Gnomadic

Apologies for the delay folks, but it appears it took me a while to recover from that last Pina Colada at my farewell party…was a goodin.

So where to start. Have no idea how I ended up out here. Came out of my box one morning to discover that I had been sent to a marine research station on Lizard Island in the northern regions of the Great Barrier Reef…..random!! Anyway, saw this as a good opportunity to work on my tan and expand that beer belly of mine. My minder seemed like an amiable kind of lad as well, despite the fact that he stood at over 2 metres tall and sported the kind of dodgy mexican moustache that only a person who has spent too much time in a remote location could get away with.

Turned out to be quite a lovely spot I’ve got to say. The locals were kind enough to take me on my very first scuba dive. Unfortunately, while I was enjoying the sights of the Great Barrier Reef, a particularly horny octopus took a like to my red hat and tried to drag me away. Thankfully my minder got to me just in time….we had words over that incident! Was also lucky enough to get out for a bit of a fish with the boys. We weren’t hving too much luck, so I thought I’d have a bit of a shot and show them how its done. Aparently the local fauna found me somewhat irresistible and I somehow ended up within the jaws of a large mackeral (am a little suspicious of my imnder about this one).

Christmas and New Years was full of fun and frivolities. I’m glad to say that I was lucky enough to meet another likeminded gnome individual on Christmas Day…her name was Bertha. We shared a very pleasant day together and a rather rambunxious night as well if you don’t mind me saying (wink wink). Unfortunately, she wasn’t the commitment type, and the next day she was off chasing the new guy on the block….some young upstart with a blue hat…the nerve of him!! So, I decided to drown my sorrows on New Years Eve. We ended up at some form of Super Hero gathering and I was finally able to revel my alternate identity as “The Dark Gnome”!!!!!!!!

Unfortunately, after 2 glorious months, my feet got itchy again and I started dreaming of new destinations unseen. What lay beyond the horizon? So, with that in mind I bid you adue. Until next time….

Willard

This entry has taken a little while as I’ve been exploring the beautiful (and sometimes heavily polluted) city of Hong Kong. I’ve been here 38 days and think I have experienced lots of what this city has to offer.

Some things I wasn’t able to do due to the prohibitive cost, for example Hong Kong Disneyland. It might have been interesting, but I was told it wasn’t that popular and ticket prices were quite high.

What I did do while I was here though was sample the views and the sights. The best place to see Hong Kong from was Victoria Peak. It was a particularly windy day when I went with Sam and his sister, and it had been raining the previous day, which helped clear the pollution and make the view really good. Unfortunately, due to the strong winds, I couldn’t get a photo alone as I might of blown away, however I was quite happy to pose with friends. As you can see in these photos, the wind made Sze Sze’s hair a little messy, I was lucky my hair was tucked safely under my hat.

I also did a walk along the Dr Sun Yat-sen Historical Trail, who is the founder of modern day China. I’ll admit I got carried much of the way, but it was fun, and I learned a lot about him and his history here. I also got my photo taken at an old temple, nestled between high rise buildings in town, that same day.

In my last few days here, I got some photos outside Sam’s parents house, located in the green district of Pokfulam. They have a lovely house, surrounded by lush nature and a great view directly out to the South China Sea. You couldn’t ask for a better place to stop off in Hong Kong.

Finally, some of the other photos I had taken in Hong Kong. From Sze Sze posing with me in McDonalds to old banyan trees hanging over the road, and importantly, trying out the public transport system.

There’s still loads to do here, and Sam, who has lived here all his life, hasn’t seen or done everything either, so perhaps I’ll have to visit again, on my next world trip.

For now though, I’m getting ready for my next trip, tomorrow, down-under!

My host was visiting family in Chesterfield so he insisted on taking me to Curber Edge, in the Peak’s District National Park, where he used to come a lot when he was younger. There was a good view from the edge, though I was a little unsure standing so close to it.

Our train journey to Prague was the longest so far, taking us North through Slovakia, and in towards the Czech Republic. I passed through Slovakia and even had my passport checked, so I guess I’ve been there too.

There were so many sights to see in Prague and we luckily had two days to see them all, instead of the single day we’ve had in other places.

We visited an Eiffel Tower look-a-like to get a better view out over the city, to help see where we needed to go. Seen in the distance in one photo is the St Vitus Cathedral inside the Presidential Palace.

