Coniston- 16th till 21st August

After leaving London we headed north to the Lake District, the perfect antidote after a rather hedonistic week.  We stayed at a site just out of Coniston, a lovely small village on the shores of Lake Coniston.  We had an absolutely fabulous week there, doing lots of walks through the gorgeous countryside.  It really was amazingly beautiful and picturesque, despite the underwhelming weather.  I know the English like to complain about the weather, and now I see why!  I have finally admitted defeat and packed away my summer dresses to make room for my winter coat L

Anyway, there’s not much to say about the Lake District that can’t be better illustrated by photo.

One of the walks we did was around the old copper mines above Coniston.

The Coniston steam boat

Walking along Lake Coniston

Tarn How

Morgan feeding the duckling horde 

Fish and chips in bed- oh yeah baby.  I couldn't help feeling though like someone was watching me...

6/8/11 - 14/8/11 London (and Turners Hill) ENGLAND

Our camp site was in Crystal Palace next to the site of the (you guessed it) Crystal Palace. It was moved here after the Great Exhibition in 1851 and burnt down in 1936.

Firstly - yes, we were in London for the riots, but we didn't see or hear anything and we most definitely did not cause them. We did have to tell a bit of a fib to Sarah when we had dinner with my cousin Rob, because he lives in Hackney where it all started. However, by that time there seemed to be more cops than people on the streets and all was fine. A bit spooky being in the middle of town and seeing all the shops close up at 3:00pm and everyone take off...

Secondly - we were very slack about taking photos, so I have done what I can with the few we did take.

In London itself, we did zero sight seeing, and spent the whole time catching up with friends and relatives, and eating way too much food. Yay!

Our first meal was at my cousin Rob's place - he lives in a 6 bedroom house which seemed to have an endless stream of flatmates and friends who would turn up, introduce themselves, and then place a random selection of meat on the BBQ. We just sat there and got fed. It was great.

We forgot to take the camera - so here is a photo of Rob I got off Google images.

Ooooo-brooding. To get the real impression of what it is like to talk to Rob,  hold the computer about a foot above your head and look at this photo. He is quite tall.

The next night we met up with Marnie, Sam, Lucinda, Mike, Des (Andrew Clark) and Emma for cocktails at a steak restaurant, and then dinner at a different steak restaurant (Goodmans). Sam explained why we did this and it made sense at the time but I have since forgotten. The steak house was one where they have their own ageing room, and they bring the different kinds of steak out to the table and explain it to you. When you actually get the steak, it is the only thing that arrives on the plate - everything else is a side.

Anyway, best steak I have ever had. Easy. They also had macaroni and cheese as a side.

Yes, I will have a delicious icy cocktail thanks Marnie.

Mmmmmmm steaky steaky goodness. Also, look - I have new glasses!

She is pretending to look dainty.

The next meal was lunch at the River Cafe (place where Jamie Oliver got his 'break') and it was delicious - I didn't realise it was Italian.

The river outside the River Cafe - forgot to take photos of the actual restaurant. Sigh.

On the Saturday night we went over to Chateau Lambert, where Sarah entertained us and Amanda with her new found culinary skills. Italian, not French - but Lambert seems to work better in an French accent to me. We had home made bread, and pasta; it was all lovely and she should be very proud of herself.

The Lambert girls in their natural element.

The entree - stuffed bread balls (home made bread).  Delicious.

...and the main - home made pasta with pork and veal meatballs.

Amanda and me practicing our photo taking technique - first you look away from the camera.....

....and then look at the camera and smile.

Finally, we met up for brunch with Josh and Helen and had our first kind of traditional cooked english breakfast at The Providores - actually owned by Peter Gordon (a kiwi) and Michael McGrath (kind of a kiwi). We had a bit of a chat about our joint upcoming trip to Scotland, and their imminent return to NZ (via various parts unknown).

Josh and Helen our going to be staying with us for a few weeks in the campervan. They look like this because we have told them there is actually only one bed.....and not much bedding.......and it's going to be cold in Scotland.

Overall, despite a bit of a nervous start to the week, we had a great time, ate way too much and by the final day we were down to pretty much one meal a day.

Turners Hill- 5th till 8th August

After 3 months in Europe we arrived back in the UK.  It was so strange to be able to understand what people were saying, strange but good!  I had to stop myself from saying Bonjour to everyone though and we did have to change our driving song.  The UK version is perhaps even more catchy than the European version and goes a little something like:

"Look to the right
Drive on the left
And then you won't get
Squashed to death...

.....won't get squashed tooooooo deathhhhhhhhhh"

Both version have now, by the way, an added final line.  Thanks Martin for this gem, which is to be accompanied by jazz hands:

"Unless it's a one way road......"

The best part about coming back to the UK though, is the chance to see family and friends.  We started with a weekend at my brothers David's place in Turners Hill, Crawley.  We had a fabulous weekend catching up with David, Justine and cute-as-a-button Hudson.  There was great wine, beautiful food and.....a chilli fiesta!

The Chilli Fiesta, held at the beautiful West Dean Gardens

David and Hudson

Justine and Morgan 

Hudson.

So cute!

