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.

BRUGES, YPRES AND FROMELLES – OUR TIME IN EUROPE COMES TO AN END

We were so excited to get to Bruges to see the famous Madonna and Child by Michelangelo. So, this was our first stop on a day in Belgium’s capital. The Madonna and Child is housed in the Church of Our Lady, undergoing restorations while we were there in July. After buying our tickets we entered the side section where the Madonna and Child are front and center of the altar.

A little smaller than anticipated, this piece is exquisite and even though we have seen about as many Madonna and Child pieces as we have churches we spent at least half an hour admiring this one just as we did David in Florence. We finished with a quick look around the rest of the church before stepping back out onto the street with yet another thing crossed off our list!

Bruges’ canals are as beautiful as Ghent’s and we enjoying wandering along, taking many pictures and generally soaking up the atmosphere. We also walked through the Begijnhof, a beautiful, silent (unless a group of tourists turn up and ignore the signs) place.

An almost round trip took us to the Holy Savior Cathedral with more lovely stained glass and artworks. Much of the cathedral was hidden under scaffolding and we wondered why they would be doing so much restoration during peak tourist time.

It was then time to go to go to our second favourite place of the day, Chocco Story, and chocolate museum where we learnt all about the history of cocoa beans, all the way back to the Aztecs, and chocolate. Did you know that cocoa was originally used like coffee as a hot drink, basically hot chocolate came before chocolate? A museum that smells like chocolate and gives you a free sample at the end is always a winner. Unfortunately Mum and Mikayla weren’t interested in doing the nearby hot chip museum so next stop was the main Markt square.

The Markt was packed with people so we popped into the post office to send a couple of post cards back to Australia. Never again, super expensive it cost us about $15 to send two postcards, extortionate. Post from France not Belgium!

We finished our day in Bruges with a visit to the smaller market square where the Basilica of the Holy Blood is. A small doorway off the square takes you into a tiny church with two even smaller chapels. Here you can see a phial that reputedly contains Christ’s blood brought back from the Crusades.

We got to Ypres with plenty of time to park Vincent in the free parking for the night and catch the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate at 8pm. This is held every single night at 8pm, a full last post ceremony, an amazing tribute to fallen soldiers. Standing amongst the huge crowd gathered to remember we got to be part of another very moving experience. Lest We Forget.

After the ceremony we walked around the Menin Gate Memorial and back to Vincent along the ramparts. The next day we spent the morning walking further along the ramparts where there are also Australian and New Zealand War Memorials and in the Commonwealth War Cemetery here before making our way through town to cathedral and the In Flanders Fields Museum.

This museum takes you through the events of World War I with information about the lead up, different battles during the war, artifacts and personal accounts. So worth doing and just like the American Omaha Beach Visitors Center did for World War II, gave us a lesson in the history of World War I.

One more time exiting town through the Menin Gate and we were on our way to Tyne Cot British Memorial and Cemetery. Here we were able to search the Commonwealth War Graves Commission web site and found out where our Nan’s first husband and our Granddad’s brother were buried during World War II, though not at this beautiful memorial.

Our very last day in Europe was spent in Fromelles at the Australian Memorial Park, war memorial and cemetery, situated at opposite sides of the battle lines from the Battle of Fromelles and puts into perspective the short distance that was between the two lines. The Memorial even includes the real German bunkers left in original position. We also met a lovely Australian couple here and spent a while chatting, it’s always nice to meet fellow Aussies and they are just wonderful.

The day flying by we soon found ourselves back on the train and crossing under the channel back to England.

Photos can be found on our Facebook page in the albums BACK TO FRANCE and BELGIUM.

WORLD WAR MEMORIALS FRANCE AND INTO BELGIUM

A walk through the main square of Arras, alive with the bargain market, took us to the tourist bureau where we had a choice of doing a touring through the tunnels under the city, learning about the histories of the town or a tour through the quarry tunnels used during both World Wars.

We chose the quarry, in keeping with the World War theme during our last week in Europe, and found ourselves heading to Wellington Quarry and Battle of Arras Memorial. Here we got our hard, very heavy, hats on and descended yet again into the earth. The tour lasted about 75 minutes, along boardwalks through the tunnels created by soldiers from New Zealand from the remains of the quarry. 24000 soldiers from Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain lived down here in the lead up to The Battle of Arras when approximately 4000 of those lives were lost each day in the following two months.

The tour is punctuated with video footage and personal stories making the story hit closer to home. You can also see genuine artifacts found in the tunnels. We also had a laugh here when we walked outside to find another Vincent, who we named Vincent’s brother, parked next to our Vincent. A quick comparison and we were off back into the center of Arras, this time able to see the town squares without market stalls, to climb the Belfry tower of the town hall.

It seemed to be a very popular day for weddings because we saw at least three wedding parties waiting to go up the tower for photos and one couple up there while we were. We always love seeing weddings; especially the bride and her dress so were quite excited. We also learned the tooting the car horn when you see a wedding seems to be a tradition in France because every car that drove past did their fair share.

From the top of the Belfry we got a beautiful view out over the city and surrounds. It was interesting to us how different the houses look when viewed from above. From ground level the streets are lined with flat fronted houses giving the impression that they are all rectangular prism in structure when in fact you see from above that they are anything but and all squished together into any space possible, no matter how dramatic the angles become.

