12 Sept – Well, we are back in Kaiapoi. Our flight from Heathrow to Christchurch via L.A. and Auckland was long but uneventful. I sat beside an American earthquake engineer on the Auck/Ch leg. Our girls and the grandchildren were waiting at the airport as there was no school because of the earthquake. It was great to see them. Their houses are fine and our house is fine. No damage whatsoever. Those that were unaffected have a slightly guilty feeling and we soon realised the toll it had taken on everyone. The first quake must have been terrifying but the constant after shocks mean that most people’s sleep is disturbed. We met friends at the supermarket on Saturday and they looked stressed and exhausted. We have not visited the effected areas in Kaiapoi yet as they are appealing for people to stay away.

What a great trip we had. Everything went well, including “Lefty”. Here comes the commercial. “Lefty” will be up for sale around this time next year after we have been on another 5 month trip. We can take it back to the firm we bought it from, but we would prefer to sell it privately with all the stuff we have bought, including the bikes. If anyone is thinking of the trip to Europe and GB this could be a good deal. Any time period over 3 months it is better to buy than hire. We would need to stitch up a deal before we leave NZ in April 2011. You will be surprised how cheap that deal might be!
I hope you have enjoyed reading of our adventures. We travelled 15,500kms and by far our biggest expense, excluding the flights, was diesel. We will resume the blog next year.

1 Sept – Drove down the M6. Great watching the huge trucks trying to drag each other off. We passed all the towns where rugby league is played – Wigan and Warrington etc. Parked at the “Park and Ride” outside Chester and bussed into the city. Some lovely wood and plaster buildings all built around the 16th and 17th century. A nice walk around the Dee River. We found our campsite (field) just outside Chester and realized we were actually in Wales.

2 Sept – We drove to the local MacDonald’s to publish the last blog. We continued on skirting Wolverhampton and Birmingham and found our next campsite (another field) close to Stratford upon Avon. Offloaded the bikes and had a great ride along the greenway (fields and cycleway) into the town. All Shakespeare based. We saw his birth place and Anne Hathaway’s cottage.

3 Sept – A short drive thru the Cotswolds to Oxford. We had been here before in 2004. We cycled along the tow paths of the Thames River to the city. It was good to see the colleges in sunshine and warmer weather. We climbed the St Mary’s tower for a great view over the old buildings and colleges. Just heard from the kids and catching up on the news of the earthquakes in Christchurch.

4 Sept – Drove around London on the M25 to Walton on Thames where we camped in a camping ground close to the rail link into London. We cycled to Hampton Court, built by Henry V111. We strolled around the gardens which were very nice.

5 Sept – Skyped the kids to here the earthquake news and then cycled to the station and caught the train into London (1/2 hour). We walked down the South Bank of the Thames passed London Bridge, the Millennium Bridge and the Globe Theatre crossing over at Tower Bridge and stopped for lunch at the Tower of London. We had seen most of London in 2004 but it was good to see the landmarks again. The city was full of bikes as there was a huge sponsored cycle event around the city. The went into St Paul’s Cathedral (missed in 2004) and then caught the tube to Trafalgar Square for a walk up the Mall to Buckingham Palace and back down the Birdcage to Westminster and Big Ben before catching the train and cycling back to “Lefty” exhausted!

6 Sept – We started to clean the “Lefty” and prepare it’s for the 8 months storage. We drove down to Warsash (on the Solent) where Denise (nee Jelley, Val’s cousin) and Ian McGregor now live. We parked up their drive and had a lovely Pub meal with them catching up with the Jelley news. A great night.

7 Sept – Denise and Ian left for work and were kind enough to let us use the washing machine etc to complete the clean up for storage. We drove the 30kms to the storage place which John Sollis had jacked up. It was perfect, and they can even service and MOT “Lefty” before our return next year. John and Jackie picked us up and we spent another great night with them at Petersfield. John is keen to have a Moving Pictures reunion some time in 2012.

