I recently took the train from Melbourne to Sydney with my son. It was part of a 3 week holiday around Melbourne and Sydney and I thought it would be a good way to get from one city to the other. Continue reading The Train from Melbourne to Sydney
Category Archives: Travel
Wizz Air to Dubai Review
I recently flew from London to Dubai (in my case Stansted, which also involved Ryanair flights) with Wizz Air, a relatively new Hungarian airline who offer very cheap flights to Dubai as well as other locations. As I know people are interested in what the cheap flights to Dubai are like, I thought it worth writing a review. Continue reading Wizz Air to Dubai Review
What is the MPG for the Honda Jazz Hybrid?
I bought a Honda Jazz Hybrid about 4 months ago having owned a string of Jazz cars over the last 17 years. Even the standard Jazz was reasonably economical but I had the chance to buy a 2 years old Jazz Hybrid and was wondering what is the MPG for the Honda jazz Hybrid, as I was eagerly anticipating getting a good rate with the hybrid functionality. Continue reading What is the MPG for the Honda Jazz Hybrid?
How to Create a Custom Map with Multiple Pins
Are you trying to create a custom map or trail with multiple points so that you can post it to other people to see?
If you are trying to create a custom map in Google maps that has multiple pins then you may have found some tutorials that don’t really help of you may have just gone to Google maps and not found any menu items that allow you to do this, in which case I can give you a pointer to the easiest way to create a custom map.
If you want a map that has multiple pins, but the previous pin disappears when you add a new one then basically you need to go to a different Google maps location.
If you go to Google- My Maps then that enables you to create your own custom maps and to save them so that you can either just view them yourself or enable them to be viewed by anyone.
The easiest way to add the pins is to create an excel spreadsheet with 2 headings – Name (this will be the name that appears on the pin) and location (this can be address, postcode, co-ordinates or whatever is recognised in Google Maps).
You can then easily import this spreadsheet and it will add all the pins for you.
Alternatively, perhaps if you only want a couple of pins, you can add the pins manually by using the tools at the top of the page. You can add a title and description to each pin (and it doesn’t need to be an address as you can just drop the pin where you choose to).
You can also change the icons and the color of the pins that are showing for each location by clicking on the edit button for each location. you can add driving or walking routes between 2 places as well by using the inbuilt tools.
In fact there are a lot of functions you can add and once you are done you need to decide whether you want the map to be private or whether you want to share it with the outside word. Click on the share button to see these options.
London Sightseeing – Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge in London has to be a must see place for tourists. This is the most beautiful bridge and the one that lifts up to let the boats through, a must see!
Tower Bridge is in the east side of London next to the Tower of London. Quite often people who have not visited London before think that this is actually London Bridge, but London Bridge is a very plain old bridge a bit further along the river. Actually I think the original London Bridge was sent over to somewhere in the US hundreds of years ago, brick by brick, but I digress!
The main point of interest of Tower Bridge (apart from the fact that it is a spectacular looking bridge) is that the two sides of the bridge open up to let large ships through. If you are around to see it do this then you are lucky. You can see a twitter feed of the when the bridge opens and closes here. It opens and closes approximately 1000 times a year so you may well catch it.
The bridge took 8 years to build and was finished at the end of the 19th century. The design was open to a public competition which elicited 50 submissions, with the winning design being submitted by Horace Jones (who was also one of the judges!).
Tower Bridge – How and When to Go There
The nearest tube station to Tower Bridge is Tower Hill which is on the district and circle lines and from there you can visit the bridge as well as the Tower of London which holds the Crown Jewels. Also while you are in the area, have a walk along the banks of the Thames – there are other attractions in this are that are worth a visit like HMS Belfast and the Royal Armouries.
The best time of year to visit London is in the Summer (May-Sept) but also the spring can have lovely days and you might also see some nice days in autumn. Whenever you go though, make sure that you take an umbrella as any time of the year there could be rain!
The best way to travel around London is to get an Oyster card which you can use on the buses and the underground system (the Tube). If you buy an oyster card rather than getting individual tickets you can save yourself a lot of money. Tubes and trains are frequent and cover the whole of London so you will have no trouble getting anywhere. There are also some nice boat tours that you can take along the river Thames.
Seeing the Workings of Tower Bridge
If you want to see how Tower Bridge works and the history of it’s construction then you can go to the Tower Bridge Exhibition. You can also access the Victorian engine rooms and have access to the high level walkways which give amazing views over the Thames. Entrance to the exhibition is £8 for adults or you can buy a London Pass which gives you free access to a whole host of places for one fixed price.
Other places you can visit nearby with the London Pass include HMS Belfast and the Tower of London – another must see for all London visitors!
