Saturday May 17th We started out from somewhere near York. In Yorkshire. Headed down the A1 and hit the gorgeous Yorkshire Dales. Via Constable Burton, a lovely village, and Leyburn. Seeing the Yorkshire Dales brings back all those memories of reading, and seeing on tv, James Herriot's tales of life as a vet here. You can just imagine him driving down the narrow lane between two stone walls. And clambering up the steep hill in his wellies in a bittery cold gale for some calving. Everywhere is a chocolate box view. I'm sure many of the houses and barns were in [View Full Entry]

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Friday May 16th Today was a travel day. Goodbye to the Byrnes and into London by train. Then out to South-End-on Sea to get the campervan. We have a GPS <: Off to Cambridge. Ate Meze at a very good midddle eastern cafe in Cambridge. Parked the camper down a back lane amongst the very old stone homes. Took in Kings College Cambridge before taking off up the A14 to the A1 'The North Road'. We will be heading North for some time. We booked a caravan park- had to be there by 8.30pm. Unfortunately this went awry when the navigator [View Full Entry]

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Thursday May 15th Another quiet day in East Grinstead. We found the caravan club has its headquarters right here in town. We went on down and they very nicely gave us a copy of their location booklet for Britain. This is fabulous. Went shopping and walked home down Worth Way a lovely country lane for walkers and cyclists. It's our hosts 15th Wedding Anniversary today so we made them dinner and a triple decker chocolate cake. It's been great staying with Heather, Martin and family. Thankyou so much, it's been wonderful and a great chance to recharge our batteries! [View Full Entry]

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Wednesday May 14th Well I never. Instead of hopping in to London today we had a big planning day on the internet. That's planning for our fortnight touring Britain's National Parks in the campervan. Having a more recent map and the British walks books helps significantly <: We did look around the High Street of East Grinstead as well. It's the longest 15th Century High Street in the world. Gorgeous Church built in 1078, where three martyrs were recently unearthed. And lovely Tudor homes or shopfronts with original features and some low doorways by our 21st Century standards. It was [View Full Entry]

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Tuesday May 13th Got up and did some research into National Parks in Britain, what to, see where to go. We have very old maps so needed some help from Heather. Mum's 80th Birthday. The big day has arrived, we phoned home early which was early evening in Melbourne. Happy Birthday Margie <: We are loving the country feel of East Grinstead even though it's only an hour out of London on the train. We got ino London about 11am. Past Westminster Cathedral. Headed off to Martin's must see MI5, then down to Victoria Gardens and the Houses of Parliament. Big [View Full Entry]

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Monday May 12th Travelled today from Dublin to Heathrow to East Grinstead to stay with Heather, Martin and Daniel, Emma and Nicholas John. It took a while, left at 8am got to East Grinstead after 5pm. But we saw a lot on the bus from Heathrow to Victoria Station. A tour along the Thames, past Ben Elton's house with Paparazzi waiting and through Earl's Court and Knightsbridge. East Grinstead is like a country town and is surrounded by green fields and we even heard a few twittering birds. It was a beautiful day weatherwise and we had some lovely salads outside. [View Full Entry]

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Sunday May 11th We went out to Wicklow and Glendoulough on a tour today. It was great to get out of town and see some wonderful greenery, especially after the brown drought stricken fields of Australia. I have never seen such lush green. We had a walk in the National Park, and walked out to the Lakes of Glendoulough past the ruins of St Kevin's Monastery. Lunch at a fancy hotel and then off to a higher glacial lake that is coloured dark brown by the peat it runs through and over, with a white beach. Thus it is known as [View Full Entry]

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Saturday May 10th Had a full Irish breakfast with pudding. Martin asked for his favourite cheesecake. But it was black pudding and white pudding that arrived. We both tried it and it wasn't too bad. The sizzling weather did not eventuate. Perhaps these Dubliners are eternal optimists about the weather? And its ablity to crack rocks. It reached 14C today and was drizzly, but we think cool weather is much easier to travel in <: We went to a pub Thursday night and it was dedicated to the very famous Gogarty, an esteemed athlete, poet and politician. When I read on [View Full Entry]

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Friday May 9th We woke to read in the Irish Standard that it will be a "sizzling weekend, with a right heat wave about to happen upon us....prepare your sunblock and iceblocks". They said it would be so hot that it would "crack rocks and melt the road". We read on to discover that it should reach 22 degrees for the next couple of days. We get on up and out to a foggy morning about 15 C. Down to Wicklow Street for a walking tour of the 1916 uprising which is known as the 'beginning of The Republic of Ireland'. [View Full Entry]

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Thursday May 8th Train to Charles de Gaulle airport and flew to Dublin in 1 hour 20mins. Bus to Dublin with everyone else. Then a cab to our lovely hotel. Our cabbie told us all about the best sights of Dublin and said 'Ach its' just so warm'. We told him we have been bringing the good weather with us - touch wood. It's all of 16 degrees mind you, but it is nice. We have learnt quite a bit from our various cabbies. Especially pronunciation. For examle in Helsinki it's not Arthur as in the Arthur Hotel. Which he could [View Full Entry]

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