left earlish and drove straight to Leeds, lots of washing then out to York for theatre, diary of Anne frank. Was chaos getting a park Greg threw us out and ended up running to get there in time. Great production, started lots of conversations with the kids about wwII. Walked the walls of the city after the show. Beautiful weather again. Home via good old tescos!... read more

Left England for southern wales. Arrived in Cardiff mid morning, it was St Davids day, almost like Australia Day, lots of people dressed in national colours and wearing daffodils. The Cardiff story was a great overview of the city. Grag and Coops went touiring the millenium stadium while Kasey and I went shopping and watched the parade for St David. In the afternoon we headed out to an amazing place called the museum of welsh life - full of reconstructed buildings from welsh history. Also another playground!... read more

First stop was the beautiful Bourton on the water - OK, second stop really Rick steve's recommended Stow on the Wold - not that great. But had lunch and walked around Bourton - just sooooo pretty. OK, everyone has heard of Stonehenge, but Avebury? With older stones you can walk around and touch???? well, really worth the trip, firstly because the kids treated it like a huge park and ran and ran! Secondly because it was amazinf to see such antiquity in the middle of a town. We spent a long time walking the stone lay out - 16 times bigger than Stonehenge and much older. then on to Stonehenge for a brief stop, yes much much bigger and the kids liked it more but just doesn't have the same feel, you can't get anywhere near ... read more

early start and a 3 hr drive to our first 10 pound travelodge room!!!!!! Very clean, basic, but at least the kids got separate beds to sleep in. highly recommend Travelodge, even at 5 times the price it's a bargain. After checkin we drove in to town, about 5 mins away. Parked pretty farout, as you have to here in any tourist area. Walked in via lovely parks, headed to the Fitzwiliam museum of antiquities. Crammed with ancient artifacts from Rome, Greece etc, plus great french and English art. Cooper and Kasey had very different experiences, learnt a lot about the kids watching them today. We saw a great busker playing from inside a garbage - see photos. from there we headed to King college chapel for evensong, very very high Anglican and amazing to hear ... read more

Up early, breakfast then school work/diaries/technology catch up. Did my research and found the local equivalent of Warrawong westfield - but so much better and bigger. So off we set! Loved the tom tom (yes, I know even more technology.) Besides getting a mobile I wanted to check out the UK equivalent of walmart (kmart but better). Instead I found this amazing shop that was like best and less on steroids. I went nuts - well not as crazy as i would normally - who can resist 3.50 pound for two kids tshirts!!!!! I pretend they're souveners. I put a lot back, really wished Terri and Lara were here to see this! The dual shopping queens wouldn't believe it! Think i will be sending back a lot more than I thought! Luckily the shoes I loved ... read more