we had to again fuss over the dogs as a way of thanking them for their efforts.

When finally got back to Sunna our host booked a table for us at a fish restaraunt that she recommended. It was superb, and although Carol was a bit tired and couldn't eat all her meal, yours truly wolfed the lot after his exhaustiing driving experie nce!!

The next morning I had to return the car and had been advised to fill it with petrol rather than pay the hire compa nys extortionate price. In some trepidation I drove off looking for a servo and took a wrong turn finishing up on the main highway going out of town! Of course I hadn't taken a map with me and became more than a little stressed as it was peak hour. Thankfully our guesthoouse was next door to the Cathedral and I spotted it's tower and headed on all sorts of streets until I arrived back at Sunna. Then I started out again determined to make straight for the hire company and bugger the expense. I was also a bit worried because we had managed to shed a wheel trim somewhere somehow(hitting the footpath Len?). Blow me down when I got there I told them I had not filled up - so they asked me if I would like a driver to take me back to the guesthouse and fill up with petrol on the way!!Sheer heaven - and they didn't even check out the car!!

And so our day of departure. We had booked a tour which took us to the Blue Lagoon where we were to have a couple of hours relaxing iin the Lagoon before being picked up again and taken to the airport. The Blue Lagoon is a geothermal pool with milky blue warm water and a sandy bottom extending over a considerable area. After we had changed into our bathers, we did a quick dash from the change rooms into the pool and stayed there basking in the warm water. Carol applied the silica mud to her face and her complexion has never looked better!

Then it was the airport where, suprisingly we had the best value meal of our stay -most unlike an airport. A fitting finale to a truly wonderful visit.

Sorry about the photos all being up at the top of this blog - I can't seem to get them into places that would be more appropriate.

ICELAND

There is so much to write about Iceland that I will probably have a couple of goes.The church abov e is one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen.The windows are all plain glass and from standing at the back of the church looking towards the altar, the view through the windows behind the altar are stupendous taking in the snow covered mountains which backdrop Reykjavik.We stayed in a guest house Sunna which was great and the family who run it could not have been more hospitable making bookings for us in Icelandic- a language which is absolutely foreign!
The Viking ship picture above is a replica of one which was discovered buried for hundreds of years, and a crew of Icelanders actually sailed it to USA a few years back taking 103 days for the voyage.As it is an open boat one can only admire their courage.

The flight across took nearly 3 hours and we arrived at 10.50 at night and b oarded the commuter bus only to find that the airport was 50 kms from the city.The driver had little or no English and did not understand Guesthouse Sunna -but Carol was confident she would find it.We did indeed after some trying moments and an eventual taxi ride to find the lady at Sunna patiently waiting up for us at 1 am!!

Good fortuune was with us as the weather during our entire visit was perfect even though a little cold.Sun and blue skies are a blessing for tourists. The town of Reykjavik has 130,000 residents and canvasses an area equivalent to that of Rome- so there is plenty of space around and we both felt totally comfortable wandering around the city visiting two of the museums to get a handle on the culture and history. It is an expensive place however, a reasonable meal costs $40 or more. We booked a full day tour for day2 which cost aboout $90 (no meals included).

The tour was in two parts.In the morning we went to the Reykjanes peninsula and were the only people in the bus.This peninsula is made entirely of lava which gives a moon like appearance of the landscape.We stopped at the division between the Continent of North America and Europe where the tectonic plates had separated.The division was some 30 metres and we saw another such division later that day where the separation was much much more pronounced. The sign in the photo above displays the site of the rift. We saw vast jets of steam coming out of the ground just to remind us that this whole area is a mass of hot lava below the ground. The fishing village of Grindavik was remote facing out to the Atlantic Ocean where there are extensive fishing grounds. Back to Reykjavik to join our afternoon tour this time with several other people including 7 Australians!!

We saw the beautiful waterfalls at Gullfoss partly frozen and accompanied by a strong bitterly cold wind which inhibited long time viewing! Had a bite of lunch and a beer and then on to the spouting hot springs of Geyser and Strokkur. You could see the pressure of the hot water building up in the spouthole, and then it would suddenly shoot up 30 or 40 metres into the air.It paid to stand on the lee side!

THE FENS - A POTTED HISTORY

This amazing area covers some 600 square miles and was originally a complete swamp with a few scattered areas where the land was high enough to support a settlement. Ely and Ramsey were both islands in the distant past . The photo above left is of the Holme Fen Posts -this pole was buried in1851 so that it's top was level with the ground at the time.This is now 13 feet above the ground caused by the gradual subsidence of the land due to the extensive drainage of the Fens and the shrinkage of the peat when it dried out. The photo above right is of a tyical canal or drain which supports the total system of draining water to the sea. Surrounding land is usually lower than the canal or other waterwat levels which means that water has to be pumped up from the land into these waterways when flooding occurs.

Ramsey Forty Foot is just a few minutes away from Ramsey and the name comes from the fact that the drain at this point is 40 foot wide!.

Picture at right shows a typical road and canal which goes straight for several miles and is typical of the scenery in the area.

