Blogs from Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe

HOORAY..,.and here we go again! The rucksacks are packed, the "everything bag" is bursting at the seams and we are ready for our New Zealand trip. And here is our new family member and travelling companion...not-so-tiny Tim! He is an upgrade to our original and much abused 2 man tent. He has 2 doors so we don't have to climb over each other in the middle of the night and he is designed to accommodate 3 people! So we can either start taking paying guests or we can use the extra space to get our rucksacks under cover. YES! We are very grateful to Ruthie and Ben who have lent us Notso Tiny Tim (maybe just Notso for short). He is already broken-in and ready for action. Whoever knew that the New Zealand immigration department inspects ... read more

Dear All Greetings from London. We have just had a lovely, three-day Bank Holiday weekend at the beginning of May, and I took advantage of having the extra day by completing something that I started probably over three years ago now. I completed “Walk 4” in my 1998 book “Country Walks Around London” – yay! I bought this book second-hand from an Amnesty International Second-Hand bookshop in Hammersmith, probably over 10 years ago now. Although it was published in 1998, the “Country Walks Around London” has served me well over the years in following slowly but surely its 26 listed walks in surprisingly beautiful rural areas all around the city limits of London – I am now halfway through the book, having completed 13 walks, with 13 left to go. The walks vary in length from ... read more

With 12 hours til we go, we have been reading the previous blogs from our Patagonian adventure and wondering how this trip will be different.... Well, the main difference is that there will only be the two of us on this trip. Yes, Tiny Tim (our Tiny tent) is NOT coming with us this time. Call it fool-hardy if you like but it seems that Ecuador has plenty of hostels and plenty of people who might look kindly on a couple of old people with nowhere to stay. So GOOD RIDDANCE to Tiny Tim that's what I say! Another difference will be that we will have lighter backpacks so we can walk even further and be even more joyful ....Jan's is currently 7.9kg and Pete's is 11.5kg. Jan has the empty water bottles, 3 pairs of ... read more

First stop today is at Tesco´s in Bicester, as we have realised Theresa did not pack her swimming costume. From there it was a short journey to Aston Clinton, Bucks where we met Anita who has just moved to the area. Anita was a work colleague of Georges when he worked in Ealing. Anita and her family had only moved in on Thursday so most things were still in boxes. We did get to have a look around the downstairs and the garden. Our second new house viewing of this trip. After a quick bacon sandwich and coffee we were on our way again. We did not want to hold them up for too long, as they obviously had lots to do. Hotel for tonight and tomorrow night is the Ibis at Beaconsfield. It is a ... read more

What a surprise. This is a really small village. One could imagine it being used as a Model Village or a setting for a Model railway. Quite olde world with a “real” butcher, an old fashioned motor garage. There is a town square and large church. The Village has its own sports and social building, not sure of the sport. There is a little shop and a spot to have a coffee. The public house (hotel) had a large car park.... read more