Larni, Lynne and Judy left before 7.30am and had an easy run until the we left the M11 and headed onto the London ringroad, M25 but our dream run soon ended as we found ourselves in heavy traffic all going in the direction of London. It was after 10.30 am when we finally arrived at Eggers School in Alton where Lynne was warmly greeted by her friend Felicity Martin, head teacher at Eggers. We chatted with Felicity before being taken on a tour of the school. Felicity walked us into classrooms where she asked demonstrated how students understood the core values of the school and that there was zero tolerance for bullying. Students were enthusiastic when asked about their school. There was a very strong ethos about doing your best and determining targets. “Attitude equals altitude”. ... read more

Sunday October 21st This morning we were away soon after 7am as the mist sat above the meadows. The countryside was amazing with an early morning frost evident in some places and the sun rising over the misty fields. Timing was absolutely perfect, reaching Stonehenge, England's most famous prehistoric monument, just 5 minutes before opening time at 9.30am. Just as well,as the buses quickly started to arrive after this. I think we were second through the gate so almost had it to ourselves for a while. We were handed an audio tour as we entered so were able to walk around this 3,000 year old monument whilst listening to theories for its existence. We left here and continued driving on the A303. Main roads here are all numbered rather than named. Stourhead was our next stop. ... read more

Thursday October 18th We awoke to another magical day, blue sky, but cold! Rags reckons it’s the first time this trip he has felt it. He’d better get used to it! Today we again headed in a northerly direction, this time to Bury St Edmunds. This town dates back over 5 centuries and was the shrine of St Edmund, the patron saint of England before St George took that title. On the way we stopped at Hedingham Castle but, as we were too early, it was not open. Rags did manage to scramble up a steep slope and take some photos of the exterior but we would like to return to see more. Bury St Edmunds was a navigator’s nightmare and we ended up parking in the centre with only 1 hour allowed. This only gave ... read more

Thursday October 11th After quickly tripping around the top of the hill in the old city and being kicked out of the museum by the cleaning lady, we changed our Croatian Kunas into Euros, collected our backpacks and walked to the tourist centre where the young chap behind the counter called us a taxi to go to the airport. Here our main worry was weight as we were only allowed 15 kilogram per bag. Well guess what? Rags bag was 17.8kg and mine was 12.2 kg - exactly 30 kg but was this ok, no it had to be 15kg per bag not combined weight. We took our bags to the side and made some adjustments so Rags was under 16kg and mine under 15kg. They didn't notice Rags hand luggage weighed almost 12kg as he ... read more

Tuesday October 9th We had an easy morning, leaving our apartment at about 9.30 and walked into the bus station at Opatija. We arrived well before the bus so sat on the pavement outside the local casino with a coffee enjoying the passing sights. The bus arrived and we were off to Rovinj! It was very enjoyable travelling down the coast and we passed through many charming fishing villages. There was hardly anyone on the bus and most people got off at the inland town of Barban, where we saw a lot of dilapidated high rise apartments but we cold see no reason why this place seemed to have such a large population as there was seemingly no industry. In Pula the bus stopped for a few minutes so we took the opportunity to stretch our ... read more