The Romans came to the Fens in 43 AD and established forts in the area. They did some work on drainage building canals,embankments and sea defences.But they left England in 410AD and by the 4th century all traces of Roman occupation had disappeared and the Fens reverted to floods and marshes.

Then there were the Viking invasions in the 8th century,the introduction of religious orders (and the commencement of building abbeys) and the Norman invasion of the 11th century.It was during this latter period that the building of Ely and Norwich Cathedrals was commenced.

In 1621 a dutchman Cornelius Vermuyden was brought to England with the brief to rehabilitate the Fens which he commenced to do by employing hundreds of labourers to dig massive canals, and to straighten the watercourses of several rivers with the aim of directing water flow more rapidly to the sea. In1637 the project was adjudged complete. However nature was not be so easily defeated, and severe rain and snow soon proved his plan needed more work.So in 1649 work started again with the extension of cuts and drains and the creation of the Ouse Washes a 4700 acre storage resevoir designed to hold flood waters until it was safe to release them into the river system.This was completed in1656 and the drainage of the Fens again declared finished. Not to be -the floods returned with a vengeance and it became apparent that Vermuyden had overlooked the nature of the land. The area that had been drained was 100% peat and peat is 90% water,and the draining had caused the peat to shrink and hence the land sank.

Windmills were introduced to pump the flood waters up to the now elevated waterways, but with limited success, and it was not until firstly, diesel powered and subsequently electric pumping capacity was introduced that things gradually improved. Even so there were catastrophic floods in the 20th century and millions of pounds were spent on Flood Control Strategy to reach the present day position. Even now there are still risks of flooding (there were major floods in1998-2003) and that, together with the continuing shrinkage of the land, poses ongoing problems for the Fens. In some places farmers are now ploughing into the clay subsoil where erosion has stripped the topsoil.

But a fascinating place to have lived in.

ODD'S N SODS

Having now been here for a bit over 6 months, we have become entitled to register with our local medical clinic and obtain a National Health Membership. The NHS wrote to Carol asking whether she was the same Carol Walker who had an NHS number from 1974 when she lived and worked in London!! They wrote to me saying that they were having trouble finding me and asking where I had lived in UK before (1952 for Gods sake) and whether I had served in the armed forces.Told them my old army number 22144588 L/Cpl Royal Engineers and hope that suffices,
I also saw a pamphlet recently advising a deadline date for claiming the Winter Fuel allowance for over 70's. I rang them up and they sent me an application form which required proof of age and a National Insurance number. I had to go to Job Cente in Huntingdon where the photocopied my passport and driving license to prove age, and then incredibly they searched their computer records and asked me whether I had ever lived in Boscombe and if so in what street. As I could remember Gloucester Road as the address it threw up my NI number from 1952!! Now I am waiting to hear that I have been granted the allowance of L200 ($500) which will be most welcome as the last gas bill was L180!!
As I am over 70 I also get free medicine from doctor's prescriptions and of course we both get free consultations under the NHS scheme. There are some benefits in being here - but I think the Poms arre in front!!!

COLCHESTER AND CONSTABLE COUNTRY

We had an email from Nancy Young a neighbour in Toowoomba wih the suggestion that we might visit Colchester and Constable country where her sister Sue (pictured above with Carol)lives in a small village called Langham. We had met Sue when she visited Toowoomba,so I gave her a call and she was more than pleased for us to call on her. The drive down was all major highway and took us past Stanstead Airport which was useful as we are flying out from there for Iceland next week. Colchester is the oldest Roman settlement in England and we could easily spend a day touring around there. We did visit the magnificent 11th century castle which is in remarkable condition for it's age. Colchester itself has survived a Norman invasion, a siege during the English civil war (Oliver Cromwell and that lot) and an earthquake in the 19th century. We also visited the ruined Priory buildings an original monastery from the 12th century - which although a real ruin was well depicted in it's original form with imaginative illustrations at the site.

We drove out to Langham, Navigator Carol doing another superb bit of work with the occasional blast at the driver -"I said take the second left you ******* ignoramus -get a bloody hearing aid" All in good fun of course!!

Sue lives in a lovely house set on an expansive garden block just off the motorway. We had a drink and Sue rang David and Nancy to have a brief chat. That's when we found out that David's planned itinerary for their visit in May/June included a visit to us at Ramsey during the time that we plan to be in Norway! The school half term is the only time we can get to Norway to see Sarah and Baard so we are waiting to hear what alternative plan can be made.

Langham is in the centre of the district know as Constable country. The famous Landscape artist was born here and painted his memorable works around this area .We drove to Dedham a glorious village where we visited the church which was a lot larger than the usual village church due to the village having been the home of a large weaving industry. The photos above are of Flemish weavers cottages which have been maintained and still comfortably habitable. After a pint of ale in the old pub we took off for Flatford.

This is a National Trust project commemorating Constable's life, and needs really to be visited in dryer weather as walking is de rigeur. However we managed toget a very good idea of this beautiful part of England.The top left photo is of Willy Lott's house a farmhouse built about 1600 and part of the National trust.

