England - just passing through

Next day we headed to London again.  We walked along the Tower Bridge which was gorgeous in the sun. to be fair we could have been looking at the dungeons and they would have looked gorgeous after all the cold weather we have had. Off to Camden market for lunch again. We wandered along stalls but nothing really took our fancy, caught a bus to Oxford Street for shopping, bused through Picadilly Circus with the huge billboard, went to Hamley’s Toy Store, walked along Carnaby Street. It is surprising how fast a day can go.  In the evening we took in another show ‘We will rock you.’ It was agreed that the music was good, the storyline very weak. Still, theatre in London…

Took Mike out for lunch before driving to Portsmouth for Italian pizza at the beachfront watching the ferries go by. Pleasant to see others out enjoying the sun. Amazing how much rubbish is left behind after they leave the beach.

Frae Bonnie Scotland - catching up with family

It was wonderful to be in Scotland. We knew it would be a bit of a rush but it was important for the girls to connect with their heritage. We settled in with Bill and Janis, my aunty and uncle and it was as though we had always been there. On Monday we drove to Brechin to the Blue Door walk and the rocks of solitude along the North Esk river. We had all seasons in one day on that walk and none of them particularly unpleasant. I loved walking along the natural paths with the sun filtering through the new growth. It was certainly a contrast to winter months when the branches were bare. Mind you, some moments it felt as though it were winter. That didn’t stop our Gracie determinedly wearing her shorts! We had a picnic along the riverbank and we watched red squirrels dart up trees; never long enough for a photo of course. On the way home from Brechin Uncle Bill took us around the places where the girls’ great grandparents lived and where their granny had played as a child. They showed as much interest as you would expect but now at least they have a picture to put with the words. The heavens opened up and chunks of hail came down followed by weak sunshine! Good grief, who knew what to wear; perhaps Grace had the right idea.

Tuesday involved a trip to Kirriemuir; a small village thirty minutes away to meet  Great Aunty Vina and Eric. We stayed for lunch and were then taken in Uncle Eric’s Austin vintage car to the next small village to Great Aunty Janet and Uncle Arthur. Of course, photos were taken for posterity.
Bright and early on Wednesday we headed off to Aviemore in the cairngorm mountains. It was to be a long day trip with contrasting scenery. We rode the funicular up to the top of the mountain.  It was a 15-minute journey in a carriage filled with snowboarders and skiers. It was hard to believe that at this time of year there was much activity going on. Only in Scotland. After 15 minutes the weather closed in and the conditions were white-out. I had never seen the snow in little polystyrene like balls. When their weather cleared we headed to see the reindeer. They were reintroduced into Scotland in 1940 after several attempts and this time they have been successful. We saw babies and their mothers and one stag with huge antlers.
Grace now: Thursday was a blob around day and Friday the weather was rubbish. It was cold, wet and windy; perfect weather for going to hunt down the puffins. After about an hour or so of driving around, trying to find the national park we got there and started to walk the slippery cliffs. The wind up there was soo cold and the freezing rain felt like little needles. (They would if you wear shorts Grace!)We finally found the puffin cliffs and…no puffins, until we saw these little orange feet amongst all the black and white. They were a lot smaller than we thought they would be. A tad disappointing, but better than seeing no puffins at all for the effort we put in. We headed back to the nearest town and got posh fish and chips. They came in two little boxes and then in a posh paper bag. After stinking out the car and fogging the windows up we headed back home where mum and dad went out for drinks with Kelly and Cullum. And didn’t come back until 1.  Nuff said.
Saturday was lunch out with the lovely Carol and Jude at a converted stable. Very pleasant and a great catch up. We then headed into town to the shops for a look around, then off to the cemetery (I know how to have a good time) before heading back up to the whole family gathering Saturday night. So fabulous to see the second cousins in the same room and to have the cousins and uncles and aunties around.

 Sunday we left the family and headed to Stirling Castle. We dragged the girls around, took a few photos, had lunch on the stone wall outside and then off to Edinburgh Zoo to please the girls. They had a great time charging around in the sun without the layers.  All agreed: the kookaburras were cute, cats were great but pacing. Back in the car to head to the Royal Mile. Out of the car, walk the mile, in the car and off to York where we had bargain accommodation at 15 pounds for the four of us. Crazy! Had a beer and went to bed quite knackered

Harry Potter tour

Today we went on THE HARRY POTTER TOUR! I was so excited when we got there and saw the massive posters and signs. It took me and mum just over 3 hours to get around the whole thing. It was soo awesome because it was the actual sets and props that they used in the movies. We took millions of photos including one of me in Harry and Ron’s blue car from the first movie and the purple double-decker bus. Even if you’re not a Harry Potter fan you could still appreciate how amazing everything was.

