Salisbury, Stonehenge, Avebury and Bristol again

We didn't get away from Bristol until 11ish as I had to pick up the PIN numbers for our bank cards. It turns out they went to Dunedin! (I thought the banking had gone too smoothly...)

We passed through Bath which we hope to visit with Dad and M, and stopped for lunch at Brassknocker Basin on the Kennet & Avon Canal. It was a lovely place and I'm determined to have a Canal break at some time. It looked so peaceful. The canals were built to transfer coal, and the area used to be a big mining area. Now there is very little to show for it at all. Almost as soon as the canals were built they were obsolete as the coal they were intended to carry fuelled the Industrial Revolution, and the revolution brought steam trains and boats which could carry heavier loads further. Still, they are an elegant reminder of that period, and without the grime that would have been standard.

We finally arrived at Salisbury at around 3 pm and by the time we had looked through the Cathedral and checked out an original copy of the Magna Carta it was closing time for the museums. We ran around the first, or at least J ran around while I dawdled through the pre-history section. We had thought that we might stay the night, but you can't just make this decision in England - places are either booked out weekends in advance or they are too expensive. After trying a few by phone we decided to continue back to Bristol and hope we could see the sights regardless. It was a good decision.

Old Sarum had just closed but we were still able to wander around the outer walls and compound, which were very interesting in their own right. To think that this area had been used for over 6000 years is quite mind-boggling. There were very substantial earthen banks, the remains of a Norman Cathedral (that was relegated to history's trash can only 200 years later by the famous Salisbury Cathedral), and some pretty solid stone walls that were also Norman but that had replaced earlier wooden walls used by the Romans and other groups before them. The views of the countryside around were very nice.

Next stop was Stonehenge. We came over a hill and there it was. Sitting there, one of the most famous monuments in the world. Of course by now access had closed, so we joined many others at the fence taking our pictures through the wire and imagining standing among the stones. Contrary to rumour you can actually go into the circles. It was slightly anti-climactic, but still nice to be there, do that.

We still had the Avebury Stone Circle to see, so with the day drawing to a close we headed north. This area has barrows, lines and circles by the dozen, with several White Horses as well. We took a less used route which turned out to be fortunate because we came upon the cursus (?) that was probably a processional way to the circle itself. Both were rather spectacular given the difficulties in transport and construction that must have been faced. The sun was dropping so there was that lovely warm light that comes in the evening. After traipsing the circle, we had a drink in 'the only pub in the world that was built within a circle'. We watched lambs gambolling and were told that they were "following the lines to build up their strength". I wonder if it improves their flavour too?

On the way home we had to stop at one of the many white horses that dot the area. They're a curiosity but I don't know much about them. Anyway, it had been a long, full day, so we were glad to be home.

If you would like to see more pics of these areas follow this link.

A bit of a catch up

Sorry I've not been posting. Well, the cut-back to the M5 was the way to go. Shaved whole minutes off the drive time...

On Wednesday we went to a French movie - My Best Friend - and enjoyed it very much. It was at the Watershed in a refurbished section of the waterfront quite close to us. There was a moment of disorientation on coming out as the old brain tried to figure out where Moray Place had gone. We had a nice drink - mine's a cider thanks - and a bowl of wedges as we watched the various people drift by. It could actually have been a scene in Paris or Amsterdam with the water and adjacent buildings. I've been neglecting to take the camera out which I'll have to rectify.

The weather hasn't been particularly nice but the sun did come out yesterday. It was my last day (possibly) at Priory, and I had one lovely class twice in the day just to prove they're not all bad 'uns. They role-played a documentary on the closing of the Welsh coal-mines and we filmed it on their cell-phones. (MOBILES, sorry, as they keep reminding me.) To balance it up, I had two hours of little shits.

That night we took advantage of the sunshine and went across the river to a busy pub area opposite our flat. There are about 6 pubs on a closed off street, with tables outside so it was very cosy. I'll take some photos next time to set the scene. One of the pubs is one of the oldest in Bristol and is charmingly skew-whiff, and the street has ye olde cobblestones. Another 2 are on barges. We shared our table with too blokes and got to chatting. One was an Olympic level yachtsman and both worked as IT Consultants for an Austrian software company that provided management software to a company in Bristol. They were being made redundant because the business wasn't doing well here, but were well paid in the meantime. We had a great yak, with rounds going to and from, then one of their Mums joined us and then it was time to go. We were a bit tiddly by the time we went home, but it had been an interesting night.

J was a little less chirpy this morning. I had a day in Churchill Community School in a tiny village (called Churchill). Surprisingly the school itself had a roll of 1800 pupils, so they must ship them in from miles around. The atmosphere there was decidedly better than Priory, and the classes were more relaxed. There was one Religious Education class that was not very cooperative, and dance is not really something I feel able to teach, but the day as a whole was a good one. On the way home the agency rang to say I'd be in there again on Monday.

When I picked up J, the Priory staff football (soccer) team had just arrived to play her school's staff. If I'd had some gear I'd have shown them just how poorly Kiwis can play. By then it was raining so I used that as an excuse. J has been doing really well at her job and I'm certain they're very impressed with her efficiency and competency. She should be getting paid more!

There was a letter from the council saying that an episode of Casualty is to be filmed on our street in late May/early June. How exciting. Sadly we'll be allowed nowhere near the set, except to drive in and out, and we're planning to be away anyway. The episode involves a bus exploding but they found it necessary to tell us real explosives weren't be needed.

On the email front Dad and M are now in England but we may not be able to meet up. They're pretty busy, and in the 'wrong' bits. Worse was the news that the Sarfies had got two teams into the Super 14 finals. Were the semis good games? Anyone care to comment? This weekend is the FA Cup final so we'll sit in a pub somewhere to watch that.

