We decided to leave the house and join the masses of people who also decided to leave their houses to watch the free fireworks display in Poole Harbour.
It was our first attempt at fireworks photos and I think some are pretty good. Mike gets all the credit for the photos (though it is my camera and it was my idea).
Click on the link to view all the photos:
Last weekend we loaded up our £400 car with Mich and Ems and headed up to Banbury to visit Matt and Sonia. We weren’t sure if our car would make it but it seemed to go ok. On the Saturday we caught the train into Oxford for some sightseeing.
Here is a song we wrote, sung to the tune of “Ride a Cock Horse”
Drive an old bomb to Banbury Cross
To see Matt and Sonia and drink lots and lots
Rings on our fingers and beers in our hands
Drunk and disorderly in Oxfordland
Anyway, here are a few photos of the weekend:
With only two more weeks to go on the liver cleansing diet, and the focus being on natural and healthy, we decided to treat ourselves to a home brewer. We figured if we start it now, our beer will be nice and naturally brewed, ready for us when we finish the diet.
We mixed it all up in a big tub last Thursday and it was just a matter of waiting until it farts. We were hoping to watch the farting process, but alas, this happened while we were away in Banbury for the weekend and we missed it! We came home on Sunday night and the beer hadn’t just farted, it had well and truely shit itself. There is brown gunk sprayed all around the edges and on the lid of the tub.
Anyway, this is a good sign as it means it has hopefully finished its primary fermentation phase and will soon be ready for bottling. It is very important to be sure it has finished farting before we bottle it. If we bottle it too soon, the gas will continue to build up and may cause an explosion, or worse, it may taste like shit!
Mike took a hydrometer reading today, and will take another one tomorrow. If the two readings are the same, then this means that the beer has stopped farting and is ready to bottle.
Or does he just have a melon fetish?
As part of our liver cleansing diet we are having fresh fruit for breakfast.
Mike chopped up our melon this morning and I thought it was sweet how he presented it, so I took a photo.
We have managed to survive two weeks on the Liver Cleansing Diet. That means no alcohol, red meat, dairy or processed foods. We are now onto phase two, which means as well as the above we cant have chicken or eggs. Luckily fish is still allowed.
I haven’t lost any weight on the scales, which is quite frustrating, but I have lost 2% body fat, so that is a big plus.
I am starting back with my trainer tomorrow, so I expect the weight to drop off me from now on.
I’m guessing no one is reading the blog now our travels have finished and Mum and Dads computer is broke, so I can rattle on about a load of poo (which by the way, hasn’t been quite right since I started the diet). I think/hope it’s the high fibre and seeds that are causing the odd texture. I think Mike is having odd ones too.
Anyway, all is good in the land of UK. It’s quite nice not having to worry about where to go, where to camp and if the bears going to eat us in our sleep.
I saw in the news that the Kawarau Jet in Queenstown has crashed.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10534245
I must say I am not surprised. We went on the Kawarau jet in Dec 2006 and it was dodgy then.
Here is the blog I wrote at that time.
Jetboating Blog from December 2006
We took the Kawarau jet boat ride as it was based in the middle of Queenstown and had a mixture of lake and rapids. As we had both been jetboating before the 360s didnt really scare us, but it was fun laughing at the other people screaming. And the driver did manage to drench us, it was freezing.
The scariest bit was on the rapids when we did a 360 and ran aground. It was lucky we didn’t tip over. The driver couldnt get the boat started again. It kept sucking up stones into the jet. Meanwhile we are drifting out of control on the rapids. There is silence in the boat. I am not enjoying this one bit. Finally the driver had to drift out into deeper water and thank god he managed to get it started. I must say I lost all faith in his abilities after this and the rest of the ride wasnt so enjoyable.
He commented that the river wasn’t as low last week when he took a tour out. Surely they should check out the state of the river before taking people out.
We are finally back in our flat. The tenants left the place a bit grubby, so they are paying Mike to clean it. At least they didnt trash the place.
We are still waiting to get broadband on. In the meantime we are using a poxy mobile broadband thingy which seems to be really slow. It may be just poor reception where we are.
We have just completed day 4 of the liver cleansing diet and haven’t strayed yet. Only 52 days to go.
Mike has a job interview next Tuesday. I am trying to avoid work and agents. I dont think I could cope with work this soon after our long holiday.
We are still not back in our flat. We are waiting for them to do a condition report, inventory and a clean, and until they do we cant move back in. Its starting to get really annoying (especially for Mich who is putting up with us).
We have started our liver cleansing anyway, and have managed to get through one day without alcohol. Only 55 days to go!
Other than that, all is well, the weather has been lovely. It looks like we brought summer back with us. Its not exactly shorts and T-shirt weather though, more 3/4 length trousers and light fleece type weather.
I’m supposed to be boozing in London this Thursday, but unlesss I fall off the wagon before then, I think I will give it a miss.
It will be a week or two before we get broadband, so you are skype-safe from me until then. But we will have unlimited free weekend calls to landlines anywhere in the world – yay!
We’ve been back in the UK almost a week now and have been spending more than we did on holiday.
We bought a bucket of a car for £400. Lets hope it lasts a few weeks at least.
We also bought a macbook (apple laptop). We are rebelling against windows due to its stupid OS. My laptop will soon be converted to linux. Brother John will be pleased.
We hope to move back into our flat on Saturday. I really hope the tenants haven’t trashed the place.
The weather has been nice, though a little cold. But at least it isn’t raining (yet).
I am preparing for 8 weeks of liver cleansing and Mike is job hunting to try to avoid liver cleansing.
We are now back in the UK after 10 months of travel.
We spent the last few days in the US camping on the west coast. There were no bears thankfully. We spotted loads of spouting humpback whales on the coastal drive. It was pretty cool.