Author: Ange Bowman

I live in Sydney with the love of my life. Work to travel and thrive on learning new skills and about new places. My interests are technology, cooking, agricultural shows, horse racing, photography and all sports. A mother of four grown children who have provided me with six amazing grandchildren (so far).

Christmas is Texas

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Itchy feet again…

On this day 6 years ago we were in San Diego heading off for a day at Sea World, today we board QF7 to fly to Dallas before a couple hours in the car to Abilene for Christmas.  Ian’s sister Leonie has lived in USA for many years with her husband Scott. This is one last opportunity for Ian Leonie and their mother(88 years and vows this is the last trip ) to spend Christmas day together. 

Love there is a direct Qantas flight to Dallas, anyone flying to the states should consider Dallas as their entry point, much nicer than LA and a good hub for onward flights.

A little about Abilene ~ thanks to wikipedia

Abilene is a city in Taylor and Jones counties in west central Texas. The population was 117,063 according to the 2010 census making it the twenty-seventh most populous city in the state of Texas. It is the principal city of the Abilene Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a 2011 estimated population of 166,416.[5] It is the county seat of Taylor County.[6]Dyess Air Force Base is located on the west side of the city.
Abilene is located off Interstate 20, between exits 279 on its western edge and 292 on the east. Abilene is 150 miles (240 km) west of Fort Worth, Texas. The city is looped by I-20 to the north, US 83/84 on the west, and Loop 322 to the east. A railroad divides the city down the center into north and south. The historic downtown area is on the north side of the railroad.
Established by cattlemen as a stock shipping point on the Texas and Pacific Railway in 1881, the city was named after Abilene, Kansas,[1][7] the original endpoint for the Chisholm Trail. 

A White Christmas

Although unlikely it does gets very cold and it is possible, what are the chances of striking it twice, the last Christmas we spent in Abilene was just that white. Fingers crossed!!!

We a planning a quiet break and staying close to home base most of the time so won’t be so many posts this trip, I will make up for that in late January when we head to South America, with a group woolgrowers and the MacWool team.




All good things must end, second week cruising then home

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The second week of our Amsterdam to Budapest was equally as good as the first if not even better as we settled into the routine. Breakfast, walking tour, lunch,  another walking optional tour OR rest, dinner, cruising and begin again.

As we left the Rhine and Main rivers behind and traveled through the Main Danube canal (man-made to join the Main river with the Danube we sailed through some amazing scenery.

Due to falling river levels our captain made the decision to sail through night past Regensburg to get us past a very low stretch of water. This meant hearing the ship push through the gravel at times during the night but he got us there so we didn’t have to leave the cruise early and bus the rest of the way. Still another low water stretch to navigate north of Budapest.

As we had past our next tour during the night while beat the falling river this mean an hour half bus ride back to the beautiful Regensburg (Latin: Ratisbona) a city in Germany, Bavaria province. Munich approx. 125 km from Nuremberg 105 km from the Bavarian Forest and the Jura mountains meet.
We visited St. Peter’s Cathedral, which is the thirteenth. Century started to be built in the Gothic style, but only in the nineteenth century. Century completed courtesy of Ludwig I of Bavaria (tower two, based on the original plans).
The Stone Bridge (Steinerne Brücke), which was built between 1135 and 1146th The today oldest existing bridge over the Danube.
Back on the bus and on board for dinner it was such a bonus to get to see some of the countryside
that would not have been seen if the river was at usual levels.

The next stop was Passu where we disembarked for our full day Romantic Austria Tour. 15 of us set of through the hills of the most beautiful countryside I have ever seen. It is just how I imagined it to be, one beautiful sight after another, everywhere you looked to was picturesque and green. We visited place like Mondsee St Wolfgangs and St Gilglen. we had two hours to lunch and explore St Wolfgang we decided on Wiener Schnitzels at the pub washed down with local beer.  This is a day that will be long remember and hopefully one day we will come back for a longer stay.

After the day in the bus we caught up with the ship at Linz and even drove past the balcony where Hitler gave his speech to the people of Vienna ( something they don’t like to discuss and are embarrassed about even to this day).

