16/5/24 Woking & Basingstoke Canal

   Off for another walk around Woking , this fence caught my eye , it has anti climbing spikes on it - they're serious about it too !!

   This building is part of Victoria Place Shopping Centre and  has the exterior walls covered in vegetation - not sure what , but it definitely likes growing there .

    Back to another section of the canal , there's a pair of white swans with 7 cygnets - this is home for them .

     They were near a couple of barge boats , the first is someones home , complete with wood / coal stove ? and some solar panels as well . It's built out of steel , so must weigh quite a bit !

    The 2nd one is actually a coffee / cafe , and is moored here most of the time .

     These yellow iris's are growing wild beside the canal , providing a flash of colour .

    Like all the other plants , shrubs , trees etc , this holly hedge is bursting with new growth as well .

     Another casual day wandering Woking , we'll be expanding our range soon , getting to London later . Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1Co-3RqlztpKs4Gj4jHnm8dYUgkSeINw&usp=sharing

15/5/24 Newlands Cnr

 

   Another good nights sleep and we checked out the rear garden , to find the rhododendron is starting to flower , a couple of warmer days and everything is bursting into life after a damp winter/ spring .

    A pink rose with a beautiful scent .

    And the biggest flowers .

   Overnight rain settling on the leaves of this plant .

    And this little dianthus going nuts with flowers .

    There's also a beautiful Japanese Maple outside the front door .

    The 3 of us ventured out to Newlands Corner , a popular walking area , with tracks around the hills , and a car park capable of holding over 100 cars . There's also a cafe . Views over the surrounding area reminded us very much of areas around Moss Vale , Exeter , Bundanoon & Burrawang in NSW , and everything is so green !!

    Some of the roads are interesting ?? one lane blocked , so you have to stop & give way to approaching vehicles - guess it's a way of slowing down traffic , just like all the speed humps around the place - someone must have had shares in bitumen companies 😂 

  Everyone seems to be reasonably patient when driving , giving way to vehicles entering , and when confronting these lane blockages , it's not like you can speed along too much on these roads , as there's usually always traffic and very little opportunity to pass .

   This is what we envisaged , narrow country lanes , with stone walls or hedges , then a village right beside the road . Oh , and no breakdown lane like in Australia .

   Another pleasant day out , our sleep patterns are adapting to our new time zone , being 7 hours behind Perth & 9 hours behind Sydney . 

  Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=14PZLjKmdEUmhX-w6v7g0zZWOwSQywtY&usp=sharing

14/5/24 Woking & Basingstoke Canal

 

    After a great nights sleep , we went for a walk along the Basingstoke Canal . It runs through Woking and is not far from Justin's house and Isla's school . Some houses have access to the canal at their backdoor .

   At the start of our walk is the Beefeater Hotel .

   A clean up barge ( the red one ) is tied up here - it removes the weeds & bullrushes , and the odd shopping trolley as well . Another couple of barges are there as well . The canal is maintained by volunteers apparently , and the locks further up can be unlocked by appointment for anyone wishes to take their barge boat along the canal.

   There's a walking track alongside the canal and is a beautiful walk below a canopy of elms , oaks and other trees . There are flowers as well , we picked a good time to be here , later blogs will showcase some of the variety here .

    We reached Lock 7 , and it was interesting to see how it functioned - all manually operated .

  

   Another of the locks . People use these tracks regularly , running , walking , cycling , shopping , school etc .

    We walked up to St John's to this establishment . Turns out it's a Nepalese & Indian Restaurant now .

   A nice walk , we headed back and later picked Isla up from school , enjoying our day with Justin . 

Here's a map link :- xhttps://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1BQpR8tcUdbxUfzH5A5434mGAjdZbEks&usp=sharing

11/5/24 To Woking & Henley on Thames

 

   Our time in Athens is over , and today we head off to the airport again . Timing was impeccable today for some reason - we booked a taxi for the run to the airport , it was 5mins early , and we were downstairs just coming through the doors as it came up the street . An uneventful drive to the airport saw us there at 7:30am for our 10:25am flight to Gatwick . Checking our bags through , we found a seat and waited before going through security & customs . A line developed for everyone with a foreign passport- it grew and grew until we decided to line up as well , just so we could get through in time ! We lined up and moved forward slowly until a gentleman ushered us across to another line - we just jumped the queue of over 300 people and sailed straight through getting the passport stamped - winning !!! 

