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Wellington, New Zealand
welcome to my corner of the blog world! i love step, boxing, zumba, scrapbooking, photography, watching movies, walking the hills of my suburb, my family, and life in wellington. take some time to have a look around and be sure to say hi!

Friday, November 6, 2009

photostory friday: from wellington to whistable - part 2: featuring a famous chef, green beach huts and a lady in her dressing gown

i bet you're REAL curious about that last one, aren't you?


and you know coz i'm like, totally immature, i'm gonna make you wait almost until the end to see it!!!


when we last left whitstable, we'd walked the beachfront, drunk a lot of gin and beer, eaten a lot of cheese, and shopped up a storm.

...and let's not forget all the whistable fun facts. i KNOW you're hanging out for more...


whitstable fun fact #7
if you can eat half a dozen whitstable oysters and wash them down with a half pint of whitstable brewery pilsner faster than anyone else
(during the annual oyster festival)
- you win a prize.

our afternoon at 'the fountain' was followed by dinner at the 'sportsman'. we were very excited to be having dinner here, because the chef - steve harris, had just been named Best Chef by the Good Food Guide Editors for his 'brilliant, idiosyncratic' cooking.

here's us in our 'goin out clothes'

here's the sportsman

and here's some brilliant food. brilliant oysters to be exact

whitstable fun fact #8
the oyster is both male and female, but never both at the same time


after dinner we went down to the beach and recaro cracked open a bottle of bubbly. we sat in the dark and talked about such important things as the 1667 dutch invasion of the isle of sheppey and the british politicians' latest expense scandal

the next morning it was off to 'tea and times' for breakfast
tea and times?
could this place GET any more endearing???


and they sell magazines too!

so you can sit up at the counter, eat your food and have a good ole' read!

then it was off to do some more whitstable wandrin'...

that pointy thing is called 'the street'
sass has a good story about the street

and here's us ON the street!
the wind was a little chilly

more beach huts
i couldn't get enough of these!

but wait!
not everything about whitstable is cute and sweet
it's actually FULL of hazards

well, MAYBE it's full of hazards
(if you look hard)



'the smack'! sounds pretty hazardous to me!
it's actually one of those really cool places that has 'open mike' nights
way back in the recesses of my mind, i sometimes dream about being a stand-up comic
(with only one funny joke and really bad timing)


whitstable fun fact #9
the alleyways in old whitstable were the spaces left for the oystermen to get to the beach, or shops (or the pub!)

case and point...

whistable fun fact #10

peter cushing (you know, the vampire dude), lived in whitstable after retirement

there's even a 'cushing lane'


but back to the quaint...
'the sugar boy'
has there EVER been a cooler name for a sweet store???
the lady behind the counter wore a red and white striped apron and the lolly bags were red and white striped too


whistable fun fact #11
sass is a very talented knitter


whitstable fun fact #12
in whitstable it's totally cool to step out of your house in your dressing gown - cross the corner to the 'windy shores store' to get the sunday paper, and scurry back to your front door


and now for the green huts
cool huh?


and another one...and before we knew it - it was time to jump back on the train to london

time for a 'secret smile' with peaches

a hug
and a wave goodbye...
missin' you already...

PhotoStory Friday
Hosted by Cecily and Emily

17 comments:

Sandra said...

What a neat post! Feels like I've visited Whitstable myself this morning now :)

It looks like a quaint and interesting place. I lived in the UK for a couple of years in the late '80s/early '90s (lived mostly in Reading) and visited Kent, but not here.

Would love to go back one day and visit some of the quieter and smaller villages.

Funny how the things and places that interest us in our early '20s are quite different to those of our 40s, haha :)

Kat said...

Oh how fun! It looks like a wonderful place. :)

gigi said...

I so want to go for a vist with Sass too. Loved your tour of her town! Again, lucky you.

Michelle said...

What a charming place. I love the shot of you and your man on the beach, and the sweet shop shot is really cool.

latree said...

feels like reading a comic with a happy ending :D

love it!

Sass said...

We had such a great time. Fantastic post.

I was thinking of breakfast at home, but now you've got me thinking about Tea & Times....

Who else is going to visit?

Angela said...

Love the knitted hat, and Squeeze Gut Alley!

Emily said...

Ok, I read through this twice...how did I miss the lady in the dressing gown? And I love your scarf. And that's a weird fact about oysters...

Maggie May said...

If you manage to get through The Smack & Squeeze Gut Alley as well as all those hazards........ plus the wind and rain........ you deserved a medal!

Very interesting post!

Nuts in May

Chris said...

Squeeze Gut Alley -- I love the names that don't beat around the bush.

Chris said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Karen M. Peterson said...

Now I have another place to add to my ever-growing list of places to see!

Thank you so much for stopping by the other day on my SITS day! I'm finally making the rounds!

Anonymous said...

It looks great!

I'll have to go visit Sass and see it for myself... someday. :)

Carrie and Troy Keiser said...

Such a cool trip you had. I love the squeeze alley shots, fun!

Queenie Jeannie said...

Ahhh! Sounds too fabulous!!

theUngourmet said...

Looks like such a lovely time! I love those little houses and Squeeze Gut Alley is really a hoot! :D

Working Mum said...

Fab! Really enjoyed that post. Going to the shop in dressing gown very amusing- up here mums do the school run in their pjs with coat over the top, must be an English thing not to get dressed!