We spend the day or so  resting and just enjoying the river before we arrived in Vienna where were doing another walking tour. Our guide wandered us through the old parts of Vienna and highlight for me as we were passing the stable of the famous Spanish Riding school the Lipizzaner stallions they came past us to head out for their training session. Pure luck and in right place right time to get a perfect look at the guys prancing their way to work.

After another night cruising we were in Bratislava in Slovakia this was one of my favourite places along the river , we had the usual morning guided tour through the old town with whole afternoon free time. It was brilliant, my four little girls are going to look so good in their outfit purchased from the ultra modern shopping plaza, such a contrast to the old town.

The low water finally got us and we were sad to say goodbye to the Avalon Impression before boarding buses for the three and half hour bus ride through Hungary before board the Avalon Vista for our last night on board. The transfer was so well handled by the staff and crew of both ships. There was no impact on us at all in fact it was an absolute bonus to see so much more of Hungary than we expected.

Budapest is a story in itself, what a beautiful interested and lively city. We loved our couple days here and loved exploring everywhere on foot and the tour by night to see the lights was so worth staying up past my bedtime.

All in all it has be a wonderful trip and as I write we are closing the bags and heading to the airport after a super night in the Sofitel, our room overlooked the chain bridge across the Danube and the Royal Palace was standing resplendent across the river. The view from our room at night was truly breathtaking. A very perfect ending to a trip of a lifetime filled with too many highlights to remember them all, thank goodness I will be able go back over this blog and absorbed all we have done and seen. Thanks to everyone that has followed along this journey with us

~Ange

NB I will add more detail to each post once I am home and have a bit more time

I will make these look better when home – out of time now

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sun goes down on our first week of cruising

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During our first week of cruising I decided to take some time away the blog and spend time just
soaking up the views enjoying the food and some great company.

What can I say this cruise so far has been everything and more than I expected and we are looking

forward to another week of luxurious relaxation.

We set off from Amsterdam last Saturday during lunch after doing the fantastic Schanns Windmill tour on Friday before boarding for our first amazing dinner and then a canal tour around Amsterdam.

By dinner we were sailing through the beautiful Dutch countryside and looking forward to arriving in Cologne tomorrow

The add poles and aluminium sheet
to the required height
Levi bank Cologne

Our first off ship walking tour through Cologne was interesting although Cologne was full of history it was also not as clean and attractive as most German cities. The highlights were the Cathedral and purchasing some cologne the original and much copied around the world cologne.

Corner cleaned for Pope’s visit
600 years to build

They having been making in same spot since Farina settled in Cologne, Germany in the year 1709 where he founded Farina gegenüber, the world’s oldest perfume factory still in existence. His subtle fragrance Eau de Cologne became rapidly famous worldwide and in the 18th century was an indispensable accessory at all royal courts and Napoleon used this exact cologne instead of taking baths.

Back on board is was time to settle in for evening and another fine dining experience. The food just keeps coming and along with the wine and the walking sleep came easy every night.


Our next stop was at Rüdesheim am Rhein where took another half day walking tour and visited Siegfried’s Mechanisches Musikkabinett An amazing collection of lovingly restored mechanical music machines.

You’ll be mesmerised by the self playing calliopes and music boxes from the 18th to the early 20th centuries.

The next couple days we stayed on board and spent time on deck watching castle after castle, both sides of the river, Tony our cruise director gave a great commentary filled with lots of historical facts and figures.

Our local guide

After a couple days off it was back off the cruise for another walking tour of Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia, Northern Bavaria, Germany. 

Located on the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia..

The next stop and walking tour was in Nuremberg, a city in Bavaria, is distinguished by its medieval architecture, including the fortifications and stone towers of its Altstadt (Old Town). 
At the northern edge of the Altstadt, surrounded by red-roofed buildings, stands Kaiserburg Castle. 

Both these places were very pleasant to wander around and especially Nuremberg which still has all the original city walls from medieval times

Our first week closed with a glimpse of yet another castle just as the sun was setting. 

Looking forward to week two although low water in the Danube may change things around a bit.

Whatever happens I know it will be another restful, memorable and enjoyable week.

