Chris is feeling delighted to see our families first second-generation New Zealander - she is a very proud nanna, whereas I'm sure I'm too young to be a poppa! Chris is calling herself a cyber-nanna as we have been using web cameras to see and hear the baby. We reckon that we could do baby sitting via the web camera and internet, watching the baby sleep - and ringing them on their cellphone if the baby needs changing or anything. 

We've been absolutely thrilled by the pictures and videos we're received via email. Of course, we're very sad to not be closer at this time, but perhaps it won't be much longer before we return to NZ?!?!? It sure is a great incentive to come back sooner....  

Arrived at our destination 'y Bwthyn Bach', just on dark, after 10pm. The place wasn't very well sign posted (just a laminated A4 sheet pinned to a tree trunk), but it was relatively cheap. £100 for 3 nights in a cottage is a really good price and belongs to a friend of Chris's from work.. We were immediately drawn to the sound of rushing water - a waterfall was immediately behind the little stone cottage, and solar powered garden lights were dotted up the hillside by the waterfall.  We were told that the cottage was built from the old beam pumping engine for a slate mine in the valley above - though it looks too new to us. It can be quite difficult telling the age of stone buildings, whereas brick buildings have a more distinctive style according to their age - if the bricks are irregular hand-made shapes it is probably really old!

Played with my camera settings, and finally managed to create the 'misty water effect' which I've long been wanting. A longer exposure with smaller aperture setting did the trick - a tripod is an essential tool for this, as you can't hope to hold the camera still for this length of time.

On the way back to the bach, we popped into the tiny Abergynolwyn pub for a shandy and a packet of 'Nobbys Nuts'. We were welcomed by the resident Labrador 'Winston'. We tried to explain to the locals about Winston Peters but they weren't interested (is anyone?!). Still they were a very friendly lot who would know what everyone in the village ate for breakfast we were sure.

We've been in the UK for over two years, and this is the first time that I've been to the coast! Sadly, Tywyn didn't reward us with visions of rolling white sands and sparkling blue sea. Instead,  it was a miserable looking beach, it was raining with low cloud and quite cold! Right in front of where we parked the car was a prominent notice about the poisonous lesser Weaver fish which await people wading in the surf. We walked a fair distance along the beach, turning our normally sturdy umbrella inside out many times. Stopped for respite from the rain in a small fishing shop - lured by an advertisement for cups of tea and a freshly caught crab sandwiches. But we discovered that the place where we would have to consume these was some sopping wet picnic tables outside, with no umbrellas or other shelter from the elements. So sod that! Instead we went to a fish & chip shop (and discovered that the girl behind the counter lived in Taupo for a few years) and drove back to the promenade to eat dinner. Chris says this is a very 'proper English' thing to do at the seaside! We sat in the car, throwing scraps to the huge gulls which swooped in as soon as we arrived, despite the threat of a £25 fine for doing so... The fish (cod) was quite tasteless, not worth the NZ$6 per piece which we had paid. But the chips were nice & hot, with lashings of salt and vinegar. 

Conclusion: Tywyn is a fairly miserable little seaside town, with lots of caravan camps and boarding houses. The holiday camps resemble concentration camps, with their rows and rows of identical unattractive caravans. 

Had an early night, sleeping well as we do whenever we have walked on west coast beaches in NZ. The sound of the running waterfall was like a lullaby. Woke early. During breakfast, the peace and tranquility was shattered by airforce jets swooping down the valley at high speed and low altitude. Went for a long walk over to the next valley, on the way seeing lots of jackdaws and buzzards. Explored the remains of a surprisingly large castle Castell-y-Bere, considering how remote the location was. The cries of the buzzards circling above us sounded like something out of a wild west movie. The buzzards were being attacked by crows, probably to try to keep them from discovering where the crows were nesting. 

This castle was built in the 1200's - one of a series built by the powerful Welsh kings to keep the English out  -  but it fell just 60 years later on 25th April 1283. It was built in an amazing location, on a rocky little hill, at the top of the valley. It was surprising to see that the castle was built of rocks set in concrete - reminding us that concrete was invented by the Romans two thousand years ago. We walked back in more rain, but fortunately it wasn't cold. Stopped and talked to some beautiful shire horses, with huge feet. Read all about Mary Jones who lived at Tyn-y-ddol, founder of the Welsh Bible Society, who have walked many miles to obtain a copy of the bible. We heard about the legend of the hills surrounding the castle: Cadair Idris, the "Chair of Idris" - that if you spend a night on the mountain, you will awake the next morning either a poet or a madman!

These valleys of Wales are quite beautiful in their rugged grandeur, reminding us a lot of the Karangahake Gorge, and of the Otago region. The hills are dotted with sheep, which I can report have their tails intact, and don't have plastic eartags. The cattle here are quite woolly, a must for the freezing cold winters. 

Went for a drive to Lake Tay-y-Llyn, watching the trout fishermen casting their lines from little boats in the freezing wind, while we sat in a comfy hotel tearoom - sipping tea and gorging ourselves on a double helping of scones, jam and whipped cream. Another couple in the tea rooms were cyclists, having an argument over their running out of daylight due to taking the wrong turning. We had passed them earlier, struggling on the steep hills, clearly not having a good time. Did some listening into conversations around us, having not heard much of the Welsh language before. In our accomodation, I tuned the radio to a Welsh talkback show - but the novelty soon wore off.  

