London 27 July - 4 August

We started the sad journey out of Cape Town in the pouring rain and flew up to London Heathrow airport to start another part of our journey in Europe!  The flight up was exciting since we were on a brad new plane and it had all of the new gizmo's and gadgets.  Once our flight landed we went straight to the rental car pick-up area and got our rental car and we got really lucky.  My dad managed to pick up a new BMW 500 series diesel and we drove out in style (with me in the front seat of course).  We drove on the outskirts of London and turned off towards the countryside of Kent and went to my dads town that he used to live in when he was little, it was an experience for him because we drove past his old house and stopped by at dads best friends house and said hello.  We then continued onto the place we were staying at which was our Uncles house.  When we arrived we were greeted by many, many little kids who I found out were actually my cousins and we enjoyed a nice dinner when I found out that they were to be sleeping in my bed for a little while since they were to young to stay up.  After a long days travelling I managed to get to bed early and woke up the next morning with hopefully something to do.

The Olden Day Towns of Kent

The next day we went out and explored the country side of Kent and drove through several towns along the way.  The roads inside the towns were exceptionally narrow and I definitely thought that at some point we were going to get stuck.  The roads are so narrow because in the olden days when London wasn't modern people got around on horseback or on carriages so they didn't need to be that wide at all.  The houses throughout most of the towns that we past through were almost on the break of collapsing and looked like the Leaning Tower of Pisa!  Yet again we still survived and weren't crushed.  England is famous for it's pubs, if you go round to a friends house they will always say "do you want to go to the pub?" even little kids say that.  They are everywhere, if you go into a town with no more than 10 houses in it one of those will be a pub.  The most common thing men and woman will ask for in a pub is a pint of beer and some small food accompaniment to go with it.

The Bluebell Railway

We sadly left Bert's house after 2 nights and continued onto another very close relatives house Mary and Lindsay's with the same last name as me (Black if you forgot).  It took 20 minutes to get there and by the time we arrived we were tired and wanted to get some fresh air, so we were taken out to the Bluebell Railway Line and we went on our second steam train.  The train was powered by steam not smoke as some people sometimes think and consisted of 5 carriages 1 of those the first class carriage.  The journey lasted for almost 2 hours with stops along the way and the countryside was beautiful and full of wildlife.  We went through 1 tunnel on the way which we made the most of scaring each other in the pitch black darkness and at the other end getting revenge.  The journey was heaps of fun and by the end I felt like I would fall over where I stood!  We went home and enjoyed a lovely dinner and shared photos of my dad when he was four and it was hilarious!

The Beach made of Flint

The second day we were with Lindsay and Mary we visited the famous White Cliffs of Dover (Mr Green you can type that up on the internet and get some good photos since it was pouring with rain when we were there) and also saw the 7 sisters.  The entire stretch of beach was made of flint and the cliffs made of chalk with bands of flint forming all the way through them going on for miles and miles.  I sadly couldn't make a spark with the flint since I needed steel but I tried my hardest.  I found out that if you hit flint with a stone it breaks and the sharpness of the flint can be used to cut leather with and cut raw meat with too, that's pretty sharp!  We later continued onto another beach made of flint 30 minutes away but this time surrounded by houses and a huge wharf, I tried my first English flavoured ice cream here and it wasn't very tasty.  We went back home and had a Chinese take out which was actually very tasty.  

Ingtham Mote

On the last day we were with Lindsay and Mary we visited a very famous sight called the Ingtham Mote which was built in the early 1300's by a very wealthy family and lasted all of the way to 1980.  The house was built on a river and and mote now surrounds it.  The mote was built for the sewage and drains towards the sea but sometimes overflows near a road causing a minor flood and sewage to go all over the place, which was very unsanitary.  In the 1980's the Ingtham Mote underwent a major restoration project to rebuild the fallen or deteriorating structure and they succeeded and it is now a major tourist attraction for people all over the world!  We managed to get a quick tour in before it started bucketing with rain and finished off with a couple of scones (we are very naughty!).

Charles Darwin
I'm not sure if you've heard about the famous Charles Darwin, the man who discovered the theory of evolution.  Well I visited his house.  The second day we were with Lindsay and Mary we visited the household of Charles Darwin.  In the early 1800's Charles went on a voyage around the world to collect species of animals for experimentation and to show people how evolution really occurred.  He was considered in those days a monkey and not human for not believing that God created humans and didn't evolve from monkeys.  He was regularly drawn in newspapers as a monkey with sings underneath him saying things like "Human Beast" and "Non Believer".  He finally managed to convince some people about his theory of evolution and when he died he died with honor and is now buried at Westminster Abby.

The Tower of London
We left Lyndsay and Mary's house the next morning and continued onto another one of our relatives house but before we arrived we visited the famous London Lego Land which I'm sure some of you must of heard of.  We arrived that night and got to bed slightly earlier than usual and woke up the next morning ready for an adventure.  The next day we visited the famous Tower of London getting there through the underground train (the tube) located on the Themes River near the London Bridge with the Olympic Rings on it.  It was definitely an experience for everyone and I thought that it was very interesting, I learnt that many of England's famous leaders were executed there and reigned there also.  The castle dates back to the early 1000's and has been built bigger and bigger every century.  The Tower also holds the Crown Jewels, which I saw as well, they were definitely beautiful and the doors guarding them were very heavy and thick.  I was thinking what would happen if I got trapped inside.  The castle was an experience of a lifetime and we finished it off with a lovely dinner on the edge of the Themes with our relatives.

The Olympics
I sadly didn't get to watch any events live but I went though the Park which I thought was really cool.  Everyone was dressed up in their country colours and looked very supportive don't worry I had my NZ flag up!  I met up with a friend there and we chatted for a while and it turns out that he was watching the swimming finals which I thought was pretty cool.  We went on home through the endless crowds of people and took the tube back to the house and settled down that night definitely overloaded with memory space after a long days learning experience.

Windsor
The next day we went down the Long Road as it was called (since it was 3 miles long) and lead up towards one of the Queens many residences Windsor Castle.  We walked up the road and diverted into the town of Windsor and had a coffee there and continued on down towards a small part of the river Themes.  We enjoyed a lovely lunch and went back to the house to go and set up a fire (with Flint and Steel!) and when we arrived there we went out into the neighboring forest to go and collect firewood.  The fire was started just after dark and we told each other ghost stories and everyone got scared (especially with my ones!).  I managed to get to sleep without scaring myself and found myself awake in the morning on the sad day that we were to leave.

The Flight to Amsterdam, Holland
The next morning we were spoilt with a cooked breakfast and left the house at around mid day saying goodbyes to England and to our relatives.  On the way to Heathrow airport my dad luckily realised that we had left the computer behind so we quickly turned around, said our goodbyes once again and headed back to the airport this time stuck in traffic.  We were lucky not to miss our flight since the traffic was so bad and finally arrived in the next leg of our journey, Holland where we would meet more relatives and hopefully nothing bad would happen.  

The Wharf at the Flint Beach

Ice Creams are yummy!

Partying at the Beach

View out to Sea

The London Bridge with the Rings

The London Bridge

The House of Charles Darwin

Us at Charles Darwin's House

Bands of Flint in the Chalk

Crabs are also yummy

The White Cliffs of Dover

The Ingtham Mote

The courtyard of the Ingtham Mote

The Billiard room at Ingtham Mote

Steve sitting next to a Ghost

A Sign with me in the Background

The Steam Train

Me!!!!

A misused Carriage

Our Steam Train

The Olympic Rings

The Crow's at The Tower of London

The White Church in the Tower of London

The Long Road at Windsor

A Guard Patrolling

Windsor Castle