Wednesday, 17 July 2013

Rowers Update


Greece was a strange experience for the rowers (except Matt). There is lots of graffiti but this is ameliorated with the fine European Goddesses. BTW Mitchell's gonna need some more money #yoloswag #wheninrome #keithformvp 
We all got gypsy clothes and we saw some dude who was high as a kite. He nearly fell into a temple. 

Later bo
The Rowers (not Matt)

Le vol, Athènes et les environs de Grèce (et le ferry et un petit peu de Rome)

Je commence mon article disant que c'était bien jusqu'ici. Nous sommes fatigués mais on a beaucoup d'énergie de continuer.
Je crois que le fait qu'il faut boire plein d'eau sur le vol. Dubaï a nous donné une indication qu'il fera très chaud en Grèce. J'avais un Big Mac à poulet à l'aéroport. On était trop fatigué après les vols. De pire si on n'avait pas beaucoup de sommeil. Quoi qu'il arrive, il faut qu'on continue.
Athènes, à mon avis, une ville avec plein de patrimoine mais les jeunes de nos jours à la 'détruit'. Il y a beaucoup de graffiti; certains sont, ironiquement, presque les pièces d'art mais la plupart ne sont pas agréable. La plupart des maisons est blanche et alors on peut voir, sans concentrer, les arbres verts, les maisons blanches et les rues grises.
Le jour avant hier, Dillan Gosha a été enlevé d'une boutique parce qu'il a dit qu'il n'achètera rien, et je le trouve amusant.
La Place Monastiraiki avait plein de touristes et était très intéressante. Il y a des gens qui a essayer de nous vendre des choses et quelques gens qui vient de Morocco. Malheureusement Fred a vu quelqu'un qui a volé quelque chose dans une poche d'un touriste. L'autre Jason et moi avons rencontré une couple australienne sur la place hier mais nous avons raté voyant une personne qui semble d'être sur l'influence de drogue.
Les soirs on était fatigué mais on retourne à l'hôtel les trois jours à environs dix heures et demi du soir. (Mais hier était environ 21h30)
Je l'écris sur le chemin à Patras et je voudrais aller en Italie maintenant après quelque jours en Grèce. Il faisait beau tous les jours jusqu'ici avec pas beaucoup de nuages alors on doit trouver l'ombre d'un arbre pour maintenir le homéostasie et de réduire le taux de transpiration.
Quelques choses à noter: le prix de sans plomb est environ 1,70€ mais le prix d'une bouteille d'eau minérale était 0,25€ pour 1,5 litres. Et le premier jour beaucoup a acheté la même bouteille à l'hôtel pour 1€… évidemment il faut qu'on paie attention aux prix en Europe. L'eau de la méditerranée est vraiment bleue, peut-être plus bleu qu'à Auckland. Le pollution d'air (ou la poussière) est vraiment pire qu'en Auckland. Le paysage est composé des montagnes couvertes avec des arbres largement rond, des pylônes, des usines abandonnées, des églises byzantines, les maisons blanches et, bien sûr, le graffiti sur le mur partout en Athènes. Ce n'est pas si prévalent à Corinth et je crois, Patras. (Edite: non le problème est pire qu'en Athènes) Aussi les voitures plus lentes sont conduites près de la bord de la rue, particulièrement sur les autoroutes. La plupart des magasins est fermée le dimanche et ça m'énervais hier. On voit que Grèce a investi plein d'argent à l'énergie renouvelable, avec de turbines de vent et des panneaux solaires partout. On a porté des lunettes de soleil toujours parce que la lumière ici est trop intense.
Après être arrivé à Patras, nous embarquons sur un bateau qui s'appelle Superfast XII. C'était luxurieux, avec quelque restaurants et il semble très propre. Nous avions des cabines qui a de la place pour quatre. La plupart de temps j'écrivais dans mon cahier et voyais les autres jouant aux cartes (y compris Batoque et 500). Le bateau s'est arrivé à environs 13h30 et nous embarquons dans un train pour la Rome. Ancona semble un petit peu plus moderne mais, pareil à Athènes, elle a aussi un problème de graffiti. (certains sont pire qu'Athènes incroyablement)
Rome. Oui c'est mieux qu'Athènes en ce qui concerne le graffiti mais il y a plus de gens. Notre hôtel est près de la station alors le promenade n'était pas trop longue. Et les prix à Rome sont plus élevé qu'Athènes et je ne sais pas pourquoi.

J'espère qu'on a des bons vacances, n'importe où on soit, n'importe qui. J'avais beaucoup à dire, mais soit que je ne pourrais pas écrire en français, ou je les ai oublié (et je n'ai pas beaucoup de temps).

