I recently wrote about a trip to Yorkshire. During our drive around the region, we stopped off at Flamborough Head. It was so cold and windy! I took some footage on my iPhone while I checked out some of the scenery. Here it is:
Where in the World is DK?
30 January 2010
25 January 2010
A Winter Weekend in Yorkshire
A few months ago, way back, before I went to Australia, I saw some cheap train tickets advertised for trips up to the North of England. Some friends and I decided we would book some and have a cheap trip up Yorkshire way.
So last week, three friends and I caught an early morning train out of London to the City of York. We spent rented a car from a lovely Yorkshire lady at the Hertz at York station and I thought, "it's nice to be up here. The people are much friendlier!"
We looked around York for a bit for the benefit of those of us who had never been, and had morning tea at Betty's Tearoom.
Then we headed further up North, down some partly flooded, narrow B-roads, a route which was a result of my lack of ability to properly follow a GPS navigation system. But a route that was fun and scenic nevertheless.
Once in North Yorkshire, we stopped at various seaside spots on the way, and I was impressed by how rough, brown and wild the sea looked. Never had I seen beaches looking so uninviting. We stopped by various cliffs overlooking the sea, each time only leaving the car for a few minutes before the cold and wind forced us back into the shelter of our Ford Focus.
We made it to Whitby, a town known for where Captain Cook first commenced his naval endeavors (no pun intended) and subsequently discovered half of the new world including Australia. We made it to a pub named after his ship the Endeavour amongst a number of other fine drinking establishments, and apart from me not being able to understand some of the locals, it was a good night out.
We woke up to some home cooked breakfast in our B&B the next morning, went to the beach and checked out the Whitby sights before driving through the Yorkshire Moors national park, an area covered in a good foot of snow. I was surprised by what wilderness existed in Britain - places where you could see for miles without seeing much of anything. We watched sunset from steep hillside covered with snow and drove back to York, to stock up with drinks for the two hour train ride home.
Overall a great weekend of getting out of the city, seeing a bit more of Britain and spending time with friends. One of them beat me to it, and wrote her own blog entry on the trip, including some great photos.
So last week, three friends and I caught an early morning train out of London to the City of York. We spent rented a car from a lovely Yorkshire lady at the Hertz at York station and I thought, "it's nice to be up here. The people are much friendlier!"
We looked around York for a bit for the benefit of those of us who had never been, and had morning tea at Betty's Tearoom.
Then we headed further up North, down some partly flooded, narrow B-roads, a route which was a result of my lack of ability to properly follow a GPS navigation system. But a route that was fun and scenic nevertheless.
Once in North Yorkshire, we stopped at various seaside spots on the way, and I was impressed by how rough, brown and wild the sea looked. Never had I seen beaches looking so uninviting. We stopped by various cliffs overlooking the sea, each time only leaving the car for a few minutes before the cold and wind forced us back into the shelter of our Ford Focus.
We made it to Whitby, a town known for where Captain Cook first commenced his naval endeavors (no pun intended) and subsequently discovered half of the new world including Australia. We made it to a pub named after his ship the Endeavour amongst a number of other fine drinking establishments, and apart from me not being able to understand some of the locals, it was a good night out.
We woke up to some home cooked breakfast in our B&B the next morning, went to the beach and checked out the Whitby sights before driving through the Yorkshire Moors national park, an area covered in a good foot of snow. I was surprised by what wilderness existed in Britain - places where you could see for miles without seeing much of anything. We watched sunset from steep hillside covered with snow and drove back to York, to stock up with drinks for the two hour train ride home.
Overall a great weekend of getting out of the city, seeing a bit more of Britain and spending time with friends. One of them beat me to it, and wrote her own blog entry on the trip, including some great photos.
15 January 2010
New Years Eve in Australia and Return to England
My last posts were at the end of December from Melbourne, Australia.
I celebrated new years eve with three of my closest friends. The day was hot. Really hot. My parents went to the beach and it was going to be one of my last chances to spend the day with them, so I went to the beach too. After the beach I came home, had a quick shower and was picked up by one of my mates. We stopped by the bottle-o (Aussie for liquor store / off licence), picked up some beers, ice and a bottle of Jäger. We went to a friend's house and drank in the comfort of his air conditioning and then some more in his back yard as the heat eased off. As it was time to head out, the cold front came through, the temperature dropped noticeably within seconds and it started pouring.
We were thinking of spending the evening in a lively inner beach-side part of the city but the rain kind of drowned that idea. We made it into the city where we were unable to get in anywhere and were getting wetter by the minute. The fireworks started exploding all around, and we sheltered under a bridge and watched them light up the rainy sky over the Yarra River. We decided, then, that we would seek shelter and booze in Crown Casino.
