Saturday, May 31, 2008

Sharryn, Garey Andy and Del trying to stay ahead of the rain





















Sorry that Gill and Pete have written a book and all you know of us so far is that you know of us so far is that we have arrived safely in London. We have been camping and there are not a lot of internet cafes in camping grounds.
We left London in the pouring rain and headed north.
Del had the map and Andy the steering wheel. Garey and I settled into the back seat where we intended to stay. At this stage we still were not exactly sure where we were heading but Scotland was in our sights. Getting out of London is definety a two person job and GPS would be fantastic. Andy and Del were so good. We were lost for about an hour but they just kept going and finally we found our way onto the A or M something.
Finally we are out of the rain and heading to sunny Scarbourgh on the east coast. It was cold but fine when we arrived so we were quite happy. We set up camp and heading to the local for a pub meal. We arrived back in time for a glass of wine and bed. We woke to rain on the tent top. It had caught us! We packed up reasonably quickly and went out for breakfast. Scarborough would be beautiful on a nice day.
We left Scarborough and headed about 30 min north to Whitby Abbey.
Whitby Abbey is a ruined Benedictine Abbey sited North Yorkshire on the north-east coast of England. An amazing site. It was first established in 687AD, fell to Viking attack in 867AD and was rebuilt in 1078. Unfortunetly it was destroyed again in 1540 by Henry VIII.

The next stop was Hadrian’s Wall. Hadrian’s Wall is a stone and turf fortification built by the Roman Empire across the width of modern-day England. Building on it began in 122 AD. We were amazed to think firstly that parts of it were still standing and secondly that we could walk all over it.

Next stop Edinburgh for two nights. Yippee, although it was cold it appears we have out run the rain. We set up camp and the girls cooked us a lovely meal. New Zealand lamb steaks better than any you can buy in NZ. We had a hand of cards and went off to bed. Once again we woke to the sound of the rain on the tent but this time the tent Andy and Del had was not so water proof and their airbed was almost floating. Garey visited the office and booked us into a static caravan/house on wheels. It had three bedrooms a lounge, TV shower and heaps of heating. We lay out all of the wet things to dry out and set off for Stirling, the place where William Wallace defeated the English which is now portrayed in the movie Braveheart. home of William Wallace. First stop was the William Wallace Memorial. An amazing site at the top of a hill. From there over the valley to Stirling Castle. We then raced back to Edinburgh so we could explore the castle there. It was a lot to take in in one day but worth it as who know when we will ever be back in Scotland. We meet up with some of Andy’s friends for dinner at a local Scotish Pub and of course we both had Haggis, neeps (swede) and tatties (mashed potato). Had to really what else would you eat in Scotland. It was nice to go back to our warm static caravan I have to say......

























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