Madame Tussauds

Greetings on this fine day..  There are some really great things that this beautiful country has, and that's it's public transport.  Chloe & I took the national rail to see Madame Tussauds today and the train from Basingstoke was awesome.  Straight into Waterloo in the heart of London, then a two minute walk to the underground and we were there at Baker St for Tussauds.  Talking to Chloe about what Tussauds was at dinner the night before and she thought the exhibition was all made out of ear wax!!
It was unbelievable - I'd never seen anything like it in my life and Chloe was just so excited. 

Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter)

Nelson Mandela, Prince Charles, Harry & William, Princess Diana, Freddie Mercury, The Beatles, Brad Pitt, Whoopi Goldberg, Tom Hanks, David Beckham, Michael Jackson just to name a few. 

This is as close as I will be with the Queen, so how could we not get a photo?  I kind of thought that you wouldnt be able to take photo's with the statues, but quite amazingly, they were out in the open and you were quite welcome to take photo's..

Lady Gaga

Our car is fixed and now just waiting for Wednesday to come so we can finally move to our flat.  Jeff is starting work on Monday, Chloe starting school on Monday and I'm chilling until I get a job.
All going well though...

New house, finally settling to stability!

The update:
We will be settling down here in Basingstoke as Jeff has now got some work. After waiting 4 weeks from the recruitment company stuffing him around, his aus police check has finally arrived and is now able to work..
 It's been a nightmare with our phones. 3 say they have good coverage in the UK, but since moving out of London, it's been crap.. We usually have to go outside to make calls and mostly always have the "No service" sign. I think we may be changing over to Vodafone soon.
 Because the recruitment company has been stuffing Jeff around until now, it's been frustrating to find a spot to settle down, but after Jeff ringing another office of Synabor the contact there was so happy that he called and they have heaps of work for him. Now, why couldn't she have called since she knew we were in the country??
 In the last few days, we have been from hotel to hotel as we have been looking around Basingstoke for a place to rent. Confirmation came today that we now have one in a place called Beggarwood which is on the outskirts of Basingstoke and will be moving there next Wednesday.

Our address will be:

9 Oceana Crescent, Beggarwood,    Hampshire RG22 4FF

The other "not happy jan" situation that we have had is our bank.. It looked like we may have gone into London to organise a bank cheque for the estate agent because they only have 4 branches in the whole country (we didn't know this at the time).... They didn't understand the whole Bank Cheque business, but after locking Jeff out of internet banking, they have graciously done our transfer of the first 6 months rent that we have to pay.
Did I say the first 6 months??  YES - the company that handles the employment references have decided that our rental income from our home in Croydon doesn't count & that Jeff's long service leave payment is semi-ok but still doesn't count.  The way they see it is that I'm unemployed and Jeff hasn't been offered a contract, so to make everyone happy,  we have had to pay 6 months in advance. 
After having the accident yesterday, more crap today over the phone with banks and again mobile phone coverage, I think we need a holiday!  Jeff said he's never been this stressed before, but this time next week we will be having our first night at our new house.  That in mind, we can rest our minds that we now have a place.
We keep saying to each other that if things dont keep going our way we will come home, but then we thought "oh, we just paid 6 months rent in advance - even if we wanted to, we couldn't even afford the airfare home".  so, looks like we are staying!  It will get better.  Jeff will have work next week, Chloe will be starting school and hopefully I will have employment too...
We will look back at the first 4 weeks here later and hopefully have a good laugh..  Better that than crying!!
Does England have an England Day?  Must look that up and let you know..
Bye from the bears, the mamma, dadda & the kid xxxx

Move to Basingstoke, Hampshire

We have left the west and now in Hampshire which is South/South West of London - still in limbo while we get approval for a flat in Beggarwood on the outskirts of Basingstoke.  On the way here, we dropped into Newbury to have a hot chocolate and a stretch, comforting Chloe as she is really missing her friends Grace, Tahlia & Chelsea from school.

The canal which runs through the middle of town

It was great to see how this couple manouvered their little tug through the opening of the gate - it was quite pretty with the ducks out as well..  A pretty little town - we are finding that most of the towns that we have visited so far cut the car traffic off the main street so it's all open up to predestrians only..  which is great so you're not dodging cars!