We finished the day at Vimy Ridge Canadian War Memorial where we walked through some trenches and spent some time admiring the amazing monument to the Canadian soldiers who lost their lives during World War One and a celebration of Canada’s biggest military victory. This area is just beautiful and the memorial very touching.

Having to move right along we ended driving all the way to Ghent and camping next to a park in a very nice neighborhood before driving into town to start our time here the next day.

With no map of Ghent in our guidebook we had no idea how to find anything so first thing was a stop at the first thing that looked like they might have information, a monastery. Armed with a map we soon found what we came for, the cathedral that was much like many others, and the design museum.

The Design Museum was brilliant, showcasing furniture through the ages; rooms were all set up featuring antique interior design and furniture to the ultra modern. They also had an exhibition running, all about the pollution in the ocean and how this is collected to make useful products. We would love to buy a few sea chairs at some point.

We followed this with a walk along the canals, stopping in quite a few little independent art galleries and shops and found some stuff that we could definitely find places for in our home and future homes.

Yet again the day was finished with a drive to our next destination, Bruges the home of Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child.

Photos can be found on our Facebook Page in the albums BACK TO FRANCE and BELGIUM.

PARIS TAKE TWO

Another day, and what would be our last for this trip, of exploring Paris on foot. Starting with visits to the Church of St-Sulpice and the Church of St-Germain Des Pres, both old churches that are in disrepair though there seems to be some restoration work going on. It seems The Notre Dame gets all the attention but these churches are worth a look too, especially if you read The Da Vinci Code first!

Moving on from here our walking took us through some yet unseen parts of town, to another large church whose name I can’t recall, past some modern street sculptures and water features and to the bazaar Center Pompidou, built with it’s insides outside. Touting the best view in Paris we can only assume they mean the art inside because what could be better than the Eiffel Tower? All a bit sick of art (gasp) we decided to give the inside a miss and took off again in search of somewhere nice to have a very late lunch.

We ended up finding a fantastic little crepe restaurant on Rue Jean du Bellay, Ile St-Louis, and had a scrumptious three course meal finished with delicious crepes, salted caramel for Mum, apple and cinnamon for Mikayla and chocolate and banana for me, yum! We would definitely recommend this place. We hadn’t anticipated desert and had planned to go to Bathillion for ice cream so we stuck to it, until we got there. Bathillion is famous for having 70 flavours of delicious ice cream, they lie, there were only ten, of the most boring, flavours on offer, very disappointing so we gave it a miss. We didn’t need it anyway!

A brisk walk back to Vincent in the rain, this time with our rain coats, and we decided it was time to move on. We were so proud of Mum as she navigated the traffic towards and along the Champs Elysees and around for one last look at the Arch de Triomphe, until next time.

From here we got stuck in a traffic jam for about three hours and spent the time discussing how annoying it is when people stare at us in Vincent like he has one way glass and we can’t see them and how everyone would get so much farther much quicker if the drivers weren’t so selfish. We were in a dark, gloomy place at that point in time!

When we eventually got out onto the open road we were much happier, as was Vincent’s gear box, and we ended up finding a cute little camping spot next to a play ground near Giverny, our next destination.

In the morning it was straight to Monet’s Garden where I went crazy with flower photos. So much variety of beautiful blooms it took me ten times longer to get around the garden than Mum and Mikayla who had to wait for me before entering the water garden via the underpass.

The immortalized water garden is just as beautiful as you would expect and we visited at the end of the optimal time of year. Row boats sit amongst lilies and willows at the edge of the pond and the quaint bridges are picture perfect, funny that!

Monet’s house is also brilliant and just as exciting as the gardens. My favourite part was Monet’s office/living room where he painted in the later years of his life and where the walls are literally covered with paintings on canvas. I loved the kitchen as well. You can also see Monet’s collection of work by other artists and the view from the second story is pretty special.

The town of Giverny is gorgeous too, with it’s cute little homes and sweet gardens, we would have liked to have spent more time relaxing here but alas it was time to move on. If you’re looking for a photogenic town this one makes the cut.

The next day was spent driving again, broken by a stop at Beauvais Cathedral that we spotted from the main road from miles off, it’s that tall. This cathedral is extraordinary in that the roof is so high, pretty much the height of the spire. Inside the ceilings are just as high, which makes room for double the stained glass windows and a tremendous effect. Unfortunately it seems the architect was a little too ambitious as parts of the floors as sinking and scaffolding holds up parts of the ceiling. There is also a grand astronomical clock here, one of the best and most detailed we’ve seen, so we definitely put Beauvais Cathedral on the must see list.

After a log drive we ended up camping near Arras ready to get stuck into what would be a week or so of World War I and II history again as we moved along through France and Belgium.

Photos can be found on our Facebook page in the album PARIS (for photos of our previous visit) and BACK TO FRANCE (for this visit).

BACK TO FRANCE – REIMS AND INTO PARIS

N.B. As you may have noticed we are very behind on our posts. Too much traveling, not enough writing! The post we’re writing now are a progression through our last weeks in Europe though we are currently touring around England. Hopefully we will be up to date very soon but in the meantime our posts are flashbacks and we’ll let you know when we’re back to our current travel.

In Vincent some days are just driving days and lucky for us there’s usually something interesting to see along the way. The view is always changing and when it’s average we console ourselves that this is a means to an end. Though we didn’t have to this time as we were driving through the very pretty champagne region of France.

