CAROLINE CLIMBS BEN NEVIS

Another flashback to our time in Scotland, the day Caroline climbed Ben Nevis.

The end of this adventure is to tackle the highest mountain in the UK, Ben Nevis.  We get to the Visitors Center mid afternoon and are a little disappointed to hear the weather forecast for the next day is quite poor, but alas we are too late to do it this day as we would be coming down in the dark, not a desirable for our first attempt.

We camp in the car park and decide on an early start to try to beat the bad weather coming in. It turns out that there are people coming in right into the night as we see a torch or two traverse the car park with a weary climber.  Awake at five and it is already raining quite heavily so we have another hour in the warm and try again when the weather seems to have cleared a little.

We finally decide to head off at 7.15am.  Now, this mountain is divided into three sections and the first is a steep climb over a path of boulders set as steps.  It is hard going and sadly it starts to become apparent that Mikayla is not very well.  She hadn’t wanted to say anything but was progressively worsening and eventually we have to make a decision that she and Georgia would return to Vincent and I would go on as far as I could. They have made it nearly half way and are very disappointed to have to turn back.  I might add that because of the constant drizzle we are already soaked even though we are quite warm.

I continue on and enjoy a break in the weather and the climb as I pass the easiest part of the trail past the Loch, it is so gorgeous.  Then starts the second section of the shale zig zags.  The climb is steep and still I am warm as toast even in just a t-shirt.  As I plod ever upwards I start to meet some climbers coming down and they advise me that it under an hour to the top but that it is freezing up there.  A couple more zigzags and I hit the biting wind and it is time to put on the layers.

The climb turns into a scramble over large boulders, past the ice trap and then a difficult path between the cairns.  Vision is poor as the rain has really set in up here and I am strangely quite alone at this point.  There have been people on the track all the way but for this final accent it is just me and I can only just see the next cairn, the only way to make out the trail.  It is quite an adventure as I imagine what it would be like to get lost in this wilderness and how very cold a night alone would be up here.

No wonder this mountain claims a few lives every year, to be unprepared would be madness and even with everything organized a weather change could be disastrous.  The top seems to be taking a long time to reach, I am now about four hours into my journey and eventually reach the top.  I have a few moments alone to take a photo of myself and the top beacon, and off the cliff edge.  I can only see about three meters down the cliff face before the cloud invades but it is clear it is not the best path down!  A wrong step up here could be quite a big one.

Quite suddenly there is an influx of fellow climbers and we are all congratulating one another for reaching the top, some are first timers like myself but others are repeat offenders, one man on his seventh ascent.  Well done to everyone.  It is not pleasant up here, visibility is next to nothing, there is a howling gale and it is freezing and wet and I decide it is time to head back down.  It has not been about the view since about half way but about the challenge.  Now I face the challenge of getting back to Vincent.

The top stage takes its toll quite quickly and my knees are complaining.  Once I reach the top of the zigzags I am treated to about half an hour of sunshine and a clear view of the world around, I stop to eat my supplies and chat to some climbers on the way up.  They have a while to go and I advise them that it is harder to come down than go up.  Everyone seems to agree on this point.  I have been able to take of a few layers and dry out the gloves and beanie in the constant wind.  I am now thinking the decent would be lovely if it stayed like this.

Sadly I have been too optimistic and as I reach the bottom of the zigzags the weather sets in worse than ever.  I am about half way down and the path is treacherous and slow and my legs are screaming.  The rest of the journey is agony and at times I wonder why I am here.  I am once again drenched to the skin, it is a rain that by-passes the very best waterproofs.  My feet are just puddles but my boots keep me safe on the slippery boulders and muddy track.  There are some young men that run pass me, Oh to have those knees again.

I slosh on at my very steady pace and I wonder about the poor soles that had still been climbing upward.  I am also so very grateful for the week of sunshine we have had previously to enjoy the highlands, the views would not have happened in this,  how lucky we are.  At about 4.15pm I knock on Vincents door and exclaim to the girls that I think I am about to die.  I head off to the loo while they prepare for my recovery treatment.  I also stop in at the visitors center to let the ladies know I did it.  Congratulations are received with thanks and we discuss the various spots on the mountain, it seems everyone finds coming down the hard part and I am glad it is not just me.  I am still able to laugh though and am pleased to have conquered Ben Nevis.

