RobiNZ’s Neighborhood

Cancelled Fights.....NIGHTMARE!!

Ok, whilst that sounds pretty cool to have another dayin the UK , it was certainly a stressful time......

Saying goodbye to everyone was pretty hard to deal, you know, the build up was hard enough and so having to come back to my Aunty Bernie's and go thru the whole thing again was pretty gutting!

Anyway, back in NZ again (1 day late)..We didn't get to bangkok, our flight was rerouted back to Dubai where we stayed for 2 days on standby for a flight back to NZ.

The positive side was, we could revisit the soukhs that we wanted to spend longer at....oh yeah, and more shopping.

Purchased some designer gear and crossed our fingers again that the overweight luggage would be ok!! 

Yep! who would have thought...aye

We have had to send a large suitcase home this morning of all our clothes we bought with us......mmmmm it might have been the shoes that pushed us 33kilos overweight...which, if we had checked in at London Heathrow would have costed us in excess of £900.00....Flippin Heck!!!

Went into crisis mode and decided it was best to send this via sea which would take about 8wks.

Anyway...sitting in Newcastle and waiting for our DELAYED connecting flight to London where we will start the journey to Bangkok for 2nites.....cross fingers our bags will be ok checking in London as i think we are still 15kilos overweight...

Weather here is pretty bad...hence the reason for delayed flights and can you believe that snow is predicted for tomorrow....the kids are not happy...

we had a bit of sleety rain yesterday but didn't stick around too long!

Watch this space, will try to type a wee bit more when we hit Bangkok and also give you an update on the luggage drama.

Bonjour, wee wee poo poo!!!  ha ha!

Paris was brill, its everything i ever imagined.

Visited the Eiffel tower nearly got blown off the top level.....had a bit of vertigo, Gabrielle enjoyed the trip to the top where Robert was pretty scared but once he got there he was amazed....quiet a freaky feeling as it was swaying a bit...

Notre Dame was incredibly amazing.....the Louvre was massive!!!! 15th century royal residence and from the 17th century it became a museum.... Paris is full of musuems and dripping in history.....also saw the tunnel where Princess Di was killed.

Other places visited Arc De Triomphe, Champ Elysees,

Caught the metro (underground) to Euro Disney....pretty scary it was 5 levels down, sort of reminded me of what it could have been like for the london bombings a few years back.......i was scarred!

So many people...10 mill in Paris alone.....

Kenny tried snails the last nite we were there but was bitterly disappointed when i wouldn't try one....i kindly reminded him that i hadn't tried Kina's at home,so there was no way i would put one of those slippery little suckers in my gob.

Overall all Paris brill, would like to have spent a few extra days to truly absorb the views. 

On our way to Paris today...fly into Charles De Gaulle Airport Paris.

We are staying at the "Le Fabourg Hotel", have no idea how we are going to get their from the airport.....should be interesting

Sitting in Newcastle Airport having a cuppa tea and updating my blog.......

We're in Paris for 3 nites and then returning to Sunderland where the end of our travels draws near......you know what, its so hard to leave the people we so darely love when (getting all sentimental) you know for a fact that it could be the last time you actually see them. Initilally we came to see my fathers family, they are such special people and they are certainly people who leave a lasting impression of what our family is all about.

anyway, will keep you updated on our return from Paris.

sorry if yourve been wanting to view some of our holiday pics.....been a bit slack in the sense that i don't have much time to compose, edit and submit.......Robin Lloyd jinxed me by saying that i would probably update on my return...

That's the old traditional "pork pie", my father recommends for us to try.....

Rained the whole day and we had to purchase 2 jackets for the kids as we had forgot to take with us.....bugger!
Visited the York Minster and had our dinner at a place called "the Roman Bath"
Chips and gravy blah blah blah......adding to my waistline, washed down with a pint of cider......YUM!

Well, its hello from the city of Dublin, and what a superb city it is too!

Full of history, sitting in the departure lounge awaiting our call to return to England............

Did the bus tour around Dublin city and this was truly AMAZING!