A week in review movie (coming soon)

Train to Amsterdam and exploring the countyside

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Our time had come to an end in London, our check in for train to Amsterdam with a change in Brussels before arriving in Amsterdam around 4 pm.

The Eurostar and Thalys …

Breakfast on board Eurostar
Getting through security took a while with having to pass through British and then French border
control with 100s of other train travellers. It was easy to make our way through just took time which we had plenty of. We boarded our carriage and settled back for the 2 hour ride to Brussels where we changed train with ease and settle back for the next two hours. 
Train travel is the best way to get around over here. I just love it!!!
We arrive at Centrale Amsterdam right on time, it was raining so we decided on a cab for the short distance to our hotel the Ibis Styles hotel. We had a great room on the 3rd floor overlooking the street which was full of activity.
Dinner was the next thing on our minds and given that we’re travelling to South America early next year we decided on Argentine Steak house, and a great choice it was at that.

Amsterdam and surrounds…

Up early the next morning we set off to work out the local buses for a day trip to Edam Volendam and Marken.  
The buses were easy to find on the other side of the central station we purchases a day pass for 10 euros and we jumped aboard the 316 heading to Edam. 
My second visit here and just as pretty and peaceful as the first. After walking around for about an hour we boarded the 316 back to Volendam to wander along the waterfront, cod and chips and two tall cold Heinekens.  
After lunch it was on the ferry to glide across to Marken another picturesque peaceful little village before returning to Amsterdam in time take a walk through the red light district before dinner which turned out to be italian incidentally owned by same guy and right next door to the steak house. 
It was equally as good and we really enjoyed good food, service and beautiful setting.
Day two in Amsterdam we decided to just walk and explore all the
districts we could including the floating flower market and some of the main shopping areas. I think we walked just under 10kms for the day before heading back to change hotels ready for the cruise tomorrow. 
Tomorrow the next phase of our trip begins,,, Avalon Cruises here we come

Visit to Horse Guard and Afternoon Tea Bus

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Another sensational day on what is fast becoming one of our most memorable overseas trips.All our plans and my research has paid off by providing us with some really rewarding and memorable experiences.

Today’s planned activity was a visit to the Horse guards and watch the changing of the guard followed by some exploring around the city centre and a decadent afternoon tea aboard an old double decker red bus while making our way around London.

We started off by catching the tube from Euston to Charing Cross station using our trusty oyster cards for the fares. We headed to horse guard row to find the Horse Guard parade ground, this was only a short walk from Trafalgar Square and we arrived in time to see the first guard change at 10am. The main changing of the guard was at 11am so we positioned ourselves in a prime viewing spot that no-one could edge in front obstruct our view.

Right on 11am the guards prepared for the change in the parade ring and it wasn’t long before I could hear the other guard coming from Buckingham Palace to make the change. This was really worth seeing and I loved all the pomp and ceremony and I keep thinking that this takes place every day rain hail or shine and has done forever in a day.



After the changing of the guard we headed down to the Thames via No 10 for a walk along the river towards Big Ben and back around to Trafalgar Square where we thankfully found a coffee shop where we could just sit for awhile before we boarded out afternoon tea bus from across the street.

I had originally planned to go to the Dorchester for afternoon tea during this trip bus was glad to come across this option for afternoon tea on the move.

What can I say every morsel of food was delicious and the company of the two french attendants was great fun and interesting. We were lucky to have the whole bottom of the bus to ourselves. 

I had booked the bottom as I thought the top would be popular and felt we could see just as much from the bottom. This turned out to be brilliant as we had our very own frenchman to look after our every need and entertain us with stories of france and pointing out the sights along the way.

This is certainly going to stick my memory for a long time, the boys packed us up a doggy bag of sweet treats which was very kind of them.

Going

After we left the bus it was back on the tube for the ride home and ready ourselves for early check out and train ride to Amsterdam.  Another great day draws to a close..

Going

Gone
The full day of photos and videos

Hyde Park and Harrods

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Wandering around London…

I know a couple lads that
could give this challenge a shake

After a bit of a rest we set off for a day’s walking around London.