We love France for so many reasons, the food, baguettes, crepes, pate, the cute little towns that you drive through frequently, Paris, chateaus, and most of all the people, some of whom we’re lucky enough to call friends. We also love that Mikayla and I get free entry into most “tourist attractions” because we are citizens of the EU, lucky, and France is one of the only countries that do this.

We arrived in Reims in the early afternoon and went straight for the Cathedral here, the Cathedrale Notre Dame, the venue for Royal coronations when they were still being performed and a UNESCO World Heritage Site that’s been heavily restored since it was bombed during World War I. It’s very similar to the Notre Dame in Paris that I would recommend seeing instead.

We also spent some time at the museum next door where we learnt a bit more about the Royal coronations, got to see some crown jewels (not nearly as extravagant as expected), and had a giggle at the very feminine poses of the French Kings through the ages. Next was the Basilique St-Remi, another UNESCO World Heritage Site with an accompanying museum that contains an ancient relic collection to rival The Vatican.

The next day, on the way into Paris, we stopped at an English War Memorial and cemetery. These are always moving places and we were set to visit a lot more to come.

During our first visit to Paris earlier this year, new to wild camping, we stayed in a camping ground on the outskirts of the city. This time we went for it, driving straight into the city center, along The Seine and by the Eiffel tower before finding a suitable spot to park Vincent next to Cimetiere du Montparnasse, near the famous Le Catacombes. Quiet though pretty busy pedestrian wise we thought he’d be safe here to leave during the day and stay in at night, thankfully we were right!

Our first day in Paris we walked through Cimetiere du Montparnasse and attempted to see Le Catacombes but when we saw the line, stretching around the block, we decided we would try again another time. So, it was on to Paris’ Pantheon where we walked straight in with no queue to explore the expansive artworks on the inner walls and the sculptures surrounding them. The crypt here is also very interesting as it houses the tombs of famous historical figures, a few being Voltaire, Victor Hugo, and Marie Curie, among many others.

Usually extremely lucky with weather (I can say this because I am writing overlooking the Sound of Raasey from the Isle of Skye, Scotland and there isn’t a cloud in the perfect blue sky), we saw more rain visiting Paris in summer than we did in winter. Stuck with no raincoats we left the Pantheon, running between the shop fronts until the rain subsided.

Into the Jardin Du Luxembourg, deserted and drenched, we made our way through towards the Rodin Museum pausing briefly to admire the Palais Du Luxembourg. The garden is more like a big park with water features and large expanses of grass to picnic and play on. We would have spent more time here had we not been afraid of getting rained on again.

We arrived at the Rodin Museum and had to wait in our first line of the day. Though we didn’t wait very long we decided that visiting the sites in Paris is much better in Winter when there are no lines.

We started in the lovely gardens while the rain was holding off and were greeted with The (famous) Thinker, contemplating away, before moving on to see more sculptures like The Kiss, Balzac and The Burghers of Calais. Inside the museum shows a collection of finished works as well as drafts of the famous sculptures in various sizes and materials. As you walk around you notice that the subjects in the sculptures are tortured beings, reason being they are all included in “miniature” on Rodin’s Gates of Hell. After visiting the Rodin Museum we loved spotting the sculptures out on the streets around Paris too.

To finish the day we walked to the foot of the Eiffel Tower, seriously considering going up again, before realizing we probably wouldn’t see that much through the fog anyway. Strolling back in the direction of Vincent through the Parc de Champ de Mars we couldn’t help but stop and look back frequently, Paris and The Eiffel Tower really are special parts of the world.

Photos can be found on our Facebook page in the album PARIS (for photos of our previous visit) and BACK TO FRANCE (for this visit).

ADVENTURE IN THE SWISS ALPS

The drive from Lucerne to Interlaken was absolutely stunning, the surrounding mountains descending into the tremendous lakes whose waters are such a bright turquoise blue that their colour almost clashes with the entirely green surrounds. It just make you want to jump in immerse yourself in the crystal clear water although the temperature usually prevents us from doing so.

The visitor’s center was our first port of call in Interlaken with train, walk and attraction information needed. We were advised by the lovely lady here that the weather forecast for the next day was not good so we decided to postpone the Jungfraujoch train ride another day.

Afterwards we had just enough time to catch the last entry of the day to Trummelbach Falls where the falls are actually inside the mountain. An elevator takes you up to the top of the cascades and you work your way down to ground level through an indescribable wonderland of caves. It’s so loud inside that communication is by looks and gestures and there’s so much water rushing through that a raincoat is essential.

We woke outside Trummelbach Falls the next morning to see that the clouds were indeed very low and the day was going to be rainy. Glad we had taken the advice of the Lady at the tourist information center we set to reading through all our pamphlets to find something to do for the day.

Reading through we came across some information on skydiving. The one that caught our eye was a flight over the Jungfrau and Monch before dropping in front of The Eiger, amazing. We spent the whole day going around to all the different skydiving and adventure companies trying to find this particular one to no avail as none of them did a drop in front of The Eiger.

We also ran into a few problems preventing us from any skydiving at all; the weather was stopping jumps that day and we were going on the train the day after and we couldn’t all go at the same time which would have defeated the purpose of doing it together. Hopefully we’ll find somewhere to skydive later on in the trip because it’s definitely still on the list!