Jason Xu (évidemment)
S'il y a des fautes, m'informez s'il vous plaît. :)

western heritage tour blog access

Tuesday, 16 July 2013

Makeshift way to blog

It's been great in Athens, albeit a bit messy. There are abandoned factories and buildings everywhere its unbelievable. There is graffiti everywhere and it makes our country look that we have no graffiti problem at all. Some were bordering on pieces of art, however.
It's been extremely hot and sunny in the last couple of days. A few people have been sunburnt already because they neglected their sunblock. Sunnies are a must in these countries since it's so sunny. (Thanks Charlie for the tip!)
I will blog my full blog entry that I wrote on the bus to Patra at some point, when Mr Buckingham has wifi (hopefully in Rome). Prepare to be amazed
As for now, ta ta stay safe everyone

Xu
Thanks for all the updates guys.
George,
Just avoid the balsamic at breakfast.
Enjoy the warm weather...our 4 days in Ohakune at 2 degrees resulted in no skiing due to high winds.
No major news from home, but from Otago....your brother is in plaster cast for 3 weeks...dislocated his ankle.
Have a great time.
 
NRRESLG
 

Sunday, 14 July 2013

Blog updates

Great to see the updates guys, I for one would love to revisit the sights you are seeing. Can't believe you have already "done" Athens, it all seems so fast! Keep the updates coming
Howard

From New Zealand

Thanks for all that information guys. Iam sure all parents were waiting to read the blog. Great to read about your experiences. Enjoy the heat as Auckland is very cold and wet. Keep posting and keep well.

Meenu

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Blog - Henry Law

It was hot today. Three days in and you really feel Athens starting to slowly work its charm on you. Aside from the rampant graffiti and occasional gypsy, this place really has a lot of personality. The streets are these massive, long boulevards and it's just really pleasant the entire time you're walking through, with the heat keeping you really comfortable most of the time, at least until you burn. It's really interesting finding yourself change from this really kind and helpful New Zealander to a wary and cautious traveler as the days go on, but it's also still really awesome roaming round a city with so much history when we come from a conurbation that's so new it couldn't even begin to scratch the surface of heritage. It's just cool.

Henry L

Athens

> So, we're in Athens, wish we were at home, this is pretty dry. The record for the movies watched was 6, awarded to the high-rolling (so many levels just there) Tim Meyer-Smith, the cripple himself. Dubai airport was huuuuuuuge (one terminal is four times the size of New Zealand Airport - and it has multiple floors! ). Also for some of us there was the chance to buy arabic outfits... Daniel Ross. Flying over Cairo, Tristan was also able to get in touch with his Arabic side... Apparently there has already been a blog about the plane, so flying on.Fred.
>
> At our arrival we pretty much rolled off the plane and into Athens, there was no border control at all. The "Customs Control" consisted of a man standing by the exit of the arrivals. We have noticed that it is warm here in case you wern't aware. However the biggest difference between New Zealand and Athens, so far, apart from all the awesome ancient monuments is the people's choice of motorbikes. These are parked by the hundred on the pavement and quite possibly outnumber the cars and, of course, we have learned that there is no need for a helmet driving one of these completely safe and child friendly vehicles, that it is in fact better to have them hanging from your arm! In fact up to four at a time is no problem and the rules around speed are more like guidelines! I can not wait to apply these skills back home.Tristan.
>
> The city is pretty much exactly like we expected - there are cafes down every alleyway, and the streets are quite narrow. The buildings are cool stuff, and we are hot stuff. The city is a lot lot younger than Auckland. One of our favourite stores has been the store selling graphic tees, as you will see from the pictures, they are quite good - we realised where Finn found his tee. We have adopted the policy of, if a shop owner forces you to try their stuff, move on. We have also had our fair share of scamming already. Tristan's and Andy's identical sandwiches differed in price by a full euro. The food is all pretty Greek to us, theres muffins more variety than ol' motherland. The supermarkets are quite small - there's only two levels. Its quite hard to feed here because of 'the-language-barrier.' It can be a bit of the luck of the draw when trying to be a champion in this new city.Fred.
>
> We are starting to smell quite badly. One night in Greece and the stench is a little noticeable despite the persistent use of deodorant. Part of this may be the result of our trip up a certain mountain last night. As you can imagine Tim found this hard but it was a really good work out for him, me and some others pushing him up and down . Some of the streets are also too narrow for the chair and Tim often has to hop along for short sections while we carry the chair. It is awkward but it is quite manageable, and always keeps it classy. Tristan.
>
> Fred and Tristan.
> xoxoxoxoxox

