Pembroke & Tenby

Pembroke Castle - this was a large castle but a bit too commercialised. It was one of the most important castles in Wales when the Normans were trying to invade the country.

Tenby - this is the beach at Tenby, probably the best beach we saw. On the rock point is an old fortress. We stopped for lunch here. I was freezing but some people were in bikinis! It's a heat wave when the temp hits 18!

St Brides - a tiny spot where we stopped to see the beach and saw this grand manor in the distance.

Ramsey Island Boat Trip

Ramsey Island is off the coast from St Davids. We went on a boat trip around the island. It is famous for wildlife, including seals and many birds. Above is a female seal swimming very close to our boat. We saw many seals - swimming and sunbaking on the beaches.
We also saw many interesting birds. There are many caves into the rocks on the cliffs of the island.

Seals sunbaking on Ramsey Island

St Davids

St Davids Cathedral

Ruins of St Non's chapel - in a field next to the sea. There were many Welsh Ponies grazing in the same field. This walk is par tof the Pembrokeshire Coastal walk which stretches for 184 miles and takes 15 days to walk!

The view from our hotel room over Carfei Bay. We stayed at a B&B called the Glan Y Mor Inn.

Pembrokeshire

This weekend we travelled to Pembrokeshire in Sth West Wales. We stayed 2 nights in St Davids, the smallest city in the UK as it has a cathedral it is classified as a city. All along the way we saw dairy cows grazing lush green pastures by the sea. We also saw Welsh ponies. The coastline is very scenic but not the Great Ocean Road! The beaches usually have dark grey coloured sand.

Bridgend

This is the park next to our house - we walk across it to work which is the big white building in the distance. The vet clinic is a big old house, needs a facelift.

Below are our cars. The Fiesta on the right is Olivia's and the Escort on the left is Anthony's. They are a bit old and knocked about but they go and we can use them to travel anywhere we like.

Life in Bridgend

This is our little terrace house in Bridgend. It is quite small but clean and modern (for the UK). We have a shower! It's an electric shower which are now very popular over here. The rubbish outside the front door is there because they don't have wheely bins here, they are considering the idea! So once a week you put your black bags out on the street.

Above is out little backyard with an overgrown green lawn. It's nice to have a little yard to go out in and we can hang washing outside. The weather has been great since arriving here, most days are sunny and range from 16-22.

Below is the lounge and kitchen. It's too small to fit a dining table. Upstairs is a bedroom and bathroom, it's really like a seld contained studio apartment.

The Hunters Moon

The Hunters Moon was a pub we stopped at near Abergavenny in Wales. We found it down a tiny country lane. All the pubs here are great and Sunday lunch is a big thing. Lunch was booked out here as it was Easter Sunday. We stayed for a drink then kept driving towards Bridgend. Unfortunately we couldn't get a Sunday roast anywhere on Easter Sunday as every pub was full.

Corinned made friends with the resident pub cat in the lovely garden that surrounded the pub.

White Castle

On the way to Wales from London we stopped in Birmingham to visit Ben & Corinne - friends from Australia. Ben & Corinne drove us down to Wales via some lovely countryside. On the way we visited White Castle. Below are Corinne & Downy in the castle. The views from the castle were great.

This is the countryside in Wales! A big change from drought stricken Australia.

The Royal Mews

The Royal Mews - the functioning stables and transport part of Buckingham Palace. It was a big highlight for me as I am interested in horses. However there were only 2 horses there as they are all at Windsor for Easter Court. These are the old stables, they have now split the stable up into larger stalls.

The only 2 horses there were Cleveland Bays. These do not pull the coaches with members of the Royal family but transport other special people eg. from other countries.

All the Windsor Greys were at Windsor for Easter Court.

London

Buckingham Palace. The first time we went to the palace it was freezing cold and raining so we went back again on a great sunny day. We had hoped to see the changing of the guards but it wasn't on that day.

London Streets - Regent Street.

Princess Diana Memorial - In Kensington Gardens which is next to Hyde Park. It is a very modern style memorial of water flowing around a circle. The different water currents are supposed to reflect the ups and downs in her life.

First Day In London

We arrived in London at 6.30am after a 12 hour flight from Hong Kong. It was freezing cold compared to Hong Kong. We made the trek with our luggage into London and found our hotel which was in Bayswater, very close to Hyde Park. We couldn't check-in until 1pm so we headed out to explore the local area. We walked through Hyde Park (below) and got lost looking for the Princess Diana memorial .
We saw somebody riding a horse through Hyde Park which is in the middle of London!

China

We travelled to Beijing from Zuhai. We met up with a friend from Melbourne - James who has been studying Chinese in Beijing! Very helpful having a chinese speaking tour guide! Here we are at the Forbidden City under a special tree that symbolizes a long and happy life.

THE GREAT WALL: we hiked for 10km along The Great Wall. It was very hard work but definately worth the trek. In many parts the wall is falling down and other parts have been re-done. As you all know the great wall was built to keep the rabbits out!
Summer Palace - this is where the emperors went for summer holidays from the Forbidden City. It is massive and very scenic. We enjoyed this more than the Forbidden City. Once again we walked for miles.

PEKING DUCK - We went to one of Beijing's famous peking duck restaurants. The chef comes out and carves the duck at the table for you. They also give you a certificate for the duck!

Macau

On our way to the UK we visited friends from Australia in Macau - Andrew & Lou who were fabulous tour guides.

Below we are at a seafood restaurant in Zuhai (China) just over the border from Macau, there are huge seafood markets outside the restaurant. You buy your live seafood then take it into the restaurant and they cook it for you.

This is one of Macau's icons - the remains of St Pauls Cathedral.

This is us with Andrew and Lou at Wynns casino in Macau. There are over 30 casinos on Macau, this is a very classy one with a spectacular water show to music!