Having decided to catch the early morning train from Grindelwald up the Jungfraujoch we camped nearby and arose very early, not common for us in holiday mode, to catch the first, and cheapest, train of the day. Up we went through the inside of the mountain most of the way to 3454 meters above sea level, the highest train station in the world. On the way up the train stops at lookout points where you have time to jump off the train to have a look and jump back on again, beautiful. Looking out over natural untouched snow is one of my favourite views.

We got to the top and discovered that as well as a train station there is a complex of things to see and do. First stop for us was up to The Sphinx viewing platform, at 3571 meters above sea level, where we looked out over Jungfrau and Monch before heading down to walk out across Altesch Glacier and a little higher up the mountain to Monchsjochhutte at 3650 meters above sea level.

We soon realized we were not quite prepared and were starting to feel the effects. Having woken early we hadn’t felt like eating breakfast so at about 11am the only thing we had eaten so far was a banana. We devoured our fruit snacks out (a nectarine and another banana each) half way up to Monchsjochhutte. Feeling slightly better we continued to make our way skyward but Mum soon felt very ill so Mikayla and I went on to see the view from the top.

Altitude sickness affected, Mum decided to give the ice palace a miss while Mikayla and I skimmed through before getting back to the station to begin our descent. It took a little while longer but I started to feel sick on the way down too so we were all glad to be heading towards sea level.

We departed the train at Kleine Scheidegg and had lunch at a restaurant here, which made us feel a lot better, before starting the 2 hour walk down from here along the bottom of The Eiger. We would stop frequently to look up at The North Face and out across the mountains, stunning. I took so many photos to bore everyone with back home.

As we were heading down Mikayla and I realized our faces were starting to go very pink. It just shows how much the sun reflects off the snow and unfortunately one of the perils of being allergic to sun cream is that a hat and sunglasses just doesn’t do the trick when it’s a perfect blue sky above.

Exhausted and resembling a mix between a lobster and a panda we caught the train from a nearby station back to Grindelwald and went straight for Interlaken to a spot to camp the night, that we’d scoped out on our first day here, right on the lake. Then straight into the freezing cold water to try to alleviate the sunburn a little, I’m sure we sizzled and steamed as we entered the water.

In the morning I woke and felt like my face was swollen and still so hot, so it was back in the water for me before we left Interlaken, beginning a driving day towards France. Driving past lovely lakes and hills the views were gorgeous but our favourite part of the journey was the drive between Beil/Bienne and Porrentruy in Switzerland.

We always say things happen in threes and along the way we saw three events. First we stopped for lunch at a polo match, commentary in English, where Mum got her horse fix. Next drive past all the teen girls lining up for the One Direction concert in Bern. We thought it was very funny picking out the poor unfortunately Dads that had been roped into taking their daughters and her friends. They looked like that rather be sticking knives in their eyes than be there to see 1D! Last we saw what we assume was the set up for the Tour de France, with balustrades being placed along the mountainous roads, wish we could have waited around to watch!

It was back into France for us though and we were on our way to Paris again via Reims.

Photos can be found on our Facebook page in the album SWITZERLAND

FLYING THROUGH THE BLACK FOREST, ZURICH AND LUCERNE

As you may have noticed we are very behind on our posts. Too much travelling, not enough writing! The post we’re writing now are a progression through our last weeks in Europe though we are currently touring around England. Hopefully we will be up to date very soon but in the meantime our posts are flashbacks and we’ll let you know when we’re back to our current travel.

Our drive through The Black Forest began at Baden-Baden where we stopped briefly at the visitor’s center to get some information on the area. Everyone’s heard of the Black Forest and we were excited to see it though we didn’t know much about what there was to see and the best route to take throughout.

We settled on the main tourist route, even though we usually try to avoid the very touristy areas, as this was the most scenic route, hence its popularity. Arriving in the late afternoon we were on a mission to find a camping spot and relax in the forest.

Most of the next day was spent driving through, enjoying the view. Very different to what we expected as the trees are quite far off the road and it’s only when you venture into the trees that you realize why it’s called The Black Forest, the dense foliage cuts off the light.

We came across Triberg home of Germany’s highest waterfalls at 160 meters. Walking along the Gutach plunge next to the seven cascades you can easily imagine a fairytale taking place here. There’s just something about water whether it’s ocean, river, lake or waterfalls that makes everything instantly prettier.

We wouldn’t say that The Black Forest was our favourite place but it does have some truly beautiful parts. Time to move on though and we were on our way to Konstanz, next to the huge Lake Konstanz on the border between Germany and Switzerland and the gateway to some of the most spectacular scenery we’d yet seen.

First stop was Zurich and as usual we went straight for the old town center where we saw the three main churches Saint Peter’s Church, Grossmunster and Church of Our Lady. The internal structure of these churches is unique in that there is an extra chapel behind the altar and usually this is where the stairs to the crypts are located. Very different to what we have seen and another reason we keep visiting almost every one we see.

We decided Zurich feels a lot like Perth, especially when you’re standing looking over the wide expanse of Lake Zurich with the swans gliding across the surface. A beautiful city where we would have liked to have been able to spend more time.