We eventually travelled to St Vitus’ Cathedral to see the stained glass windows inside. We also visited St Nicholas’ church were I never thought I’d see as much gold ever again in one place. The view from the Presidential Palace at the top of a hill, out over the old and new city was impressive.

All too soon we were on another train to Budapest, in Hungary. My hosts and I didn’t do too much exploring the firs day, instead we simply sorted out our bearings and had a nice afternoon lunch at a cafe that’s been around since the 1800’s. The first night we got a good picture of the castle we would be visiting the next day, lit up.

The next day we actually went up to the castle, where we got an impressive view over the city, and the Danube river. Around the old Matthias church was a citadel that looked newly constructed, we got photos taken off that.

My hosts and I also got our photos taken with Budapest behind us, unfortunately the camera wasn’t placed high enough to get the full view.

My hosts and I took a train from Frankfurt to Vienna, allowing us to take in the sights of the country side on our way down and across. Unfortunately we had to leave really early in the morning.

The city was a lot different to Frankfurt, a lot less modern, nevertheless I enjoyed myself. The first stop after settling in to our hotel was Stephan’s Dom, a 13th century gothic cathedral. There were so many humans standing around it I never though I’d be seen in front of it, till I found a scale model on one side that luckily no one else has seen.

There was a tower connected to it that you could climb up, and it has a spectacular view, I just wish it hadn’t been so many steps to get there, wore me out I tell you. The roof on the church was equally impressive, as you can see.

Unfortunately my stay in Vienna was short as my hosts were on a tight schedule with only a day in each city they were visiting. I’d certainly like to come back some day though.

With much aggravation and a very long trip down, I finally arrived in Frankfurt, a few days before my hosts arrived. Luckily they’d booked a nice hotel and I was able to relax before they arrived.

Unfortunately they were jet lagged when they arrived though, and we weren’t able to go out anywhere, so unfortunately I don’t have any photos of Frankfurt, but I did visit the city and I think it’s really beautiful.

August 8, 2007
I arrived in Oslo and my host, Ann, picked me up. She was pretty busy, and I was tired, so we agreed just to relax at home for a day. She had a surprise for me - my cousin and his wife were visiting, too! We had a great time, and watched a bit of TV before we turned in for the night.

August 9, 2007

Ann’s brother-in-law Petter and his significant other, Eva, stopped by and stayed the night. The weather was good, so we enjoyed some German beer on the terrace (Petter and Eva had just come back from a roadtrip through Germany and Denmark).

August 10, 2007

My host had to work - she’s the head of the music department at the Oslo Public Library, so she made sure I got a borrower’s card, and helped me check out a CD.

No visit to a library would be complete without saying hello to the person in charge of Macs. We stopped by Trine’s office, got to help her set up an iMac, and took a look at older models destined for the computer graveyard.

August 11, 2007

It started off pouring rain today, but as soon as it let up, we were off to explore the town. First off was the parliament building

Then I got to do the sound check for a band preparing to hold an outdoor concert.

Then we stopped off at the National Theater. I was hoping to see an Ibsen play, but no luck.

We walked up Karl Johans gate to the castle (where I got yelled at for posing in the guard’s little house thingy - you can see him marching away in one of the pics, right after he shouted at me).

You can’t see me here, but this give you a little bit more of the castle.

We rounded off the day at the famous sculpture park, Frognerparken. Fellow tourists from China and somewhere in Eastern Europe posed with me in a couple of the shots.

This is one of the most famous statues - Sinnatagen. It’s been stolen and vandalised through the years, but it’s still there, and is a big attraction. I had to wait in line to get a shot of myself with it!

Here you can see the famous monolith in the background.

I certainly hope this sculpture isn’t an example of Norwegian childcare!

I’m not in this one - it was taken as we were leaving the park. Gives you an idea of the feeling of the place.

On our way back to the subway, I saw a statue of one of my heroines - SONJA HENIE! Ann was tired at this point, I think she just wanted to get home. But she good-naturedly agreed to take a pic of me with Sonja.

When we got home, I fed a piece of watermelon to Monster the Guinea pig.

August 12, 2007

The last sight I had to see in Oslo was the Holmenkollen ski jump. It’s going to be torn down, they’ll be building another one. It costs an arm and a leg to get in, so we decided to find a nice scenic spot and get a pic of me with the impressive jump in the background.