Ciao for now.

The sun is shining...

We've taken about 4 different routes two and from work. Today J used Google Maps to find the best route and it came up with the one we tried this afternoon. It's a narrow road, but it skips all the traffic on the A4 and the various junctions. It's good to see the traffic jams on the other side of the road as we head out of Bristol in the morning and come back in the afternoon. Now I just have to decide whether rejoining that jam for one junction to get on to the M5 will be faster than 10 miles of narrow slow roads and then a smaller jam for the next...

You see how mundane life has become. Two weeks ago the decisions were about where in the UK to live. Now it's what bloody road to take to work! However, J has been looking for our next trip. Next weekend we are thinking of seeing Avebury and Stonehenge, Old Sarum and Salisbury. In two weekends we are going to head up to Berkeley Castle for a day of recreated battle and other pageantry. After that it's the school mid-term break, so we are looking for cheap destinations. So far places like Malta, Cyprus, Rhodes and even Kenya have been bandied about, and tonight Bulgaria was thrown into the possibles pile. We were looking at packages, but while they look inviting on the surface, they ultimately mean having a holiday with 45 million Poms. I think we'll look for more flexible options. (Normandy for June 6th is on the cards for one.)

This school's work runs out on Thursday. All the senior students left today (or tomorrow morning) so there will be teachers to burn. I'll have to get around the office temping agencies again. I had a call today from one, but it didn't really suit.

Anyway, ciao for now.

Another day, another L100 less tax

Just another day at work. I hate it. The kids treat supply teachers like shit, and there's little collegiality - you're just someone passing through. L100 less tax, L100 less tax, L100 less tax...

On the up side, the sun is finally out again.

The bells...the bells...

We were woken by the bells of St Mary's Redcliffe. They went from 9.00 to 9:45, then off and on from 5:00 to 6:00, which occasionally got tiresome. Last Thursday they went for hours and it turns out Thursday is practice night for campanologists from all around. They went on even longer in my head...

J had her eyes tested 'cos she keeps mis-reading stuff. Turns out it's simply that she can't be blowed putting her reading glasses on! Now I can harrass her mercilessly.

I had a go at cutting and polishing the peeling paintwork on the car, but it was rather unsuccessful. Meanwhile J cleaned the oven...

M,C & M came to visit - our first visitors to the flat. It was nice to play hosts and we all agreed that we'd got quite a good set-up. We discovered we had no sugar for M though, so from now on everytime we have a coffee in a cafe we'll take the sugars home. M loved the swans and the fact that her drawing was up on our pin board.

We shared the new Internet connection so we are currently both doing our blogs. Sad really.

Anyway, work tomorrow so we'll see what that's like. Ciao.

Happiness is...

...an Internet connection! Rather than forking out for landline and ISDN or cable, we have kicked that whole scene and gone cellular. Like W back in Amberley we can now roam around the UK (or even Europe, but at roaming rates) to where-ever there is signal strength. Even better, the slowest thing about the whole process was filling out the paperwork. (OK, we did have blue screens of death for a while but J traced that to DVD43. Apparently the modem SIMM card is seen as a CD and when DVD43 goes to poll it... kaboom!)

As part of this new way of life we are going to skip TV completely too. All we have to do is convince the licensing people we've done this!

Today we went through Catbrain to the huge mall at Cribb's Causeway. Don't you love those names? You couldn't make up a name like Catbrain. It happens to be near the Saracens Rugby Club but I don't think there's any connection. The whole exercise was horrible. The mall is pretty much like a Kiwi one, only bigger, but that isn't to say there is any more choice. There are just more of the same things, and/or more space. Prices don't compare favourably either, even in pound terms. And the traffic! There were queues for miles. I can't say I enjoyed myself, and the only things we ended up with were three plants and this connection. Bah.

We went for a short walk down the river, giving a homeless guy a pound since he was incredibly polite, and watching a boat full of young girls in pink. Well I was watching them more closely than J - some lovely legs on show. 8-)

We heard from Dad and M yesterday. They have been waltzing in Vienna and elsewhere, and were in Athens I believe. We may yet catch up with them.

PS. Don't know what happened with the photo, but the quality is not very good.

J is bugging me to log o

Reality bites

Today was our first day at work. Mine was generally OK, except the last class (last period on a Friday) had some little shits in it. Some things are the same - Title of Lesson, Aim of Lesson, Rolls (called registers), no chewing gum, no phones (in theory). Some are different - no notices (they're on a screen at the office as JA would like at OGHS), no Y12/Y13 as they go off to different colleges, only two meetings a week. The timetable is 10 day, but in order to rotate the student lunches (25 mins only) the periods 3-5 can be 1, 1 1/2 or 2 hours long so you might, like today, get a 2 hour, then lunch then finish on a 1 hour. Others will get 1 1/2 L 1 1/2, while the third get 1 L 2. Confused? I was. Students say the two hour blocks get boring. Y11 is leaving next week for their GCSE exams, and as this school doesn't continue they are realising that friendships are about to end. It's a bit like the end of Y13 for us, so during one class there were Year Books going around left, right and centre. The drive via J's school took an hour each way but at least she's en route - next week I'll be checking out a school in Cheltenham, which is 30 miles away in the opposite direction!

It's been really frustrating trying to get to the Internet, and we haven't even started getting it at home. The Library has free access but for only 14 minutes at a time. We've walked through the pouring rain tonight just get get better access, so I hope you all appreciate it. I've also got to check out this other school, try to get the power connected, and various other bits and pieces. Then we'll shout ourselves a wine and a beer...