On the Sunday we drove through the beautiful southern english countryside to a Chilli Fiesta being held north of Chichester.  It was awesome.  There were heaps of great stalls with an amazing variety of chilli products, all offering lots of samples.  We ended up with jerky, dried chilli's, curry mixes, chilli rubs, chilli jams, mango pickle and a few chilli sauces for good measure.  A lovely day out.

Now, onto London town!

Normandy- 30th July till 5th August

Finally I got my 'hay bales in the field' photo!

After leaving Mont St Michel we headed around the Normandy coast toward our rendezvous with some of Morgan’s family.  On the way we stopped for a night each at the coastal towns of Barneville-Carteret and Courseulles Sur Mer.  The beaches in this area are very similar in appearance to New Zealand beaches.  The tides though are huge and we had two failed attempts at going for a swim.  Both times the tide was so far out we would have had to walk for miles to reach the waters edge, let alone go in far enough to actually submerge ourselves.

On the beach at Barneville-Carteret.  Somewhere out there is the actual water. Swim - fail.

The pretty town of Grandcamp Maisy.  This was the first seaside town we stopped at on our way along this stretch of Normandy coast.  I chose it mainly for the name of course but it turned out to have a good local market.

The water front at Grandcamp Maisy

Omaha Beach

Morgan looking fierce

We met up with Morgan’s parents and his cousin Sophie in a place called Blonville-sur-Mer.  The property here belongs to the family of Sophie’s friend Beranger.  They were very welcoming to us all.  The previous farm-house has been made into a B&B and the previous campground closed, apart from a few long-time customers and some very special guests!  The setting was beautiful; very rural with views down to the ocean.  Our time together here was very special and we spent a lot of it sitting outside in the sun, talking, eating and drinking.  We made sure to try out the local produce including cider and calvados.

The sunset looking out from our accommodation over Villers-sur-mer.

Lovely Jane Reeve the original.  Morgan wanted something like "Jane tried to hide the hand-shaped deformity growing out of her neck"...but I refused.

We also made a few days trips in the Reeve’s hire car.  One of the highlights was a trip to Bayeux to see the famous Bayeux tapestry.  This tapestry was begun in 1070 and it over 68m in length.  It depicts the events of the 1066 Norman invasion.  The level of detail and obvious skill involved is staggering.  No pictures are permitted unfortunately.  The Bayeux cathedral was also beautiful though, so you can look at some pictures of that!  

Bayeux Cathedral

Crypt action man

Jane and Martin.  They appeared to be actually reading the information sheets- strange.  I don't think it ended well for the guy in the painting above them.

Stone carving detail.

Detail on the ceiling.  This is me trying out our new camera lens with "more zoom".

One of our drives took us past the invasion beaches of Normandy.  One of the most impressive features is the Mulberry harbour, the remnants of a temporary harbor built during World War II.  It was constructed in England in sections and towed across the channel, before being filled with concrete and sunk.

Gun emplacements at Longues-sur-mer.

Partly destroyed gun emplacement.

View across the fields at Longues-sur-mer, with the Mulberry harbour in the distance.

A closer up view of the remnants of the Mulberry harbour.

We also visited the beautiful towns of Hon Fleur, Beaumont-en-Auge, Deauville and Villiers-sur-mer, where we wandered the streets and marveled at the architecture.  

Hon Fleur, a gorgeous port town.  It was amazing how different the architecture and style of the different coastal towns were.

Hon Fleur was busy and full of tourists but managed to maintain a really nice vibe.

The wooden clock tower in Hon Fleur.

Gelato time.

Martin, Jane (the original) and Morgan went on a side mission to see this house, the subject of a book Jane had read.  They managed to take a couple of pictures before the owners of the private house set the dogs on them! 

During the Reeve road trip they also visited this castle.  Apparently they all peed under the same tree, a fact that neither you nor I wanted to know!

A very impressive hotel in Deauville.

On the famous Deauville Promenade des Planches

Colourful beach umbrella's on a grey, cloudy summers day. 

No caption required.

And again....

Beautiful half timbered houses in Beaumont-en-Auge

One of the stunning sunsets we saw from our accommodation.

On the beach at Villers-sur-mer

Villers-sur-mer

Villers-sur-mer.  I never did find out the relevance of the dinosaurs!

On departing Blonville-sur-Mer we left not only Morg’s family L but also France, boarding a ferry for our return to the UK!


So our first Europe leg is finished - and very exciting it was too. The highlight for both of us was getting to see several countries which had not previously been on our radar. Originally we thought we would see France, and that was about it - Germany and Switzerland (and the little bit of Italy we saw) were all incredible. Switzerland was probably our favourite.


The key part of what has made it all so enjoyable is being able to change our plans as we go - which is the best thing about having a motorhome. Our interludes with friends and family in Sicily and France have also been great opportunities to do something different, and to build up our travelling mojo again.

Interesting facts - we have filled up the squirty water thing for the van in the windscreen once since we got it, and we did all of Europe on one 3 kilogram gas container, which is still going.


We also enjoyed getting a working knowledge of several different languages, and of course THE FOOOOOOOOD!!!!

On the road again.