We are only brushing the surface of most of the cities we visit and obviously each one has so much more to offer than we see. We pick the major attractions that interest us but we have come to think of this trip as reconnaissance for future travel as there really is so much to see. We thought a year would be a long time to travel, and though it is time flies by and you can’t see everything. We also believe that getting to know the feel of a place and meeting new people is just as important, if not more so, as seeing ancient artifacts in a museum.

After Zurich we found a great parking spot just off the road next to Lake Zug where we discovered our own little beach private from the road. Taking the opportunity to have a swim, although it was freezing, and get clean.

We drove into Lucerne the next day and immediately came across the main attraction here the famous Chapel Bridge. Introducing what we call tourist central; a place that is recommended by all the guidebooks as a must see therefore drawing a million tourists and in effect wiping out the charm and beauty of said place. Nevertheless we did stop to bustle with the throngs of people on and around the pretty bridge and returned to Vincent as soon as we could, exhausted and ready to move on and up to the mountains to tackle as much as we could of The Swiss Alps.

Photos can be found on our Facebook page in the album SWITZERLAND

ROTHENBURG, RIEMENSCHNEIDER AND NEW FRIENDS

Rothenburg is what I would imagine The North Pole looks like, with it’s sloping old town square and perfect gingerbread style houses lining the streets. Even the shop signs and lampposts are beautifully adorned with intricate detail.

They say that Rothenburg is the perfect town for your entire souvenir shopping needs with its Kathe Wohlfahrt Christmas Shop, countless teddy bear boutiques brimming with cuteness as well as the typical gift shops, so we hit the ground running with a scan through all of these delights.

As we entered the main square we joined locals and tourists alike congregating around the school music band setting up to perform. Chairs had been arranged around the makeshift stage and we sat down to listen to the Music Ambassadors from Florida who had been touring around Europe, perform a few pieces, a nice surprise.

After a while we moved on to Saint Jacob’s Lutheran Church, special because it houses the famous Altar of the Holy Blood, carved in wood by Tilman Riemenschneider, Germany’s own Michelangelo. After admiring this piece for a while we moved on the find another piece of Riemenschneider’s work in the nearby town of Detwang.

A short walk down one of the steepest hills we’ve come across to Detwang was broken only to eat the Schneeballen we’d purchased along the way. Snowballs in English, these doughy delights were originally created by bakers to use up all the leftover dough they had created making other things. Offcuts of dough all rolled together into a ball originally coming in one flavor, sugar, although now there are many different variations to choose from. Quite nice though super sweet and very hard to eat, we didn’t race back to the shop for more.

In Detwang we found the small chapel where we saw a second piece of Riemenschneider’s work, altered to fit into the small space it now occupies and made our way back up the hill to Rothenburg.

Walking through town at the end of the day we were eventually attracted to a small quiet shop showcasing glasswork for sale. The lady in the shop explained in as best she could in hand gestures that her husband was the glassblower who created the work. The glass was exquisite and we could have bought the whole shop if we had been able to get it home! Glass of various colours, sizes and shapes turned into lamps where what caught our eye first.

The glass was just gorgeous once the light was inside and still lovely and very different when turned off. Sadly we could not risk buying the huge lamps as travel back to Australia would be quite impossible but we did manage to shop for many gifts and a few little treasures for ourselves. The lady was laughing at us trying to make our decisions but as we gave her quite a bundle to wrap up she gave us all a gift, such a lovely shop and lovely lady.

We spent another hour exploring the Kathe Wohlfahrt Christmas shop, a special wonderland of all things you could possible imagine for adorning the home at Christmas. Once again we had to restrain ourselves as sending things home would be difficult. Just window-shopping and exploring all the nooks and crannies here was great fun.

We reluctantly left this absolutely gorgeous town and headed off toward the Black Forrest. We found a little parking spot and then, quite unexpectedly, a new adventure began. We were all ready for bed about 8 pm and just eating dinner when a very large tractor and plough pulled up beside us.

A man approached the car and was surprised to find three females only, where is the man? He proceeded to tell us that we should come back to his farm to stay the night, much safer and very interesting, as he was an organic farmer. We said we would be fine and he said he was still working but would be finished in about an hour.

Sure enough a little over an hour passed and Daniel was knocking on the door again and would not take no for an answer. We followed him back to his farm, went on a guided tour of his high tech barn and met his dairy cows all the while dressed in our PJ’s and jackets. Then up to the house, along the way meeting the goats, chickens, pigs and calves, cute.

We sat around the kitchen table while he ate his dinner and we helped him drink a beer or two and wine, whilst discussing numerous different topics from religion to politics and especially his organic farming and his family. At about 2am we settled back into Vincent and slept “late”, until 7am.

We rose early to see his wife finish milking the cows and then picked berries before going in to breakfast. Here we met their son, Jonas, 2 and Anna, 6 months, gorgeous little kids. Mum managed to make great friends with Anna much to the surprise of her parents and I think Jonas thought we were from Mars, as we could only talk to him in a strange language.

After taking them up on their offer of a shower we moved on about 11am towards The Black Forest having thoroughly enjoyed our farming experience with Daniel and his family. We were so touched by their generosity and kindness and hope we can keep in touch with such lovely people.

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

TIME IN GERMANY WITH OUR LOVELY FRIEND LENA

As we left Austria to move into Germany we started to get excited to see one of our dear friends Lena. This beautiful young woman was one of our Help X friends who we have not seen since 2012.

