Reports of our dramatic rescue have been greatly exaggerated

Before you start reading this blog I want you to know that we are safe and sound and both in good shape at Christy's place and had a good night's sleep last night.  Neither of us appear to have suffered any ill effects. Now read on.

Yesterday morning we took the bus to Birling Gap about 12 kms along the coast from Christy's to walk along the cliff path over the Seven Sisters - the 7 chalk faces in this photo - Birling Gap is in the low dip at the right end of the cliffs.  We have done this walk many times and it takes about 5 hours to walk back to Christy's from here.

 

When we got to Birling Gap this was the view - the tide was right out and we have never walked back along the beach so decided it would be a change - bad mistake!!!

At some stages the walking was fairly easy.

But at other points it became VERY challenging and the going was MUCH slower than we anticipated.  We weren't too worried because we thought we could see the final headland before we turned the corner.  After that we expected a breezy stroll to the Golden Galleon, a very nice pub.  Wrong again!!   Soon after this we noticed that the tide was coming in quite quickly and while walking as fast as we could, we were also watching out for bits of beach above the high water line where we could safely wait for the next low tide.

   Eventually we rounded a headland and saw that the way forward was cut off by the tide and we needed to walk back 2 bays to a safe place.  Mobile phones don't work below the cliffs  so we couldn't phone for help.  I settled Phil safely in the shade near the cliff and stood by the watersedge signalling to people high up on the cliffs above, planes overhead and fishing boats .

In some places there were rock falls which were really slow to climb over.

After about an hour we saw the welcome sight of a RNLI  lifeboat coming around the headland - we waved till he saw us - he had been alerted by a coast guard ranger who saw us start the walk but not come out the other end.  We were just so grateful.  We would like to think that we would have been safe on the beach where we were but I had already made a bad call that day so don't feel too confident about that. 

Phil waiting for the lifeboat

The lovliest men took us safely back to their base.  They didn't once tell us we had been really stupid to attempt the walk without carefully checking the tide times. 

The one person who seemed to get a kick out of our rescue was this jetskier who jumped our wake all the way back

Passing Christy's place at Seaford

In all the drama, I left my backpack behind.  I went back at low tide this morning and retraced our steps but couldn't find it anywhere - the only thing of value in it was my wallet so today I have had to cancel credit cards and arrange for a new drivers' licence - a minor inconvenience really after what could have been a very nasty experience.   Phil stayed very calm and has no ill effects at all - Christy has checked him over. 

Phil, Marg, Jenny, Tim and Lou - I promise I will look after him better in future.

Ginny, I bet you're glad you weren't around for this part of the holiday. 

Slow travel UK #2 - Clapton Manor

Another of our Slow travel stays - this one in the Cotswolds - really lovely house, garden and locality. Karin Brown and her family who own the house have an especially soft spot for Aussies - their oldest son had meningitis when he was 2 which left him deaf. A cochlear implant ( invented by a team at Melbourne Uni back in the 70s) has allowed him to have an pretty much unimpaired life and he starts university in the autumn. When I have time I'll add the recipe of Karin's fabulous Orange Polenta Cake which she served for afternoon tea each day along with her melt-in-the-mouth shortbread - not good for the waistline but superb in every other way. Phil getting some tips for our garden from the head gardener at Hidcote Manor

Wadham turns 400

Nine hundred of us turned up for the garden party on Saturday afternoon - note Phil's new hat bought in the bazaar in Turkey. He enjoyed meeting up with Sir Sidney, a mate from his Wadham days back in the 1940's. It was a bitter sweet occasion -the weekend's events were delightful but Phil's best friend from Oxford days, Bob Horan, passed away last year and Phil felt his absence keenly - Bob lived in Oxfordshire for many years before his death so was a regular at these occasions. Of course each year there are fewer and fewer of Phil's contemporaries who make it back to College and those that do are often not up to much in the way of conversation. I think Phil found it a bit depressing at times and we will need to consider whether this might be the last year we do this. We have visited a number of his friends at home over the past couple of weeks and this may be the best way to keep in touch with them in future.

This was the view from our bedroom window across the quad - curiously they put us on the top floor of the college up 5 flights of stairs with no lift. Not many 84 year olds would have been able to mange that as effortlessly as Phil. I thought it was an odd allocation given that the staff knew Phil's DOB.

Slow travel UK #1- Stratford

Some months ago we bought a series of Alistair Sawday Slow travel books - for UK, Italy and France. They recommend accomodation, shops, restaurants and things to do that embrace Carlo Petrini's Slow Food ideals. We like the idea because they are all independent local businesses so your money tends to stay in the community rather than going to some big multinational, most are trying to use local organic produce and they all have a lot of character to them. Over the past couple of weeks we have stayed in 3 of them. Cross-o'-th'-Hill Farm is just outside Stratford on Avon. It was lovely. Just 3 guest rooms - we were surprised at breakfast to find that one couple were from Turner in Canberra. From our bedroom we could see the Church of the Holy Trinity where Shakespeare is buried. We walked across the fields one evening to see King Lear - just fabulous.

