A family wedding called us home to NZ so we boarded an Air NZ 747 and settled in for a 25-hour journey via Hong Kong. With the help of a pill we got some sleep and arrived in Auckland feeling remarkably good. After a family meal we set off for Hot Water Beach on the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsular where we had rented a holiday cottage for the week.
As the water seeping up through the sand is 64º C the best technique is to dig in such a way as to allow a mixture of hot and cold water into your pool and, as there are only 2 locations on the beach where the hot water surfaces, the demand for such prime spots is high and the early-birds have first pick.
All too soon a week of perfect NZ summer beach weather was over and it was back to Auckland to get the last minute wedding preparations done. On the way we made a brief stop to look at the Square Kauri. Possibly 1200 years old, it is the 15th largest Kauri tree on the Coromandel Peninsular and, although very close to the road, was spared by the loggers in a "gentleman's agreement" because of the unusual square shape of the trunk.
know an area you can always find that if you turn right instead of left you will find a whole different world that you never realised was there.
Well, the Pollock’s Toy Museum for starters. Tucked around the back, in a couple of old buildings (one with it’s original 1760s’ interiors) is an amazing collection of old toys, dolls, bears, games and so on. Benjamin Pollock was one of the last producers of theatre scenes for two theatres – all hand painted. A toyshop remains to this day and the museum is a rabbit warren of stairs and rooms that spans the two buildings.
A couple more corners and it is Leicester Square, home of the movie premieres but, sadly, no longer home to the mechanical clock on the Swiss Centre. The building that housed it has been demolished. Will the glockenspiel clock that had been there for over 20 years, return?
By now the National Gallery and Trafalgar Square are just around the corner and something that we have walked past dozens of times takes on a new significance. The little round construction close to the Tube entrance was once Britain’s smallest Police Station. There may have been room for the Bobby to turn around inside once he had entered but it would be a close run thing.
On our Saturday walk we came across two buildings with signs simply stating “Ancient Lights”. The fact that one of them was right beside a light fitting that 
appeared to have come from the 19th century had nothing to do with it.
Amazingly, we had never visited Kensington Palace even though it is only about 5 minute’s walk from where I work. So we decided this was another omission to correct and set off to visit. Although we have visited hundreds of castles, palaces, stately homes, mansions and manor houses since we arrived in the UK, the displays and rooms at Kensington Palace still impressed 
us. The “tailor’s shop” and the “dressmaker’s room” were most fascinating.
whether he was paying for a low-end or top-end “season” for his daughter: gowns, parties, accessories, a ball and so on; it all mounted up. Then, when the season had been successful and daughter had snagged the scion of another landed family, poor old dad had to fork out for a wedding!
Kensington Palace was the home of Diana and some of her dresses are on display so it seemed only proper to cross the Gardens and visit the Diana Memorial Fountain in the corner of Hyde Park. It looked a little forlorn, only a few rain water puddles and lots of leaves clogging under the bridges.
A week ago, the Round Pond in Kensington Gardens was covered in ice and the risk averse Health and Safety bods had directed the park staff to break the ice around the edge to discourage anyone from venturing on to the ice. Today the ice was well gone and the pond was, once again, the preserve of the swans and geese.
Being the last possible weekend to see the 2008 Turner Prize finalists at the Tate Britain, we thought we had better finally subject ourselves to the culture provided by this great British institution. It is amazing the feelings that are whipped up (usually by the media) every year as the Turner Prize finalists are announced and then, ultimately, the winner.
and in-the-flesh this year we have to lay bare our bourgeois taste and admit that we find the art of the original Turner, after whom the prize is named, much more satisfying and so, while at the Tate, we revisited the familiar Constables and Turners and also a new interactive presentation which graphically displayed the different colour palettes Turner used as he travelled around Europe; it was very well done, quite fascinating and educational.
Back on the South Bank of the Thames we called in at the recently refurbished Garden Museum where they have made some major additions to the inside of the old church that houses the museum. The additions are most tastefully done and beautifully blend in with the colour of the interior stonework of the church. The museum café offers some of the best value meals in London, very generous mains for £6: we had a cake and a cuppa.
Making our way downstream, past the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye (broken) we arrived at the South Bank Arts complex. Always thronged with tourists and strollers it is a prime area for the outdoor entertainers and buskers as well as a magnet for skateboarders and BMX bikers. An area under the theatres has become a graffiti canvas for the skateboard and bike fraternity.
However a warm wind had blown in overnight and, we discovered later, the frost had disappeared by 1 a.m. What a disappointment, not a frosty branch to be seen anywhere and the ground frost had also melted so the walk to the viewpoint at the end of Beacon Hill was muddy and slushy with the melt-water run-off.
The day was rescued by a great pub lunch at the Chequers, Fingest where the parish church is graced with a magnificent Norman tower that has stood there for the the last 900 years.
Posts
All Comments
