Me annual holiday.

[Roger Kettle]

Wonderful photos, Joan---the Blue Mountains look incredible.

[lucy]

Great photos Joan

Have a lovely holiday Roger and Calvin.

And to our very own OO7, Top Gun, Mission Impossible (Bill)  enjoy!

[Bilthehut]

Aw, c'mon guys.  You know it's just another boring NATO meeting.  And as for the Bond impression, my number is much longer than that - and my pilot's licence is only for Cessna 150/172, and is way out of date.  Nice thought though, Lucy. Thanks 

Great pictures, Joan.  I would love to visit Australia sometime.  The pictures reminded me of the recent series of 'Who do you think you are?' in which Jason Donovan traced his family tree back in Oz.  He was not only a descendant of a prisoner (the crimes are too weak to call him a criminal) and an officer transporting said.  The latter is said to have blazed the road out of the Sidney area over the mountains into the fertile land beyond, and in record time.

[Joan]

Haven't seen Jason Donovan's one here yet, Bill.  Interesting (and sad) to read about convicts and just how pathetic some of their crimes were.  It was a long hard slog getting over the Blue Mountains - if he did it in record time, it propably wasn't that quick.  Just looking down at the valleys from above, you can imagine how hard it would have been.  They are quite stunning, Roger - it was very clear when we went, so we could see for miles.  Sometimes it can be very hazy (from the blue 'mist' they get their name from) and of course, it can be wet, foggy and cloudy so you can't see anything at all.  We went to Govett's Leap Lookout which looks out over the Grose Valley and is likened to the Grand Canyon - looks like it a bit, but the vegetation is somewhat different!

You're right, Diane.  It caused a lot of cerfuffle when it was being built, but the Opera House certainly put Sydney on the map.

[Bilthehut]

I think he built the road with a thirty volunteer convicts in six months (and no dynamite), and way ahead of the planned time.  It was over the Blue Mountains (if those are the ones from Sydney).  The convicts were granted their freedom after the task.

William Cox is the ancestor that built the road, having travelled to Australia with his family and ending up as a pioneer paving the way for the growth of the Australian nation.  See the site http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010248b.htm

Interestingly, I currently live 5 miles from Wimborne, Dorset.

[Joan]

Ah, I misunderstood.  I thought he was one of the men who actually crossed the Blue Mountains, which took a long time because the terrain was so rough.  Very interesting about William Cox.  I've learned a lot about the history of NSW over the last couple of months! Some I knew and had my memory jogged, but most I didn't know at all.

That's a good site, Bill - I've bookmarked it.

[Bilthehut]

Copenhagen is currently overcast, with likelihood of rain today.  however, we are going on a trip round the city this afternoon, then by boat to a dinner.  All in the line of duty, I might add. Yet to see the Tivoli Gardens but am only 20 minutes walk away.  Tomorrow is looking good.  Still have to buy a Troll for the wifey.

[Roger Kettle]

Hope you get to see Tivoli Gardens, Bill---they are a lot of fun. Having said that, the last time I was there, I was 22 years old and single. My evenings were spent with a Carlsberg lager in hand, trying not to let my jaw drop as hundreds of spectacular Danish girls walked by. This may have coloured my memories.
Anyway, I'm off to Portugal first thing tomorrow morning. Keep the site tidy and I'll talk to you all when I get back at the end of next week.

[Diane CBPFC]

Bon Voyage!

[The Peepmaster]

Have a great holiday, Roger. Hope you're taking your sketch book and pen.

[Diane CBPFC]

Why, doesn't Roger have a camera?

[Vulture]

Why, doesn't Roger have a camera?

Wot! Roger with something as technical as a digital camera?

[Bilthehut]

He's probably got a box brownie.

By the way, the Tivoli gardens are closed now (out of season) and only open now for Halloween and Christmas.  Even the Little Mermaid has gone on holiday to China until November.  All I got to see was a video image of her in Shanghai.

[Joan]

That's a shame, Bill.    I'd be pis... somewhat annoyed if I went all the way to Copenhagen and the Little Mermaid had done a bunk.

Have great hols, Roger.  Isn't there a bar or something with a live webcam where Roger's going? Didn't Rob or someone post about it before?  Maybe I'm thinking of someone else.

[Tarquin Thunderthighs lll]

Isn't there a bar or something with a live webcam where Roger's going? Didn't Rob or someone post about it before?  Maybe I'm thinking of someone else.

Yes, I believe it's transmitting live images to the waters' edge at Langeline in Copenhagen as some form of cultural Internet exchange between p*ss artists.