Reflecting on the evening, it was great to spend it with close friends. They are great guys and I missed them while I was away. But overall we ended up doing the same old thing in the same old places. During some of my visit I had doubts about why I am still in cold dark England when I could be living life on the beach in Australia. But I now realised that if I were to settle in back in Australia, live life there, not just a holiday, that the monotony would soon get to me and really, I'm not ready for that just yet. Adventures still await in the Northern Hemisphere.
So a few days later I was feeling fine about leaving the sun and the sea, and boarding a London-bound jet.
My flight departed in the middle of the night, and I had a good sleep on my way to Malaysia. We landed in KL while it was still dark, and I spent the morning in a lounge there. It was a five hour stopover and it was nice to be able to have a shower and a free feed. But then came the longer part of the flight, the 13 hours back to London. It did give me a chance to watch about 5 movies and some TV shows. Video on demand really does make flights go faster these days!
I landed in London and it was indeed cold. In fact I had just gotten there in time for the "big freeze". In the long passport control queue I picked up an Evening Standard and saw an article predicting snow and lots of it. Its prediction was accurate. The next morning I woke up before dawn, looked outside my bedroom window and saw London covered with snow. It continued like this for about two weeks, until just a few days ago. What a contrast! A few days ago I had been on the beach covering up with sunscreen, and a couple of days later I was trekking to work through the snow.
They say variety is the spice of life. It is. And I like my life with a lot of flavour. Change - it makes life interesting. It makes life tasty.
I celebrated new years eve with three of my closest friends. The day was hot. Really hot. My parents went to the beach and it was going to be one of my last chances to spend the day with them, so I went to the beach too. After the beach I came home, had a quick shower and was picked up by one of my mates. We stopped by the bottle-o (Aussie for liquor store / off licence), picked up some beers, ice and a bottle of Jäger. We went to a friend's house and drank in the comfort of his air conditioning and then some more in his back yard as the heat eased off. As it was time to head out, the cold front came through, the temperature dropped noticeably within seconds and it started pouring.
We were thinking of spending the evening in a lively inner beach-side part of the city but the rain kind of drowned that idea. We made it into the city where we were unable to get in anywhere and were getting wetter by the minute. The fireworks started exploding all around, and we sheltered under a bridge and watched them light up the rainy sky over the Yarra River. We decided, then, that we would seek shelter and booze in Crown Casino.
Reflecting on the evening, it was great to spend it with close friends. They are great guys and I missed them while I was away. But overall we ended up doing the same old thing in the same old places. During some of my visit I had doubts about why I am still in cold dark England when I could be living life on the beach in Australia. But I now realised that if I were to settle in back in Australia, live life there, not just a holiday, that the monotony would soon get to me and really, I'm not ready for that just yet. Adventures still await in the Northern Hemisphere.
So a few days later I was feeling fine about leaving the sun and the sea, and boarding a London-bound jet.
My flight departed in the middle of the night, and I had a good sleep on my way to Malaysia. We landed in KL while it was still dark, and I spent the morning in a lounge there. It was a five hour stopover and it was nice to be able to have a shower and a free feed. But then came the longer part of the flight, the 13 hours back to London. It did give me a chance to watch about 5 movies and some TV shows. Video on demand really does make flights go faster these days!
I landed in London and it was indeed cold. In fact I had just gotten there in time for the "big freeze". In the long passport control queue I picked up an Evening Standard and saw an article predicting snow and lots of it. Its prediction was accurate. The next morning I woke up before dawn, looked outside my bedroom window and saw London covered with snow. It continued like this for about two weeks, until just a few days ago. What a contrast! A few days ago I had been on the beach covering up with sunscreen, and a couple of days later I was trekking to work through the snow.
They say variety is the spice of life. It is. And I like my life with a lot of flavour. Change - it makes life interesting. It makes life tasty.
02 January 2010
Travel Goals for 2010
Happy new year!
I have not given this post any thought at all. I just thought "what are the destinations I want to go to this year?" and opened up this blog. Let's see....
I have not given this post any thought at all. I just thought "what are the destinations I want to go to this year?" and opened up this blog. Let's see....
- Ski Trip - probably somewhere like Austria or France
- Greek Islands during summer
- 30th birthday at Oktoberfest?
- A short trip to Portugal to check it out and get used to the idea of the Portugese language
- Brazil for New Years or thereabouts
This isn't much compared to last year, but I'm sure I'll get more ideas along the way. Some other possibilities are visiting friends in Austria, possibly another trip Stateside, and some more UK domestic travel. As well as some travel for work, hopefully.
Soon it will be time to start plotting and planning.
What are your travel ideas for 2010?
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