On our way to her home in Plattling we stopped in the town of Passau. This is a really charming old town that once again delivers a special feature to us, a spectacular glass museum. Entering this building is a step back in time, a delightful hotel and also an extraordinary collection of over 30000 pieces of glass in over 5000 display cases; a variety of pieces dating back to the very first of this special art form created in 1650.

The changes of design of the different eras imprint into this magical medium. They are all spectacular and it is quite amazing that this is only one persons collection. We leave the building knowing we have seen enough glass to last a lifetime.

As we stroll across the square we note the markings on the Town Hall showing the flood heights that have hit this town over the years, 2013 being the second highest in recorded history after the early 1800’s. We stroll on to the Cathedral, the noteworthy difference, the coffins and crypt are metal and not stone. Every Cathedral seems to offer something new, one of the reasons the girls let me drag them to every single one we see!

Time to move on to Plattling and we arrive about 5pm at the address Lena had given, an apartment block. We were just wondering how we would locate her when she came walking along the street on her way home. How lovely it was to see her again.

This began five days of laughs and fun. On our first evening Lena introduced us to a new game, Dix It. The beautifully illustrated cards are a pleasure to discover and the game of making up a word to describe them was great fun. Our first morning there Lena cooked some special German sausages that we all loved.

We then went off to explore Plattling, a charming spot for Lena to live whilst she attends a Music school here. Our walk took us around the river seeing horses, an NFL game and also to the town Volksfest, a small fair. It was so lovely to watch children having such fun and to see the locals dressed in National costume.

The next day we took Lena for her first ride in Vincent to go to Spiegelau, a spot in the Bavarian Forrest National Park. We explored the forest on our 3 hour walk, just gorgeous. On this very hot day Lena had decided to stop and lay in the middle of the road for a moments rest, just as a bus came flying along, a very near miss.

We were all exhausted that evening so decided on Japanese take away for dinner and a movie. After the meal we settled down on the sofa bed to watch a movie, all sitting in a row, and within minutes the whole bed collapsed. We felt so guilty that we had destroyed Lena’s furniture, that had held up fine the night before, but she has since decided that it is better at ground level, phew.

Our next day was a very special treat as we joined Lena at her school and went to her singing lesson. She has such a lovely voice and a very lovely teacher who welcomed us as spectators. The afternoon saw Lena free so we ventured off to the local swimming pool, complete with water slides and diving boards. A great fun time had by all and so lovely to be soaking in water.

It goes without saying that to have been in a flat with a toilet and shower was absolutely divine and the pool experience just made it all that much more special. Our final full day was spent again at the school, this time with 3 other young singers. What a treat to hear all their beautiful voices. We also got to meet more of the students, particularly a couple of young men who were particularly lovely and welcoming. We sat in on a conducting class with them and enjoyed it very much.

We spent our last afternoon together window-shopping in the nearby town of Deggendorf. Our valuable time with Lena had to come to an end with us having to say goodbye early the next morning as Lena set off to school. We were so sad to part from her and look forward to our next meeting. Thank you so much Lena for a wonderful stay in your gorgeous flat.

Our next stop on our German journey was in Nuremburg, infamous as one of the main stages of the War Crime Trials. We centered our visit at the Hitler Rise Museum at the Nazi Party Rally Grounds, with a very well presented audio guide through the rise of Hitler and his power over the German people. A horror story of one man managing to destroy the individual identity of the people, always organizing group events of a huge magnitude, making membership of the Nazi Party or Hitler Youth, for young people, compulsory and using copious amounts of propaganda.

The whole tour and museum were very interesting and give insight into the mentality of the people at that time. The effect of Hitler’s clever ploy made everyone proud to be a part of the whole and any freethinking became a rarity.

Individual accounts spoke of being shocked to hear of the atrocities that were being committed, not being able to believe that their Fuhrer would allow such things, let alone instigate them.

His preparation for power and the horrors he committed started a long time before the rest of the world realized what was happing. He was an evil maniac that managed to hood wink generations of people into believing he was a savior and that the German race was superior to all. Thankfully the eventual Second World War put his madness to an end, lest we forget.

Drained and enlightened by another integral part of never forgetting this awful history we made our way towards Rothenburg, the perfect happy place to spend the next day.

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

THE UNTERSBERG, SALZBERG AND CEREMONY IN THE SALZKAMMERGUT

Exhausted we found a camp spot in St Leonhard near the Cable-Car Untersberg ready to catch the first ascent the next day. At 8:30am the next day we turned up raring to go and were lifted to the 1873m summit of the Untersberg and spent a couple of hours walking higher and enjoying the spectacular 360 degree view from the peak. We could have spent all day up there but our time was running out on the Salzburg Card.

We entered the grounds of Hellbrunn Palace unaware of the fun we were about to have. They call it the pleasure palace because everything built here was designed for maximum fun; the trick fountains here live up to their name. Tour guides take groups through the gardens turning on hidden fountains and spraying as many tourists with water as they can. We ended up the first victims, selected out of the crowd to sit at the outdoor dining table where water comes out of the chairs and table from all angles, impossible to stay dry, luckily it was a sunny day!

