Jul 6, 2012 - Homeward bound

This will be the final entry for our trip journal because as I write we are on SQ215 heading for Perth and home after 7 weeks away from home, family and friends. We have travelled who know how many miles, been to seven different countries, seen amazing history, beautiful country side, quaint villages, country lanes which although make me car sick, sometimes look like bouquets of flowers just waiting to be picked. We have travelled by plane, car, house boat, coach, ferry, taxi and rail including the Eurostar at 300 kl per hour.  Our last day...

Jul 6, 2012 - On the way to becoming gran parents - Darwin Stay

We are getting excited for Coral's arrival today. I have been making up a sign to embarrass (LOL)her at the airport. I know I would be if someone was holding up a sign with my name on it in front of a crowd. Poor Murray is still struggling with the pain but he is going to try and come to greet Coral today. You can see he is still in a lot of pain as he is very pale. The Dr has been brilliant and trying all different ways to try a reduce the pain for Murray. Coral's plane arrived a little earlier which was great because that just meant that...

Jul 4, 2012 - Paris

After a sleep we both needed we woke up later than planned but were out by 7.45 for a quick breakfast down the street before walking to The Louvre and we were very pleased we had our Paris passes as we bypassed the queue which was winding around the glass pyramid by opening time. Once inside we headed straight for the Mona Lisa  before you could not get near it. Managed to get some photos ok and then wandered around the rest, or part of, the museum. Very impressive although we could not read any of the plaques which is a pity but we enjoyed...

Jul 3, 2012 - Paris

Left our hotel early to walk to the Museum d'Orsay as it was the earliest place open. What looked like an easy walk turned out to be nearly 1 hour and even then the queue was a couple of hundred and that was the line with passes. Those waiting to purchase tickets was twice as big. Very impressed with the building it self and that was what we really when for as it used to be a railway station. There were some interesting exhibitions but unlike the ones in Athens,  none of them had an English inscription as so we had no idea what they were...

Jul 2, 2012 - Athens - Paris

Today we said goodbye to Greece and hello to Paris. Managed to get through Easy Jets strict weight control without having to pay excess luggage but watch out Paris, now I can shop because we have an extra 10 kg each coming home. Flight was good bit bumping leaving Athens as the wind was strong but we arrived nearly half an hour early and had to wait on the plane as they were not ready for us to land. Finally found our luggage and the shuttle train to the nearest train station and after a few wrong turns, no escalators and carrying heavy...

Jul 1, 2012 - Athens day 2

Our second full day in Athens and we were up and on the bus by 8.45 am and took the whole route which was suppose to be about an hour and a half but turned out to be only about 1 hour as we were the only ones on it for most of the trip. We were then going to go to the changing of the guards at the Parliament but because we were so early we got back on the bus and went to the Acropolis Museum which is huge and houses all the artifacts recovered over the years. We spent nearly two hours there but after a while they all start looking the same....

Jul 1, 2012 - On the way to becoming gran parents - Darwin Stay

Yah! Tonight is cracker night. I have been looking forward to this for awhile now. The plan is to go to Casurina Beach and have a picnic tea before letting off our crackers. Another outing Murray is going to miss out on. He is managing to participate in some things but the noise of the crackers would be too much for him. What a shame, he enjoyed guy faux as a kid too and would have loved to bring back some memories. The crackers are only sold on the day of the cracker night and its first come, first serve. It was not hard to find places...

Jun 30, 2012 - Athens

Today we started exploring Athens with a on off city bus tour. Before boarding the bus we had time to check out Syntagma Square and The Parliament Building. We only went a few stops to the Acropolis and Parthenon as it was going to be hot later in the day. What a sight and much bigger than we had thought. They are doing a lot of restoration so a lot of the blocks have been removed, numbered and placed on the ground where they are going to be restored and put back where they came from. A massive and very expensive job and one that will be...

Jun 29, 2012 - Munich - Paros

Paros -  Caught our flight from Munich to Athens and then the train from the airport to the port without getting lost. The ferry ride was ok, did not get sea sick but were very glad we booked seats and did not have to join the rush to get a seat. Max was not feeling very well the seats we had were perfect, except for the dog in our section which barked at everyone who walked past. We arrived in Paros about 11 pm as we had to stop at Syros first which added about 1 hour to the trip. Tiny was there to pick us up and took us to a little hotel...

Jun 29, 2012 - On the way to becoming gran parents - Darwin Stay

There's not really a lot to record from the past weeks as our days evolve around medical appointments and rest for Murray. Over the past weeks here at my brother's its has been challenging for Murray as he is still under a lot of pain, so much so he is not able to participate in any of the outings and worse of all he hasn't been able to enjoy and drink either but he is working on that. His facial scars have healed only leaving an indentation of his eye lid but the neuralgia looks like its here to stay for awhile. We are all looking forward...

Jun 26, 2012 - Getting ready to go

Early start this morning, the State boys fly out at 9.30am so it was up at 5.30am to be at the airport by 7.30am. I think Chase was excited but typical Chase he doesn’t give too much away. We will be doing the same trip all over again tonight. Michele, Rilee and I and the Morris's, Phil and Trish are flying out at midnight, which is going to make a long day of it. We get in to Melbourne at 6.00am. Michele wanted to be packed by last night but as per usual the suit case is in the bedroom empty. She just kept yelling at me and Chase to get...

Jun 23, 2012 - Salzbury - Munich

On the road by 7.30 to visit Eagles Nest which was one of Hitlers lookouts during the war. Our bus could only go so far up the mountain and we had to change to buses especially built to climb the rest of the way. We were on the 2nd bus and the views were spectacular although some people did not appreciate looking out the window to a drop straight down. On arrival you walked through a tunnel of about 150 meters and then took a lift up another 150 meters. The view was indescribable and we were so lucky that we were there early because with in...