Hello again

Well this was supposed to be the last edition, but the trivia tray has become a bit full….and we still have to “do”  north Wales. So I thought a dump was needed…

1.  When did you last see…or pick up - a hitch hiker??

Well, in many earlier editions, I have reported on the many great walks that the Mother has scheduled….and they show no signs of abating. Our latest venture was with Dom and Emma in the South Downs and our guide book let us down…an 8km walk turned into 14km …and we were still about 5 km from our vehicles in the carpark at Steyning…

Time had run out cos we had a country pub appointment with Claire, Andy and Abigail…solution…I did something I didn’t think I had in me. I hitch-hiked back to our car and then went back to pick the rest of the team. A very sympathetic elder couple quickly gave me a lift….(If it had been couple of youngs thugs, I would have just growled at them..)

BTW, my friendly iPhone app tells me that we have just completed 2890 Kms of walks since 1 July 2015…I have scheduled a pub celebration when we hit 3000kms

2. In case you are interested,…. I have done a very amateurish map showing the the number of nights we spent at various locations around the UK …and a little bit of Europe and Japan. Its a fantastic part of the world and there still heaps to see…

3. When people over here quickly realise we are from Aust,  the names Tomic and Kyrgios are simply an embarrassment. I hope they just go somewhere else…

4  I’ve given up trying to copy this article …so here is the link to the news story. It about an amazing new bus in China that travels ABOVE the traffic!)

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/technology/-gp50nd.html

5.  There many examples of where the locals here have a different word for the same thing in Aust…Semi trailers = Lorries…Soccer =Football…Tow trucks = Recovery Vehicles…and so on and on

Recently I struck an interesting one…I went into the local Hardware Store and asked for some Gar-Bags…I said .."you know plastic bags for garbage”. I got a blank look …

After a bit of a delay, the store attendant said “Sorry, maybe these plastic rubbish bags might help “ !!!

6. The summer season has just started over here and the weather looks quite promising ….26c today. However the local Boots shop (part of a huge chain of pharmacies) don’t seem to be quite as optimistic. Today they had a 50% off offer on sun cream..

7. The fastest growing sport on the UK is said to be foot GOLF..

8.  The local fish and chips shop is called “Caught”…clever

9. Not sure wether this as caught-on in Oz, but over here most big train stations, airport lounges, shopping Malls, etc have a “grand” paino with a sign saying “Play me if you can”. Most of the time its quite good entertainment when you are waiting for companions ….

10. I assure that the Mohammand Ali story would have received mush coverage in OZ …amazing person. One fact I remember is that he won the Light-Heavy weight boxing Gold medal at the Rome Olympics just before he turned pro. He beat Australian Tony Madigan in his semi final…Tony M went on to be a top Aust male model ….

11. It continues to puzzle me as to why so much energy, anxiety, resources, etc go into finding and sampling the “perfect” coffee……when the plain old simple string tea bag and a bit of hot water makes a very acceptabledrink…Talking of drinks and drinking establishments, its fascinating to see the number of pubs around country UK that are called the “Kings HEAD’ or the "Queens HEAD”…they are everywhere. Why not the Kings Elbow or the Queens ankle..???

12.  Finally one courtesy, Tom Whaton.  The famous St Andrews Golf Club in Scotland - where THE Open is often played, has reciprocal rights with only one club in in WORLD….it is Cooper Pedy GC in outback SA !!!

Gotta go and pack to exit our apartment in Romsey…

Cheers

Dad/Tony

PS sorry about the formatting..