The end of the European Tour

---

Well, the European leg of our journey has come to an end. We spent the last few days camping in the Forest of Dean, the Cotswolds and our last two nights in the van in Oxford. The summer 8s regatta was in full swing and we partook of some Pimms beside the river, as you do, and watched a series of curious races called 'Bumps' in which the rules seem to be fairly complicated but involve one boat bumping another and there are various points for and against which sounds simple but when explained to us was anything but. Needless to say, the various colleges and their boat/ rowing clubs were in full swing and the party went on long into the night! Oxford is an easy place to get around and we posted off some excess baggage to NZ, as we are sure we will no longer need our black winter coats anymore, and explored the city on foot, walking around the various colleges and historical landmarks. We spent our last day reorganizing our packs and cleaning out the van, as well as washing etc. A walk down the road to the pub for one last meal and we are all set to go! The van was returned in tip top shape, having covered 8000 miles in the last 88 days and driven through 11 countries. We have tried to explore as much of each country as time allowed, which has included food and of course drink! Frogs legs and wine in France, sausage and beer in Germany, haggis and whiskey in Scotland, tapas and beer in Spain, pizza, pasta and wine in Italy, Guiness in Ireland, as well as many other particular country specialities. The sights and sounds have been awesome and inspiring and of course it is the people that you meet and the company you keep that make it really special.I
It's been a blast and we are glad it's not over yet, that we have another installment of kiwis in a camper van, but this time in the USA and Canada.
Catch you all on the next part of the trip!
Dean and Shelley

---

Photos

Stradford-Upon-Avon
canal Boats

Oxford
Pimms by the river.