First night back in France we stayed in Metz then visited the WWI battlefields near Verdun before driving around Paris to Bois d'Arcy near Versailles. We then spent a day in the gardens of Versailles where they only have the fountains going for 2 hours and only at weekends! We managed to see all but one in the time, not bad going in 30 deg heat! Some were much more impressive than others.... read more

After one more night in England we drove on to a ferry in Dover, in extremely foggy conditions, crossing the Channel to Dunkirk. We then had 2 nights in a caravan at a campground near Bruges in Belgium. Bruges (or Brugge) is probably the most tourist orientated place we have ever been! At any one time on a small stretch of the narrow river you can see up to 4 tourist boats and rarely none, and there are horse drawn carriages everywhere. Emma was fascinated with the "nappies" the horses wear to keep the roads clean!... read more

We spent 3 days in and around Edinburgh. The highlight was the Military Tattoo on an evening with beautiful warm weather and very little wind. Our seats were great, just under the NZ flag, and we loved the whole thing! Our whole time in Scotland we had great weather with the exception of our visit to Stirling where we toured the castle during a violent thunderstorm and also visited the site ot the Battle of Bannockburn. On our last day we returned to Edinburgh Castle in daytime before walking down the Royal Mile (where all the shops are souvenir shops!).... read more

We love Scotland! The first day we stopped at Loch Lomond on the way to Loch Ness, the weather was great all day. Emma and Laura went Nessie hunting and found a baby one that is coming home with us and will probably pop up in a few photos from now on! On Thursday we went to a Highland Games just north of Inverness at Tain. There was cycling, track and field, "heavy" events (eg tossing the caber), highland dancing and two bagpipe competitions all running at the same time! Friday we started at Fort William and followed the train used as The Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter movies. At the end of the track a kindly guard let us take photos in and around the train then we caught it across the famous Glenfinnan ... read more

On Friday we left our cottage and headed north. We spent the day at Warwick Castle where they have lots of amazing demonstrations including jousting and sending flaming missiles by trebuchet (a big catapult)! We travelled on to Coventry and then on Saturday went to Greg's brother's place via the RAF museum at Cosford. We left Tim and Adele Sunday afternoon getting to our 2 night stay in the Lake District, a hotel on the shore of a little lake.... read more