View from our room.

3:1 - Minimum staffing ratio!!

That is three adults to one new born baby. We have decided that this is a workable ratio - one person sleeps; one person holds the baby; one person gets on with the jobs. Fortunately after 6 children, 14 grandchildren and the 10th great-grandchild in the pipeline, Phil is the clear winner in the 'holding -the-baby' competition.

Kusadasi and Ephesus

Our last port before the end of the cruise in Athens was Kusadasi in Turkey where we spent 2 days. Kusadasi is a very popular holiday spot - huge bazaar where I bought Phil a new straw hat for the Wadham Garden Party - look out for the photos. We became fans of refreshing apple tea in Turkey.

The main reason for visiting Kusadasi was to go to Ephesus - a short bus ride from the port.

Greece - the monasteries of Meteora

OK - this isn't in Greece. We are now in Seaford with Christy and Pelagia. Couldn't resist slipping this one in. The news from Andy in Borneo with his 24 youngsters is good - yesterday they were all presented with gifts from 2 princesses of Brunei - unfortunately the group had just finished playing outdoor games in the mud with children at a special school and hadn't had a chance to change. Maybe the gifts were soap. We had a day anchored at Volos in Greece. Ginny chose to visit a couple of nice villages but we took a 2 hour bus ride inland to Meteora to see the monasteries dating from C12. There were originally 27 of these Eastern Orthodox monasteries but only 6 remain. Many were badly damaged during WW2 and since then one has been given to an order of nuns to restore and use. The geology is dramatic as these pictures show. How ever di they get the building materials here.

See the monastery top right.

An Icon artist at work.

Monastery of the Holy Trinity

Rousanou Monastery

Varlaan Monastery - this is one we went into. The chapel has fantastic frescoes dating from C16.

Cruising through the Bosphorus

Sailing through the Bosphorus is a delight - it is a 32 km long stretch of water that divides the asian and european parts of Istanbul and connects the Black Sea in the north with the Sea of Marmara in the south. We were lucky to sail through on a beautiful sunny day. Container ships, oil tankers and ferries as well as little local fishing boats all share this waterway with cruise ships. Along the banks are palaces, ruins, villages and old ottoman wooden houses.

Fifteeth century Fortess of Europe

Ortakoy Mosque built 1850s

Istanbul - Beyoglu - the area that is the heart of the commercial and entertainment parts Istanbul- note Galata Tower which we climbed up the previous week.

The Sultanamet area of Istanbul where we stayed - the Blue Mosque is on the left and the Hagia Sophia on the right.

Eventually we slowly sailed out of the Bosphorus into the Daardanelles, the strait leading into the Agean Sea. The Gallipoli Peninsular on the eastern side holds a particular place in the hearts of Australians. Even if like me you are opposed to violence and war, you cannot help but pause to remember the lives lost and maimed here during WW1. It was a very sombre afternoon for the Aussies and Kiwis on board.

I looked up the Australian War Memorial website and of the total population of Australia in 1914 of 4 million people, 417,000 men enlisted - a staggering 38.7% of the male population between the ages of 18 - 44 and probably almost all of the able bodied ones. I have read the Victoria Cross citiations in the Hall of Valour at the AWM on several occasions and marvel at the acts of courage and heroism that earned these men that honour - many lost their lives in the process and you can't help but wonder how they might have contributed to our country if they had returned.

Canakkale Martyrs' monument to turkish soldiers on the Gallipoli Peninsular - the anzac memorials are on the far side of the peninsula - our ship didn't go past that way.

Cruising makes for a great holiday

There was lots of sunshine, interesting ports of call, your bedroom goes with you every night, good company

Lovely music before dinner

Great food and company

Vale Christina Lorenzen

Today we are very sad not to be with our friends Thorwald and Jill as they farewell their daughter who died on the weekend after a long and courageous struggle with cancer. Our thoughts and prayers are with them and their extended family today and through the tough times ahead.

Where to begin!!!

Three and a half weeks since our last blog; so much has happened; so much to tell. I think I will just put up a heap of photos with a little commentary. Anything else is too daunting.

Firstly, just to let you know that there has been no serious reason for being off-line. The backlight on our Dell laptop died shortly after posting the last blog so we have been popping into public libraries and internet cafes to check emails but haven't had time to blog. The laptop was fixed yesterday at huge expense but maybe I'll get that back along with the $440 US that it cost for Phil to consult the ship's doctor. It seems like he had a virus in the inner/middle?? ear. The doc just gave him seasick tablets for 2 days and he has been fine ever since. However Phil has an incredibly slow pulse - around 42 which always worries doctors so the doc insisted on doing an ECG, blood test and a range of other tests hence the hefty bill. It was worth it to be reassured that there was nothing sinister happening.