I meet a guide, and very experienced climber, that is taking a group of climbers up at midnight, “why would you do that?” is all I can respond.  He thinks it’s crazy too, what a way to make a living. Back to Vincent and the girls have the hot water ready.  Hair washed and body bathed they guide me under the covers and provide me with hot water bottles (thank you Maggy, I think you saved my life).  We are going to have to stay another night in the car park as I could not drive, and wonder if my legs will ever manage this task again.

While the girls provide me with food they also fill me in on their day.  By the time they got back to the car they were both very ill with a stomach issue, say no more.  It is so lucky they turned back when they did, at least they had managed to make a recovery and get warm and prepare for my return.  I don’t think Vincent would have coped with three drowned rats at once.

When I wake in the morning I am scared to move, wondering if this is indeed even possible.  My need to get to the loo gives me the motivation and I am very relieved to find that it is not as bad as I thought it might be.  No real damage has been done it seems, just some aches and pains to recover from over the next few days.  The girls are relieved when I seem relatively normal, not sure I was making much sense the night before.

We now have to try to sort out Vincent.  He is water logged with wet jackets and clothes and just invaded by the constant water flow outside.  We get on the road and crank up the heater and start to dry him out.  The next day sees the return of some sunshine so by about day three we have everything back to normal.  What would we do without our precious Vincent, our little home away from home.

We continue traveling south back into England and soon reached the Lake District. It had been our intention to complete the three peaks of the UK, Snowdon and Ben Nevis conquered and Scaffle Pyke to go.  Sadly the legs are not recovered enough to go up the last one after only three days so will have to save that for another trip.

We can console ourselves with our meandering through the Lake district enjoying such a beautiful part of England.  The weather holds quite well and the scenery is just gorgeous and we get to visit the part of the world that Beatrix Potter loved so much.  As we are mad BP fans we enjoy soaking up all the information we can. We visit her husbands law office first and are treated to passionate guides that give us a little more insight into her life.  We gaze on lots of her original drawing and sketches. We then head out to Hill Top and experience an eccentric world that she created to work from.  We can just imagine Peter and all his friends popping up in the garden.  It is a magical journey we thoroughly enjoy.  We look across the fields to her marital home and imagine her plodding across to work with her friends in tow.  We are glad to hear that the movie made of her life is almost all accurate, though she did not know her husband as a child.  A small amount of creative license is acceptable.  Our passion for this wonderful writer will continue on and I look forward to reading to my grandchildren the stories their mothers loved so much.

It is time to head south toward Devon and it takes a few more days to drive through the green lanes and on a couple of high ways till we are back with family.  What a great adventure we have had again and we look forward to coming back in the years to come and explore some more.

This brings the England adventure all up to date.  The final days with family have already been posted on Sep 25th if you would like a flash back update.  All posts from now on for a couple of months with be from USA and our adventures in this wonderful country.  Some are already up and will endeavor to be up to date very soon.  Madly adventuring and writing is really hard work you know.

SCOTLAND: INNERLEITHEN, EDINBURGH AND THE HIGHLANDS

We’re taking you back in time to when we said goodbye to Minting and continued North to Scotland during our UK adventures.

After a sad farewell to Minting and Serenity we head on up the UK through the Yorkshire Dales and enter into Scotland through Jedburgh.  We pop into the visitors center to be given fantastic advice by a very helpful and young woman.  We leave with a load of information to help plan our next part of our journey.

On our way up we stop in a little village called Innerleithen where there is a chance take advantage of our National Trust Membership again. An opportunity to visit Robert Smail’s Printing Factory, a fantastic step back in time.  We are greeted by a lovely young woman who is so passionate and proud of this special opportunity to see how a printing works was ran before all the ‘mod cons’ came along.

