A nice early start today we departed for Bath planning to camp at a site some 5 miles away. We headed into Bath and on the advice from some other campers we met looked for a Park and Ride as taking the camper into Bath may have been tricky. Well no park and Ride was to be found on our route (we found out later that the way we came in was the only road NOT to have a park and Ride) and we ended up in downtown Bath and into a complete nightmare, no parking, not even somewhere to move to the side of the road to gather your thoughts and plan a move, take this advice, DO NOT DRIVE INTO BATH EVEN WITH A CAR, it is just not worth the stress that goes ... read more

We set off on the motorway to make up a little time with 180 kms to do to reach that nights destination, a little town close to both Bath and Stonehenge. Stopped on the way so Bree could visit Legoland only to find it closed for renovations and with much wailing and gnashing of teeth we headed off to Donnington castle a great ruin that you can actually get right up to and touch, built before 1386 it was added to at that time to fortify the kings position in the area and to protect the main east/west and north/south roads, it was mostly destroyed during a siege in 1644 and only the main entry, moat and portcullis tower remaining, still very cool to see. Setting off again we came around a bend and saw the ... read more

Our last day in London, (3 days is just not enough but there you have it), was spent firstly with a great walk through Hyde park where Pam got some good pics of a Crested Grebe, a little duck like bird with a hair do like Sid Vicious. On down to Harrods, what is a visit to London without seeing Harrods, bloody expensive and a little hoity toity for me but was still neat to see, the buildings architecture is fantastic, (see the pics). Back on to the hop on hop off bus, our mode of transport for the whole of our time in London, 22 pounds each for the three days, not a bad price, and past Kensington Palace and around to the British Museum for a quick gander inside at the amazing lattice roof ... read more

After arriving at our hotel, we checked in put our gear in our room, came back down to the restaurant for dinner, back to the room for a shower and sleep. We woke early next morning, had breakfast and were of for our first day in London. No jet lag was to bee seen anywhere! Sights we saw: Marble Arch Walked some of Hyde Park Speakers Corner Changing of the Guard - Buckingham Palace Walked down The Mall to Admiralty Arch Trafalgar Square Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament Westminster Abbey - Closed due to the upcoming Royal wedding .... bugger!! London Eye - Going back another day for the viewing experience Watched entertainers at South Bank Squirrels in Hyde Park.... Bree was thrilled, as was I... read more

As we were about to board our plane at Auckland a message came over the PA system for Pamela Russell to go to the desk. Much to our amazement we were classed as a 'Level 4 Security Risk' and ushered out of the departure lounge, through a rabbit warren of corridors into the bowels of airport security to the Reconciliation Room. The x-ray has picked up an object in our check in baggage that caused concern and we needed to open the bag. We were questioned in what had been packed in the bag and we couldn't think of anything that would warrant a level 4 security risk. We were shown the x-ray and it turned out to be the printer I was taken so I could do my work! This was packed in Mark's bag, ... read more