We got to see Hagrid’s house, Wesley’s burrow, Snape’s potion classroom, the death eater’s masks and costumes, all the wands!  And even the nimbus 2000! It showed all the animal actors and how they have trained and all the special effects. We saw the entire wardrobe of actor’s costumes, even Voldemorts and the invisibility cloak. They had every prop from every single movie from all of the horcruxes to the tri wizard cup. They even managed to fit in two of the massive fireplaces from Gringotts and Professor Umbridge’s office. The outside had number 4 privet drive (the Dursley’s house) and Hogwarts Bridge. After seeing all the props, costumes and sets we went into another building that had all of the special effects. As soon as you walked in the door you were greeted by the angry-looking faces of the dwarfs who worked at Gringots and if you looked up right above your head was the life-size model of Aragog, Hagrid’s spider.

Everything looked so real! We got to walk down Diagon Alley and see the shop where Harry got his wand and where he got the nimbus 2000. In the last room, there was a scale model of Hogwarts, with every tiny little detail, right down to the windows having lights and little owls flying around. It took 3 months and a team of 40 to make. This model was used for most of the shots of the outside of the castle and used with a green screen in the flying scenes. When we walked into the room we were gobsmacked. It was so amazing. It made me and mum (and half of the other people in the room) cry; I loved the tour and it certainly won’t ever forget it.

London

Today we arrived in London! It was really exciting to see all of the things that you hear about on TV.  We dropped our things off at the hostel and headed out for the day. We walked across the Millennium Bridge and stopped at the Tate modern art gallery. It was ridiculous some of the things that can pass as being called art. We then walked down the road and came to the London eye. Dad, Ella, Anna and I went on it but mum stayed at the bottom as her claustrophobia kicked in. It was so cool being so high up and getting such a good view of everything. We got to see Big Ben, the parliament buildings and Buckingham Palace.

After the eye, we went to an outside bar called the Underbelly and sat in deck chairs in the sun.  It was lovely to finally have a day of sun. We soon left the bar because we had to get ready to go and see BILLY ELLIOT! I was so excited because I loooove the movie so the musical should be awesome as well. We decided to get the bus as we had left ourselves enough time to get there with all the traffic. Not. Most of the roads were closed off because the queen was going out tomorrow. The bus ride was painfully slow and only inched forward into a red light. After the gut-wrenching 45 minute trip we finally arrived practically running through the door. We had only missed 5 minutes. Thank goodness. The show was awesome! The sets were incredible as were the boys who played Billy. The choreography was amazing and you could tell how much time they would have put into practice because everything worked so perfectly. I would definitely go and see it again. It was for sure the highlight of London for me. We walked home and accidentally passed number 10 Downing St. We got an Ice cream and sat and ate it in Trafalgar square at about 10.30pm before tubing home.

Today we woke up after a sleepless night. The church bells rang every quarter of an hour! We had an all you can eat breakfast at our hostel and headed out for the day. We walked to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guard and SURPRISE! We ended up getting to see the queen! She was coming back from being at the opening of parliament house. After having lunch in Camden market we scooted off to Madame Tussauds. That was awesome! It was really cool getting your photo taken with all of the famous people. Even Jonah Lomu was in there (; as well as having really cool wax people they also had rides. Mum and Anna went in this scary dungeon thing then we all went on this tour of London ride that takes you through the history of London.  After the rides, we went into the 4D movie that they had. That was cool, it had things that punched you in the back and spat out water in your face. (Bad example)  After that, we got the train home to Hitchin.

Wales

We visited Telford on the way to Mabel’s house. Thanks to Terry W. we were told about a Victorian village where people dress in period costume. It was very cool! Who knew that green wax candles had poison in them to kill the rats and toll houses were established to collect money to help pay for roads. We exchanged English currency for Victorian currency and bought a raisin bun and lollies using pennies. Grace played a game at the amusement park and won a ball-in-a-cup thanks to the guy who let her win because she was rubbish. We wandered around the school, candle making shops, houses belonging to the villagers, stables; all very interesting.

Today we woke up to sunshine and birds at Mabel’s house. She has a bird feeder and so has many different types of birds like gold and green finches and coal and blue tits. The grey squirrel even came for a visit to get the bread Mabel leaves out for the birds.

After breakfast we headed up the hill called The Great Orme, to the cable cars for a ride. It was only 10 minutes long each way and freezing cold on the way back but was still fun.  After the cable cars Mabel took us to her favourite café for lunch. It was soo yum; we couldn’t even eat it all. After lunch we went back home and had to leave. Mum didn’t want to go but we managed to drag her out the door.