Our aim was to walk to Harrods via Hyde Park and back to Paddington. We walked ourselves almost to a standstill but we saw so much and really got to experience this city from the ground.

First port of call was the Pride of Paddington near Paddington station for a pub breakfast, poached eggs for Ian and I went with my favourite eggs royal. The evidence that the Rugby world cup is on was everywhere with lots of people from all around the world doing the same as us, having a late breakfast..

Peter Pan Statue

Chris Bowman Transport – new run about 

It was only about a 10 minute walk before we arrived at Hyde Park, we entered at the Marlborough gate near the Italian pools and walked all the way along the serpentine past the Peter Pan statue with a brief stop at Princess Diana’s memorial fountain.

After about an hour walking through the parked we popped out at Knightsbridge just a 10 minute walk from Harrods.

Diana’s Memorial Fountain

A couple hours spent browsing around Harrods and purchases for the littlest grandchildren completed we found the icecream bar and succumbed to a strawberry sundae and a chocolate milkshake (both shared).

Lego of Harrods

Love Harrods for its opulence and style but for goodness sake turn the bloody heating down, I have been here twice now and sweltered each time.


Both times have left gasping for fresh air and probably leaving sooner than I would have it it was not so hot. It is like a shops in USA always way overheated even on a warm day.

All lego amazing and hours of work

Checking out the range in the spirits room

We headed back towards Park Lane and around to Marble Arch where we dropped into Marks and Spencer for a couple minor purchases, again over heated and enough to drive anyone outside again.

With our legs in need of relief and we headed home after a sensational day of getting to know London, walking is the one true way of getting one’s bearings and seeing so much that could be missed otherwise.

A welcome shared Sundae
before leaving Harrods

Allowing plenty of time to wander along and look at the various sights is a perfect way to see this city. All in all we walked just over 8kms (5 miles) and our legs were complaining as we headed to a nearby supermarket to pick up a sandwich and drink for our dinner. Sleep came easy…

The sun setting on another perfect day in London

Click here for full day in photos and videos 

A day at Newbury Races – in the west of Berkshire, England

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Newbury Races

A bit work on the way up

It was with a degree of luck that I picked out a great race meeting within easy reach (via train) from London. Newbury Dubai Cup carnival.

So up early and off to station to purchase train tickets and grab a quick toastie for breakfast. We boarded our direct train to Newbury and settled back for the hour journey in a very comfortable carriage. It was good to get a look at some of the outskirts of London before we made our way through the countryside.

We arrived at Newbury (Newbury was founded late in the 11th century following the Norman conquest as a new borough, hence its name.) at 11am.


We decided to explore what we thought was a small place that turned out to quite a large centre with exceptional shopping and a great mall area.

After a very nice morning tea we headed back to the station to catch train to Newbury racecourse station and walk across to the the beautiful racecourse.

 

Best selection on the day

We paid our dues for the members area and headed in to look around. The facilities were outstanding and I just can’t believe how lucky we were to pick this race meeting and on this day.

Perfect

After having a good look around we cloaked our coats and settled into the grandstand to watch the first.

Who brought binoculars to England
and not to the races

I selected a horse by stallion we had seen a few days before at the National Stud. Pastoral Pursuits. Although he was just in double digit odds he put up a good show to run second.

After that I backed next two winners and then manage to land the exacta on the 4th, my punting day ended in the very wide open cup race where my selection put up a good show to run third.


Just goes to show one does not always have to know the horses to line up the form or at least have a very lucky day.

The racing was good and the salt (corned) beef sandwich was even better apparently. My winnings paid for our day out which was a bonus.

Frankie Dettori arrived by helicopter 10 minutes before the cup, presented the cup and flew out again before the next race. A true flying visit.  We however made our way back to the train and head back to London.

On our way back to the hotel picked up sandwiches and drinks for dinner at local supermarket for dinner before falling into bed after what will be a long remembered day at the races.

Click here for full day in photos and videos

 

Off to London with a stopover at The Cricketers Arms

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The Cricketers Arms Rickling Green

After a couple wonderful days in Newmarket, a place that will definitely be added to my must visitagain list.

