LONDON

Oh my goodness - our final week - where has the time gone  - As the song says 

"Let me take you by the hand & lead you through the streets of London - I'll show you something that'll make you change your mind"

Rob organised a 2 bedroom apartment in Islington - very handy to London -  so off we set with map in hand for a week of walking.

Cliff liked the fact there were still phone boxes for those who refuse to live in the modern world of mobile phones.

On the banks of the Thames - I imagine this will be the closest I will ever get to Egypt

Gothic architecture of the Houses of Parliament, very impressive

Where modern meets old - We found a great little bar directly under the Tower Bridge with views of the unusual modern architecture of London

Tower Bridge was extremely pretty

But very crowded

Lions guarding the Tower of London

Buckingham Palace - we didn't see the Queens guards but there were plenty of police with big guns

No folks - we didn't actually go to Wimbledon but we did get to walk through the entrance to take some photos

West End - Rob booked tickets for Les Miserables - what can I say - the performance so very moving - Rob & I shed a tear or two - I'm sure I caught a glimpse of Cliff wiping his eye.

Time to stroll to Camden Markets & Little Venice, we walked along canals lined with beautiful barges. A very relaxing way to spend our day.

Cliff & Doug found a pub they said was named after Rob & I - They wanted a photo of us under the sign - no matter what they say - We don't nag - we just make suggestions :-)

Off to Borough food markets - where else can you wander drinking Pimms & Sangria while checking out incredible food stalls.

Our final night at a Japanese restaurant

Rob booked a taxi to transport us to Southampton while they continued on to Portsmouth to catch the ferry to France for the next leg of their holiday. 

For Cliff & I, the Sea Princess check-in took no more than 15 minutes 

To Rob & Doug - we want to say thank you for making our holiday so memorable - you showed us places we would never have seen & we appreciate all Robs hard work for booking wonderful accommodation in beautiful villages

Cheers to all who have followed our blog so far - Farewell to our land leg & here's to another 53 days of sailing - Stay tuned.

TETBURY & BATH

Our accommodation in the village of Tetbury was very comfortable - the staff were extremely friendly & the pub had lots of games to play - we spent our first night drinking sangria (obviously beer for Doug & Cliff) & playing dominos & Uno - lots of fun.

the next day we spent wandering streets dating back to medieval times - such as the cobbled Chipping steps

 the covered market house - constructed in 1655

this building was also constructed in the 1600's

We met some locals in the street who invited us to share a drink with them in their local club. They had lots of gossip on the area, apparently Charles & Camilla live only 10 minutes from town, Charles owns a dairy & also the Highgrove shop in the centre of town - all profits from the sale of Highgrove products go to his charities.

Next day we were off to Bath

Now this was not what I was expecting to see!!!

We walked from top to bottom

tried out lots of pubs

had lots of fun

Decided to take our Ferrari for a spin

walked through some local galleries

Met up with Rob & Doug to finish off our night before our final week in London.

This has been quite an experience.

COTSWOLDS

We caught up with Rob & Doug in Coventry, then set off to explore the Cotswolds.

The house where Shakespeare was born "To be or not to be, that is the question" 

I wish I knew the answer.

This looked like a fun pub to visit - The Dirty Duck

Canadian geese seem to have moved in & they appear quite at home

Some of the houses were straight out of the story of Gulliver's travels.

We caught up with Deb (Cliff & Rob's cousin) in Kenilworth

Dinner at one of the local pubs - we were so busy talking we forgot to take a happy snap of the night.

It was great catching up with Deb, Andy, Callum & Finley the french poodle (Bec- don't show Jedda, she may get jealous :-) a bit of a blurry photo

Finley saying goodbye - what a personality

A driving tour through the Cotswolds on our way to our next destination of Tetbury.

The village of Stanton was extremely picturesque.

Thatched roof houses in the main street 

Imagining I'm back in Picton

Miss you all xxx

WALES

It was great catching up with Marilyn & Richard - our first night we talked & laughed until 1am. Next day a visit to the beach & the mouth of the Ogmore River.

Rich took Cliff for a coastal walk after lunch. Cliff was surprised to find guys surfing & Rich pointed out some human bones protruding from the cliff side (they are apparently from an old cemetery)  Marilyn cooked up a tasty feast for dinner & then off to visit a little village

over stepping stones to Ogmore Castle which was constructed over 900 years ago

Rich & Cliff

Cliff said I belonged in the dungeon - nasty man

After a great couple of days we farewelled Marilyn, Richard & Wales to catch up with Rob & Doug in Coventry. 

ON THE WAY TO WALES

On the way to visit our friends Marilyn & Richard who live in Ogmore by Sea & Sandy & Pat who live in Cardiff - our Welsh opponents for quoits & all round great company from our cruise. Unfortunately Julie & Steve (part of the Aussie quoits team) were unable to join us - they were busy enjoying Spain.

We travelled through beautiful Welsh countryside

Time for a break in this cute little pub in the village of Llanuwchlyn 

Passed through Snowdonia national park.

We stayed overnight in the Buckley Arms Hotel in Dinas Mawddwy. It was owned and run by a lovely English couple, Gay & Keith. It was an unexpected surprise  - Cliff enjoyed it so much he sat up until 2am drinking & talking to Keith about high voltage testing (Keith was an electrical engineer)

a quick stop to look at the beach

lunch in the pretty seaside town of Aberystwith - great fish & chips

We were surprised to find a full size talking dialect on the promenade

On the road again - time for a rest break in the little village of Crickhowell

We finally made it to Ogmore by Sea - it was a little chilly when we arrived

Lunch was at the Watermill Inn with our Welsh friends

Sandy, Pat, Marilyn, mwah, Cliffy & Richard

A great day was had by all - would have been a complete team if Julie & Steve had been able to make it.