Well, Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore!

Abbey Road, London


Michael and Rachel with a Beefeater guard at
Windsor Castle



Feeding the swans on the Thames at Marlow

In the London Eye

King's Cross Station on the way to Hogwarts (Harry Potter)

Now finishing day 6 and we have seen lots and been heaps of places and also had a bit of a rest too.


Day 4: Marlow district

The morning was a quiet start which was great for all concerned. I ventured into the township and did some grocery shopping. There are heaps of lovely clothes shops, but I don't have room in my cupboard at home! (Really, I would want to loose heaps to do them justice.)

After lunch John showed Andrew and I around some of the nearby villages. The children were happy to stay at home and watch TV. Why wouldn't they be when they have what seems to be 100 channels to flick through! We went to Turville which has a Norman church (the village and church featured in the TV show "The Vicar of Dibley" and the windmill on the hill was the one in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"). It was a quaint village and we sampled the local ale. We then went to Maidenhead and on to Bray, also on the Thames, and has an even older church. We passed the house that Rolf Harris lives in too. We then went onto another township and again sampled the local brew. Very different from the first.


Day 5: Wiltshire & Salisbury & Coast

Today was a big day. We started at 7.20am and arrived home at 8.40pm. Big by English standards, not so much by Australian and Andrew's standards. We saw the White Horse of Uffington which is a carving in the limestone hillside dating back to Neolithic times, approx 3400BC, and the nearby Uffington castle, which was a hillfort built approx 2700 years ago. There is no structure left, just the mound and 3 metre ditch which would have been the perimetre of the fortification.

From there we went to Avebury which is a village with heaps of standing stones. The stone circle has been cut by the village and the roads but it covers a large area and is very impressive in size of area, the largest in UK, and its age, built 2600BC.

After Avebury we stopped at The Barge Inn and had some refreshments at lunch time. There was a canal next to our table with at least 6 canal boats moored. They are extremely narrow houseboats.

Our next stop was Stonehenge, built 3000BC. Huge standing stones that remain impressive even though you can't walk amongst them as you can in Avebury. The ancientness of this structure, the Avebury stones and the White Horse has impressed me the most. Michael was impressed that we were driving between militiary training grounds and there were road signs saying beware of tanks crossing.

As we were next to Salisbury we went into the city and then into the former walled city to walk through the Cathedral, built 1200's. We even saw one of only 4 surviving original copies of the Magna Carta!

A day can't be complete when there is the opportunity to visit the beach! So we made a detour on the way home to Milford-on-Sea. This is a southern coastal town near Southhampton. We enjoyed views to the edge of The Isle of White and the kids dipped their toes in the English Channel. Too cold for a swim they said, but they enjoyed playing with and throwing the stones that comprised the beach. We made our way home and enjoyed a good night's sleep.


Day 6: Marlow rest day for Andrew and Kids; London for Kylie

After Andrew and I planned the remainder of our stay in England, I drove myself to Maidenhead, where I caught the train into London to do the Art gallery trips that would be my delight, but the death of the children. Andrew, Michael and Rachel enjoyed a lovely day with John, Nikki, Chloe and Sarah. There was play time, walks, TV etc. I travelled by train, Underground, bus and walked my way through London and home again. The highlight was spending a few hours in the Tate Art Gallery, which houses artwork of Great Britian dating from the 1500's to now. There were heaps of paintings by artists I enjoy such as Constable and Gainsborough and many more, but the real treat was rooms full of Turners' works.

I then went on to enjoy the very sunny and warm day with walks to Westminster, along the Thames to the Tate Modern Art Gallery, across the river to St Paul's Cathedral and then the bus to Regent Street, home of Hamley's toy store among many other things, and the Underground to Paddington to catch the train out to Maidenhead.

Tomorrow the two families are off to Bath.

I hope I have been able to transfer some photos OK.