Wednesday. A Day in York.today the English summer arrived and so we donned our umbrellas and headed off to town. our first stop was unplanned as we walked into town we saw a building through a tunnel and thought whats that. it turned out to be the Merchant Adventurers Hall and O' my what a stunning building. 400+ years of history entwined into the building. Well worth the stop. Onward to the city and of course a trip to the Shambles and Newgate Market. after a coffee stop we did the most quintessential English Pastime. Yes we stood in a Queue. A long one, something i detest, but i gritted my teeth and waited until we were entertained with an interesting show at the York Dungeon. Was it worth the wait well i have to say yes it was. The biggest culture shock i think came with the reality of crowds, we had intended to do the Jorvik center but alas the queue was 100 metres + i wasn't spending that much time doing nothing and waiting. we did however go to Marks & Spencers  but unfortunately nothing jumped out at Jacs to buy. We enjoyed our time in town, having a meal before wandering back to our B&B to put our feet up.

Tuesday started with a great breakfast, the food was great and we met others staying there. a couple that had visited N.Z and German bloke who lives in Italy. Before we knew it time had ticked away, so off we went heading for Bury St Edmunds and then onto the Anglo Saxon village in the middle of nowhere in a place called "West Stow".  Not quite what we expected but interesting never the less, more of an educational facility to investigate the how, who, when where and whys of Anglo Saxon life. Some absolutely amazing finds during their excavations as it is an actual village site. Our journey was to take approx 5 hours and along the way we drove through such delights as "Upwell" "Outwell" and "Sibsey" not to mention "Great Limber". Our plotted route worked wonderfully thanks to the stellar map reading skills of co pilot Jacs ! and took us over the "Humber bridge", straight into York and almost the door of "Barbican House" our B&B for 2 nights, which is right outside the "Walmgate section of the wall and entry into the centre of York .  Today we are off to explore York camera in hand, more updates tomorrow. 

 

Saffron Walden

Monday and we finally made it safe and sound after a very long trip, had a chance to catch some sleep on the way so we could hit the ground running. slight glitch waiting for one of our cases due to having all the tags ripped off during the trip.we had a chat on the plane about this being the first time we will land with no one to meet us when Surprise !! Sandra, Andy, Andrew, Richard, Riley and Lexie were waiting for us as we came out. Really cool to see them all. unfortunately it was only for a coffee and a catch up but we will get to then in time. as we headed off to collect the rental car all i could hear was Kim Brierley's words of (your not driving on the M25 car park on Bank Holiday Monday, are you nuts) well Kim  your full of it. I've seen more traffic heading to Hamilton on a work day or maybe we had been lucky.

The Church at Hoo

Jacqui's map reading skills were instantly put to test as we headed off to Bury St Edmunds and both Jacqui and I failed. we did eventually get to  the right place we just took the long way. and got to see some lovely Suffolk villages during the drive. Wow was our reaction to seeing our B&B, absolutely brilliant place to stay the first night, quiet country location. after a quick coffee a freshen up and away we headed to find the village of Hoo. we actually took a detour and went out to Trimley to visit the resting spots of family. unfortunately the spirits were not with us and we were unable to find their graves in what could be described as a work in progress with maintenance of the cemetery. so with that we headed back to find Hoo. and what a location, the village no longer exists and the church sits on land next to a farmers property. and yet it is still a working church complete with organ. again the spirits were not with us in the cemetery but after a little time for reflection on past family we moved on to find a pub to eat. What we found was The Ten Bells this was not a gastro pub, more a down to earth pub with not the best menu. an experience we will hope not to repeat during the trip although the Beer and Whiskey were good. back to the B&B and out like a light at 8.30 snoring by 8.35. looking forward to another adventure as we head to York.

1 day to go, and more than likely very little sleep, as we go over everything in our minds so not to forget anything we need to take.
house has had a spring clean, security is sorted, gardens done, planning done, bags NOT packed yet. BBQ tea with the kids and a few relaxing hours and maybe a rum or 2 should settle the nerves. Elaine's on Taxi duty 3am start sunday morning.

7 days

Serious Countdown Time Now. less than 7 days to go. better find some stuff to put in a suitcase. it all seems a little easy and stressfree at the moment. i guess that may change in time. 4 Days of work left and 2 birthdays.

15 Days to Fly Time
and here's a picture of our intended drive
Should be fun driving out of London on Bank holiday Monday. Surely can't be any worse than a drive to Auckland.
Up one side of the country vie Bury St Edmunds, York, Newcastle across the border take in both coasts of Scotland with stops in Peterhead, drive the Whisky Trail to Kingussie, Take the Train to Mallaig.Then track down to the beautiful Lake District. through Dumbarton, Perth to Ambleside, then onwards to London via Derby, Reading, Stonehenge, Wells, Alcester. Lots of stops along the way, will be trying to take in as much back country as possible. We will be catching up with as much family as possible with bigger stops at weekends where we can. the excitements really starting to build now.

16 days to fly time and we are starting to think we may not be quite as ready as we thought. Jacqui wants to pack the cases and go tomorrow, unfortunately we have a house to get ready for a sitter. a pre spring clean is in operation this weekend and then i can spend a little time in the garden. we also have 3 birthdays to get through before we fly.