Mr Smail resisted the evolution in the printing game and also left behind all the original documentation, all the bells and whistles for the future generations to now enjoy.  Our tour moves on to the case room where all the type is set.  Another equally passionate woman takes us through the whole process and even gives us the opportunity to make our own book mark which we are very proud of and will treasure always.

On now to the big machines with a lovely young man who shows us how the old dragons work. The business is still running thanks to the National Trust and along the tour we see some of their splendid work including posters, cards, invitations and calenders etc.  We talk for a very long time to our original guide about our travels and her passion for her work.  Time to move on and we thank everyone for the best tour we have done our whole trip.

The day is still young and we head into Edinburgh, lucky enough to catch the last days of the Fringe Festival.  We spend time wandering the streets taking in the many entertainers and pop into a few free galleries.  It is a very attractive city that we enjoy our short time in. We move on, deciding to head for the North, passing through Perth.

Our decision to spend as much time exploring nature turns out to be the best plan we could have made. We head up the middle through the Grampians and explore magnificent scenery before finding a spectacular spot on a Loch to settle for the night.  Before the sun goes down I head up a hill for a walk.  It is a bit of a climb along animal tracks but the view over the Loch improves with height and Vincent becomes very small behind me.

We wake the next day to the shinning Loch with a low cloud suspended over it and the most magnificent reflections in the mirror like surface.  We move on to see Loch Ness, famous and busy, beautiful no doubt, but we are headed for a more wild experience.  Further North we press and into the highlands.

Lady luck is on our side once again.  Apparently a storm has just passed through with so much rain there have been landslides,  we arrive and spend 5 days exploring the highlands with spectacular sunshine and perfect blue sky.  We pass along the single lane roads winding and weaving our way through some of the most amazing scenery of our entire trip.  You can’t go past Austria and Switzerland for mountains but this comes so close.  Every turn is another spectacular view.  If you have never been try your hardest to come and see some of the most unspoilt beauty in the world.

Photos can be found on our Facebook page in the album UNITED KINGDOM.

You can also find Robert Smail’s Printing Works Facebook page by clicking here.

A TRIBUTE TO VINCENT

Still posting in flashback! The end of our UK adventures and a goodbye to our wonderful Vincent!

We head off toward the East taking in more lovely scenery and after visiting A LA Ronde, end up camping for the night in the New Forrest. What a tranquil place for our last night sleeping out in Vincent. Just can’t believe this moment has come.

We head on the next day to Brighton and enjoy the sunshine walking along the pier and around the Lanes. We have not done our research properly and don’t go into The Pavilion, next time. I think we have got to the point that we just want to get home now.

We miss John and Jenny so drop by but alas they’re not home, so we decide to push on to Chelmsford. We are welcomed back by Maggy and Graham. Just a few days before Aunty Babs had a nasty fall and is in hospital and we are glad to have a week to be able to visit her regularly and catch her up on our travels. We hope she is quickly back in her home and feeling much better.

We spend our time sorting out lots of little jobs before we embark on the next adventure. It is a busy time and the fact that we are soon to be in America is taking its time to sink in. Its exciting and scary all at the same time.

Well the time has come to part with our beloved Vincent. As always in this life we are incredibly lucky and even this very sad moment falls into place. Maggy and Graham had first introduced us to their mechanic when we purchased Vinni back in December. He gave him the once over and fixed a few little things before we embarked on our European adventures.

It seems that he fell for him as quickly as we did and on our return expressed an interest in purchasing him. Long story short, on our return from our UK adventures we met to discuss the possibility and agreed on the price only just short of what we paid for him. HOW AMAZING is that. We kept him until our last day in Chelmsford and delivered him to Gary, his new owner.

What is fantastic is his intention to completely restore Vince, the perfect man for the job being a mechanic who can tenderly care for and repair any little problems.

This blog is a tribute to the VW Transporter, a tireless workhorse that has transported us over 16,000 MILES of hills and mountains, highways, byways and mere tracks.

He has kept us warm and dry, safe and secure, endured intruders and pushy drivers (who literally ran into him), snow, rain, sun and storm and just kept on keeping on. He also made it possible for us to camp in the most spectacular and sometimes unexpected places.