Meet our newest members of the McMillin clan..

In amongst seeing places to rent, we did a bit of window shopping at Festival Place in Basingstoke which is the main shopping centre.  Chloe & I have seen so many "Build-A-Bear" stores since we have been here, that I finally got talked into building a bear..  Meet Fugde (Fudge) in the middle who is Chloe's bear, and the other one is Jack who is my bear.  It was heaps of fun - they have all sorts of bears that you can choose from.  You can give it a beating heart, a giggle/dog bark/kiss button for it's hand, next you get to "stuff" your own bear, pick it's own clothes, register your bear online and you even get a birth certificate...  It was heaps of fun, but very expensive.  I haven't told Jeff yet how much it cost, but said that it was great mum & daughter time.
Tuesday 24th, we went and saw the Primary School that Chloe will most likely enrol in...  Good school, big school which 600 kids, but nice Headteacher and the kids were waving and saying hi even though they didn't know us.  I think it will be a nice school for her, so she could start as early as Monday.  But then the follow week is mid-term holiday, so yet another week off!  How easy is that?  Then, the day just went from bad to worse..
We drove on towards Winchester for lunch and a walk around, and we didn't realise that the street we were in was a 2 way street, went to turn right to get into a car park and BANG!  We knew it was going to be tough settling into a new country, but the bank are stuffing us around organising a bank cheque for the bond, we never seem to have any service for our phones - now we have changed from pre-paid to a contract, non of us can make calls because we are in phone limbo, the recruitment company are still stuffing Jeff around, I'm all emotional because we've had an accident and now need to get the car fixed and want to come home to Melbourne, Chloe's emotional because I'm emotional, I'm stessed about how the hell I'm going to get Chloe to school as it's half hour walk, Jeff's sick of being stuffed around and if we have one more thing that doesn't come our way, we seriously may be coming home!  Sick of getting stuffed around by everyone!!

hope it's not too expensive to fix!

But, despite our shit day with shit things happening to us, none of us were hurt in the accident and we still have each other to hug!  Let's hope things improve or stuff this country!....

Oxford, Stroud & anywhere in between

It's been a bit of an emotional week for myself (I'm ok), just with frustration & the lack of communication between jeff & synabor the recruitment company..  i am still enjoying myself, seeing lots of places etc, its just been a bit tough being in 'no man's land' with regards to a permanent spot.  but my tears on friday night, jeff's patience in ringing 3 other synabor offices, we are on the move to set up in Basingstoke.

basingstoke is about an hour from london, south westish between london & southampton which is on the coast.  we move on sunday 22nd and staying in a motel for a few nights while we look for a rental property - hoping we have something in concrete by the end of the week.  an address will follow when we have it..  jeff will be a supply teacher for the time being around the basingstoke area, and the company says that they can also organise a contract for him pretty soon..  but, he is guarenteed work for most of the week, paying 100 pounds a day..

Oxford - second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. it was bitterly cold, but braving the weather, it was a lovely day.  we got hold of the sightseeing bus tour guide and instead of paying @40pounds, we drove the course ourselves in our little skoda which is marvellous.  now, some of you may know that im not a map reading person, so we (i) kind of got jeff a little bit lost, but we eventually got back on course and went the reverse way because that's the only way i could read the map..

Saxon Tower of St Michael at the North Gate

Saxon Tower dates back to 1040 - The Oxford Martyrs were imprisoned in the Bocardo Prison by the church before they were burnt at the stake in what is now Broad Street nearby, then immediately outside the city walls, in 1555 and 1556. Their cell door can be seen on display in the church's tower.

Martyrs' Memorial

The Martyrs' Memorial is a rather imposing stone monument positioned at the intersection of St Giles', Magdalen Street and Beaumont Street in Oxford, England just outside Balliol College. It commemorates the 16th-century Oxford Martyrs.  Designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, the monument was completed in 1843 after two years' work, having replaced "a picturesque but tottering old house". The Victorian Gothic memorial, whose design dates from 1838, has been likened to the spire of some sunken cathedral.  The inscription on the base of the Martyrs' Memorial reads as follows:
"To the Glory of God, and in grateful commemoration of His servants, Thomas Cranmer, Nicholas Ridley, Hugh Latimer, Prelates of the Church of England, who near this spot yielded their bodies to be burned, bearing witness to the sacred truths which they had affirmed and maintained against the errors of the Church of Rome, and rejoicing that to them it was given not only to believe in Christ, but also to suffer for His sake; this monument was erected by public subscription in the year of our Lord God, MDCCCXLI".

