It's an Oxford Thing!

It was all go last Friday as we inadvertently double booked ourselves - Cuttleslowe School Summer Fair and punting with friends. Luckily the fair was straight after school which therefore to minimise the amount of time spent there, we compromised with the girls. They each had a a turn at Ella's class stall 'Pick a Stick' and a face paint. From there we raced back home before jumping in a taxi to take us to Magdalen College (pronounced mordlin) where we were meeting Andy, his colleague Ed and Ed's wife Imogen.

Magdalen College, like many of the colleges in Oxford has restricted access. It welcomes visitors as long as they are willing to pay, however as Ed and Imogen are members of the college, we waltzed through the gates avoiding the £14 fee. More importantly though another perk of being a member was access to the college's collection of punts.

One of the more famous Oxford Colleges, Magdalen is located on the banks of the River Cherwell and adjacent to the Magdalen Bridge. Strolling through the grounds we admired the beautiful buildings and the bell tower which loomed above. Our destination was the college boat shed where we were to collect the pole, waterproof cushions, spare oar and our punt, number 14. A punt is a flat bottomed boat with a square cut bow that is propelled by one standing on the back using a long metal pole.

It was chaos to begin with as Ed successfully negotiated the many first time punter tourists beneath Magdalen Bridge. A few near collisions before we escaped eventually finding our own peaceful space on the river. We enjoyed snacks and drinking Pimms while drifting along past Christ Church meadow, St Hilda's College, an old little mill and were joined by the odd duck or two!

It was here Andy got itchy feet and took the opportunity to have a go at being the punter. He soon realised that there was more to it than meets the eye as we began to zig zag down the river occasionally connected with the bank or an overhanging tree! Andy refined his technique quickly and soon we were travelling along at a nice pace. The girls took turns to hinder help row the punt with the spare oar. At least this kept them busy for awhile but they too need to master their techniques as poor Imogen ended up slightly wet!

Despite their initial protests, I think the girls will have fond memories of their punting experience as I know I will.

Butterflies Excursion

Katy's nursery group, along with the morning nursery group plus the class of the older foundation children - all in all 3 coaches worth of children, teachers and parents headed off to spend the day at Cotswold Wildlife Park.



John Heyworth opened this park in 1970 just as safari parks were becoming trendy. At the heart of this 160 acre park is the Bradwell Grove Manor House where John was born and lived. Although we didn't have time to look inside the manor, it was a stunning and surreal backdrop to the rhinos, zebras and giant tortoises enclosures!




Our little group consisted of 9 children (aged between 3 and 4.5 years old), Miss Sidon and 3 parents. We wandered around the exhibits peering into cages trying to identify the occupants -  owls, emus, bats, penguins, a romp of very hungry otters and meerkats. We walked through the tropical house but couldn't spot the sloth and by this time our little people were beginning to fade so we stopped for lunch and rest.

Once our batteries were recharged we marvelled at the size of the giant tortoises, came eye to eye with a few of the giraffes thanks to a special observation deck, glanced at the sleeping lions, sadly observed a crazy (bored?) ostrich repeatedly pecking at his wire fence, watched a male peacock trying unsuccessfully to impress the white female peahen by the size of his plumage and tiptoed quietly through the woodland hoping to spot a wolf or two but they were all asleep too!

The highlight of the visit would have to be seeing a newborn white rhino. And when I say newborn, I mean it was only a few hours old, with the evidence still hanging from mum's behind (which if you look hard enough you can see it in the photo). The birth is the first for the park in it's 43 years history. Apparently rhino's only reproduce every 2.5 - 5 years, so the window for success is pretty small!

Another (!) toilet request and with our departure time fast approaching we whizzed past the flock of flamingos, the anteaters and the capybara (enormous rodents described as a cross between a guinea pig and hippopotamus) with it's very cute month old twins Pippin and Merry. A quick detour through the reptile house before arriving back at the meeting up point just in time to have an ice cream before boarding the coaches bound for home. A quiet drive back with happy and exhausted children with only 1 falling asleep!

Catching Up with Friends

Catching up with friends was last weekends theme. On Saturday we were joined by Lisa, Bob, Jake and Joe in Woodstock. The boys had organised the day so that they got to watch the Australia v's Lions rugby in the local pub. In true sporting fashion, Andy cheered loudly when Australia scored a try much to the surprise of the rest of the occupants of the pub who were supporting the home team. Brought back memories of the 2003 Australia v's England World Cup Rugby where we were in the absolutely packed Walkabout Pub in Southampton cheering for the opposition...lucky for us we lost on that occasion.

While the boys were occupied with sport, the rest of us wandered the streets of Woodstock, a quaint little english village. Passing upon the Oxfordshire Museum, we were attracted by the dinosaur garden poster and went inside. The girls spent some time in the dinosaur gallery, dressing up as dinosaurs and completing dinosaur puzzles before exploring the garden. We were greeted outside by a 10m megalosaurus as well as real dinosaur footprints!

Meeting back up with a happy Andy and not-so-happy Bob, we had a quick bite to eat before heading off on a ramble through the Blenheim Palace Estate. The weather was beautiful with lots of blue sky (for a change) as we meandered past the Column of Victory, through the grassy fields (which didn't agree with poor Joe who ended up with hay fever), over the Grand Bridge and competing the circuit along the banks of the Great Lake with Blenheim Palace as the backdrop. The afternoon wouldn't be complete without an ice cream.