Walked around the village, taking photos of the jackdaws and a weird red moth. Then we put our glad rags on and went into the town - to the picture theatre. In a small building was quite an impressive cinema, with balcony! We asked for the best seats in the house, and proceeded to watch the new Star Wars movie 'Revenge of the Sith' from the balcony. We recognised Temuera Morrison, but didn't notice Keisha Hughes (Whale Rider) under all the makeup. I can still remember going to the first Star Wars movie in 1977 at the Hamilton Carlton theatre with Tony & Richard, on the eve of my final Physics exam (which I failed despite the obvious value of studying intergalactic physics the night before). 

Due to Chris not feeling well, we had to leave Wales sooner than planned, so didn't get to visit Aberdovey - will have to wait for another visit. Instead we visited Powys Castle, which was surrounded by beautiful deer park with two herds of Fallow deer wandering confidently around. This is another of the properties which we can visit for free, due to our having joined the NZ Historic Places Trust. 

Eg Abergynolwyn, Loxley Square, Mt Taranaki, Birkenhead  (I used to live in the house with the orange-red roof which is exactly in the middle of this picture!

If you like this, you'll really like Google World, a beta trial of a new system which is even better (more interactive & more detailed) than Google Maps. I love the way that with it you can 'tilt' the earth and fly over it - especially if you turn on the contours & buildings.  http://earth.google.com/ 

We loved this concert so much that we missed the last train and the last bus - real stop outs! So we had to get a taxi home (quite expensive) and had a long sad chat with the Islamic driver about the racial abuse which his community are now regularly receiving. 

There were even some nice stories to be heard: the Hippodrome show 42nd street was stopped,  all the cast ended up on the street in their "we're in the money" costumes, shiny with lots of sequins and skimpy outfits for the girls as you'd imagine. The cast, still in full costume, were evacuated along with others, along Bristol Road. They were told to leave the city centre as soon as possible, but the clothes, phones, money, cars and house-keys of the cast were still in the theatre, and so they had to do their best to get home safely. Despite this, the mood remained very calm - a wedding reception in the inner city had to be evacuated before the couple had a chance for a dance, so they had their 'first dance' in the middle of Bristol Road, accompanied by the 42nd Street Cast in full costume, singing 'Lullaby Of Broadway'. Great stuff.

The Spiegeltent had to evacuated along with all the other entertainment venues around Birmingham's entertainment quarter, along with thousands of people having to leave their inner-city apartments and stay the night in various venues at the University etc.

Birmingham is no stranger to terror strikes. The notorious Irish Republican Army pub bombings of 1974 were some of the most serious atrocities committed in mainland Britain, killing 21 people and wounding scores more. During the 2nd world war, the area was extensively bombed - apparently there are still bomb craters in the city, though I don't know where. The huge Austin car factory (Longbridge) was under so much threat of being bombed, that they disguised it & built a replica looking decoy factory out of cardboard, a short distance away on the Lickey Hills, to fool the bombers!

In the distance is a huge advertising poster for Coca Cola, which has a very hippy/San Francisco style Love written on it. This seemed like a very fitting slogan for the day. The British are being amazing stoic about all the goings on, resolving to carry on normal day to day life, not letting even this tragedy cause life to stop. At first glance, this photo looks like we are all looking at the poster! Chris says it looks as if we are paying homage to the great Coca Cola!!

Left work late (as usual) and walked along Colmore Row to my train station - Snow Hill. Dozens of police were surrounding the station and no-one was allowed anywhere near it. No-one knew what was going on, but we all had a feeling that it would be related to the London bombings in one way or another. Checked the train times website (using the 'wap browser' feature of my cellphone) and it showed trains running 'as normal'. So walked over to the next station Moor Street, only to find a huge queue of people at the ticket office trying to find out what was going on. Phoned Chris and decided to get the bus home instead - slower, grottier, and in light of recent events in London - not 100% safe either. While on the bus, I received a couple of phone calls from concerned people - thanks for your concern Rob & Dawn, it's really appreciated. Arrived home perhaps an hour late. The news reports were of someone acting suspiciously on the 'tram', an off duty police officer called for support, and two suitcases were treated as a bomb threat. One person was arrested but soon released.

One of my workmates Baiju, a dark skinned Indian, was on the train. He wondered why no-one was sitting next to him. They he realised that there were some wires (a network patch cable) hanging out of his rucksack! (Not that sitting 10 feet away from a bomb going off would make much difference!) So he put the loose wires back in his bags, and soon people started sitting next to him again. This photo is doing the rounds of the emails, but I don't think it is genuine, or at least I hope not!

At my work, the building is on 'red alert' security status, meaning that a security guard is checking everyone's photo ID before they are allowed in the building. Better safe than sorry. My work building is the head office for Lloyds TSB Bank, though you wouldn't know it - there's no signwriting on the building. This was a conscious decision as the building was opened the day before September 11 - the bank has decided to not draw any attention to the fact that it is an important location for the financial sector, and thus reduce the risk of terrorism. We have regular trial evacuations, a pain having to walk down 7 flights of stairs with really loud alarms screaming at you the whole time.