As we found our way down to The Backs, we got more and more lost, and spent a heap of the time backtracking. But it was cool, we found a bunch of interesting stuff... Lots of gates saying 'Do Not Enter' and random, colourful sprigs of snowdrops.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Cambridge Capers
As we found our way down to The Backs, we got more and more lost, and spent a heap of the time backtracking. But it was cool, we found a bunch of interesting stuff... Lots of gates saying 'Do Not Enter' and random, colourful sprigs of snowdrops.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Bruxelles
So I began my brief European tour from Brussels, Belgium. The following are a selection of pretty pictures I took!
BRILLIANT.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
En Route
2:50pm, GMT+0
STILL-ON-A-BUS, CALAIS, FRANCE
With any luck, the more astute of you noticed an interesting discrepancy in the last post. Namely, the marker. Anyone? If you haven't picked it, the last post was written in France. Yes, my dear enthusiasts, I was not kidding when I said I was on the road again! It has been a week-and-a-half since I touched down in Glasgow International Airport, and already I am on my third European country. I will not elaborate on the details of the last week, on account of there being a limited photo record (I know, I know :(
But suffice to say there was the long-awaited reunion with a dearly missed friend in England, some fond farewells, a wonderful week with the family in Scotland, the frequenting of some well-known and new-found bars and clubs, plenty of Murder, She Wrote, and way too many unhealthy substances consumed. All in all, a successful week-and-a-bit. Here is the bit where I swear to you that I am returning Glasgow soon-ish and can promise a good helping of visual media then.
But where am I now? Well you must know by now I'm on a bus! Good. In fact I'm fairly out of Calais by now, travelling north-ish. I've been on buses or in bus stations for the last 18 hours or thereabouts, and am therefore probably mad. I left Glasgow (with it's hint of snow) at 10:00pm last night, arriving at London Victoria much too early this morning to really comprehend the new bus driver's explanation that the trains were stuck somewhere and we were therefore catching the ferry to the continent.
Now, this was definitely news to me! I was rather under the impression that a coach, being the landlubbing vehicle it is, would be driving to the continent. Luckily not, for this morning I saw the White Cliffs of Dover (capitals necessary) rise out of the hills as we rounded the bend to the Port. But the biggest surprise was yet to come! Okay, so maybe noone else is surprised by this. But it turns out that when you drive onto a ferry on a coach, they let you on deck. This is cool, because on P&O's The Pride of Calais they've got about a billion bars, duty-free shopping, some restaurants, a food court, and a bunch of secret doors you can find (if you look hard enough) that take you out into the fresh air.
I bet you can guess what song I had in my head the whole time. Hint: T-Pain.
And I swear to god this is true, you really can see France from England.
(You knew that? Well done. I thought it was a metaphor for something.)
So I got some fresh air, took some photos, giggled to myself a bit, decided it was too cold, went inside, and had a pint. Perfection.
Now I leave you as I continue on this hellish bus ride (Okay, fine, it's really not that bad, and it's cheap. And the next stop is Lille.) because by tonight I'll be in Brussels, Belgium! And I get to spend more than an hour there this time! I am super excited. I have been practicing my French:
"Bonjour monsieur. Pardon, je suis en Australie. Parlez vous Anglais? S'il vouz plait?
*Mutters* Oh god please please speak English oh god oh god."
Also I am hoping I have not remembered incorrectly and Brussels is mostly Flemish-speaking, cos then I'm fucked.
With love,
TCT
The Traveller Returns!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
2:30pm, GMT+0
ON-A-COACH, CALAIS, FRANCE
My honoured followers! It has been some time. You have perhaps been wondering what became of me? Well, it's a long story. Needless to say, the delay in my travels was unexpected and unfortunate. But, (finally!) I am on the road again, and promise to deliver even more indulgent tales, photographs, and oddly over-punctuated; sentences.
Where we left off, your intrepid traveller (read: vagrant) was on her way to Dunedin for a conference of the academic type. The conference was brilliant, Dunedin is fucking cool, and it should definitely be noted that couchsurfing in a broken-down caravan is the best way to do it. Alas, there is a very limited photographic record of that particular week. Probably due to a) the fun I was having, and b) the fact that squinting at countless photos of badly-resolved powerpoint slides on Quantum Photonics is boring by definition.
However! There was a day trip to discover the home of New Zealand's burgeoning steampunk scene, some really really really good cheese, a castle (actually, it's the castle), a fancy dinner, intelligent company, many drinks, a bar-that-used-to-be-a-church, the quirk of evolution that created Dunedin noise, rooms whose power points were great at hide-and-seek, the longest bus ride ever to see the most disappointing lake ever, and seconds for dinner every night.
So, obviously, it was the best week ever.
But could it be topped?!
Tune in to the next episode - same bat-time, same bat-channel.
With love, the Curious Traveller.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
A Walking Tour
I wandered around the Avon for a bit...
And was interested by some of the strange things the earthquake didn't get.
(That thing rotates)
And before I could forget what country I was in...
There was a lot of interesting flora...
And it turns out NZ has the biggest, most scariest bees you've ever seen.
It wasn't too hard of a walk
But the stairs were pretty steep.
Eventually I made it!
And the view was well worth it
I was so exhausted, I did what any self-respecting tourist does, and sampled the local beer - this was a Nor'wester Strong Pale Ale, but I don't know how Pale that looks to me. It was delicious, though.
Stay cool kids, we'll talk soon