19th - 23rd August - Manchester After a whirlwind tour of Stratford I caught the coach up to Manchester with a change of bus in Birmingham. It was here I met a lovely teacher from Birmingham, who was interested in my view of London schools compared to Australian schools and if they were as advanced in their teaching as her school was. Into the discussion I got a little confused but waited to see where it was going. Her thoughts were that they were ahead of the times because all the local schools have interactive whiteboards!! Now I'm might be wrong here, but I don't believe interactive whiteboards have anything to do with current teaching practices. I bit my tongue :) Manchester - my cousin Lisa, whom I'd not seen in 14yrs collected me from the local train station near her house out in Radcliffe. She lives there with her fiancé Rob (who by the way is an accountant with a sister-in-law who's name is Tamara Taylor - bizarre) and we caught up on what's been happening in our respective lives. Was brilliant to see her again and spend time with them both. Fun things in Manchester - well apart from pretending to be a duck and enjoying the rain, I caught up with Jill from my Contiki tour, did a bit of shopping as one does and enjoys, and headed out to the Trafford Centre which is a huge shopping centre (which I'd say is as big as if not bigger than Chadstone). I was also fortunate enough to go to FAME with Lisa, Rob, Jill and some of Lisa's workmates. Followed by a drink at a bar somewhere in Manchester. Was a brilliant night.