Why Jersey? Well, is a place that Blu has always wanted to go, as was the home of Gerald Durrell and his wildlife park, and Blu has been a big Durrell fan since he was a child. So, after a rather bad nights sleep at Bournemouth, due to some very drunk young people staying at the hotel, we took the Channel Ferry over. A large fast ferry, takes about 5 hours to get there via a stop at Guernsey. Our first night we stayed at Gorey, a small fishing village that sits under a castle, very atmospheric. We were up at the hostel on top of the hill so we had a steep climb up from the bus stop at the pier, not so good on a hot day. The hostel was rather strange, a huge ... read more

Friday 3 July - Picked up our rental car, was a strange system, we could choose any car from Group 1 (economy!) that had keys in it, and amongst a row of black and white cars it stood out, a yellow and black Citroen! Our Hurricanes car! No choice really. Headed off to see the real England, but first a visit to Kew Gardens, which are huge - and quite stunning. Got to our Kent Farm accommodation late after we called in to see the pub where we worked in 1980, the Bulls Head in Chiselhurst. Next day we were full on, visited Leeds and Castles, both splendid, especially with all of the summer flowers out. Funny thing about Leeds, it was very expensive, so we decided to walk on the public footpath get a look ... read more

26 June. Today we had another treat in store, the Summer Palace of Peter the Great or Peterhof outside the city. More lavish grandeur inside the palace and the gardens were magnificent, with fountains everywhere as Peter loved fountains and water features. So much gold everywhere too, it was used extensively in most palaces, cathedrals and on domes in St P and also in Moscow. By this stage we were getting quite blasé about the grandeur of the Tsars, but it is impressive. After the tour, Blu was very happy as we came across a craft beer restaurant. We tried a great porter and had mussels which were small compared to NZ but very good. Wandered around for a while, tried out the metro to visit a monastery across town, St P also had very smart ... read more

22 June Another exciting day in Moscow, met by Luba at the hotel and visited the Kremlin, another eye opener, we had expected the Kremlin to be some sort of grey austere place, official KGB style, totally wrong! Kremlin just means fortress, and it was a large walled place with beautiful buildings and churches. We spent some time in the Armoury - a museum full of treasures, apparently this huge collection was only part of the royal treasure, when the last Tsar fell, a lot were hidden and have never been found to date. Over the years the Royal family of Russia and their empire had gathered up priceless artefacts from all over the world, a lot of them gifts from other empires. The Empress Elizabeth apparently liked carriages, there was a large room full of ... read more

19 June Enjoyed an English breakfast at Oakwood B and B ( probably first of many!) B and B fine apart from the tiny bathroom - took some manoeuvring to use the loo! Spent the morning catching up, then met Alister at Westminster. Good to catch up, spent the afternoon wandering around the centre, called into Tate Britain to visit our favourite painting, The Lady of Shalott (the real one, not the one on our wall at home!). Had a lovely stroll through St James Park to Buckingham Palace, and ended up in Soho where we were amazed to find 'The Stockpot' restaurant. We used to eat here regularly in 1979-80, and on our last visit found it was closed, but apparently they moved, and here they were. Same good basic grub at a great price! ... read more