He delivered us into the VW club of fellow travelers that always wave enthusiastically as you pass, with the secret knowledge that you have the best vehicle on the road.

Vincent may have rattled a bit (quite a lot at times) but he was ever faithful and dedicated in his task of transporting us around. He was literally our home, a very cosy and comfortable haven that has shared in many laughs, a few arguments, lots of games, our snoring and our bathroom duties, what a patient and understanding fellow he is.

We will never forget you Vincent and will visit you on our return trips to England (Gary has agreed to rent him back to us on future trips – how good is that). We will be looking for a cousin of yours in Australia for our adventures there.

You are the one and only special Vincent and we love you and will miss you, but most of all we will treasure the memories that you have given us. KEEP ON KEEPING ON. THANK YOU FOR JUST BEING THE PERFECT YOU.

Photos of Vincent can be found in pretty much any album on our Facebook page!

FAMILY FUN

We’re now in the USA!!!! Very exciting for us and not very good for the blog writing as you can tell. We’re still posting in flashback. Fingers crossed we’ll be up to date again soon! This post takes us back to a few weeks ago during our time with family in Devon.

Our UK trek is nearly to an end as we drive Vincent on the final leg to Ivybridge and back to family. Jan and Paul welcome us back into their lovely home and it is divine to step into that lovely hot shower once more. The beds are like clouds and toilet access so easy, what a dream first night.

On this visit we manage to catch up with Sam, on our last visits he had been overseas working. He is a delightful young man who we quickly settled into conversation with, swapping travel adventures and talking about his amazing job and how he managed to fall into it. I believe he inspired Georgia and Mikayla that the right path just works out in the end. We had a lovely afternoon and then dinner out and all too soon our time together is over. We are so glad to have got to know you Sam and we hope we will see you again at Christmas and perhaps over in Australia one day.

We follow up with a visit with Uncle Don and Terry. Such lovely people that welcome us to lunch and are excited to hear of our travels, though they are ardent readers of the blog. We are so grateful to have this time with them and enjoy a lot of laughs. Terry promises to continue to keep us safely in her prayers, we can use all the help we can get. They look forward to our USA blogs and we look forward to our next visit.

Next on the list are Martin, Teo and the delightful Gabby. Oh how the newest member of the family has grown, not a toddler any more but a gorgeous little girl with blond locks and lots of energy. She is a whirlwind of fun that supplies many laughable moments for everyone. Jan is her dedicated grandma who gets to spend lots of time loving and caring for her. Martin and Teo are fantastic parents who endure sleep deprivation with a smile, what a lovely family.

We do more sightseeing with Jan to Dartmoth, a lovely sunny day out visiting this old complex of buildings and beautiful garden, a perfect day. We also have a couple of days out with Paul, he takes us onto the Moors and also on one of the top 10 rail journeys in England. Beautiful scenery and great to spend time wandering with Paul. We also head down to the pub to watch a football game, and catch up with some of Pauls’ mates we met last time, and everyone is very welcoming once again.

Our last night with Jan is spent watching game shows, something we love to share with Jan. This particular night saw us dissolved into fits of laughter with tears rolling down our cheeks; saying “on the bus” still has the same effect. What a perfect night.

Eight days quickly fly past and it is time to move on again. We are sad to leave and hope that our stay has not put the painting back too far. Hopefully we will see you all again at Christmas.

CASTLES AND MOUNTAINS OF WALES

Powis House and Gardens was a beautiful National Trust property and lucky for us we caught the last tour of the day yet again. Arriving here we went straight for the lovely library and museum where we would have liked to have spent more time had it not been for the fact we had to start the tour to see the house. Entering the house with a guide, again on our own, we started in the amazing entry way and main staircase.

Originally built in the 1200’s, the castle began as a medieval fortress and has grown with the Herbert family as time has gone on. Overall another beautiful castle and furnished as it would have been when lived in. The view from the terrace is spectacular, looking over the immaculate gardens.

