24th March 2005 Thursday
Overnight stay Narita, Japan.
Avg Temp: -50c 10,000m up and 10c in Narita City
Weather: Cool, showers, thunderstorm
"Are we there yet?"
Unfortunately, the more you travel the longer 9 hours on a plane seems.
The first experience of flying a long distance time passes quickly
because it is new and exciting (and possibly because you were
younger). This time it was a long drawn out process of getting
somewhere. The flight was uneventful (if uncomfortable). We were
surprised to see Monica from Intergraph at the JAL check in line at
Brisbane airport. She was not travelling rather dropping off a friend.
Narita Airport is actually 66kms from Tokyo and catching a train there
would take an hour, so an alternative is Narita City, only about 7kms
from the Hotel. A short taxi ride had us arriving in Narita City by
about 6:30pm. So armed with a map, intending to visit the Naritasan
Temple so logically we started walking away from it... 25 minutes
later we see it in the distance on the horizon and so we check the map
and the compass and turn around towards it. Our map reading skills
have improved remarkably since then. We circumnavigate the temple for
another 30 minutes trying to find the front entrance. I think we got
there at around 8pm - when it should have been a 15min walk. The
temple and gardens cover a huge area and are a wonderful example of
traditional Japanese gardens and temples. They appeared to be opened
all night and we were able to explore the area undisturbed until a
thunderstorm and light rain forced us back to the hotel.
The Japanese are polite and friendly. The city was clean and neat.
The back roads were narrow and without footpaths but were well lit and
quiet. Taxi doors open automatically. You walk towards a cab and
doors spring open to let you in. They close automatically too. Never
under-estimate the effect of Doilies seat covers to improve the ambience
of taxis. We were in Narita not 5 minutes and we had seen McDonalds,
Starbucks, 7 eleven.
25 March Friday
Tokyo to London, drive to Salisbury
Weather: Fine
Avg Temp: 15
"Be prepared"
At least the 12 hours in flight were spent on a newer plane where the
seats were more comfortable, possibly a little wider with maybe a
centimetre more leg room. A bonus was individual entertainment screens
mounted in the seat in front with a selection of movies, games and
information. The most popular among the passengers was the outside
camera that was pointed directly down and showed the landscape (or
cloud cover as the case sometimes was). Heathrow customs were almost
non-existent so within 20 minutes of disembarking (mostly spent
trekking vast corridors) we were ready to start the 'grande tour'.
After a mix up with the car collection that was resolved after a
mercy call back to Australia (big thanks to Ann who chased up some
details for us) we were on our way. We spent the first night in an Inn
in a village called Woodfalls, a few miles south of Salisbury where we
slept very well.
26 March Saturday
Salisbury, Stonehenge, Longleat, sunshine and hordes
Weather: Fine and sunny
Avg Temp: 19
"Lord Farquar's Safari"
We navigated our way to Salsibury where we spent a few hours exploring
the town and cathedral before continuing on to Old Sarum castle.
When travelling, there is a concept of a 'must do list'.
Unfortunately, this list is universally broadcast and items on the
list are the same items on everybody else’s list. Traffic on the way
to Stonehenge was congested and by the time we got there the car park
was full and 3 or 4 huge buses were sitting in one corner. There was
a queue for tickets the site of the stones circled by tourists
shuffling around it listening to a free audio guide (after paying the
entry fee) detracted from their majesty. I've been to stones before
where we were the only ones there - that was great. I
guess the combination of Easter and sunny weather draws the crowds.
Anyway, forgoing the entry fee and the queues we walked along the
barrier (the stones are right by the road) and were able to get a
great view of them.
Longleat
Longleat, a large manor set on spacious grounds was our next stop. If
ever I felt our entry fee was maintaining someone else's lifestyle it
was then. The grounds were 100 acres or more owned by Lord Bath who
we nicked named "Lord Farquar" because we felt he needed a more
pretentious title. Numerous portraits of him lined the walls where he posed in his regal getup. Many photographs of him were displayed in the rooms either at his painting desk or in his hunting gear.
We made a quick stop at Glastonbury Tor before arriving at Dragon House Hotel (near Dunster) where we spent the night.
27 March Sunday
Dunster Castle
Weather: Cool, mist, cloudy
Avg Temp: 10
"What? More rolling hills??"
We started driving to Minehead on the coast but stopped at Dunster
Castle - a magnificent 12th century castle and medieval village. Most
places open at 11am and as we were early we picked a walk. There are
footpaths for walkers everywhere. It was a 2 mile walk through the
english countryside and woodlands.
Dunster village was lovely and after our walk we stopped for tea and
scones - when in Rome...
We hit the frog and toad and were able to get a room in Bath
at a b&b called Devonshire House. After checkin we wandered down into
Bath central and had a bit to eat.
28th March Monday
Bath, Lacock Abbey, Avebury Stones
Weather: Morning fog. Sunny
Avg temp 15c
"Who's Harry Potter"
At 10:30am there is a free walking tour of Bath for 2 hours which was
great. After the tour we wandered some more (feet and legs holding up
well) then drove east to Lacock Abbey where some of Harry Potter was
filmed. From there we passed one of the whitehorses in the hillside
and continued to Avebury to see the stone henge. We stopped at
Marlborough for the night.
29th March Tuesday
Oxford, London
Weather:
Avg Temp
Well, today we end our mobililty and return the car to Heathrow.
