Our English made French Peugeot shat itself this morning. Clutch gave way, luckily just outside work, so I managed to park it in the car park ok. Luckily we got Road Side rescue from the AA. For anybody going to do some driving in the UK, get Roadside assistance. It was pretty cheap - around 100 (can't find the pound symbol) for a year and a great piece of mind. Especially as most Kozis (Kiwis/Aussies) will buy a shitter and run it into the ground.
The AA guy came to work, towed the car to a garage, and organised a rental for me to get home in. The rental is free for 48 hours, which is all part of the policy. Anyway it is going to cost 237 to get the clutch replaced and should be ready tomorrow. Maybe not all English are useless!
So kudos to the AA. Made a potientially stressful situation bearable. Money well spent
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Day 3 - Road Trip
Today we had a god look around Salisbury Cathedral. Salisbury Cathedral was the original Cathedral built around 1200 and took 38 years to build. Most other Cathedrals were based on Salisbury Cathedral, and it is where the Magna Carta was written and signed. The Magna Carta was basically a set of rules that the Nobels decided to live by, basically a set of human rights. It's the forerunner to most major treaties that would come later, such as the Declaration of Independance. There is only 4 surviving documents in the world, and one is was in a chapel in the Salisbury Cathedral.
Inside the Cathedral is huge. It has several chapels inside, and the tombs of knights and bishops fom 1200 onwards. You get a real sense of history in this place. Check out http://sugruefamily.shutterfly.com for pictures, as they say a picture is worth 1000 words.
I didn't think it possible, but Salisbury was even better than Stonehenge. A must see for anyone visiting the UK.
Inside the Cathedral is huge. It has several chapels inside, and the tombs of knights and bishops fom 1200 onwards. You get a real sense of history in this place. Check out http://sugruefamily.shutterfly.com for pictures, as they say a picture is worth 1000 words.
I didn't think it possible, but Salisbury was even better than Stonehenge. A must see for anyone visiting the UK.
Friday, June 1, 2007
Day 2 - Road Trip
Today we set off early for our trip of the long weekend. Due to date issues with booking we stayed Sunday night instead of Saturday. Anyway, our plan was to take in Stonehenge, stay in Salisbury the night, then check out Salisbury Cathedral on Monday and a leisurely drive home.
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is situated in a district called Wiltshire, which is about 2 1/2 hours South West of Rugby, and just to the South West of London. We were driving along the road, turned a corner and bang, in the middle of a field is freaking Stonehenge. Was a bit of an anti-climax, because we weren't expecting to see it just standing there. Apparently plans are afoot to cover the road, and create a tunnel so you can only see it on foot, which would add to the experience.
Stonehenge itself is awesome. It's humbling to think that these stones were put there by men maybe up to 5000 years ago - no one is really sure. I thought it would be a little bigger than it was, but it is a must see nonetheless. Unfortunately, it was munting down (bloddy English weather!) so we probably didn't stay as long as we would have liked, but still saw it from all angles and took heaps of snaps. (more on that later).
After we got back in the car, we decided to go an see the lesser known Stone formation at a place called Avesbury. We drove thorugh several little towns to get there, one that was twinned with OAMA-FRICKEN-RU!! Frighteningly small world. The stones at Avesbury encompass a whole town, and the circumference would be, and I'm guessing here, maybe a mile. The cool thing is that they are just in a paddock, so you can touch the stones and get amoungst them. Unfortunately because it was still wet, we decided not to take the buggy into the field where the stones were. We will definately come back though.
The other man made attraction at Avesbury was a mound, about 40m high and 100m wide, made entirely by hand. I guess with no Internets or TV the people of the day had buggar all else to do?
After Avesbury, we drove to our Hotel in Salisbury, caught a bit and hit the hay. Tomorrow - Salisbury Cathedral.
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is situated in a district called Wiltshire, which is about 2 1/2 hours South West of Rugby, and just to the South West of London. We were driving along the road, turned a corner and bang, in the middle of a field is freaking Stonehenge. Was a bit of an anti-climax, because we weren't expecting to see it just standing there. Apparently plans are afoot to cover the road, and create a tunnel so you can only see it on foot, which would add to the experience.
Stonehenge itself is awesome. It's humbling to think that these stones were put there by men maybe up to 5000 years ago - no one is really sure. I thought it would be a little bigger than it was, but it is a must see nonetheless. Unfortunately, it was munting down (bloddy English weather!) so we probably didn't stay as long as we would have liked, but still saw it from all angles and took heaps of snaps. (more on that later).
After we got back in the car, we decided to go an see the lesser known Stone formation at a place called Avesbury. We drove thorugh several little towns to get there, one that was twinned with OAMA-FRICKEN-RU!! Frighteningly small world. The stones at Avesbury encompass a whole town, and the circumference would be, and I'm guessing here, maybe a mile. The cool thing is that they are just in a paddock, so you can touch the stones and get amoungst them. Unfortunately because it was still wet, we decided not to take the buggy into the field where the stones were. We will definately come back though.
The other man made attraction at Avesbury was a mound, about 40m high and 100m wide, made entirely by hand. I guess with no Internets or TV the people of the day had buggar all else to do?
After Avesbury, we drove to our Hotel in Salisbury, caught a bit and hit the hay. Tomorrow - Salisbury Cathedral.
More Bank Holiday Fun - Day 1
Last weekend was the second Bank Holiday weekend for May, great for holidays but not great for a contractor. Anyway, on Saturday we went to Nottingham for lunch. Nottingham is about an hour up the motorway and is a little smaller than Christchurch with about 275,000 people.
It has a canal running through the middle of it and the main center is quite nice. It's just another town really and the main reason we went was to drop some people off so they could pick up their car from a garage. Wouldn't hurry back to be honest.
Nottingham has one redeeming factor - it has an IKEA. Think Warehouse but only for furniture and very good quality stuff. Each IKEA store has all the products built so you can see them. The novel thing is that instead of just having them in an open plan warehouse, they are setup as you would use them. For example they have several different kitchens with different style drawers and counters and tables etc. So you could buy the whole kitchen or just a dish rack.
It is very nice quality and surprisingly cheap. We bought a table and chair set that would probably cost $3-400 in NZ, but was 39.99 I think. The only caveat is you have to build it yourself, but if you're handy with a screw driver then Robert's your mothers brother.
On the way home we passed a sports field, where you would not believe it, there was a game of Aussie Rules in progress. Unbelievable!
It has a canal running through the middle of it and the main center is quite nice. It's just another town really and the main reason we went was to drop some people off so they could pick up their car from a garage. Wouldn't hurry back to be honest.
Nottingham has one redeeming factor - it has an IKEA. Think Warehouse but only for furniture and very good quality stuff. Each IKEA store has all the products built so you can see them. The novel thing is that instead of just having them in an open plan warehouse, they are setup as you would use them. For example they have several different kitchens with different style drawers and counters and tables etc. So you could buy the whole kitchen or just a dish rack.
It is very nice quality and surprisingly cheap. We bought a table and chair set that would probably cost $3-400 in NZ, but was 39.99 I think. The only caveat is you have to build it yourself, but if you're handy with a screw driver then Robert's your mothers brother.
On the way home we passed a sports field, where you would not believe it, there was a game of Aussie Rules in progress. Unbelievable!
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