Heading back out to the coast we found a camping spot at Rainbow Falls, then spent the next day driving as close to the ocean as we could. We ate lunch next to the water in the very touristy town of Barmouth, before moving along through Porthmadog, Criccieth, Abersoch and back up to Caernarfon on the way to Snowdonia National Park ready to sleep again.

Having found a very nice car park opposite an icy lake we slept peacefully only to wake to a car park filling with cars and walkers setting off on a very lovely sunny day. We were planning to head around to Snowdon but decided to head off on the same walk for an hour or two. The four off us set off but Georgia became ill and had to turn back with Minting.

Mikayla and I decided to plod on and, chatting with some fellow walkers, discovered we were in fact on Snowdon, on a different approach than that which we intended. Having gone at least half way we decided to push on to the top.

As we got higher we entered the clouds, starting to feel the cold. We discovered that it’s not about the view; it’s about the challenge. Fellow walkers were impressed by our shorts, our legs turning blue. We had a quick lunch at the top and headed back down, knowing that we would be in trouble with the girls as they would be worried.

We had started walking at 11.15 and returned to Vincent at 4.30, a very respectable time on the 7.5 km route including the notorious ledge that takes a couple of victims every year. Georgia was at first relieved, then mad and then very congratulatory at our achievement. We decided to eat, get warm and stay put for the night before making an early start the next day.

Plas Newydd came next and it sure didn’t disappoint. Overlooking the Menai Strait amongst beautiful woodlands and an Italianate garden it had amazing views, but the best part of this mansion would have to be the mural in the dining room, painted by Rex Whistler. There’s plenty of optical illusion going on in this clever masterpiece that is a must see.

Later we got some washing done in the nearby town of Bangor, watching the interesting locals go by before finding Penrhyn Castle, unfortunately already closed for the day. We decided to camp in the car park here and caught the first taster tour of the day here.

The taster tour was a complete waste of time, although we did get to see one room that is only open to the public with a guide. Our favourite part of this castle was the staircase with detail to rival that of the Natural History Museum in London, so intricate and pretty. There are also extensive kitchens and servants quarters open here and they are sometimes even more interesting than the main house.

After lunch we moved on to Conwy where we walked across the Conwy Suspension Bridge and came across the quaint and tiny toll keeper’s house. The guide here was full of knowledge and told us all about the family who lived here and kept the bridge open before being sent to see Aberconwy House.

Aberconwy House should be renamed Higgledy-Piggledy House for it’s very uneven floors and add-ons through out time. It’s Tudor in style and from the street looks like it should have been used in the Harry Potter films. It also makes you wonder how it doesn’t just topple over, must have been built pretty sturdy from the get go!

Our time in Wales over we left Conwy and headed back into England towards Liverpool, after spending one more night camped in the country side of Wales.

Photos can be found on our Facebook page in the album UNITED KINGDOM.

FUN AT THE GOLD MINE AND A VISIT TO DEVIL’S BRIDGE

Continuing on from where we left off in our previous post, we spent most of the afternoon at Dolaucothi Gold Mine, yes another National Trust, where we were excited to be taking a tour inside the mine. While we waited to start Minting had her first go at gold panning and we had fun playing old rope toss games, though none of us were very good. Lucky for us we ended up having a private tour and we were kitted out with our helmets, headlamps and super heavy battery packs ready to head into one of the scariest underground places I’ve been.

Our guide was fantastic and we learnt a lot about both Roman and 19^th/20^th century history, valuable welsh gold and the people who mined here. It was then time to turn our headlamps on and enter into the mine. All was good until we had the opportunity to look backwards and realized the only light we had was what we were casting from our headlamps and I started trying to memorize the way out!

The mine was actually really interesting and, unlike in the ice cave in Austria, we were equipped with enough light to see what was around us. At one point we turned our lights off with only a candle aflame and experienced what it would have been like down there for the miners.

The little boys who worked down here were “not worth the light”, as candles were really expensive and taxed, and learned to avoid the candlelight as it marked danger spots. Lucky occupational health and safety has advanced since then, although they say there were hardly any accidents recorded in the mine.

