Bec and Andrew's Honeymoon

We have finally made it to London the final destination of the Ireland-UK leg of the honeymoon.

We have been in London for a few days already as we arrived last Saturday. I can't believe it hasn't rained during the day-time for the past 5 days ! We have been really lucky. I've heard the average max temp for October is around 14C but it has been about 18C a huge difference.

There is so much to see and do in London so we have been very busy. Some of the things we have seen/done already are the London Eye, London Aquarium, Hop on and off Bus Tour, Buckingham Palace (well we went to the gates), London Tower, Jack the Ripper Walking Night Tour just to name a few.

Today we when on a day tour to Bath and Stonhenge which was fantastic. We took some great photo's.

I'd better go. Just a quick note to let you all know that we are going on a bus tour for the next 12 days or so we probably won't be able to log onto the internet for a couple of weeks. The tour is taking us through France, Switzerland and finishing in Italy.

I'm sure I'll have plenty of stories to tell when I update this webpage in Rome !

I have a few spare minutes before dinner so I thought I'd quickly jump on the internet again.

We after spending time in Barrow we travelled across the countryside from East to West to a town that was thought to have inspired Bram Stoker's Dracula, Whitby. It was a beautiful seaside town which was overlooked by a very old Abbey which is now a historic ruin.

As Bec said to me ... if ever there was a port for Ghost Ships Whitby would be it. You could almost see the Black Pearl drifting into the Harbour which was covered by thick blanket of fog.

At night time after having the yummiest battered Fish and Chips (ever) we decided to go for a stroll to the Abbey and Cemetary at the top of the Hill. The cemetery was covered in fog and it was really dark...scarey...I almost jumped when the clock tower rang saying it was 10pm.

I woke up really early to take some dawn photo's of Witby but the fog was so thick I don't think any of them will turn out. Unfortunately, we only had one night in Whitby so next time I go there I'd love to spend atleast a few days to look around and relax.

From Whitby we drove to Lincoln via York. It was raining really hard on the drive to Lincoln so we were lucky to get there without getting lost. We are staying with some family friends in Lincoln and they have been looking after us really well.

I'd better go and as I said before I'll try to login in London.

I can't believe it has been over a week since we've updated the webpage.

The ferry ride from Ireland to England went well and fortunately we crossed one of the roughest passages in the world with out any problems. These ferry's are huge (well they say they are world's largest) they have Burger King, Pokies and a few watering holes inside!

That night we stayed in a Bed and Breakfast a few miles outside of Brampton which is in the north of England. The Bed and Breakfast was built sometime in the 1500's well before Australia was even discovered. The Bed and Breakfast served us the yummiest Jam and Cream filled donuts with Tea on arrivial which has now started our newest craze...where ever we go we look for a Jam and Cream donuts for morning tea. Fortunately, for our waistlines, we haven't found too many places that have them.

The B&B overlooked Hadrian's wall which was built by the Romans in about 100-200A.D. Bec was in her element looking at the archeological site. I enjoyed it as well and what they have uncovered about life in those days.

We travelled from Hadrian's Wall to to the Lake District. We stayed in a place called Keswick it was a beautiful spot. Everyone from Adelaide who had been there had raved about it and I can see why. Unfortunately, it rained both days but I've heard that's not unusual. I guess it has to be wet to keep the lakes filled.... hee hee.

After the Lake District we drove to Michael's birthplace Barrow-in-Furness. Michael (Bec's sister's fiancee) reminisced of growing up in the industrial ship building town. The port docks museam was great and free which was a nice for a change.

Unfortunately, I have to go. Sorry I can't complete this page today. We are going well and having a great time. We'll be in London tomorrow so I'll try to find some time to update the page then.

Today is our second to last day in Ireland. We have had a few long days of driving so we are looking forward to a few days of relaxation.

We followed the coast from Guinness Heaven (Dublin) to Cork. Cork was a big fishing and cargo port which down the south of Ireland. We stayed at a B&B that I'll never forget. This place was amazing..... I have never eaten so much food in the morning for breakfast. Both mornings I had pancakes, scones with jam and cream and their very unusual and yummy porridge with Baileys. They were very generous with the Bailey's !

Unfortunately, we didn't get to see much of Cork so we'd like to go back but I'll never forget the breakfast. Instead of looking around Cork we drove to a fishing village about 30 minutes away called Linsail. The pictures we took were amazing, it was really picturesque. We also visited an old fort which was built in the 1600's called Charles Fort which was also worth a look.