On Sunday we ventured further afield to Egham, a stone's throw from Heathrow to spend the day with Anita, Keith, Kyla and Finlay. We drove a short distance to Windsor Great Park. Parking at Savill Gardens, we enjoyed a picnic lunch overlooking the Obelisk Lake. Kyla and Finlay introduced the girls to the rhododendron dens and they disappeared. Andy and I were enjoying this new found freedom and ability to finish off conservations, when Ella emerged saying they'd lost Kyla and Katy was crying! Mum to the rescue...the dens (more like mazes) are fun but in some parts are quite difficult for an adult to get through.

After exhausting the dens, we began a short walk past the polo fields, through a gatehouse on to the Cow Pond before turing for home. The children played hide-n-seek in the long grass before the boredom and tiredness of walking set in. A horse and carriage past us on the way which provided a little distraction as did the water lilies on Cow Pond. Just after this point Anita realised that Finlay's eye was extremely swollen. A few quick phone calls to Anita's Dr friends revealed no A&E visit was necessary and was highly likely to be an allergic reaction to hay fever.

Back at their house the children continued to play together on the trampoline and in the treehouse followed by a quick meal of pasta before heading home to Oxford.

Found!

Apparently we weren't the only one to fall in love with Brook Cottage. It seems that Peter Rabbit wanted to enjoy a few more days there without letting us know. On return from her trip to London, Stella found Peter Rabbit in Katy's bed fast asleep snuggled under the doona. He enjoyed his trip back in a box to be reunited with a very happy Katy!

Week 11

Time is flying by now with our departure date now in sight. We began this week with Ella attending Mabel's 6th birthday party after school on Tuesday. With a bunny theme - the girls had fun with all the party games. Dinner was fish and chips served in newspaper cones with dessert being a rabbit birthday cake. The party bags were very creative too - a carrot shaped cone filled with lollies (of course) with a lid in the form of a green tissue paper twisted stalk. A really lovely party and family.

The week was dominated with lots of sad news from home though. Nayne (Nat's Nana) who turns 90 in a few weeks, had a week stint in Royal Perth Hospital with a kidney infection. Although she has mostly physically recovered, mentally Nayne is still quite confused. Thus she has not been allowed to return to her 3 bedroom house and instead is recuperating in Bentley Hospital awaiting to be assessed as to future options for her care.





Next was Rosie (our chicken) who passed away from a suspected infection. Diego (together with Isa), is house sitting, felt really bad about this and before we knew it Mollie had a new friend! Christened Holly, the new chicken probably doesn't think much of Mollie who is has been exerting her dominance by being a bit of a bully. Hopefully that will soon calm down and Holly will stop escaping from the chicken coop!



On Wednesday, while I was skyping with my parents, Dad discovered their 11 year old german shepherd Lady had collapse in the back garden. They rushed her to the vet where the news was not good. Lady's temperature was low, her vital signs were fluctuating in a dangerous manner and her stomach was full of blood. The diagnosis was suspected advanced pancreatic or stomach cancer. She was put to rest and will be buried at Lawnswood close to Meg and Holly.




Thankfully our week ended on a better note. On Friday after school there was a free community Be Active fair on the Summymead Oval adjacent to Cuttleslowe Primary. The girls joined in the fun - some soccer drills, noughts and crosses, hand painting, bouncy castle and Ella even tried out some taekwondo moves! Marvin the penguin, the mascot for the Oxford Ice Rink, made an appearance. Ella went straight up to give him a cuddle while Katy initially blankly refused. After quietly assessing the situation, Katy slowly built up her courage from high fiving him to a quick cuddle right at the end. What a brave girl!!

Goodbye Wales

Sadly we left the beautiful cottage in Wales today. As we were in no particular hurry, we detoured past Port Eynon, a small seaside village whose history includes oyster trading, a salt house and smuggling!

Down to the bay we wandered along the rocky shore to the ruins of the Salt House. A quick explore of these before continuing on to the Salt House Mere, a small pebbly beach. We lingered here fossicking through the pebbles and peering into the rock pools. Realising that our parking ticket was about to expire, we hightailed it back to continue on our way, arriving in Oxford  by mid afternoon.

Broughton Burrows

Located near the village of Llangennith, that sand dunes of Broughton Burrows were larger and more complex than yesterdays area. More importantly, though, there was a well equipped playground adjacent to the assembly area! Andy and Dave (with Vanessa) took the children on a memorable wind blasted walk up and down large dunes with some great views of Worm's Head. The children loved it: Ella and Reuben led the way, Duncan took up the rear just behind Katy with Seth and Emma in the middle. The dunes were tough to climb and fun to descend. Another enjoyable event except for the spiky grass which left us with dotty legs reminding us of orienteering in WA bush.

We bid farewell to Christine, Dave and family knowing that we'll see them again when we visit Southampton in a few weeks. Our original plan was to head straight back to Oxford; but this was such a great location that we decided  to extend our stay for another night.




With a drizzly grey afternoon ahead, two tired girls decided to light a fire and relax on the couch! Post dinner activity of toasting marshmallows was a wonderful way to complete our stay.