As well as the uncertainty about where to stand and laughing as people suddenly jump around and run away from the water, the tour is well worth doing just to see the beautiful garden, waterways and delightful features. Exiting to see the rest of the palace we went searching the rest of the gardens for the famous gazebo/pavilion where Leisel is visited by Ralph in The Sound of Music, stopping along the way to play on the flying fox. We found it and took some photos, it’s much smaller than I would have thought.

Inside the palace we learnt about the water tricks and the exotic animals, mostly birds, that used to call the palace grounds home. Part of the palace although built separately on the hill above is a mansion that houses the Folk Museum where we sat and played an Austrian board game before moving on to the zoo. Here we spent the rest of the afternoon watching the animals, some completely new to us like the Tapir with what looked like five legs but turned out to be the biggest penis any of us had ever seen. We learnt a little more than we needed that day!

We finished the day back in Salzburg seeing the Stift Nonberg, the Abbey from The Sound of Music, from the outside imagining all the scenes that were filmed here.

The next morning we were on a mission to find a sommerrodelbahn (summer toboggan run), and having camped nearby we were headed towards the one in Fuschlsee. Slow going up yet another hill we came across a few people standing outside their parked cars. Interested, ahem nosey, we decided to stop too and saw a group of children in national dress in the valley below, they subsequently moved out of view and were followed by a procession and priest walking under a canopy.

Suddenly three men fired a huge gun into an open field that seemed to signal the procession to move on up the road, lucky for us right past us sitting in Vincent. A marching band, the children, the priest and members of the community were all in the procession that we later found out was part of a ceremony involving the whole community, performed twice a year to bless the ground and pray for flourishing crops. Usually the weather forces the ceremony to remain inside the local church but as it was such a beautiful sunny day it was perfect weather to hold it outside, lucky us!

After the ceremony had past us we drove on past the sommerrodelbahn we were looking for and found that we had already been parked in their car park to watch the procession. We bought nine rides, just to try it out, and took our three each, able to enjoy the view on the way up while being pulled backward by the lift then going as fast as we could on the way down the course, though we were a little hesitant on the first go.

We were glad we turned up early in the morning because by the time we had finished and were ready to buy more the tour buses had turned up and it got way too busy. Time to move on and we drove along through St Gilgen and St Wolfgang almost completing a round trip ending in Mondsee, home of the church where Maria and Captain Von Trapp are wed in The Sound of Music.

As well as visiting the church we did some window shopping and watched the locals enjoying the national holiday. A late lunch by the lake and we were on our to Germany.

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

THE SALZKAMMERGUT AND THE CENTER OF SALZBURG

Europe is full of stunning views and Austria didn’t disappoint. Entering from the Czech Republic towards Linz we had a bit of a drive through industrial areas before arriving in the Salkammergut, Austria’s Lake District. Combining nature, especially lakes, and picturesque towns we were in our element.

Our first camp spot was right on a lake near the town of Gmunden. We left here early the next morning and made our way, enjoying the constant views, to Hallstatt, that came highly recommended. Though we didn’t stop directly in town we did spend a bit of time looking over it from both sides from next another huge lake and got some great photos.

Later we visited Eisriesenwelt, ice caves above the town of Werfen, south of Salzburg. There were a few ice caves recommended in the guidebooks so we had jumped online a couple of days before to choose one to go to. Eisriesenwelt had a great website with lots of pictures, giving the illusion of a winter wonderland. I say illusion because that’s pretty much all we got.

After driving Vincent up an 18% incline to about 1000m altitude, a miracle he got us there, we bought our tickets for the last tour of the day and started the further ascent to 1650m. A lovely, though steep, 20-minute walk took us to the cable car. Up we went and the view just kept getting better, almost worth the price of the ticket just for this. Another 20 minutes and we were at the mouth of the cave, sweating profusely in our arctic weather gear, essential for the subzero temperatures inside the cave but way too much for the perfect sunny day we were having outside!

Armed with a gas lamp between two we entered the cave expecting a blue and white world inside. Unfortunately not to be, they don’t turn the lights on so that visitors can experience what is was like when the cave was first found in the 1850s. Up and down about 700 stairs each way, we only saw the steps in front of us and on the rare occasion when the guide lit a magnesium strip the ice surrounding us. We’re rarely disgruntled by the places we visit but this is one we wouldn’t recommend. The redeeming features were the amazing view you see on the walk up to the cave and that we had a perfect camping spot at 800m up the mountain overlooking Werfen and the lights at night!

The next day excitement levels were at an all time high as we were going to visit the home of The Sound of Music, one of our all time favourite movies and one that is very special to our family!

Avoiding tours so we could see the sites at our own pace we bought the Salzburg Card and set out to make the most of our “free” 24 hours.

Mozart’s Geburtshaus (Birthplace), the home where he lived for the first seven years of his life was our first stop, activating the card. Here you can read all about Mozart and his family, about the history of his music, and letters between he and his wife. Amazingly there are still locks of his hair on show and even his first Violin, very special. We also learned that Mozart was involved in operas, from writing the music to designing the sets, talented is an understatement.

It seems that virtuosity ran in the family as Mozart’s sister Marianne was also a child prodigy on the piano and violin, though born female, and in her time, her duty was to look after the home after her father died.

Next stop was a walk through the old town to the cable car, the oldest in Austria, up to the Festung Hohensalzburg (fortess) to a beautiful view over Salzburg. Here we wandered through the fortress and military museums, although our favourite thing up here was the tiny World of Marrionettes.