Our last day/night in somerford keynes and i was pretty keen to go for a short drive so we went to Stroud which is 12 miles from here.  A nice little town, and i couldn't help but take this photo - jeff & i are interested in some of these little towns names and we always have a laugh "where do you live?"

well, it's goodbye to somerford keynes and hello basingstoke

bye for now.  xx

Anybody up for a hamburger?

I can't believe they sell this!!

It always surprises me when I walk through the supermarket either at Tesco, Lidl, Poundland etc that they have these crazy self packaged hamburgers ready to buy here.  They look absolutely tasty hey??

Travels so far:

Sunday 15th Jan - The Salvation Army Cirencester meeting was awesome!  No youth what-so-ever and we would have been the youngest there by far.  But nonetheless, it was a place of worship and it's no about who's there but the saving grace of God.

After the meeting, a quick drive home to put some more drops in Chloe’s eyes and a lazily Sundy drive to Gloucester.  19 miles to Gloucester from Somerford Keynes where we are staying and it was a glorious sunny day.  Not as cold as Saturday as the temperature was under 6 with a -5 overnight.

Gloucester cathedral was just awesome.

This cathedral was being built between 1089 and about 1130 – first being a Benedictine monastery, but in 1540 King Henry VIII abolished the church being a monastery.  Even before it was built, it was a place of worship as long ago as 700 AD.

The stained glass windows – one of the windows here (not this one) on the East is a size of a tennis court – how awesome is that?  While we were here, we got to hear the cathedral choir practice for Evensong and they are in perfect harmony.  It is said here, that the choir is one of the finest in the country.  MSS – you have a long way to go! (joke)

These statues on the top of the entrance – I mean, has anyone seen anything more intriguing as these?  We spent the rest of the afternoon wondering around the streets of Gloucester, dropping into a travel agent about prices for a weekend in New York that may happen in the March holidays.  I mean, you can’t get any closer (yes you can) to Europe/Ireland/America from here can you? 

It has been icy at night, frosty still in the late morning and I hear we may have some snow by the end of the week.   Oxford is on the plans for Tuesday 17^th, washing on Wednesday and what-ever for the rest of the week.

I still can’t believe that we are here, and our family & friends over the other side of the world.  Hope you all are enjoying reading our blog as we travel parts of this country and beyond.

It's too cold to go on, but know that we are thinking of you all.

Bye for now. xxx

From Buckingham Palace to Bath & in-between

The last day of London for us was just magical.  A visit to Buckingham Palace was definately on the cards, and although the Queen didn't bother to come out and say hi to us, it was still awesome to know that she was in there somewhere doing her "Queenie" thing of running the country and possibly trying to talk Scotland out of a referendum of being their own..

I am still amazed at just how detailed carvings/buildings/statues are in this country.  Look at this:

Just the detail in this - don't you find that absolutely fascinating?  It blows my mind to think that someone so many many many years ago did this by hand.  We just got in a few more photo's before it started to pelt down with rain, so on the Sight-seeing bus again to keep going around the loop.  Hyde Park, Marble Arch, Kensington Palace & Gardens and much more were seen on the tour.

We dropped the car back off at Heathrow, just in time for Jeff to remember that he (and I) had forgotten to take our own car keys off the hire car key, so off he went again on the shuttle bus back to Europcar to get them.  Meanwhile, Chloe & I had a great time looking around Terminal 3, watching the passengers come through the doors - wondering just where they have come from.

We have moved to a small country village west of London called Somerford Keynes, and it literally is a small country village.  Somerford Keynes is near a town called Cirencester, which is kind of half way between Gloucester & Bristol.  The house is nice - very rustic looking, and everytime we want to use our phones or the internet we have to take the plunge into the cold outside as there is double-glazed windows and there is no signal..  So I'm writing this at 9.10pm, outside with my trusty ugg boots, jacket, beanie & scarf while my fingers go numb because it's so cold.  We will be here until one of us gets a job and I hope that's soon!