Lots to see

Did the whole tourist thing.....oops! final call, gotta go, will come back to you when i get back to Sunderland...

Hello again.......

okay so as i was saying, Dublin was pretty amazing however the only irish people we met was the bus driver coming into Dublin and the taxi driver taking us back to the airport ha ha!

Bit like London in that respect where there's lots of different nationalities.

Visited the Temple Bar which is an area of the city that is dedicated to the old irish pubs......not bad having a pint of guinness at around midday..........anything to get out of the cold...

If yourve been to Dublin you'll be aware that the pubs don't allow children after 6pm, but hey, Bernie managed to track one down.........we could take the kids as long as we sat down and had a meal, perfect......we got to listen to an irish band and watch irish dancing.....I think this was the highlight of Gab's trip...

Hooked on Guinness BIG TIME!!

Did the  Guinness tour  which took you through the building and the history of Guinness over the years......est: 1759....rather interesting!

anyway at the end of the tour (which was at the top of the building) you were greeted a complimentary glass of Guinness which surprisingly was quiet easy to do at 11.00am..the view from this building was simply breathtaking ......360 degree glass view of Dublin city.....

Happy New year to all.........

and what a night that was, gale force winds and approx 4 degree's.......went round to my cousins for a few bevvies (yet again) and then to the Rosedene (pub) where Francessca (my cousin)  was working behind the bar - dressed in her superwoman outfit for the festivities
Downed a few ciders then headed back to my aunty Bernies to see the New Year in..... Caught up with a girl i used to work with here in Sunderland.....t'was great to see and speak with her

Kenny had to be the "first foot in the door"............
for  those of you who aren't familiar with this ritual it goes like this...........
When the clock strikes 12.00 the next person to walk thru the doors should bring a piece of coal for warmth, Candle for light, salt for food, piece of silver so that you are never without........anyway Kenny was the man!!! he had to stand outside (in th freezing cold) and wait till 1min past 12 to enter.......he did a good job in all....

Kids are doing well although i don't expect Robert to become accustomed to this way of life as he's a bit of an outside person...

Went to the Rosedene again today for a few more ciders (or should i say to top myself up again) and then onto the Holymere where we had our dinners....

Looking forward to going to Dublin on Wednesday....

Its cold in the UK!!

Well, its been a pretty hectic couple of days...Dubai was brilliant and will put some of the pics once i get organised.
We hit Heathrow on Thursday afternoon only to find out that our flight from Heathrow to Newcastle was cancelled due to the fog.........pretty shattering stuff as we were all a wee bit sick of the travelling.  We were ushered to a tent (temperature was O degrees, i might add) and then quickly put of a bus which took a further 8 hours....nightmare!!
Its Christmas Day now and the kids were spoit rotten!!
I lived here for 2years but can't really remember the huge adjustment to the tempreture. Gets light at about 9am and dark around 3.30pm..its really weird. 
No wonder the old pubs are getting a thrashing!!!
Went out on the town with the cousins the other night, pubs are great....the girls wear next to nothing (kenny was pleased..he he) I don't know how they do it, they certainly breed them tuff over here.

The day has finally arrived.......

Well, the time is 1.15pm and the shuttle service picks us up from home at 3pm.......

The last few weeks has been pretty hectic, with the added Christmas celebrations playing a huge part in our social calendar.  This weekend we had our family Christmas party with the McIntosh's.......WHAT A NIGHT!!!!

The ole "depth charges" (beer & Drambuie whiskey) worked a treat...........well at the time it was good, not too hot the next day....the day in which i dedicated to packing.......nightmare, hope I packed the right shoes!!!

Oh well, can't do anything about it now.....

Kids are really excited, Kenny's managed to purchase all the remedies in preparation for the big flight, you know, jetlag tablets, sleeping tablets to help with relaxing the body for a 19hr flight to Dubai....me, well, i'll just use the more common relaxation method........ALCOHOL!

The next time you view this, we should be in the UK........it's been a joke with the guys at work that i will probably be updating my blog when i get back to NZ....believe me this isn't my intention......will try my hardest, but you never know

Take Care, have an awesome Chrissie and New Year....