At the end of the tour our wonderful guide gave us a few recommendations for future site seeing in Wales and sent us to a delicious fish and chip shop in Aberaeron, The New Celtic Restaurant, where we bought our fish and chips take away to eat on the beautiful pebble beach while the sun went down. Minting had a great time rock collecting, finding a few unique shapes and colours, and we enjoyed sitting by the ocean before moving on again to camp near our next stop Llanerchaeron.

Llanerchaeron, another National Trust, is still a working farm where you can visit the animals, tour the house and even get involved in a couple of fun activities. We started in the farm area where we were lucky enough to see a cute calf, born a few days before, and piglets, as well as the other farmyard animals. A walk through the vegetable garden and next to the private lake took us to the front garden of the Georgian Mansion where we taught Minting to play croquet, Mikayla coming up trumps with the win!

Crossing the threshold into the house we were confronted with many stuffed animals in glass boxes and more otter heads on the walls than paintings. Getting over that, it was actually a really nice home and restored beautifully. Up the double staircase, under a huge skylight, you emerge onto a stunning landing. Also crowned by a skylight, this time oval, the landing connects to large oval rooms, opposite each other, that even have round doors. Even better was the fact that these lovely rooms were meant for the women of the house, the dressing room and the ladies sitting room. We got talking to a fabulous lady called Peggy here who reminded us so much of Nan and whom we could have talked to all day.

Time for lunch and we had a scrumptious and healthy meal at the NT café, then hit the road. The view driving along the coast was beautiful and, from what we could see through the pouring rain, inland was just as good as we cut in towards Devil’s Bridge.

Reaching our destination the rain seemed to have stopped for the minute and we started an hour’s walk hoping the rain would hold off while we had to be outside. As always we were lucky and only had to deal with our muddy shoes at the end of the walk and the spray of the waterfalls during.

Here there are three bridges built one over the other and legend has it that the lowest and oldest bridge was built by the devil himself. One day an old woman lost a cow to the opposite side of the river and couldn’t get her back across. The devil appeared and said he would build her a bridge overnight if he could claim the soul of the first living thing to cross the bridge. She agreed and in the morning came back to find a sturdy bridge in place. Not wanting to give herself to the devil the old woman decided to send her dog across the bridge first, throwing a stick for him the fetch. Furious the devil left with nothing, leaving the dog, the old woman got her cow back and the bridge has been there ever since.

The walk was lovely, down steps continuously into the valley for the first half and up again for the second. There’s even a Jacob’s Ladder here, way steeper and ladder-like than the one in Perth. The waterfalls are nice and you can also see fossils in the caves, when you look past the heinous graffiti on the cave walls. Mum, Mikayla and I returned to Minting and Vincent, dry and tired and it didn’t take long for us to decide it was time to stop for the night.

We ended up camping in a pull off on the side of the road with a boat on a broken trailer. Later joined by another campervan, the owners of said boat who were having a run of bad luck. They had bought a boat and halfway home a trailer wheel had fallen off so they had come to camp and look after it. In the morning they tried to start their campervan, but it had broken down. Unfortunately we couldn’t give them a jump-start with Vincent; hopefully they found someone who could quickly, poor things.

Photos can be found on our Facebook page in the album UNITED KINGDOM.

UK TOUR WITH MINTING BEGINS

Under the guidance of Georgia we navigate our way through London to Queensway tube where we pick up Minting, our Chinese friend who stayed with us in Gidge. It is exciting to see her again and we start off on an adventure through Wales. As we anticipated it would be quite a squeeze for us all in Vincent but after a few tries we manage to find the best way to fit 4 in the bed and Minting does really well to get used to the wild camping way of life.

We have decided to base our travels around our National Trust membership and very luckily Minting is allowed to enter for free on our Family membership. Our first stop is at Cliveden, a lovely grounds surrounding the original mansion, now a hotel. The terrace is 500 years old and currently being restored. The view over the formal gardens from up here is delightful. We then wander through the property and end with the water garden. It is so pretty and as we stroll around when suddenly a big splash disturbs the peace. Sadly it’s Georgia falling into one of the very deep ponds whilst trying to get the camera out for the perfect shot of a koi in the disgusting dirty pond water.

