The Westozy's visit to England

[Westozy]

Hi all,
Leonie and I arrived safely in the UK a couple of days ago flying Malaysian Airlines. The first leg Perth to Kuala Lumpur was my first ride in a B777 which was very quiet and quite a comfortable ride, the 5 hours passed quickly with the individual entertainment system doing it's thing. The second leg from KL to Heathrow was 12.5 hours in a packed B747 and we had the centre aisle seats with no windows - groan! That was a very long leg and we arrived rather weary to the crisp London morning. I have made contact with Joe Lavery and Ian Sissons and I will be meeting Joe next Wednesday and Ian on the Thursday, I'm looking forward to these visits very much. Joe will be receiving a hand delivered Aerosim Solutions throttle base, not my usual method of delivery! I have also arranged a meeting with Leo Bodnar for the following Monday to discuss some "business", I wonder if I can claim this trip on my next tax return hehe!
We are staying in the beautiful town of Winchester and yesterday we climbed the tower of Winchester Cathedral, it was amazing and a must do for anyone visiting Winchester.
More soon......
Cheers Gwyn

[Matt Olieman]

Hey Gwyn, thanks for the update. I wish you'll have a wonderful trip, wish you all the luck. I look forward toward your updates

Matt Olieman

[Holclo]

Joe, Leo and Ian in one visit - WOW. You are soooo lucky. Enjoy - I'm sure you will.
Bill

[Neil Hewitt]

Sounds like a real tour of the country. Sadly, the weather's just turned cold for your arrival - September is an odd weather month in the UK, we've had daytime temps up to 24C even last week, but the night-time temps are getting really chilly as autumn really sets in. Fingers crossed for some final warm days this week.

Winchester is lovely, very historic of course as a mediaeval capital of England, but do spend some quality time in London if you can. There's no other city quite like it in the world. I've been here 15 years and I still haven't seen half of it.

Enjoy the trip!

[No Longer Active]

I second that, London is where it is all at and where it's all happening, you have to visit London if you come the the UK.....

Im not far from London at all, its a great place.....but blimmin expensive!

Also visit Duxford in Cambridgeshire, it's an aviators dream!

Alex

[ian@737ng.co.uk]

and actually gwyn, as you are coming to me, travelling back, you'll pass the RAF museum at Cosford (on the M54). go take a look
at that. well worth a couple of hours.
good luck mate and looking forward to seeing you.....
cheers

ian

[Westozy]

Thanks guys,
I had a bus ride to Southampton today and I've bought some Antarctic clothing, the shivering has stopped! I must be walking 5 miles a day as we never seem to stop shopping, apparently Australia doesn't stock the right shoes Leonie says. The English folk don't seem to mind the aussies and everyone seems so friendly, it must be due to all the free cricket lessons we give them! I'm not much of a drinker really but I just love the English pubs, the food and hospitality is outstanding. Winchester is beautiful and I can see why Leonie's family have chosen to live here. We climbed the tower of Winchester cathedral which was an amazing experience, over a thousand years old it's hard to believe I'm actually here!
I confirmed the hire car this morning so the road trip begins on Wednesday, I'll soon post pics of the visits to Joe, Ian and Leo. On Monday the 4th after seeing Leo we are going to the mecca of Duxford, this was always on the agenda and that will be a big buzz. Thursday the 7th might be a day trip to Paris on the Eurostar train, still not confirmed, it depends on how many pairs of shoes Leonie buys!!!
Cheers Gwyn

[Neil Hewitt]

Hi Gwynn. A quick tip for Paris, if you end up going there, and plan to use public transport (and who doesn't - it's fast and efficient) - buy a couple of carnets (a pack of 10 single tickets) on the Eurostar itself, in the onboard shop. The queues at most Metro stations (particularly Gare du Nord) are always horrendous, the machines are often incomprehensible or out of order, and the staff like to play a game of 'bait the foreigner' which gets incredibly frustrating. If you run out you can buy another carnet from most convenience stores and avoid the queues that way.

Unlike London where you can get pre-pay Oyster cards, the Paris pre-pay smart card system, Navigo, still requires you to register and show ID etc, so it's just not worth it. You can get a 24-hour pass but unless you're going outside the central zone it isn't worth it.

If you're only there for a day it's not worth spending half of it queueing for the Louvre (overrated) or the Eiffel Tower (made me rather queasy), but an overlooked attraction that you can normally get straight on is the elevator ride to the top of the Montparnasse Tower, the tallest building in France, which is located outside Montparnasse metro station. From the viewing gallery there you can see across the whole city better than you could from the Eiffel Tower. And as many point out, it's the one place where you can see the whole city without seeing the Montparnasse Tower itself (it's really rather ugly).

I could go on and on, but you probably want to plan your trip yourself, right?

[ian@737ng.co.uk]

The westozy does Oswestry..........
30th September 2010..... well the westozy and his luvly lady Leonie arrived here.
a real pleasure and and honour to meet up with Gwyn at last.
so we had to put him thru his paces didn't we. sent him LEBL to LEAL which he
hand flew most of the way flawlessly (he was obviously out to impress)
his reward, the best curry he's had in ages
it's a real pleasure to meet up with names you know from accross the world.
looking forward to his next visit, trust me, he'll be back
have a great weekend chaps

ian

[Westozy]

Hi all,
What an absolute honour it was to meet Joe Lavery and Ian Sissons and their lovely wives, I am a very lucky person! The hospitality of these gurus of our game was outstanding, Leonie and I were very spoiled by both couples, thank you again guys. Their outstanding simulators are out of this world and I thoroughly enjoyed my time in each one, I really have to lift my game with mine now, there is a lot of catching up to do! I am now convinced that Ian's has just been cut off from the front of a real plane, he didn't build it after all. I even think it makes your ears pop! I have taken the crown of Chris Danker and now hold the title of the furthest travelled visitor. To both sims I bet!
I am pinching myself, can't believe where I am and I'm meeting Leo Bodnar tomorrow. What a buzz England is - absolutely beautiful.

Cheers, Gwyn & Leonie