"Farewell to Old England...... I'll see you in Botany Bay"

Friday 30th July 2010



Ray here....



What a marvellous holiday! My thoughts of the magnificent countryside - be it the quilt pattern fields of the English countryside, to the Yorkshire moors, with a special mention of the Scottish Highlands, the seaside resorts of Blackpool and Scarborough, the friendliness of the British people. I'm very impressed with the British Tourist Board who do a great job selling the history of these islands. the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle sent a shiver of pride down my spine - being an ex-military man. Special mention my time in Billinge, walking the paths and trails of my childhood and Jean, John and Ian for making my birthday a special treat. My Auntie June, Uncle Brian and cousins Colin and Pauline - I hope we meet again. Thank you for sharing a part of my special trip, and assisting me in visiting with members of the family who are no longer with us in body.

Overall - time and money well spent. The memories will last a lifetime - especially Narelle's face and language when she is approaching a roundabout!!



Narelle here...



As always I must have the final say.......

Actually this is more random thoughts and observations.



Ray says the Irish cows are so fat and lazy because they only have to sit there and the grass grows up to their mouths!



I have seen way more rabbits here than I have seen in my entire life in Australia - I don't know why that is....



I finally saw a deer - it was like the badgers I mentioned before (kangaroos - Pacific Highway)



We saw a red squirrel in Wales - this is the native variety and it apparently fairly rare these days - it WAS NOT like the badgers and deer.



The hedgehog however - WAS like the badgers and deer.



We may have seemed absolutely mad crisscrossing the country as we did and I will admit to a few tactical errors in planning, but we saw heaps of the countryside and loved it!



A thought from Ray - Hadrian's Wall across England only took between 6 and 8 years - to build. We need the Roman Soldiers to come and finish off the Pacific Highway.



I will actually finish by complimenting Ray - you have all heard me say that we own a satnav as an aid to keeping our marriage together. Well in this instance we may have needed Tom Tom, but he wouldn't have been enough - I would never have made it without Ray's help.



Finally -



Thanks to Phil and Claire for giving us the idea of blogging- and for following our exploits and encouraging us.



Thanks also to everyone else who watched and read and wondered if I had fallen into one of my walls (love ya Kay) when we went off air for a few days.



It has been an amazing experience that I will never forget, but my next holiday will be somewhere quiet with a good book.



Until our next adventure.............