Once we realized she was not hurt it was laughter all round, even Georgia, a muddy, algae draped mess. Thankfully we managed to talk the staff into letting her use their shower, lucky, as the smell would not have gone well in Vincent.

The down side to all this was the camera took a dip too and though, after a few days sitting in rice, it works again the horrible water got inside and has left blotches on the inner lens. Time to get the ball rolling with insurance for a replacement but in the mean time blotchy photos it is.

We moved on to our next stop and found a place to camp in the gorgeous village of Lacock. Rising early we took in the sights of this quaint little village. Apart from being the birthplace of photography it is also one of the many sights in England that was home to some Harry Potter filming.

We wandered around visiting Professor Slughorn’s house, and the Potter’s home in the Philosophers Stone. Inside Lacock Abbey the cloister of were used as parts of Hogwarts in the first and second movies and Snape’s potions class can be found inside, such fun. Only thing we didn’t like here was the bakery where they microwaved our pasties. We thoroughly enjoy our time in Lacock and comment that we could come and live here one day.

We move on to The Forest of Dean to find a lovely spot to camp, providing us with a couple of nice walks in the forest before setting off to view the last and only Dutch water garden in England, a place called Westbury. Another National Trust wonder, small but beautiful and restored to its former beauty after years of neglect. We purchase some second hand books for our collection at amazing prices, yet another reason to visit NT properties.

Minting cooked Chinese lunch for us before a short walk at May Hill before driving on to one of our most spectacular parking spots ever, high on the hills in Brecon Beacon, south of Hay-on Wye.

We enjoyed watching the tranquil sport of paragliding. Though a weekday there were at least ten sails in the air, majestically flying around on the breeze. We have to have a go at this one day.

We walked up the very steep hill and enjoyed a closer look at these ‘birds’ before descending to sit and watch the sun go down, spectacular. There are some gorgeous, fat ponies roaming around amongst many sheep, on some of the best pasture you could ever get, and we were lucky to get a pat. The sheep share this area with no fences, oblivious to the passing cars and people.

Minting practices her newly acquired ukulele and it begins to sound like music to help us drift off into the special world we are lucky enough to have found. Sunrise is just as spectacular as the evening and it sad that we have to move along. We head to Hay-on-Wye for an interesting few hours in this town of books. Rummaging through a few of the second had spots and once again purchasing a couple of treasures. Heading on through Brecon Beacons National Park the views are amazing and we stop for lunch at Henrhyd Falls before continuing on through the park taking in the stark rolling hills, fantastic.

Photos can be found on our Facebook page in the album UNITED KINGDOM.

FAMILY TIME

Well, it is quite strange to think we are back in ‘Old Blighty’. A short run under the channel and up we pop where we can understand all the signs and speak to anyone we want to as they can now understand English. The channel crossing is so quick and easy and we’re so glad we didn’t have to make the crossing by ferry.   First we drive an hour and half to Cousin John and Jenny, so very excited to see them. The drive way is ready to accommodate Vincent and at 9.30 we park him for a well-earned rest.

John and Jenny are ready for us and we chat madly for a couple of hours whilst enjoying a superb late evening snack of homemade quiches whilst sitting in the back garden enjoying the lovely view over the summer flowers. We hear of John and Jenny’s trip to Canada, amazing, and hope we can get there ourselves.

How good it is to be home, cause that it is how it feels in this lovely house. We all decide it is time for bed excited to be sleeping apart with a toilet and a shower nearby, such luxury.

During our couple of days here we are well advised by John and Jenny to purchase The National Trust Membership, the best thing we have ever done, you will hear why later. Off to Chartwell, the home of Winston Churchill, we went for a splendid day. There is so much to learn in this historical house and lots to see too. Did you know Winston Churchill loved painting, me neither, and he had his very own studio in which he completed many works? He also built a beautiful cubby house (Wendy House for the British) for his daughter in the huge vegetable garden.

Our time with John and Jenny comes to an end and we set off to Maggy and Graham’s and luckily catch up with Matt and Kelly too before they return to London. A perfect summer day enjoying their spectacular garden, once again trying to catch up on each other’s lives. None of us can believe it is six months since our European adventures began.