We set off for London where a few days doing everything except the main tourist site is on the plan.

Before leaving Newmarket I was trawling around looking for somewhere to stay on they way and stumbled over the ‘ The cricketers Arms’ hotel in Rickling, This pub over looked the green and sounded just perfect.

On arrival we checked in early and were amazed by this wonderful little place that has been the watering hole to cricketers from the nearby Rickling Green where cricket has been played since 1800’s.

The staff were fantastic and we just loved everything about this place, so well appointed and the builder in working on the next part of the restoration, which appears to be an ongoing as all the old world charm is being maintained with new tasteful fit out in the various areas.

We had a lovely shared plate for lunch a couple drinks before returning to the room to re-organise bags, take in the views from our room the ‘Lord’s’ suite. Our key was hanging from s small cricket bat and the wifi password was even in the cricket theme.

Dinner was perfect and we had our first steak since arriving and it was cooked to perfection the staff were attentive and made sure they made our evening enjoyable.

Our room overlooked the green and we could have holed up here for a few days but we were due in London so sadly after and lovely breakfast and lots of laughs with the girls on staff we headed off for the hour drive back to Heathrow

Back to London and Camden Markets

The drive back to Heathrow apart from my not changing the gps back to setting that ensured we avoided all major roads so we came in by the all the small places which in itself was great but it did make the trip a bit longer than it should have been.

We did get to see so much more that on the motorway, so worth it.

Our little black mercedes (I wouldn’t own one our Hyundai was better appointed) was returned in one piece but a bit muddied than we got it.

Another 900 miles of driving for Ian and only a few disagreements on directions but with gps even if you go wrong you always come out right eventually.

We grabbed the shuttle back to Heathrow (I think we were on the bus and on our way back within ten minutes of pulling up). At terminal 3 we caught the Heathrow express to Paddington Station (Easy and about 20mins in duration).

We found ourselves at the front of Paddington station with little idea of which direction our hotel was so after walking around for awhile we grabbed a cab that had us at the door within 10 minutes, we were close to finding it on foot but with have negotiated the canal so glad we go the cab in the end.  Our hotel is only about 5 minute walk to Paddington Station and underground once you know where it is.

After a quick check in it was back over to canal about 3 minutes walk from the hotel, we turned left and headed for Little Venice where we caught the canal boat for the 50 minute ride past London Zoo and lots of fun canal boats to Camden Market.  The youtube video will do it more justice than these few photos

Camden market is a very busy place with everything you can imagine not to mention food from all parts of the world, I decided on a snack pack from Poppies Fish and chips van. The cod cocktail pieces were really good and hit the spot it seemed like a long while from breakfast and I guess at 3pm, it was.

We wandered around for an hour or so before walking to the Camden Market underground where purchased an Oyster card and headed home with a change at Kings Cross station

We decide on chinese at the Pearl Ling nearby for dinner, food was great service was slow but we had nothing else planned so was no real concern.

End of another full but rewarding day…

Click here to watch YouTube video – Day in Review

Off to Newmarket, The National Stud and The Cricketer Arms

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In past trips, we have joined stud tours at Three Chimney’s Farm in Kentucky USA, the Irish National
Stud and this trip we wanted to visit the National Stud at Newmarket England.

 

National Stud and Newmarket

                                                Driving from Manchester to Newmarket was a very nice drive of only about 3 hours 40 which we competed at a leisurely pace arriving at the Heath Court Hotel in heart of Newmarket and only 100 yards walk to the gallops.

Hundreds of horses are worked here every morning and the street around town are filled with quite big stables.

Horses and cars co-exist without all the red tape and safety measures we would have at home. The is a busy road right up to the middle of the slow and fast tracks, cars just wait when large groups horses cross from one track to another.

The tour of the National Stud was the main purpose of our visit and so after booking this online, we presented ourselves at the designated time and place. Nigel our guide was very informative as he was previously the Operations Manager (retired) of the whole stud.

He was an entertaining (muttering about the demise of Newmarket during the tour, now the Arabs own most of it) informative guide that really knew all the ins and outs of the stud.

