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TwoDees
We're embarking on the Holiday of a Lifetime! With our friends Don & Jocelyn Watts, we are joining the Titanic Memorial Cruise, which leaves from Southampton on Sunday the 8th of April 2012. We follow the Titanic's steps, and will be at the site of the sinking on April 15 2012 - exactly 100 years after the ship sank. We'll attend a Memorial Service at 2.20am to pay homage to those who lost their lives, and also to those who survived. We journey onto Canada, then finish the cruise in New York. After spending a couple of days in New York, we are flying back to the UK to do a drive/tour - the highlight being Damian's round of Golf at St Andrews - the Home of Golf. Can't wait to share our travels, our photos and our stories with you all. Namaste. Damian & Deb xoTwoDees
Travel Blog Posts
May 5th 2012
May 5, 2012 – Maidenhead Wow, our last day! Tonight we are flying out for home, and to be honest both of us are now ready to go home. It's been a lovely holiday, a wonderful break – but we are both missing family, friends and our FurBabies. We are also missing our own bed – it's been many weeks since we slept in a decent bed LOL What have we been up to, these last few days? Well, as I mentioned in my last blog commentary, we went to see the White Horse of Uffington, which is in the middle of absolutely nowhere but is well worth the effort of getting there. The views from the White Horse are astonishing – truly you feel like you're on top of England. After seeing the White Horse, ... read more
May 1st 2012
May 1, 2012 – Salisbury This morning we said a sad farewell to Susan and her family – a big thank you to Susan, Eric and Stephen for their incredible generosity, and the time that you all gave us during our visit. It has been a memorable occasion, to find long-lost relatives. And a blessing to have the opportunity to meet you all. Family is so precious! We headed across the bottom end of England, and decided to aim for Salisbury. Stonehenge is situated just outside of Salisbury, and the region is littered in historic sites and things to do and see. We decided to wait until we got to Salisbury before looking for accomodation – it's about leaving it up to the Universe and finding what we find! We reached Salisbury at about lunchtime, and ... read more
April 29th 2012
April 29, 2012 – Margate Here we are in Margate, visiting with my cousin Susan Marsh, her husband Eric and son Stephen. We have been so humbled and grateful to Susan, Eric and Stephen for taking the time to meet us in Margate, and so kindly show us the town. We saw the home that my Grandfather lived in, and the RAF base where he worked – we think prior to 1920. We visited the Tate Gallery, where a Turner exhibition is on display, and also Rodin's sculpture “The Kiss” (our bit of culture!) and museums at the airfield. But so far, the most astonishing thing we've seen is the Shell Grotto. The Shell Grotto is situated on Shell Grotto Hill, Margate (a small back street in the middle of town) – and is absolutely amazing. ... read more
April 28th 2012
April 28, 2012 – Heading South Today we are on the road, heading south to Dover. We stayed in Carlisle last night, which was situated at the top end of the Lakes District. Pretty countryside, but Carlisle itself was fairly ordinary. It had the obligatory castle and cathedral, and a reasonably nice shopping district – we had a look through the cathedral, which housed a very impressive collection of silver church artifacts and some Roman artifacts, as well as the most beautiful pipe organ I've ever seen. The cathedral architecture was impressive. That said, we were out of Carlisle fairly early this morning – the trip to Dover is fairly long (by UK standards) so we wanted to ensure that we have some time to look around Dover before heading to Margate tomorrow to meet my ... read more
April 26th 2012
April 26, 2012 – St Andrews Today was Damian's round of the Old Course at St Andrews – talk about having one excited Husband! The weather was extremely cold, and a few showers came across the region but I don't think it mattered at all – Damian was able to tick something off his “bucket list” by playing at The Home of Golf. I spent the day exploring St Andrews – it's not a big place, just a nice village. There are some great shops, and I also walked up to St Andrews Cathedral – which was really interesting. There is just so much history in the UK – we have no concept of history in Australia. It's our last night at Cambo House tonight – we'll be sad to leave tomorrow. Tomorrow we are heading ... read more
April 24th 2012
April 24, 2012 – St Andrews We're here! We arrived this morning in St Andrews, and Damian reckons he's died and gone to heaven. There are more golf courses here than you can poke a stick at (or a club at) and they're all beautiful courses. You drive along a road, to see sheep and dairy farms mingling with golf courses, all nestled up against the ocean. I'm in heaven too – the countryside is just beautiful, so you could say that St Andrews has been Tailormade just for us! The golfists amongst you should get that wee pun LOL We have spent a wonderful day exploring Cambo Estate. Cambo Estate is stunning. There is no other word to describe it. Cambo House itself is awe-inspiring – a grand manor home. We are staying in “The ... read more
Edinburgh, Scotland
Published: April 24th 2012Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » Midlothian » Edinburgh
April 23rd 2012
April 23, 2012 - Edinburgh, Scotland! Wow! What a fabulous day today has been. After a quick breakfast at Starbucks (literally next door to our hotel) we explored the shops of Royal Mile. Shops selling kilts, cashmere, tartans, scarves etc abound, and I guess the locals find it all a bit twee (like we do at home about those shops selling Australiana stuff) but we thought it was good fun and bought a few momentos to take home with us. We then made our way up to Edinburgh Castle – it is about 5 minutes walk up the hill from our hotel. Everywhere in Edinburgh seems like it's “up the hill” LOL Jokes aside, Edinburgh is a very hilly place … We joked that Edinburgh locals must have thighs that can crack walnuts – the exercise ... read more
Back in the UK!
Published: April 22nd 2012Europe » United Kingdom » England » East Riding of Yorkshire » Yorkshire Wolds
April 22nd 2012
April 21, 2012 – Back in the UK Here we are, back in the UK. After the madness of New York, it is wonderful to be back in England – where life is slightly less frenetic! We picked up our hire car (booked a Ford Focus, got an Audi – woohoo!) and drove north. Thank you, Google Maps! We got as far as Yorkshire, before deciding to call it a day. We found a lovely hotel in York, and we'll have a look around York tomorrow before heading on to Scotland. Damian got onto a “last minute” booking website, and found us a 5 star hotel right in the centre of Edinburgh for £60 a night!! We'll stay in Edinburgh itself for 2 nights, then head to St Andrews. April 22, 2012 – Travelling the UK ... read more
New York, New York!!
Published: April 22nd 2012North America » United States » New York » New York » Manhattan
April 20th 2012
April 19, 2012 – New York We made it to New York! We didn't even see an iceberg! We got into New York very early this morning – we were all up just before dawn, and out on deck to make sure we were able to see the entry into New York, see the Statue of Liberty in the early morning light. We caught some beautiful scenes at daybreak as the sun rose over the Bay, and were thrilled to watch the Statue of Liberty as we silently slid past her in the dawn of day. What a sight! Docking in New York, we were all booked on tours for the morning – Don & Jocelyn went on the New York Harbour tour, whilst Damian & I went on the Downtown Manhattan & 911 Memorial Tour. ... read more
April 17th 2012
April 17th 2012 – Halifax, Nova Scotia Here we are – in Halifax, Nova Scotia!! We arrived in Halifax yesterday afternoon, to everyone's immense glee. We have just finished 7 days straight at sea, and it's safe to say we were all itching to get off the Balmoral for a while! The entry to Halifax is very picturesque, with the inlet lined with massive homes – however this soon gave way to a very commercial shipping area. It didn't matter, we were so glad to be here! A small pipe band was there to greet the ship, which was lots of fun. Disembarking the ship with our new friends Ian & Jen (from Canberra) and Don & Joc, we entered Pier 21 which is a mass of market-style shops which were open late especially for us. ... read more
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