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Published: September 10th 2006
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City Wall Exeter
This was amazing. It's near a mill and the post holes you see in the wall are where houses were built from the wall for workers at the mill. Stone walls were always useful........ Hi Everyone,
Well I'm finally able to update things. It's been so long and I apologise for the long delay. Lots has happened and there's been lots to do and not enough cheap internet access around, or USB access or burning facilities. Anyway, let's begin.........
From my last entry I'd been staying in Kent with some of Trevor's family and I was lucky enough to get a lift to Exeter in Devon. I stayed there for a week and kind of liked it but kind of didn't. So I went to Plymouth and after being told how awful it is by a number of Australians (never listen to other people when it comes to what's nice and what isn't) and I really like it there. I ended up staying there for 2 1/2 weeks and scored a job taking the minutes for meetings with child protection.
It was interesting and I learned heaps about lots of things - including the class system over here. It was good to be an 'unskilled worker' (I hate the term but I have to use it here) for a while and to be treated as such. I wasn't allowed to say a
word in the meetings which was very difficult for me...........as you can imagine. I had an amazing boss. The culture in the office there was lovely and although there were politics as always everyone got along really well. The staff there were trusted by their managers to do their jobs well and were treated with so much respect which was reciprocated, and support came from within the team and they were lovely. As a result everyone loved working there and worked really hard and the trust was amazing. As you can guess I learned so much in such a short period of time. I left after two weeks and made some really nice friends in Plymouth and it was sad to go.
While I was in Devon I went to Dartmoor National Park and this is one of my favourite places so far. It's been farmed for 3000 years and has heaps of tors (hills), stone circles and ruins of homes over this period of time. I only was able to see some tors but it was an amazing place. I also got up to Glastonbury in Somerset. Apparently King Arthur's and Gueniviere's bodies were dug up around 1100.
Underground Chamber
This is an underground chamber built around 5000 years ago - apparently. Even looking for it it wasn't obvious. It consisted of a tunnel and side dome shaped room. It was amazing. Interestingly, at the same time as the Abbey was in desperate need of money and this was exactly what they got when the 'find' was made. The tor at Glastonbury was beautiful, you can see all of the surrounding areas from the top. It's a steep climb to the top and well worth it. Glastonbury is like Nimbin in NSW. One of the locals was telling me how it used to be just a normal town 10 years ago until a whole heap of people came and opened up crystal shops, goddess shops, and the like. I still haven't made my mind up about the place. I think if it just let itself be what it is, instead of people pushing it into what they think it should be it would be better. But I'm just a tourist so I won't say too much.
From Plymouth I went to Penzance for a few days. I was told (yes, by Australians) that Penzance is nothing special - and I loved it there! It's such a beautiful town. I went to St. Michael's Mount on the first day. I don't know the word to describe it but it's like a hill
Village
This is a village built on top of the underground chamber (knows as a fugu) in around 250 AD that when the tide is out you can walk over to it from the beach, but if you don't get back in time you have to catch a boat or swim back. It was really cool and there's a castle built at the top of it. The next day I went to a place called Carn-euni Village site. There's an underground chamber built 5-6000 years ago in the stone age. It's made up of a tunnel with a dome room off the side of it. It's use hasn't been established. It could have been for hiding, although when you whisper there's an amazing echo and it's believed that it was used for ceremonies. Built on top of the chamber was a village in around 250 AD. It was really nice walking around it, and the lack of tourists was great. I didn't get to see any stone circles - either at Dartmoor or in Cornwall but I hope to soon. I think that Stone Circles were like the town hall - they seem to have been used weddings, funerals, ceremonies - that's what I think anyway. What does everyone else think?
I arrived in Wales today, in Cardiff. It's an interesting city........... I'm hoping to spend around 4 days here and then I want to get the boat to Ireland and stay there until I head back to Plymouth in early October to hopefully do some teaching.
Please keep in touch and I hope you're all well.
Missing you all
Love Danielle.
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