We drove to a little place in the middle of nowhere called Dufton where we would be staying the night. Dufton is in Cumbria and a really cute wee village with about thirty houses. Many of the fields had stone walls where our wire fences would be. Sheep with black faces roamed around and mum loved the whole scene. The receptionist at the youth hostel was so nice and made Ella a special meal because she didn’t like what was on the menu. Ella and I found that they had a hostel dog so while mum and dad talked to an Aussie couple that were staying at the same place we played with Harley (the dog). At about 10 we walked over the road to the local pub that was built in 1759. So it’s fairly new. After having a drink we all went to bed.

England : Day three

Monday; today we got to sleep in. Yess! I had such a good sleep considering I was on a camp stretcher that was actually really comfortable.  Anna and I made a massive lunch that we all ate before we headed off to Cambridge for the day. We got hot chocolates and plodded around the streets looking at universities and old churches and Trinity College. We also saw tourists punting on the River Cam. We stopped for a beer and hot chips at a pub called The Eagle which was first established in 1525. It is re-known for the crew of the Memphis Belle having had beers there between missions. They wrote their names on the ceiling using lighters, candles or lipstick! Off to London tomorrow to watch 'Billy Elliot' and to charge around many tourist sights.

England : Day Two

Today we went to Bodmin moor where the Cornish used to mine so there were heaps of awesome old buildings and deep holes in the ground that we could hide in. We kids got to hoon around and then the adults would come and find us. Ella, Finn and Maeve found an old passageway and hid in there and then made a wall out of rocks to hide where they were. Mum was looking straight at the opening and still couldn’t see them sniggering away.  I could see Finn’s face poking out of a gap in the rocks, so from then on it was pretty easy to catch them as there was only one way out.

We also saw a group of people taking part in a Celtic naming ceremony. They stood in a circle, some of them wearing kilts. At the end of the ceremony, they sang a song. It was a strange place to have such a ceremony, right on the moors.

After being there for a few hours we drove back home and had an early tea of Darragh's awesome curry and naan bread.  After lunch\tea we kids went on to start filming the movie that we had written. Although we didn’t get it finished before we left it was still fun taking photos of us in the car (: After wrestling on the tramp and enjoying dad’s scones with Cornish CLOTTED CREAM and homemade jam it was time for us to depart the Turley's and head to Anna Bananas. We arrived in Hitchin at 10, had some of Anna’s soup and went to bed. 

England

It’s Grace now.  Hey(:  Today we were smooth sailing from Belgium to the sunny streets of England! We’ve been on the road since 9 and have stopped off only to go to the toilet and to have a geeze at Stonehenge. That was pretty cool. We didn’t pay to get in so we just stood being the fence and had a look over.  Now we're off to the Turleys. Can’t wait to see everybody.  Mum’s making Ella and I look at every old house and tree that we drive past although we can’t see a lot because the fog is hiding a lot of everything.  We just passed a castle that was perched in a field of yellow clover. Mum’s desperation to get a photo soon turned to frustration as we sped past and her iPod’s camera was stuck facing her. Ella and I have created a new style of clothes called puffer pants. Yeah, we stick our legs through the armholes of our puffa jackets . You can probably imagine how awesome it looks.

 The fields of rapeseed are a very pretty sight from the motorway as we go boosting past, unsure whether we are breaking the speed limit or not; certainly there are cars passing us.

Ewan, the girls found you the perfect job in Belgium. You just have to run a youth hostel. We had a ‘Ewan’ at our one and both girls commented that he reminded them of you. He chatted away to us, was very friendly and even had some of your mannerisms!

Finally got some of the technology sorted. Have U.K sim card so cell phone now in action. Still no camera!

We are staying in Cornwall with the lovely Darragh, Judy and kids. Thanks to Darragh's Amazing Adventures and his knowledge of the most spectacular views and pretty places, we have been shown some really lovely places away from the crowds and back to nature. We have walked in the woodlands, along the cliffs, viewed castles, walked around pretty coastal villages, through churches, cemeteries and tonight we are going to a show of Swallows and Amazons. Great wine, great chat, great cheese and even a cheeky port from Spain. Both Terry and I have become rather round again but it's just too bad. There are too many different and interesting foods to try.

Beautiful Bruge

You have just got to visit Bruge; it is beautiful. The old city is made more attractive because of the meandering canals and the old stonework. We took a small river cruise to get a sense of the place and to get away from the hordes of tourists in tour groups. Some of the buildings dated back to 1600s and there were 14 catholic churches in the old city alone. We met a couple from the champagne region and chatted away, getting their tips for places to visit. One of the places was Damme, a quaint place with a pub a church and some restaurants. Apparently, this small place still earns the right to call itself a city which makes the locals proud. In Bruge we spent the morning wandering in and out of shops and churches and along cobbled streets before heading off to Sluis in Holland; where the Belgians go shopping.  I was interested in finding tulips! Unfortunately, they were a further 200kms away and no one else in our car cared about the tulips so I had to make do with the few scattered in gardens around Sluis. Sluis is a very pretty place with a windmill and a canal that you can boat on should you choose.  The sunny weather made all the difference to our mood and to the way everything looked.  Eventually, we made our way to Damme to discover the couple from the morning having a beer. We ended up dining with them in a posh restaurant; Terry in his jandals and long pants and me in my sundress and black sandals. What a combination but they didn’t question it. I had a tagliatelle (hmmm) with shitake mushrooms and thoroughly enjoyed the flavours. A rose washed it all down and then a coffee after that. Perfect.