Today we went for a drive to Bath.  We didn't make it to Bath last time we were here, so was looking forward to it very much, and I have to say that I wasn't disappointed at all.  It's an amazing place - and if we could afford it, I would love living there.  Of course, the main purpose of going was to see the Roman Baths and if Chloe's eye wasn't acting up, I could have stayed there for much longer.  We are battling to get her conjunctivitis right, and tonight has been the worst.  She has a huge gunky thing in her eye that we can't get out, plus it stings we she pees so it's off to the dr's tomorrow and get that sorted.  (sorry if that was too much info!)

I, like everyone else has seen this on travel shows in Aus, and it looks amazing on TV, but to actually see the Roman Bath in person was just as good as seeing it on TV.  To walk around the baths where Roman's had once walked before, thousands and thousands of years ago - but it's actually quite hard to get it into your head that they did.  We are looking at the bath that the Goddess Sulis Minerva bathed in (the first century of AD) was incredible. 

Hadrian







The statues of the various emporer's etc still standing - Hadrian who made those Walls bare handed - oh the history.  A few little facts of the Baths:

Temp: 44oC,    Rate of Flow: 13 litres per second,    43 minerals in the water,    the bubbling in the King's bath is caused by exsolved gases escaping,   the water is colourless but acquires it's distinctive green hue from algae growth caused by it's heat and by daylight,    the water is love in dissolved metals except for iron which causes the orange staining,   civilians including women were visiting to pay their respects to the Goddess and to seek a cure in the healing water,    those requiring divine intervention made their wishes known to the Goddess by performing a sacrifice or make a gift in anticipation of a successful outcome. 

This place is just full of awesome history.

Love to you all.  xxxxx

Wet, cold & dark at 430pm

Hi folks,

Today we are just chilling as we spent the past 2 days doing a London Sightseeing bus tour.  The 2nd day was free, so we had to make the most out of a 4o day which was wet, cold, sunny, pelting with rain.  You will never guess where this picture is taken!

The holiest places in London

Well, Jeff doesn't seem to think so!  Yesterday was the last day of going into London as tomorrow we pick up our car we bought.  Welcome to the McMillin family little Skoda..

Jeff has an interview with the recruitment company on Friday morning so hoping that all goes well.  Then Saturday we take the hire car back to Heathrow and guess who will be driving our car through the madness London traffic??  A bit scared!

Here is a funny video of Chloe as we were waiting for Jeff to come back from another shopping spree of his.



Sunday we head over to Gloucester as I've probably already mentioned.  In the meantime, just chillin and taking it easy.

Oh, the other thing we saw today - just down the road about 5/10 mins, there is a place called the Lee Valley White Water Centre.  This is where the kayaking, rafting etc is going to be held during the Olympics.  Here is a few pics.  Bye for now.

Happy New Year

Gondola ride in Cambridge

Our little "snug" cabin at Lee Valley Campsite in
Sewardstone, Essex (14mi from London)

 While Jeff & Chloe slept in the New Year, I stayed up until midnight to see the fireworks on TV from London Eye which was amazing.

2nd leg of our flight.  MA0004 from KL to Heathrow

I forgot to mention in my post just after we arrived, that it was amazing on the flight to fly over such countries as: Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Moldova (I said hi Ian & Viv but knew you were back in Aus), India (New Dehli), Berlin, Warsaw, Turkey, Kiev.  Flying at 38000 ft, travelling 14000miles.  The weather has still been cold, still no snow but cold enough to wear a few jumpers while we go out.  Not forgetting beanies, scarves and gloves.

Waiting in line for the London Eye. With us were Mark, Kylie
& Eva Hamilton. Friends from church who flew over Christmas
night for a holiday.

Anyway, latest update:  London the past few days seeing such sights so far (Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, London Eye, shopping in Regent St, Covent Gardens market, various tube stations). New Years Day we went for a drive to Cambridge and even though it was a cold day, the gondola ride to see the universities was just amazing.  Monday we will be doing the sightseeing double decker bus tour and stopping off at the places we haven't seen yet. 

Westminster Abbey