Anyway, I woke up early and decided to take my daughter to Birdland:
http://www.birdland.co.uk
Not to be confused with the larger and more expensive (I think over priced) place just of the M3 near Farnham.
It takes about an hour and a half to drive to Birdland, which is in the picturesque village of Bourton-on-the-Water. When you eventually get of the Motorway (M4) the countryside is very pretty and it also brings back childhood memories of how I used to live in that area. The area in which Bourton-on-the-Water is in is called 'Cotswold.' If you only have a short stay in England and you are staying in London, then it will be a nice day out from London, a couple of hours by car or coach. Not sure how it works by train, but I guess you would take the train from London too Swindon.
Bourton-on-the-Water is probably the most popular village in the Cotswold's, and often referred to as the "Venice of the Cotswold's" because the River Windrush runs right through the centre. The combination of this clear sparkling water and the attractive low bridges crossing it create a charming scene.
Bourton-on-the-Water
So, I took her to Birdland, it is a nice place and not too big, so it does not becomes tiresome. My daughter loved it, especially watching the penguins being fed. Birdland is the only place in the country that has King Penguins and watching penguins is a treat at any age. You can watch them swim under the water has they have a pool to swim in which has glass sides.
The King Penguins in Birdland
But of course there are many other birds. I also love the Kookaburra. I think it is a rather pretty bird with the most wonderful 'laughing' call. They seem to respond well to humans. All the ones I have come across, which I admit are not in the wild has they come from Australia, always seem to be happy to laugh if you whistle or even try to mimic them.
A Kookaburra
After spending just over 3 hours in Birdland I took my daughter to the model village. The model village is a model of the village of Bourton-on-the-Water, which itself also contains an ever smaller model village. It is starting to look old and need of repair now, but non-the-less, my daughter still enjoyed herself, which is the important thing and the main reason for going.
The Model Village
We also fed the Rainbow Trout that swam in the river and then we went to a pub for a meal. After seeing all those fish, I wanted to eat fish...so I had fish and chips and mushy peas. The batter was nice a crunchy round the fish, and the fish tasted fresh, which was nice.
But, strangely for me, the highlight of the day was meeting some Japanese tourists. In fact I walked past a whole coach load of Japanese tourist of all different ages. But on one of the bridges were these four Japanese women and they were taking photographs of each other. I remember, when I was in Japan, that I met a lot of friendly Japanese that made me feel welcome in their country, from a taxi driver, to a shop keeper. I even remember fondly these 4 elderly Japanese ladies that were selling Japanese style sweets in Kyoto. They were so friendly. Anyway, I saw these Japanese ladies and I went up to them and asked them, in my best Japanese (which is actually very, very poor) if they would like me to take their photo. I think they were surprised that I tried to say it in Japanese because I heard them say 'He just spoke Japanese' Then I took their photo, they looked at it, I asked if it was OK, and they said 'yes' and then they smiled and said 'thank you.' hat was it really, but it was nice to speak a little Japanese and it was nice that they seemed to appreciate my effort...I may have even impressed them...hehehe! But I wanted to, somehow, in my own way, show my appreciation for how the Japanese I met made me feel welcome in the places I visited in Japan.
This is a map of Bourton-on-the-Water in Japanese. Birdland is just right and across the river from the Model Villlage
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