Athens

> So far so good, not only is it extremely hot here and I don't think we have had a day yet so to everyone back home i hope it isn't too cold ;) The flights over actually passed pretty quickly and i have no idea how fast time has travelled since i got here and i'm looking forward to jumping onto the ferry tomorrow and heading off to Rome. What's interesting about Athens is the amount of graffiti everywhere and the huge amount off stray dogs all throughout the city. However what i love about this place is the amazing architecture that has lasted all these years and i have a ludicrous amount of photos.
>
> Mr Buckingham just charges on everywhere and it has shown in how much we have seen in the few days we have had, the only downside being my clothes now reek and i have had hardly any time to do much. Nevertheless last night i was surprised by my brother who turned up at our hotel. I haven't seen him in almost 7 months so to be perfectly honest it was the highlight so far and he took me out for dinner only to arrive back out our hotel at 11 30 last night. Tonight is our last night in Athens and so we grabbed a few souvenirs and i am proud to say i now own a pair of gypsy like pants. Most importantly though we went up the acropolis today and that was better than i had imagined, those temples were huge and just to think what it must have been like when it was first built is amazing because it's huge and would have been awe-inspiring. Sadly i must go and get ready for tomorrow as we need to up and out rather early so i'll try to keep this up to date as often as i can but i can only try! Miss you auckland, hope home is great mum and dad and i hope emily and the boys aren't too bored without me and don't miss me too much!
>
> From Jean-Luc Chaffey
Tomorrow we head to Corinth. Athens is pretty choice because the ancient marvels are marble-ous and the modern city has heaps of different parts to it. The buildings are awe-inspiring and unlike anything I've ever seen. So are the statues and all the stuff in the museums/galleries. There are lots of alleys and side roads and graffiti covers much of the surroundings. Every street is covered in colour. The food is pretty decent. Depending where you go, it's either a bargain or your in a tourist trap. It's so hot but it's better than being cold.

Luke

Well it’s been a pretty relentless few days here so far, mostly because the wht definition of ‘walking distance’ gets stretched to include just about everything, but it’s certainly easy to see that we’re getting a lot more done than your average tourists. Of course, being Greece, all the sights are spectacular, but it’s definitely weird seeing the disparity between the sights and the city of Athens itself, which is covered in graffiti and very run-down in places. Also, unexpectedly, the views you get of the city from places like the Acropolis aren’t all that great, with off-white apartment buildings sprawling in all directions with little variation.

 

But enough of the negative. The monuments and sites we’ve visited have all been brilliant, and the accompanying museums and displays are made all the more appealing by the refuge they provide from the 30C+ temperatures. Seeing places like the Parthenon and Delphi really gives an appreciation for architecture in general, and is made that much more impressive when considering the methods and technology available to their creators. Food has been excellent. I have learned what kind of benefit drenching stuff in balsamic vinegar can provide.

 

George Dodd

Day three of our trip to Greece started in central Athens where we saw the relatively modern university and parliament buildings. These buildings seemed to highlight the best and worst of Greece - a contrast between the old and the new. Although the university building was built in the 1800s, it still maintained ancient styles of architecture such as the hexastyle columns and seemed to reflect how all the buildings in Ancient Greece once may have been. While the beautiful architecture was undoubtedly stunning, what stood out most was the amount of graffiti that seemed to stain the walls around the building. Whether it calls for freedom, peace or downright anarchy the graffiti around Greece seems to dishonour the greatness Athens once stood for. From a distance one may see the beauty of ancient structures such as the Acropolis, up close Athens seems, unfortunately, a decaying city which has forgotten the greatness it once represented. Nevertheless our 3 days in Athens have been a memorable experience as it is here where we are able to witness what mankind is capable of - whether it be a piece of creative genius or public tagging.

Sood.

Friday, 12 July 2013

for the blog

Thanks Lewis, I know how hard it is to find the time to write something
and I am pleased you made the effort. For those of us left in New
Zealand it is nice to learn about what you and the group experience. Its
possible some of us parents have visited the places you are going to and
it will be great to hear how they appear now (or maybe it wont!).

I hope each one of you manage to find some quiet time in each of the
marvellous places you will visit and are able to soak up some of the
atmosphere, and reflect on their majesty. These places were built by
people, often young slaves, with simple tools and without the use of
machines, no cranes, no diggers, just simple ropes and pulleys, chisels
and hammers. They have stood for thousands of years and will probably
stand for thousands of years more.

Enjoy, be impressed, and have a wonderful time.

Incidentally, its predicted to reach a high of 13 degrees here and was
down to 4 last night.

All the best
Rory

(I wont say whose father I am because I know how embarrassing that might be)

Thursday, 11 July 2013

Dubai

Hi wht blog spot. Arrived at Dubai airport safe and sound thankfully and the flight was pretty uneventful. Most of us managed to get some sleep on the leg from Melbourne to Dubai despite the teacher's snoring, so we aren't too tired just yet. Everyone watched their fair share of movies, from Tangled to Django unchained. Bruce willis seemed to make apearances everywhere too. Okay that's about it, off to figure get lost in dubais massive airport!

 — Lewis Kay

Tuesday, 9 July 2013

Western Heritage Tour

Just a quick message to say, please all keep well tonight, have a good night’s sleep and stay safe until we get you all on the flight tomorrow.
Cheers gail Sanders

Gail Sanders

Gail Sanders Travel
Shop 14 Albert Village
945a New North Road
Mt Albert
Ph:09-815-1058
Fax:09-815-1094

Monday, 8 July 2013

Welcome!

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to the blog for Tour II, 2013. Feel free to read the blog anytime, and to add comment. Note that all comment will come through me for moderation, so they may not appear for a few days. To make a new post, just send an email to:

kepheus1.whtwo2013@blogger.com

and it should appear almost immediately. Well, go for it!

Regards,
Warren B