Including the two stallions in residence
Bahamian Bounty (21 yrs old and retired) and his son Pastoral Pursuits.
Bahamian Bounty was a very successful sire in his time and his son Pastoral Pursuits

He was a very successful racehorse winning Pastoral Pursuits although has not lived up to expectations at stud as he is not attracting good mares and really needs a couple of black type winners to save him from sale.

Toronado (standing at Swettenham Stud) and Dick Turpin (standing in Western Australia) are both been shuttled to Australia for the season which will make for some interest to see how their offspring perform down under.

The stud was all freshly painted inside and out and was looking extra fresh for a working farm but Nigel told us this was due to the queen’s visit recently to plant a second tree (to mark 100 years of the stud), she planted her first tree at the stud back in 1966.


We were able to see a couple yearling being prepared for sale and a paddock full of weanlings including a Frankel Filly which was good, as this is the quieter time in the breeding season there were no foals but com Jan – Mar one could imagine how the place would be buzzing with activity with lots of new arrivals.

After our day at the stud it was back to the Heath Court for a rest, catch up on email and pay the wages for CB Transport aahh live goes on.

It is amazing that we can be so connected to home and travel at the same time. We have been having great facetime /hangout chats with all the little ones every other day.
For dinner we decided on something lighter and found an exceptional Thai place in main street all within walking distance from the hotel which was even better.

One our final morning in Newmarket we headed up to the gallops and watch the horse work again, the number of horses is staggering as well as the number young horses, no wonder this place is filled with people who look like they work in racing, lots of girls. 30 years and 30kgs and four children ago I would have loved to come and do something like this for a while. It would beat riding work in Dubbo that is for sure.

After another enormous breakfast offering, I did say offering, we took the lighter option of cereal, toast, and fruit. It was hard to resist the full cooked breakfast but we did. We headed to our next stop.

I found this interesting place called ‘The Cricketers Arms‘ on Rickling Green in Rickling, Essex we booked a room and headed that way. This was on our way back to Heathrow to return the car.

 

The Cricketers Arms Pub


What a find The Cricketers is a fantastic English pub in a tiny village overlooking the green. Cricket has been played on Rickling Green since about 1850, photos of which can be seen in The Cricketers Arms the one remaining village pub. Cricket is still played on the Green throughout the summer months.


The food, friendly staff, accommodation are first class and this will definitely make the highlights reel. The is such a welcoming warm feeling about the place that makes you want to settle in for a while.

 

A walk through the village will show many houses dating from the 17th and 18th centuries, exemplifying local materials and building traditions. These include local flints, bricks from local brickworks, tiles and thatch, half-timber as on Manor Farm.

Being only a bit over an hour from Heathrow, you can be sure there will be not a trip to London in the future that does not include another visit here to start or end a trip.


If we ever get to come back to Newmarket for the races it will be my place of choice for accommodation being only 50 minutes from Newmarket itself

It will be sad leaving here but London is calling…

 

 

 

 

 

Old Trafford and a great series win

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Old Trafford and a great series win 

We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at our hotel, 
the Holiday Inn Express (able to see the Man U stadium from our room window and with 20 minute walk to Old Trafford Cricket ground, expensive (due to Soccer and Cricket being on) but well located in Salford Quays. 




We set off on foot for the ground, this turned out to be a good move (left car in hotel car park) as it was an interesting area. 



Couldn’t miss the opportunity to see the Manchester United Stadium up close was amazing, they were starting to set up for game later in the day. we joined the ever building throng heading towards the Old Trafford Cricket grounds.



















What a great game we arrived in time to see all the warm ups, the ground is small so from where we were sitting we felt very close to the action being adjacent to the door of the Australian dressing room. 



Apart from when Starc hit the English Captain and the ground collectively held their breathe for what seemed like forever. 



You could hear the thud from the stands so to get away with only concussion was a good outcome. 





Strac was visibly upset, he was fielding right on the boundary near us it was great how the team looked out for him on the field and Darren Lehman came along for a quick chat and pat on the back each time he was back on the boundary between his overs (glad he kept bowling).  













As they pictures tell a story of a thousand words so enjoy.


Click to watch highlights video