8 Sept – With mixed feelings, Jackie drove us to Heathrow for our flight home. I will do one more blog back in Christchurch.

25 August – Spent the morning doing a huge wash before cycling along the Firth of Forth on a cycleway to Musselburgh for bread. A good ride past many bird watchers.
At 3:00pm we caught the bus to Edinburgh for the Military Tattoo. It was pleasantly warm so we wandered around the town up to the Royal Mile and the castle. The Fringe Festival was in full swing and we watched a few of buskers who were very entertaining before have a meal and joining the queues to enter the castle forecourt where the Tattoo is held. The area in front of the castle has scaffolding grandstands erected (they look as if they stay there permanently). Our seats were to one side and near where the bands enter over the draw bridge. It was a great atmosphere. The Tattoo started at 9:00pm when it was just dark. There were many army bands from lots of countries. The NZ Army Band featured prominently. It was all very stirring with great lighting and visual effects projected onto the castle. It finished at 10:45 so we hightailed it back to the bus. (actually caught the second last bus) and arrived back at “Lefty” at 12:15am.

26 August – We drove over the Firth of Forth beside the spectacular rail bridge. It is like a Meccano model. We stopped at St Andrews Golf Courses and were surprised that we could just wander around the place. We walked down the 1st hole on the Old Course, across to the 17th “Road Hole” and back up the 18th. It all seemed much smaller than on TV! We drove around the ring road at Aberdeen and camped in a field on the way to Inverness.

27 August – On the way to Inverness we visited Cawdor Castle. It was very beautiful and is still the Dowager Countess of Cawdor’s home. There was to be an outdoor concert there tonight (unknown band) and tomorrow night (Westlife). It is August Bank Holiday this weekend. We drove thru Inverness and started south to Loch Ness. The road follows the lake and has great views. We camped in yet another field about half way down the lake. We cycled to Urquhart Castle. This is a ruin but enough of it still remains to give a sense of what it must have been like. Unfortunately the skies opened and we got soaked. Everything you visit seems to have an entry fee. If you went to all the attractions you would be broke!! Lots of tents arrived in the field with people setting up in a thick drizzle. It reminded us of Labour weekend in NZ.

28 August – We celebrated our wedding anniversary with a drive down the A82 from Loch Ness to Loch Lomond. What a glorious trip, passed several Lochs, thru high mountain passes (for GB), mountain streams and water falls. We passed Ben Nevis (obscured by mist) and stopped at Ballachulish, a small village where Val’s rallies came from (McColl). We went to the church yard and found plenty of dead rallies. There is even a terrace named after them. The camp at Loch Lomond was right on the lake shore. It certainly is a bonny Loch! We walked to the local pub along the shoreline for dinner. I had Haggis and Cloutie pudding. My granny used the word clout. (cloth). Val had Scottish Salmon.

29 August – Drove thru the outskirts of Glasgow and down the M74 to Carlisle where we left the motorway and wound our way thru the hills and dales of Cumbria and the Lakes District. We are camped at Ravenglass where we will spend 3 nights. We had a quick look at the village and have booked a trip on the small steam train (15” gauge) which runs up the Esk Valley for Tuesday.

30 August – A gloriously sunny lazy day at Ravenglass. After lunch we walked around the village and estuary. The village fronts onto a tidal estuary where three rivers flow out to the Irish Sea.

31 August – Another fine day for our rail trip. We cycled down to the station for the miniature train. The steam engines are ¼ size of the real thing but make all the correct noises and smells. They pull a huge load of carriages on a 15” gauge track. The line was established the end of the 19th century to bring granite down from a quarry up the Esk Valley. It was nearly abandoned until it became a tourist train running about 16 return trips a day. There are 7 steam locos. We bought a 1 way ticket for ourselves and our bikes. The trip up the valley takes about 40 minutes. We had a map which guided us back the 14kms thru lanes and farm tracks. Half way along the cycle route we had lunch and a pint at a lovely country pub. Beautiful, but not spectacular scenery all the way. A great trip!