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.