Back down the cable car and into the gorgeous cemetery nearby to find the catacombs, hewn out of the rock face creating a long uneven staircase up to the small rooms and tombs, though we didn’t see any bones!

Now for our first real The Sound of Music location, Mirimar gardens where Maria and the Von Trapp Children dance and sing along through the roses and around the fountain. We happened to arrive when a choir group was mingling around the fountain all dressed up in their national costume. A walk around the rest of the gardens, past a man filming a Thai Chi video and a group of huge gnome statues, and an ice cream took us to just the right time to catch the last cruise along the river.

Sitting up the front on the Amadeus Salzburg panorama speedboat the trip wasn’t speedy at all. This boat is specially designed for the shallow river and the only one that is allowed to cruise on the part running through the city. Nice to see the city from yet another different angle.

Our time in Salzberg and the Salzkammergut is continued in the next post. Photos can be found on our Facebook page in the album AUSTRIA.

PRAGUE, OLOMOUC AND CESKY KRUMLOV IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

When driving into a new country in Europe one of our favourite things to do was to pick out all the subtle changes we could see. To decide what made the country we were in unique, our first impressions and things that we had seen before in other countries. It’s amazing the changes you see even when moving along only a short distance and that’s the beauty of traveling in Europe.

Our first stop in the Czech Republic was a relatively large town called Olomouc where we spent an evening walking between churches like Saint Wenceslas Cathedral and Saint Moritz Church, mostly closed or holding services, before heading to the main square. With the days becoming longer walking around in the evening is a perfect mixture of cool daylight hours and quiet tourist free streets, perfect for walking around what is touted as being an old town to rival Prague.

Dominated by the old town hall, the town squares main attraction is the tall Holy Trinity Column, a UNESCO World Heritage site that is definitely worth a look, with its elaborate detail.

We found a spot to camp in the forest between Olomouc and Prague where we were lucky enough to see more wild deer. Though they didn’t come very close it’s always nice to see wild animals, as long as they’re not dangerous and keep their distance of course!

We knew when we arrived in Prague that we were in for a treat and we fell in love with this beautiful city as much as we did with Budapest. We can’t seem to get enough of beautiful buildings and they seem to have become a basis for what we seek out to see on our trip.

Planning to camp a couple of nights here we were on a mission to find a good free camping spot and settled for a side road at the top of the hill in the castle surrounds. When looking for a spot in the city it’s important to find free, non-ticket and time unlimited, parking in a nice area to avoid both parking tickets and theft. As always it’s also very important that the space is level as it is our little home on wheels and homes don’t work very well when parked on a hill.

Again we spent an afternoon doing everything we could while there were less fellow tourists around, walking around Saint Vitus Cathedral in the Prague castle complex and down Golden Lane. We took the chance to view Prague from below whilst walking across Charles Bridge and had a laugh practicing our posing for photos, tourist style.

Some shopping at Wenceslas Square took us into the night when we moved on to the old town square. Alive with people and street performers we did our best to stick together while admiring the amazing Tyn Church and the very cool old town hall clock tower that features an astronomical clock as well as intricate mosaics lining the entrance inside.

We finished the day walking back to Vincent through the Jewish Quarter and back across the river to see the buildings lit up at night, stunning! We were also treated to some fireworks along the way, glimpsing them over the tops of the buildings!

In the morning it was time to tackle the crowds, making our way to Saint Vitus Cathedral again to see the inside. Walking through the gates to Prague castle Mum suddenly stumbled and the guards on either side of the entrance struggled to keep a straight face. Inside the Cathedral was very busy and we decided no to pay the entrance fee to the crypts to see the tomb of Saint Wenceslas we had somewhere else we were much more excited to see!

Most of our day was taken up visiting the Toy and Barbie Museum on Golden Lane. Releasing our inner children, not hard, we took in rooms full of old and new toys. Lead soldiers, tin trains, doll houses, toys from many different European countries, teddy bears, life size characters and much more.

The highlight though, the Barbie dolls. On a floor of their own we saw Barbies through the ages. A huge collection of Barbie, her friends and her family, and their progression through facial and body features and most importantly fashion. Impossible to choose a favourite and makes me want to start my own collection!

A walk up Petrin Hill for a magnificent view over Prague was next where we sat for a while before heading back to Vincent in time to move on. We found a spot to sleep and recharge right on the river about 30 kilometers south of Prague, ready for constant driving the next day to get to Cesky Krumlov right near the south border of the Czech Republic.

In Cesky Krumlov we walked through the lovely palace gardens, when moving on so quickly all the time it’s nice to be able to relax and take a stroll. Set at the top of the hill overlooking the castle and Vltava River the gardens contain a lake and a rotating outdoor theatre as well as beautiful garden beds full of flowers.

On the way down towards the castle we popped into another garden on the cliff and got an amazing view out over the river, old town and castle. Walking through the lower parts of the castle we came across the bear pits and it’s crazy to think that even in this day and age animals are still allowed to be kept this way, in small concrete boxes with a few pot plants. Very sad to see these huge, intelligent animals confined this way.

Our time in the Czech Republic at an end we started on our way to into Austria, excited for some time in the Salzkammergut, Austria’s Lake District.

Photos can be found on our Facebook Page in the album CZECH REPUBLIC.