James and Lynn Turner

JALY

James and Lynn Turner




Oceania » Australia » Western Australia » Perth September 6th 2009

Well I guess all good things must come to an end. We are back home again and happy to be here. We were both tired towards the end of the trip that I think we need a holiday to recover. :-) It’s been a great holiday and we have seen some wonderful sights. It’s also been fun to keep this journal of what we’ve been up to over the last month. It’s been my first attempt at Blogging, and apart from my horrible spelling and typo’s I hope others have enjoyed reading about our adventures. I had planned to write something really profound summing up the whole trip and what we experienced, but I am way to tired for that. So long for now, once we pay off the credit card we can start the planning ... read more

Asia » Malaysia » Wilayah Persekutuan » Kuala Lumpur September 5th 2009

Well it’s the last day of our trip, and we are quite frankly, buggered. We are in Kuala Lumpur, the weather is hot, sticky and uncomfortable. We went out this morning and walked over to the Petronas Towers. Unfortunately there were no more tickets available to visit the sky bridge between the towers, so we decided to visit the KL Aquarium which was very interesting. They have a great setup in their facility including the main tank which has a domed walkway through the middle. Interestingly they have lots of sea turtles on display which I have not seen before. We arrived just at feeding time in the main tank so there was lots of activity. Once finished here we tried to get to the KL Tower, but with the poor map we had, the only ... read more
Unusual Fish in the KL Aquarium

Europe » Ireland » County Dublin » Dublin September 3rd 2009

By morning the rain had gone, which gave us a great opportunity to explore Dublin on our last day before flying back home. We found the obligatory Hop On/Hop Off Tourist Bus service (of which as usual there were many) and began exploring Dublin. We stopped at the famous status of Molly Malone for some photos, and then hopped back on the bus headed for the Guinness Store House. I can honestly say this was one place I have been looking forward to visiting. The place where they make the blessed nectar, to hear how Arthur Guinness started selling Ales and then began to brew the Guinness we know today. The Storehouse was used during the fermentation process back in the day, now it is a tourist attraction which explores the origins and process behind the ... read more
The Guinness Factory
Enjoying a Pint

Europe » Ireland » County Dublin » Dublin September 2nd 2009

A wet start to today didn’t stop us enjoying the gallery and showroom of Waterford Crystal. We found a nice memento within our budget and headed towards Kilkenny for Lunch. A drive though what I am sure was nice countryside to look at but could not be seen through the rain and mist brought us to the medieval town of Kilkenny. We visited the local Castle and enjoyed a walk through the staterooms on show. The gardens although inviting were inaccessible through the rain unless we wanted to get wet through, so we walked into town and found a pub for a simple lunch of Soup and Irish Soda bread along with a glass of Irish Ale, which made a change from the usual Guinness. After some shopping we headed north to Celbridge where we were ... read more
Kilkenny Castle

Europe » Ireland » County Cork » Blarney September 1st 2009

We awoke to another grey and wet day. Our first stop was King John’s Castle built in the 13th Century on the orders of King John, a much despised English monarch, so much so that only one likeness of him (a statue) still remains in a church somewhere in England. We had the Castle to ourselves due as much to the weather as to our arriving at opening time. We then walked over to the historic St Mary’s Cathederal, but were unable to see inside due to services underway, so decided to head south to County Cork and Blarney Castle. Blarney Castle sits high on a rock above the surrounding countryside. The climb to the top of the castle is tough through very tight spiral stone staircases, but the view from the top is worth the ... read more
Blarney Castle

Europe » Ireland » County Limerick » Limerick August 31st 2009

We awoke to a wet and dreary Dublin, but undeterred we headed into the City to meet one of Lynn’s oldest friends. We found her with her 2 lovely girls under an arch overlooking the Ha’penny Bridge. We spent the morning enjoying a coffee, catching up on old times, and watching the girls run riot (as a 2 and 3 year old do). :-) We enjoyed lunch with them and then headed to Limerick, our overnight stop. Once we had left Dublin we drove out from under the gloomy weather and enjoyed the Irish country side as we drive across the country. We tuned into a radio station and were surprised to hear the announcer was named Rick O’Shea, which to non-Irish people like us has provided some amusement. We finally made it to Limerick and ... read more

Europe » United Kingdom » England » Warwickshire August 30th 2009

Today is our last day in England. We started the day at Warwick Castle which has been setup as a tourist/ fun park with family activities on medieval theme based on the history of the castle during the War of the Roses. We visited the Staterooms and other exhibits, setup with wax figures to show life at the time during the preparation for battle. Warwick also have a working Trebuchets which they fire off twice a day. This does not sound like a lot but it took a team of 8 people 15 minutes to set it up for firing. Considering that in battle these things would be fired every 5 minutes, the team would have to be very skilled and very fit. Around Midday we ventured into the Warwick Dungeon exhibit which is a theatrical ... read more
Birthplace of Shakespear
Tomb of William Shakespear

Europe » United Kingdom » England August 29th 2009

This morning started with a drive to Cardiff and a visit to Cardiff Castle. We found a stone wall outside of the castle with animals “escaping” over the wall which was very unusual. The Castle itself is interesting with a Norman Keep in the middle and Victorian residence in the outer wall. The Residence contains some amazing wood carving, not quite to the level of Windsor Castle, but very nice. We climbed to the top of the Norman Keep which gave a great view of the Castle and surrounding area, including Millennium Stadium. Once we had explored the Castle we jumped back on the M4 and headed tour next Castle stop in Caldicot. This Castle is not as large and intact as Cardiff, but interesting never the less. The Keep in one corner of the outer ... read more
Norman Keep, Cardiff Castle
Caldicot Castle, Wales
Gloucester Abbey

Europe » United Kingdom » Wales August 28th 2009

Today we headed west to Bath and Wales. We stopped along the way to visit Stonehenge. This ancient structure is now basically a lot of stones piled up in a field, but it is interesting to visit this place which has posed so many questions over the years as to how it was made and why. We continued on to Bath with the weather turning wet and arrived after a short drive through the English countryside. This old town is becoming a tourist spot with tourist buses and groups going around everywhere. We visited the old Roman Baths which gives the town its name. These are fed by a hot spring and it was interesting to go through the ruins of the baths. Following a walk through the town centre we visited Bath Abbey, which has ... read more
Roman Baths in Bath
Bath
Marina in the Forest

Europe » United Kingdom » England August 27th 2009

Our Day started with a drive to the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, London. The Observatory lies in Greenwich Park which is huge which lawns, sporting grounds and courts and a great view out over London. The Observatory is where we get Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and you can stand on the Prime Meridian which is 0 Longitude. There is also an interesting museum on the creation of accurate time and ships chronometers which were critical in determining navigational position before more advanced methods. An interesting point to note is that we have now stood on both possible Meridians during this trip, the Prime Meridian in London and the proposed alternate in Paris, the Rose Line. Once we had visited the Observatory we took a drive along the M25 London Ring Road to Windsor Castle. This is ... read more
Windsor Castle




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