  Through duty free and a bottle of scotch happened to find it's way into my possession , then onto the departure lounge . Didn't realise it was to the bus depot though 🤣 , we then had to get a bus out to the plane sitting out on the tarmac waiting for us . Onto the 2nd bus and out to the plane and boarded , the plane was full . After some fluffing about , we took off , heading over Greece to the Adriatic Sea and onwards towards Venice . I managed to get a window seat - the cloud didn't clear until we were well over the Adriatic , but it did clear !! Following Croatia's coastline , seeing the multitude of islands below was great .Before long we were over land again and going toward Switzerland , finding copious amounts of snow on the Italian side of the Alps .

    That continued for a while , we cleared the mountains and ended up in France with a mosaic of fields & crops spread out below us .

   The flight was uneventful and smooth , crossing the channel we caught our first glimpse of the UK , and some of the cliffs below Dover .

   Another 20mins and we were landed at Gatwick Airport for a total of 4 hours flying . Wandering down the ramps and escalators , we arrived at baggage claim to see both our suitcases just coming around . Through customs and out to the train station , charging the Oyster cards used for the train here . Changing trains at Clapham Junction , we had to swipe off with the Oyster cards and buy a ticket for the 2nd leg . Trains ove there are privatised and not cheap !! The first train cost us about £10 each , the 2nd leg was £11.40 each !! Anyway that's how it is here so suck it up princess . Getting of at Woking , we were assisted by a gentleman to the High St exit - as per the instructions that our wonderful daughter gave us to get here . Taylor found us wandering down through a square as she was having a coffee with a friend , and grabbed us . We got the opportunity to surprise our granddaughter - she wasn't expecting us just yet - when she finished her aerials class . She was suitably impressed to see us , then lead us home . This is where we'll be for a few weeks . Vast amounts of catching up , talking , playing with Isla and waiting for our son to arrive home from cricket , where we did more talking etc , with a beer in hand !

   After our best nights sleep since we left home ( we were on airbeds - heaven for us ) , we headed out for the late morning / afternoon to Henley on Thames , where we had some lunch at a pub ( The Angel ) beside the Thames River . Trouble was , there were a lot of other people that had the same idea . It was a fine sunny day here and when that happens everyone goes outside to enjoy the warmth / sunshine - it was about 24 degrees - so a hot day 😆 We had to park about 1klm away , so the girls got out near the hotel and Justin & I found a spot and walked back along the river to the Angel . There were plenty of barge boats and cruisers tied up to the docks .

   Our first glimpses of life in England were interesting , with lots of 2 storey living in terrace houses .

   A paddle wheeler cruise boat , and a couple of the river boats used for putting up & down the river soaking up the sun .

   Across the road from The Angel was a church and tower 

   Here's The Angel , and the outside eating area beside the river . We all enjoyed some lunch and a cold beer .

   Here's Justin , Isla and I .

    We even got to see Her Majesty .

   And so here we are in the Old Country where we'll be for a week to two , or three or four .

  Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1D68fXcOsTdlrQMWLRrSv8xGb91I9Jds&usp=sharing

9/5/24 Acropolis

 

  Time to get out & about again , we decided to go to the Acropolis today . I noticed what looked like a huge bee outside the window , it was the size of a christmas beetle and was black with a gold band across it's back . We found out later , that it is a Carpenter Bee .