From Cork we travelled up the western coast of Ireland to Galway which is a fishing town with great sandy beaches that has now been discovered by locals and tourists. It had plenty of modern buildings, pubs and clubs. We only stayed there for a night so unfortunately we didn't get a good look around. We went to a pub for dinner and the seafood was fantastic...the Guinness also tasted great (as usual). In the morning we strolled around the city but we had to leave in the early afternoon to drive to our final nights stay in Ireland at Portadown.

Tomorrow we will catch a ferry from Belfast to Stranraer so fingers crossed it is a calm day.

Overall, we are a bit tired from travelling so much but are having a great time.

Hi All,

Sorry it has taken me so long to update our webpage.

We have been in the UK for a week and haven't had time to jump on the internet. I was hoping to use my mobile to update the webpage but unfortunately I haven't been able to get it working.

For those of you who don't know we are spending the first four weeks of our honeymoon holidaying with Bec's sister Mandy and her finacee Michael (who was born in Barrow, England).

We arrived in London after a LONG 22 hour flight. After arriving at Heathrow we caught a bus to Birmingham which is about 2 1/2 hours north-west of london(its the home of the Villa for those football (soccer) fans).

We were fortunate enough to stay with some family friends who were very accomodating. We visited the city centre, a palace around the area which was spectacular and had a medievil themed dinner at an old abby that is now a popular restaurant.

We stayed there for 3 days but could have easily been much longer.

We hired a car from Birmingham and set off for the 2-3 week driving part of the holiday/honeymoon. The car is a Vauxhall Vectra Wagon similar to a Holden Vectra). Fortunately, most of the road rules are the same over here so we haven't had much trouble getting around. We have taken the wrong turn a couple of times but overall it has been uneventful. The trickest thing about driving in the UK is that the indicators and windscreen wipers on the car are on opposite sides from that in Australia. So we have made a deal that if you turn on the windscreen wipers instead of the indicator you have to buy a round of beers (and we have had plenty of those).

From Birmingham we travelled west to Chester. We stopped over in Shrewsbury for lunch and took a guided tour of the town which was classic and somewhat stylish place. We arrived in Chester late that afternoon. The accomodation we were at was fantastic they looked after us very well being a honeymoon couple (sorry I can't remember the name of the place). We recevied free chocolates and a good sized room.

The next day we went on a hop-on-off bus tour of the town and unfortunately the weather turned nasty! It bucketed down. A large storm that had been effecting Ireland finally hit the UK. The heavy rain, thunder and lighting only lasted a few hours in the morning so fortunately we had the afternoon to look around without an trouble. We saw some old roman ruins, walked along the towns walls which were built to protect the city during battle times.... I'm not the historian so Bec will need to fill in the details. We had some local Beers in one of their oldest pubs and relaxed.

We set off the next day for Conwy in Wales. Conwy has a castle over looking the city it really magnificant. As I hadn't seen any castles before I really got to experience a few in Wales. The Conwy castle and town walls were mostly standing so we got some fantastic photo's. I hope to upload a few photo's later on.

We spent the next day driving around Wales visiting Castles built by King Edward and Lewyellan (sorry about my spelling). The castle I really enjoyed was Caernarfon. It had been completely restored and it was huge! It was easy getting lost in the passage ways and towers. I think everyone was exhausted from all of the walking as it was a big place.

I think Bec's favourite was Conwy or Dolwyddelan Castle due to their rustic look and historic significance (I'm not saying that Caernarfon was not historic it seen a few battles!).

We returned to Conwy ready for the next busy day.

The next day left Conwy for Ireland... we drove to Holy Head and caught the ferry to Dublin, Ireland. The ferry trip was quick and a bit choppy but we were lucky as the afternoon ferry was cancelled due to rought seas.

I think I spent most of the time in Dublin testing out the local brew... Guinness ! We went on the hop-on-off bus yesterday (which is becoming routine) and stopped over at the Guinness factory yesterday. We could have spent a whole day there with no trouble. It's a self guided tour and there is so much to see and do for Guinness fans. We all poured our own 'perfect' pints on the 5th floor (and have a signed certifcate as proof and took our drinks to the Gravity Bar on the 7th floor for a great view of Dublin. The merchadise at the factory was great so we spent alot! The handy thing is that foreigner's can claim back the VAT (consumption tax like GST) when they leave the country which is a 10% saving.

After the factory we went to a traditional Irish pub and listened to some local music. Many people in the pub were singing along to the Irish songs... it was a great night, fantastic day and very tiring.

I was surprised at how busy Dublin was. It has a population of 1.1 million but the tourist seem to out number the locals, the're everywhere. At night time everyone is out the streets. A massive golf tournament was in Dublin last week so I think that could have something to do with the number of people around but it is a real party place.

Unfortunately, I have to end it there as its almost dinner time and I have some Guinness to drink. I will try to update our webpage more regularily. Farewell from us in Dublin.