Our second day in Belgium was for the girls and so we headed off to a science exhibition they had seen advertised. There were earthquake exhibits and tornado, volcano and …. It was okay but perhaps a bit tired. More entertaining was Sealife where they could watch a seal show and look at many fish species including sharks, huge crabs, stingray, turtles. They also had otters and penguins! The local supermarket was a great find with Cumin cheese at 2.58 euro for 500grams! Grace was excited by that. We were excited by the port at 4.99 euro. We may not be when we drink it! So after grabbing bread, cheese, choc biscuits, pasta, tomatoes, juice, we headed home for dinner and internet and packing. Hardly exciting but necessary.

Belgium and Holland countryside looked very much like New Zealand. Lots of long grass, some cows but not many, four sheep, two cats and 10,000 dogs. Everyone has a dog accessory. Many of the dogs are little and fit under your arm or in your bag. One couple yesterday had their pooch in a pushchair! I kid you not. The locals wear bright clothing, like ‘out there’ green and screaming pink. Quite nice to see when the weather was dreary. We are heading to floods and rain in the U.K and common sense tells us to turn the car around and go to Spain. Sigh!

Le Quesnoy

A new mode of transport! We picked up the car and circled the airport a couple of times while we found our way via GPS. Very stressful. The roads are so narrow, the cars are on the right side of the road and Terry is on the left in the car! We found our way to Le Quesnoy and to our great surprise it was so tiny and very like Emmerdale farm. What we could not find was the hotel or anything that resembled a shop or anything much like signs of life. Eventually, we found a pub and after "parlez-vous Anglais" and then "no" we proceeded to use sign language to ask where the hotel was. Upshot - wrong place and no idea how to get to the right one. Who knew there were two Le Quesnoy!

We were staying at Hotel Terminus and the only way we found it was through Gus the kiwi who happened to be in the town centre. Thank goodness because otherwise it is like looking for a needle in a haystack and we were over the navigating. We caught up with Cathy and Wendy and had dinner in the hotel’s Moroccan restaurant. We all really enjoyed this. The girls had kiwis they could talk to and the food they enjoyed eating although we did need Wendy to translate the menu and act as an interpreter because no one spoke English, and why would they. Le Quesnoy is not a tourist town but it is special because it is the town that will not forget that the New Zealanders liberated it after four years of German occupation in 1918. This town is unique because it is a 16th-century walled city (Google it people) and to get in the kiwis got a ladder! The British wanted to bomb the town to clear the Germans but the kiwis did not want any civilian casualties so they would not.

 On Saturday we met in the town square with the students from Nayland College, Wendy and Cathy and started the tour with Herb. Our first stop was the cemetery; so well-tended. It was sobering to walk around reading the headstones and seeing the names of the 18-year-old men who gave their lives. Meanwhile the bagpipes were played and suddenly I had a cold.

From there we headed to the gravesite of the soldier who received the V.C. He fell 15 days before the war ended having fought in many of the gruelling battles in Gallipoli, Somme and Paschendale. Enter bagpipes, poetry recitals, readings and an accordion player; all very dignified and for many of the people there, quite emotional.

Next was lunch in the town hall provided by the local council. It was a simple lunch but delicious. Terry was particularly excited by the terrine. After lunch, there was a presentation in the town hall to show the history of the town and the details regarding the wall. Dear god! Terry was nodding off and I had to dig him in the ribs, especially when he started heavy breathing. Many others were asleep. Grace, Ella and I suffered through the 17th-century battles and a blow by blow account of the origin of each brick in the wall. Two hours we will never get back.

From there we walked to view the plaque at the site where the New Zealanders scaled the wall. At this point, one of our party read out the DCM citation regarding his father who was from Temuka. There were a few tears and it was special to be part of this. We sang the national anthem of both countries then the tour was over.

At night we had dinner with the two mayors from the neighbouring towns and the local people from the French society who organised the weekend. What a lovely night it was with great food, wine and many laughs. Some of the group had been coming to these celebrations for ten years. LuLu (who is 80 years old) played the accordion and sang songs. He was a real character and enjoyed the attention as much as we enjoyed listening to him.

The following day was the laying of the wreaths which was the official part of the town celebration. John Key came to this last year. To end the event the Nayland kids performed a haka and then it was all over.