   Back down to the museum and onto the bus . After about 5 stops we were at the Acropolis again , seemed like half the modern world were also here - it was hectic . After a toilet stop we headed up to the ticket office & entry that we'd seen the other day when it was closed . Lining up with hordes of other people , we made our way slowly forward . A lady beside us started talking to us , asking if we had our tickets ( we must have looked lost ) , we said no , this was the line to the ticket office wasn't it ??? No apparently this was the line to get in the entry gate , the ticket office was down below us , with a line about 200m long snaking around a marble roadway . Bugger , we exited the line stage left , and made our way back to the ticket line and contemplated our options . A Greek gentleman approached us and said the tickets are sold out till the 2pm time slot , but he had tickets and would give us a guided tour for 40 euro's each ( tickets are 20 euro's ) . We thought for about 10 seconds , before accepting this offer to jump all the queues , and get a tour as well . It was worth it to just jump the queue , some other young guys took advantage of it as well , just to get in in front of the lineups . We didn't have to pay him till we were inside the gates with about 12 others who jumped at the deal also . 

   We were like sheep being herded upwards and onwards , our guide waiting for everyone in our group to arrive before starting his talk , meanwhile lines of people streamed past us . 

    This is such an impressive site for the Acropolis , mounted up on top of this rocky outcrop , vertical walls around 3 sides and only one entry made it easier to protect & defend . We joined the lines again , making our way up through marble columns and remains of buildings to the top level . The scale and size of what is left is quite amazing . The marble paths & tracks , in fact most of the rocky area's have all been polished by the hordes of people walking over them - they would be extremely slippery if they were wet !

  This is looking over the eastern side to the remains of Theatre of Dionysus

   This is looking at the Temple of Zeus bottom right and the Olympic Stadium in between the 2 green hills.

   Here's the back of the Acropolis , there were 2 rows of columns , then the building inside . It was used to store lots of gold & treasures . In an interesting twist , apparently you had to go in the entry door at the back to get in - and this is the back of the building .

  Scattered all around the Acropolis site are relics & pieces , some from onsite , others from other sites around the city & surrounds . This was the only cannon we saw , complete with cannon balls - one looked to be stuck in the cannon just above where it broke - maybe it cracked when they were firing it ????? we'll never know .

    Some of the many piles of spare parts .

    And some more .

   Here's a photo that gives you some scale to the size of it all 

    This is on the side of the Erechtheion and is The Porch of the Caryatids , 6 statues of women .

  After some lunch and checking out what was around the Acropolis , we headed back down & out , walking back down to Monastariki Square , battling the hordes of people that were out & about , doing their touristy thing , or their normal daily lives .

   Here's some of the buildings on the way down .

   And one of the streets - this is a smart car - a 2 seater that fits these streets perfectly .

   We were pleased to be able to jump straight back onto a bus and head for home , Athens is a very hectic city with the locals and tourists swarming around the place like ants . The roads are no better and I wouldn't want to be a bus driver for love nor money . You stop at the lights and a swarm of motor bikes & scooters engulf you , lights change and off they go , it all happens again at the next red light , another swarm arrives . Then there are the yellow taxi's , tour buses , cars & police . 

  Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1S6-RAXSwB3oaJ-xrMv3ACyAN_ZyDMSo&usp=sharing

8/5/24 Field of Mars

 

    Today is more of a stop & catch up day , blogs to be done etc , besides after 8 days of go, go , go , we needed to slow down a bit . So after a morning of sitting around catching up , we went for a wander to Areos Field . We'd gotten off the bus here when we arrived , but just needed to get out in some fresh air . It was a chance to have a look at some of the other streets near the apartment .

   Arriving at the park we found this statue of Athena , discovering it is a monument to British, Australian & New Zealand Soldiers who died in WW2 .

     There are lots of tracks & pathways to follow in & around the park . Some of these are lined with Grapes ( you can hardly call them vines , more like trees ) with the trunks painted white . It's quite common here to have tree trunks painted white , not sure why ?

    This is a Judas Tree , colourful red seed pods were nice to see .

  Another favourite of Athens are the Oleanders , pink ones & white ones .

    And just so we weren't feeling homesick haha , there are plenty of gum trees as well .  

   The locals love this park , with seats in abundance , there are runners , joggers & cyclists using the tracks & trails .

There's plenty of Olive trees & Orange Trees as well . Doesn't seem to be many streets that don't have orange trees , with rotting fruit falling onto the street and cars as well - so much fruit gone to waste . 

  

 Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1SQH18FFE09jnxHTIwEdPPUkWYyHyFQU&usp=sharing