Back to Sue's for a delicious late lunch. While feeding ourselves it started to snow and actually just settled onto the ground before stopping thank heavens - driving on snowy roads is something my navigator is reluctant to trust me with!

Sue gave us directions for a quicker route home and we made it back in excellent time having had a most enjoyable day.

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STRATFORD ON AVON

We decided to get an early start on Sunday and go across to Stratford on Avon which is 93 miles west of here. AS usual Carol navigated with consummate skill and we made the trip in just 2 hours. With lots of good signage we soon found Anne Hathaway's cottage and paid 26 quid for a ticket which gave us access to the five major sites celebrating William Shakespeare.

The cottage (picture top right) was in incredible condition for a 16th century building, and a guide their gave an interesting account of the lives if Bill and Anne. Bill was only 18 when he married Anne (who was 26 and 3 months pregnant!) so he was not just a good writer!. The two storey cottage contained several original items of furniture and was set in a superb garden.

Next stop was in the City centre, with plenty of parking available. We visited Shakespeare's birthplace and the exhibition of his liffe and works, all very well presented and most interesting.

The city itself was picturesque and very tourist orientated. We went down to the River Avon and watched a canal boat go through the lock which reminded us of our Murray River houseboat adventure some years ago. The wind was very cold here and we wandered about trying to decide where to have lunch,but finally got the car and drov e to the Arden cottage and farm which was about 4 miles from Stratford. We had a light lunch here and then went to see the very old house that Shakespeares mother had lived in until she moved to Stratford and married Bill's father.Until five years ago it had been assumed that the larger cottage (pictured bottom right above) had been their home, but an investigation turned up evidence that the actual cottage was a little further away on the farm property. The cottage had been inhabited by one family (not Ardens) for many years and was lived in until the 1970's!!

The larger cottage is, as can be seen, in a pretty decrepit condition, but can be inspected inside and one casn only goggle at the massive old wooden beams that supported the roof.The floors are very unevendue to sagging here and there, but again quite remarkable for being 500 years old. The farm itself is interesting and includes a falconry. We were lucky enough to be in time for a flying displpay by a European Owl (photo above). This was one of several owls,falcons,hawks and kestrels which are kept there. The young lady who was running the show was full of interesting infomation and told us that most of the birds had been bred in captivity.

The other fascinating building was a dovecote, a large rotunda shaped building inside which the walls contained hundreds of recessess in which the doves lived. Apart from suppplementing the diet, these birds droppings were regularly scraped up and used as fertilizer.

And so we turned for home,this time managing to geta bit lost and ending up going through Warwick and almost into Leicester due to missing an exit on the Motorway - it didn't make much differencce however. It was still daylight when we stopped at the Admiral's Arms at Holme for a much needed pint for me a mulled wine for the navigator. A great day.

PRAGUE 2

Despite still feeling less than human, but a bit stimulated by the great shower in the hotel, we both fronted for breakfast, and thus reinforced decided that we would take up our pre booked afternoon tour to .

As this didn't start until 1pm we decided to go and visit the Prague Museum in the Wencelas Square. Carol did her usual navigating and we took a different bus and then onto the underground for the first time, and despite the difficulty of reading nameplaces in a totally confusing language we arrived exactly where planned!

the public transport system is the same as in V ienna, buy a ticket from wherever, validate it on the machine in the first vehicle used, and then no one bothers you therreafter!

Prague Museum was a purpose built magnificent building created in the late 19th century, and has to be one the best in the world. It is so comprehensive that a week would be about the sort of time one would need to fully explore it's offerings. We spent more than an hour going through the "Evolution of Life" exhibition with the most extraordinary illustration of the developement of our beginnings which would Gobsmack the Creationists! And the detailed information on each stage of age from pre BC to the modern times was supported with an incredible array of artifacts and relics.

A quick visit to the adjoining Maccas (no more Czech food thank you) and we joined up with our tour. There were a couple from Melbourne,two teachers from London, a Spanish couple who spoke French, and a another young couple from?

The tour took us some 70 kilometres into the country which was completely snow bound, and during the drive our guide gave an excellent commentary on the development of the Czech Republic.The destination was Kutna Hora which was a very wealthy tin mining town in the 16 th century. First we stopped at a shrine (ossary) where some old monk had used the bones dug up from a cemetry which was being replaced, to create all sorts of adornments. It was bitterly cold and the whole thing reminded me only of the Pol Pot scene - not my cup pf tea.
It was here that the young lady on the bus came up to me with a pair of ear muffs and a scarf and said I would like to borrow. God Bless her - as at this stage I was frozen stiff.
The visit to the cathedral (another one) although very much dedicated to the mining community of the time, was OK. Then on to the Mint where the various vintages of coins minted there were on display. Then into a cafe and a glass of hot wine which felt to me to be the highlight of the whole trip!!! Sounds like I was still not well does it not.
Home to Prague - another early night - a prepaid taxi to the airport and then home thank God.