Time to refresh your bookmarks

I moved the Nuutinen Family Travel Diaries to a new address http://nuutinen.spaces.live.com

Let me know what you think.

Regards
John

Eynesford
(Kent Tidy Town Winner)

This is one of those little towns that you imagine the whole of England should look like. There is a little stream that flows through the middle of it and the High Street is flanked by old pubs and shops.

In the centre of town, hidden just behind the Village Hall, there are the ruins of Eynesford Castle. In the opposite direction, over the ford and a mile or two through the country lanes there are also some ruins of a Roman villa, dating to around 100AD

Waiting for the boat to come in...

This is our new sofa. I know it looks like 3 head pillows....but it's much better than the hard chair we've been sharing. You see, we're still waiting for the container boat to arrive from Australia.

The first thing we purchased when we arrived in England was this TV and a digital box - I was going to buy a TV cabinet, but that was before I found out that I had to pay £130 for TV licence (no I didn't need to do a test).

Actually, a TV licence test isn't a bad idea - if you choose to watch Big Brother, you should have your remote control confiscated immediately.

Trafalgar Square
A coupe of days ago...

We saw some opera being performed live in Trafalgar Square. It was something to do with a big ship and a priest - that's a picture of me about to burst into song.

After the opera we made our way up to Covent Garden where we watched street performers and wandered around the markets. It was a long walk back, via Westminster, to Victoria Station for the train home.

London
About a week and a half ago...

London just freaks me out. So many people. So much to see and do. We've decided to tackle London in a series of day trips. For our first foray into town, we decided to go to the British Museum.

We re-introduced the kids to the Tube. There is something about a fast train in a small tunnel that gets a boy excited - even Mika and Liam liked it. We got out at Oxford Circus so we could take the long way there through Carnaby Street and Soho.

We weren't expecting to find the Gaydar Radio Gay Pride Beach Party in Soho Square......but Larisa seemed to enjoy the music.

Guildford
About 2 weeks ago...

We took a drive down the A25 about a fortnight ago to the town of Guildford. We hadn't planned on stopping there...we were actually on our way to Farnham (Virginnia has been a huge fan since 'You're the voice' - I'm joking, she's going to kill me when she reads this!). However, things didn't go to plan.

We we're going to stop for lunch Reigate, but I couldn't find any parking, and I was already through Dorking before I realised we had arrived....so Guildford was the next town on the map - and what a pleasant surprise it was.

The High Street is cobble-stoned with dozens of little lanes hiding an assortment of shops. On the hill above the town you can wander through the remains of Guildford Castle - it's just the Keep, but the gardens and view from the top are great. Apparantly, the River Wey is National Trust listed - I guess it has enough debris in it to be classified as a building.

Bletchingley
Around 3 weeks ago....

There is another village even smaller and quiter than Woldingham - it's called Bletchingley. We went there to catch up with some old friends at a 'welcome back' party. It was a great night. We had a BBQ, a 'few' drinks and a spa before retiring for the evening sometime the next morning in some tents that we'd put up the previous afternoon!

The kids went riding through the paddocks on a horse in the morning and Mika found some stinging nettles - when he decided to roll through them.

Hastings
About 3 and a half weeks ago.....

I've borrowed a car from a friend. Josh is a patient man (I still have his car). It was a hot summer day, so we decided to go for a drive and look for a beach. We'd never been to Hastings - and probably will never go there again.

Actually, it's not that bad.....it's just, the English don't seem to be able to do 'beach' very well. Maybe it was the long drive, or the dodgy hamburger for lunch, but it somehow resembled and industrial depot rather than a seaside resort.

The drive down was probably more interesting than the destination. We stopped off at a little town called Battle - apparantly this was the scene of the battle of Hastings in 1066 - I should have done my research. However, if you're going to accidently find an important historic site, you might as well make it perhaps the most important site in English history.

The ruined abbey in Battle was worth the drive alone.

Woldingham
Sunday 16th July, 2006

No it's not a country estate. In fact, it's probably smaller than the Gardeners Cottage in the Manor House down the road, but it's our home for the next 6 months.

Five minutes after this photo was taken, I bumped into my next door neighbour - I was wearing boardshorts and a T-shirt - he just looked me up and down and said 'You must be the Australian'.....I just replied 'G'Day'. We haven't spoken since.....

