Month: April 2013

We started today with a trip to Ironbridge Gorge. The Museum here has a large model of the Gorge as it was in 1695. This is a World Heritage site because of its significance to industrialisation.

Because resources were found on both sides of the river, the bridge made life easier. It was also a great tourist attraction and showcased the iron work skills in the region. All the iron in the bridge was cast in sand and river traffic was not affected at all during construction. This area is also famous for Coalport China.

We then went to the small village of Much Wenlock which Jane had recommended. We joined English Heritage here prior to visiting Wenlock Priory.

Finally we visited another EH site – Wroxeter Roman Village. The audio tours at both EH sites were great and really bought them to life.

Fine and sunny today but still cold – bitterly cold with a strong NW wind blowing from the Arctic.

The highlight of our day at Warwick Castle was the display of falconry. Having a huge bald eagle fly a couple of metres over your head to is quite an experience.

Other highlights were the firing of a trebuchet and the displays depicting life at various times in the castles history.

Falconry Video

We landed a bit late after sitting on the runway at Dubai for nearly an hour. It was great to be met by Jane who drove us to her home in Newport. We started in bright sunshine, then some rain and finally sleet before the sun came out again. Not sure I have packed the right clothes.

Dinner at Jane’s local pub “The Fox”.

Happy Birthday to brother John!

Well after finally letting us on the plane we had a long 14 hour trip to Dubai. We both got a few hours sleep and enjoyed the onboard entertainment (including a man in business class in boxer shorts who had already stored his trousers in the overhead locker by the time we were boarding the plane). Interesting flying with crew where English is their second language. I was a bit taken back towards the end of the flight when the first officer announced that we couldn’t use the lavatories anymore because the plane was going down! We did happily land safely on time in Dubai just before dawn.

It took a while but we are now ready to board. System problem we are guessing!

Brisbane Airport, Australia

Just what you want to hear. There is a slight problem- you’re not listed on the flight! Sit over here while we sort it out!!

Cleveland, Australia
We seem to have been planning this trip for some time so it is nice for the day to finally arrive. We are flying Qantas/Emirates from Brisbane to Birmingham with a couple of hours stopover in Dubai. Our good friend Jane will be meeting us and we will spend the first few days with her.