Blogs from Norfolk, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 12

We are on our way to the seacoast when out of nowhere there appeared yet another cathedral and we just had to stop. It was the Norwich Cathedral which has the highest spire of all gothic cathedrals in Britain. Originally built starting in 1029 and partially rebuilt in 1529. Even the rebuild is 300 years older than Canada. Left the cathedal and headed east. I will say that the English people have preserved their homes and properties at all costs. No home is moved or torn down for the betterment of highways or roads. In some cases they are crazy!!! Oh my God, you will be cruising at the breakneck pace of 40 MPH (for those of us that remember how fast that really is) and in a split second you come around a corner to ... read more

After a very pressured day at work trying to get everything sorted out before I left and the usual rushing around to pick up the girls from after school club and tennis it was back home to spend a brief time with them and their big sister Poppy just back from university, before packing and re-packing my stuff for my big trip due south to Argentina and Chile. As I'll be camping and it could be pretty cold I had to stuff my bag full of warm gear as well as lighter stuff (the days are quite mild at this time of year). The lovely fleece sleeping bag liner that my friends lent me didn't fit in :-( After taking Poppy through the complex comings and goings of her sisters who she'll be looking after for ... read more

It was just a few hours until Emily and I set off on our four month escapade around a couple of continents and all I was worried about was whether I had packed enough formal shirts for the trip and also how I was going to get my boater hat out to Vietnam without A) looking like an idiot, and, B) it getting destroyed. Crunch time for the packing probably came when David (friend from Exeter) started wading through my neatly organised packing (in colour coordinated plastic bags) and started coming up with helpful comments like, "My God chap, you don't need all those boxers! When I was cycling to Iran I didn't wash for at least 2 weeks." As a result, I promptly unpacked everything, removed 3 formal shirts, the boater, a pair of smart ... read more

Hello everyone! It's one week and four days until I set off and I am officially terrified! Excited too obviously, but I just don't feel ready at all - I'm still fundraising and havn't even started packing yet! But the injections are over (finally, after six panic attacks and god knows how many of my scitzophrenic tablets) as of yesterday, and now there's nothing stopping me! (Except perhaps the fact that the South African embassy people still have my passport and my visa...it's gonna take a lot of polite phonecalls methinks). Anyway, this is only a short post so I can work out how all this works, and start to give out the web address - argh it's really happening! Hope to see you all at least once this week before I up and go :) ... read more

At Home We are currently in Sheringham, waiting for Christmas celebrations, New Year Celebrations and then we are off! There are a few more things that we need to do before we leave for Beijing on Saturday 10th January.. We're getting a little anxious now but more excited than anything!! We shall get in touch again on here when we get to Beijing! Merry Christmas! xxx... read more