I've got to laugh at where we've ended up. I was walking to the train station this morning and I could here cows mooing. We have foxes that visit our backyard every evening and you're more likely to be hit by a horse than a car around here. Amazingly, we are only 40 minutes by train from London.

We discovered on that first day that Woldingham does not have a pub or any street lights - I still haven't been able to figure out if the two are connected in some way.

Week 2, Day 1

Back to civilisation! Cosmopolitan Helsinki had a flushing toilet, hot shower....and more importantly for the children, a McDonalds. We spent the morning strolling along the Esplanadi, past the cake shops and cafes. After lunch (Sushi and beer) we made our way to the harbour markets searching for local handicrafts and little knic-knacs.

Afternoon tea at the Elberg was followed by dinner at a little Italian restaurant behind Mannerheimtie. It was 9:00pm and the sun was still warm. We were walking around the most northern (and coldest) capital city in the world in short sleeves ans shorts.

Week 1, Day 7

It was a lazy start to the day. I decided to take Liam and Larisa fishing (Mika had opted for his recharged PSP). We drove down to a little dock a couple of kilometres away. I'd bought some fishing tackle in Hameenlinna and we'd dug up some fresh worms from the vegetable patch.

I had low expectations - in the previous 3 trips to Finland I had caught a total of 2 fish. On one expedition my uncle Sulo insisted we stayed out in the boat until we landed one......he finally relented as dusk set in and we could no longer see the shoreline.

This fishing trip was a much simpler exercise. As I baited Larisa's hook, I attempted to manage their expectations.......no need, she landed this monster with her first cast!

Week 1, Day 6

Our day trip to Hameenlinna to wander around the town's castle and have lunch finnished early so we drove back to Torvoila to collect our board shorts and head off for a swim.

There are hundreds and thousands of lakes in Finland, so finding a place to dip a toe in wasn't difficult. Most of the 'beaches' are deserted, so imagine my surprise when after a 20 minute drive further into the wilderness and a further 10 minute walk to a secluded lake, that I should run into a bikini clad woman who informs me that she is my cousin.

I shouldn't have been so surprised - it seemed that everyone we had met over the past few days were related to us in some way! There aren't that many people in Finland afterall.

Week 1, Day 5

We were up early and off to Tampere for the day. My Finnish had improved to 'remedial' - in fact, so poor was my spoken Finnish that my relatives often stared at me in sympathy.....probably wondering if I'd been mentally handicaped all my life.

Laila fed us a smorgasboard, including the traditional Finnish dish of Potatoes in beige sauce. Then we drove to Rauha's for coffee and ice cream - all that training during the football season in Australia was slowly swelling and bloating into a distant memory.

It's also strawberry season in Finland. I imagine that the national surplus of this tiny fruit has reached epidemic proportions. The markets in all the little villages and towns overflow with strawberry stands.....and even when you do apply the conversion rate against the Australian dollar they are still very cheap!

Week 1, Day 4

Ahhh, the crisp clean air of Finland. We picked up our Opal Zafira hire car from Helsinki Airport and after driving for 26 minutes in the wrong direction we turned around and headed north towards Torvoila. The recommended 90 minute journey actually took us 3 hours, but we arrived safely and in relatively good humour (the driver and navigator had not started yelling at each other yet).

A sauna, some Finnish sausage, potatoes and salad for dinner and we were ready for bed. This time of year the sun doesn't set until midnight and rises again around 3:00am - I nailed up a couple of towels over the windows in an effort to fool the children into thinking that it was actually dark - it made no difference....they were knackered anyway.

Week 1, Day 2

Yet another day of shopping, eating and lying around the hotel pool. That evening we went to dinner with Virginnia's brother - David. David lives in Thailand and played the perfect guide for us.

Lot's of spicy Thai curries and some tradional Thai dancing - I'm not sure which one gave me the heartburn, they were both a little hard to digest.

Best part of the evening was sitting by the river with a few cold drinks.

Week 1, Day 1

With amazing foresight (for me anyway), I actually booked the transfer from the airport in advance. This was particularly good news for Virginnia and the kids, because we arrived close to midnight.

Mika was impressed with the room (Millenium Hilton) and we spent the first day at the markets and then resting by the hotel swimming pool.

Highlight of the first day had to be squeezing a family of five into a 3-wheel tuk tuk. We weren't the fastest bike in town, but we were the wobbliest.