We spend a week getting ourselves back to normal. This involved washing and repacking everything, sorting out what we could leave behind for our UK travels and trying to finalize our USA plans, or at least starting the plan. How wonderful it is to feel so comfortable and relaxed and share our memories with our special family.

We all started the first day with a run/walk to the village hall, we can now exercise and shower, yay. Maggy cooks us lovely meals as always, she’s a great cook, and we enjoy the television coverage of the Commonwealth games, though this does seem to be a bit one sided… England, England, England! We don’t mind as we now consider ourselves English as well as Aussies so can bask in the glory of a very successful games for the England team, congratulations to all the competitors in this wonderful friendly games.

We spend some time with our special Aunty Babs and laugh at how much she is like her sister, speaking of whom we are able to call a couple of times to let her know we are back safely. We miss her so much and being with Babs is just so lovely as we feel closer. We also learn that Babs is a bread and tomato sauce lover too, I knew that we got this taste from someone in the family! Chloe also drops in for a visit, so lucky to catch up with everyone.

A bit of a mishap with Monty dog eating something he shouldn’t, you don’t want to know what, had us in a panic for a while. It’s lucky he has a very strong stomach considering what he insist on putting in it! We’re also lucky to have Kelly on board for emergency advice to put our minds at rest!

Next we are off to London, with Vincent, and again welcomed into Matt and Kelly’s gorgeous flat. We feel so at home here and quickly settle in to a wonderful week. Kelly is on holidays with us and has set up our first adventure, a trip to London Zoo, but this is no ordinary trip as she has CONNECTIONS. Her good friend Tegan is a zookeeper who just happens to be Aussie as well. We are so spoilt it is hard to believe.

First we find ourselves sitting down with the Meercats. These extraordinary little creatures are just hilarious. We all take handfuls of live grubs, all wiggling around and very attractive to the little fluffy beings we have invaded. They jump up onto our laps to take these tasty morsels. The smiles and laughs on our faces were priceless as we get to stroke and feed these little characters. But that’s not all you get.

Next we move on to the Lemur enclosure, your kidding right, in we go. Now these are the most gorgeous, soft and gentle, curious and persistent and positively spectacular little fluffy beings I have ever met. This feeding experience is far less hectic. Tegan advises us to keep the food, sweet potato cubes, within our fists. To our delight the Lemur sits up on our laps and slowly coaxes our fingers open to get to the tasty treat. This is an experience I find hard to describe other than it was amazing. Their little fingers are so soft and a little sticky and gentle and to sit and stroke them was out of this world.

But that is not all you get. Yes there is more believe it or not. We stroll on through the zoo picking branches of leaves that are particularly nice to Giraffes. That’s our next stop, we stand inside the barrier of the overhead bridge and two Giraffes come to us, we are staring straight into their big beautiful eyes feeding them carrots and then their leaf treats. By now the three off us are just about gah gah with the whole experience. We cannot thank Kelly and Tegan enough for the most amazing day of up close encounters with such gorgeous animals. Needless to say we are the envy of all the other zoo visitors who watched us, some asking us how we got to do this and how much it cost. We realize we are the luckiest people in London and will always treasure this experience.

Our London adventures do not stop there, the following day it is off to Buckingham Palace, for an inside look this time, taking in the special display of the Royal Childhoon exhibition. Kelly and the three of us all enjoy the displays of childhood memories and memorabilia of the Royals and Mikayla manages to stay upright this visit.

We then meet with Chloe for a picnic in the park and spend more time catching up with her. We spend the rest of our days here just doing what the locals do, spending precious time with family and enjoying the summer sunshine. A walk along The Thames, picnics is the parks and even a couple of city farm visits.

Our time in London is also productive as Matt guides us to make our final decisions about the US and our tickets, car hire, insurance and visa requirements are all booked and paid for. The adventure will begins mid September.

Sadly it is time to move on again and Vincent is on the road again but this time we have to fit four girls in, eeeek.

Photos can be found on our Facebook page in the album ENGLAND IN JULY.