Days 1 & 2 (I think) Pat & I arrived in Rome about mid-day Sunday. The Singapore Airlines plane should have got here about 3 hours earlier but an undercarriage malfunction on the original plane saw us take 2 security checks at two different terminals in Singapore. We were met as planned by a driver who took us to the city - very quickly. At stages, on a 110km motorway not an autostrada were hitting 145 -150 km. Didn't tell Dave as we spoke on the mobile on the way. The hotel (Hotel Golden) is quite good. On the second floor [View Full Entry]

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In our very first blog, before we even left we posed the question as to whether the proposed trip would be “too ambitious and exhausting for two 65 y/o Aussies?” We commented that maybe it would. Unfortunately we were right and in hindsight we would have been better to take a guided tour or tours through Geoff’s much-anticipated Croatia. What’s gone on since our last blog? We flew from London to Venice and picked up our the car. No problems. The mad Italian drivers on the autostrada (?) were a precursor to what occurred when we got to Trieste. Having not [View Full Entry]

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After flowers, trees & other plants the Traf Duo wandered around in the London rain on the next two days. That's right, almost an hour after the sun-blessed Chelsea Flower Show finished, the wet stuff began and it hasn't really stopped since. What is there to do on a wet London day? Pat pointed us in the direction of one of the most well-know, high class and EXPENSIVE stores in London. What did she want to buy? A Harrods bag! That's right a bag - not a handbag, but a carry bag with "Harrods" written on the outside. When we [View Full Entry]

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Hampton Wick "Chase Lodge Hotel" Geoff Burt Yesterday we drove from Swanage, hauled our cases etc up the steepest and narrowest set of steps we've seen so far, returned the hire car to Avis at Heathrow airport and caught a train in to London. Quite humidly warm and by the end of the day of wandering and refamiliarising ourselves with the transport system, we were both knackered. Today we experienced one of the special adventures of the trip. Prior to leaving, we booked tickets for the Chelsea Flower Show in London. Oh, yeah. We've all seen flower shows before, but [View Full Entry]

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Glasgow to Swanage Geoff Burt It’s sometime since we’ve taken the opportunity to make blog entries so consequently this is on the first full morning in Swanage on the coast of Dorset in England. This is where John William Cole Burt and his wife and kids lived before emigrating to Australia about 150 years ago. Get your atlas out! JWCB was Geoff’s great great grandfather and was a stonemason and occasional farmer when he lived here. We’ve been here before but there is something about a place where you know many of your forebears lived and worked for so many [View Full Entry]

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We write this on Saturday night (May 19) after an eventful day of driving. GPS (Navman) was instructed to take us via the shortest rather than fastest route so we saw many narrow country roads and consequently very few large towns where we could fill a rapidly emptying fuel tank. Just made it to a town called Corby. Not a Sharelle in sight! Our overnight stop was made at a working farm complete with about 6 large and small housedogs, a cat, sundry pigeons, budgerigars, chooks, ducks, geese, peacocks & hens, sheep and pea hens. On the way we visited [View Full Entry]

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After a day of leisurely driving around Lake Windermere, walking around pretty little towns and having to back up about 100m in a very narrow road after a mobile home broke down at the narrowest point, we spent a quiet night at the B&B - Beaumont Hotel in Windermere. Friday morning, and we took to the motorways to travel south, bypassing Manchester and then south-east into the Peak District. Some drivers on the motorways are maniacs. The max speed is 70 miles per hour (that’s about 110 km). Many had to be doing 100 mph, but drivers in general are [View Full Entry]

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Untitled Geoff BurtEverything went well regarding the current car hire and we've now reached the Lakes District of England not far south of Scotland on the west coast. Today we went on a full day mini-bus tour around the area and we don't remember any of todays views from when we were here in 1976. Old farts like us have bad memories! The views were spoiled by the first day of rain we've had, but you can't have everything. The rain was not heavy, but constant. The scenery is not unlike the Scottish Highlands but just as memorable. [View Full Entry]

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Sunday, May 13 and we’re sitting in a very nice little B&B overlooking the harbour at Uig (pronounced (oo-ig) Ferries depart from here for some of the outer islands. We watched one arrive, unload and load trucks & cars and depart in about 20 minutes. For scenic grandeur the last 2 days of touring on Skye has been wonderful. So many vistas opened up at turns in the very narrow one-lane roads. The highlight was a trip down a glen on the south-east coast to Loch Brittle. Here we had close-up views of the famous Cuillin Hills. (we think the [View Full Entry]

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It’s Friday, May 11 and we have our hire car. First stop at the 8 step lock series lifting boats from sea level to the Calladonian Canal eventually linking with Loch Ness. We’ve reached Portree on the western side of the Isle of Skye and the vistas along the way were breathtaking. We liked the rugged scenes in Ireland when we went there, but this part of the world looks wonderful. The plan is to tour Skye for the next few days then return to Fort William for an overnight stop before we bus to Glasgow and pick up another [View Full Entry]

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