So this trip starts on 8th August when I fly to Paris with my brother Ross and my sister-in-law Lorraine. Thats only 26 days away - eek! We've booked dinner and a show at the Moulin Rouge - Ooh la la! After three nights in Paris we have a day and a night in Versaille which looks amazing in photos. All those gardens to wander through. The whole estate covers 800 hectares and has 200,000 trees, 35km of canals, 11 hectares of roofing and, (I can't believe someone has counted them), 2153 windows. After all that sumptuousness we take a train south to Bord St Georges - a village right smack in the middle of France. I'm really looking forward to experiencing real french village life.

On 19th August we fly to Manchester where we meet up with my sister Janice and her man Trevor. We will be a party of five for the next two weeks travelling to the Lake District, Loch Lomond, Edinburgh, Inverness, Argyll and back to Glasgow so that Trevor can fly home - somebody has to keep NZ running! The next week is all about islands - Mull, Skye, Harris & Lewis, Uist. Lots of ferries to catch. On 7th September we head back to Manchester and Janice flys home. Ross, Lorraine and I will fly to the Shetlands which are about 170km north of mainland Scotland. Lots of viking and scottish history to explore. Back to Manchester on 14th and heading home to NZ on 15th September. That's the itinerary in a nutshell. Bring it on!

Oxford and Somerset

Remind me next time that I need a stopover between NZ and UK! A long journey with very little sleep. 3 days in and nearly back in sync. I just loved Oxford - could have spent at least a wwek there. So much history and Magdalen college is like a fairytale setting. Lots of films books and TV shows have used Oxford as a backdrop e.g. Morse, Harry Potter, Alice in Wonderland. Oxford is the 3rd oldest university in the western world behing Bologne and the Sorbonne. It is made up of colleges, some dating back to the 13th century. This collegiate style university is unique to Oxford and Cambridge. Some of the buildings are of the era, others built in 17th and 18th centuries but in the "Gothic" style, I have taken way too many photos. Yesterday I took two trains and a bus and walked a crooked mile to the YHA in Alcombe near Minehead. A very quiet setting on the edge of Exmoor Forest. Today I walked about 15km to Porlock Weir. I had my pack delivered to my destination - just this once. The weather varied from hot and sunny to nasty cold squalls, so I was very glad to have Nina's gortex jacket. I stopped for lunch in Bossington - a lovely little village almost entirely owned by the National Trust. The last part of the walk from Bossington to Porlock Weir was unpleasant - salt marshes and stony beach, but the village is lovely. I am staying in a hotel tonight - very quaint, furnished with antiques and objets d'art. I had a beef and ale pie next door at the Ship Inn and will be heading off for another early night shortly. Tomorrow I walk an extra 5 km and I carry my pack, so we will see what I am made of.

OUTWARD BOUND

Count down to take off ~ 33 days to go. This blog is where I will update my travels so you can see where I am and what I'm up to. At the moment that's Auckland, NZ, where the sun is shining and we're about to head for the waterfront.